The SSS Rank Babysitter chapter 28

“Jun.”

“Stop!”

Before Lee Moojin’s hand could reach the peacefully sleeping Do Hajun, a small hand slapped his away.

“Why can’t I touch what’s mine?”

“No! It’s mine.”

“I’ve had dibs on Jun way before you, Cheongmyeong.”

Lee Moojin’s words made Lee Cheongmyeong’s pupils shake.

For a moment, Lee Cheongmyeong pouted and kissed Do Hajun’s cheek.

“I’ve marked it again! He is mine!”

“Re-marking something already marked is useless. I marked it first, so he is mine.”

Lee Cheongmyeong’s face instantly clouded, and large tears began to well up in his eyes.

“Heeing.”

“Sigh. Didn’t I tell you not to fight with a kid?”

Do Hajun, who had been rudely awakened, frowned and got up.

“Jun.”

Patting the back of the sobbing Lee Cheongmyeong, Do Hajun brushed his disheveled hair with his free hand.

“Do you really want to fight with a kid?”

“No, but he keeps insisting that my thing is his.”

“No! It’s mine!”

Lee Moojin shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “See what I mean?”

“Grow up already.”

Do Hajun hit Lee Moojin’s head hard and got up, holding Lee Cheongmyeong.

The ownership dispute that began in the rooftop garden had been going on for days.

But it always ended with Lee Cheongmyeong crying because of Lee Moojin’s teasing.

“Sob, sob.”

Again, soothing the crying Lee Cheongmyeong, Do Hajun glared at Lee Moojin.

“Hey, do you really want to keep fighting with a kid?”

“No, but he keeps saying my thing is his.”

“Crazy bastard, you went on dispatch and came back nuts.”

Do Hajun tried not to use harsh words in front of Lee Cheongmyeong, but Lee Moojin kept shaking his resolve.

“Crazy? What’s crazy?”

“Being crazy means…”

“Hey!”

Before he could explain, Do Hajun smacked the back of Lee Moojin’s head, carried Lee Cheongmyeong to the kitchen, and asked Lee Moojin,

“Why are you here?”

“It’s a holiday today.”

“Cheongmyeong, drink some water.” Do Hanjun handed a cup to Cheongmyeong before turning towards Moojin. “So?”

“So I came to hang out. I wanted to have a home-cooked meal for a change.”

“Is this your home? Should I change the door code or something?”

Despite his words, the door code had never changed.

After seating Lee Cheongmyeong, Do Hajun brought out the side dishes and rice that were regularly delivered from the center.

“Jun, I want this.”

Cutting a piece of egg roll and putting it into Lee Cheongmyeong’s mouth, Do Hajun asked,

“Is it good?”

“Yeah, delicious.”

“Eat the rice too.”

Putting a small ball of rice into Lee Cheongmyeong’s mouth, Do Hajun glared at Lee Moojin, who was staring intently at him.

“What. Why. What do you want?”

“Jun, Moojin wants egg roll too.”

“…??”

Is he regressing to being childish instead of going crazy?

Maybe Moojin’s dispatch was tougher than he thought?

“Help yourself.”

“Aing.”

Seeing Moojin’s large body twist, Do Hajun’s expression soured.

“I want egg roll too.”

“Oh, you bastard.”

He decided to give in and tossed an egg roll onto Moojin’s rice.

“Feed me.”

“If you keep this up and you’ll get kicked out.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

As Moojin quickly started eating, Do Hajun scoffed and fed Lee Cheongmyeong stir-fried eggplant.

But Cheongmyeong spat it out with a small tongue.

“I don’t like it.”

“You shouldn’t be picky.”

“Heeing, I don’t like it.”

Lee Cheongmyeong shook his head vigorously.

Wondering if it tasted off, Do Hajun tried it but found it delicious.

‘Why doesn’t he eat stir-fried eggplant?’

“Wow! There are people who eat stir-fried eggplant.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“The texture is awful. Cheongmyeong probably doesn’t eat it because the texture is bad too.”

Do Hajun slapped Moojin’s hand, which was poking at the eggplant with chopsticks.

“Ouch!”

“Don’t play with food. And what’s wrong with the texture? It tastes fine.”

“Wow, you’re disregarding people’s preferences. Cheongmyeong, do you like this?”

Moojin pointed at the eggplant with his chopsticks.

Cheongmyeong shook his head vigorously.

“Yucky. The texture feels weird.”

“See? Cheongmyeong also finds the texture weird.”

Do Hajun looked at the eggplant. He couldn’t understand what was wrong with the texture.

“Do you like stir-fried pumpkin?”

When Moojin brought the chopsticks to the stir-fried pumpkin, Cheongmyeong shook his head.

“Sour.”

“Mushrooms?”

Before the chopsticks could even touch the stir-fried mushrooms, Cheongmyeong shook his head violently.

“I don’t like them!”

“See? Cheongmyeong, like me, is sensitive to taste.”

At Moojin’s triumphant words, Do Hajun shook his head.

It was understandable for a child, but bragging about being picky as an adult was absurd.

Smiling as if he’d won, Moojin said,

“Let’s go to the market after eating.”

“Why the market?”

“To look around? Buy things for Cheongmyeong.”

“He already has a lot.”

Do Hajun gestured towards the boxes piled up in the living room.

The boxes brought by Chae Yiwon were never-ending, even after unpacking.

If Shin Misook had cleared out the clothing corner, Chae Yiwon seemed to have swept through the department store children’s section.

There was everything from rattles unnecessary for Cheongmyeong’s age to RC cars and science experiment kits.

“That’s not the point.”

“He has clothes, toys, and shoes. What more does he need?”

“Snacks.”

“There are fruits in the fridge, and I make fresh juice.”

Moojin looked horrified.

“You don’t give him snacks?”

“Not usually. There’s no need when there’s so much food.”

“I heard about it, but Cheongmyeong isn’t an ordinary child.”

Hearing his name, Cheongmyeong, who was munching food, widened his eyes.

“He’s an adult. Only his body has shrunk.”

“I know.”

“Then why do you act like this? Besides, even adult Cheongmyeong probably never went to the market.”

Do Hajun looked puzzled.

Adult Cheongmyeong never went to the market?

Even if he had no money, anyone could go to the market.

“Pay more attention to people.”

“Enough. Stop talking nonsense. What do you mean adult Cheongmyeong never went to the market?”

“Cheongmyeong and I followed similar paths.”

Similar paths?

Ah. Even Lee Cheongmyeong awakened during high school while being an orphan.

Do Hajun nodded.

“As you know, underage hunters need a guardian. There’s a widespread rumor that the guardian assigned to Lee Cheongmyeong when he became a national hunter was quite a piece of trash.”

“Trash?”

“Yeah. They say he was so scared of Lee Cheongmyeong killing him that he locked him up in a room until he adapted to his skills.”

“Locked him up?”

Do Hajun gritted his teeth.

“Yeah. And once he adapted somewhat to his skills, he just had him go to dungeons and TV stations. And now this person has the nerve to take him to a mart to buy snacks.”

“…Who is this guardian?”

If it were such a guardian, he would have insisted on taking care of Lee Cheongmyeong when he turned into a child.

“He’s dead. He died in a dungeon a year ago.”

Damn bastard. If he were alive, he wouldn’t have let him be.

“Jun, gimme an egg roll.”

“Huh? Oh.”

Do Hajun, who was grinding his teeth, quickly put an egg roll into Lee Cheongmyeong’s mouth upon his request.

Seeing this reminded him of the photo attached to Lee Cheongmyeong’s report.

A face with no trace of a smile.

When he saw that photo, he just thought, “He’s handsome,” but now, seeing the same expressionless face overlapping with the current bright smiling face, made his heart stir.

“…Alright. Let’s go to the market.”

* * *

“Wow!”

With his hand held, Lee Cheongmyeong looked around, slightly opening his mouth.

Lee Moojin giggled and brought an empty cart, placing him in the foldable child seat of the shopping cart.

“Let’s sit here.”

“Wow.”

“Don’t stand up here; you might get hurt.”

“Okay!”

Lee Cheongmyeong nodded while still looking around.

“Then, let’s go.”

“Yay!”

Pow!

Lee Moojin, with incredible S-rank strength and speed, pushed the cart forward.

“What the heck! Don’t run! We’ll go home!”

“Tch, alright.”

“Okay.”

Having two adults should have made it easier to look after one child, but it felt like suddenly looking after two kids alone.

“What are we buying?”

“Well…”

They hadn’t come to buy anything specific, so there wasn’t anything to buy.

“Then let’s just take a walk around?”

“Sure.”

While slowly walking for Lee Cheongmyeong’s sightseeing, they heard someone calling out to him from somewhere.

“Lee Cheongmyeong?”

When all three turned their heads, a plump lady at a sample corner waved her hand.

“It’s really Lee Cheongmyeong. Came for shopping?”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

As Do Hajun greeted her, the lady put some dumplings in a paper cup and handed it over.

“Try this.”

“No, we’re…”

“You don’t have to buy. I just want to give it to Cheongmyeong.”

Lee Cheongmyeong looked at Do Hajun.

Seeing his gaze asking for permission, Do Hajun nodded, and the paper cup was handed to Lee Cheongmyeong.

“Eat a lot and grow big.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Lee Cheongmyeong’s eyes sparkled at the sight of dumplings pierced with toothpicks.

“Not hot?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve raised a lot of younger siblings in the orphanage. They’ve all cooled down.”

Lee Cheongmyeong grabbed a toothpick and lifted a dumpling.

At that moment, there was a screeching sound.

“Huh?”

Before they knew it, people had surrounded them.

Everyone had their phones out, making noise and stomping their feet.

“Cheongmyeong’s mukbang with dumplings.”

“So cute. Would I get a thanks too if I bought him something?”

“Aww, his cheeks puffed up when the dumpling went in. Is he a squirrel or what?”

Do Hajun held his forehead. It was good that people’s perception of Lee Cheongmyeong had changed after the broadcast, but there were too many people recognizing them at the park or outside.

And those who recognized them always followed around with their phones, trailing after him and Lee Cheongmyeong.

“Cheongmyeong, is the dumpling good?!”

“Yeah!”

Lee Cheongmyeong answered with one hand raised to a spectator’s question.

Cheers and laughter erupted from all around.

“Isn’t this quite a spectacle?”

“They won’t come closer.”

So far, people who recognized Lee Cheongmyeong followed but never approached the child and Do Hajun.

Not because Lee Cheongmyeong was a dangerous underage hunter, but because he was a child, people didn’t approach him easily.

However,

“Sorry, for safety reasons…”

A sweating employee apologized.

Do Hajun turned around. A swarm of people were continuously taking pictures and filming him, Lee Cheongmyeong, and Lee Moojin.

He thought the number was increasing, but it had grown so much that the shopping aisle was completely blocked, making it impossible for actual shoppers to move.

“Sigh. Understood.”

After apologizing to the nodding employee, Do Hajun picked up Lee Cheongmyeong from the cart.

“Let’s go.”

“Aww, I still have more to see.”

“Aww.”

Following Lee Moojin’s example, Do Hajun touched Lee Cheongmyeong’s nose and moved towards the parking lot.

“It’s a bit disappointing to go back like this.”

“Can you still say that after seeing all these people?”

The people crowded at the parking lot entrance looked like something out of a zombie movie.

“Still, both you and Cheongmyeong haven’t been out in a while.”

“So…”

“Hmm.”

Lee Moojin, who had climbed into the passenger seat, fiddled with his phone.

“Shall we go to a place where we can experience different jobs?”

“Job experience?”

Lee Cheongmyeong, who was quietly seated in the car seat, bounced excitedly.

“A job experience place.”

“This place only allows people with reservations, but one of my orphanage mates works there. I can get Cheongmyeong in with some connections.”

Although drawing and trampoline activities had increased his attack power, it hadn’t raised his defense at all, which was a concern.

Do Hajun had heard of places for job experiences for kids.

Not only for simple office work, but also experiences as firefighters, police officers, bakers, doctors, nurses, and even hunter experiences.

Considering that drawing and trampoline activities had increased his stats, experiencing various things might give a hint on how to increase his defense.

“Alright. Let’s go.”