Chapter 96
That evening.
After returning home, I followed the Master's orders and took a rest.
The order was to rest well at home after experiencing something unpleasant.
"What's that about, King?"
Levinas pointed at the television with the remote control.
On the TV, a man and a woman were kissing each other on the cheeks.
"They're kissing because they like each other."
"Why kiss if they like each other...?"
"Um..."
It was a profoundly deep question.
Not knowing the history of kissing, I couldn't answer.
How do I explain this to a child?
As I was lost in thought, a long stick-like shadow loomed over my head.
"These kids."
Thunk-
As I looked up, Sophia lightly tapped Levinas and me on the head with her cane.
With Sophia's stern expression, I thought we might have done something wrong.
"Why are we in trouble...?"
"Don't you see the 'no viewers under 15' sign?"
Sophia pointed with her cane to the top right corner of the television.
A yellow sticker with the number 15 was written on it.
Ah.
Since it's been so long since I've watched television, I hadn't even thought about the viewing age.
Showing stimulating content to Levinas, who was only ten years old.
It was an undeniable mistake on my part.
"Sophia, I'm sorry..."
"As long as you understand, wait until you're older to watch such videos."
"Yes..."
After receiving the remote control from Levinas, I switched to an animation featuring animal characters.
That's when Yeoreum, working at the living room desk, burst into laughter.
"Sophia, do you think the kids understand what age restrictions mean? They just watched whatever was on."
"If you think they don't understand, Yeoreum, you should have told them."
"It's not that strange a scene. I've seen that movie before."
"Is that so...?"
Sophia rubbed our heads as if she felt sorry for tapping them over a trivial movie scene.
It didn't hurt, but it felt good to be touched by Sophia's hand.
"Um..."
Even as her head was being stroked, Levinas was deep in thought, arms crossed.
What was she thinking about to be so serious?
As everyone's attention turned to Levinas, she blurted out an embarrassing question.
"Have any of you ever kissed someone you like?"
Levinas asked everyone.
The first to answer her unexpected question was Yeoreum.
"I've done it with my family when I was younger."
"With your family?!"
"Yeah. But I don't do it much now. I'm an adult."
"Wow..."
Levinas, with eyes wide as a horned rabbit's, looked back and forth between me and Sophia.
She didn't say it, but it was clear she was asking if we had experience.
"As for me, I lived with my family when I was a child..."
"Whoa! Even sharks have done it?! Then the King must have too?!"
Levinas looked at me with shining eyes.
I had no choice but to shake my head in response to Levinas.
I had a past life, but in this one, I had no family.
To avoid any misunderstandings, I decided to leave out my past life experiences.
I couldn't claim to have a family I've never met in this life.
"I don't have a family... So, I've never done it..."
"Ah..."
As soon as I finished speaking, Yeoreum let out a strange exclamation.
Turning to her naturally, I saw that she, Sophia, and everyone else wore sad expressions.
"Why...?"
"That, aren't I and Yeoreum your family...?"
"...We were family?"
Since when?
My tail curled like a question mark, expressing my confusion.
Then, Sophia slumped down next to me.
"If you live together and like each other, that's what makes a family, right?"
"Is that so...?"
"Yes, so don't say you don't have a family."
"Um... Okay..."
The idea of having a family.
Just hearing it made me feel good.
Thump-! Thump-!
Unable to contain the joy, my tail beat the ground.
Sophia's shark tail joined mine, thumping the floor in shared happiness.
It was an instinctive expression of emotion unique to beast-kin with tails.
"Levinas too! Levinas wants to be family too! Levinas doesn't have a family either!"
"Alright, Levinas can be family too."
"Yay! Levinas has a family now!"
Levinas jumped up from her spot.
A smile naturally formed in the harmonious atmosphere.
I wished every day could be just like this.
Then, my life would truly be the best.
Thump thump thump-
Feeling the tail beating non-stop, Yeoreum crouched down next to me.
"Gyeoul, want me to kiss you here?"
Yeoreum gently pressed my cheek.
I would probably like it, but honestly, I felt too shy.
After all, I was a grown adult, just like Yeoreum.
"I, I'm okay..."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, I'm going to bed now..."
My face felt hot.
I got up and quickly ran towards my room.
I could hear Yeoreum laughing behind me, which was somewhat annoying.
Of course, I didn't feel it was too bad.
<+>
That night.
In the deep darkness, Levinas opened her eyes.
She looked down at Gyeoul, who was sleeping beside her.
'Levinas and the King are family now...!'
The happiness was overwhelming.
Levinas managed to suppress the urge to jump up in excitement.
Waking up the sleeping King was out of the question.
"Um..."
They said it's okay for family members to kiss on the cheek.
But remembering how Gyeoul refused a kiss made it hard for her to proceed.
Still, she wanted to try.
How should she go about it?
After a bit of thought, Levinas decided to sneak a kiss while Gyeoul was asleep.
Tap-
Levinas' lips touched Gyeoul's cheek.
Not knowing how to do it properly, there was no sound of a kiss.
Yet, Levinas' eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Wow!"
This feels amazing!
Why didn't Gyeoul do this?!
It seems she should do this for the other family members too.
'I'll do it for Yeoreum and Sophia too!'
Levinas moved to find the sleeping family members, careful not to wake them.
Unbeknownst to her, Gyeoul's tail was wagging wildly as she left the room.
<+>
The next morning.
I entered a convenience store with Levinas.
After returning about five empty bottles, we browsed through the store's items.
"Hehe."
Levinas swung our linked hands back and forth as we walked.
I knew why she was so happy but decided to keep it a secret.
"Levinas, do you want to buy something?"
"No! I just want to look around!"
"What are you looking to see?"
"Animal King cards!"
Animal King cards.
That was the name of the animation we watched together last night.
It was popular among kids these days, and Levinas seemed interested too.
"But you can only see the cards if you open the pack?"
"Is that so...? Can't we just look at the cards...?"
"Yeah. Unfortunately, we can't."
"Aw..."
Disappointed by the fact that we couldn't just look at the cards, Levinas stopped swinging our hands.
It wasn't that I couldn't afford to buy the cards for her.
I decided to buy the cards just to see her happy.
"I'll buy you the Animal King cards."
"Is that okay...? Aren't the cards really expensive...?"
"No, they're not that expensive."
The cards cost a thousand won per pack.
I bought Levinas two packs.
Then, we sat on a bench near a pond and opened the packs to see what we got.
"King, thank you for buying me the cards."
"Yeah. But which card is the strongest?"
"The Silver Tiger card is the strongest! It's the king of animals! It has ten stars!"
Levinas, sitting on the bench swinging her legs, opened the card packs.
Out of about twenty cards, the best one was only a two-star card.
"Ah..."
Even I, who knew little about Animal King cards, could tell.
This was a complete flop.
Levinas must have been disappointed.
Should I buy another card pack?
While sneakily glancing at Levinas, strangely, she was bouncing with excitement.
"I got the best cards twice!"
"The best cards?"
"Yeah!"
Levinas handed me two cards.
One had a horned rabbit, and the other a white kitten drawn on them.
Despite being just one-star cards, Levinas seemed thrilled, swinging her legs back and forth.
"Isn't the best card supposed to be the Silver Tiger?"
"Strength isn't everything!"
"Uh, okay..."
So, Animal King cards weren't all about strength.
I scratched my neck, feeling a bit awkward.
"King, you're amazing. How did you manage to pick such great cards?"
"Guess I was just lucky."
Seeing Levinas happy made me happy too.
Our tails wagged as we looked at the cards.
Then, Levinas handed them all to me.
"Let's play with these."
"Okay. But how do we play?"
I knew the cards were meant for battling.
But neither Levinas nor I knew the rules of battle.
"We battle with them, but I don't want to fight the King."
"I don't want to fight Levinas either."
"Um... How about we do impressions instead?"
"Impressions?"
"Yeah!"
The rules of the game were simple.
Imitate the animal on the card you drew.
It was a simple and fun game.
"Then I'll go first?"
"Yeah!"
I drew a card from the mixed pile.
It was a seagull holding a sword.
I flapped my arms up and down, making squawking sounds.
"Correct! A cat!"
A cat?
It was clearly a bird impression.
I shook my head and showed Levinas the seagull card.
"Wrong."
"Oh? It's a seagull?!"
"Yeah. It's a seagull!"
"Aww... It's Levinas' turn now!"
Levinas grabbed a card and started jumping on the spot.
It had to be the horned rabbit card.
"Horned rabbit...?"
"Bam! A frog!"
Levinas showed me the card she was holding.
It was a frog dressed as a ninja.
"Wow."
I thought it was a horned rabbit because of the jumping, but it was a frog?
The game turned out to be more challenging than I expected... I was sweating bullets.
<+>
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