OMH Chapter 8

Oh My Hero – Episode 8

8. Cha Woojin (7)

“……?”

As I turned my head to see who it was, he walked into the cafe. It was Kim Sanghyuk again.

He’s an unwelcome guest, so I need to get rid of him quickly.

“Gang Crazy, what are you doing? Volunteering?”

“Go away if you’re going to talk nonsense. I’m busy.”

“And who’s this?”

“This is Wooreen’s younger sister. There’s no one to look after her, so she’s with me.”

“Wow~ If the world hadn’t ended, she would’ve been a child model. I wasn’t even curious about your Woojin, but after seeing her, I kind of want to see him.”

“Stop talking nonsense and go your way. Can’t you see the kid is uncomfortable with you?”

“Ah, seeing you reminded me of something I wanted to ask. I’m not sure, but… Cha Woojin is an unregistered Guide, right?”

I felt uneasy, so I was trying to get him to leave quickly, but Sanghyuk hit a vital point. But I can still recover… He’s just half-remembering something he heard while drunk.

“Ah, noooot…? What are you talking about? Did you, did you dream that while drinking alone?”

“So I was right. I’ll register him at the Central Center.”

Ha, crap… This isn’t how it was supposed to go… Sanghyuk turned around and left the cafe.

‘Was Kim Sanghyuk always this good at remembering things?’

I knew he was great at taking action, but I didn’t know he could remember something said right before passing out drunk.

The thing Woojin was so afraid of is about to happen right in front of me. He already rejects Espers, but if he enters the Association…

‘Damn it. I don’t even want to imagine it. I have to stop it right now.’

I immediately jumped up to follow Sanghyuk, but Cha Wooreen grabbed my hand and started crying, so I sat back down.

If I leave like this, this little kid will be left alone. I came to comfort her, so I can’t just abandon her. I had no choice but to give up chasing Sanghyuk.

‘It was going to happen eventually anyway, so let’s control my mind. It seems a bit early, but this is how it was going to be.’

Since Hwayoung’s medical team already knows, it was only a matter of time before he was affiliated with the Association.

‘It’s okay. It’ll work out somehow.’

I calmed myself down and decided to focus on cheering Wooreen up. If I play with her enthusiastically, she’ll feel better.

I went to the arcade with Wooreen and played whack-a-mole, won some dolls, and had fun. I went to an accessory store and bought Wooreen a headband with a big ribbon that she wanted. After feeding her pizza for dinner, Wooreen seemed to feel a lot better.

I’m proud that I succeeded in comforting Wooreen. Now it’s time to say goodbye. I took Wooreen to the Civilian Protection Shelter.

“Did you have fun, Wooreen? Let’s play again next time, and now, goodbye~”

“……”

I opened the front door of the Civilian Protection Shelter and let Wooreen inside.

I felt like I lost something important today, but I was proud that I gave Wooreen a good memory. Since we had fun playing, I can say goodbye and go back to my daily life.

But contrary to my wishes, Wooreen, who had stepped into the entrance, started crying again.

Wooreen said that she didn’t want to go into the Civilian Protection Shelter. Her crying was so loud that all the Civilian Protection Shelter staff rushed out. But Wooreen didn’t care at all and instead hit the Civilian Protection Shelter people and cried, saying she didn’t want to.

‘What should I do? Should I take her to the Medical Bureau to sleep? They won’t let me take her if she cries loudly at the Medical Bureau, either…’

After a long worry, I ended up taking Wooreen to my Dormitory.

*

The Dormitory for Espers belonging to the EGA Association is divided into three places depending on the grade.

Lower grades F, E, and D use the same building and 2-3 people use the same room. And the upper grades C, B, and A use a different building from them and use a single room.

Occasionally, lower-grade Espers complain, but giving them a single room is not to discriminate by grade. It is because there are fewer people with higher grades.

Since the EGA Association manages different departments according to grade, this happened because people were put in the department-in-charge building.

The highest grade, S-grade, is managed directly by the Central Research Center. These are a very small number of people who have many accidents and a lot of research, so there is no separate Dormitory building, and they use the Dormitory attached to the Ability Research Institute building.

I took Wooreen to the upper-grade Esper Dormitory building where I stay. Wooreen didn’t cry from the moment she wasn’t allowed to enter the Civilian Protection Shelter and just hugged the doll I had won for her. I held Wooreen’s sulky hand and opened the door.

Everyone said that this room, which I was assigned to as a B-grade Esper, was desolate whenever they saw it. I don’t have a hobby of decorating the room, and I just left what I was given.

My room is just as it was when no one was assigned to it. I only come in to sleep, so I didn’t really want to put anything else in it.

But I regretted it a little for the first time after bringing Wooreen. I can’t decorate it stylishly, but I should have put a few things to make it feel like someone lives here…

My room only had a bed, sofa, blanket, a few towels, and spare Uniforms in the Association Dormitory.

‘It’s just a place to sleep, so there’s not much stuff…’

But fortunately, the child who has only lived in the post-apocalyptic era didn’t seem to care much about this stark interior. But she needed toys.

After washing, Wooreen said she wanted to see a storybook.

‘I don’t have such cute props in my room…’

All I have is a pillow, a blanket, tissue paper, a towel, and spare clothes. What can a child do with this? So, to solve Wooreen’s boredom, I barged into Sanghyuk’s room next door.

I was a little worried about what to do if Sanghyuk wasn’t there, but Sanghyuk was in the room.

Sanghyuk, who was brushing his teeth, was flustered when I barged in, and his eyes widened even more when he saw Wooreen, whom I had tucked under my arm. Sanghyuk mumbled something while looking at us, and toothpaste foam dripped from his mouth.

“Ugh, disgusting… Go finish brushing your teeth.”

While Sanghyuk went to the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth, Wooreen and I settled in Sanghyuk’s room.

Sanghyuk’s room smelled more like someone lived there than my room. He grows cacti by the window, has cushions on the sofa, and uses colorful blankets that aren’t supplied. There is also a coffee pot on the table. I looked around Sanghyuk’s table and side table, looking for toys.

‘It must be around here somewhere…’

Among the miscellaneous items near the low shelf where the TV was placed, I found what I was looking for.

Blue, yellow, and red plastic character ttakji of various sizes. The remnants of civilization that Sanghyuk found after going on a mission.

On the day Sanghyuk found this, we reminisced about the games of the civilization era and played ttakji enthusiastically. I will pass on the old culture to the child born in the era of the end of civilization.

I took out the cute ttakji and showed them to Wooreen. Wooreen was amazed and liked the colorful, slightly glittery, and translucent character ttakji.

But Wooreen enjoyed shining the ttakji on the lamp and lost interest when Sanghyuk and I taught her how to play ttakji. With the arm strength of a six-year-old, it was also difficult to throw the ttakji and hit another ttakji.

While Sanghyuk and I were playing ttakji, Wooreen found a cushion with a unicorn on Sanghyuk’s bed and played house with the rabbit doll I had won for her.

‘Wow, there was such a cushion? You have cuter tastes than I thought, Kim Sanghyuk.’

I won the ttakji match against Sanghyuk.

But the thrill of victory had to end quickly. Because Wooreen said it wasn’t fun here. Okay, if it’s not fun, we have to go somewhere else. Where should we go?

While worry, someone who could welcome me and Wooreen came to my mind. A-grade Healer Lee Hwayoung! She knows Wooreen well and won’t turn us away.

I moved to the floor where Wooreen and A-grades stay. Is it off today? I hoped that Hwayoung wasn’t at the Central Center today and went to Hwayoung’s room.

Knock, knock, knock, knock

When I knocked as in the cartoon we watched together earlier, Hwayoung came out.

‘Thank goodness. It’s not a night she’s staying up all night at the Medical Bureau today.’

Hwayoung’s eyes widened when she saw me carrying Wooreen. Usually, I don’t even enter the Dormitory at this time because I’m training, but everyone is wondering why I’m walking around with a child. Still, Hwayoung welcomed us warmly.

Hwayoung even made tea and welcomed us. Everyone has a coffee pot as a basic. Should I buy one too? Wooreen sat next to me and sipped her cocoa. I have to make her brush her teeth again.

Hwayoung’s room smelled more like someone lived there than Sanghyuk’s room. There’s a tablecloth, a carpet, a flower vase, and even a gramophone? Where did you get such a relic? Don’t you hardly ever come into your room as much as I do? You live very well decorated, you.

Wooreen finished her cocoa and went up to Hwayoung’s bed with a rabbit doll in one hand and a unicorn cushion she stole from Sanghyuk in the other. Then, she took out all the pretty cushions and pillows from Hwayoung’s bed and played with dolls.

‘Ah, so cute. Are all little kids like this? Woojin must have seen this all the time?’

Wooreen seemed to be playing well alone, so I chatted with Hwayoung while drinking tea.

Hwayoung told me that Woojin had just registered as a new Guide.

‘Hahaha. Kim Sanghyuk, you quick and sure bastard. The Administration Department guys are really fast at registering new Association members.’

Since Woojin is a mentally unstable patient, Hwayoung was assigned the role of notifying the new Guide. She said she was going to make her rounds tomorrow morning, so I said I would follow her. Since I’m skipping out anyway, let’s skip all the morning training and fill 24 hours.

While Hwayoung and I were talking about this and that, I saw Wooreen slumped down on Hwayoung’s bed, sleeping. As I was about to leave with Wooreen, Hwayoung said she would just let her sleep here, so I went back to my room alone.

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