Chapter 26

26. This is not a coincidence.

2 AM.

The time when the whole house was completely silent.

Someone tickled Siu's face as he slept on the bed.

“Mmm…”

Siu opened his eyes.

He yawned widely, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and sat up.

The being that woke him up burrowed into his arms.

It was Nero.

Siu gave Nero a pat on the bottom.

Nero, feeling good, half-closed his eyes and purred.

“Let’s go.”

Siu got out of bed with Nero.

The bed Siu was currently using was a large and beautiful cabin bed sent by Sujin as a gift.

Since it arrived in August, he had been using it for about three months.

Siu really liked this bed.

From the walls to the roof, it was all made of high-quality wood, and when he slept in it, it felt like he was in a real cabin in the forest, with a pleasant wood scent wafting through the air.

After passing through the cabin door decorated with multicolored garlands and descending the stairs, Siu walked towards his parents' bed, which had been pushed to the corner of the master bedroom due to the size of his bed.

In the past, he would tiptoe to put his parents to sleep with a sweet sleep spell, barely managing to touch their legs. Now, there was no need for that.

Of course, he had grown taller, but more importantly, his magic skills had improved through consistent practice.

The moment Nero leaped onto the bed to wake his father, Siu cast the sweet sleep spell over the entire bed.

At the same time, Nero, who had jumped onto the bed, yawned widely and buried his face in the blanket.

Siu sighed and pulled Nero, who had lain down, back up.

“...Why do you always do this? Get up.”

Nero's eyes snapped open.

– Meow!

“Yeah, I know. You even managed to dream in that short time.”

Nero had woken up while trying to put his paw into a pile of catnip on the bathroom sink.

“Let’s go.”

Siu, who had petted Nero's chin, walked into the living room.

Nero, recalling the unfulfilled dream of a catnip bath, shivered with regret and followed Siu.

In the living room, Boksil was waiting.

– Hehe~

Boksil wagged her tail at the bottom of the living room light switch.

After seeing Nero turn on the lights a few times, Boksil sometimes begged Siu to let her try.

The problem was that, unlike cats, dogs lacked the jumping ability.

“Sigh, come here.”

Though pretending to be annoyed, Siu always did everything for his children.

When Boksil stood on her front paws against the wall, Siu cast a spell from behind.

Even though the duration was short, it was enough for Boksil to turn on the light and come down.

Boksil's body floated up as if riding a cloud.

– Hehehe~

Boksil kicked her legs wildly in the air, thrilled.

“You’re so cute.”

Swimming through the air, Boksil reached the living room light switch and pressed it with her paw.

Click.

The living room lit up.

Boksil, who had landed softly on the floor, ran to Siu.

Siu praised her.

“Good job.”

Wearing navy-colored ultra-fine flannel pajamas, Siu, who seemed to have just woken up, walked into the living room. After a moment of thought, he opened a drawer under the TV and took something out.

“Ta-da.”

It was a mini drone he had received as a gift two months ago.

Boksil and Nero, seeing the drone, came running with excited eyes.

“Shall we play with this for the first time in a while?”

– Woof!

– Meow!

“Yeah. Lately, I’ve been so busy with movies that I haven’t played with you much. There are so many interesting movies coming out. Just wait a moment.”

Siu decided to modify the drone a bit.

He didn’t disassemble it or change its functions.

Clunk clunk.

A short while later, a drone with snacks attached was born.

– Meow! Meow!

– Woof! Hehe!

“No. Wait. This isn’t for eating right now. You haven’t been moving much because of the cold weather, so you need to exercise.”

Siu held the drone controller and gently flew the drone upwards.

Since he had played with it countless times at night while his parents were sleeping, his piloting skills were very proficient.

The drone, carrying the snacks, quickly circled the living room.

Siu had been worried it wouldn’t fly properly due to the weight of the snacks, but it was a baseless concern.

Siu gave them some instructions.

“Listen carefully. There are rules in the game. Nero can only go for Nero’s snack, and Boksil can only go for Boksil’s snack. And every time I call your name, it’s your turn. You can’t chase when it’s not your turn. Got it?”

– Woof!

– Meow!

Both answered well.

But Siu already knew they would eventually chase together.

“Shall we start? Nero~”

The drone, which had been flying high, descended.

Whirr~

The drone quickly passed above Nero.

Whoosh!

Nero leaped into the air.

Paf paf paf!

One jump, three punches.

Nero, who had missed three times in the air, immediately started chasing the drone again as soon as he landed.

Siu maintained the height where Nero could almost reach the snack and quickly maneuvered the drone left and right.

Whirr~

“I might enter a drone competition when I go to kindergarten.”

If a kindergartener could control a drone this well, he would be called a prodigy and might even appear on TV.

Well, it’s the same in any field.

If you play soccer, you’re a soccer prodigy; if you play the piano, you’re a piano prodigy; if you study, you’re a study prodigy.

Whatever you do, you’re a prodigy.

Whirr~

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Nero, who had shown one jump, three punches, now demonstrated three consecutive jumps.

Nero’s bright amber eyes were gleaming with hunting instincts.

After playing with Nero for about a minute, Siu called Boksil to change turns.

“Boksil~”

Boksil, who had been watching Nero and drooling, sprang up.

– Woof!

The drone quickly descended.

The snack attached to the drone darted close to the ground.

Boksil ran hard, making a tat-tat-tat sound as she chased the snack.

‘Thank goodness we live on the first floor. We can run around like this in the morning.’

It was one of the few advantages.

Siu, to help Boksil, who had fewer walks due to the cold, made the drone fly low.

– Hehehe!

When Boksil, who had been running around happily and relieving stress, started to look a bit tired, it was Nero’s turn again.

“Nero~”

Siu repeated this a few times, and at the end, he intentionally let both of them catch the snacks.

Subtly letting them catch the snacks also required precise control of the drone, a difficult skill.

After the exercise, Siu watched Boksil and Nero enjoy their snacks and put the drone back in the drawer.

He went to the sofa to pick up the TV remote, but then he came to his senses and threw it away.

Siu, with a pale face as if he had seen a ghost, muttered.

“Habits... they’re so scary.”

He couldn’t help but pick up and turn on the TV remote whenever he saw it.

He couldn’t scold Nero for swallowing the string whenever he saw it, as he was in the same situation.

That little guy... probably his DNA was telling him to eat it.

“This is not a coincidence~”

Siu, humming a clear and innocent baby song, headed to the small room.

He was thinking about playing the piano.

* * *

The day of my wife’s VIP premiere, which was too scary for me.

Hyunju had been taking all the clothes out of her closet and agonizing over them since the morning.

On, off, on, off...

She was repeating the same actions with the few clothes she had.

Dojin, who had finished his preparations for work, couldn’t stand it anymore and said,

“...Didn’t you decide yesterday? Why are you doing this?”

It was a scene he had often witnessed over the past week.

Last night, after making a final decision, Hyunju had started taking the clothes out of the bed again in the morning.

Hyunju, with an anxious look, turned to Dojin and asked,

“Brother... is this outfit not weird?”

“It’s fine.”

“What about this one?”

“That one seems fine too.”

“Which one is better?”

“...”

He had answered the same thing last night...

Dojin, tilting his head, gave the same answer as yesterday.

“This one.”

“Really? Is this definitely better?”

“Yeah.”

“Phew, got it.”

In the end, the original choice was reselected.

“Should I have just borrowed from Eun-hye? She has a lot of this style of clothes.”

“Eun-hye?”

“Jina’s mom.”

“Oh, the one who’s moving here next year?”

“Yeah.”

“Then next year, Siu, Jina, and Kyungho will go to the same kindergarten, right?”

“Jina doesn’t know yet. Eun-hye said she’s on the waiting list and will get a spot when it’s available.”

“Right. Siu will have fun playing with his friends. He’ll adapt well, of course.”

“Yeah. Siu gets bored at home.”

Siu, who was listening, leaned his head against the wall of the cabin bed and thought.

‘...I’m going to start working as a baby teacher at the kindergarten next year.’

He seemed to think he would be taking care of his friends and being careful not to let them get hurt, while playing happily with them.

“I’m going to work now. Have a good lunch and a good premiere. Tell me all about it when you get back.”

Dojin lightly kissed Hyunju’s forehead and left the house.

Hyunju arrived at the premiere venue in a staff car she often saw during the movie shoot.

It