I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 227: Antifan

"I'm here."

I emerged from the grass and rushed towards Yeoreum.

I didn't know why I felt so urgent.

Was I actually jealous of Saebyeok?

I pondered this as I ran, but it didn't quite feel like jealousy.

Yeoreum often hugged Saebyeok anyway.

If I were jealous, I should have felt this way before.

'What is it then?'

Puzzled, I stood before Yeoreum.

Saebyeok in one arm, me in the other.

"The real Gyeoul found us."

The real Gyeoul.

Her tone suggested she knew Saebyeok was the fake one.

My eyes widened involuntarily.

"You knew it wasn't me?"

"Yeah. Saebyeok's eyes are red. Gyeoul's are blue. And Saebyeok is taller."

"Yes, that's right."

I thought she didn't know.

She had been pretending not to know all along.

My tail wagged with relief.

Perhaps I had been anxious about Yeoreum not being able to tell us apart.

"You were surprised that I could tell you and Saebyeok apart?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Gyeoul's emotions are easy to read."

"Ah."

That's true.

This body didn't try to hide its emotions.

I gave Yeoreum an awkward smile.

Levinas started hopping up and down.

"Levinas can read the king's thoughts too!"

"Oh really? What am I thinking about right now?"

"You want to play with Levinas!"

"Wow, how did you know?"

I feigned surprise, and Levinas puffed out her chest proudly.

It wasn't actually correct, but I decided to count it as right.

"Levinas knows everything about the king!"

"I know quite a bit about Levinas too."

"Really?! Do you know what Levinas was thinking?!"

"Yes. Levinas, do you want to play now?"

"Wha···!"

Levinas's ears shot up.

She wasn't actually surprised, just pretending to be, like I had been.

She seemed to know we were playing around.

Giggling, Levinas looked around, then came close and whispered to me.

"King, don't read Levinas's thoughts when she's thinking bad things, okay?"

"Bad things?"

"Yeah···! Levinas sometimes thinks bad things···! She's about to think bad things right now···!"

"What kind of thoughts···?"

I wondered what Levinas considered "bad thoughts."

I was a bit curious.

"Levinas saw it on TV!"

Levinas put a paint can on her head.

Thanks to her horned rabbit ears, it didn't slide down past her eyes.

"Uh···"

I wondered how this was supposed to be bad.

I tilted my head, watching Levinas's actions.

Then Levinas started making ghostly "wooo" noises.

"Wooo, if you don't give me candy, I'll play a bad trick."

"Ah."

So it was a Halloween prank.

It wasn't really that bad.

Yeoreum, who had been watching this with us, chuckled and set Saebyeok and me down.

"What trick will you play if we don't give you candy?"

"W-well···"

Levinas fidgeted, twiddling her fingers.

She clearly hadn't thought about what trick she'd actually play.

"I don't have any candy, so maybe I'll have to suffer the trick?"

"You don't have candy?!"

"Nope. What should we do?"

When Yeoreum expressed her disappointment, Levinas rummaged through her pockets.

She pulled out a crumpled wrapper containing a hard candy.

"Levinas has one candy! Yeoreum, eat it!"

"Oh··· It's okay. You eat it, Levinas."

"D-don't you like candy···? This is all Levinas has···what should we do···?"

Was she trying to give away her only piece of candy?

Yeoreum, perhaps feeling guilty about the prank in the face of such pure intentions, spoke honestly.

"I was just curious about what kind of bad trick Levinas would play."

"Bad trick···?"

"Yeah. Maybe mean tricks are still too difficult for our kids?"

Yeoreum looked around at us as she spoke.

Indeed, mean tricks seemed beyond our kids' capabilities.

I decided to demonstrate Halloween for them, to show what it's about.

"I know how to play mean tricks."

"Gyeoul does?"

"The King does?!"

"Gyeoul···?"

Everyone turned to me and spoke at once.

Though three voices overlapped, I could understand them all clearly.

"Yes, yes··· I can do it."

Why were they reacting like this?

I glanced at Yeoreum and the kids, moving only my eyes.

For some reason, the corners of Yeoreum's mouth were twitching upwards.

"Gyeoul knows how to play bad tricks too?"

"Yes. But not really mean tricks, just small bad tricks."

"Oh? Why don't you play a small bad trick on me then?"

Yeoreum's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

I didn't understand why she was so excited, but I decided to do as she asked.

"If you don't give me candy, um··· well··· No more hugs. They're banned for life."

A pathetic threat: no candy means no hugs.

As soon as I finished speaking, Levinas held out her candy to me.

"K-king, Levinas has candy···"

"I have candy too."

Saebyeok pulled a folded paper from her pocket.

Inside was the dried anchovy we'd eaten before.

"Anchovy?"

"Yeah. It's crunchy like candy. No, it is candy."

"Uh, okay···"

It was just a joke.

The kids seemed to have taken it seriously.

I was about to wave my hands to dismiss it when Yeoreum started patting herself down frantically.

"Candy! I don't have any candy?!"

"Um···"

I'd only given an example of a trick.

It didn't matter if she didn't have any.

I tried to stop Yeoreum, but her panic outpaced my actions.

"Gyeoul! I'll go get some candy, so just wait a bit! Okay?!"

"No, you don't need to···"

Before I could finish, Yeoreum dashed off towards the convenience store.

She moved so fast it created a gust of wind.

"As expected, the King is amazing···!"

"Why···?"

"A hug ban is the scariest thing Levinas has ever heard···!"

Levinas trembled.

Saebyeok was also fidgeting nervously, watching me.

What was the deal with hugs for people in this world?

···Well, hugs are important.

I think I understood why Yeoreum and the kids had become so frantic.

I decided never to mention a hug ban again.

---

---

"This is way too much···"

I looked down at the bag of snacks Yeoreum had brought.

It was stuffed to bursting with treats.

"I bought this much because I want to hug Gyeoul."

"I see."

"Yeah. So no more talk of hug bans from now on. Got it?"

"Yes."

I like hugs too, after all.

There's no need to ban them.

But still, there were so many snacks.

What should we do with all of them?

I looked around.

Just then, I spotted someone familiar.

Momoa was crouched next to a bench, playing with Seol.

"Meow, meow."

Momoa meowed, waving a cat's tail grass.

Seol barked and punched at the grass.

"Momoa."

"Meo···!"

Momoa, who had been meowing, flinched.

When she turned around, her cheeks were flushed red.

"Momoa, that's amazing."

"W-why? What is?"

"How can you speak cat language so well?"

"···Did what I said have some meaning?"

Ahem.

Momoa cleared her throat and stood up.

It seemed she didn't actually know cat language and had just gotten lucky with her meowing.

"Yes. I'm too shy to say things like that."

"W-what does it mean···?"

Momoa looked flustered.

It's embarrassing but a nice thing to say, right?

I gave Momoa an eye-smile.

"I love you."

"Gack!"

Yeoreum, who was next to me, collapsed onto the grass.

She clutched her heart as she fell.

"······?"

Why was she suddenly acting like that?

Unable to understand, I looked up at Momoa.

For some reason, Momoa's cheeks were even redder than before.

"Y-you shouldn't say things like that so casually!"

"Y-yes···"

I won't do it anymore.

Just as I was about to nod, Yeoreum sprang up and shook me vigorously.

"N-no! Gyeoul, say it casually! Say it all the time! I mean, say it for the rest of your life!"

"That's right! Say it all the time!"

Levinas sided with the unreasonable Yeoreum.

She joined in shaking me roughly.

"Ugh."

My head was spinning from being shaken around.

Just as I was about to stop them, someone brushed past us, muttering:

"···I don't see what's so pretty about that."

It was a woman I'd never seen before.

Everyone must have heard her words, as they stopped shaking me.

"Pardon?"

I wondered who she was talking about.

I tried to look at the woman, but Yeoreum blocked my view.

"Sorry, she must have been talking about me."

"Why would she say something like that···?"

"Famous people always attract anti-fans."

Anti-fans.

I know what those are.

But do they really come up and say things so blatantly?

I just stared at the woman's retreating back.

"She could have been talking about me. I've become a bit famous too."

"Come on, what kind of bi··· crazy person would say that to Gyeoul?"

Yeoreum waved her hand, absolutely certain it wasn't about me.

She was convinced the comment was directed at her.

"Aren't you angry?"

"Nah, there's no need to react to stuff like that."

"···This happens often, doesn't it?"

"It does. Some people even throw eggs when they know they can't actually harm you."

There are many famous people who get egged.

Some get hit even when they've done nothing wrong.

To think my family was that kind of famous.

It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

My ears and tail drooped with my gloomy mood.

"Gyeoul, don't worry about it too much. Why don't we share these snacks together?"

"Okay."

Yeah, whatever.

There's no point in dwelling on it since there's nothing we can do.

We decided to just eat the snacks together.

---

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