Side Story - Why am I a Pet!! (1)

"My dream is to be a wizard! I will become a wizard and get rid of all the trash in the world to make it cleaner. I also want to help my unnie, who is working at NASA, with the power of magic. So, I"m going to explore s.p.a.ce with my sister!"

It was presentation time for "My Dream" in the Parent"s Observation lesson for the 2nd-Grade Cla.s.s-5 students. The girl who was giving a presentation was Kang Bo-ram, who was a lively and cute girl with chubby baby fats. She was presenting with glistening eyes, as well as smooth public speaking skills. Nearing the end of her presentation, she wrapped it up with the movements she frequently practised while watching Magic Warrior:Moonlight Princess at home.

Bo-ram, having finished her presentation, had an expression that was as bright as day. However, her homeroom teacher, cla.s.smates, and the parents who heard her presentation, all put on perplexed and lost expressions.

"Bo-ram! Good job!" Just then, a low-pitched voice praised Bo-ram and disregarded the others’ reactions. He was an attractive-looking man, who had been catching the other parents’ attention since earlier on.

"Y-Yes. Bo-ram"s dream is to become a wizard, huh... Good job. Go and sit down." The homeroom teacher tried her best to put on a smiling face, disguising her hardened expression, upon hearing the man’s cheers.

Bo-ram nodded and returned to her seat. Then, she waved at the man, who was in his early 30s with bright brown hair that was hardly found on Koreans. The man also had fair skin, eyes that shone in an emerald hue, a sharp nose that appeared to be sculpted, as well as broad shoulders. Although he was merely filming Bo-ram with a camera, it already looked like a scene out of a movie.

"Wow, look at that person."

"Is he an actor?"

"Now that I think about it, that kid is very pretty too.”

Murmurs and whispers could be heard everywhere, while there were even flashes of light going off in the hallway. Once Bo-ram’s presentation was over, the perplexed feelings of everyone else vanished into the air and were replaced by admiring exclamations and awe.

Those camera flashes from the hallway belonged to the parents from the other cla.s.ses. They were taking pictures of the man. After coming to school with their children, they had chased after the man after discovering him walking down the hallway. The quietness left the man oblivious to their actions, but the windows of Cla.s.s-5, facing the hallway, were already filled with people. There were no gaps showing.

The mothers at the Parent"s Observation lesson were staring at the man with admiring eyes, while the fathers were gathered together in one corner of the cla.s.sroom. They tried their best to not show their presence.

Soon, after all the Parent"s Observation lessons were over, the face-to-face interview sessions with the parents began. The interview sessions went on for quite a while, so Bo-ram and the middle-aged man had to wait until dinner time. Numerous parents approached the middle-aged man in the meantime, kickstarting conversations under the pretext their children were Bo-ram"s friend, sunbae, or hoobae.

Louis, who came to the school as Bo-ram"s guardian, initially answered the parents one by one. However, as time went by, he held Bo-ram"s hand and entered a random empty cla.s.sroom. Perhaps the entire experience was getting too overwhelming.

"Samcheon, seems like you"re having it pretty rough.”

"I didn"t expect it to be this much..."

"Samcheon is very popular to begin with."

"But even so, I think this is just over the top." Louis slightly smiled and fidgeted with his hair. Then, he put his hand on the cla.s.sroom door and muttered ‘Evanesco.’ Only then did he sit on the chair that was right next to him.

"That’s why I told you not to come. Why did you come in the end? We could’ve just met at home and left from there."

"How could I not come when you have a presentation? Of course I had to." Louis smiled gently and patted Bo-ram on the head.

Whether it was hair color, eye color, or any other aspect of their appearances, the two of them did not share any similarities. They were so different that it was difficult to say that they were related. Unlike Bo-ram, who was of an Asian heritage, Louis was obviously of a mixed Hispanic descent. Despite that difference, Bo-ram still casually called Louis ‘Samcheon’. After all, what the two of them shared was something that the outside world couldn’t possibly perceive anyway.

While Bo-ram and Louis temporarily rested in the empty cla.s.sroom, sharing a conversation about various things, the sun slowly set and darkness fell upon the stadium. Then, when they began to feel somewhat hungry, Bo-ram’s handphone rang. She checked the number and saw that it was the homeroom teacher, so she and Louis got up. They left the cla.s.sroom.

Knock knock. Bo-ram opened the cla.s.sroom door to Cla.s.s-5, and went in. She noticed that the homeroom teacher’s face seemed to be coated on with a fresh application of makeup, not seeming the least bit tired from an entire day of interview sessions. It was only expected for the homeroom teacher’s face to be oily and her makeup to be slightly smudged by now, but she looked fresh. The homeroom teacher’s clothes also seemed different from what she had worn during the earlier Parent"s Observation lesson.

"Bo-ram, come in with your dad."

"Teacher! He"s not my father! He"s my Samcheon! Louis Samcheon!"

"Ah!" The homeroom teacher was embarra.s.sed, flipping through Bo-ram’s student record.

Louis then said, "I"m Louis, Bo-ram"s samcheon. I"m here, because something urgent came up for my brother today.”

"Ah, yes. I see! Then will it be alright to call you Louis-nim?"

"Of course."

As she looked into Louis’ blinking eyes, the homeroom teacher"s face reddened. "Erm, please have a seat here…" The three of them sat down a moment later, and the homeroom teacher cooled her flushed face with a hand fan. Looking at Bo-ram’s student record, she explained each individual subject and spoke about Bo-ram. However, her eyes were fixed on Louis" face.

30 minutes soon pa.s.sed, and Louis smiled. The homeroom teacher then stopped her explanations, asking, "Yes, please go ahead! Ohohoho, was the explanation too short?"

"No, no, it"s nothing like that."

"Then what is it?"

"I would like to talk about Bo-ram"s future. It"s just that it has suddenly been decided that Bo-ram will study abroad in the United States."

"Ahh, I see. The United States… Wait, what?!"

"She"ll be leaving on tonight"s flight. I"m sorry for this sudden announcement, but there was nothing I could do. I initially didn"t hear anything from the elementary school I have applied to for Bo-ram, and only got a confirmation call a few weeks ago. I forgot to inform the school in advance, because I was getting the doc.u.ments sorted and the other necessary preparations in order,” Louis spoke politely and continued to smile gently.

Meanwhile, Bo-ram"s homeroom teacher was momentarily out of her mind. She did not know how to respond to the sudden situation. "No… For it to be so sudden…"

"We will leave for the United States first, and slowly get the papers sorted after that. We will try our best to not impose on you, teacher-nim."

"Ah… Y-Yes…"

"Then, we"ll get going now. We have to get to the airport quickly, so we won"t miss our flight." Louis grabbed Bo-ram"s hand, who was sitting quietly next to him. Then, he stood up and walked out the cla.s.sroom door.

At that time, the homeroom teacher, who was unable to come to her senses due to the sudden news, picked herself up and stood up from her seat. Then, she called out to Louis, "Louis-nim, wait a minute. Erm, Bo-ram?"

"Yes, teacher!"

"Can our Bo-ram please wait in the hallway for a moment? Teacher has something to say to your Louis samcheon!"

"Okie dokie!" Bo-ram smiled widely. She then let go of Louis" hand and hopped out to the hallway.

After confirming that Bo-ram had gone out of the cla.s.sroom and closed the door, the homeroom teacher looked at Louis, who asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"Ah, it"s not that serious of a matter. I"m just worried.” The homeroom teacher spoke with awkward coughs of "ehem ehem" in between. "It wasn"t that serious today, but…how should I say this… Bo-ram often says that she would become a Wizard, and seems to seriously believe in it. Of course, I tried to give her various advice, but she didn"t take it very well. She"s a little…delusional, no, I mean she has too much imagination. So about that…"

"Bo-ram is still 9 years old. Plus, she"s at the age where she dreams of becoming the things she likes to see."

"Oh my. How… I see that you know a lot about children…"

"Teacher, I think what you"re currently trying to say is that Bo-ram is a little severe compared to the other kids around her age, right?"

"Yes."

Louis laughed as he saw the homeroom teacher"s face turn bright red. He added, "I think she"ll be fine as time goes by and she gets older. These are phases one would have to go through while they are still growing up.” While the homeroom teacher nodded pa.s.sionately at his reply, Louis slightly bowed to the homeroom teacher and left the cla.s.sroom.

Bo-ram was looking out the window and turned her head as Louis came out. "Samcheon, samcheon! Let"s go quickly! Unnie! Let"s go and see unnie!"

"Alright, let"s go to the airport right away."

"Unnie said she would specially show me a book about ."

"Oooh? Really? Are you already at the stage where you can read that, Bo-ram?" Louis looked down at Bo-ram with a surprised look.

was commonly known as the so-called "Brilliant" book. It had a difficulty that was basically impossible for a Wizard of Bo-ram’s age to understand, so it was pointless reading it if one did not have sufficient understanding and supporting research. There were a lot of skilled wizards in the Magic Tower Society who couldn"t even read it properly, but Bo-ram’s older sister was going to show her such a book…?

"But Eun-ha wouldn"t have made such a promise for no reason,’ Louis thought. He was certain that her decision to show Bo-ram the book also meant that Bo-ram had reached a level of fully understanding the book.

"Hehe, while I was attending elementary school in Korea, all I had left was time. I had actually read all the books in samcheon’s study, but still had a lot of time left. I then read more than half of them many, many times!”

Louis patted Bo-ram"s head with a proud look on his face. "Alright, then all the more reason for us to go quickly! Hurry up and get in the car." He walked to the last remaining car on one side of the school parking lot and opened the pa.s.senger"s door. When Bo-ram got in the pa.s.senger seat, he helped her fasten her seatbelt and got into the driver"s seat. He closed the door and stepped on the accelerator.

While the car accelerated, as if sliding out of the stadium without any sort of sound or vibration, Bo-ram piped up, "Samcheon! Isn"t a car too troublesome? It"s a waste of money, and only fatigue would pile up. Besides, it"s not even fast as a means of transportation.”

"Even so, isn"t this somewhat cool? In the outside world, cars are considered a thing of pride anyway."

"It"s better to just return it…"

"You"re still young, so you don"t know."

"Yes, yes…" Bo-ram let out a soft sigh and stayed quiet while looking out the car window. Then, as the car entered the highway leading to the airport, she started to talk as if her heart had settled down. She chatted about what she wanted to do upon arriving in the United States and meeting her sister. Louis concentrated on driving, as if listening to her blabbering on…

"Samcheon! Sammmmcheooonnnnnnnn!""

"H-Hmmm?"

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yes! Of course!" Instead of giving Bo-ram a look, Louis answered while only looking to the front.

"Well then, what did I say I was going to do when I met with unnie?"

"Umm… Ermm… Something about s.p.a.ce…"

"Samcheon!"

"Ugh, Bo-ram… What did samcheon say not to do when samcheon was driving?"

"Tch, to not talk to you."

"That"s right… When did samcheon get samcheon"s driving license?"

"Last month…" Bo-ram answered Louis in a dispirited voice. She knew that Louis was not able to even properly talk as he was focused on looking front and back, as well as left and right, while driving.

"Other times are fine. But samcheon is, ack! Phew, samcheon is still not used to driving yet…"

-The toll gate is 1 kilometer ahead. The high-pa.s.s[1] is in the first and third lane.

"Oh ugh! I"m in the fifth lane though… Hmm… The other cars are going too fast." Louis tried to cut in to the left while turning his blinkers on, but the other cars were too fast that he didn"t dare to do it. In the end, he failed to move to the high-pa.s.s lane and stayed on the fifth lane all the way to the toll gate. "Bo-ram…"

"Yes."

"...Do you happen to have any money?"

When Bo-ram did not respond, Louis cleared his throat and spoke to Bo-ram in embarra.s.sment. She continued to stare at him, while rustling through her bag to retrieve a small rabbit-shaped coin purse. "That"s…because samcheon is still not used to driving yet."

"I only have 3,000 won. Can we really go to the airport with this? Why don"t we just cross over to the parallel world?"

There was another world on Earth that people didn"t know about. It was a parallel world, Another Plane. In the parallel world, which had exactly the same shape and size as Earth, there were all kinds of beings living there—Swordsman, Wizards, Priests and Summoners. They went beyond the imaginations of ordinary people. Not only were there terrifying monsters that ate humans as a staple of food, but there were also Beings of the Beginning that almost destroyed the Earth.

Louis, who was groaning while driving a car right now, and Bo-ram, who was looking at him with a pathetic expression, were also Wizards that belonged to the reputable Magic Tower in Another Plane.

"We can"t do that! If we were going to do that, then why would I buy a car? I am..."

"It"s 5,300 won."

"...Ahhh... Can I use my card?"

"If you want to pay by card, you have to go into the building on the right and pay there."

"Alright, thank you." Louis entered the building and paid as per the employee"s guidance. He then returned to the car, and continued driving to the airport. He remained on the receiving end of Bo-ram"s worrying gazes.

1. High-pa.s.s is a toll gate system in Korea where you drive through and something similar to a smart-tag where you top up the card would be sensed when the car pa.s.ses through and automatically deduct money from your card.