## Chapter 208 – Clear (7)
When I came out of the motel, the sun was just about to cross the horizon, right before twilight.
Perhaps because it was a weekday, I could see people finishing work and heading home,
and the barbecue restaurant we entered was packed with customers who had come for dinner.
The boisterous sounds of pouring alcohol, the popping of carbonation, and the sizzling of meat fat.
These were the complex and noisy sounds I usually disliked, but today, they didn’t bother me.
“What are you doing? It’s all cooked, why aren’t you eating?”
“…I’m just thinking about a lot of things.”
The reason was the radiant smile on Rhan noona’s face as she put the cooked meat in her mouth.
What she had said at the motel earlier kept replaying in my ears. ‘I need to quit drinking now.’
And the words, ‘I can’t leave because of someone now,’ kept swirling around.
Surely not, but I couldn’t just ask her if she was pregnant,
especially since if she were, I’d have to ask if it was a seed or a human child…
My head was getting complicated. Can Creators even make seeds in their bodies?
No. Creators are beings who create flowers, not beings who originate from flowers, so then…
“Are you worried about what’s ‘in here’ right now?”
“……..”
While I was aimlessly flipping the cooked meat, trying to sort out my complicated thoughts,
Rhan noona, who was drinking a soda instead of alcohol, put down her glass and said with a gentle smile.
Startled, I froze with the tongs in my hand, staring blankly at her.
What kind of expression am I making right now? Am I smiling? Or am I frowning?
I was so flustered that I couldn’t even tell what my own emotions were.
“….Huh?”
Rhan noona was waiting for me with a more mature smile than ever before.
Thanks to her small consideration, I was able to sort out my emotions and thoughts a little.
“…Yes, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t sort out my thoughts for a moment…”
“Well, that can happen. So, now? Do you seem ready to hear?”
The yellow lights of the barbecue restaurant shone on her slightly tilted hair.
Even though she hadn’t been drinking, her fair cheeks were slightly flushed,
and if you looked closely at her calm smile, you could see a hint of tension.
Seeing that, I put down the tongs, brought both hands to my knees, took a deep breath, and…
“Yes, please tell me.”
I asked with an expression and voice that tried to reassure her that I was ready.
Seeing that, she widened her eyes slightly as if surprised, then smiled and said.
“We’re not flower petals, so we can’t have seeds or anything like that.
So right now, what’s inside here is… a human child, so, ‘your child.'”
With tears welling up in her eyes, she gently placed both hands on her stomach,
and the relieved expression and light smile on her face made her look especially beautiful today.
“…I guess it would be like that…”
“Yeah, it’s said to be so difficult for a child to be born between a human and a Creator that it’s almost impossible.
So before you awakened as a Creator, you could do it all you wanted without having to worry about this…”
“So the child was born because I became a Creator.”
“That’s right, so there’s something I want to ask you. What… what do you want to do?”
She carefully asked for my opinion, subtly clutching her collar.
She lightly threw the heaviest question of my life, ‘What do I want to do?’
Even this question was probably consideration for me. I’ve only been 20 for half a year.
I’m becoming a father at a young age, before I’ve even properly experienced society.
Of course, it’s better than being a student who hasn’t even become an adult, but it’s still difficult.
It’s an act of placing a heavy responsibility on my shoulders that I won’t be able to quit later, even if I want to.
I looked at noona, who had already made her decision but was giving me one last chance to choose.
“….”
She bit her lip and gently stroked her stomach, looking down.
A faint, warm light could be felt from below where her hands were placed.
“Let’s have it, and we can raise it together.”
“…Huh? Are you really okay with that…?”
“…Of course, I’m still young, and being a father is new to me, so I’ll be very inexperienced.
But I never thought that this kind of thing wouldn’t happen. I’ll take responsibility.”
“…..Okay.”
Only then did the anxiety completely disappear from her face, and only a bright smile remained.
It would be a lie if I said I didn’t expect this after making such a mess and doing all that.
I knew in my head that it would happen someday, but I didn’t know it would come so soon,
and thanks to that, I had a lot of thoughts for a moment. But if ‘my child’ is growing inside her…
Of course, I’ll take that much responsibility. Even if it wasn’t Rhan noona sitting in this seat,
whether it was Chaeyoon, Seohee, or anyone else, that thought wouldn’t change. I was prepared for that much.
“…But are Creators generally lenient with polygamy? Seohee said it was okay…”
“…Ahaha! Seriously, you’re saying that now? You’re so different from Heer.
That man was so deeply in love with one woman that he didn’t even look at others. You’re… Hehe…
Don’t worry about that. Polygamy was natural for us in the old days.”
“Ah, that’s a relief then.”
We smiled at each other and took the overly cooked, brown meat onto our plates.
“…Seohee has earned so much money that there’s even some set aside, so you don’t have to worry about money…
I’ll prepare properly after I finish that one thing, so please wait a little.”
“Oh? That’s a death flag…”
“…Is that what you say to the person who’s going to be the father of your child?”
…Then what should I do about the wedding or the rings? Roughly counting, there are 7 rings…
Am I going to have 7 weddings? No, more than that, what should I say to my parents?
When I thought about it, the problems I had to worry about weren’t just one or two.
I was racking my brains over the most worrying problem, my parents,
when I suddenly met eyes with noona, who was happily eating meat.
“…Heehee…♡”
“….”
…Okay, that’s a problem that can be solved somehow. Let’s not think about anything for now.
I smiled and stretched out my glass of cola towards noona, and she smiled and lifted her glass as well,
and soon, only the clear and refreshing sound of glass clinking together was heard without any toasts.
……….
……….
……….
……….
“…Ugh, I’m tired…”
After finishing dinner alone with Rhan noona, I dropped her off at Seohee’s house and was on my way out.
The sun that was barely visible was already gone, but the sky was still bright because it was summer.
‘…This will take about a week if it’s short, and about ten days if it’s long.
If there’s anything you need to do before then, do it, and prepare in advance.’
I lifted my head to the darkening sky and looked at the window where noona’s room would be.
Rhan noona, who used to be a hacker in the underworld, said that it would take time to analyze the USB file.
I should say it’s a good thing, I’ve been given about a week.
“A week…”
I stared blankly at the sky for a moment and then kicked a pebble in front of me.
I still felt dazed, as if I was dreaming that I was going to be a father.
Am I not happy? No, I should say I’m feeling incredibly happy.
For some reason, noona’s smile hasn’t left my head since earlier. It’s a strange feeling…
I haven’t felt this overwhelmed since I graduated from high school.
I chuckled to myself and walked aimlessly without deciding where to go.
“…Huh?”
My phone rang in my pocket. Someone was calling me.
Thinking that it was probably Chaeyoon calling me at this hour,
I took out my phone and checked, and as expected, the person calling was Chaeyoon. Did she just wake up?
The fact that I left Chaeyoon, Seohee, and Sua, who had fainted in the morning, flashed through my mind.
Come to think of it, those three definitely said something about being ‘chosen creations’ or ‘companions’…
The ‘Flower Ritual’ that flower petals perform to be recognized as companions by the Creator who created them.
I forgot to ask Theresa about it in detail earlier and just came out.
“…I don’t need to, I can just ask them.”
I swiped the screen on my phone to accept the call and brought the phone to my ear.
“Hello…”
‘Hello! Master!’
“Ah, you scared me…”
Chaeyoon’s voice, which sharply pierced my eardrums, could be heard.
I turned down the call volume for a moment and then continued the call.
“Hey, what’s wrong? What’s with all the noise?”
‘…Hehe, I’m sorry♡ I was so excited that I couldn’t help it…’
“Excited? Why, is there something good going on? I also have something…”
‘…We have finished all the preparations for the ritual…♡
Please come back and choose a companion to be with you, Master…♡’
Speak of the devil, her sweet breath tickled my ear from beyond the receiver.
So it’s a ritual to choose a ‘companion’ to be with me for the rest of my life… I don’t know the exact details, but…
“Okay, I’ll go.”
‘I’ll be waiting…♡’
When I learned about the ‘Flower Ritual,’ I already had something decided in my heart.
I hung up the phone, put it back in my pocket, and then caught a taxi and got in.
