I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER

Chapter 166: The Calm Before...

Something tiny spun weakly in circles

「Ueeeeee... (⁠＠⁠_⁠＠⁠;⁠)」

Mimi floated unevenly through the air like a malfunctioning balloon, Spoony still clutched tightly against her chest while her little body wobbled left and right with complete loss of balance.

「Everything is spinninggggg...」

Her eyes had literally turned into spirals.

Si Hon stared at her blankly.

"You too huh."

「I think my organs rotated... (X⁠﹏X⁠)」

"You don’t even have organs."

「Dad... don’t invalidate my suffering ( •̀⤙•́ )」

Rainwater dripped slowly again from Si Hon’s hair while he continued laying there motionless in the grass.

Honestly?

Standing up sounded like a scam.

Then—

"SI HON!!!"

A distant voice.

Another one immediately followed.

"DADDDDD!!!"

"OVER THERE!"

Footsteps splashed rapidly somewhere nearby.

Si Hon slowly turned his head weakly toward the sound just in time to see figures rushing across the open grass area toward him through the rain.

Seong.

Aeloria.

Mihu.

Han and Suha.

(Still... where is edur...)

All of them looked soaked already, breathing unevenly like they’d been running nonstop after taking the stairs down from the collapsing building.

Which honestly—

Probably what happened...

Because apparently while Si Hon and the dragon decided to recreate a meteor impact together, everyone else had to survive the normal way like peasants.

Han spotted him first.

"DAD!!!"

The kid looked seconds away from crying again while sprinting across the grass.

Meanwhile Mihu looked completely horrified.

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS HALF DEAD WHEN WE FIND YOU?!"

"I’m consistent," Si Hon muttered weakly from the ground.

Aeloria slowed slightly once she got closer, blue hair soaked from rain while her sharp eyes immediately scanned him head to toe like she was checking whether his limbs were still attached properly.

"You survived that."

"Unfortunately."

Even Seong looked mildly disturbed now.

"That was insane."

"Yea," Si Hon sighed tiredly. "I noticed halfway through the fall."

Then—

Something moved fast.

Really fast.

A blur suddenly rushed directly into his vision before anyone else could react.

WHAM!

A hand grabbed the front of Si Hon’s collar violently.

"Ghk?!"

The next second, his entire upper body got yanked upward off the grass hard enough to nearly snap his neck while another weight slammed directly onto his stomach.

"ACK—"

Rain splashed everywhere.

Si Hon blinked rapidly in confusion while instinctively grabbing the wrist holding his collar.

Then froze.

Because sitting directly on top of him—

Was Jisoo Park.

Her black hair clung slightly to her face from the rain while water dripped steadily from the ends, sharp eyes locked directly onto him with an expression so complicated Si Hon genuinely couldn’t process it properly.

Mad.

Confused.

Suspicious.

And something else underneath all of that too.

Something unsettled.

One knee pinned against his side while one hand remained twisted tightly in his collar, holding him against the wet grass hard enough that he could feel the pressure through his throat.

"Ow."

Nobody moved.

Not Seong.

Not Aeloria.

Not even the kids.

Because the atmosphere around Jisoo right now felt genuinely dangerous despite the rain quietly falling around all of them.

Even Mimi stopped spinning.

「oh... uh. (⁠⌐⁠■⁠-⁠■⁠) Another girl?」

Jisoo ignored everyone else completely.

Her eyes stayed locked only on Si Hon’s face.

No—

Not exactly his face.

She looked disturbed by it somehow.

Like she was trying to focus on something she physically couldn’t understand.

Rain slid slowly down her cheek while her grip tightened slightly again.

"You..." she said quietly.

Her voice sounded calmer now.

Which honestly felt way scarier.

"You don’t look like Eun Wo."

Si Hon immediately avoided eye contact.

(ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ Fuck.)

"But at the same time..."

Her brows pulled together slightly.

"You do."

A pause.

Jisoo’s eyes narrowed harder.

"No."

Her voice dropped lower.

"Your face..."

For the first time since all ts happened.

She hesitated.

Actually hesitated.

"It’s blurry."

The wind swept across the grass again while rain continued falling softly around them.

And Si Hon—

Still pinned beneath the regressor psychopath—

Stared up at her silently while his exhausted brain finally arrived at one deeply unfortunate conclusion.

(Ah.)

(Yea. She’s starting to notice.)

The rain continued falling softly across the ruined school grounds.

Cold droplets slid down Si Hon’s face while Jisoo still held tightly unto the front of his collar, her sharp eyes locked unto him with that same disturbed expression like she was trying to force reality itself into making sense.

"You’re hiding something," she said quietly.

Then suddenly—

WHAM!

She slammed the back of his head directly into the wet grass.

"Tell me!"

"AGH!! The FUCK?!"

Mud and rainwater splashed everywhere.

For one full second, Si Hon’s brain genuinely blue screened.

Then—

Something inside him snapped immediately afterward.

Not cool snapping.

No.

This was the snapping of a deeply sleep deprived raccoon being hit with emotional, physical damage.

"WHAT THE FUVKXBAJDNDBSJ!!?!?!!!?!" Si Hon exploded instantly.

He started flailing violently beneath her like a child throwing the world’s most dramatic tantrum in public, arms and legs thrashing everywhere while rainwater sprayed across the grass around them.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING?!" he shouted at maximum volume while wiggling sideways hard enough to nearly throw both of them over.

Jisoo’s eyes widened slightly.

Mostly from confusion.

"I FELL THREE FLOORS!!!" Si Hon continued screaming. "THREEEEEEE FLOOOOORS!! I ALMOST DIED FIGHTING A DRAGON THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOURS TO FIGHT AND NOW YOU’RE USING MY HEAD LIKE A STRESS BALL AGAINST THE GRASS?!?!"

"Wha— stop moving—"

"NO YOU STOP MOVING!!!"

"I’m not moving though... ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ"

He flailed even harder.

One elbow accidentally smacked the wet ground beside Jisoo hard enough to splash mud onto both of them.

"YOU’RE ACTING LIKE A CRAZY PERSON!" she said.

"bitch? ಠ⁠,⁠_⁠｣⁠ಠ We first met and you pinned me to the wall and I almost got.... Akvskdhsisjwb I hate you!!!!"

"There was a reason for that!!!"

Eventually Jisoo finally let go mostly because Si Hon had somehow evolved into a spinning aquatic creature impossible to restrain physically.

The moment her grip loosened—

He immediately scooted backward across the wet grass crab style while clutching the back of his head dramatically.

"Agh... my skull..." he groaned loudly. "I can literally feel my braincells moving, my brain is not braining..."

Around them—

Nobody wanted to look directly at this anymore.

Not because of the dragon corpse nearby.

Not because of the apocalypse.

No.

Because the secondhand embarrassment was becoming spiritually lethal.

Aeloria had one hand fully covering the lower half of her face now, blue hair damp from the rain while her shoulders trembled faintly.

Not from fear.

From embarrassment.