“Yes, I am. You are Ms. Plu-El?”
“Yes.”
Plu-El nodded as she stared at Jimin.
“I see. I couldn’t tell through the photo, but you really look like him.”
“I’ve heard that a lot.”
Silence descended in the room. Jungbum was the only common link between Jimin and Plu-El. Without him, they were strangers. They were having a hard time finding words for each other, and the awkward silence continued. Finally, Jimin took the initiative to speak.
“My mothers would like to meet you. Will that be possible?”
“Of course. I wanted to meet them too. Also, I have a lot of time, but I’ll need their permission to meet them.”
Plu-El looked at the Mayor.
The Mayor cleared his throat.
“It’ll be fine. We can’t give you full freedom yet, but if the other party wants to visit you, we wouldn’t mind. Just give us a heads up.”
“Thank you very much.”
“By the way, the more I think about it, the more I feel what a strange coincidence it was. The descendants of Planote tried to take down him of all people.”
The Mayor looked at both Sungyoon and Plu-El.
The two of them let out a bitter laugh.
“It really is. I never expected to be taken hostage by my son-in-law.”
“You took her hostage?”
Jimin knew Sungyoon had suffered a lot on the Moon, but she didn’t know the actual details. Therefore, she tilted her head in puzzlement at the revelation.
Sungyoon’s party members, who had been watching this from the sides, started laughing in a soundless manner. It was a serious situation, but they had to laugh when they thought about the connection between Sungyoon and Plu-El.
An embarrassed expression appeared on Sungyoon's face.
“At the time, I had no choice.”
“I know. I understand. It was a kill or be killed situation.”
“I hope we can avoid such situations in the future, right?”
Emily sounded worried.
“Of course. It was a misunderstanding between both sides. There's no reason to fight anymore. Honestly, we should've done more research on Mr. Sungyoon. Then, we would've found the connection between him and Mr. Jungbum. Such a shame we never did that!”
“Now that I think about it, you came with Mr. Aruwen to speak with me.”
“When we saw you had awakened the Royal Gem, we decided we should try talking to the people of Earth once again. If our conversation had gone as expected, things would've turned out a bit smoother, but...”
“Mr. Hyunwoo showed up.”
Bbah-doohk!
Plu-El ground her teeth.
“That bastard was a thorn to my side until the end!”
The Mayor and the Director each retreated a step as a thick murderous intent spread in the air. Plu-El's murderous intent was directed toward the man who had killed her husband.
“Still, the fight is over for you. You should make yourself at home on Earth.”
Emily tried to console Plu-El. However, Plu-El firmly shook her head from side to side.
“No. The fight isn’t over.”
“Grenoid.”
Sungyoon mumbled.
“That’s right. The threat is still there. Its evil influence should start to appear in earnest. The reason monsters destroyed Armstrong city was to send a message. Grenoid has recovered enough of its strength that it wouldn’t tolerate humanity within its area of power.”
“We have to make preparations.”
The Mayor spoke. He wanted to recapture Armstrong city more than anyone here.
“We have to somehow take back Armstrong city. It makes a world of difference to have a foothold in the enemy's territory. Moreover, if we choose to fight Grenoid, the battle must happen on the Moon. We’ll be able to limit the casualties.”
The Mayor looked at Plu-El.
“Thankfully, we have a mode of transportation that’ll let us reach the Moon with ease.”
With the existence of the portal, one didn’t need to transport the Connectors with spaceships. They wouldn’t have to expose the spaceships to the unprecedented risk of landing on the Moon.
The portal had solved all the problems related to transportation.
“Will it be possible? Armstrong city is crawling with monsters.”
Tim's voice contained worry.
The Mayor answered him without any hesitation.
“Why not? A big reason Armstrong city fell was the lack of Connectors. If we mobilize the high rank Connectors...”
“Do you think the countries will release those Connectors for your use?”
Grace pushed back on the Mayor’s words.
“We still haven’t caught the culprits that carried out the terrorist activities. Moreover, we now know that Grenoid has overtly shown hostility toward humanity. Monsters' appearance on Earth has been treated as a natural disaster until now. These countries would now treat it as an enemy invasion. There's no way anyone would easily let go of their Connectors.”
The Mayor groaned.
“However, it's also true that we have to reclaim Armstrong city. Moonstones are resources that humanity needs, and it's also true that we need to defeat Grenoid.”
When Sungyoon took his side, the Mayor’s face brightened. Moreover, Grace wasn’t fully against his idea either.
“In the end, what’s the ratio of Connectors that each country is willing to part with?”
“Didn't we make weapons that work against monsters not too long ago? If we mass-produce them, it might be a big help in this war.”
“The only problem remains that the ingredients to make those weapons are on the Moon.”
Everyone expressed their opinions as the discussion went forward.
“Mr. Sungyoon.”
Plu-El didn’t want to interrupt the discussion, so she called out to Sungyoon in a low voice.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have a request.”
Sungyoon looked at her.
“Our people are living under surveillance. Of course, we have no objections to it. I think it's reasonable considering what went on before. We aren’t being treated harshly, and we will now live a life of abundance.”
Every day had been a battle for survival when they were living on the Moon. If one compared that life to their current life on Earth, the Moon people were much better. They never had this before. For the first time in their lives, the descendants of Planote could pursue a peaceful life.
“However, our children, who should be running wild, are bored. Thankfully, the restrictions placed on them will be lifted soon. That's why I would like you to take charge of Soyoung for me.”
Hahn Soyoung!
She was Hahn Jungbum’s fourth child.
She was Sungyoon’s sister-in-law.
Before Sungyoon could say anything, Jimin asked Plu-El a question.
“Is she my little sister?”
“Yes, I guess she is.”
Jimin agonized over something for a brief moment.
“Do you mind if I take care of her?”
“You?”
Plu-El’s eyes widened in surprise. Sungyoon also looked at Jimin.
“She's my sister. I also have to introduce her to my mothers. I think that would be prudent.”
Plu-El looked at Sungyoon. She wanted his opinion on this matter.
“She’ll be fine. My mothers-in-law are good people. If things go sour, I can take care of Soyoung. Do as you like.”
Sungyoon and Jimin were a married couple. In practical terms, it wouldn’t matter if Plu-El put Soyoung under Sungyoon's or Jimin’s care.
However, Jimin had expressed the desire for taking care of her sister. It tugged at Plu-El’s heart.
“I’ll leave her in your care.”
“Don't worry about her. She is my dongsaeng.”
***
It had been a while since Sungyoon had met Soyoung, but she hadn't changed a bit. Of course, she didn’t like the idea of living away from her mother. Therefore, Soyoung’s face had a dark expression.
She looked at her unfamiliar surroundings with suspicion in her eyes. However, that was not all she felt. There was an essential characteristic present in every kid. This was also true for Soyoung. Its name was curiosity.
While she rode the car, Soyoung looked out the window with rapt attention. Her face and her hands were pressed against the window.
“Is it amazing?”
Jimin, who sat beside her, asked the question.
Hearing her words, Soyoung flinched, and her hand dropped from the window.
“Yes. Yes!”
She quickly answered Jimin. Jimin did her best to put on her kindest smile.
“It’s fine. You don’t have to be so nervous. You probably heard it from your mother, but I am your unni.”
Jimin purposefully sat in the back, so she could get closer to Soyoung. Sungyoon was driving the car, and he kept glancing at the rear-view mirror to monitor what was going on.
“Go ahead. Say unni!”
“U... unni!”
Soyoung shyly said the words since she wasn’t used to saying them.
Jimin slowly used the car ride to close the distance between their hearts.
It didn’t take them too long to arrive at their destination. The car stopped at Hweeyoung and Aiin’s house.
“Uh?”
Shinhae had run out to greet her parents, but she suddenly came to a halt.
“Uh? Uh?”
She kept repeating ‘Uh?’ as she looked at Soyoung. Then, she placed her hands on her head. She was so glad to see Soyoung that she forgot Soyoung’s name.
“It’s Unni!”
In the end, Shinhae gave up on remembering Soyoung's name, and she ran toward her.
“Shinhae!”
Soyoung remembered Shinhae’s name. It was to be expected. Shinhae was the only friend she had met on Earth. Soyoung had been intimidated by the new world around her, but her eyes shone now.
The two girls retained the short friendship that had been forged at the zoo. They stuck close to each other as if they were real sisters.
‘As expected, children get along best with other children their age.’
Sungyoon watched the two girls with a pleased expression.
“Are you already here?”
“How was it?”
Hweeyoung and Aiin exited the door, and they caught sight of Soyoung. They then gestured at Sungyoon and Jimin with their eyes to tell them who the girl was.
“Go say hi.”
Shinhae was still hugging Soyoung when Jimin placed a hand on Soyoung’s shoulder.
“They are your mothers.”
Soyoung blinked in surprise. The expressions on Hweeyoung's and Aiin’s faces changed comically.
***
“Here. Eat this.”
Aiin placed a piece of meat on Soyoung’s plate. Soyoung wasn’t used to chopsticks, so she was using a fork. She hesitatingly stabbed at the meat. Even though she was nervous, she couldn’t give up delicious food.
She lowered her head as she placed the meat in her mouth.
“!!!”
The girl’s face instantly brightened as if she had eaten some fantastic delicacy that no one had ever savored before.
“Try this one.”
This time, Hweeyoung placed a different type of meat on the plate.
Soyoung’s face brightened one again. She looked so cute that her two new mothers fought each other to place the food in front of her.
She was their husband's child outside of their marriage. Yet, it seemed Hweeyoung and Aiin had come to peace with this fact. They took care of Soyoung as if she were their child.
‘It's to be expected. Jimin also wasn’t born from either of them, yet they took care of her. They did so because Jimin was their husband’s child.’
Sungyoon relaxed as he placed the food in front of Shinhae, who was in his arms. Previously, he had been worried that there would be drama like in the daytime tv shows. However, it seemed there wouldn’t be any drama.
Hweeyoung and Aiin asked Soyoung various questions as the lunch proceeded. When everyone finished their meal, Soyoung and Shinhae went out to the yard to play. Every person in the room could see the big smiles on the two girls' faces through the window.
They watched the two girls as they drank coffee and tea.
“Ms. Plu-El said she's willing to meet both of you on your timetable.”
“Is that so? We should clear some time then. What kind of a person is she?”
“She didn’t look like a bad person. At the very least, she isn’t like my birth mother.”
“He went through all that hardship with that woman. If he chose a similar woman again, he would've been the world’s biggest idiot.”
All of them smirked at Hweeoyoung’s words.
Aiin looked at the children, who were playing in the yard, with warm eyes.
“It's said you can see the parent by observing the child. I don’t think she is a bad person. That’s a relief.”
“Oh? What about me?”
“We're your mothers. Don’t get it twisted.”
Jimin let out a pretty laugh at Aiin’s declaration.
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