After leaving the Gate behind, we returned to Hyun's house and explained in detail what had happened inside.

At first, the two of them listened quietly to our story, but when we got to the part about the giant tree appearing, they started raising mental question marks. When they heard that all those trees actually had consciousness and that there was a super-duper tree that had absorbed the Gate Core, they completely lost it.

Of course, we didn't bring up scary suggestions like "Did you just leave it there?" or "We should burn it to the ground right now."

Instead, they said that when something like that happens, we should have come out immediately to assess the situation together, and asked why we had proceeded so recklessly.

"...Well, it was just a tree. I didn't think it was particularly dangerous. The structure itself had poor durability, so it didn't seem like a dangerous Gate either."

"You... It's truly a miracle you made it out alive... Haah..."

I thought that even though the process wasn't smooth, everything ended well, but I decided not to say that out loud.

Anyone could see Hyun was getting scolded. Saying something like that would only draw fire to me, and I wasn't crazy enough to do that.

"Sia, you're at fault too. If you thought it was dangerous, you should have returned first."

Well, I was wrong. Even keeping my mouth shut, I still caught some flak.

What is this, a steel mill with all these flying sparks?

"I thought it would be fine since Hyun was with me..."

In the end, Hyun and I got scolded together.

The reason was that we were too complacent and had safety insensitivity syndrome.

I wanted to argue, but everything they said was true, so I couldn't refute and just pouted my lips.

For some reason, Hyun glanced at me and pouted his lips the same way, which earned him immediate punishment from Ha-Young.

"Ugh, stop trying to act cute when you're not cute at all!"

"Mmmphhh!!"

For those who don't know, Ha-Young's main weapon is a shield made from Behemoth carapace.

And shields can't be wielded without considerable arm and grip strength.

In other words, her grip strength is almost gorill—anyway, her grip strength is truly remarkable.

And when those powerful fingers grab your lips?

"Mmmmphhhhh!!"

"..."

I quietly retracted my pout as I watched Hyun struggling beside me.

Getting caught like that would definitely make me cry.

The nagging continued for a while after that, but I didn't feel too bad about it.

From their voices and tone, anyone could tell they were saying these things because they were worried about us.

"—So from now on—"

"We're sorry..."

But it seems to be going on for quite a while.

Couldn't they let us off just this once?

"...Alright. It's not right to nag for too long on such a good day."

*Thank goodness...*

After our unexpectedly lengthy conversation finally ended, we held a small celebration party.

Actually, we had been planning the celebration party since we came out of the Gate, but it got delayed because of the extended scolding session.

It wasn't anything fancy—just ordering whatever food each of us wanted to eat—but isn't it the celebratory spirit that counts?

"So that's why you ordered this much pizza? Because your celebratory spirit is so big?"

Hyun glared at me while holding five large pizzas, and I subtly averted my gaze.

I mean... this is how much I usually eat anyway, so what's the problem...

"You need to think about others too. And at the very least, couldn't you have ordered different kinds, you idiot!"

Hyun put the five pizzas down on the table and opened one box, revealing a golden pineapple topping pizza in all its glory.

But it didn't end there. As he opened the other boxes one after another, there was pineapple, more pineapple, and yet more pineapple.

All five pizzas we ordered were pineapple pizzas.

Ryu Hwa blinked at the pizzas spread across the table and tilted her head.

"Did they deliver the wrong order?"

"No, it's not a mistake. I'm a regular at that place, and they're not the type to make such errors."

"Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Getting an order wrong is just a minor slip-up."

"No, really, it's not a mistake. Look at this."

Hyun handed Ryu Hwa the receipt that was attached to the pizza bag. As she casually looked at it, her expression suddenly froze.

After quietly staring at the receipt, Ryu Hwa's face turned pale, and she excused herself to wash her hands in the bathroom. Ha-Young naturally took the receipt next and made a sour face.

"You really did order only pineapple pizzas..."

Now I felt wronged. What's wrong with pineapple pizza?

If it had been just one or two people, I could have brushed it off as a joke, but when all three of them had the same reaction, I couldn't help feeling offended.

"What's wrong with it? Pineapple pizza is delicious."

"It's not about whether it's delicious or not. Don't you get tired of it? No matter how much you like something, wouldn't you get tired of eating this much of the same thing?"

"Until now... I haven't really experienced that."

She nodded as if she understood, but couldn't erase the sour expression from her face.

Seriously, pineapple pizza is delicious—why do people dislike it so much?

"If you actually develop a taste for it, there's no better pizza... What a shame."

"Taste or no taste, anyone would get tired of eating five pizzas of just pineapple."

The words "I don't" rose to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them along with the pizza in my mouth.

"Look at that expression. You're really stubborn about the strangest things."

I guess I couldn't hide my expression.

Since my body became younger, I can't seem to hide my expressions well...

* * *

After a short two-hour meal and cleaning up, Ryu Hwa and Ha-Young started gathering their things.

It had just passed 4 PM, so it wasn't particularly late.

"Are you leaving already?"

"We should. You two must be tired after going into the Gate today."

"I don't feel that tired though..."

"Maybe not now. But entering a Gate is exhausting."

"We didn't really do much in there though."

This isn't just something I'm saying—we really didn't do much.

All we did was talk to a tree, listen to the Light Dragon's old stories, and receive a portion of the Gate Core to recover.

It wasn't even something we fought for—it felt more like going to grandma's house and saying "Grandma, can I have some candy?" and getting some candy...

"Still, we can't just sit around here forever. And if we don't get moving soon, we'll be caught in rush hour traffic."

"Ah..."

Since I always either ride in someone else's car or fly when I go places, I hadn't realized it was almost time for traffic jams.

Well, can't be helped then. I nodded, and she smiled brightly as she extended her hand to me.

Due to past memories, I flinched involuntarily, but seeing the small, white hand, I realized there was no need for that anymore and took Ha-Young's hand.

"I'm looking forward to working with you."

"Huh?"

What's with this sudden statement?

As I blinked at our hands shaking up and down, Ryu Hwa, who was coming from behind, said:

"Why are you pretending not to know? Don't you remember agreeing to join our office once your body was back to normal?"

"Half of this celebration party was for Sia's recovery, and the other half was to welcome our new employee. Don't tell me you didn't know?"

Those words reminded me of what Hyun had said when he set up his office.

—Would you consider joining our office and working with us?

It felt like an idol scout pitch, which I didn't like, and more importantly, I had declined because with my body in that condition, there wasn't much I could do at an office.

Could it be that he had been holding onto that all this time?

Surprised, I quickly turned to look at Hyun, who was finishing up the dishes, and he just blinked at me as if asking what was wrong.

"What? You said it yourself. That you would have considered it if your hands were fine. Now that they're fine, you can work with us, right?"

"Kuh..."

I can't argue since those were my own words!

As I struggled between gratitude and resistance, Ha-Young chuckled.

"I'm just kidding. It seemed weird to suddenly ask for a handshake, so I made up a reason. We weren't planning to force you to join the office."

"Besides, you working at our office would be problematic. Anyone can see it would violate child labor laws."

"What kind of bizarre joke..."

"This way I can legally touch Sia's hand."

Heheh, it's totally a baby hand, a baby hand.

She said that while fondling my hand.

"If you just asked, I would have let you touch my hand anyway..."

"I was worried you might feel uncomfortable because of all the trouble your hands have caused you."

She really has the strangest sense of consideration.

I smiled and offered my hand, and when Ryu Hwa also carefully asked, I gave her my other hand.

With both of them touching my hands from either side, it felt like I was getting a hand treatment.

After fiddling with my hands for a while, they seemed satisfied and left, saying they'd see us again soon, leaving just Hyun and me in the house.

"Sia."

"Why are you calling me like that? What, seeing this body after so long makes you excited?"

I joked with a smile, but Hyun approached with a serious expression.

Uh, I was just kidding, but is he serious? Ah... it might hurt in this body...

While I was worrying about that, Hyun carefully extended his hand to me.

Like nobles requesting a dance, with his palm facing upward.

"What? Did you just want to touch my hand too?"

"Yes."

"You touch other parts of me almost every day, why make such a fuss about hands..."

As I said that and placed my hand on his, Hyun flipped my hand over and placed a ring on my palm. In the process, I noticed an identical ring gleaming on his left ring finger.

It was a completely unexpected ring, but anyone who wasn't a fool could tell it was a promise ring.

"It's a bit late, and since your body has become younger, you'll have to wear it as a necklace rather than a ring. But I really wanted to give it to you on the day your hands returned to normal."

Hyun said that with a bright smile.

He didn't say anything more, but I could tell what he wanted to say.

After all, this guy and I are childhood friends.

"Ugh, you prepared something like this."

"So you don't like it?"

"Who said I don't like it?"

I smiled and clutched the ring tightly in my hand.