I Became the Main Character’s Favorite

Squirrels are amazing..!

It was okay for the plastic bottles to be piled up haphazardly.
But it wasn’t okay for the ‘red caps’, which were classified as treasures for Chae-a, to be stuck in the trash can.

I flinched, worried that Chae-a might be very disappointed if she saw this.
I quickly tried to cover Chae-a’s eyes with both hands to prevent her from seeing the terrible truth, but
‘Too short…’

Due to my small height, my hands didn’t properly reach her eyes and only half-covered them.
As I was blankly staring at this shocking truth,
Chae-a looked at me tilting her head, then giggled as if she understood.

“I got it…! You want to play hide-and-seek? Chae-a is good at it, so I’ll teach you!”
Looking at Chae-a speaking proudly, I thought this wasn’t it, but
Thinking I had no choice if I wanted to divert Chae-a’s attention, I was about to nod when

“Huh?”
Before that, Chae-a had already looked at the trash can.
“……”

At that moment, Chae-a froze in place and stared blankly at the trash can.
Seeing this, I was fidgeting, wondering what to do, when
Suddenly, Chae-a started jumping up and down in the same spot and shouted to me in a loud voice.

“Wooooow! It’s a cave full of treasures…! The squirrels must have hidden them!”
“Cave…? Squirrels…?”
“Yes. You’re young so you might not know, but squirrels have a habit of hiding tasty things in their caves.”

“Uh…”
Not knowing how to respond, I just stood there blankly.
Chae-a smiled brightly and continued talking to me.

“So they pile up treasures in their caves like this!”
“I see…”
“Yes! Squirrels are amazing…!”

For now, to protect Chae-a’s innocence, I didn’t say anything.
There are truths in the world that don’t necessarily need to be known.
As I silently patted Chae-a’s head, hoping her innocence would continue to be maintained, Seo-rin saw this and waved her hand.

“Ah, it’s dirty over there, so you shouldn’t go near. Dirty dirty. Come on, babies, follow big sister over here.”
At Seo-rin’s words saying it was dirty, my body flinched again.
No matter what, this was something I couldn’t cover up.

So as I was wondering what to do, Chae-a whispered to me in a small voice.
“Squirrels don’t like going into water…! So they probably think it’s dirty. But actually, it’s not dirty at all!”
“Hmm?”

“So we can play together. Okay!? But since big sister doesn’t like it, we’ll have to play secretly…!”
Chae-a whispered to me, giggling as if she found mischief fun.
I quickly nodded and agreed with her words, looking at Chae-a like that.

“It seems right.”
I’m glad Chae-a’s innocence was preserved.
As I was vigorously patting Chae-a’s head again, deciding to protect the still baby-like Chae-a full of innocence,

Seo-rin picked up me and Chae-a on each side and said,
“Shall we go then, princesses?”
“Chae-a isn’t a princess, I’m a spirit…!”

“Yes, yes, then spirit princess.”
“Wooow I like that!”
I smiled brightly watching the two laughing and chattering.

The place Seo-rin first tried to take us was a children’s clothing store that looked very expensive, reminiscent of a luxury brand store.
So I tried to get away from there, making various excuses.

‘The reason is simple. It’s just expensive.’
It wasn’t just expensive, it was extremely expensive.
If I bought a few clothes here, I felt like I couldn’t pay back the money even if I helped Seo-rin for a whole year, so I suggested we go somewhere else.

“O-oh really? If there’s nothing you like, I guess we have no choice.”
Seo-rin looked at me, showing a very regretful expression.
Then, as if she had a good idea, she picked up some nearby clothes and put them in the shopping basket while talking to me.

“But there are a few things that would suit Ha-eun, so just in case, maybe a few…”
“No!”
“No…? But I think they’d look really pretty.”

I quickly shook my head and calmed Seo-rin down.
Judging by Seo-rin’s behavior, it seemed like she was trying to buy me clothes for free.
But I had already received too much, so I didn’t want to receive anything else for free.

‘I’m an adult after all.’
At least in areas where I can, it would be right to do things on my own.
After calming down Seo-rin, who kept trying to secretly buy various clothes,

I moved my steps to a cute and elegant-looking clothing store nearby.
‘There are really a lot of pretty and cute clothes here too.’
It’s just that the store we went to earlier was excessively luxurious.

This place was also clean and well-organized, making it a very pretty store.
Thinking I felt much more at ease than before, I looked around the store widely.
‘This clothes would look cute on Chae-a.’

Things like animal pajamas or dresses.
Thinking they were cute and fluttery and would look good on Chae-a, I was watching them closely.
Then I looked blankly at Chae-a hiding behind my back and asked a question.

“Chae-a, is there anything you like here?”

At that question, Chae-a peeked at the nearby clothes and then nodded, whispering to me.
“Yes…!”
That’s good.

Actually, the reason I came to this clothing store was not only to buy clothes for myself but also to buy clothes for Chae-a.
So I decided to prioritize choosing Chae-a’s clothes over mine.
‘Since Chae-a’s hair is pink, white tones might suit her well.’

Then maybe a white dress would suit her well?
As Seo-rin said, since Chae-a is like a princess, it might be good.
I decided to just buy one t-shirt for myself and focus on buying clothes for Chae-a to wear, and searched here and there.

As I was looking at these for a while,
Seo-rin came squealing with animal pajamas for me and Chae-a.
“I think you’d look really cute in these!”

What Seo-rin gave me was shark pajamas, and what she gave Chae-a was squirrel-shaped pajamas.
It would really suit Chae-a, but I wasn’t sure about mine, so I tried to sneakily put the pajamas back in their original place, but
“Big sister wants to see Ha-eun wearing shark pajamas…”

Seeing Seo-rin speak as if she was very disappointed, I had to stop in my tracks.
“Ah, I’d really like it if Ha-eun would wear it. I think I could attain enlightenment if you did.”
Seo-rin, seeing this, seemed to judge that this was working well.

She repeated her request to wear it in a voice loud enough for others to hear.
Feeling my ears getting hot from embarrassment at Seo-rin’s behavior, I quickly nodded and tried to calm her down.
“O-okay… I’ll wear it, so stop.”

“Really? Really really? Ha-eun is really an angel!”
As I sneakily hid behind Chae-a’s back to avoid Seo-rin trying to hug me,
Chae-a looked at me tilting her head and patted my head.

As I was smiling awkwardly looking at Chae-a like that, Chae-a suddenly lifted up the pajamas and said to us,
“I like squirrels…! You know, Chae-a likes them so much she even has a squirrel friend.”
It seems she wanted to boast about having a squirrel friend.

I was smiling slightly, finding Chae-a, who had become very proud, cute.
Then, as if Chae-a remembered something, she approached Seo-rin, flapping her hands and explaining something.
“Yes…! And squirrels aren’t dirty. They don’t like going into water, but they get clean by licking like this!”

It seems she remembered Seo-rin saying “dirty” earlier.
Seo-rin, seeing this, smiled a dad smile and said “aww” while stroking Chae-a’s cheeks.
“Really? So squirrels were actually clean animals.”

“Yes!”
Chae-a, thinking she had defended the honor of squirrels, stood with an even prouder posture than before.
I chuckled, finding Chae-a cute, then looked around again thinking it might be good to start buying clothes now.

‘As for pajamas… that’s settled. What’s left is everyday clothes and underwear, I guess.’
For everyday clothes, I should choose simple t-shirts, and for underwear, it would be best to ask Seo-rin or a staff member for help.
Thinking it’s a bit embarrassing but can’t be helped, I was choosing mainly simple and plain t-shirts to wear as everyday clothes, when

“Ha-eun, are you going to wear this?”
Perhaps because the design of the clothes I was choosing wasn’t great,
Seo-rin showed a puzzled expression and asked me a question.

“Mm-hmm.”
Thinking it was fine because it was plain, I picked up a black t-shirt in front of me.
Seo-rin quickly shook her head and urgently said to me,

“Since Ha-eun is cute, wouldn’t it be better to wear something other than this?”
Hearing those words, I looked at the area Seo-rin was pointing to with her finger.
These days, even children’s clothes are well-made, so there were neat and pretty clothes that weren’t inferior to adult clothes, but

There was one big problem, which was that even such clothes focused on ‘cuteness’.
It might be fine for Chae-a, but for me to wear them felt very repulsive, so I was about to shake my head when
Seo-rin was about to make a very sad expression again, so I had no choice but to close my eyes tightly and allow it.

‘After all, for me, Seo-rin is a benefactor…’
Not just a benefactor, but the very person who not only saved my life but also made it possible for me to continue staying at the association.
If I had a conscience, I couldn’t treat such a benefactor coldly, so

I nodded, enduring the embarrassment.
“Really? Thank you so much! Then this is bought on big sister’s recommendation. Shall I pay for this clothes with big sister’s money?”
“Mm… no, it’s okay.”

“Huh? I can’t hear what you’re saying well? Then let’s do it that way.”
I hesitated, unable to do this or that,
Then nodded resignedly and let Seo-rin do as she wanted.

We ended up buying so many clothes it seemed too much.
Thinking I had no idea how much it cost, I tried to check the amount, but
“Huh? Oh that’s right. I accidentally threw away the receipt so I couldn’t see? Maybe it was about 10,000 won?”

Seo-rin blatantly lied and evaded my words in various ways.
Looking at Seo-rin like that, I was about to say that lying is wrong, but
Seeing how excited Seo-rin was, I couldn’t bring myself to say such things and had to close my mouth.

‘I should talk to her calmly later.’
Anyway, deciding to protect her happiness for now,
I was walking forward with big steps, hugging a shopping bag as big as my body but not heavy.

“Hey, look at those kids. They’re really cute.”
“They look familiar… Ah! Isn’t that the association baby? You know, Ha-eun?”
“Oh? You’re right? Then, who’s the child next to her?”

“I think they said it was a spirit?”
As we moved forward, various conversations could be heard.
Feeling a bit embarrassed that people recognized me, I lowered my head deeply and buried my face in the shopping bag.