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Sure, here is the translation in the desired style:

“Yeah, that was the problem after all.”

Since I had someone waiting for me, I genuinely planned to hand the child over to an appropriate person and return to Yoonseo as originally intended.

I have no idea what made this kid misunderstand, but suddenly calling me “dad” and clinging to my sleeve was quite a surprise.

How is it possible that such a tiny body, looking no more than ten years old, possessed such strength? It wasn’t easy to pry them off, even though they were stronger than I expected.

Of course, if I had made a serious effort, I could have shaken them off without a doubt.

While their strength was notably strong, it wasn’t absurdly so.

If I had decided to use my strength, I could have easily shaken them off, but there was a simple reason I didn’t go that far.

I just didn’t feel the need to make such an effort, and besides, if I acted too aggressively, I would just end up in a troublesome misunderstanding.

So I intended to let the child do as they pleased and, once they calmed down, look for an employee, but…

Did they get startled more than I thought?

Contrary to my expectation that they would calm down in about five minutes, even after ten and then fifteen minutes, the hand clutching my sleeve showed no sign of loosening.

Thanks to that, I was starting to feel troubled thinking about Yoonseo, who was undoubtedly waiting for me…

Did someone somehow read my mind?

Just as I was thinking, “What should I do…?”, my mobile phone, tucked away in my pocket, began to vibrate violently.

And by answering that call without missing it, I was able to eliminate one worry.

Now, all that remained was to safely reunite this little kid, who still clung to my sleeve, with their parents…

But the way Yoonseo looked at me was off.

It felt like… she was looking at me as if to say, “No way…?”

I had no idea why she looked at me like that, but that was definitely the case.

Hence, I couldn’t help but feel a slight panic from my position.

“No way…”

Could it be that the fact she’d just called me “dad” was responsible for that look?

I figured there was no way she’d be giving me that look for that reason, but… honestly, if it wasn’t that, there was no reason for Yoonseo to look at me like that.

“Hey, you’re not thinking something weird, are you?”

As time passed, I asked that while facing the increasingly unsettling look in Yoonseo’s eyes, bewildered by her transformation.

The fact that a so-called hero might be entertaining such a ridiculous misunderstanding seemed unimaginable, but… I felt it was necessary to clarify.

As I asked that, it seemed like a bit of reasoning returned to her.

“…What do you mean?”

It seemed she felt slightly embarrassed, as her response took a while to come.

“Are you thinking that just because this kid called me ‘dad,’ it means she really thinks I’m her daughter or something…?”

“…Isn’t it?”

Oh my…

It’s not just “isn’t it,” but “isn’t it?”!

At first, I…

Naturally, I doubted my ears.

It made sense because I was wondering if I really heard that correctly.

From the moment she looked at me with that unsettling gaze, I had a nagging feeling. But could it really be that she was genuinely harboring such a nonsensical misunderstanding?

People aren’t always rational beings, but still, does it make sense to have such a misunderstanding?

I found it absurd and ridiculous, and just as I was internally snickering, I was further astonished by…

“Dad…?”

It was the kid calling me that again, unaware that it had all started with her one statement.

And perhaps her comment had triggered another reaction in Yoonseo.

Thanks to my words, it seemed some reasoning finally returned to her eyes, but that light soon disappeared again.

Then she started looking at me with a gaze that seemed to question, “Is it not true?”

Is this the chaos of misunderstandings?

I felt an overwhelming anxiety flood over me, but I couldn’t just sit there with my hands tied.

If I did nothing and stayed idle, a truly ridiculous misunderstanding would emerge.

“You should call me ‘oppa’ instead of ‘dad.'”

So I decided to gently calm this little troublemaker, the root of the situation, and then addressed Yoonseo, who still wore that oddly unsettling expression.

“Okay, how old does she look to you?”

“…Ten?”

“And how old am I?”

“…Twenty.”

“What do you get when you subtract ten from twenty?”

“…Ten.”

“Right, ten. And that means if she were really my daughter, I would have had her when I was ten. Do you honestly think that makes sense?”

Once I pointed that out, it seemed she realized how absurd her thoughts had been.

Her face, which had looked dazed for a moment, suddenly turned bright red.

Although she was caught in that quicksand called embarrassment, it seems she still felt the need to say something.

Selecting her words as if they mattered, she finally shouted.

“Then why does she call you that?!”

“What do you mean by ‘that kind of way?'”

“Like… ‘dad’…”

“I don’t know.”

Unfortunately, that was one part I couldn’t clarify either.

It couldn’t be helped because, if I think about it, she’s been calling me “dad” since I first spoke to her.

There must be some underlying circumstances, but I hesitated to mention anything that might be a sensitive issue for her, so I just played dumb.

Unlike before, Yoonseo, with her reasoning somewhat restored, murmured something absurd again.

“But… you both look oddly similar…”

Similar?

Me and that kid?

It’s impossible; we’re total strangers.

But considering that Yoonseo spoke so determinedly, I had a feeling there was something to it, so I took a moment to closely examine the little one’s face…

“Similar… to me?”

Perhaps I didn’t have many experiences looking at my reflection in the mirror.

No matter how hard I stared into the little girl’s face, which was gazing up at me as if to challenge, I couldn’t decide whether we actually looked alike or if it was just Yoonseo’s imagination.

“Well, we could be similar. The world is wide, after all.”

So I just kind of brushed it off.

“Anyway, now that this has happened, you should help out.”

“…Help with what?”

“No, she seems to be so startled that she won’t let go since a while ago…”

Considering that you, as a hero, might put her at ease compared to me, I suggested, and Yoonseo tilted her head, questioning if it really would have an effect.

“You’re practically a superstar among kids your age.”

Thus, I had to add more to convince Yoonseo.

But it wasn’t just mindless chatter.

As proof, Yoonseo was genuinely among the most popular kids in her age group.

If middle and high schoolers were overly infatuated with Chae-rim, then below that, you could almost say Yoonseo owned that space.

“Although in the end, Chae-rim is still the number one anyways…”

At least among kids her age, Yoonseo was terrifyingly rising in popularity.

So I thought that if Yoonseo stepped in, there would be different effects even with the same words, and I brought it up.

“Hmm… Well, I guess I can give it a try.”

My words seemed to have been reasonable to Yoonseo as she eagerly rolled up her sleeves.

“Honestly, we can’t just keep doing this…”

Then she crouched down in front of the little kid, still tightly clutching my sleeve like a lifeline, and began to talk.

“Do you know who your sister is?”

“…Who’s the auntie?”

Perhaps my earlier assumption that this could be resolved easily was wrong, as an unsettling vibe started brewing right from the outset.

 

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