TDRCB 02

Chapter 02 ….

Following Choco’s lead, Haru arrived at the dumpling sampling counter.

“Choco, you!”

So you just wanted to eat dumplings?

Haru was just about to puff out her cheeks in betrayal when she spotted a woman in the distance, pacing around while talking on the phone.

Long hair! A beige skirt!

It was definitely Choco’s big sister.

Haru toddled over and tugged at the hem of her skirt with her little hand.

“Miss, are you looking for Choco?”

“Woof! Woof!”

Choco struggled to escape from Haru’s arms. The woman spun around so quickly that she dropped the phone she was holding.

“Choco!”

Choco leaped out of Haru’s arms and rushed toward her. The woman sank to the floor, hugging Choco tightly.

“I thought I’d lost you. Do you have any idea how worried I was…?”

Choco’s big sister suddenly lifted her head and looked at Haru. Her eyes were red from crying.

“How did you find our Choco?”

Haru proudly stuck out her little belly and declared,

“Because Haru is a great detective! Choco helped, too.”

The woman’s eyes widened.

“…A great detective?”

“Woof!”

Choco wagged her tail and licked her big sister’s cheek.

[Haru’s Case Notebook]

First Case Solved!

★ Excellent Work! ★

Good Detective Stamp [1/10]

Bam!

As the stamp landed, Haru’s mouth fell open in delight.

“Oh my goodness~! Did this little girl find your puppy for you?”

“How old are you? You’re so clever!”

People began gathering around Haru.

Only then did Haru come to her senses.

“Oh, no!”

Mommy had told her that no one must find out she was a genius!

And come to think of it, she had completely forgotten about Mommy!

Her heart began pounding for an entirely different reason.

At that moment—

Drip.

Something trickled down from her nose. She casually wiped it with the back of her hand, only to find it covered in bright red blood.

“A n-nosebleed?!”

“The little girl’s nose is bleeding!”

“Does anyone have a tissue?”

The commotion grew louder. Someone pushed through the crowd and suddenly swept Haru into their arms.

“Haru!”

“Mommyyy!”

Jangmi hurriedly took out a handkerchief and pressed it against Haru’s nose. She then pulled the hat that had slipped backward firmly down over her head again.

Holding Haru as the little girl squirmed into her embrace, Jangmi glanced around. Quite a crowd had gathered.

“I want to give you something to thank you for…”

“My daughter has a bad nosebleed. I’m sorry, but we have to go.”

“Yes, yes! Thank you so much…”

Before the woman could finish speaking, Jangmi pushed through the crowd and hurried out of the supermarket.

She remained silent, her expression frighteningly stern, all the way home.

“Mommyyy.”

Watching her mother’s face anxiously, Haru pressed the handkerchief firmly against her nose and spoke in a stuffy voice.

“I really, really tried not to touch anything. But Haru tripped and fell down.”

Jangmi locked the front door with both locks. Without answering, she took Haru into the bathroom and washed her face.

Even as Haru splashed around while her mother cleaned her face, she kept chattering.

“But strange letters appeared! And Haru saw the puppy’s memories, too!”

Jangmi, who had been wiping Haru’s face with a towel, suddenly stopped.

“Do you know why your nose bled today, Haru?”

Haru shook her head.

“Every time you use your ability, your body gets hurt. Haru, do you want to get hurt again?”

Haru shook her head once more.

“What did Mommy tell you?”

“That if the bad guys find out about Haru’s ability, they’ll take Haru away…”

Haru’s round eyes drooped sadly. It was what Mommy always said whenever she told Haru to wear her gloves.

Was Haru going to be taken away by the bad guys now because she had been a naughty girl who didn’t listen to Mommy?

Her tiny hands gripped the hem of Jangmi’s clothes tightly. Tears began welling up in her large, anxiously trembling eyes.

“Haru did something bad…”

Looking down at the little round head, Jangmi let out a faint sigh and bent her knees to meet Haru at eye level.

“Are you going to use your ability again?”

Haru shook her head.

“Are you going to take off your gloves?”

“Nooo…”

“Hook your pinky around Mommy’s and promise me.”

Haru held out her little finger and linked it with her mother’s.

Only then did Jangmi pull Haru into a tight embrace. Comforted by her familiar scent, Haru snuggled deeper into her mother’s arms.

That afternoon, a casual post appeared on an online community.

There was this woman who was crying because she’d lost her dog, so everyone was looking at her. Then this little kid came toddling over with the dog in her arms and asked if she was Choco’s big sister.

The woman said yes and asked how she knew, thanking her like crazy. And the kid said she was a great detective (ㅠㅠ) and that Choco had told her where her big sister was……

Isn’t that freaking adorable? But then the kid suddenly got a nosebleed, and everyone freaked out.

She looked like she might be sick, too. ㅠ

Her mom’s face went pale, and she grabbed the kid and ran off. I felt bad for them, but the kid was so sweet and amazing.

Even though she was sick, she was kind enough to find the dog’s owner. And she was still innocent enough to believe the dog had actually told her where its owner was… ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

She was so cute that I took a picture from behind, just a little, without showing her face. Posting it here.

(A photo showing the back of a child holding a dog.)

[Comments]

The dog actually told her where its owner was? That’s so adorable… I hope the little girl isn’t sick. ㅠㅠ
Kids get nosebleeds all the time, so it’s probably fine. Might be nothing serious.
Wow, look at those chubby cheeks. Freaking adorable.

The post had been progressing normally until one comment changed the atmosphere.

– Isn’t this an episode from the Detective Dodo movie? LOL. There’s a scene where a dog gets separated from its owner at a supermarket and asks the protagonist for help, and the protagonist finds the owner.

└ Huh? Is this fake?

– Come on, what kind of person with nothing better to do would make something like this up? LOL. No way.

– The background on the right side looks a little distorted. Is this AI?

– So someone really had nothing better to do? Damn. ㄷㄷㄷ

Since controversy surrounding AI-generated images was raging at the time, a post that would ordinarily have died out quickly became a hot topic.

– Original poster: No, I’m telling you it’s not fake! Why would I make something like this up? ㅠㅠ

└ Even if it’s just a picture from behind, you shouldn’t take pictures of other people without permission and upload them to the internet.

– That shadow looks weird. I’m pretty sure it’s AI.

– Huh? I think I saw that kid at the supermarket, too. I looked over because it seemed like the kid had fallen, and there really was a little girl who looked like that with a dog. When she touched the dog, some kind of light came out of her hand, so I thought they were filming something and left…

└ Honestly, I’d find it more believable if you said it was AI. What the hell?

└ Let there be light. Damn. ㄷㄷㄷ

The post that had caused such a commotion was eventually deleted not long afterward.

However, there were people staring intently at the deleted page.

Jangmi, and a man.

Haru’s tiny hands were covered in gloves, and her cheeks were soft and plump like little rice cakes. Jangmi gazed down at her daughter, who was smacking her lips and mumbling in her sleep.

Then she turned off the light and carefully pulled back the curtains.

The street outside was quiet, with not a single person passing by.

Jangmi picked up her phone and checked the screen she had been refreshing repeatedly.

The eyewitness’s comment had vanished without a trace in less than a day.

Jangmi hadn’t deleted the post herself.

The possibility was slim, but they might have caught on.

This place was no longer safe.

“So, in the end, this is the only way…”

Biting her lip, Jangmi pulled a box out from under the bed.

“You were at the supermarket yesterday, weren’t you? Do you remember the child who found the dog?”

The supermarket employee recalled the adorable little girl who had proudly stuck out her belly while holding the dog and declaring herself a great detective. The corners of his mouth lifted on their own.

“Oh, that little girl? She was so cute! But who are you?”

Instead of answering, the man in the suit held out his phone. On the screen was a screenshot of the comment the employee had posted the previous day.

– Huh? I think I saw that kid at the supermarket, too. …When she touched the dog, some kind of light came out of her hand…

“Did you write this comment yourself?”

“Yes. But it suddenly got deleted… I’m telling you, a real light came out of that tiny kid’s hand! You probably don’t believe me, right?”

“I believe you.”

“Pardon?”

The supermarket employee blinked.

The man in the suit took a photograph out of his pocket and handed it to him.

“The woman who was with the child. Is this her?”

“Huh? Yes, that’s her! She whisked the kid away like lightning when the little girl’s nose started bleeding. But why are you…?”

“Here. Take this.”

The man handed him a thick envelope.

“This is your compensation.”

“What? Th-this much money?”

“From this day forward, you never saw anything. Not the strange light, not the woman, and not the child.”

“Oh, yes, sir! Don’t worry! Nobody believed me anyway. Haha!”

After leaving the supermarket, the man took out his phone.

“Target confirmed. As expected, Oh Jangmi was protecting her.”

A low voice came through the phone.

“Prepare for retrieval.”

“Haru.”

Someone gently shook Haru’s shoulder.

Haru rubbed her eyes and woke up.

“…Mmm?”

As she rubbed her eyes with her tiny hands, Haru suddenly froze.

Something was strange.

The glow-in-the-dark star stickers she had painstakingly put up were gone, and thick curtains hung over the window instead of the light, flowing ones she was used to.

This isn’t Haru’s house…

“W-where am I? Has Haru been kidnapped?!”

Haru sprang up and hugged Gomi tightly.

A soft laugh drifted down from above her head.

“That’s right. I’m the kidnapper!”

The arms that wrapped around her tightly carried a familiar scent.

“Mommy…?”

“While Haru was sleeping soundly, we secretly moved house.”

“A secret move?”

“Mm-hmm. A great detective needs a secret hideout, doesn’t she?”

At the words secret hideout, Haru’s eyes lit up.

Hugging Gomi, she pattered around the house, exploring every corner.