“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 .