Chapter 38: Watch the video.

I arrived in the conference room, held in Choi Eunju’s arms, with my face resting on her shoulder.

Honestly, being held by someone as an adult was quite embarrassing and humiliating, but right now, I didn’t want to walk on my own two feet to the extent that I could bear that.

So, when I arrived in the conference room, held in her arms.
From the moment I arrived until now,
these kinds of conversations had been continuously going on without even the slightest break.

“Wow, so cute!!!”

“I want to touch her too!”

“D-Director… can’t I hold Angel…? Please…!”

“Oh, absolutely not.”

“That’s so unfair!”

A huge noise that seemed to have no end as time passed.
Thanks to it, I even felt my head starting to spin a little.

…… Everyone, my head is ringing….
Everyone’s voices are too loud….

Moreover, I wondered if these people thought I was a baby…

“Angel~ Look over here just once~!”

“Angel! Want to eat this!?”

They kept smiling brightly in front of me, waving both hands,
or trying to get my attention by shaking candy or similar things.

‘Hey, hey… you all know how mature I am, don’t you…? You don’t seriously think that would work, do you…?’

Although I was currently being held by Choi Eunju, in essence, it was a situation no different from being ill.
This was clearly not my will, and there was an excuse that it was an unavoidable choice.

Because of this, I felt regret that my usual image had been tarnished.
My face was slightly flushed, and as I sighed inwardly.

At that moment, Choi Eunju sorted out the situation.

“Alright, alright, since everyone seems to be here, let’s start! Everyone, please take your seats! By the way, there naturally won’t be enough chairs… Hmm, well, sit on the floor.”

Then, a researcher’s voice was heard.

“Ah… watching videos of Angel during work hours…. I’m really happy. Hehehe….”

At that, Choi Eunju sat me next to her and drew a clear line.

“Everyone, as I said, this isn’t playtime, alright? We’re working, so everyone needs to watch carefully. Got it? What’s our goal?”

“To find things related to laziness!”

“Yes, that’s right. Everyone, don’t forget that. Then, shall I play it?”

“Yes, understood!”

“Yes!”

In an instant, a solemn atmosphere was created.
As I was feeling somewhat subtle about the scene,

Beep—

With the sound of a button being pressed, the video finally began.
It started, as expected, with my appearance emerging from an egg-like object.

‘…… Hmm?’

Somehow, a scene quite different from what I had expected played out.
Well… since I had emerged naked at the time,
those sensitive parts were all pixelated in the video.

In fact, if you thought about it, that was the right thing to do, and there was nothing strange about it.
Nevertheless, actually seeing it was, how should I say it… hmm….
Anyway, it somehow subtly affected me,
and began to make me very flustered.

‘W-what is that….’

To the extent that I stealthily glanced at Choi Eunju, even overcoming my annoyance this time.

But she, along with the people around her,
especially the male staff, were all staring at the screen with more serious faces than ever before.

‘… H-huh…? Was I the only one who felt it was strange…?’

As I became flustered again at their unexpected reactions,
perhaps because it was a video, the screen moved to the next scene faster than I expected.

So, with an uncomfortable feeling, I tilted my head, then shifted my gaze back to the screen.
From this point on, the conference room gradually turned into a complete mess as time progressed.

“Ah, isn’t taking two naps right now lazy?”

“Huh? The doll that just fell on the floor, didn’t she pick it up with telekinesis because she was too lazy to move? Isn’t that lazy?”

“She kicked out the Japanese Angel because she was too lazy to play with her, isn’t that lazy—”

Even with the person in question right in front of them,
they said such things without any regard.

“Ah, correct! The day Angel first ate mango bingsu!”

“Correct! The day Angel’s eyes welled up with tears because she couldn’t use telekinesis! Ah, she was so cute then too….”

“Hmm…? Ah, ah~! This is that…!? Right! The day she went to the CS team!”

Suddenly, with only the first part of the video,
a quiz show unfolded where they guessed what the content was.

‘Hey… why are you all watching this anyway…? You’re just watching it because you’re bored, right? Right…?’

Because of this, such a rational suspicion entered my mind.
Feeling that this was somehow not right, I looked at Choi Eunju.

‘…….’

Even she, far from trying to stop them, was instead wearing a sly smile.
Her gaze was fixed blankly on the screen.

‘…… Right, well… there’s no way there’s a normal person around me, is there…?’

Thanks to this, I realized another important truth today, as usual.
A long time later, my embarrassed expression after receiving cookies from the Japanese Angel.
Unable to bear the shame any longer from the subsequent reactions around me,
my face flushed red, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Somehow, I felt like I could leap out of this conference room right now, even if it meant overcoming my laziness.

Today, all personnel who were on duty coincidentally gathered in the conference room.
Naturally, the research lab became bustling and heated due to the unprecedented situation,
and it burned even brighter at the sight of Angel being held tightly in Choi Eunju’s arms.

Meanwhile, Choi Eunju received both envy and admiration from many female researchers in the lab.
Among them, Park Gyutae also secretly thought Choi Eunju was enviable.

Just as Lee Hyejin, who combs her hair and tidies her clothes, seems much closer to Angel in the eyes of others.

It was obvious to anyone that Choi Eunju, who was currently holding Angel in her arms,
looked more intimate than him.

In other words, the reason for his envy was that
it seemed realistically impossible for him, as a man, to become that close to Angel.

For the record, this was absolutely not a hidden motive like wanting physical contact.
He properly liked adult women.
There was no way he would harbor affection for that small Angel, not now, nor in the future.

His current thoughts and feelings were merely… well, it was very rude to Angel, but.
More precisely, it was closer to feeling a distance from a pet animal in his home.

It was even like a friend who came to visit was closer to the animal than he was,
and he, who couldn’t properly touch the creature due to allergies,
was watching his friend freely petting it from the side.

‘Well, it’s not like I’m jealous, though….’

Park Gyutae clicked his tongue in regret.
Then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

‘…… It feels like just yesterday I told Lee Hyejin I was embarrassed to like Angel…. When did it become like this…?’

It was, in a way, a truly astonishing change even to himself.
He was finally beginning to understand a little bit why Lee Hyejin had been so hyped up about Angel.

‘…… Surely, it’s not because the brainwashing from Gilsu hasn’t completely worn off, is it?’

His mind had awakened a bit from the shock therapy he received from Angel.
But a corner of his mind was still filled with reasons to like Angel,
and charming points about Angel.

This knowledge, almost forcibly injected,
was not disappearing but rather intertwining and multiplying, growing even larger.

Of course, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It was just that the newly acquired emotions were so contrary to what he originally possessed, which bothered him a little.

His original mindset when he started this work was:
‘It’s not good for an ordinary human to get too close to an Angel.’

‘… Why did I think that…?’

However, amusingly, he couldn’t even recall the reason now.
So, he shook his head vigorously several times to clear away all the random thoughts that had just popped up.

It was now time to fully focus all his attention on Angel’s condition as her care manager… or rather.
Anyway, on how to restore her not-so-perfect condition.

Therefore, he began to steel himself to concentrate on the upcoming video.
And finally, the scene where Angel emerged from the egg, accompanied by Choi Eunju’s sermon.

‘Ah, that’s really a long time ago.’

He unconsciously looked at it with a fond, nostalgic feeling,
then his expression instantly hardened.

‘……?’

For the record, this wasn’t just him.
This applied to all male staff members of the research lab gathered in this conference room, including Park Gyutae.
They were all watching the screen with visibly solemn expressions.

Among them, some flinched with tension,
or gasped in surprise without realizing it.
In Park Gyutae’s view, that was a very natural reaction.

Because, the scene currently being shown on screen.
If they reacted wrongly to this, there would be only one thing they would face.

‘Social death,’ that is.

Gulp.

Naturally, Park Gyutae was no exception.
For that reason, he inadvertently swallowed in tension.
He didn’t know what Choi Eunju was thinking by including this part of the video,
but it was a moment so tense that his hands were sweating.

Let it be clear,
this was undoubtedly one of the most tense moments in his entire life.

So, he tried his best to recall sad thoughts and stealthily averted his gaze from the screen.
Just as the scene finally changed and he was letting his guard down…

‘No…!’

This time, a scene of Lee Hyejin putting a dress on Angel appeared,
and he quietly squeezed his eyes shut without others noticing.