I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 97: Mommy Hyuna.

After the brief chaos settled down, Sarah suddenly stood up.

The embarrassed girl from a moment ago disappeared as she grabbed the wooden chair from the small desk in the corner and dragged it across the stone floor. The legs scraped softly against the cavern ground as she positioned it beside the bed.

Then she sat down.

Leaning forward slightly, she rested one elbow on her knee and folded her hands together beneath her chin, trying her absolute best to look mysterious and composed— like some cool strategist preparing to discuss serious matters.

Hyuna watched this performance for exactly three seconds.

Then her lips curled into a teasing smile.

"Pfft."

Sarah’s eye twitched.

Hyuna leaned back against the bed frame, covering her mouth as she laughed softly.

"Are you... trying to act cool right now? Sarah~ you’re so cute (⁠~⁠￣⁠³⁠￣⁠)⁠~"

Sarah immediately flinched.

Her shoulders stiffened before she quickly straightened her posture, awkwardly placing both hands on her knees like a student caught doing something embarrassing.

"N-no!" she said defensively. "I’m not!"

She cleared her throat and tried to recover her dignity.

"Anyway... stop teasing me!"

For a moment the room grew quieter.

Sarah’s expression slowly became more serious.

Her gaze drifted downward as she exhaled softly.

"Our mission..." she began quietly. "It’s been four months now."

The words hung in the air for a moment before she continued.

"And this thing..."

Her eyes flicked briefly toward the strange mascot-like relic hanging nearby.

"It still feels impossible."

Her voice softened.

"I can’t just sacrifice anyone."

A pause.

"Even if they’re criminals... and our last try... they’re not even a criminal, but just some random adventurer."

Hyuna watched her silently for a moment.

Then she sighed, the playful expression fading into something gentler as she reached out and lightly patted Sarah on the head.

"Well..." she said calmly. "If you really want, I could take your position instead."

Sarah blinked.

Hyuna casually pointed toward the massive relic hanging nearby.

"My compatibility with that thing is only about twenty percent," she explained. "Unlike you, with your ridiculous one hundred percent."

She shrugged lightly.

"But technically... I could still move it."

Her eyes met Sarah’s.

"So?"

She tilted her head.

"Want me to do it?"

Sarah immediately shook her head.

Instead, she stood up from the chair and plopped down beside Hyuna on the bed, wrapping her arms around her in a sudden hug.

"Nah," she muttered softly. "Don’t worry about it."

Her grip tightened slightly.

"I’m already grateful you’re here."

Hyuna blinked in surprise before letting out a small amused sigh.

After a moment Sarah leaned back slightly and looked at her again.

"But I still don’t understand something," she added.

"Why did you recruit thirteen random people for this mission?"

Her brow furrowed.

"They all look scary too."

Hyuna opened her mouth to answer.

Then—

Behind them, the bed creaked.

Both women turned their heads at the same time.

Si Hon was sitting up.

He stretched lazily, rubbing the back of his neck before letting out a slow yawn like someone who had just woken up from the most normal nap in the world.

Then his eyes opened.

He looked at Sarah.

Then at Hyuna.

Then at the cavern around him.

Si Hon blinked once.

"ಠ⁠ᴥ⁠ಠ...."

Silence filled the room.

Hyuna smiled brightly.

"Oh," she said cheerfully.

"Look."

She pointed at him like she’d just noticed a cute animal waking up.

"The handsome is awake."

Then—

A storm of glowing windows exploded into existence above Si Hon’s head.

One after another, the familiar floating messages stacked on top of each other like an excited crowd that had been waiting all morning for him to wake up.

「Wah!!!! Hahaha look who’s awake!!!!」

「Man~ imagine getting called handsome~ I’m jealous.」

「Acardthatwasmaxxedoutwithcash: Si Hon, don’t worry just ignore them.」

「Good morning, handsome~」

Si Hon blinked slowly, his sleepy brain taking a moment to process the sudden flood of chat messages.

Then his gaze drifted away from the floating windows.

Toward the bed.

Toward Sarah and Hyuna.

Still sitting there.

Still hugging. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"ಠ⁠ᴥ⁠ಠ...?"

Hyuna noticed him immediately.

She lifted one hand and gave a gentle little wave, her smile soft and friendly, as if waking up in a dungeon beside strangers was the most normal thing in the world.

"Hi, handsome," she said sweetly. "Did you sleep well?"

Sarah opened her mouth, clearly about to explain the situation.

Si Hon, however, reacted faster.

Much faster.

He shot upright like someone who had just touched a live wire, immediately scrambling backward until his back hit the cavern wall with a quiet thump. His arms pressed stiffly against his sides as if physical contact with reality itself had suddenly become dangerous.

"ಠ⁠ᴥ⁠ಠ..."

The chat instantly lost its mind.

「LMAO!!!! THIS IS PEAK CONTENT.」

「Mister, she’s not a bad person.」

「KewkPerson: Kewk, LMAO...」

「Lololol the Kewk dude is back— SHE/HE’S SO BACK—kwalalalahahaha」

Hyuna’s gentle smile slowly curled into something far more mischievous.

"Oh?" she murmured.

Without warning, she gently pushed Sarah backward onto the bed.

Sarah landed with a soft boof against the mattress, blinking in confusion.

"ಠ⁠ᴥ⁠ಠ... Why would you do that?"

Hyuna simply raised a finger to her lips.

"Shhh," she whispered. "Just stay put. I already gave you instructions through my tele—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

Her eyes slowly drifted toward Si Hon.

Her grin widened slowly, the kind of grin that made it very clear she was enjoying this situation far more than anyone else in the room.

Across the room, Si Hon stared back at her, his back still pressed flat against the stone wall like a cornered animal trying to decide whether playing dead was a viable survival strategy.

For a brief moment, the torchlight flickered across Hyuna’s face, and the reflection caught in her eyes— making her pupils glow faintly red.

Then she moved.

Not by walking.

Not by standing.

She simply lowered herself to the floor.

And started crawling toward him.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

One hand slid forward across the stone floor.

Then the other.

Crawl.

A small shift of her knee.

Crawl.

Another quiet movement as she closed the distance between them.

Crawl.

The sound of fabric brushing against the cavern floor was almost comically dramatic in the otherwise silent room.

Meanwhile, Si Hon’s entire body had gone rigid.

Completely rigid.

If someone had replaced his bones with steel rods, his posture probably wouldn’t have changed at all. His shoulders were stiff, his arms locked awkwardly at his sides, and his brain had clearly entered a state of emergency shutdown.

Inside his head, alarms were going off at maximum volume.

(W-what the hell is this woman doing...?)