#Episode 2
"Y… yes…"
I gave a reluctant affirmative to that misunderstanding.
Without even stopping to imagine what that short answer would mean to her.
"…!!!"
In an instant, the hands gripping my shoulders tightened.
*Crunch—*
"Ow… that hurts."
I winced and shrank back, and her eyes shook violently.
"……!"
She recoiled from me as if she'd been burned by open flame.
A look caught between panic and self-reproach.
Her hands drifted aimlessly through the air, lost, and then she dropped to her knees on the floor.
*Thud—*
The sound of her knees hitting the cold floor rang through the quiet room.
"I… I'm sorry…"
She hunched in on herself in front of me, completely at a loss.
Her head bowed, her voice trembling on the edge of collapse.
"Um… I mean… the blood earlier, and… I'm really sorry. I'm sorry…"
Her rambling apology was soaked in deep self-loathing.
I looked down at her with a mildly bewildered expression.
But up close, she didn't look well at all.
Dark circles carved deep beneath hollow eyes, and red marks on her skin.
Most of all — the black mourning clothes she was wearing.
The news of my funeral, which I'd just seen, flickered through my mind.
Had she… attended as chief mourner?
My death, the death of a longtime friend, seemed to have hit her hard.
Seeing her haggard face — someone who had willingly put on mourning clothes and wept for me — a heaviness settled in one corner of my chest, and a faint wave of guilt followed.
Should I tell her the truth, even now?
My lips parted, then pressed shut again.
No.
I'm sorry, Jang-mi…
But I was so utterly sick of the hunter's life.
It might be a cowardly excuse, but I couldn't give up this peace I'd stumbled into.
I resolved, in the end, to bury the truth deep inside my chest.
Before that resolve had even settled, she lifted her head and asked.
"Um… little one… what's your name?"
Her voice was careful, tentative.
A brief silence.
I opened my mouth slowly, as if turning the first page of a new life.
"Kim… Shin-a."
"Oh… Shin-a… right. That's a pretty… name."
She murmured it softly, pulling the corners of her mouth into a small smile.
But that smile looked like it might shatter into tears at any moment, which made it all the more heartbreaking.
That was when it happened.
*Grumble…*
A mortifying sound broke the silence and filled the room.
"……?"
"……?"
Ah…
Perhaps because the tension had finally released — my oblivious stomach chose that moment to make a very loud announcement.
I felt my face flush hot and quickly dropped my head.
"Ha… haha…"
A short, helpless laugh slipped through her wretched lips.
The kind of laugh that said *this is absurd*, or *I can't believe this situation*.
But where there had been cold sorrow just moments before, that sound carried a faint trace of warmth.
She pressed a hand to the floor, stood up, and looked at me steadily.
"Are you hungry…? Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
Her eyes were still red and bloodshot, but as she asked, a tiny flicker of life had begun to return to them.
***
"Thank you for the food."
I said it quietly and reached for my chopsticks toward the delivery food spread across the table.
Whether it was my body growing younger and my metabolism changing, I didn't know — but hunger had come crashing in.
I started shoveling food into my mouth, eating fast.
The greasy, delicious food laid out before me — and yet, for some reason, Jang-mi hadn't touched a single bite.
She sat with her chin resting in her hand, staring at me with empty eyes. Just watching.
"……"
Her gaze was so intense it felt like it was clogging my throat.
The strange pressure I felt throughout the meal finally made me stop my chopsticks and glance at her sideways.
"Hm…? Is it not to your taste…?"
When I hesitated, she startled and asked. The worry on her face was plain.
"Oh… no, it's good."
"Really…? Oh… was I staring too much? I'm sorry…"
She flustered and quickly turned her gaze to the window or the wall.
But it only lasted a moment — like a magnet pulling her back, her eyes kept drifting toward me again, sneaking glances.
She checked on me, and checked again, anxious.
I pretended not to notice that pitiful gaze and quietly finished my meal.
When the dishes were empty and silence settled in, she spoke carefully.
"Shin-a. Do you… live here alone with your dad?"
"……Yes."
At my short answer, her eyes trembled slightly.
There seemed to be something more she wanted to confirm.
"Then…… what about your mom……?"
She couldn't finish the sentence, watching my reaction.
Ah.
Right.
A mom. There was no way I'd have one of those.
The whole setup of being Kim Shin-woo's daughter had been improvised on the spot just now.
But then…
Did it really matter if there wasn't one?
And if I looked flustered here, she'd get suspicious.
I answered with a blank expression, as if it were nothing.
"There… isn't one."
"Hm…? There isn't? There's no mom?"
Her eyes went wide.
She bit her lip and muttered to herself.
"No mom…? Divorce…? Or maybe… she ran off? Good lord, so he raised a child alone…?"
She was building her own private misunderstanding, layer by layer, when she suddenly reached across the table and clasped my small hand tightly.
"Then……"
She swallowed, as if afraid to say the words.
"Do you… know what happened to your father?"
"I heard."
My unhesitating answer drained the color from her face.
"……What?"
"I just saw it on the news."
"Oh… oh…? Ah, that… I mean……"
She twisted her expression, probably thinking I couldn't possibly handle this brutal truth.
The one who had actually died was calm. The one still living looked far more tormented.
To show her I was fine, I made my voice even more matter-of-fact than before.
"Does this mean I just became an orphan?"
"Uh… yes……"
She barely managed to push the answer out, like a groan.
Her shoulders trembled faintly, head bowed like someone carrying guilt.
"I see."
"Ohh…"
She clutched her head and suffered.
After a long moment with her head down, she finally looked up, her expression set with quiet resolve.
"Um… Shin-a."
"Yes…?"
"This place… the apartment will be cleared out soon. There's the belongings to sort through, and the legal procedures are complicated."
"Yes……"
"So… do you have somewhere to stay? Anyone you can contact?"
"……No."
At my flat answer, she swallowed hard.
Then, as if she'd made up her mind, she tightened her grip on my hand and spoke.
"Then……"
Her voice was shaking.
"Would you… like to come stay with me?"
"……Pardon?"
***
"Did you pack everything, Shin-a?"
Jang-mi asked, waiting for me by the front door.
She was still pale, but noticeably calmer than before.
"Yes."
I adjusted the strap on my shoulder and walked over to her.
The bag — roughly the size of my own body — was stuffed so full it looked ready to burst.
"Hm…?"
Jang-mi was giving the bag a puzzled look when her gaze suddenly fixed on one spot.
"Um… Shin-a…?"
"Yes?"
"What… what is all this?"
She pointed a trembling finger at the gap in the bag.
Poking out through the zipper—
All manner of equipment I'd relied on during my hunter days, crammed in tight.
"Things I'm attached to."
At my flat answer, her face went white as a sheet.
"These things…?"
"Yes."
"Um… but for Shin-a to handle… isn't it a little dangerous? No, wait… more than that…"
She seemed to realize something and opened her eyes wide.
A dawning suspicion crossed her gaze.
"Could it be… Shin-a, are you Awakened…?"
"……Yes."
"!!!"
Her eyes expanded wider than they ever had.
Shock, confusion, and emotions she couldn't name seemed to wash over her all at once.
"W… wait… then… could I ask what your ability is?"
Instead of answering, I quietly held out my right palm.
*Crackle—*
A faint blue current sparked and flickered across my small, slender hand.
"The same ability as Shin-woo……"
She let out a short, quiet breath and turned away for a moment. Her shoulders trembled faintly.
She took several deep breaths, then turned back to me.
"Um, Shin-a. This equipment… would it be alright if I held onto it for a while?"
"Hmm……"
Well, even I could see why a little girl carrying weapons like these would be cause for concern.
And besides — I had no intention of ever doing hunter work again. So it didn't really matter.
"Yes. Go ahead."
"Okay… thank you. I'll give it back when you need it, I promise."
She let out a breath of relief and opened the front door.
Before stepping out, I paused and swept my gaze across the apartment one last time.
"……"
The home I'd bought with money earned hunting monsters until I could barely stand.
Not grand or glamorous, but a refuge where I'd laid my exhausted body down.
Now I was saying goodbye to this place too.
I turned away, shaking off any lingering attachment, and outside the door, Jang-mi gently extended her hand to me.
"I never properly introduced myself, did I? My name is Kim Jang-mi. Shin-a's dad's… friend."
I looked at her outstretched hand for a moment, then gave a small bow.
"……Yes. It's nice to meet you."