The Status Window Digs Up the Past

"……!"

Right beside Lee Seohyuk's head, whose eyes had just met mine, the number 63 blinked with a red glow.

What the hell is this?

Ever since I'd learned the status window existed, there had been something I desperately refused to face.

Something that… even in the most urgent of situations, I could never bring myself to actually use.

……!

Before I could even panic, a black bar slashed itself across the text. And then, like a screen full of static, the display began to crack apart.

-Zzzt.

-Zzzt…… click.

And at last, a clean, healthy screen rose up again.

Noticeably changed.

It was around the time Na Hwiyeon and the twins were having a tearful reunion at the emergency center.

Meanwhile, Kwon Haeseong, the Seal Class homeroom teacher, had stiffened from head to toe in sheer helplessness.

"The snack today is sweet potato? I don't like sweet potato~"

"Noah, sweet potatoes are truly a wonderful crop. They're delicious fried, delicious roasted, and just as delicious boiled."

"Really? Then you eat lots of them, Nam Taejae!"

"Noah, sit properly while you eat. You're spilling all your milk."

…Astonishingly, the one comforting Noah—who was pitching a fit about not wanting his snack—wasn't the teacher, but his own classmate, Nam Taejae.

"Ahhh~ Mr. Seal Teacher~ Taejae keeps nagging meee!"

"You're spilling it everywhere. Wipe it up with a tissue."

…The truth was, Kwon Haeseong found the Dolphin Class children difficult.

His own class, Won Gang and Da Young, were docile and calm.

Left alone, they played on their own initiative, had never once fussed over side dishes, and were quiet and soft-spoken.

The Dolphin Class children, by contrast… to put it kindly, were overflowing with individuality, and to put it another way, were not easy to look after.

So hard.

Watching Noah flop face-first beside the snack tray, Kwon Haeseong spoke with great difficulty.

"N-Noah… you need to sit up and eat. And if you don't want the sweet potato, you don't have to eat any more of it."

"What? You should've told me that sooner! I've almost finished it all already?"

"……."

Difficult. So very difficult.

"Please don't be too sad, Teacher. Noah has no manners with anyone."

Taejae, who had somehow already cleaned off his entire tray, patted him on the back.

Why did it feel like he was the one being pitied…?

"By the way, aren't you going to eat your sweet potato, Teacher? Then may I have it?"

"……Sure."

Kwon Haeseong gazed bitterly at his sweet potato, now held aloft in Taejae's hand.

Isn't that his fifth one? He's going to give himself a stomachache.

He suddenly missed Na Hwiyeon. If it were him, he wouldn't be flailing about like this.

Short as the time had been, watching him up close, Na Hwiyeon was so adept at caring for children that Kwon Haeseong half-doubted he was a rookie at all.

It seemed less like something he'd learned, and more like a calm ease born of experience.

Had he worked in this field before?

Out of curiosity, he'd tried to steer a conversation that way once, but the timing slipped past and he never got an answer.

Kwon Haeseong looked down at the yellow notebook clutched in his hand and let out a sigh.

-Knock knock.

"Mr. Haeseong, are you busy?"

"……?"

Kang Sagwa?

Kang Sagwa was standing in front of Seal Class ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠holding a coffee.

Seeing that Won Gang and Da Young were still eating their snack, he rose from his seat.

"Oh… I was in the middle of snack time with the kids."

"Ah, really? I bought coffee…. Where's Mr. Na Hwiyeon? Wasn't he with you?"

As she handed over the coffee and searched for Hwiyeon, he couldn't help letting out a small sigh.

Well, he did just…

He'd soothed the crying twins back down, and then at some point he'd sprinted straight toward the corporate headquarters building.

Kwon Haeseong had assumed he'd simply calmed them enough to slip away. He gave Kang Sagwa a brief account of what had just happened—only that the field team's medical call broadcast, which happened from time to time anyway, had coincidentally involved the very team that the twins' older brother, Lee Seohyuk, belonged to.

"So that's why you can't see the twins right now?"

"Yeah. I think they must have gone to the emergency center…"

But once he actually took a moment to think it through, there was no helping the flood of thoughts that came with it.

Is it really so easy to let a child confirm the safety of someone they're worried about?

No, it would be a hassle. Tiresome and troublesome.

And what if an act done with the best of intentions drew an unexpected reaction?

Far more often than one would think, that was exactly how it went.

…Kwon Haeseong chewed over a past he wanted desperately to forget but never could, then quickly shook his head.

Don't think about it. That's why I came out here.

"Do you think the twins' guardian will be all right?"

Kang Sagwa gazed toward the company building as if genuinely worried.

Frankly, so long as you didn't die on the spot in the field, nearly everyone recovered without serious injury.

It was fair to say that every healing awakener and recovery awakener with any name recognition in Korea belonged to BOND.

The result of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Baek Cheonhyeong aggressively recruiting them while cursing up a storm.

…So Lee Seohyuk has a 99 percent chance of being fine.

"He'll be fine…"

"I hope so."

Kang Sagwa, who had no way of knowing any of this, apparently took Kwon Haeseong's words as another expression of his own worry.

"This might come out of nowhere, but don't you think they're similar?"

"Similar how?"

"Jinchae-unnie and Mr. Hwiyeon. They've kind of got the same vibe, don't you think?"

……Suddenly? Despite the abrupt opening, Kwon Haeseong gave her question some thought.

Yoo Jinchae and Na Hwiyeon.

Come to think of it… they were a little similar, weren't they?

He couldn't put it into words exactly, but he couldn't deny that both of them had something bulldozer-like about them.

Honestly, though it felt late to say it now—when Na Hwiyeon had come crawling out of that fire pit all on his own, grabbing people one by one and firing off questions…

-Your abilities! What's everyone's ability?

He'd thought the man was insane.

And then, even with blood seeping out of his hand, he'd listened to the principal's scolding with a perfectly calm face, and Kwon Haeseong had been struck completely speechless.

…As it turned out, he'd had a bruised side and first-degree burns on both arms, too.

Looking back on it now, that almost transcendent composure, paired with the radiant smile that stood in total contrast to it, bore enough resemblance to someone that the two seemed to overlap.

"I suppose they do…"

"Right? I can't quite pin down what it is, but there's this subtle likeness."

"Maybe it's their smiles."

"Ah, ah, that's it. The smiles too, yeah."

A gracious, people-pleasing smile.

As far as Jinchae had been trained, a quick-eyed person might find it mechanical at a glance—but Na Hwiyeon's wasn't.

…That smile, at a passing glance, even looked kindly and almost enlightened.

Looking at it steals the words right out of your mouth.

Whatever you'd been about to say, it simply shut you up.

Kwon Haeseong could call up Na Hwiyeon's smiling face without the slightest effort.

Maybe I should practice smiling, too.

No matter how he thought about it, benevolent charisma seemed to be one of the essential virtues of a kindergarten teacher.

There was so much to learn.

"Still, after seeing him today, one thing's for sure. We absolutely have to keep Mr. Hwiyeon."

Kang Sagwa thrust out her other hand—the one not holding coffee—in a resolute fist.

…Even as he awkwardly bumped his fist against hers, Kwon Haeseong had no intention of arguing with her opinion.

Because whatever else he didn't know, he agreed with this statement wholeheartedly.

People like that aren't easy to find.

Kang Sagwa and Kwon Haeseong had let their guard down around Na Hwiyeon at a frightening speed.

And it made sense—after nothing but so-called useless people up until now, meeting Na Hwiyeon made him look like an angel.

Capable at every task, a rookie who seemed more professional than they were. And on top of that, the drive to run himself ragged for others.

Wasn't that practically a windfall that had rolled right up to their doorstep?

The kind of thing you could see from a single day's observation.

But…

"And how do we keep him…?"

There was no way.

Every teacher who had quit Dolphin Class had refused to be held onto, no matter what tricks they tried.

Salary raises, flexible hours, added benefits, extra vacation and personal days.

…None of it had worked.

And Na Hwiyeon had even survived a major accident on his very first day of work…!

"Don't tell me he's already talking about quitting?"

"No, no…"

"Are you sure?"

"…Honestly, I don't really know. He never said anything like that. Judging by how he keeps showing up to work, I'd assume he's not thinking of quitting…"

There had been no signs. Nothing that looked like he was struggling, or wanted to run away.

If anything, he was always—no, every single time Kwon Haeseong saw him—smiling.

Kwon Haeseong had never once seen Na Hwiyeon with a serious expression on his face.

At most, he'd seen him tired, or slightly annoyed. Otherwise, Na Hwiyeon's default setting was… a smile.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Besides, every time I've seen him, he's just been going around smiling…"

But he couldn't be certain, so Kwon Haeseong lacked conviction.

"Oppa, those are exactly the scariest kind of people! Someone who yells at you every day is one thing, but the ones who quietly smile all the time are the ones who suddenly hand in their resignation one day and vanish without a trace??"

"Th-that's true?"

Then—that couldn't be allowed.

And a person who went around quietly smiling all the time was basically the dictionary definition of Na Hwiyeon.

Which meant that the reason Mr. Hwiyeon smiled like an enlightened monk at all times was, don't tell me…!

"Sagwa, what do we do? I think Mr. Hwiyeon might quit…!"

"What? Really? What do we do?"

Wipe that grin off your face, you little punk.

Did you think I wouldn't notice? That so-called status window I'd nicknamed myself had a habit of attaching that obnoxious little emoticon to the end of its final line—every single time, precisely when I was about to be displeased.

:D

I was angry enough to lose my mind, but the opposite was also true—it made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me feel like dying. Cold sweat trickled down and dizziness washed over me.

"……."

I hadn't touched the earring.

For fear that—just maybe—that creepy inactive status window might go looking, of its own accord, for a 'target' that matched that 'condition'!

And normally…

-Does not meet unlock conditions.

-To satisfy the unlock conditions, a 'target' matching the 'condition' is required.

-Would you like to search for a 'target'?

…A three-step message in that exact format was what should have appeared, one after another.

And I should have been screaming "No." over and over, just like always.

But here's the thing.

…Oh, world, why.

"Are you all right, sir?"

Lee Seohyuk was fidgeting anxiously, watching my face turn pale.

I lifted my head and fixed my gaze on the number 63 floating beside Seohyuk's sweat-streaked face.

…Now that I knew that number was an affection rating, honestly, my stomach churned even worse.

Because an affection rating was attached to another grown man, my instincts recoiled on reflex…

Just then, a notification snapped my senses wide awake.

-Ding!

All right, that's it. We fight.

Glaring at the status window spouting its nonsense, I clenched both fists hard.

I refused to let my thick, sturdy ethical code be dismantled by a hologram as thin as a sheet of paper.

"Are you feeling unwell, sir?"

Startled by my suddenly labored breathing, Seohyuk panicked. I waved a hand lightly and dragged the corners of my mouth upward with great effort.

"I'm fine."

Great—so furious I can barely breathe.

"Shall we go to the emergency center? You look terribly pale."

Being sick of it all is not something an emergency center can cure.

-Ding!

……Goddammit, seriously.

Give Lee Seohyuk his human rights back. And hand over compensation for my emotional damages while you're at it.

But the status window didn't so much as pretend to listen.

"……!"

I nearly bit my tongue off.

It really has gone mad.

I never imagined it would excavate the shameful history I'd planned to carry with me to my grave and put it on display.

Every curse word in existence bubbled up from inside me.

If Lee Seohyuk hadn't been standing right there, I would have thrown a punch at the status window itself.

Kang Jihyuk.

The man who was the entire reason I had gone out of my way to avoid this lunatic status window.

It was barely a month after I'd received my awakener assessment.

I ended up having a light drink with my high school classmate Jihyuk. And at that gathering, Jihyuk, playing the senior awakener, patiently walked me through how to use my ability.

-Hey! My rank went to crap, but I'm still your senior, so I'll teach you. Listen up.

The problem was…

Contrary to our intentions, the drinking did not stay light. Which meant we were both in a state of

utter inebriation

where normal thought was simply not possible.

……On top of that, I had no idea my ability could strip people of their human rights like this.

'I'm supposed to be a Tamer!!'

That day might as well have been the annual human-rights-removal festival.

-So you say you can issue commands? here? Let's give it a tryyy! Kang Jihyuk, sit down!

-Huh?? He sat!!

-Stand up!

-Ohohh! Hey, he's standing! His knees are moving on their own!

-Bwahahahaa! Stop! Whoa! This is insane!

Yes, you absolute lunatic.

When I sobered up the next day and that demented track record came flooding back, the guilt made me want to die.

'Thank God Jihyuk couldn't remember a thing from that night.'

I'd have had no defense if he'd sued me for violating his human rights.

And from that day on, I resolved to seal this particular ability away myself.

Afterward, I tried to live like an ordinary, unremarkable D-rank Tamer…

'You stayed quiet for years, though?'

"Sir? Are you about to pass out, by any chance?"

Seohyuk asked, poised to hustle me straight into the emergency center.

Caught between the resurfacing nightmare and the thought of Seohyuk's human-rights-removal show—an image revolting just to imagine—I quickly shook my head.

"No. I just… felt dizzy for a moment. I'm fine now."

I swayed for a second like someone with anemia, grabbed the wall, and managed to pull myself upright.

…Whatever it took, I needed to get out of here, fast.