Kidnapped on the Way Home

As though a film reel were being wound backward, photo-like afterimages flickered past several times before finally merging completely with reality.

I forced my dry, gritty eyes open.

I was sitting there, facing Kwon Haeseong, exactly as I had been.

Exactly as it was before I touched the status window.

For a moment, I just stared blankly around the room.

Nothing had changed.

My mental stability increased just from that?

A new status window popped up, and I immediately looked Kwon Haeseong over.

...His eyes, which had been glinting with something ferocious and razor-edged, had certainly softened.

'So just seeing the past is enough to have an effect.'

It was an unexpectedly enormous benefit — so much so that I wondered if anything I said could top it.

And yet...

'I found I had something I wanted to say anyway.'

I picked up the red colored pencil I'd set on the table and lightly smacked it down on Kwon Haeseong's clenched fist.

Tap.

His gaze, pinned to the floor, rose slowly... and met mine.

I took a deep, deliberate breath and fired off what I'd been holding in.

"Who was it that said the consequences of a mistake are always the worst?"

"...Excuse me?"

"And if you live every second of every minute with your nerves wound that tight, do you really think you'll never make a mistake? Do you actually believe that?"

"..."

"That if the result is terrible, then good intentions and everything else are worthless? Says who? Bring them to me."

Look, honestly speaking, things in that snow mountain dungeon did end badly.

But I knew that the judgment Kwon Haeseong made in that moment was the best answer he could have made at the time.

And only now, with my emotions no longer drowning me, could I even think clearly enough to know this.

Do you have any idea how dangerous the thought 'what if I had...' really is?

Honestly, that kind of thinking is wrong from its very premise — because the 'what if' only exists alongside the very reason you didn't choose to think that way in that moment.

In my heart of hearts, I wanted to slap him across the face and shock some sense into him.

But an adult has to come to these realizations on his own.

"Both you and I are adults now, so I won't sugarcoat it with empty optimism."

That was my way of saying I wasn't going to beat around the bush.

"Life is just plain awful."

"...Uh. Huh?"

"It's the truth. Sometimes you try your hardest and things still don't go your way, and sometimes you coast through life half-asleep and everything falls into your lap. That's life."

And yet they want to tie every single one of those outcomes to their own diligence, effort, and carelessness?

That's a one-way ticket to a psychiatric ward.

"In my opinion, the more unpredictable the outcome, the more important your mindset becomes. Because that's the one thing you can change purely by your own will."

If I didn't have that little mental victory to cling to, I'd have quit this kindergarten job ages ago.

...Acting with a good heart and a clear mind.

Some people might not understand how valuable that is.

'But you, of all people, need to know.'

At the very least, you can't fail to recognize the version of yourself who tries so hard at everything with such good intentions — especially if you intend to keep doing this work.

"And... I know perfectly well that you always approach your work with a good heart."

Now that I looked at him, I realized lecturing him wasn't enough — this guy needed some garlic and chives on top of all that raw information.

'A kid's gotta smell like a person, after all.'

Startled by my cursing, apparently, Kwon Haeseong went wide-eyed and slumped his shoulders.

With that, the tension drained out of him, and the crumpled notepad unfolded in his palm.

"Th-then... what if the other person resents me?"

For what — because you're worried Dayeong and Wongan will blame you someday?

That you fed them food they kept refusing, without even figuring out what they actually wanted?

Having seen his past, I understood perfectly well that the simple fact of two children refusing to eat had struck right at the heart of Kwon Haeseong's trauma.

'But this case is different.'

I set down the red pencil and pressed the three-colored ballpoint pen beside it into Kwon Haeseong's hand.

For the record, this pen was supplies I'd bought with my own money.

"Write it down there. What you did, what you said. And then next to it, write this."

"......?"

"In the event of a problem, Na Hwiyeon will share responsibility."

"Wh-what?"

Why are you so shocked? People like you who carry around all that unnecessary weight on their shoulders need someone to at least pretend to take some of it off. To put it grandly...

'The way my aunt and my cousin took me in and made me a new family after I lost my parents.'

That's what I meant. I'm telling you I'll shoulder that crushing sense of responsibility with you.

"If things go wrong, we apologize together, ask for forgiveness together, reflect together... At the very least, that beats sitting alone wracked with guilt."

That chapter-viewing skill really did have a knack for making people uncomfortable in all the right ways.

'I just hope I'm not sticking my nose where it doesn't belong again...'

And then.

Ding.

The status window appeared again.

'A strikethrough... on his status condition.'

On top of that, the NEW chapter marker had vanished.

And then, to top it off:

I looked back and forth between Kwon Haeseong, gazing at me with a dopey expression, and the status window flashing so brightly it hurt my eyes.

"......"

A curse. A curse was... rising up in me.

NO! Stop it! I'm not doing it! I said I'm not!

***

Several days later.

I was putting on my apron as usual, greeting my fellow teachers as they filtered in.

And along came a piece of good news, tossed my way ever so casually by Kwon Haeseong.

"Ah, Teacher... I got off work early yesterday, so I couldn't tell you..."

"Yes?"

"...Dayeong and Wongan are eating well now. Really... they were just sleepy."

Kwon Haeseong said it with a bright, happy smile, and I smiled back.

"That's great to hear."

See? What did I tell you?

I told you it'd work out.

Staying an hour past closing just to hear him out had been worth every minute.

"By the way, is Teacher Jinchae not in yet?"

Midway through our idle back-and-forth, a thought struck me and I turned my head.

The woman who was always the first to arrive, sprawled across the couch, was nowhere to be seen.

The clock on the wall had already slipped well past start of the workday.

"Sagwa, Jinchae still isn't picking up her phone?"

"No. She hasn't answered since last night."

Park Edeun and Kang Sagwa answered from the couch as though they were reading off a script.

"...She hasn't answered mine either."

You too, Haeseong?

Not since last night?

I sat down on the couch and asked him.

"Nothing's happened to her, right?"

She'd been unreachable since last night, and now she hadn't shown up for work. How could I not worry that something had actually happened?

"Ah... well, it's probably nothing. This has happened a few times before."

What?

"Teacher Jinchae takes a personal day now and then and goes somewhere. She usually gives us a heads-up the day before, but... no word today... Maybe she forgot."

Kwon Haeseong stared absently at his phone screen, his voice full of uncertainty.

"So she took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a personal day today, then?"

"...No, I don't think so. I never heard anything about taking a day off."

Wait, then isn't she just a no-show?

And yet everyone except me seemed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠perfectly calm.

As if it really were nothing.

Park Edeun even patted me on the back like it was no big deal and added,

"Don't worry too much~ I'll cover Teacher Jinchae's class today. And if anything comes up, Teacher, I'll support you one hundred percent! That's what friends are for~"

Wink.

He crinkled the bridge of his nose with a mischievous grin... and looked about as reliable as a wet paper bag.

Still, the atmosphere was far too lighthearted for an unexplained absence, so I decided to go along with the flow.

'This has happened plenty of times before. What could possibly be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wrong?'

Right. The real challenge was just getting through today.

And in fact, that's exactly how it went.

The day was loud and chaotic, but it passed without any major incident, and I trudged onto the road home in a daze.

Finally... quitting time.

On the way home, I bought two ice cream bars at a nearby convenience store. I popped one into Nabi's mouth and cracked the other one between my own teeth.

'Still... I really hope nothing's happened to Teacher Jinchae.'

As I turned into the alley toward home, I pulled out my phone.

Lately, since I'd been snacking with Nabi on the walk back, I'd only been taking the little shortcut where people rarely passed.

'Kwon Haeseong seemed really worried about her.'

I remembered him sighing before he clocked out, saying her phone had gone unanswered all day.

'If I can't reach her by tomorrow, maybe I should check with the police.'

My fingers worked busily to type out the message.

'Trying to type one-handed is harder than I thought.'

In the end, I clamped the ice cream bar between my teeth and gripped the phone with both hands and—

Clunk.Tap.

The ice cream I'd been holding so neatly in my mouth suddenly plummeted to the ground.

Huh?

A moment later, an impact slammed into the back of my neck and my body pitched forward.

Through the muffled blur of noise around me, Nabi's cheerful voice rang out, clear as a bell.

[ What? ]

[ Ooh, this looks fun! ]

No, hey—

This is a fun situation... no, hey.

I caught myself on my palms against the dirt and shook my head left and right. I tried ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to push myself up, tensing my legs, but...

'My legs won't move.'

I could feel a warm, wet liquid trickling down from the crown of my head.

"Huh? One hit's not quite enough to knock you out... I suppose you really are the awakener they talk about."

I forced my head to turn and got a look at my attacker.

A black hat. A black mask.

A baggy jacket and baggy pants — impossible to identify them.

"Who are y— ugh!"

Thud.

I never got the rest out.

They'd struck the back of my head this time.

And when I opened my eyes again, I could only stare in horror.

Because there, right in front of me, was the very person I'd been searching for.

"Oh? You're awake, Teacher!"

"...Teacher Jinchae?"

I gaped at her in shock, then quickly shut my mouth as an unpleasant feeling crept over me.

Hold on.

I craned my stiff neck and immediately took stock of my surroundings. And of my own body...

Oh god. Oh no.

This is not okay.

My arms bound behind my back, restraints locked around my wrists.

My torso wrapped coil after coil in chains.

A windowless room sealed shut on all four sides.

An iron door firmly closed.

The textbook-perfect location and situation slapped my dormant frontal lobe awake.

An alarm bell shrieked through my skull.

"Don't tell me... I've been kidnapped?"

Yoo Jinchae's eyes went wide, then curved into a sly, catlike smile.

"Correct answer~"