Undine's Secret Healing
It wasn't strange that I drew puzzled looks from the hospital staff after showing up with an oversized bag that didn't suit me at all and a string of women trailing behind. While asking for directions to the room, I suddenly realized something else.
"You're coming too?"
"...I don't have a choice. When something happens, I'm the only one who can handle it smoothly."
Yerin adjusted her clothes neatly, let out a small sigh, and answered. Manipulating or erasing someone's memories with hypnosis wasn't usually called "handling it smoothly," but if she meant doing it without hurting anyone, then her words weren't wrong.
"I'll go in first by myself..."
Standing in front of the four-person room, I confirmed my mother's name on the door. I was about to ask the others to wait while I introduced them one by one when the door suddenly slid open.
Founder burst in, her long hair that reached her waist fluttering as she jumped forward. I didn't scream, but my mouth hung open and I froze for a while.
"Huh? Oppa, aren't you coming in?"
"No... I mean, I'm coming in now."
So the rest of the group naturally followed inside. Without time to think further, my feet moved toward the familiar back I saw as soon as I entered.
"...Father."
"Ah, Geonung, you're here."
My father's face, which I hadn't seen properly even during holidays because he was busy preparing for employment, had more wrinkles than before. I thought I might get scolded, but his usually stern expression softened for a moment—clearly because of the unfamiliar faces standing behind me.
"Ah... This is Seo Yerin. She's the team leader of a nearby department at the company I started working at..."
"Thank you for coming all this way. My son has been in your care."
"Oh, no! If anything, I'm the one who's always indebted to him..."
"?"
I wanted to change the subject quickly before she said anything unnecessary. But how was I supposed to introduce Nero and Founder? Even starting with their names was a hurdle.
"This is Nero... and her younger sister. Well... it just sort of happened..."
My father's eyes narrowed, and I started feeling tense for no reason. There was no way I could lie calmly in front of my parents—the very reason I'd been able to live normally despite having abilities.
"Are they your girlfriends?"
"...Ugh."
He seemed to have noticed something suspicious about me, but fortunately, he'd missed the mark. It wasn't strange for coworkers to follow along, but bringing them to visit family in the hospital—and even a younger sister—made it obvious this wasn't an ordinary relationship.
"Yes, Father. Right now, I'm living together with Geonung."
...She almost said "Master" just now, didn't she? I couldn't exactly blame Nero for casually declaring herself my girlfriend, and I couldn't help glancing at my father's reaction.
"...Father, huh."
He seemed lost in his own world, blushing shyly. Even though he was my father... it was hard to watch.
"...Lucky bastard."
"...?"
"Udadadada!"
The punishment came soon after.
"I'm sorry... My husband can't act his age or his looks..."
Beyond my father's shoulder, which had been pinched at the side, my mother was struggling to sit up. I felt relieved that she was awake, but I couldn't smile right away. Her face looked noticeably thinner and more haggard. The fact that I hadn't visited sooner and only got to see her now that she'd been hospitalized near Seoul weighed on me with guilt.
I was overwhelmed, but unsure if I even had the right to feel that way, so I tried to hold back my emotions. Before I knew it, she had taken my hand.
"...I'm sorry for coming so late."
"What are you apologizing for? You must have been busy with work."
I expected her to sound disappointed that I hadn't even called, but that wasn't the case at all. Instead, she seemed genuinely happy—as if it were her own achievement—that I was working at a proper job.
"By the way, Mother, how did you end up hospitalized... Huh?"
I was about to ask what had happened when something I shouldn't have seen appeared in my line of sight, and the words stuck in my throat. A smooth, bluish body with a transparent back—there was no mistaking the mini Undine. I quickly felt around the bag I'd been carrying, but all I touched was an empty bag with a hole at the bottom. When had she slipped out?
"What's wrong?"
"Ah... it's nothing. Really."
I forced a smile and secretly poked Nero, who was standing next to me, while my mother wasn't looking. But Nero seemed to interpret it differently.
"Hello, Mother. My name is Nero."
"Oh my... Your name sounds just like those pretty kids who sing and dance on TV~"
Smiling brightly, Nero linked arms with me and naturally started chatting with my mother. She didn't seem like she'd be much help in this emergency. So she was going to keep pretending to be my girlfriend, huh?
Then the only one I could rely on was Founder.
"Wow, what a squishy little thing..."
"Hup?"
Before I knew it, she had buried her face into my mother's stomach from across the bed.
"That's strange... This kid makes me feel so... at peace..."
"Oh my, oh my, who is this cute child... Ah, Nero's younger sister, right?"
Founder flinched.
"Yes, well... she's my younger sister... That aside, please speak comfortably. You're my mother now, after all."
"Oh my my..."
Nero seemed to have done an excellent job suppressing her hostility toward Founder. She was already getting along with her, leaving me behind. Founder, for some reason, looked pleased as she sprawled across my mother's stomach.
Where was Undine? Had she disappeared...? With a squelching sound effect that I could almost hear, Undine slid down from an unfamiliar patient's bed and began crawling toward the next one.
"I've only ever had a son, so I always wished I could raise a daughter... I'm so happy to suddenly have two pretty daughters like this."
"You're the one who's incredibly beautiful, Mother. Now I see who Geonung takes after to look so handsome."
"Oh my, oh my..."
Nero... I hadn't realized she was such a natural at acting innocent. She'd never shown this side of herself when we were alone, so it was refreshing. No, that wasn't the important part right now. While all this was happening, Undine was still wriggling toward yet another bed.
"I... I'll just go to the bathroom real quick."
"Alright, it's right next to the door."
Now I really had no choice but to handle this myself...!
Thud.
"Geonung?"
"Ung-ssi...?"
"Master?"
"...Something feels off..."
My father seemed to have caught one strange word in the middle, so I quickly cut him off.
"Ah, yeah, I'm fine. I just tripped a little... I didn't hurt anything."
Of course, I hadn't actually tripped. There wasn't even anything to trip over. The reason I was putting on this unfamiliar act was to grab the mini Undine hiding under the bed where I'd fallen. Fortunately, she crawled toward me like a puppy when she saw me. I pretended to get up, shielding her with my back, and hugged her before heading straight to the bathroom in the room.
"Hoo..."
I listened carefully to the voices outside just in case, but it didn't seem like anyone had noticed anything unusual.
"Undine, I asked you to stay still..."
"Kyuuu..."
Just as I'd felt when I picked her up, she'd grown bigger after eating something again... This was going to be a problem. It was getting harder to secretly let her heal my mother. I lowered my head, wondering if there was really no other way, when Undine reached out with her tiny hand and gently touched my cheek.
'...I'm sorry, my child. I was very hungry.'
Her touch was moist, smooth, and cool—it felt nice. ...No, that wasn't the point.
"Undine? You can talk now?"
'...?'
Ah, come to think of it, Undine didn't know I could hear her voice yet. But before I could explain...
"Undine, I know this is an unreasonable request, but... could you help me just once? Just once?"
If it came to this... there was a way.
"...Huh? That can't be right..."
I felt truly sorry for the attending physician.
"I'm sorry... It seems there was an error in the test results..."
I bowed my head apologetically as the doctor bowed to me, gesturing frantically that it was really okay.
"In that case... It must have been from using muscles you don't normally use, so once you stabilize, we'll prepare your discharge."
"But... what exactly was the reason my mother was hospitalized?"
At this point, it was natural to be curious. My father's expression and my mother's noticeably haggard face...
"Well, we thought it was a ruptured disc. The X-ray showed signs of it, so we diagnosed it hastily. But after confirming with an MRI this time, it was clearly my misdiagnosis. Regarding the refund..."
"No, that's not necessary! If my mother is healthy, that's enough. I'll pay for today's expenses properly. And..."
I trailed off and glanced around. The other patients sharing the room were also preparing for discharge after suddenly recovering overnight. Of course, it was thanks to Undine. Everyone was confused about their broken legs healing overnight or surgical scars disappearing, so I had no choice but to accept her help.
"...Let's talk over here for a moment."
"Who is this?"
The response team leader from Eunrang Art Museum, codename Neutralizer. The smoothest way to resolve things was indeed to make the targets forget the problem itself.
While the issue was being handled inside the room, I stepped out into the hallway and slightly lifted my sleeve to check inside.
"Thank you, Undine. I'll definitely repay this debt."
During healing—when Undine ate—impurities like clothes would melt away too. But if Undine held back for a while... this was possible.
'Then will you grant my request too?'
"...After receiving this much favor, of course."
I'd wondered if it was cancer or some other serious illness, but it turned out my mother's haggard appearance was simply because the hospital food portions were too small. It was absurd, but I was just relieved that everything had worked out so well.
Slippery...
"Ugh..."
Under my clothes, Undine clung to my body like a thin diver's suit. I'd asked her to secretly finish the healing while I held my mother's hand. The reason my clothes weren't melting was because she was suppressing her appetite even while attached to me.
'Hehe... Then I'll look forward to it.'
"...Haha."
Just then, I saw the group returning from the end of the hallway. Nero and my father were carefully supporting my mother on either side, while Founder clung to her like a child, getting in the way as she walked.
...Still, if I'd come alone with Undine, it would've been much harder in many ways. I wondered if the field team watching this scene—or more likely the team leader—would consider this a smooth resolution.