I Will Treasure It (1)
I Will Treasure It (1)
Early Saturday morning.
A pleasant weekend closing out a busy week.
"Hm-hm~"
Patting her wet hair with a towel, Baek Ha-na walked out of the bathroom, a soft hum on her lips.
She had just sat down at the chair beside her bed and was quietly tidying herself in front of the mirror.
"Nnngggh...."
A deeply muffled voice drifted from the bed across the room.
Baek Ha-na glanced through the mirror toward the bed where her roommate, Lee Na-young, lay.
"Sorry, was I too loud?"
"Nn, ah, no...."
The blanket shifted a few times before Lee Na-young poked her head out.
She had always seemed somewhat delicate, but over the past week, the dark circles under her eyes had deepened several shades.
Barely able to open her eyes, Lee Na-young faced Baek Ha-na's direction and asked,
"So you'll be back before curfew tomorrow...?"
"Yeah. I might come back a little earlier, but I'll eat dinner out either way."
"I seeee...."
Having finished with her hair, Baek Ha-na turned to sit facing her.
Lee Na-young was scowling, as if the light seeping through the window was blinding.
"Are you really okay?"
"Uh, y-yeah, I'm fine...."
"No. You've been saying you're fine since Wednesday, but you're only getting worse."
"I, I am?"
"That's not the point... never mind."
While changing clothes, Baek Ha-na tapped on her smartwatch and quickly typed an email, sending it off.
"I told Maria. I dunno about breakfast, but you have to eat lunch and dinner, okay?"
"Nnng...."
"And."
Now dressed, Baek Ha-na approached Lee Na-young's bed and opened the bag beside it.
A sweet aroma wafted out, rich and heavy.
"I haven't smelled this before."
"It's an ingredient for the next practicum. It's called Sweetroot. Makes potions taste better...."
"Ah, okay."
Baek Ha-na pushed aside the sweet-smelling pouch and picked up the glass bottle that Lee Na-young frequently took out and opened.
She counted the round pills inside.
"Thirteen. If this number is any lower when I come back tomorrow, I'm confiscating it."
"N-no, you can't...."
Lee Na-young forced her squinting eyes open and reached both arms toward Baek Ha-na.
Baek Ha-na didn't dodge. She stroked Lee Na-young's hair after she'd pulled her into a hug, and spoke.
"No. Every time you take these, you don't sleep and stay up until morning. And it's been all week."
"I had too much to do.... S-sorry, I'll try to be quieter next t—"
Thwack.
"Kyaat!!"
Lee Na-young clutched her head with both hands, a dull sting spreading from the top of her scalp.
Her waist now free, Baek Ha-na pinched Lee Na-young's cheeks.
"I wouldn't mind even if you screamed. I'm pointing out your health, not the noise. I'm not joking, you really do look like you're about to collapse. So please, just rest a little, at least on the weekend. Okay?"
"I wi-iill."
"Na-young, I get how desperate you are, but if you do collapse, all of that becomes pointless."
"Nnggh...."
"Answer me."
"......Okaaay."
"You promised, right?"
"...Nn."
Only then did Baek Ha-na let go of Lee Na-young's stretched cheeks.
Lee Na-young rubbed her reddened cheeks, and Baek Ha-na returned the bottle to its original place.
"Alright then, I'll trust you and go."
"He, hey, Ha-na."
"Hm?"
Baek Ha-na, who had begun gathering her things, turned back around.
Lee Na-young glanced up at Baek Ha-na's face, speaking bashfully.
"C-could you... give me a hug before you go...?"
"Sure."
A hug was hardly a difficult favor.
Smiling gently, Baek Ha-na walked over and opened her arms.
Lee Na-young sat up and buried her face in Baek Ha-na's chest, which, unlike her own, was very full.
"...The best."
"Me?"
"......Yeah."
Lee Na-young pulled away from Baek Ha-na, her expression far more relaxed than before.
She then melted back onto the bed and said,
"Stay safe...."
"Make sure you eat when the others get here."
"Nn, yeah...."
"Alright. See you tomorrow."
Leaving Lee Na-young to burrow back under the covers, Baek Ha-na picked up the bag she had packed the night before, left the dormitory, and headed toward the mansion.
The streets were remarkably quiet.
Part of it was the early hour, but mostly, everyone was savoring the leisure of the weekend.
As she neared the maze.
Baek Ha-na moved to a secluded corner and didn't forget to pull the Wrapping Cloth that Baek Woo-jin had given her over her head.
Only after completing this final step for entering the house did Baek Ha-na step lightly through the maze and open the front door of the mansion.
"I'm ho...."
Baek Ha-na's mouth, poised to announce her arrival brightly, slowly closed.
Women's shoes placed next to Baek Woo-jin's dress shoes.
Taking off her own shoes, Baek Ha-na looked at the coat rack.
A white coat hung beside the black one.
The corners of Baek Ha-na's mouth, which had risen so high, fell back down to a perfectly straight line.
The owner of the coat and shoes.
She didn't dislike them. No, she respected and liked her, in fact.
How could she dislike someone who had looked after her alongside him?
But separate from that, whenever she found traces of that respected older sister in her own nest, as she had today, a corner of her heart stung.
The more time that person and her sister spent together, the more she couldn't shake the long-held thought that her own place was being slowly taken away.
Soothing her sunken feelings, Baek Ha-na walked quietly down the unlit hallway.
A mellow, not overly strong, scent drifted from the direction of the kitchen.
-When checking the seasoning, you should lower the heat and stir it before tasting.
-I-I see.
As she drew closer to the kitchen, the voices of a well-matched man and woman reached her ears.
"Hoo."
Baek Ha-na paused for a moment and relaxed the stiffened muscles around her mouth.
Then, using her fingertips, she gently pushed them upward. Her rigid expression softened considerably.
Finally, she checked her expression on the small screen of her smartwatch and quietly rounded the corner into the kitchen.
"I'm ou...."
Baek Ha-na fell silent again.
But this time, the reason was a little different.
Crunch, crunch.
Crunch, crunch.
Rustle, cromch.
On the dining table.
-Pyaang.
An utterly endearing creature was sitting there.
**
After breakfast.
I used mana to tidy up the meal, glancing to the side.
"There's chocolate here too, you know?"
-.......
Perched on Claire's shoulder, using her flowing blonde hair as a wall to hide behind, a tiny rascal was silently glaring at a much larger rascal trying to tempt it with food.
The moment Ha-na stepped into the kitchen, she had spotted the Fairy sitting on the table and let out a cry. The little thing had been startled out of its wits.
"I'm sorry I yelled earlier. Okay? So... could you come to your sister, please...?"
-.......
Wearing an expression so wistful it made the heart ache, Baek Ha-na carefully approached Claire, who was seated.
Claire, caught between the two rascals facing off with her in the middle, kept sending me glances asking for help, unsure of what to do.
To be frank, I wouldn't have minded letting that standoff continue for a while.
Except when asleep or eating, the thing barely stopped its incessant peeping, and it was grating beyond belief.
But for the sake of my own peace of mind, I couldn't just stand by and let the relationship between these two monsters, one big and one small, turn sour.
"Baek Ha-na."
"Just a sec...."
What did she think creeping forward like that would solve when the thing was staring right at her?
I spoke to Baek Ha-na before she could carry out her ridiculous little scheme.
"Don't get any closer."
"......."
Seeming shocked by my words, Baek Ha-na turned her wide eyes toward me.
Looking into those blue-glowing irises, I continued.
"Fairies are a species that drifts further away the more you approach them. So you must make it come to you. Closing the distance like that will only make it dislike you more."
"Is that how it is...?"
"Yes. Now, take a seat."
"Nngh."
She really must have wanted to touch the Fairy.
Baek Ha-na returned to where she'd originally been sitting, her face full of regret.
"Take out your ears and tail."
"Hm?"
"It'll come to you on its own then."
"Ah!!"
Her expression lit up with realization, and furry ears covered in fluffy hair perked up atop Baek Ha-na's head.
-Pii?
Clinging to Claire's hair and still eyeing Baek Ha-na warily, the little creature finally opened its closed beak.
Baek Ha-na turned sideways, bringing out her tail, which was several times fluffier than her ears, and began to sway it gently back and forth.
-Pii, pii?
The Fairy's tiny head traced Baek Ha-na's tail, swiveling left, then right, then back again.
-Pyaang.
After watching the tail for a long while, the creature tugged on Claire's hair and stretched a tiny hand toward the tail.
It was asking to be brought over there.
"Professor...."
Claire sent me another look for help.
I answered with a single nod.
With the scrape of a chair, Claire rose and walked over to Baek Ha-na.
As she bent forward slightly, the little creature on her shoulder cautiously reached out and grabbed hold of Baek Ha-na's tail.
-Pyaang?
Thump, thump.
It patted the tail with its tiny hands, grabbed and pulled at it, exploring it every which way.
-Pyyaa!!
Having tested the waters for a good while, the creature's eyes flew open wide—it seemed the fluffy tail was to its liking. It instantly hopped from Claire's shoulder onto Baek Ha-na's tail.
-Pyya! Pyaang~!!
"Is it... is it okay if I pet it?"
Watching the Fairy cling to her tail and rub its face all over it, Baek Ha-na asked me that.
"Open your hand and move your tail to place it onto your palm."
"O-open my hand."
She opened her palm wide and carefully moved the tail the tiny creature was dangling from.
-Pii?
The moment its two feet touched her palm, the creature blinked, collecting its wits.
Then, noticing Baek Ha-na's face right in front of its nose—
-Pi, pii.
It lifted its pristine white tail and hid its body behind it.
"...Cute."
"Ahem, ahem."
Claire, who had been watching from the side, quietly took out her smartphone and began capturing the scene.
This time, it made no sound, so she must have adjusted the settings.
-Pii.......
After sitting on Baek Ha-na's palm for a long while, when Baek Ha-na simply gazed at it without doing anything, the creature slowly withdrew from its hiding place and emerged into the open.
From that point on, it didn't even take ten minutes for the little rascal to climb atop the big rascal's head.
-Pyya! Pyya!
"It tickles."
Baek Ha-na was beaming, simply delighted by the Fairy sitting on her head and tugging at her ears... and Claire was quietly recording it again on her phone.
'This should be fine.'
It still seemed to feel an instinctive aversion to the God-slaying power dwelling within Baek Ha-na. But watching them now, it would likely form a bond with her by this evening at the latest.
I watched them enjoy their moment for a while, then reached for Baek Ha-na's bag, which sat next to the kitchen counter.
The bag opened without a sound, and the assignment I'd handed out floated up from inside, settling onto my palm.
The cover was pristine, untouched by wear.
I flipped it open, and sure enough, the contents were just as raw as when I'd distributed it.
-Pyaang!!
"Ah, th-that spot is sensitive...."
I watched Baek Ha-na, completely absorbed in playing with the Fairy, for a few seconds, then returned the assignment to her bag.
'Well, with actions come consequences.'
Leaving the noisy three behind, I quietly headed for the study.