I Will Treasure It (3)
I Will Treasure It (3)
Sunday, the end of the week.
A stillness I hadn't felt in a very long time.
With no one to disturb me, I finished my log in peace and glanced at the clock on my desk.
PM 20:20
Forty minutes until dormitory curfew.
I rose quietly and pulled open the bedroom door, which had been left ajar.
"Mmmm~"
"......."
A bed large enough for four adults to stretch out comfortably.
On it, Baek Ha-na and Claire lay sleeping, nestled together.
Well, more precisely, Baek Ha-na—whose sleeping habits are atrocious—had Claire wrapped up in a one-sided embrace.
'The little one is....'
Not in its basket.
Instead, Baek Ha-na's breast pocket bulged conspicuously.
The creature had already carved up what little time it had left, yet from late last night until this morning, it had clung to Baek Ha-na without letting go. After stubbornly sticking to her for hours, it finally retreated to the bedroom only once it had downed a saucer of milk sweetened with honey for breakfast.
After that, Baek Ha-na had started her assignments with a thoroughly exhausted face, and she hadn't finished them until late afternoon.
She downed the sandwich and coffee I'd thrown together for her, then dragged Claire not into her own room but into my bedroom. She needed something to hug, and knowing full well I would refuse, she'd picked Claire as the substitute.
I looked again at the bulge in Baek Ha-na's pocket and confirmed my theory.
'When they're young, they just like other people's stomachs, I suppose.'
Given that it would climb onto anyone and not just me, it was probably just one of those childish impulses—a Ha-na sort of impulse, you could say.
"Baek Ha-na."
"Mmmm~"
The way she burrowed deeper into Claire's embrace proved it—she'd gotten bigger, sure, but she was still the same as when she was little.
"Baek Ha-na. Wake up."
"Nnn... huh...?"
I sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed her hair a few times. Her eyelids, heavy with deep sleep, slowly lifted. When I kept stroking her head, she blinked a few times with unfocused eyes.
"Time to go back to the dorm."
"Snrrk...?"
She made a show of wiping her mouth even though there wasn't any drool.
One of those little habits she'd had since childhood. A very Ha-na sort of habit.
"What... time is it...?"
"8:22."
"......."
When she heard the time, she furrowed her delicate brow, released Claire, and slowly sat up. Then she turned toward me and stretched out her arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Nnnnnngh~!!"
Like a cat washing its face, she pulled me into a hug and rubbed her face all over my back. I pried her arms from around my waist and stood up from the bed.
"Your assignments are in your bag. Don't forget to take them."
"Mmkay... fuuaaah~"
She let out a long yawn, climbed off the bed after me, walked right past me, and opened the door.
"If you're tired, you're welcome to keep resting."
"...I'm all right."
Claire, who had been lying as still as a corpse, rose without a sound. She stepped off the bed and asked me carefully.
"But, in Miss Ha-na's pocket...."
"I know."
I spoke as I moved to see Ha-na off.
"Her sleeping habits are terrible. No need to fuss over where the little thing ended up."
"That, well...."
Then and now, even when she had something to say, she still watched my reaction too carefully. Though in this case, nothing she could have said would have changed my decision.
"Fuaah~ *smack*. Soon as I get back, I'm going straight to sleep."
"Brush your teeth first."
"...I didn't?"
"You didn't."
"Hehe."
Baek Ha-na, still in her casual clothes, spoke as she changed her shoes.
"Oh, right. That thing the cute little kid gave me—I put it in my room's drawer. That's okay, right? I don't want anyone to think I just tossed it somewhere...."
"No one will. Now get going."
"Woo-jin, do you want me to leave already?"
"...Twenty minutes left."
When I dodged the question, she tilted her head and flashed a sly grin. It was deeply irritating.
"See you Tuesday."
She waved at me with that insufferable smile, then stepped out the door. Click. As the door closed, I turned around. Claire, standing quietly behind me, finally spoke.
"Are you sure... it will be all right?"
"Claire."
"Yes, Professor."
I had given that little rascal more affection than I'd expected to. And Claire had grown to worry about her. I spoke to her plainly.
"Where do you think—Ha-na—that gluttonous little thing has been finding food all this time?"
"...That's—"
"And there must be graduates who've formed bonds with it, yet there isn't so much as a whisper of rumor about it going around."
One of the easiest mistakes humans make—Ha-na, if you'll allow the wordplay—is assuming that whatever is visible to their own eyes must be visible to others. If something in your field of view is ordinary, common sense says others will see it too.
But could anyone call a palm-sized little girl with glittering wings fluttering about ordinary? The very existence of a Fairy is, from the start, a species far removed from ordinary.
And that goes double for this one, which has kept its form even now that Oberon has faded.
"So there's no need to worry. The sort of thing you're imagining won't happen to it."
"Yes...."
Despite her answer, a shadow lingered on Claire's face. Just like Baek Ha-na's expression a moment ago, hers now made me feel a little uneasy.
"......?"
I took Claire by the hand—she had stopped in place, looking blank—and walked her to the study.
"At the latest, she'll be back by this time tomorrow. There's nowhere quieter or warmer than here, wherever she goes."
"That's... true. Yes."
"So you should rest until tomorrow too."
I left her in the bedroom, came out to the study, and sat down.
'Worrying about it at all is a luxury.'
That little rascal has Oberon's powerful will watching over it—the progenitor of all Fairies. Anyone whose soul carries even a trace of blackness cannot even perceive its existence.
'A parent's heart, thinking about the child who'll be left alone... is that it.'
I tried to imagine the future a little further out.
Baek Ha-na, having shed the last of her childish softness.
Honestly, I couldn't quite picture it.
But one thing was certain: her side would still be lively. Those three roommates would be around, and Claire would still be nearby. And that little—now somewhat grown—
"Professor."
The bedroom door opened, and Claire cautiously peeked her head out.
"Would it be all right... if I sat beside you?"
Watching the blush creep up from her neck, I nodded. She said nothing in reply, just came quietly into the study, pulled over the chair Baek Ha-na had been using, and sat next to me.
Under the weight of Claire's gaze—slightly overwhelming—I thought to myself.
'Looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight either.'
**
"All checked in."
"Thank you."
Baek Ha-na arrived at the dormitory with time to spare, retrieved her belongings from the dorm supervisor, and headed toward her room.
Beep—
A short electronic chirp, and Baek Ha-na pulled the handle and opened the door. Unlike the brightly lit hallway, the room inside was dark. And from within came the sound of soft breathing.
Baek Ha-na closed the door quietly and stepped inside.
'The kids fed her meals, so....'
Maria hadn't forgotten yesterday or today—she had taken Lee Na-young to eat lunch and dinner, then posted the photo in the group chat as proof.
Dragging her exhausted body, Baek Ha-na opened Lee Na-young's bag, which sat beside the bed. The sweet scent from Friday hit her all at once.
'1, 7, 13... all here.'
She was glad her friend had kept her promise and hadn't taken the pills. With the relief that she could finally sleep easy, Baek Ha-na slipped the glass bottle back into the bag and crawled into her own bed.
'Smells so nice....'
Inhaling the sweet fragrance drifting from Lee Na-young's slightly open bag, Baek Ha-na passed out as if she'd been knocked unconscious.
**
Beeeep—
Lee Na-young woke to an electronic sound she vaguely recognized. She had skipped research for two whole days and done nothing but lie in bed and sleep, yet her body still felt like it was weighed down with lead.
-Oh my, Ha-na's still asleep too.
-She probably stayed up all night chatting with the professor since she hadn't seen him in a while.
The voices of her friends—the entirety of a social circle she could count on her fingers—drifted to her ears.
Fwoosh—!!
"Gah!!"
"What are you, undead? Flinching at sunlight."
-Ha-na~ Be a dear, won't you? If you get up now, you can still eat breakfast~
"Come on, you too. Up."
Idni's hands dragged Lee Na-young out of bed, half against her will.
"...What are you doing."
Having hauled Lee Na-young to her feet, Idni was heading for the bathroom when she stopped at Baek Ha-na's bed and frowned. There, wrapped in Baek Ha-na's embrace, were Maria and Nam Seo-hee.
"Mmm~ smells nice."
"Getting out of this is kind of hard."
"...Quit fooling around and wake her up. I'm hungry."
After a brief commotion, all five managed to get through breakfast without incident. Maria, who'd been sipping a coffee for dessert, rose from her seat.
"We'll head out first."
"Ugh~ More practical training today. I really hate this."
Maria and Idni left first, followed by Nam Seo-hee, who stood up.
"Ha-na. We should get going too."
"Okay. See you later."
"Uh, yeah. See you later."
Lee Na-young waved at the pair as they walked off with their coffee, then finished her own cup before finally getting up. Unlike her friends, who were busy from the morning on, her first lecture started at ten—she still had time.
'First lecture is Self-Recovery Enhancement Potion, and in the afternoon, developing an original recipe....'
Lee Na-young sorted through the day's lecture tasks in her head as she walked slowly. If she ran, she'd get indigestion or a stomachache.
Beep—
Back in her room, Lee Na-young rubbed her full stomach and pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. She needed it to take the pill she'd skipped all weekend because of her promise to Baek Ha-na.
'Well, I don't take it on weekends anyway....'
Last weekend she'd been out too—Ha-na probably hadn't realized. And the pills weren't stimulants. They were sedatives, meant to calm her frail constitution and steady her heart. Her social anxiety was so severe that being in a room with unfamiliar people could trigger breathing difficulties. If she had to compare it to something, it was like a supercharged WooHwangCheongSimHwan.
This early in the semester, she couldn't get through a class without taking one—it was non-negotiable. For that reason, Lee Na-young grabbed the bag that had toppled over beside her bed and sat down on the mattress.
'Did Ha-na mess with this?'
She blinked at the bag's opening, which was unlatched, and pulled it wide.
"Huh?"
The moment she opened the bag, Lee Na-young tilted her head at the sense that something was off. The dizzyingly sweet aroma that normally wafted out was missing. Yet the pouch where she kept the Sweetroot was oddly more swollen than usual.
Utterly confused, Lee Na-young opened the mouth of the Sweetroot pouch.
-Peeeep, peeeep....
"......?"
Lee Na-young took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes vigorously. Then she put her glasses back on and checked inside the pouch again.
-Pewwwng~
Where the Sweetroot was supposed to be, a cute little thing slightly larger than her palm lay curled up, fast asleep.
Missing ingredients. A child who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Uh, uhm."
Lee Na-young decided to deal with her aching stomach first and headed for the bathroom.