First Encounters Are Never Easy (Part 4)
Whether it was just in my head or not, Ban Soyeong had changed a little lately.
...No, it definitely wasn't my imagination.
“You’re having that again today? Isn’t it too spicy?”
“It’s spicy.”
“Then eat something else.”
“…I like this.”
Little by little, without making a show of it, she had started voicing her own opinions. It had begun right around the time she first spoke up about wanting to go to the convenience store herself.
Before, being with her felt like sitting across from a porcelain doll while rambling to myself. Now, we were actually having real conversations.
“Wait, you’re putting in two slices of cheese?”
“They say two makes it better.”
“Unbelievable. You really don't hold back when it isn't your money, do you?”
“…I’ll pay.”
“Forget it. Just buy me something next time instead.”
“Okay.”
It wasn't as though she had suddenly turned chatty or started showing a kaleidoscope of expressions. I still had to initiate every conversation, and there were plenty of moments when she didn't answer at all.
And yet.
Now, whenever she fell silent, I learned to wait a beat.
I had come to understand that silence didn't mean she was ignoring me. It finally felt as if we were becoming proper friends.
Unfortunately, our days together couldn't last forever.
“Hey, karaoke after school?”
“Forget that, let’s hit the PC bang!”
Before I knew it, the closing ceremony before summer break had arrived. Ahead lay four weeks—a stretch just shy of a month—of long, unbroken vacation.
Ah... Break's already here...
Only days ago, I had been counting down the hours with eager anticipation. Yet now that it was right in front of me, I couldn't bring myself to feel genuinely happy. The silence from my father, who normally would have contacted me by now, only deepened my unease.
At most twice a year, at least once.
Our encounters amounted to nothing more than clandestine meetups at prearranged locations during school vacations, but he always reached out around this time without fail. Yet for some reason, this summer had brought no word at all.
...Is he just really busy lately?
Ever since before I was born, my father had been perpetually on the run, hopping from one hiding spot to the next to escape the obsessive women chasing after him. Somewhere along that frantic run, he crossed paths with my mother, and I was born into the world. That was also why my household remained officially listed as a single mother family, even though my father was very much alive and well.
It seemed unlikely I would be seeing him this summer.
“…….”
My gaze drifted toward Ban Soyeong’s desk. As always, she sat with impeccable posture, her eyes fixed quietly on a book.
...Starting tomorrow, I won't be seeing that for a while either.
The realization that I wouldn't be able to hang out with her cast an unexpected heaviness over my chest. Was it because she was the very first person I had ever actively wanted to befriend? The four-week break that had always felt so fleeting in previous years suddenly loomed ahead, dauntingly long and dull.
A sudden thought crossed my mind. Maybe I should ask her to hang out sometime during break.
Not at the convenience store we visited every day, but doing the normal things other kids did—catching a movie together, grabbing something delicious, simple everyday outings.
Still...
Would that be crossing a line...?
When it came down to actually saying the words, my body refused to budge. Seeing each other every day at school made spending time together feel natural, but hanging out in our personal time felt like stepping into entirely different territory. That lingering hesitation was the same reason we still hadn't exchanged phone numbers. Remembering my father’s strict commandment to view all women as cold stones only made me tread more cautiously.
...Still, asking for her number shouldn't be a big deal, right?
My fingers fidgeted restlessly with the phone tucked inside my pocket, unable to shake the gnawing regret. Yeah. We're friends now. What’s wrong with asking a friend for her number? I had exchanged contacts with plenty of other classmates without a second thought.
It’s not like I'm trying to date her or anything. ...Right?
Just as I made up my mind and pushed back my chair, the homeroom teacher slid open the front door and walked in.
“Alright, everyone take your seats. I’ve just got a few announcements before we wrap up.”
I sank back down into my chair with a defeated sigh.
...I'll just ask her after class.
“Stay safe, don't get hurt, and let’s see everyone back in good health when the new semester starts.”
““Yeeees.””
The moment the dismissal bell rang, the classroom erupted into chaotic movement as students scrambled to pack their bags. Springing up from my desk, I hurried straight over to Ban Soyeong.
“Hey, Ban Soyeong.”
She had just finished packing and was slinging her backpack over one shoulder when she turned around.
“…?”
The instant our eyes met, the words that had surged all the way up my throat abruptly dried up. It was just an ordinary question, yet my fingers tightened with unnecessary force around the phone in my pocket.
“…What is it?”
“…Huh? Oh, no, it's just... well... Have a good break.”
Ban Soyeong stared at me quietly for a lingering moment. Feeling my ears burn, I forced a clumsy smile onto my face.
“…Yeah. You too.”
With a subtle tug to adjust the strap of her bag, she turned and slipped out of the classroom without another word. Left standing alone in the thinning crowd, I watched her retreating silhouette and let out a long, miserable groan.
“…I really can't get anything right today….”
I trudged home, kicking a solitary pebble down the quiet street.
I should’ve just asked.
Kicking myself after the fact was useless—the milk was already spilled. If only I had made my move before overthinking it, I wouldn’t be stewing in this bitter regret right now.
Whatever. I’ll see her again once break ends anyway....
I was just starting to shake off the gloom as I rounded a corner when a voice called out.
“Excuse me, student! Do you have a second?”
“?”
A strange woman was waving to catch my attention. She had long, elegant black hair cascading in soft waves and graceful, delicate features. Looking to be in her mid-to-late thirties, she gave off the refined aura of a wealthy socialite. Slipping her smartphone back into her luxury handbag, she offered an apologetic, troubled smile.
“I’m terribly sorry to bother you, but do you know where Hanbit Apartment is around here? Someone told me it was nearby, but I can't seem to find it at all.”
“Oh….”
As I came to a stop, my mother's stern warnings flashed through my mind like a siren. Never answer a strange woman if she approaches you on the street. She had told me repeatedly that some of the women obsessed with my father were completely unhinged, and that I had to remain vigilant at all times.
Not that I've ever run into any of them before, though.
I took a quick, cautious glance at the woman. She was still wringing her hands with an expression of genuine helplessness. The complex she mentioned, Hanbit Apartment, was several blocks away from where I lived. She didn't look suspicious in the slightest, and giving someone simple directions hardly seemed dangerous.
“If you want to go there, you have to head back that way.”
“Oh, really? Which direction?”
I turned halfway around, pointing back along the path I had just walked. “You follow that street until you hit the main road, and then take a right at the—”
In that split second—
BZZZZT—!
“Guh?!”
A sharp, crackling discharge tore through the air, followed instantly by a heavy, brutal shock slamming into the back of my neck. My vision exploded into white sparks. My muscles seized violently against my will, and my legs gave out beneath me, dumping me face-first onto the pavement.
What...?
It had all happened so blindingly fast that before my scrambled brain could comprehend the situation, a hand violently seized a fistful of my hair.
“Finally... Finally…!”
A voice drenched in manic ecstasy forced its way through the ringing in my ears. The hand gripping my scalp yanked my head back and forth, examining my face with a frenzied tremor that reeked of uncontainable delight.
Ah.
Only then did the chilling truth sink in. I had made a terrible, fatal mistake.
I have to run.
But before I could even twitch a finger—
BZZZZT—!
The horrifying crackle struck my ears once more, and in that fleeting instant, instinct delivered the cold verdict.
It was already far too late to turn back.
“Agh...?!”
The metal prongs bit into my neck, unleashing another staggering surge of voltage. As excruciating agony scrambled my nervous system, my body went entirely limp. With my consciousness rapidly drowning in darkness, I reached out for salvation with the last scrap of my fading mind.
“…Ban… So-yeong….”
Why her name was the one that rose to my lips in that desperate moment, I couldn't say. But tragically, there was no one around to hear my plea.
SPLASH! Ice-cold water rushed down my nostrils and flooded into my mouth.
“Cough—khhk...?!”
I jolted awake, coughing violently. As I instinctively tried to thrash away the water, a horrifying resistance brought me to an abrupt halt.
Wh-what is this?
Looking down, I discovered that my torso, arms, and legs were bound tight to a sturdy wooden chair, rendering me utterly motionless. Every ragged cough sent a sharp, throbbing ache radiating across my chest.
“Are you awake now?”
“!”
Panting for air, I snapped my head up. Standing before me was the woman from the street, an empty plastic bucket resting beside her feet. The calm, detached way she looked down at me made icy terror grip my stomach.
“Wh-what is this?! What are you doing to me?!”
She offered no answer.
I jerked my wrists in a desperate bid to wrench them free, but cold iron restraints only dug deeper into my flesh. Taking in my surroundings through the gloom, all I could see were grime-caked high windows and rotting wooden crates. It was a dusty, abandoned warehouse.
“You truly have the exact same eyes as your father.”
“…?!”
As I recoiled in terror, she reached out with deliberate slowness. Cupping my face firmly in both hands, she leaned in close to inspect every feature, a faint, eerie smile dancing on her lips. The moment my eyes met the hollow void within hers, my heart plummeted into an abyss.
She was one of my father’s pursuers. One of the completely insane women my mother had warned me about so obsessively.
“Pl-please, why are you doing this...?” I begged, my voice trembling uncontrollably. “Pl-please, spare me...!”
Her gentle touch turned vicious in an instant, her fingers fisting violently into my hair.
“Ah...!”
“Tell me, sweetie. Where is your father?”
Gulping down the lump in my throat, I looked into her face. She didn't so much as blink, waiting with unyielding stillness for my lips to part. The grip twisting my scalp grew tighter and tighter, threatening to tear it away.
“I-I don't....” Squeezing my eyes shut, I recited the exact lie I had been drilled on since childhood. “I d-don't have a father.”
“…….”
“I d-don't even know who he is! It's just me and my mom—!”
THWACK—!
Something cold and sharp plunged deep into my thigh.
“AAAGGGHHH!!!”
A bloodcurdling scream ripped from my lungs as my entire body convulsed. The violent rattling of the chair only drove the foreign object deeper into my flesh. While agonizing pain sent tears bursting from my eyes, she yanked the weapon out of my leg and thrust it right before my face.
From the slender, pointed tip of a steel awl, dark red blood dripped steadily onto the floor.
“Ah... aah....”
“Like father, like son. You’re such a terrible liar.” She chuckled softly at the sight of my contorted, tear-streaked face. That chilling sound sent a cold tremor rattling through my entire skeleton. “I-I’m sorry, I'm sorry, pl-please—”
“I’ll ask you again. Let’s answer properly this time, shall we?”
“Hic...!”
Staring at the bloodstained awl hovering inches from my eyes, I nodded frantically.
Then, choking back a shuddering breath, I desperately marshaled every ounce of my mental focus.
I had to use hypnosis—one of the dormant abilities stemming from my Incubus bloodline. My father had strictly forbidden me from ever using it under any circumstances, warning of disastrous consequences... but this was no time to be picky.
It has to work. It has to!
Reaching deep within to pull up the long-dormant power, I locked eyes with her gaze.
Please...!
And yet.
“Where is your father?”
Nothing changed.
...What?
Her posture hadn't wavered, and her hand still gripped the awl with lethal poise as she awaited my response. In that sickening moment, a piece of advice my father had shared when explaining the nature of our bloodline resurfaced in my memory.
The mental abilities of an Incubus cannot overwrite or intrude upon one another.
She was already completely ensnared by my father’s power. My own hypnosis couldn't pierce a domain that was already claimed.
N-no...!
With my only trump card completely failing, pure panic seized me, and I shook my head hysterically. “I-I don't know! I swear I don't know!”
The last trace of amusement vanished from her face. Terrified down to my marrow, I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“It's the truth! I haven't seen him in ages! I'm not lying, please believe m—!”
She adjusted her grip on the awl.
“Wait, wait, please—AAAGH!”
STAB! A piercing shock of agony drove into my other thigh.
As I writhed and shrieked in agony, she grabbed a handful of my hair, dragging my head back until her mouth was right against my ear.
“Are you going to keep lying to me? Hm?” Pulling the awl free once more, she held the crimson-coated tip before my eyes. “Where is my husband?”
Half-mad with terror and pain, I shook my head with frantic desperation. “W-we only meet sometimes during break, that's all! I-it's the truth! B-but he didn't even contact me this time! I really, truly don't know...!” Blinding tears choked my throat, making it nearly impossible to draw breath. “I d-don't even know where he lives! Please, you have to believe me! I really—”
“Don’t you dare lie to me.”
“Ah...!”
Forced backward, I stared up at her through blurred vision.
“You know where he is.” Madness trembled violently within her pupils. “Where is my husband?”
The sharp tip of the awl crept toward my face, close enough that warm drops of my own blood dripped from the metal onto my skin. There was nothing I could do. Nothing I could say.
“I'll ask you one last time.”
Scalding tears streamed endlessly down my cheeks.
“Where is your father?”
All I could do was tremble helplessly and shake my head. “I... I don't know....”
Her arm drew back, raising the weapon high into the air.
It’s over.
At that final, helpless realization, I squeezed my eyes shut to shut out the grim reality. But in that very breath—
BOOM—!
An explosive roar tore through the ceiling above. Before the sound could even register, a blur of unbelievable speed whipped past my face.
KABOOOOM—!!!
A second, colossal thunderclap erupted from the far side of the warehouse, followed by the faint, sickening crunch of something being violently crushed into paste.
“……!”
Paralyzed by terror, I kept my eyes clamped shut, shivering violently in the sudden silence.
A moment later, steady footsteps echoed through the dust. The presence drew closer and closer before coming to a stop directly in front of me. Then, a gentle, soft touch brushed against my tear-soaked cheek.
“Hic...!”
Still gripped by sheer terror, I flinched reflexively away from the touch. The hand paused.
“…Are you okay?”
A familiar, deadpan voice cut through the ringing in my ears.
“……?”
Choking back a ragged gasp, I slowly turned my head. Opening my swollen eyes with trembling caution, I saw a girl standing before me beneath a massive, sunlit breach in the ruined ceiling.
Gleaming golden hair that caught the daylight. Emerald eyes tinged with genuine concern.
“…B-Ban Soyeong…?”
Unable to fathom the scene before me, I whispered her name. She gave a small, quiet nod.
“Yeah.”
That single, concise syllable was all it took for my expression to crumble completely.
“Ugh... uwaaagh….”
A torrential wave of relief crashed over me, bursting forth in an uncontrollable flood of tears.
“Hic... sniff...!”
My punctured thighs throbbed with mind-numbing agony, and my heart hammered against my ribs as if it were about to burst, but the vague realization that I had survived—and the profound relief that the person who came to save me was Ban Soyeong—shattered my last shred of composure.
Looking slightly flustered, Ban Soyeong crouched down to meet my eye level, her voice dropping soft and low.
“Does it hurt a lot…?”
Unable to form a single word of reply, I could only sit there bound to the chair, weeping like a helpless child.