Mom...my
Mom...my
The regressed Lee Ha-yul suddenly burst into tears.
As that terribly aggrieved whimper struck everyone's ears, their minds went blank.
There was no need to tack on a trivial reason. It was simply an instinctive reaction.
"Shh, shh. Was it scary lying here by yourself? It's okay..."
"Ugh..."
Fortunately, Lee Ha-yul's crying stopped easily.
Hong Yeon-hwa, flustered, rushed over and held him; the tears gradually subsided.
'Ah, that really scared me...'
Hong Yeon-hwa patted Lee Ha-yul, whose face was buried against her chest, and swallowed a sigh of relief—she didn't let it out.
Her heart had truly plummeted. When tears trickled from those damp eyes, it wasn't a joke—her breath caught sharply.
Was he in that much pain? Or had something gone wrong somewhere?
All sorts of worries flared up and burned every other thought to ashes.
Thank goodness that wasn't the case.
"Yeon-hwa... I, wanted to see youuu..."
"Ha-yul..."
At those murmured words, his face still buried, a ticklish, pink emotion welled up inside her.
The reason he'd burst into tears was utterly endearing.
"Yeah, I missed you too..."
All the scoldings she'd prepared to deliver when Lee Ha-yul woke up were long since buried and forgotten.
She didn't resist the impulse. She held him more tightly, rubbed her cheek against his white hair, and gently pressed her lips to it.
"Ehehe..."
"Aww, are you that happy?"
Lee Ha-yul smiled softly, as if he hadn't been crying at all. When he lifted his head and she planted a brief kiss on his forehead too, a flower-like smile bloomed fully.
"...Seeing as he said he missed you, maybe his mind hasn't completely regressed?"
— flinch
At Baek A-rin's muttered observation from the side, Lee Ha-yul's smile froze for a moment.
"Though if his body regressed, there's bound to be some influence—but it looks like he still has his memories."
Hong Yeon-hwa, who'd been admiring his smile up close, saw the stiffness very clearly.
"Hmm..."
"U, uuh..."
As Hong Yeon-hwa's blissfully happy eyes narrowed, Lee Ha-yul buried his face back against her chest and acted spoiled, pretending he hadn't noticed.
"...Hoo, this Golden Child, seriously."
After thinking for a moment, Hong Yeon-hwa stroked his back as if she had no choice.
He'd just gone through life and death and regained consciousness; she couldn't really bring herself to scold the regressed Lee Ha-yul.
He flinched when her hand first touched him, but soon relaxed under the gentle touch and went limp with drowsiness.
"The injuries are all gone."
While Hong Yeon-hwa was soothing Lee Ha-yul, the others hadn't been idle.
They'd brought clothes for the regressed Lee Ha-yul and something simple for him to eat, and had also checked his condition in the process.
The result: they discovered that Lee Ha-yul's injuries had completely vanished.
"They disappeared as his body regressed..."
"That's such a relief..."
Greatly relieved, Hong Yeon-hwa touched Lee Ha-yul's right hand.
The skin that had been covered by the hideous burn was now white and smooth. When she softly stroked it, she felt the tender skin.
Her heart had crumbled to dust when she saw he'd been burned again, but thankfully the burns had vanished before she could even shed tears while applying ointment.
And...
She shifted her gaze to the other side. She could see Lee Ha-yul's wriggling white left hand.
"His left hand grew back too. Hoo, that's a relief..."
"It really is. Luckily, it looks like his spiritual blueprint wasn't damaged."
It wasn't the prosthetic arm he normally wore. It was his natural left hand, the skin clearly visible.
Ellia, who had been gently touching Lee Ha-yul's left hand, swallowed a sigh of relief, while Baek A-rin marveled and compared the small palm to the other.
"Are all fairies like this? I get that as a spiritual lifeform the physical body is nominal, but... Do you know, sis?"
"No, as far as I know, fairies don't have that kind of trait."
"Hmm... then what is it?"
Baek A-rin tilted her head.
This wasn't the first time Lee Ha-yul had regressed.
During last summer break, when they subjugated the Twin-headed Poison Dragon, Lee Ha-yul had also regressed.
"Could the reason for the regression be... severe injury?"
It was true that Lee Ha-yul was showing signs of recovery, but there was no denying he'd been closer to a corpse.
During the break, he'd already been regressed, but recalling the Twin-headed Poison Dragon's strength and the traces left at the scene, he certainly hadn't been in good shape then either.
"When it's a life-or-death situation like that, does his body just force itself to regress and erase the injuries entirely?"
"...Is that kind of artificial regression even possible?"
"If it's Ha-yul, it kind of feels like it might be."
At Baek A-rin's casual reply, Lee Ji-yeon couldn't refute it.
Wasn't this Lee Ha-yul, who had just used Calamity Flame, Azure Sea, and Taesan in a single body?
If it was Lee Ha-yul, the impossible truly seemed possible.
.
.
.
Anyway, although Lee Ha-yul had regressed, they couldn't find anything else wrong with him.
The fact that this had already happened once helped them treat it as familiar.
The ambush came from an unexpected direction.
"Sweetie? We need to eat, okay? You'll be good, won't you? Say ah~"
"Unhh..."
When they scooped up some suitably cooled porridge and brought the spoon to his lips, Lee Ha-yul clamped his mouth shut and shook his head vigorously.
When they kept coaxing him, he went as far as burying his face in Hong Yeon-hwa's chest to refuse.
With a troubled expression, Ellia withdrew the spoon.
"What do we do... This is the first time he's been like this."
"He wasn't like this last time?"
"No, back then he ate well even when I fed him together with Seo-yul..."
Lee Ha-yul was being uncharacteristically picky.
When you're sick, you're supposed to eat well. It's a truth that transcends age, gender, time, and place.
Which meant that right now, Lee Ha-yul needed to be fed until he was full, but...
Ellia's brow furrowed as she sank into thought.
"Ha-yul? You have to eat, okay? Yeah?"
Hong Yeon-hwa was just as troubled by his refusal as she was.
At the very least, the Lee Ha-yul she knew was a child who ate anything well.
But that didn't mean they could just let him starve.
Looking at a loss, Hong Yeon-hwa stroked Lee Ha-yul's head.
"Yeon-hwa..."
Lee Ha-yul lifted his head. He rested his chin on her chest and looked up at Hong Yeon-hwa, his gray eyes blinking.
"I'm hungry..."
"You're hungry? Then you have to eat. But you don't like porridge?"
"Nnnh... don't like it..."
"Oh dear, you don't want to eat porridge?"
"It's yucky... Can't taste anything..."
"Hm? But it's a little seasoned, isn't it?"
Hong Yeon-hwa, who'd been responding to Lee Ha-yul's complaint, suddenly blinked.
'Can't taste anything?'
That sounded strange. Hong Yeon-hwa scooped up a bit of the porridge on the table and tasted it herself.
"Mm, it is bland."
It was bland because it was porridge made for a patient. Still, it wasn't entirely flavorless.
Considering his condition until just now, this was actually on the salty side.
'...Did Ha-yul always eat heavily salted food?'
A stronger sense of dissonance arose. Her head tilted further.
She thought back to Lee Ha-yul's usual eating habits.
He wasn't a picky eater. He ate anything without complaint.
No matter what restaurant, café, or dessert shop they went to, if you put something in Lee Ha-yul's mouth, he chewed it up and ate it well.
Come to think of it, there was oddly little he actually disliked.
If I had to pick one thing? Alcohol. But that was because of a bad experience—he hated it for that reason. As far as taste went, there didn't seem to be anything he disliked.
'What is this?'
A sudden, creeping sense of dissonance. For some reason, Baek A-rin, Lee Ji-yeon, and Ellia were also quiet, exchanging glances.
Why, all of a sudden...
"Yeon-hwa..."
"Huh? Y-Yeah. What's wrong?"
The whine from her arms snapped her out of her thoughts. Hong Yeon-hwa quickly came to her senses and patted Lee Ha-yul's back.
"I'm hungry..."
"Oh, right. You did say that. Is there something you want to eat?"
Right now, filling Lee Ha-yul's stomach mattered more than resolving any sense of dissonance.
As Hong Yeon-hwa cradled him, telling him to say whatever he wanted, Lee Ha-yul nuzzled his face into her chest and murmured.
"I want milk..."
"?"
An unexpected answer. Not just Hong Yeon-hwa, but everyone blinked.
The wording was truly peculiar.
Wondering if his mind had been affected and his vocabulary had regressed, Hong Yeon-hwa looked down at Lee Ha-yul.
"......"
His gaze was fixed squarely on her chest. The demand in those eyes left no room for misinterpretation.
At that, Hong Yeon-hwa reined in her bewilderment, looked around, and shrugged.
"...That's what he says. I need to feed him, so everyone out."
"No, no, no!"
They didn't leave quietly. Lee Ji-yeon, startled, raised her voice.
Her face flushed apple-red, she shook her head in disbelief.
"Wait, hold on! Something's weird here!"
"Weird? What's weird about it? The guy says he wants to eat."
"Th-Then just give him something else to eat! What... what are you trying to give him..."
"He says he doesn't want that. Nothing I can do about it."
At such a nonchalant reply, Lee Ji-yeon's mouth fell open. Now that she thought about it, Baek A-rin and Ellia weren't showing any particular shock either.
'Am... am I the weird one?'
Lee Ji-yeon fell into self-contemplation. Being the only one reacting this way made her doubt herself first.
"I can nurse him too."
That was the moment.
Ellia, who had been silent, spoke up. She puffed out her chest and, uncharacteristically, asserted her claim.
"What?! Junior Ellia, what are you saying—"
"What do you mean? You can't even produce anythin..."
Hong Yeon-hwa's words cut off. Because of the medicinal ingredient Ellia took out from her Subspace Pocket.
"...When did you get that?"
"I made it myself. It was easier to make than I thought, actually?"
"I have one of those, you know?"
"You sneaky little arctic fox...!"
"Hey, you had one ready too..."
Stunned, Hong Yeon-hwa closed her mouth and shook her head.
"Anyway. You've never actually fed him before, right? I have. And Ha-yul is asking for me right now."
"Tch..."
"Showing off your pride over being the first to nurse him is pretty something..."
"Shut up."
Ellia, for once, showed a rare sign of intense frustration.
Hong Yeon-hwa flaunted her sense of superiority and hugged Lee Ha-yul tight.
"So that's how it is. Get out. The more you stall, the longer he goes hungry. Can't you see he's starving?"
Hong Yeon-hwa gestured for them to leave quickly.
.
.
.
Just then, news came that Lee Ha-yul had regained consciousness.
Delighted, Atra brought Daera along and headed to the healing room.
"......."
They exchanged few words as they walked.
Part of it was the awkwardness from their reunion, but it was mostly because of Daera's state.
Atra glanced sideways at Daera.
Her shoulders were slumped, powerless. A gloomy aura wreathed her like billowing dark clouds.
She'd been in that state ever since receiving the news about Lee Ha-yul earlier.
"Daera, it isn't your fault."
"...Yes."
There was only so much Atra could say. It didn't seem to really sink in; Daera just blinked listlessly.
Anyone could see she was steeped in guilt.
But there wasn't much more Atra could do for her.
'The only options left are for her to shake it off alone with time, or to be comforted by the child...'
Atra turned her head.
They had arrived at the healing room. But people were gathered in front of the door.
Baek A-rin, Lee Ji-yeon, and Ellia, who had been chased out of the healing room. The atmosphere was oddly charged.
Frowning slightly, Atra approached them.
"What are you all doing out here?"
"Professor Atra... Huh? Who's the person with you?"
Baek A-rin, who had answered as the group's representative, tilted her head upon seeing Daera standing beside Atra.
"This is... well, my disciple. The one who went missing some time ago."
"Your disciple?"
Not just Baek A-rin, but Lee Ji-yeon and Ellia's eyes went wide.
Since they roughly knew Atra's situation, they also knew that her disciple was technically labeled missing but had already been considered dead.
At those stares, Atra scratched her cheek and turned her body.
"This isn't the place to explain everything. How about we go inside first?"
"Ah, right now inside is..."
Click— she pressed the Magic Tool attached to the door. Immediately, a voice came from the device.
- Haa... Who is it...?
"It's me. I came because I heard he regained consciousness."
- Ah... Just a moment... Okay, come in.
It was Hong Yeon-hwa's voice.
Atra tilted her head. Hong Yeon-hwa's voice sounded oddly buoyant.
- Bzzzt...
The door opened.
Allowing the Purification Magic acting on her body to do its work, Atra stepped inside, and Daera followed with a hesitant, shuffling manner.
"...Huh?"
Atra blinked at the sight inside.
The person settled on the bed wasn't Lee Ha-yul—it was Hong Yeon-hwa.
She was leaning back against the headrest, and nestled against her disheveled blouse, head buried, was Lee Ha-yul with an utterly languid expression.
Breathing in an exhilarated manner, Hong Yeon-hwa stroked Lee Ha-yul's back as she cradled him in her arms.
"Haa... Our baby, was it good...?"
"Mm-hm... Blrp... Hic..."
At the hand gently patting his back, Lee Ha-yul let out a small, full burp.
Letting out a long breath, Lee Ha-yul's expression grew even drowsier.
"There we go, looks like you ate well..."
At that adorable sight, Hong Yeon-hwa giggled and wiped the corner of Lee Ha-yul's mouth with a handkerchief.
With a maternal smile gentle enough to make anyone who knew her faint, she even pressed a kiss to his swept-back forehead.
"Hm?"
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been rhythmically patting Lee Ha-yul's back, lifted her head at the gazes flying toward her.
"......"
Atra's expression, staring at her blankly. At that, an old memory suddenly surfaced.
The hospital visit after the Sipnaha Incident. The vivid memory of grinding her teeth at the sight of Atra and Lee Ha-yul practically glued together, as if joined at the navel, was crystal clear.
The positions had reversed since then.
"Heh."
A corner of Hong Yeon-hwa's mouth rose without her meaning it to.
"......"
Atra visibly scowled.
"Junior Disciple, you had a child...?"
Daera, who had followed her in, just gaped in shock.