Warmth
Warmth
[I made it.]
Lee Ha-yul tilted his head and displayed the hologram. His attitude seemed to ask what was wrong with what he'd written.
Did he truly not know what the issue was? No, more precisely, did he not realize which part was so shocking?
Hong Yeon-hwa blinked blankly, then lowered her gaze.
She saw the long scarf draped there. Its soft texture transmitted vividly through her hand.
It was a red scarf. She lightly lifted it and held it against her nape.
'This...'
There are many different kinds of red in the world. They might seem similar, but each is distinctly different.
The color of the scarf resembled the hair occasionally catching her eye.
Not just the simple fact that it was red, but an impression that held next to each other, they would look alike.
She thought it might be a coincidence, but upon closer inspection, the hue itself was nearly identical.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been staring blankly at the scarf, shifted her gaze.
The moment she saw Lee Ha-yul's smile, seated beside her bed, she had the illusion that the entire world had brightened.
It was a brightness that seemed to dismiss the morning sunlight streaming through the window as trivial.
'Cute.'
How could a smile be so innocent? He was grinning broadly, as if he was simply overjoyed about something.
Hong Yeon-hwa forcefully calmed her racing heart and asked.
"Thank you... Did Ha-yul make this himself?"
[Yes.]
"When did you make it?"
[I made it yesterday.]
"Yesterday...? You mean the day of the after-party?"
[Yes.]
Hong Yeon-hwa sank into thought.
Lee Ha-yul had asked if he could visit her when the after-party was in full swing. Meaning, he asked only late at night, long after the sun had set.
If so, when had he prepared the get-well gift?
That morning, when he didn't even know she couldn't attend the after-party?
Even earlier, before he had permission to visit?
Or,
from that late night, after he got permission and the after-party had ended?
Hong Yeon-hwa furtively scanned Lee Ha-yul's face. A beaming face. Cute...
'No, that's not the point.'
The shadows that had formed under his eyes drew her attention in particular. Looking closely, his entire face bore a more fatigued air than before.
She lowered her gaze and examined his hands. Both arms bore the marks of various training. It was a hand that clearly showed traces of countless tears and regeneration over a short period.
And then, she noticed minor residual wounds that looked like they had formed and healed not long ago.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been through countless battles, could recognize them.
They weren't wounds from swinging or blocking with a sword or spear.
Nor were they from repeated punching. Rather, they looked more like wounds from a small needle or scissors.
'......'
The scarf resting in her hand felt incredibly heavy.
Lee Ha-yul's happy smile made it even more so. He had personally, painstakingly knitted every single stitch of this scarf and given it as a gift.
And when she thanked him for it, he showed her a smile that happy.
Even though he wasn't the one receiving a gift, he was the one giving it, yet he looked as blissful as if he had gained the whole world.
Suddenly, her heart trembled. It was a pulse different from usual. Her body, drained of energy and limp, found it hard to bear such a pulse.
That was guilt.
The Calamity Flame that Hong Yeon-hwa possessed was a truly damn frustrating ability.
If you had to pick a merit of the Calamity Flame, it was undoubtedly its output.
While the expansion abilities like Flame Bloom, Flame Advance, and Sacred Flame provided versatility, the merit that represented the Calamity Flame was always its output.
The problem was that the output was so exceptional that it harmed its owner, which was what made it so damn frustrating.
It was an insane ability that would burn its owner to death if the output was improperly drawn upon.
It didn't end there.
This damn frustrating ability with its nasty side effects sometimes insolently imposed a Trial upon its owner.
One might wonder what kind of trial a mere unique ability thinks it is, but it was a process every owner of the Calamity Flame inevitably underwent as they grew.
The types of trials varied, but the very first trial to strike was always the same.
It stimulated the owner's guilt.
It sometimes even arbitrarily showed them past memories.
Mistakes they had made, times they had hurt others, catastrophes caused by their own errors, and so on.
From the trivial to the immense.
It also tormented the user by showing illusions and the like. It was a thoroughly insidious trial.
The same was true for Hong Yeon-hwa.
Various memories flickered past. From the time she was a child who hadn't even properly learned to walk, they passed one by one.
Hong Yeon-hwa had a short temper and a rough tongue, but her nature itself was on the good side.
She had thrown plenty of punches, but in those situations, there was always a decent reason to swing a fist. Simply put, they were bastards who deserved a beating.
The occasional destruction of facilities? Those were minor accidents that could be covered with personal funds.
Beyond that, the only memories that inspired guilt were of the horrors she witnessed while wandering near the Demon Realm with the elders of the family.
That was the extent of the troubles Hong Yeon-hwa had caused.
Her innate mental fortitude and patience were also outstanding, so a trial like this could be lightly overcome in a matter of days.
- Ah, Aaaaaahhh—!
At least, that's how it would have been until a month ago.
The face of Lee Ha-yul, smiling as if happy just to have his gift accepted, and the face of Lee Ha-yul, screaming in enough agony to shake the surroundings, overlapped.
Hong Yeon-hwa's complexion darkened to black at the sight of the flickering flames.
- Argh, Aaahh...!
A face contorted in pain. A right arm ablaze. Stomping the ground, trying desperately to put out the fire, but as if in defiance, the flames only raged more fiercely.
It was a memory she had never seen. Then it must be an illusion.
...Was it an illusion?
Beyond the overlapping illusion, reality.
"...! ...?!"
Lee Ha-yul flustered and flailed his hands. Sensing Hong Yeon-hwa's state, he was clearly at a loss for what to do.
His right arm, wrapped in an arm sleeve, flailed about. She could almost see the scars that must reside beneath it.
Ever since she saw those scars in the infirmary, she had been convinced that Lee Ha-yul was a victim of the Calamity Flame.
Because such scars could only be left by the Calamity Flame. Because she had heard the information that the orphanage he once belonged to had been burned down.
She had harbored guilt ever since.
He was a blatant victim of the family she would one day lead. His physical disabilities might even have been partly caused by the Calamity Flame.
Recently, a new possibility had also surfaced.
Lee Ha-yul had used the Calamity Flame.
Whether due to a control issue or some other problem, it manifested only in his right arm, but it was unmistakably the Calamity Flame.
The possibility arose that he was someone who had inherited the blood of the family.
But that did not become a reason to stop harboring guilt.
The Calamity Flame was a unique ability passed down through bloodlines.
Therefore, those who inherited the founder's blood were recorded in the main family, even if they were from distant collateral lines.
However, they could not track cases where someone did not belong to a formalized household.
The hallucination shifted. It was, again, a sight Hong Yeon-hwa had never faced.
The interior of a garbage-like building, where even the word "slum" might fall short.
A young Lee Ha-yul was being persistently beaten by lowlifes who weren't even fit to be called human.
Treating a child who craved affection like an emotional trash can, they spewed curses that a parent should never hurl at their child.
Disgusting. She wanted to smash that head right away, to tear those hands apart while they were still alive.
Her impulses grew violent. Emotions that made excellent kindling for the Calamity Flame surged.
Just as things too vile to speak of were about to begin, her body was shaken weakly by someone grasping her shoulders.
The soft sensation of the bed against her back. A sweet scent felt up close.
The moment she realized it was him, the illusion subsided and reality surfaced.
"...! ...!? ...!!"
The Lee Ha-yul who had been dying with his stomach splitting open in the illusion had crawled onto the bed and was carefully shaking her.
Her throat closed up tight. It was hard to breathe, as if an iron weight had been placed on her chest.
Hong Yeon-hwa looked at Lee Ha-yul with faintly trembling eyes.
She couldn't distinguish whether the scene from moments ago was merely a hallucination or truly a record of reality. Only her instincts whispered that it was closer to reality.
Her thoughts couldn't progress beyond that.
Perhaps, under normal circumstances, Hong Yeon-hwa might have regained her composure.
But.
The amplification of emotions caused by the Calamity Flame, the amplification of emotions caused by the side effects, the replaying of hallucinations, the intuition whispering it was real.
All of it narrowed her vision and clouded her judgment.
Guilt crushed her. She couldn't breathe properly.
- Fwoosh!
The Calamity Flame within her blazed up. The fire that had been lurking grew in size. Feeding on the emotions she was feeling now, the Calamity Flame raged fiercely.
The violently burning flames spread out in all directions. Just as those flames were about to reach the mountain of guilt.
"...!"
Lee Ha-yul, who had been fidgeting anxiously, abruptly hugged Hong Yeon-hwa.
At the tender warmth, Hong Yeon-hwa's faintly trembling body suddenly stiffened. The spreading Calamity Flame halted along with it.
The flickering illusion was swept away all at once. It felt just like waking from a dream.
Then, a gentle hand was placed on her head and, somewhat awkwardly, slowly stroked her hair.
As the tender warmth and emotion contained in that touch seeped through her head and into her body, she felt her body melting into a puddle.
"Ah..."
A gasp of admiration escaped her. The guilt faintly receded, and along with it, the emotions that had been amplified to a monstrous degree were washed away.
Her shaky focus returned. Her spirit, dizzy as if shrouded in fog, slowly returned to its place.
When she came to her senses, she found herself now tightly hugging Lee Ha-yul and breathing raggedly.
A shudder ran through me at the breath I felt against my chest. When I loosened my arms slightly, Lee Ha-yul, who had been buried in my embrace, cautiously lifted his head.
[Are you okay? Should I call Ellia?]
The hologram flickered up in a rush. I could clearly feel the worry dripping from him.
"Uh..."
Too much had happened in such a short time. Hong Yeon-hwa calmly replayed the situation she'd just been in.
Simply put, she'd just nearly been completely fucked.
She'd almost been swallowed by the Calamity Flame.
She'd almost been devoured by the illusions the Calamity Flame showed her on its own, nearly losing control over it.
And the result after that? It was obvious.
The moment she realized it, a dizzying chill shot through her fingertips. One wrong move and she could have burned to death right there.
Hong Yeon-hwa swallowed hard and, to steady her mind and body, pulled Lee Ha-yul, who was in her arms, even closer.
Once he was settled in her embrace after squirming a bit, her freezing body warmed back up again.
"Hoo..."
After holding him for a while, the dizzying aftershock gradually subsided.
Hong Yeon-hwa glanced down at her arms. She saw Lee Ha-yul, who had given up struggling and was docilely nestled against her.
She stroked his head and sank into thought for a moment.
"......"
The Calamity Flame had settled back down. The illusions lifted, and the flames that had been surging in every direction died down.
But the root cause hadn't been removed.
The sensation that she'd dismissed as a trial was still there, and the guilt that had nearly triggered the rampage just now was still present.
If she left it like this, she'd only be kicking a bomb down the road for it to explode someday.
She had to resolve this guilt from just now, somehow.
The moment she made that resolution, fear flickered through her. She was terrified, imagining how he might look at her with disappointment after hearing her story.
But she couldn't just leave it alone. Her gut told her that this was a crucial moment.
That hiding this problem from him again out of fear and burying it wouldn't lead to a good result.
"Ha-yul. I have something to tell you."
And so, she revealed the truth.
A truth where, whichever of the two hypotheses was correct, her family bore responsibility.
She patted Lee Ha-yul in her arms as she conveyed the truth.
"?"
Lee Ha-yul tilted his head as if puzzled.
* * *
"...So that's what happened."
What on earth was that all about?
After Hong Yeon-hwa's long story, my head tilted on its own.
I couldn't understand her, looking at me with such a tense expression after finishing her story.
I didn't understand the situation leading up to it, either.
She'd happily accepted the scarf gift, and I'd felt this soft, fuzzy happiness—but only for a moment.
Suddenly, she seemed lost in thought, her face going deathly pale, and when I freaked out and asked what was wrong, she suddenly started making choking sounds and collapsed.
I nearly lost my mind. Seeing her, who was supposed to be lying down as a patient, react like that... I thought I was going crazy.
Before I could call for Ellia outside, I rushed over and hugged her to check her condition, and for some reason, she returned to normal.
Just like I'd done before, I hugged and stroked her, and luckily, it seemed to have an effect.
Just as I was about to call for Ellia in relief,
she suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into her arms, stroked me, and told me a long, serious story.
'What is she even talking about?'
It was a head-tilting kind of story.
What? The scars on my arm are from the Calamity Flame? Or that I might be a member of the Calamity Flame Family?
From my perspective, remembering previous worlds, it was nonsense, but thinking about Lee Ha-yul of this world, it was also a story I didn't properly know.
What was all this about?
I give her one scarf and end up in this mess.
Still, there was something from that story that now made sense.
I hadn't understood why she'd looked so crushed by guilt before.
It seemed she thought this scar was a wound inflicted by the Calamity Flame, that I'd been abandoned by the family long ago and had lived a hard life.
My head was a mess. I felt dizzy myself.
I pushed that problem aside for now. First, I had to soothe Hong Yeon-hwa, who looked more than tense, like she was about to die.
'Hmm...'
The reason Hong Yeon-hwa was so tense and crushed by guilt right now...
Because she thought the Calamity Flame made this scar, that I'm a descendant of the Calamity Flame Family but was abandoned at an orphanage...
'Ah. I don't know.'
Ditching all of that, I tapped on my smartwatch.
[I don't really understand, but can I ask a few things?]
"Yeah. Ask me anything."
Hong Yeon-hwa answered, swallowing hard.
I nodded too and pulled up the hologram again.
[Is the scar on my arm a scar from the Calamity Flame?]
"...Yeah, it's definitely the Calamity Flame. I can be sure of that."
[Did Hong Yeon-hwa hurt me?]
"...No."
[Did Hong Yeon-hwa maliciously try to torment me?]
"No...! Absolutely not...!"
[Then it's fine.]
"...Huh?"
Question and answer, over.
When I stopped asking questions, Hong Yeon-hwa's expression, which had been stained with tension, went blank. I snickered at the rare look on her face.
"...No, the story isn't that simple. This..."
Hong Yeon-hwa stammered, trying to continue.
It was a hassle. Of my own accord, I snuggled right into Hong Yeon-hwa's arms. Her body stiffened rigidly.
'...Ugh.'
I think this is almost the first time I've consciously been held like this, and it's incredibly embarrassing.
But right now, this seemed to be the only way I could stop Hong Yeon-hwa from talking.
Enduring the embarrassment, I buried my face in her embrace.
As the soft sensation wrapped around my body, that fuzzy, cloud-like feeling surfaced.
"Uh, uh..."
Through my spatial perception, Hong Yeon-hwa looked like she couldn't accept it.
Even as she held me with a dazed look, she muttered 'why,' seemingly not understanding.
Her complexion was still bad, as if the guilt hadn't left her.
'Hmm...'
I pulled myself out of the soft embrace and tapped on my smartwatch.
[You haven't done anything wrong, Hong Yeon-hwa. So it's okay.]
A story that the Calamity Flame seared my arm? She wasn't the one who did it, and she wasn't even involved in that incident.
It's a family matter? I didn't want to think about that too deeply.
[If you still feel sorry for me despite this, could you do me one favor?]
"Yeah. Just say the word."
After staring blankly at the hologram, Hong Yeon-hwa nodded with a stiff face at my final question.
[Please don't be in pain.]
"...What?"
At the favor I delivered, she made a dumb face again.
This favor was sincere.
All throughout the after-party, thinking about Hong Yeon-hwa being in pain had made my chest heavy.
And a moment ago, when Hong Yeon-hwa's face went deathly pale, when her breath caught abruptly, I'd truly felt my mind go blank.
Sensing her guilt-ridden face made my own heart ache.
I shook my head firmly.
[I'm not accepting any objections. I'm the victim asking for this favor, so the perpetrator should carry it out.]
Saying I wouldn't hear any more arguments, I firmly buried my face in her embrace.
Fortunately, perhaps she'd finally accepted it, as Hong Yeon-hwa stroked my head with a complicated expression. In one of her hands, she clutched the red scarf.
Good. I pulled myself together from the goofy smile spreading across my face.
I was so embarrassed I wanted to run away right then, but with the excuse that Hong Yeon-hwa needed to hold me to stay mentally stable, I could avoid fleeing.
'...Hong Yeon-hwa isn't at fault, huh...'
Silently enjoying her touch, I recalled the answers I'd just given.
The questions about whether Hong Yeon-hwa had hurt me. Whether she'd tormented me with malice.
'That doesn't really matter.'
They were not very important questions.
Even if Hong Yeon-hwa had hurt me in the past. Even if she was the one who had carved the scar onto my hand.
Even if she had maliciously tormented and persecuted me.
If the feelings holding me in this moment were real, then it was fine.
I could forgive her plenty. No, the past wasn't that important.
What mattered was whether she was giving me affection right now, in this moment.
Beyond that, not much mattered.
To me, this touch right now was an incredibly precious sensation.
Something I'd been yearning for, ever since I was very young.
For this, I could forgive past wrongs any number of times.
Especially if they were wrongs against me and not harm caused to others.
Thinking that, I burrowed deeper into her embrace.
Maybe because I hadn't slept properly due to the scarf, my consciousness gradually faded.
'Sleepy...'
Between expecting a reaction to the scarf, calming Hong Yeon-hwa's sudden seizure-like state, and hearing a sudden secret of my birth (a theory), my mind and body were utterly exhausted.
I didn't resist it, and my consciousness cut out.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Measurement]
▶Stats
...
▶Unique Ability
...
▶Mental State
｢Affection Deficiency｣ : Extremely starved for affection. The severity is intensely high.
...
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul→Hong Yeon-hwa
●●●●●●●●○○(83▷84/100)
｢?｣ ｢Guilt｣ ｢Sorry｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Worry｣
[Conditions to lift the ｢Curse of Silence｣ have not been met.]
[Conditions to lift the ｢Curse of Solitude｣ have not been met.]