Goo Goo, It's Baby Ha-yul (2)
Goo Goo, It's Baby Ha-yul (2)
Atra had never once taken care of another person in her life.
When her parents were alive, she had been the one receiving care. She'd never had a younger sibling or any family member who needed looking after.
After losing her parents, she was always alone. Alone in the orphanage, too. At the academy, she'd been obsessed with power and never bothered building friendships.
The moment she graduated, she headed straight for the Demon Realm frontline. She clawed her way through battle after battle out there before finally returning to the inland a few years ago.
Even after coming inland, she never really made new connections. She had acquaintances, and that was about it. The one former disciple who could've been called a new bond left this world behind.
In short, Atra was not the type to actively seek people out. She had no social disposition whatsoever.
"......"
And that was precisely why she had no idea how to handle this situation.
The treatment room where Lee Ha-yul was hospitalized.
Inside a snug atmosphere warmed by clear sunlight streaming through a large window.
Atra let out a deep sigh. Then, with obvious discomfort written all over her face, she looked down at her own arms.
- Grrr...
There, nestled in her embrace and sound asleep, was Lee Ha-yul.
He even made those little rumbling noises pets make when they're completely content.
'...What exactly do they expect me to do...'
Atra awkwardly patted Lee Ha-yul's back and recalled the previous day's events.
After Lee Ha-yul had regained consciousness.
She'd been watching him, tense with the worry that he might have a seizure, when out of nowhere he'd started crying and clung to her.
The tears clinging to the corners of his eyes made her heart drop with a dizzy lurch, and she'd caught him on pure reflex.
The way he flailed arms that barely moved properly, trying so desperately to hold onto her, was so utterly pitiful that she'd ended up hugging him tight herself.
- Sniffle...
Atra had started patting his back with the thought of calming him down, but the sight of him sniffling in her arms held her gaze, leaving her staring blankly.
Lee Ha-yul already had delicate, fragile features.
With the gauntness unique to the ill added on top, he projected a fragility that made him seem as though he'd break at the slightest touch—and stirred an intense urge to protect him.
The way he had always acted so mature was nowhere to be found. Seeing him whine and cling to her chest was beyond unfamiliar.
After she'd been soothing him like that for a while, the healers came in.
Her first instinct was to detach him. Medical treatment ought to be received in a normal posture, shouldn't it? With that thought, she tried to gently push him away.
- Nnngh...
...She couldn't bring herself to push him away. The moment she showed even a hint of that, he whined and shook his buried face against her chest side to side.
Whining. The hurt and sorrow carried in those wordless hums froze her stiff. There was absolutely no way she could push him away. In the end, somehow, that was how it went—even the examination proceeded with him still cradled in Atra's arms.
'Shit.'
Atra couldn't forget the look the healer had given her...
Even so, she still couldn't bring herself to push Lee Ha-yul away. Conscience? Or maybe something like basic human decency wouldn't let her make that choice.
Before she knew it, she'd given him her embrace.
.
.
.
...And since yesterday, this had been the state of things.
Once she gave him her arms, he refused to separate for even a moment. The reality was him clinging tight and sleeping soundly as if her embrace were his own home.
Because of that, Atra couldn't bring herself to move either, and now they were lying together on the hospital bed Lee Ha-yul had been using.
Fortunately, the bed was wide—plenty spacious enough for two to lie side by side.
From the start, Lee Ha-yul was cradled in her arms, so he barely took up any room anyway.
Her mind returned to the present.
Atra let out a deep breath. Her chest rose and fell with the exhale, and Lee Ha-yul's cheek, buried right there, squished in and then bounced back.
"......"
Watching him with awkward eyes, Atra cautiously reached out.
Her fingers sank into his hair. A sensation that didn't feel like anything of this world met her touch.
She moved her arm slowly.
Stroke, stroke... the hair rubbed softly between her fingers. After a whole day of petting and patting, she'd gotten somewhat accustomed to it.
At that, the corner of Lee Ha-yul's mouth twitched upward. His face relaxed drowsily, and along with a low rumbling sound, he nuzzled his head against her palm.
His expression melting into a soft little smile filled her vision.
The way he looked right now overlapped with the image of Lee Ha-yul she'd seen in the footage.
The face twisted in agony as he threw himself at the monster to protect people—that face overlapped with the one now sniffling and clinging to her chest.
And the way he was now, begging to be petted like an affectionate puppy, layered on top of both.
Atra regretted it.
She shouldn't have ignored it when Lee Ha-yul went out. She shouldn't have dismissed that vague sense of unease. She shouldn't have thought it wasn't her place to interfere, that she couldn't be attached to him for life anyway.
There were plenty of other regrets, smaller ones and some just as large.
She'd been buried too deep in the past. She hadn't properly seen the Lee Ha-yul who existed in the present. She regretted her attitude, too. She'd probably been too prickly and cold.
She'd done her best in her own way, but... even so, she should've taught him better. Should've taught him so he could overcome things better.
Atra felt a crushing guilt that her teaching had been too lacking, and that was why he'd ended up with these injuries.
And she probably could have treated him a little more gently all along, but she'd failed at that too.
The mistakes she'd once pounded the ground in regret over—she'd gone and repeated them like a fool.
And just like back then, she'd nearly been unable to turn things back.
By some heaven-sent luck, Lee Ha-yul had survived somehow. He was unmistakably breathing, right here in her arms.
Atra shifted her body upright. Her movement was careful, conscious of whether it might disturb Lee Ha-yul in her embrace.
At the sudden movement, Lee Ha-yul flinched slightly, then burrowed deeper into her chest.
A warm, damp breath suddenly reached the area near her chest.
"Hik..."
Her shoulders snapped tight at a sensation so unfamiliar it felt alien.
She'd adjusted somewhat to cradling him, but a breath brushing against her body like that—she could never seem to get used to it.
Atra steadied her trembling body.
Once the shivering stopped, she let out what must have been her umpteenth sigh.
She managed to soothe Lee Ha-yul, who whined as if she were about to detach him, and repositioned herself.
She turned Lee Ha-yul's body and supported his back with one hand.
With her free hand, she picked up the spoon that was within reach.
It was the bowl of porridge and utensils left by that healer with the strange look.
She scooped up a suitable amount of porridge with the spoon. After checking the temperature, she guided the spoon to Lee Ha-yul's mouth.
"Ah..."
Lee Ha-yul currently had difficulty moving. Above all else, one arm was gone, and the one that was still intact was wrapped in a thick cast and couldn't be moved properly.
In other words, he was a patient who needed someone to attend to him.
Lee Ha-yul's nose twitched, still baffled by the sudden change in posture.
When she tapped the spoon against his lips a couple of times, he finally seemed to realize what it was and opened his small mouth.
The spoon went in, and his mouth snapped shut around it.
Atra watched his mouth work for a moment, then pulled the spoon out clean.
The porridge that had been on the spoon was long gone. Without a word, Atra fed him another bite.
She'd already fed him like this several times by now.
The porridge was annihilated in an instant.
Looking after a patient was a first for her, but it wasn't all that difficult. The truly difficult parts were handled by magic and the healers stationed there.
Beyond that, the things Atra had to do herself were nothing much.
Feeding porridge to Lee Ha-yul in her arms like this, coaxing Lee Ha-yul when he refused medicine and getting him to take it, patting his back and putting him to sleep when his belly was warm and he grew drowsy—that was about it...
...Looking at it this way, it was no different from babysitting. The behavior and even the appearance fit the part.
This was a different attitude from usual. The ordinary Lee Ha-yul never clung like this or whined.
But considering what Lee Ha-yul had been through, she could understand it.
A kid who'd never experienced a shred of real combat had stood alone against a monster in an isolated space to save people.
How many times had he faced death in that process? Every single moment an attack came flying at him, death must have brushed past.
And at the very end, he'd truly been at death's door... it wouldn't be strange at all if the trauma had carved itself deep.
It could even hinder his future work as a hero. There were plenty of cases where experiences from a time of weakness tripped someone up even after they'd grown strong.
'...If it comes to that, I'll just have to bring him home with me.'
Would Lee Ha-yul keep attending Siyoram? Maybe once he recovered mentally, he'd whine that he didn't want to go anymore.
In that case, Atra planned to take him in herself.
She hadn't officially retired yet, but that was as simple as going to the Association and filing the paperwork. And she had an obscene amount of money saved up.
She could live the rest of her life in idle comfort just supporting Lee Ha-yul.
Feeling an odd resonance, Atra extended the spoon once more.
* * *
I couldn't see. Pure black darkness occupied everything around me.
I didn't use the Observation Authority. Same with the Space Authority.
The moment I even tried, my head throbbed as if it were splitting apart.
It was probably partly because I'd overused authorities I'd properly awakened, and partly because my mana circuits and core themselves were injured to begin with.
Authorities. Abilities that weren't innate—they were granted from outside.
Normally, they're a right granted to a Tower Master after conquering a Tower and receiving its recognition.
Why did I have them? Why did I possess the Authority of Space and the Authority of Observation?
'Ah.'
My head hurts. I don't want to think...
I cut off the line of reasoning that was trying to connect on its own. Right now, I didn't want to think about anything at all.
I emptied my head and pressed my body firmly into Professor Atra's embrace.
Something soft and yielding wrapped snugly around me.
A person's unique body heat reached me vividly through the fabric.
The warmth and texture I felt especially on my face were so warm and cozy—it was nice.
My senses were relatively dull, probably because of the injuries, but it was still nice.
'Nice...'
I emptied my head. My thoughts ran simple.
Warm. Softness is nice. The hand stroking my head and patting my back is nice, too.
Just... nice.
Thinking could wait until later. My body hurt like it was being torn apart anyway, and my head felt like it would crack open too.
I just wanted to be like this until I was fully recovered.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Atra Clyde
●●●●●●○○○○(65/100)
｢Fondness｣ ｢Fear｣ ｢Expectation｣ ｢Concern｣
▼Dramatic Change▼
Lee Ha-yul → Atra Clyde
●●●●●●●○○○(65▷70/100)
｢Adult｣ ｢Guardian｣ ｢Expectation｣ ｢Stability｣ ｢Craving Affection｣
...
●●●●●●●○○○(70▷71/100)
...
●●●●●●●○○○(71▷72/100)
...
●●●●●●●○○○(72▷73/100)
...
[Conditions to lift the ｢Curse of Silence｣ have not been met.]
[Conditions to lift the ｢Curse of Solitude｣ have not been met.]