The Witch Who Grants Wishes

Around 9 a.m., while everyone was still asleep, Serin was the first to wake up.

"Ugh..."

She brushed back her messy hair and started taking stock of the situation.

9:20... We drank at the guild meetup and I passed out drunk.

Serin looked around. The room was neatly tidied, three people were sleeping in one bed, and...

Wait... what is Unni hugging??

Looking closely at the person lying next to her in the same bed, Ye-rim was clutching Juwon like a stuffed attachment doll, sleeping soundly with soft breaths.

"...Heh."

Three of us in one bed... Did the guys from the engineering department carry us all here?

As she was lost in thought, Ye-rim started waking up, mumbling with her mouth.

"Ugh..."

Worried that Juwon might wake, Serin whispered softly.

"Unni, you're awake..?"

"Yeah... But what's this I'm holding...? Eek?!"

Ye-rim realized the person she was hugging tightly was Juwon, her face flushing red as she let go.

"U-um... I must've been a total mess again from the booze..."

Scratching her head in embarrassment, Ye-rim checked on Juwon.

"...She's sleeping so peacefully."

"Yeah..."

The two watched Juwon's serene, oblivious expression for a while.

A moment later, Juwon slowly rubbed her eyes and came to. The moment she sat up, she saw Serin and Ye-rim staring intently at her face.

"...What are you two doing?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to move you two?"

I showed them the photos I'd taken the night before. Serin passed out with her face beet-red, head planted on the table, grinning dopily. Ye-rim curled up asleep on the bed, cheeks flushed. And the mountain of empty bottles stacked up.

The two fidgeted with their fingers in front of me, sweating bullets.

"S-sorry... I was a huge pain, huh..?"

"Y-yeah, I've put on some weight lately, so I must've been heavy... Sorry..."

Seeing them apologize so dejectedly, I chuckled.

"I'm not mad. It was just like that..."

"Whine... Juwon-ah...."

After some chatting, we headed downstairs to the first floor for hangover ramen that doubled as breakfast and lunch.

"Sun-woo, when's checkout?"

"Hm... Around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠1, I think?"

Time was nearing noon, signaling our farewell was close.

"We had a blast yesterday and today. Right, Juwon-ssi?"

Sun-woo grinned at me.

"Yeah. It was so much fun. I don't think I'll ever forget yesterday and today."

"Ahaha, glad you enjoyed it."

Then Si-hwan, sitting next to Sun-woo, whispered something to him.

"What? It's not like that!"

"Heh heh... Come on, hyung, if it's not, just say so. Why overreact?"

Si-hwan glanced oddly at me, while Sun-woo peeked nervously, cheeks slightly pink. Ye-rim, next to me, patted my shoulder with a grin.

"Our Juwon is super popular, as expected."

"...Huh?"

Serin and I blinked in confusion, looking back and forth between Sun-woo and Ye-rim.

...Their secret little glances rubbed me the wrong way, but I let it slide.

We packed our bags, cleaned up the pension's trash, and finally stepped outside.

We'd originally planned to stick around longer for those who wanted, but Sun-woo had to stream, and everyone else had stuff to do, so we called it early.

"We had such a great time yesterday and today! See you next time~"

"Yeah. Hope we meet again soon."

As everyone exchanged goodbyes and started leaving one by one, I stopped Ye-rim.

"Unni, can we talk for a sec?"

Calling her "unni" felt natural now after using it so much.

"Sure. Let's grab a café."

We headed back to the café where we'd first met.

We got simple coffees and sat down. For a Sunday afternoon, the café wasn't too crowded.

"So? What does our Juwon want to talk to unni about?"

Ye-rim beamed, waiting for me.

"...Um, it's not a big deal, but... who is Ye-won...?"

Her expression darkened a bit at my question.

"D-don't get the wrong idea. You were sleep-talking and grabbed me while mumbling that name..."

Ye-rim stiffened, lost in thought.

"...If it's too personal, you don't have to answer. I just saw you struggling and wondered if I could help somehow."

Finally, she gave a wry smile and patted my head.

"...Ye-won is my little sister. A year younger than you."

After a long pause, she continued, as if resolved.

"...It might be a long story. And not fun. But... nothing to hide."

Ye-rim began telling me everything from the start. Her eyes welled up with emotion as she spoke, but I silently handed her tissues and listened.

"...That's how it happened. She's improving now, but thinking she'll be stuck in that golden age of her life forever... it breaks my heart."

"She's so pretty and has a great personality... She could've made tons of friends."

"...Is that why you couldn't hang out more today?"

"Yeah. I had to visit my sister."

"...My wish is for her to recover fully one day and live a normal life."

"..."

I wondered if my Heal skill could help. Sure, there's a risk of getting caught, but ignoring Ye-rim's—now one of my good people—misfortune felt wrong. She's trustworthy, so I could tell her I'm a real mage and fix it, but I could heal without that.

I wanted to help Ye-rim.

"...Can I come with you?"

"...Why?"

"Just... because your sister is sick. Isn't that reason enough?"

"...Yeah. I've wanted to introduce you guys to her for a while. If you're okay, let's go."

And so, Ye-rim and I headed to the hospital where Ye-won was staying.

Creak—

"Ye-won-ah, unni's here."

I'd heard from Ye-rim beforehand, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but seeing Ye-won's condition up close made it worse. Her left thigh was swollen red, nearly 1.5 times bigger than the right.

Thanks to narcotic painkillers, her eyes were glazed as she greeted us.

"Hehe... Unni... Who's the pretty unni next to you..?"

"Oh, that... Noel from the raid party I've mentioned. Remember?"

"I do... But I thought she was a guy back then..."

"Uhh... Turns out she's a girl.."

Listening to them, I pondered. The daytime hospital was bustling with patients and doctors—too risky to heal directly.

"...Gotta come at dawn.."

"Huh? Come where at dawn?"

"Nothing, just remembered something..."

After that, we chatted about everything—Ye-won, Ye-rim, me.

"By the way, Juwon-unni, ever had a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I'm curious too! What was school like for you, Juwon?"

I melted into the mood and slowly opened up about myself. My dark past I'd never told anyone.

"...Actually, high school was tough."

Self-esteem in the pits. Meddling in things I shouldn't, suffering for three years. Hated for no reason.

I spilled almost everything to them.

...Hope they don't get disappointed.

"...So my self-esteem was rock bottom, and I worried you'd be let down seeing the real me... That's why I skipped guild meetups with excuses."

"...But that's all in the past now. Boring story."

I smiled bitterly, waiting for their reactions.

Squeeze—

"Eek?"

Ye-rim's eyes brimmed with tears as she suddenly hugged ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me tight.

"...Unni..?"

"...Must've been so hard."

"Hehe, no big deal. Looking back now... yeah, it was pretty rough."

"You're okay now..?"

I smiled softly, hugging her back.

"Of course. Met good people... After graduation, things got better."

"...I wanna hug you too, unni, but my body's like this... Too bad..."

Our stories continued after that.

They're good people, after all.

Evening. Rush hour for office workers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heading home. We left the hospital.

"No way? Your place is around here? Pretty close!"

Turns out my house and Ye-rim's were just four subway stops apart.

"Let's meet up more! I'll text you~"

"Yeah, unni. See you."

Watching Ye-rim walk away, I glanced back at the hospital.

"...Not sure if it'll work, but..."

Dawn. Late night when most people are asleep. Barely any cars on the roads except a few buses, sidewalks empty.

I cast a spell to make others hard to perceive me, sneaking past the night shift to Ye-won's room.

"...What? Just my imagination?"

A few sharp ones felt unease, but unless face-to-face, they couldn't detect me.

Finally at Ye-won's door, I opened it and entered.

Creak—

In case she woke, I changed my pupil color to gold. If I could alter hair too, great, but skill proficiency wasn't high enough yet.

Curses thrive on ill intent, but used kindly, they can do good. I numbed Ye-won's pain sense and gently placed my clean hand on the wound.

"...Please get up and live a normal life."

The swelling reduced a bit.

"...It works."

The swelling lessened more, but so did my mana—drastically.

"...Can't finish tonight."

This incurable rare disease had no perfect treatment, so Heal's mana cost scaled with the injury beyond what I expected.

"Still... definitely better."

The noticeably reduced swelling brought a smile. I removed my hand from Ye-won.

As I turned to leave, Ye-won mumbled, half-opening her eyes.

"...Who... are you..?"

I panicked briefly but turned back with a soft smile.

"...I'll come again tomorrow."

Creak—

Click.