I Was Discharged
A small café nestled in Sangdang-gu, Cheongju.
Business hours had ended, and a woman was finishing up the last of the cleaning as she put the shop in order.
She was a beautiful woman with a calm presence — black hair, dark eyes.
Han Suyoung.
Despite being in her early thirties, she looked no older than her early twenties. Feeling a touch of fatigue, she paused her mopping for a moment.
"Hah…"
She let out a small sigh, carrying the weight of the day's labor.
Then, from beside her, a small but clear voice began to speak.
"Mom, are you tired? Want me to help?"
A cute little girl was looking her way with bright, sparkling eyes.
Han Ran.
Han Suyoung's own daughter, thirteen years old this year.
Her appearance was so identical to her mother's that one could almost believe Suyoung herself had been turned back into a thirteen-year-old. She was, quite literally, the spitting image of her mother.
There was only one difference: unlike Suyoung's dark eyes, the girl had a slightly unusual eye color — a vivid red that seemed to glow.
Watching her daughter blink those crimson eyes up at her, Suyoung felt the fatigue of the entire day melt away, and she answered gently.
"No, I'm fine. I'm almost done anyway. Just wait a little longer, Ran."
"Okay, Mom. Then I'll keep studying. I'm gonna get a hundred on tomorrow's math test too."
"That's my girl. Study hard and grow up to be someone wonderful, all right?"
"Yeah, Mom! I will! Promise!"
Hearing her daughter's adorable vow, Suyoung smiled. Then she took up the rag again and set about wiping down the tables with renewed energy.
Just then—
Ding-a-ling~
"Ah, I'm sorry, we're closed for the—"
Han Suyoung spoke automatically to the customer coming through the door. But the next instant, the moment she recognized who was standing before her, deep surprise flooded her face.
"Long time no see, Noona."
"Jinhyun!"
A welcome face she hadn't seen in nearly two years. Suyoung tossed the rag aside and rushed over, seizing his hands tightly.
"How long has it even been? You could've at least called. Weren't you supposed to be swamped with work right now? No — more importantly, why do you look so gaunt? Have you not been eating properly this whole time?"
"Haha… Well, a lot happened. I showed up without calling because I wanted to surprise you a little after so long."
"Honestly… Anyway, welcome. Sit down, sit down. Want something to drink? Or something to eat…?"
"Didn't you just say you were closed? I feel a little bad imposing like this…"
"What's there to feel bad about? This is your big sister looking after her little brother. Just tell me what you want. If you're really hungry, I'll even order delivery."
"Haha… Well, if you insist. No need to order anything, though. Just a cup of the cocoa you make would be great. I'm not particularly hungry."
"Really? All right, then. Just wait a moment."
She welcomed me so warmly even though I'd arrived at this late hour…
Han Suyoung.
The older sister figure I'd been close to since childhood.
We weren't related by blood, but as an only child, she was someone I could call family — more precious to me than any real sister could have been.
And… the woman I had once truly loved.
Circumstances had stacked against us, and we never ended up together. But Noona had always possessed a nature that put others at ease, and for me she had always been a place of emotional refuge.
Looking back, if I hadn't kept in touch with her off and on, surviving that hell with my sanity intact for as long as I did would have been nearly impossible.
And now, watching Suyoung Noona welcome me so readily — me, fresh out of that hell — I finally began to feel the comfort of having come home.
Honestly… coming straight here the moment I was discharged might have been the best decision I've ever made.
Sitting in the chair, breathing in the sweet scent of the cocoa Noona was preparing, I felt as though every hardship I'd endured was being washed clean away.
Then—
"Jiiii…"
"Hm?"
A cute little voice came from beside me. My gaze turned toward the child who was staring at me with curious eyes.
Suyoung Noona's daughter, Han Ran.
I'd played with her often before I was drafted into the Hunter Guild, but somehow I got the sense that she didn't quite recognize me now.
"Hey, Ran. Long time no see. Don't you remember your Oppa?"
"Nope. I don't know any weird uncles."
"…Unc—"
A child's clear, merciless one-liner, delivered without a shred of hesitation. But considering she was Noona's daughter — factoring in the generation gap and age difference — the word wasn't entirely wrong, so I wasn't really in a position to argue.
"Um… uh… r-really? Even though I used to play with you all the time when you were little… You honestly don't remember?"
"Nope. Don't remember. So what are you, Uncle? Why are you bothering Mom at this hour?"
Ran's reaction was a little sharp for a child. I got the feeling it would take some time to get close to her again, and answered with a touch of awkwardness.
"Well… if I had to put it simply, I'm a close younger brother of your mom's. We've known each other since we were kids."
"Ohh… I see. So that's why Mom was so happy to see you."
She nodded as if that settled it, then turned her attention back to her workbook with complete disinterest.
It was, in a way, a slightly cheeky attitude — but watching her, I found myself feeling oddly amused and fond of her all the same.
That tiny little kid has already grown this much… She speaks so clearly now compared to two years ago.
Regardless of what this child thought of me, I had been there since the day she was born.
And… there were things I had done for her sake, too.
Whatever else, the fact remained that this girl named Ran felt like more than just the daughter of a close older sister. She didn't feel like a stranger to me at all.
So I sat there for a while, watching her study hard with the warm feeling of looking at a daughter — or a little sister — of my own. That was when—
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Here you go."
Suyoung Noona finally set the cocoa down in front of me. I thanked her and carefully took a sip. Sitting across from me, she asked carefully:
"Anyway — what really happened? When we talked on the phone not long ago, you said you probably wouldn't be able to come down this year either."
"Yeah, I did say that. And it was true at the time."
"…Something happened, didn't it?"
Through our regular contact, Suyoung Noona had a rough idea of my situation. She knew perfectly well just how close to impossible it was for me to be sitting here right now.
I slowly set down the cocoa cup, let a look of pure relief fill my face, and told her:
"Yeah. Something did. Something very important."
"What is it? Don't tell me something bad happened…"
Noona spoke with familiar worry in her voice. Looking at her, I delivered the one line that could sum up my current situation, light and easy:
"I was discharged."
"!… W… what? R-really? But you said it yourself — in a situation like yours, getting discharged isn't something you can just do even if you want to. So how… Did you get into some kind of trouble?"
"Haha, no, nothing like that at all. Simply put, the guild changed its operating policy, and I happened to benefit from it. Anyway, the day I got the notice, I packed my bags and got out of there as fast as I could."
"Hoo… Well, as long as it's nothing to worry about, that's a relief…"
At my words, Suyoung Noona finally began to look reassured. And a moment later, the expression on her face shifted from relief straight into genuine, overflowing joy.
"Wait — hang on. Thinking about it, shouldn't we be celebrating? My little brother finally escaped that awful guild!"
"Technically, yeah. But I don't know if it needs a whole celebration…"
I answered with a light laugh at Noona's rapid change of expression, but it was clear she had no intention of simply brushing this off with a "well, good for you."
"This is great. I've got a bottle of whiskey in the fridge, actually… What do you say? A little toast, even if it's just the three of us."
"Hmm… Well… if you really want to? Honestly, I've been wanting a drink for a while myself."
She gave me a sly look with those words. I put on a token show of reluctance, then accepted her offer outright.
When all was said and done, I still carried something in a corner of my heart that could only be called lingering attachment.
There was no way I could refuse a drink shared in celebration with that person.
A short while later, Suyoung Noona filled a glass with whiskey over ice. She also pressed a glass of apple juice into Ran's hands, and the three of us raised our glasses together in a toast.