Hug Me
"Director, Student Pecia has arrived."
"Good work. Show her in."
"Yes, sir—but..."
The aide hesitated, then reported that Pecia was snoring away in the back seat. Even though they'd whisked her over by flying vehicle, she'd managed to fall asleep in that short span of time.
The Director laughed inwardly at the absurdity of it, yet kept his expression even.
She's definitely not a normal human.
"Could you wake her and bring her in? No—just pick her up and deliver her."
"Understood."
After the aide disappeared, the Director looked ahead and found Kang Jiye already clutching her head in her hands.
She must have prepared her talking points and worked out a strategy of her own, only for the whole thing to go up in smoke in an instant. And the culprit herself had fallen into blissful, oblivious sleep—it was truly a spectacle beyond spectacle.
Feeling a private twinge of pity for her, the Director spoke first.
"I knew she wasn't the active type, but... falling asleep in that short a time is impressive. Is she always like this?"
Kang Jiye, head still bowed toward the floor, let out a choked keuk! of laughter. Having just heard that the Director had spent days waiting for Pecia to set foot outside the house made the situation all the more ridiculous.
She soon sighed, straightened her back, and flicked her long cascading hair back over her shoulders.
Half-resigned, she answered.
"She's been getting worse lately. She wasn't quite this bad when I first met her."
"Some illness or side effect, perhaps?"
Kang Jiye shook her head.
"I don't know. Other than pure laziness, nothing."
"Where did you pick her up? Was the place she came from different from here?"
Kang Jiye hesitated for a moment, then decided there was no point in hiding it and answered frankly.
"It probably has nothing to do with where she lived. I found her in a park near my house."
"A park?"
"Yes. Some girl was standing there naked, completely at a loss."
That day had truly been a shock. A young girl left abandoned right in the middle of a walking path.
Judging by her doll-like appearance, Kang Jiye had assumed she'd been caught up in some crime and rushed over to protect her.
At the time, she hadn't known Pecia was concealing her mana, so the thought that she might have escaped from a gate never even crossed her mind.
"I suppose so. I didn't suspect a thing either until I properly spoke with her."
"So you were the same, Director."
"How did you find out she was a monster?"
"She confessed herself. It was the day my daughter made a monster friend."
"A monster friend?"
"You know—the ones Pecia makes. They look cute like teddy bears, so I nearly had a heart attack. I thought, there's no way I'll ever pry this away from Yena."
"Hahahahaha!!!"
At Kang Jiye's sigh-laden complaint, the Director suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Though he'd never interacted with her privately, he knew exactly what type of person Kang Jiye was.
Flawless work handling. The ability to judge situations with cold objectivity.
Even if the subject were a young criminal, she never let emotion interfere and always responded strictly by the book. Even her superior, Kim Hansu, relied on that quality of hers.
But even this capable Kang Jiye had someone she simply could not bring herself to be cold toward—her daughter, Kang Yena.
The loneliness a working mother's child would face was obvious.
And into that situation had walked a cute teddy-bear friend.
Even Kang Jiye, who would normally report such a thing without a second glance, would inevitably be just a human being and a mother under those circumstances.
"So what happened after that? If you were ready to fight even me over her, you two must have gotten quite close."
When the Director asked with interest, Kang Jiye smacked her lips and apologized in a conflicted tone.
"...I'm sorry."
"It's fine. No need to apologize."
"I'm not fine with it. I have no face left to show you in any number of ways, Director."
It was an apology loaded with layered meanings.
Not only had she hidden a monster—she was actively trying to protect her. And since it was the Director who had made her Deputy Director in the first place, the situation was all the more awkward and guilt-inducing.
Knowing Kang Jiye's feelings well, the Director soon hardened his expression and nodded.
"Well... we certainly need to carefully weigh the merits and demerits of this incident and decide on disciplinary action. I'll take appropriate measures later, so keep that in mind."
"Understood."
Rules would be followed as rules—an unspoken consideration not to let it weigh on her.
Kang Jiye bowed her head in silent gratitude.
"Director, I've brought Student Pecia. Where should I put her?"
The aide returned with the driver carrying Pecia in his arms.
Seeing her actually asleep made the Director even more speechless, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
"Just put her on the sofa there, please."
The vehicle driver carefully seated Pecia next to Kang Jiye.
Pecia's head lolled sideways with a soft thump, and only her gentle breathing continued.
The Director sighed.
"Well, the saying 'you could carry them off and they wouldn't know' exists for a reason."
At that, Kang Jiye fixed Pecia with a sharp look and shook her shoulders vigorously.
"Hey! Wake up, you walking disaster."
"Uuung..."
"Playing dead won't get you out of this. Snap out of it already."
"Auntie, don't hit me... Pecia hurts... I'll do the dishes properly..."
"You little—!"
"Nwaaaaaah!!"
Even in this situation, trying to wriggle free with the "child-abuse misunderstanding" tactic.
Unable to tolerate Pecia's antics any longer, Kang Jiye pinched her cheeks and forcibly hauled her upright.
Just a little while ago, an arrest order could have been issued!
If the Director had been a rigid man, that would certainly have been the case.
But Pecia showed not a shred of remorse, rubbing her reddened right cheek and pouting.
"Ugh. You could've just done this over the phone."
"There's a time and place for phone calls, you indecisive brat. This is a matter of your life—how can you have so little self-awareness?"
"Ah, the Director finding out was only a matter of time anyway. Kim Seojun's the one at fault for delaying his report while he kept testing me."
"Even now you're blaming others."
Pecia had already roughly grasped the situation.
She'd deliberately fallen asleep because she didn't want to get scolded by Kang Jiye—and now she was being woken up and interrogated for it. She resented the entire world.
Watching this calmly, the Director asked,
"So you're a monster?"
Pecia stared straight at him.
"You didn't know?"
"I didn't."
"Why not? It's obvious. Be a little more perceptive and suspicious in life. If you'd known earlier, I wouldn't have been—"
The moment Kang Jiye glared at her, Pecia's voice rapidly shrank.
"...dragged all the way here. Ah—I mean, because you're busy, Director."
Huh.
The Director looked curiously at the shrinking Pecia.
Currently, the Clockwork of the Mind's Eye assessed Pecia's level as around A-class.
It had analyzed her the moment Kang Jiye grabbed her cheek.
Even though she could easily resist if she wanted to, Pecia showed not even a hint of doing so.
A monster that became docile as if Kang Jiye were her real parent—she was a research subject.
"Deputy Director Kang."
"Yes?"
"Could you lend me that for a few days?"
"Pecia? Why?"
"I'd like to dissect her a bit. I promise it won't endanger her life."
Startled, Pecia threw her arms around Kang Jiye's waist and burrowed into her embrace.
She knew it was a joke—but she also knew that if permission were given, he would actually go through with it.
Kang Jiye lightly glared at the Director.
"Rejected. Why are you being so mean?"
The Director smiled slightly.
"Sorry about that."
This confirmed it.
The two had a bond as tight as mother and daughter. Rather than simply laughing at the joke, she subtly scolded him—a reaction distinctly different from "Hunter Kang Jiye."
This makes the conversation easier. Though the options decrease.
To kill Pecia, he'd have to eliminate Kang Jiye first. But hastily purging an employee with the best reputation at the Incheon Branch would carry far too much risk.
Moreover, if Pecia continued concealing her mana to the end, the Director could even face suspicion of framing an ordinary girl as a monster.
Having settled on a direction, the Director looked at Pecia.
"I have a question."
"What is it?"
"What exactly are you expecting from me?"
Even activating the Clockwork of the Mind's Eye couldn't be explained by a mere slip of the tongue or carelessness alone.
At minimum, there had to be a premise that Pecia trusted the Director—and simultaneously a clear purpose of achieving something through him.
Pecia blinked and replied.
"Just keep doing what you've been doing?"
"Hmm?"
"Going forward, Korea—no, the whole world—will face multiple crises. But if it's you, Director, you'll surely find a way to stop them."
"Oh-ho. You trust me quite a bit."
"Of course! Honestly, as long as Hunter Kim Seojun and you are alive, you can stop most things."
"..."
The Director nodded calmly.
"So what is this crisis?"
"I'll tell you when the time comes. First, please weed out the spies."
...She plans to dump everything on me using information as bait.
"Understood. And nothing else you want? Think of it as payment for the information and speak freely."
In truth, whether she was a monster or not, as long as she fully supported humanity, it didn't matter. Even if she didn't actively move, the information she possessed as a monster would be useful.
Rather than indiscriminate wariness of a monster, he intended to prioritize fair business.
Pecia seemed to ponder halfheartedly with uninterested eyes, then suddenly her eyes lit up as she spoke.
"Actually, there's something I'd like to ask of you later on! Once the crises have passed!"
The Director thought as he passed through the gate.
Turning a gate field into an amusement park business...?
Even at first glance, it wasn't an easy matter. Setting aside the safety of the amusement park itself, there was no reason people would deliberately use a dangerous gate.
Frankly, plenty of amusement parks already existed in the real world.
There was no reason to choose a place crawling with monsters like Alpha, who could turn on you at any moment.
Even her guardian Kang Jiye wouldn't let her own daughter loose in a place like this.
"Yenaaa! We have a guest! Say hello!"
"Super Bowling Ttori... W-waaah!? Oh no! Unnie!!!"
The Director who entered the gate, before he could even take in the scenery... witnessed a one-meter-tall pink teddy bear come flying into his field of vision.
The Party Bear Yena had thrown had unfortunately flown right there.
The teddy bear with arms and legs splayed wide cried out.
"Byuuu—(Hug me)!"