Chapter 197
Chapter 197
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: Closing the Door (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
That evening was a bit busy.
The first thing was to take Winter with him on the warp station to the United States and pick out an aquarium from a specialty shop that sold tanks for spirit beasts. Yoo Ji-tae and Winter entered a store the size of a warehouse. Their eyes sparkled at the countless aquariums displayed everywhere.
"...Which one are we buying?"
The kid asked for his opinion, as always.
It was a familiar question. What to eat when it was mealtime. Where to go when they went out to play. Every time, Yoo Ji-tae gave the same response.
Instead, he asked for the kid's preference.
"What do you like?"
"...Hmm."
"Big one or small one?"
"...Big one."
Then the kid waddled over and pointed to an aquarium in the center of the store. It was so massive it could almost pass for a glass statue. It had to be at least 5 meters tall.
"That's huge."
"...Too big?"
They could expand the subspace if needed. As Yoo Ji-tae was about to agree, an employee smiled awkwardly.
"Ah, sir. Sorry, but that's a custom-order tank."
"...Custom order?"
"It has a different owner."
Winter looked back at Yoo Ji-tae.
Not available. Yoo Ji-tae shook his head. Winter, now learning to accept refusal, pouted her lips into a ㅅ shape and nodded reluctantly.
"How about that one?"
Yoo Ji-tae pointed to a rectangular tank next. It was plenty big for a room. But Winter shook her head.
"...Too small."
"That's small? It could fit hundreds of fish."
"...Small."
The child's response was hesitant. Maybe she was gauging his reaction. Why would she do that? He couldn't figure it out, so he suggested another. This one was a tall, triangular tank.
"What about that?"
But Winter shook her head again.
"How about that cylindrical one over there?"
Winter stared straight into his eyes. She didn't shake her head this time, but he knew she was refusing. 'What does she want, then?' As Yoo Ji-tae spoke, Winter waddled off somewhere. Guess I have no eye for tanks. Convinced of that, Yoo Ji-tae quietly followed.
This was the world's largest retailer of aquariums and tanks. Adding up big and small, there had to be thousands.
Winter was meticulous. If she liked one, she'd compare its height to hers. She'd step back a few paces to check the overall shape.
"...How about this one?"
If unsure, she'd ask for his opinion.
"Looks good."
"...Really?"
"But it seems a bit tall. How would you even feed the fish?"
'?' Winter floated up lightly. Yoo Ji-tae grabbed the child.
"No, not that you can't feed them. The tank would reach the ceiling."
"...Oh."
Right. Winter nodded and moved to pick another.
Whenever that happened, he felt that strange sensation again from earlier.
Right now, in this moment. Winter, pondering so seriously, was choosing something for herself. To Yoo Ji-tae, it felt utterly out of place for her. Just like a few days ago.
The question arose again.
Why did it feel this way?
But his thoughts didn't linger. Winter had finally found the perfect tank. One that would fill an entire wall of the room. A rectangular one with ideal height and size.
Yoo Ji-tae paid in full and bought basic add-ons. Seaweed, rocks, gravel, tropical fish, and such.
The most crucial "water" he ordered from an SS-grade isolated oceanic dungeon outside the cracks—the purest mana-rich water in the world.
It stayed clean without maintenance. Water brimming with the richest, most vibrant water-attribute mana. They gave a sample in a glass bottle, and Winter beamed, rubbing it against her cheek like a cat with catnip.
The dealer looked shocked.
"You're filling this huge tank completely?"
He showed the receipt. It was the price of a building in Seoul.
Paid in full.
His accounts would be empty soon, so he'd have to raid some dungeons at night and sell the byproducts, like always. No issue—he could make a fortune in no time.
Even as he did that, Yoo Ji-tae kept mulling over that faint image of Winter that didn't suit her.
"Wanna eat before we go?"
"...Yeah."
In the restaurant where they ate together.
In the way she held her self-picked burger with both hands and ate it so preciously.
In the accessory shop nearby, when Winter held out a necklace asking him to buy it. When she asked to be picked up so she could put the bought necklace on him. Even when it didn't fit because it was for women and she got disappointed.
He kept questioning it. But found no answer.
Still, time alone with the kid was pretty nice.
She especially loved knickknack shops.
"...What's this?"
Winter held out a square box. A musical toy that played sounds when wound.
"Looks like a music box."
"...Music box?"
Yoo Ji-tae turned the handle, and soon a tinkling melody flowed out: ding-a-ling—ding-a-ling. Winter's mouth slowly opened.
"...Wow."
"You like it?"
"...Yes."
He bought it for her, but Winter gifted the music box to Yoo Ji-tae.
"Why give it to me?"
"...Just."
Feeling that unresolved odd sensation, he accepted the gift.
And quietly returned one to the kid. The shop had a bright pink-headed piggy bank. Remembering the 2,000 won she'd given him, he bought it and handed her four 500-won coins.
"...What's this?"
"Piggy bank."
"...Piggy bank?"
"For saving money. Put coins or bills in here from now on. Like this."
He dropped in one coin.
Winter giggled and clinked the remaining three in.
Then shook the piggy bank happily.
But something bugged her, so she bought magic markers and painted the pig's red head blue.
That made the odd feeling grow a bit more.
The next day.
The dealers delivered and installed the tank in room 301. Winter now had her dreamed-of massive aquarium, water, and a few tropical fish swimming in the vast space. She could fill it slowly, so she had everything she needed right away.
Winter stayed quiet while the others made a fuss.
"Whoa. Fuck. That's badass?"
"...My room. Impressive, right?"
Even Summer admitted it readily.
"Whoaaa! What is this? Winter's room is the best!"
Autumn clapped against the wall.
"...Really?"
"Wanna swap rooms with unni?!"
"...No?"
Autumn giggled, and Winter giggled too.
"Just for a day?"
"...No?"
"One hour?"
"...No."
"Wow, Bom-unni, she's all grown up already! Got her own stuff and now ignoring me...?"
Autumn teased like she was hurt, and Winter hugged her waist tightly. Meaning sorry. Finding it cute, Autumn hugged the kid's head.
"...Come play often."
But Winter drew the line to the end.
"Can I come play too?"
"...Yes."
Bom bent down to meet her eyes and looked at Winter.
"Guess we can't sleep together anymore."
"......"
"Kinda sad."
"...Me too."
"But if you get scared, come to unni's room. Got it?"
Winter nodded.
After touring the room, the three left.
Now only Yoo Ji-tae and Winter remained in her room.
The kid sat on the lower bunk of the bunk bed, staring blankly at him. He didn't avoid her gaze.
The room was done. Time for her to rest.
"Good job these past couple days. Go rest now."
"......"
No reply from the kid, so he turned to leave.
That unfamiliar feeling from a few days ago, when Winter came in the middle of the night asking for a room, now rippled fuller, like water in a shallow basin.
Maybe because he'd lived so far from everyday life, even emotions others felt easily felt alien and uneasy to him.
As he thought that and stepped away.
Pat pat pat. Footsteps, then Winter hugged his waist.
He turned his head, and the kid looked up with a slightly anxious face.
"...Thank you."
'Yeah.' He replied lightly. Winter let go.
But.
As he reached for the door, perhaps because he stepped back, the whole room came into view.
A room similar in size to the others'. But with the absurdly huge tank behind, Winter alone looked especially small.
When their eyes met.
He recalled the kid sitting on the living room floor with her wavy water-blue hair, unable even to stand properly, looking back at him.
And her mouth babbling wordlessly as she stared at him.
Finally, the regressor faintly grasped what emotion he felt.
Until now, Winter had been his.
The T-shirt from Autumn he'd first dressed her in was his choice.
The food he bought her was what he brought.
Her quiet demeanor matched his own quiet nature.
But now it was different.
Winter went shopping with Bom and wore clothes she'd picked herself.
Winter wanted a burger, so she ordered one.
Winter gifted him the music box, despite his quiet ways.
The regressor glanced at the living room. The music box on the desk hadn't played much since coming home, but now he felt like winding it once.
"......"
Winter waved at him.
He waved back.
The faint emotion he'd barely sensed even during her molt now surged like a wave.
The kid's grown this much.
As he closed the door.
The regressor felt this unwelcome emotion—bitter, like a faint aftertaste.
In just a year, the kid had grown so much.
She had her own room now.
And now she was starting to experience places and things he didn't know. There might be clear boundaries, but emotionally, that line felt unwelcome to the regressor, for whom emotions had grown distant.
The door closed. Winter was out of sight. The kid had her own space now. Her own life would continue there.
Winter wouldn't play with the bear doll anymore.
"......"
The regressor let go of the doorknob.
Then, some unknown emotion subtly moved his hand. He opened the door again.
Water-blue hair came into view. The kid sat in the middle of the room floor.
Holding something in her arms.
The piggy bank.
Winter had been staring at the piggy bank in front of her, but when the door opened, she looked up with reddened eyes.
Strangely, tears welled in Winter's eyes. Had she been crying alone?
Winter casually wiped her eyes with her wrist, turned the piggy bank so it faced Yoo Ji-tae.
He approached, squatted down, and met her eyes.
"Why are you crying? Don't cry."
Winter smiled awkwardly.
"...Felt like everyone left..."
He'd felt like she was leaving him. But he hadn't realized that before this sudden separation of space, the suddenly grown kid would feel the same confusion.
But the kid hadn't left. She'd just started her own life.
"If you're lonely, just come out anytime. Right?"
"...Yes."
But as he comforted her, the kid's face crumpled again, tears welling up. She wiped them with her hand, so he gently hugged her and patted her small back.
When Winter stopped crying, he left the room. Closing the door, he tried to define this unfamiliar emotion.
Winter, who from the first moment of birth had always been an object of protection. Just a "little child."
Today, at last.
Had become a "person" to him.