The Proposal

It was seven in the evening by the time I finished closing up the shop and stepped outside.

The chilly night air swept through my chest, but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

Triple.

The POS had logged three times the usual sales. There was no way I could be in a bad mood.

Hiring pretty part-timers actually works, huh.

I still remembered the passion they'd shown — even stepping outside to drum up business whenever the shop was empty. Of course they wanted something from me. But they were civil servants. It was work they could have phoned in, and they'd put real care into it instead. That earned them some goodwill.

I locked the door and headed out. On the walk home, my steps felt unusually light.

Sia?

Across the crosswalk, Yoo Sia was standing in front of a car, deep in conversation. From the way she was gesturing, she was talking to someone inside the vehicle.

I turned that way without thinking.

"So what you're saying is…"

Her voice drifted over, faint. I frowned and looked at the figure in the car. They must have sensed me too, because the conversation died and every pair of eyes turned my way.

The people Sia had been talking to were government agents.

Sia spotted me and bowed at the waist.

"Hello, Chaewon's oppa."

"Hey. You haven't headed in yet?"

"No. I had something to take care of."

She glanced at Saerom with a pleasant little smile. Saerom's shoulders flinched.

"What were you talking about?"

"Nothing much."

I looked at the two in the car. They were sweating, even in this cold.

Fishy.

Late at night. Two parties talking. One of them a chaebol's daughter — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my little sister's only friend. The other, agents sent by the government. They'd clocked out of the shop about two hours ago, which meant this conversation had been going on the entire time.

Busted.

Anyone could see she'd figured out who they were. Thinking back on the Yoo Sia of my previous life, she was sharp. Daughter of Korea's top corporation, too — her information network wouldn't be anything to sneeze at.

I played dumb anyway and leaned my face in through the window.

"It's late. You should head in. Don't be late tomorrow."

"Y-yes, sir."

"You go in too. Your parents'll worry."

Nah. No way they talked.

They were government agents, after all. In a sense, Sia was their competition. People like that wouldn't leak high-level information unless you put a gun to their heads. Sia was a good kid; she wouldn't have pressed them that hard. The fact that this had taken two whole hours probably meant they'd kept their mouths shut.

"I-I'll be heading in, sir!"

Saerom saluted, her whole body rigid. I narrowed my eyes and muttered,

"…A salute?"

"Ah—!"

I sighed inwardly. For government personnel, they were awfully sloppy.

The black Sonata pulled away and receded from view.

"You be careful getting home too."

I gave Sia a lazy wave, mid-yawn, and turned to start walking.

That was when I felt it.

Tug.

"…?"

She had caught my sleeve.

"Um, oppa."

"What?"

"…By any chance."

Sia looked up at me with those blue eyes.

"Could you walk me home?"

I stared at her, caught off guard.

"…Ah. If I made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry."

"No, it's not that I'm uncomfortable."

It was just… unexpected. In this life, we still weren't close. And she wanted me to walk her home?

"I'm just surprised. Why?"

"Mmm."

Sia glanced at my face, thinking it over.

"Because I'm scared."

Sia had told me she lived alone. Her family home was too far from here, for one thing — and she'd sworn she'd move out the moment she started high school.

"Isn't it lonely, living by yourself?"

"…Sometimes. But living alone is more comfortable. Home is… a bit uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable how?"

"We don't get along. My family and I."

Yoo Sia had always been an unusual girl. Daughter of SJ. A prodigy with overwhelming talent. A guild's real assets were its Hunters, and an S-rank like her was someone every guild in the country had wanted. They'd all had to give up, though. As the daughter of the industry's number-one corporation, joining SJ would have been the natural course.

Except Sia never went to SJ. She struck out on her own and founded a new guild — and that guild would go on to surpass SJ entirely.

So that's what was going on.

I'd had no idea. This was the first I'd heard of it in this life.

"That's why I get a little jealous when I look at Chaewon."

"Huh?"

Sia smiled, just a little.

"She has a real family. You two get along so well."

That's a shame.

I hadn't expected a secret like this. I scratched my head. Maybe it was the look on her face — something about it was so pitiable that the words came out before I could stop them.

"Come over if you're bored."

"Sorry?"

"The shop, the house, whatever."

"…Is that really okay?"

"Yeah. I'll cook for you if you come."

"Your cooking was delicious, oppa."

"Glad to hear it."

Sia beamed. Then she stopped walking.

"This is it. My place."

It was a massive residential tower, not far from the shop at all. Sia clasped her hands in front of her and looked up at me, demure.

"Thank you for walking me home."

"…You said you were scared. Of course I would."

An A-rank Hunter being afraid of walking at night was unexpected, sure. But she wouldn't become an S-rank for another five years. Hunter ranks weren't a smooth slope — they were a staircase, and the gap between each step grew unimaginably wide the higher you climbed. Yoo Sia would become the youngest S-rank Hunter in history, myself excluded. She hit S-rank at twenty-two, which meant that at seventeen, she was A-rank at the very least.

Glad Chaewon's friend is strong. That's reassuring.

I was looking at her with something like fondness when it happened.

A transparent window rose into view.

This.

I looked at Sia's eyes. Those blue irises had widened, just slightly.

The Authority known as the Eye of Genesis. It was Yoo Sia's signature power, and the reason the guild she founded would overtake SJ within three years. It let her secretly peek at another person's status window. And the Shadow of Chakron was an artifact that countered every mental-type Authority in existence.

I accepted, silently, in my head.

I answered without a shred of hesitation.

Non-Awakened.

At the same moment, Yoo Sia opened her mouth.

"Those part-timers from earlier, by any chance…"

"Ah, those people?"

"Would it be all right if I asked how they ended up working for you?"

"No idea. They just showed up out of nowhere and said they'd work for free."

Sia stared at me like I'd grown a second head.

"And you allowed that?"

"Why?"

"…They could be dangerous people."

"Sia. Who even does that kind of thing these days?"

"…They exist."

"That's the Hunter world. A regular civilian like me couldn't get mixed up in that even if I wanted to."

I yawned, utterly at ease, and waved her off.

"It's way too late. Go on in."

Sia. You're not on my level yet.

And you never would be. She hadn't gotten any solid information, but it seemed she'd at least reached the point of suspecting Haeryeong. A genius was a genius, I supposed — not a bad instinct. But as the saying went, for every sprinter there's someone who can fly. And that someone was me.

I turned on my heel, easy as anything, and started walking. That was when she called after me.

"Um…!"

"Hm?"

Sia had the look of someone who'd just made a firm decision.

"…I really can come visit, right?"

"Haha. You thought I was joking? Of course you can. You're Chaewon's friend."

"I'll come often."

"Don't worry. I can afford to feed one high school girl."

"Th-that's not what I meant."

"Hm?"

Sia's pale face flushed a deep red. She opened and closed her mouth, fumbling for words, and then—

"I'll protect you."

"Huh?"

She left it at that and bolted inside.

Cute.

It was the kind of line that was ripe for misunderstanding. Luckily I knew the context, so it just sounded adorable.

"Still, having an A-rank Hunter watching my back is pretty reassuring."

I snorted a laugh and headed home. I still had to make Chaewon dinner.

"Oppa, you're ho— hmph."

A slam.

Chaewon had burst out like a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠puppy, started to greet me, then sulked her way right back inside.

What's her problem now…?

This was the little sister who always came to the front door to welcome me, so I was more than a little bewildered. I opened her bedroom door without ceremony and walked in.

"Aaaah! Knock first!"

Chaewon was on the bed, just her head poking out.

That sour look…

I'd spent enough time with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her to know exactly what she was thinking from her face alone.

Why is she sulking?

I was genuinely at a loss. That jutting lower lip and those upturned eyes meant Chaewon was in a full-blown huff. The problem was I couldn't begin to guess why. I'd been nothing but good to her since I came back.

"Hey. What's with that face?"

"What's wrong with my face."

"It's just… you look like you've got a massive chip on your shoulder."

"I do not. I'm perfectly fine, okay?"

Yeah, right.

I sighed, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

"It wasn't me."

"…What wasn't?"

"I didn't steal your pudding. That was probably last-night you. You just don't remember. Why are you accusing an innocent man?"

Chaewon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠went quiet for a long time.

That's not it?

I wondered if I'd guessed wrong, but no matter how I turned it over, the pudding was the only thing she'd sulk about. Her eating it herself, forgetting, and then blaming me wasn't exactly a new development.

"…Leave."

"?"

Her eyes went ice-cold, just like that.

"I said leave."

"Leave where? This is my house."

"GET OUT—! Right now! Out of my room!!"

Chaewon beat me back with a pillow, merciless, shoving me toward the door.

"Ow, ow! That hurts, you brat! Since when does a Hunter beat up a civilian?!"

"You deserve to get hit!"

A slam.

I found myself ejected from Chaewon's room with exactly zero say in the matter. I stared at the firmly shut door, baffled.

…Is it that time of the month?

Given how touchy she was being, there was no doubt about it.