2. Half a Hero, Lee Hayun (3)

As if thrilled to finally have something to do after so long, the police cars had the convenience store surrounded in a pointless racket of sirens. They'd already arrived on scene. You'd think they might kill the noise by now. Instead the wail kept roaring on, loud as ever.

A sound like that might earn a glance if it passed you once. Let it scream through every street in the neighborhood like it had lost its mind, though, and what else could you expect? Thanks to it, gawkers were popping up all over, peering into the store—from the steps of the houses, from right beside the shop. Bundled into long puffer coats like penguins, they craned their necks out little by little. Eyes too dim to see properly, they held their phones out at arm's length and snapped pictures of the inside.

So that was why the streets were empty at this hour. It really was an old folks' neighborhood. Nothing but grandmas and grandpas.

"So you're saying you hit him like this? Bam?"

"Yes."

"And then you healed him?"

"Yes."

"But can it really be that fast? From what I've heard, even a Healing Type can't patch someone up that quick, just flick-flick like that..."

The officer tilted his head, eyeing me with open suspicion. He'd already checked the CCTV, and I'd even walked him carefully through the whole account, but he still didn't seem to understand.

...No. Somehow it felt like he was pulling a stunt because he wanted to get healed once himself.

I considered it for a moment.

"That enough?"

"Oh my..."

I stepped up to the officer and quietly showed him a wound closing over. It was a cut I'd put on my own body. Without proof, someone might mistake it for self-recovery—but there was a person standing right there who had actually received the treatment, so I figured no further demonstration was necessary.

"Officer. Just curious."

"Yes. Go on."

"This incident—could I end up charged with assault?"

"...Uh... This would be self-defense, wouldn't it? In a case like this."

"Right?"

"Yes. You'll probably be fine."

The answer sounded canned, somehow. I was thinking the same thing myself—Hayun had nearly been in serious trouble, so of course it was self-defense—but still. With professionalism that thin, I couldn't see anyone trusting a word out of the police.

It used to be a job that fairly sharp people did, or so they said. After heroes appeared, the standard must have dropped a long way.

"And this student—how's she got nothing to say? You said you healed her all the way, didn't you?"

"She'll be fine, so question her later. Looks like she doesn't feel like opening her mouth right now."

A hero should have shown up by now, and yet the convenience store still held nothing but a handful of cops. A case already closed, it seemed—they weren't about to waste effort where it wasn't needed. Revered as the ones who protect the people, and remarkably thrifty about it. Shouldn't they at least be as diligent as the villains...?

I was nursing that pathetic thought when it passed. Once the officer finished his questions, I walked over to Lee Hayun, who stood fidgeting in front of the fridge, nowhere to go.

"Noona."

"...Oh. Woojin."

I'd worried she might be in shock, but her voice sounded steady enough. The corners of her mouth, always lifted in that dopey country-puppy grin, had dropped, and the bubblegum she'd been chewing a moment ago was gone. That was all.

Well, that much was fine. A robber had broken in and she'd nearly died, the officers were making a racket because of it, and the whole neighborhood was out gawking. If she were still chewing gum and grinning like a fool, that would have been the stranger sight.

What mattered was that I had saved Lee Hayun from a villain. Once.

"Isn't it about time for your shift change?"

"Already? ...Oh, you're right. Five minutes left."

"They'll need time for the handover, and they still aren't here."

"They show up right on the dot, every time. If I weren't a Transcendent, I'd have smacked them."

"Then I'll heal them after, so want to land a good clean one?"

"Pfft... What are you even saying. Forget it."

Hayun smiled lightly, then hardened her expression again. She had the presence of mind to banter with me, but she seemed to understand perfectly well what kind of spot she'd just been in.

If I hadn't been there, she wouldn't be standing here smiling.

"......"

In other words, Lee Hayun owed me. That was enough. For an unexpected windfall, it was a pretty decent outcome.

Just then.

"H-hello..."

"Oh, you're here. Five minutes early today?"

A man who looked like the night-shift part-timer came through the automatic doors and offered a greeting. An unimpressive man, in every respect.

"Yeah. I was walking over, and the police sirens were so loud I ended up running... What happened?"

"A robbery."

"A-a robbery...? You weren't hurt?"

"I'm fine. As you can see."

"Y-you're really calm about it... Is that because you're a Transcendent?"

"Who knows. Maybe it just doesn't feel real yet. Hehe."

The man kept tossing out this and that. Hayun answered more coldly than I'd expected. I watched the two of them for a moment, then tapped her small shoulder.

...The man's eyes lingered, briefly, on my fingertips.

"Noona. Go change. If they need to ask anything else, the police will call."

"Ah, yeah. Just a sec... I only have to take this vest off anyway."

Fiddling with her convenience store uniform, Hayun slipped into the storeroom marked Staff Only. I was gazing after her when I turned my eyes to my phone, and one thoroughly unpleasant look stole toward me in secret.

"......"

"......"

Wondering what I was to Lee Hayun, was he.

"...Excuse me."

"Yes."

"You and the person on the afternoon shift... what's your relationship..."

Didn't even know her name. And he was curious anyway.

"Her junior. Just a junior from school."

"Oh, then you're also..."

"Yes. Miren Academy."

"Ah..."

I almost told him I was her boyfriend, behind Hayun's back, then dropped it. Watching his face freeze for a second would have been fun, but pile up pointless lies and one of them might come back to bite me.

And wasn't it more entertaining to let him keep his hopes?

Behind the fans who always cheered their hero with everything they had, I'd break that hero in to my own taste and make her pant even while I drove into her the way animals mate. And behind this man, growing a little closer to Lee Hayun, a little stickier. Set side by side, the two weren't so different.

"Sorry. Things came up, so I couldn't restock everything that was empty..."

"I-it's fine. That happens. There was a robbery. I'll do it."

"The cash all matches, and there was someone earlier who came in for a parcel pickup? That one..."

"Yeah, yeah."

The moment Hayun emerged from the storeroom, the man scrambled after her. I watched that for a while, then quietly said my goodbyes to the officer and stepped out of the store.

...He'd have to wipe the blood off the floor, too. There wasn't much of it, but it was going to be a rough stretch of time.

"...Let's go! Woojin."

"Over here, Noona."

Hayun came out of the convenience store and smacked me on the back. I held a throat lozenge up to her mouth, and she took it at once with a little nom. For a brief moment, soft lips brushed my palm. Hayun didn't seem to notice, so I let it pass without a word.

"Which way's your place?"

"Toward the Academy, more or less. I'll match you for now, though, Noona."

"Me? Why?"

"...Because of what happened. I figured it'd help if I stuck around."

"What kind of escort is a guy weaker than I am."

"You get hurt if you use your strength, Noona."

I said it while swallowing a throat lozenge of my own, following her lead. Hands stuffed in her pockets, Hayun chewed on that—then turned a long, hard glare on my face. The look was so intense I glanced her way, and she pushed her lips out in a pout before turning her eyes off again.

"...The getting hurt. You've been holding on to that?"

"How could I not? That thing smashes my money to pieces."

"Smashes your money—what's that supposed to mean."

"Anyway. You get the gist."

One step.

I followed the sway of Hayun's long ponytail as she pulled ahead, into an alley in the exact opposite direction from the way I'd come running.

"Honestly, your ability's the kind that can make money whenever you feel like it."

"That's true enough."

A few quiet healings here and there, and I'd already bought the studio I was living in. When it came purely to earning money, there really wasn't an ability to match it.

"Me, it's the opposite. Every time I use mine, money breaks..."

"What kind of ability is it, exactly, that it does that?"

"Limiter Release. That sort of category, at least, I think. It would've been better if I just got stupidly strong with no price, like other people. Or like Jiyoon."

"...Yeah. Abilities like that are strong, but the side effects are what turn them into a problem."

I'd already figured it out, and I asked anyway. Breaking down while using an ability meant the strain was more than even a Transcendent body could bear. There'd been a villain with something similar, once. So I'd thought that if I ever ran into Lee Hayun again, I'd keep healing those wounds with my ability and build a closeness that way...

I hadn't expected the debt to pile up like this.

"And we're broke enough as it is... Hospital bills, the water, the electric, the gas..."

"So that's why you've been working part-time."

"Yeah. Jiyoon helps out too. Café, for her. Been at it since high school, she has."

"Ah."

What their parents might be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up to crossed my mind for a second. I left it as a thought.

"They say she's popular 'cause she's pretty. The older manager I work with told me."

"Well, that figures."

"...So you like Jiyoon's type too? The cold cat look? Something like that. I wouldn't really know."

"Honestly, if they're pretty, that's enough. Guys are a lot simpler than they look."

"...Hmph. Pretty is enough, huh."

"Why."

"Nothing. Just thought you were being honest. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I like them if they're handsome, too."

"......"

"And if they're kind, well. Even better."

Honk, honk. Once we came out of the alley, the sirens faded into the distance, and the rush of cars along the main road mixed into the wind instead. Straight ahead, if we kept going, was probably Daehangno, that university strip packed with bars. Left was a park. Right was... I didn't really know.

Hayun cut sharply right, as if on cue. I kept walking after her.

"...Ah. Wait a sec."

With that, she stopped briefly in front of a convenience store. I followed the jingling of the door bell inside after her.

"Guinness, and... Paulaner, and... what else would be good..."

"You're drinking?"

"If I don't drink on a day like today, when am I supposed to?"

"...Can't argue with that."

Clink, clink—cans slid down the ramp. Partway through, her hands must have filled, because Hayun shoved a few beer cans at me.

...Was she just dumping them on me because they were cold?

The thought didn't last. She picked out about eight cans and trotted lightly toward the register. Beep, beep, beep. The moment checkout finished, a bag holding eight cans of beer was pressed into my hands. Heavier than it looked, once I actually held it.

...Setting that aside. Why was the person who'd called me a weakling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dumping this on me?

"You carry it, Noona. You're stronger than I am."

"Don't wannaaa."

The ponytail ahead of me swayed, playful. Catch me if you can, it seemed to say.

...True ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough. If I ever got the chance, I did want to wind it around my hand and yank it tight, like a leash.

I let out a sigh and followed her in silence.

Hayun slipped into a new alley and walked it as if she knew it by heart, down a street where even the streetlights barely came on. A lane crammed with rundown low-rises and houses, security about as bad as it gets. They weren't even using the proper paid trash bags. Something pitch-black squirmed among that garbage, which meant a few stray cats were around, too. I had no interest in meeting one's eyes and getting chosen, so I kept my gaze on her back and walked.

And so, step after step, we went deep into the alley, until—

"Right up here's our place. Think Jiyoon's still gaming? Oh, the light's on."

Hayun pointed at the second floor of one of the buildings and walked straight on—without taking the bag from me. Straight on, until the keypad beeped under her fingers. Like that, until she stepped inside without a word.

Still. The bag of beer cans was in my hands.