My Daughter Has Truly Changed
The clattering echoed through the room. Lee Ji-ah rummaged through the first-aid kit, grabbing disinfectant, ointment, and bandages.
Already, half the wound had healed. As a hunter, her recovery was on another level compared to an ordinary person.
"So... you knew her from your academy days...?"
"Yeah, yeah."
It was a gentle voice. Lee Ji-ah listened intently to her father, a soft smile playing on her lips.
It felt like a bird chirping sweetly. She loved that chattering voice so much—she wanted to hear it over and over, to hold onto it forever.
As she wrapped the bandage around his foot, Lee Ji-ah apologized to her father once more.
"Dad, I've been really harsh lately, haven't I?"
"Eek, ugh... No, you're not."
She shook her head. The tiny little being wagged his head side to side.
They had changed. The two of them were vastly different from the years gone by.
"S-sorry, as I get older... the tears just keep coming."
"It's okay. I'll do better, Dad."
Tears rolled down again, but this time, they were completely different from before.
She had changed. My daughter has truly changed. Lee Yoo-seong shed tears of emotion, wondering if her belated puberty was finally coming to an end.
"There. All done."
"Thank you..."
"No, Dad. This is all because of me..."
A familiar face. Yes, this is it.
After months of only hearing harsh words, this gentle voice nearly brought tears again. Lee Yoo-seong fought them back and shook his head.
So kind. Her warm tone and gaze always supported her father. Her life was an open book, and no matter where she went, she'd check in, thinking of him. The daughter before him now... was the one he knew...!
"Thank you... thank you... my girl..."
"Wanna rest a bit...?"
Her tender voice tickled Lee Yoo-seong, and his consciousness began to fade.
There was no special reason. It was just that the tension had eased, and the mental exhaustion from the day's events caught up to him.
Crying, suffering, joy, and more tears—all in one day. Even for a hunter, it was exhausting.
"Sorry... I should make dinner..."
"It's really okay, Dad. Sleep a little. I'll wake you in thirty minutes."
"Mmm..."
He needed to change clothes, do the dishes, make dinner for his daughter... so much to do, but his body had no strength left.
Lee Yoo-seong's body slumped. It was just from sitting to lying down, but Lee Ji-ah carefully lifted him and laid him properly on the bed.
"Snooore..."
He must have been exhausted. The faint, squeaky snore signaled he was out cold.
"Goodnight, Dad."
She gently stroked his hair. Then, slowly lifting her head, she gazed at the academy uniform photo. Without a word.
Clatter, clatter.
An awkward noise. Back in high school, he'd heard it occasionally.
Who lives in this house? Him and his daughter. He was sleeping. But he heard dishwashing sounds.
Then...
"Ji-ah...?"
His foot had healed well. The bandage was a bit annoying, but it hardly qualified as a wound anymore. Opening the door and stepping out, he saw his daughter washing the dishes.
"Dad, you're up?"
"Ah, yeah... how long?"
"About thirty minutes, I guess."
"......"
It wasn't a dream. Her kind voice wasn't stabbing him with sharp words—it was real, real... family conversation.
"Thank you, Ji-ah."
"It's nothing."
"Dishes done!" With those words, she peeled off the rubber gloves.
His body moved on its own.
Pat pat pat.
He was in her arms in an instant.
"Dad."
"Yeah..."
"Sorry... it must've been so hard because of me..."
"Ah, no... Puberty's like that for everyone..."
He shook his head in her embrace. Hold back the tears, hold them back.
Still, his choked voice betrayed him.
"I'll try harder, Dad."
"Huh...?"
They naturally sat at the table, chatting. He unpacked the promises he'd made in his heart.
"You said it yourself, Ji-ah."
"What?"
"That I've been too clingy to you all this time. Raising you alone, having to do it alone... you're all I have..."
After the storm of her short puberty passed, sunlight sparkled. He could finally share the words he'd held back—the worries and resolutions bottled up inside.
"I get it... You're all I have too, Dad."
"...Still. I'll muster up some courage."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'll go outside... and even make some friends."
"......"
His daughter pouted a little. Even so, he pressed on with his resolve.
"A-and a job! I'll look into it too..."
"Hmm... okay. Got it for now."
Hmm. Ji-ah rested her chin on her hand, staring at him.
What...? He tilted his head too.
"Dad."
"Y-yeah...?"
"How long are you gonna wear that outfit?"
"Ah...?"
Aaah...? Aaaaah...???
Only then did he look down and realize he was still in the academy uniform.
"Ah, a-ah. Th-that, um, well..."
"No, it's cute."
"Eek...?"
"Dad's so cute."
It was a flat statement. Just tossed out casually, no doubt.
But his face burned like mad. It was scorching, to the point of dying from the heat.
"S-someone like me, an old man..."
"Should I not look...?"
"K-kid, stop joking!! I-I'm turning forty-five this year. P-people will curse if you say that...!!"
Even his pronunciation slurred. Trying to act cute made him feel pathetic and shabby.
His heart pounded. No other way to describe it. Just as he gulped down cold water in a rush...
"Wh-where are you going...?"
"Ah, just to the bathroom for a sec."
"A-uh, o-okay..."
Ji-ah spoke with a scary expression. Almost blank, but... to him, it was the scariest face.
He needed to change too. Hoo, hoo... He took deep breaths, trying his best.
Inhale, inhale, inhale...
"Kek!"
He overdid the inhaling. F-first, change clothes.
By the time he'd changed and was sipping grape juice on the sofa instead of at the table, Lee Ji-ah still hadn't returned.
Really had to go...? Well, big emergencies are always unpredictable. Holding in a massive poop could make anyone look that scary.
A few minutes passed like that.
"Dad."
"Yeah."
She looked relieved somehow. The odd thing was her slightly flushed face.
"I've been training lately..."
Something welled up in his heart. F-rank hunter or not, he was a veteran with nearly five years under his belt! He could give plenty of advice to his newly awakened daughter.
Happy. So happy.
"Yeah. That depends on... how you're training..."
"Ahh. I see."
Too happy. Chatting with his daughter like this was pure bliss. His shattered daily life from her late puberty was slowly mending. She was out of her room, in the living room, talking to Dad!
As various topics flowed...
"Dad."
"Y-yeah...?"
Something felt off. Her expression was normal.
Sitting side by side in chairs, munching snacks and grape juice. Her questioning him like this—wasn't it the everyday he'd longed for? Yet, the voice calling him now felt... a little different. Just a little.
"That uniform from earlier."
"Pfft! Cough, cough... Y-yeah..."
He spat out the grape juice. S-suddenly the uniform...?
Ji-ah patted his back and continued.
"You wore it back in your academy days, right?"
"Cough, yeah... that's right."
"So, like, a few years ago?"
"Hmm..."
Past stories. It let him forget the embarrassment for a moment. How much of his history could he share with his daughter?
Parent-child talks are tricky and profound. But a dad's job was simple: answer her curiosities as best he could! He'd done it since she was little, and he would forever.
"Enrolled twenty-five years ago... graduated around twenty-two?"
"So the one in the master bedroom is your graduation photo?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"Hmm... Dad."
He flinched. His body jerked involuntarily.
It was the atmosphere. She was just looking at him, but it felt like she might devour him... N-no. His daughter wouldn't.
His one and only family, his Ji-ah. Thinking like that was unbecoming of a father.
As he waited for her next words, something shocking slipped from her lips.
"Should we take a family photo too?"
"F-family photo...?!"
Thinking about it, had they ever taken one together? After her middle school graduation, neither had bothered much, so they didn't have many.
A smile bloomed naturally. G-great... so happy.
"Yeah. Let's go to a photo studio, take a family picture, and hang it up. What do you think?"
"S-sure..."
Happy. Going out made him a bit nervous, but he'd resolved to be brave. Yes.
He'd declared it to her, and she'd suggested it so readily—how could he say he was scared and refuse? Of course he'd go. He had to!
That instant.
His lips, lifted as high as they could go, began to quiver. The happy smile slowly faded.
"But... wear the uniform."
"Uh, yeah...?"
"You have the academy uniform, Dad."
Did he hear wrong? He tilted his head, but she didn't correct herself—instead, she whispered more details.
"I have mine too... Tomorrow, let's both wear uniforms and take the family photo, Dad."
"Th-that... what..."
His head... his head was a mess. A little, just a little... confused.