Kim Suhanmu, the Turtle and the Crane

"Kkuing, thanks, Master. The video came out great."

Samsaek said this from the sofa, a look of deep satisfaction on his face as he stretched his body out long, oozing like a slime.

"Yeah. Just don't overeat."

Even from the brief glance Karen had caught a moment ago, Samsaek's belly was distinctly bulging downward.

"Kkuing... I'm trying."

After the Wang Chun incident, Karen and Samsaek had settled back into their ordinary life at home.

The drama they were watching these days was Secret Garden, a 2010 series that had peaked at a 25.1 percent viewership rating. On screen, a conglomerate heir in a glittering tracksuit — the male lead — had shown up at the workplace of the female lead, an action stunt actress, and was in the middle of throwing a spectacular fit.

The male lead made a rather forced request of the woman supervising the training, asking her to hold his legs for sit-ups. She sighed and approached, having little choice in the matter.

Once she actually took hold of his legs, all he did was give his head a little wiggle. She got a word in. He answered her in the same breath, and sat up — bringing his face right up to hers.

"Ooooh... you see that, Master?"

Crunch. The two of them watched, rapt, working their way through caramel popcorn and cola.

"Hehhh. They must be crazy about each other."

"...You sound like such an old man."

Sitting on the sofa with that belly sticking out, making noises like that — who would look at him and call him a Spiritual Beast?

But Samsaek wasn't wrong. Accompanied by a sweet song, the atmosphere of the drama was growing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠steadily hotter. As he kept sitting up, their faces drew closer and closer. The male lead stared straight through her; the female lead, embarrassed, tried to look away. And then he spoke.

"Whoaaa."

"Daaamn."

This time the sound of awe didn't come from Samsaek alone. It slipped out of Karen's mouth as well.

"Since when have you been that pretty? Khhhh, that's a legendary line. A legendary line! Right, Master?"

"I'll give them that one."

They left that scene behind, and as time passed it looked as though the two leads would fall in love and the story would wrap up on a warm, happy note. And then—

"W-wait?"

In the middle of work, the female lead was suddenly struck by a car. They watched her being rushed to the hospital.

"Th-that driver! I'm gonna kill him!"

Seeing the female lead abruptly reduced to a vegetative state, Samsaek worked himself into a frenzy.

"Kkuing! N-next episode!"

"Samsaek, hurry up and skip it."

That was when the doorbell chimed, announcing a visitor.

"Kkuing? N-no!"

"Hey now. What do you mean, no? We can watch the drama later."

"Kkuuing..."

"That's a good boy."

Karen wrapped his arms around Samsaek as the cat tried to skip to the next episode, pinning him in place, then checked who was at the door.

"...She came again?"

Director Kang was still recovering, which meant the only person who would show up was... of course, Lee Chaerin. Dressed in a comfortable tracksuit, she was waving at the entrance camera with a bright, sunny smile.

"I heard you, hold on. My fingers are greasy from the snacks, so—"

"Huh? How does she know that?"

There were two ways to open the front door: fingerprint recognition and a passcode. Somehow, Chaerin punched in the password without the slightest hesitation and opened it.

I don't even use anything but the fingerprint scanner.

Chaerin came in, pulled something from her pocket, and held it out to Samsaek.

"Samsaek, want to try this? It's handmade. You can only get it if you line up first thing — first come, first served."

"Kkuing!"

Samsaek slipped nimbly out of Karen's arms and put on a display of cuteness he had never once shown before. That was when Karen finally understood the cause.

"Found you. Culprit."

"Kkuuiing."

Karen took Samsaek's cheeks in both hands and stretched them out wide. Watching them pull like a chewy marshmallow, he couldn't help wondering if the cat had genuinely started as an ordinary feline and evolved into a spiritual beast.

"Just so you don't get the wrong idea — I didn't ask him to tell me."

"I know. This little monster sang like a canary the second you brought snacks."

This devil of a cat. Karen had asked out of curiosity once before, and Samsaek had said he'd been a spiritual beast for as long as he could remember. Everything before that, he'd said, was fogged over like a haze.

"Why are you here again?"

"Tch... do I need a reason to come over?"

Chaerin puffed out her cheeks and pulled a sulky face.

He listens to every word I say, even when he acts like it's a hassle. And then he goes and talks like that.

Is it an older-man kind of feeling? But sometimes, watching him, it goes right past 'older brother.'

"What did you bring all that for?"

Karen nodded at the plastic bag in Chaerin's hand.

"We're drinking this today!"

Thud. The moment she set the bag on the floor, its contents were obvious. Alcohol. How much had she even bought?

"Why the sudden drinks? What about driving? How are you getting home?"

"You've got plenty of rooms here, don't you? I'll just crash wherever!"

"No. You're not staying over—"

"Ah, seriously! Talking to you sometimes is like talking to someone from the Joseon Dynasty. Just this once, yeah?"

"What's going on?"

Even on the days she dropped by, Chaerin would only order drinks at the cafe. Karen was the one who drank. Of course there would be days she craved a drink herself — but this was far too much.

"Look at this article."

Lee Chaerin pulled a hologram up from her watch. It was a front-page piece, and the headline was, in more ways than one, a lot.

"...Let's drink."

Karen couldn't bring himself to stop her. Of course not. The doctor's hideout had been in the mountains, but black smoke had been pouring out of it all day long. There was no way that could have stayed perfectly hidden.

"See! This is why I like you."

The public face of the independent hunters the article was talking about was sitting right in front of him. Which meant she had taken the representative share of the abuse, too.

Chaerin was the only S-Rank independent hunter in the Association who didn't belong to a guild. As for why, she had never said.

"I'm not drinking today, so just bring one glass."

He'd been drinking every time this kid showed up, and now his stomach was starting to turn.

Chaerin went to the kitchen with the ease of someone in her own house, came back with a glass, poured, and dumped it straight down her throat like a hungry baby bird waiting to be fed.

"...?"

"Kkuing?"

"Khhh!"

Before anyone could stop her she kept pouring and drinking. Karen even brought out snacks to go with the alcohol, but Chaerin didn't touch them.

"Those rotten bastards! I did so much for them, you know?! I even clear the gates nobody wants! I show up every single time the Association calls, so now they think they can walk all over me?!"

"Must've been exhausting."

"We work just as hard! But the papers only ever praise the guild hunters!"

"Guys like that are always the same."

"No, it's not that I want to be praised — I just want them to leave me the hell alone, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm not asking for much. If they'd just stop putting out crap articles like this, I'd have nothing more to wish for."

"That's the least they could do."

In truth he wasn't entirely sure what she was going on about, but nodding along and making the right noises ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was something he could do all day.

"Khhh. It's been a while. This is nice."

She kept talking and drinking like a hippo the entire time, and empty bottles were already rolling around the floor.

Aren't all of those at least thirty percent?

That's terrifying. Kkuing.

Even as Karen and Samsaek locked eyes and held a silent conversation, Chaerin's glass emptied and filled in a rapid cycle.

"So like~ they call me the Witch of Severance, so everyone thinks I'm some crazy bitch!"

Whether she'd always been a heavy drinker or it was because she was an S-Rank Hunter, he couldn't tell — she had held out for a while. But in the end the alcohol won, and Chaerin's skin had gone pink.

"You're drunk. That's enough—"

"And you!"

"Huh?"

"You're a problem too! You are!"

Her eyes half-glazed, Chaerin's head dipped — then she suddenly jabbed a finger at Karen and started huffing.

"I-I mean! You too! How have you still not given it to me? I'm... I'm the one offering, you know? Me, Lee Chaerin?"

The hurt she had never been able to put into words exploded, borrowing the courage of the alcohol.

"Not given you what?"

But Chaerin didn't seem to hear him. She dropped her head and let it hang.

"...Master, I'm scared now."

"Why? She's cute. Doesn't she look like a puppy?"

"Master, your tastes are unique. Kkuing."

Samsaek looked at Karen with genuine curiosity, but Karen meant it.

Even in the other world, among the friends he had kept, he had known plenty of people who were outstanding in their fields. The Chaerin in front of him was unusual in a somewhat different sense.

She's got that much power, and she still turned out like this.

And unlike the other world, Earth's powerful awakened were a little strange — a great many of them had come into overwhelming strength in an instant. In Karen's experience, no matter how kind someone had originally been, once they had power it was hard for the change to be a good one.

Holding on to that kind of sincerity isn't easy.

Of course, the way the world saw her when they called her the Witch of Severance seemed to be a different story.

"You... keep... doing thaaat..."

Chaerin's face, already pink from the alcohol, had now gone the exact same color as her crimson hair.

She isn't even drinking anymore. Why did she get redder?

While he was still looking for a reason, Chaerin pointed at him, her whole body trembling with whatever grievance she was nursing.

"You're mean!!"

"...Okay, now I'm a little scared too."

It felt like a cute puppy had suddenly turned into a Doberman.

He meant that. There had been no actual threat — but Karen's instincts were ringing an alarm for the first time in decades, bells clanging in his head.

"You! You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?"

"Huh? Doing what on purpose?"

He asked because he genuinely didn't know. Chaerin clenched her fists, her face full of wounded fury.

"Playboy!"

"???"

"...Master, I'm stepping out for a bit. They asked me to help at the cafe earlier."

"Hey, since when does a cat help out at a cafe. Hey! Samsaek!"

Karen called after him in a hurry, but Samsaek had already vanished like the wind. When Karen awkwardly turned his head, he found himself looking straight into Chaerin's eyes — eyes that looked ready to spit fire at any second.

"Maybe a drink to sober her up..."

Karen's instincts launched him up out of his seat, ready to flee toward the refrigerator — but the voice that came from behind him sent him quietly back to where he'd been sitting.

"Karen. Come here and sit down for a moment."

"Why the sudden formality..."

"Do I not have any charm?"

"No. You're plenty charming. You've got the skills, and you're beautiful besides."

He meant that. Even looking across the entire world, there would not be many people with Chaerin's combination of qualities. Even to him, who had seen countless people, she ranked among the few.

"Then why won't you give me your number?" she said, sniffling.

It had been months since she'd started coming here... had it really been like that? She dropped by so often he hadn't even noticed.

When Chaerin's eyes welled up, Karen panicked and quickly moved in, tapping his smartwatch to her wrist.

"Hehe... I finally got it."

At the cheerful chime, Chaerin looked down at her watch and smiled, bashful and bright. It was as if a fierce guard dog had vanished, and a cute country puppy was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wagging its tail again.

"The name is Playboy."

A little residue of grievance still lingered, it seemed. Chaerin was taking her small revenge.

Hearing that, Karen huffed a short laugh. A little troublesome — but a truly endearing, dog-like person.

Is that an insult?

"That smile is cheating."

Chaerin stared at him, at the Karen who had come so close to transfer the number that he was right in front of her nose — and then she reached out.

From the hands that gently cupped both his cheeks, he could feel a warmth, probably from the alcohol. As if time had stopped, two pairs of eyes gazed at each other for a moment. Then Chaerin's lips parted.

"...Is it hot?"

"No. It's warm."

"Ah! Sorry. They must feel all rough."

Chaerin pulled her hands away in a hurry. Because her ability always demanded close combat, her hands were a landscape of scars and calluses. It had never bothered her in the slightest — but strangely, right now, she wanted to hide them.

"No, it's fine. They just look cool."

Karen caught the hands she was trying to tuck away and drew them forward again, then folded them gently in his own.

"...You really are a playboy."

"I told you I'm not. A very long time ago... never mind."

"We've gotten pretty close though, right? Your way of talking, the way you act. At first you were like this really blunt old man. You still kind of are, but..."

"Was I?"

"I wouldn't know. Maybe you're picking up Samsaek's way of talking, since you two are always glued together?"

"Hwahh."

Chaerin, whose head had been dipping unsteadily for a while now, finally yawned, and her body tilted halfway over. Karen caught her as naturally as breathing, offered his thigh for her head, and leaned his back against the sofa behind him.

"I'm just gonna lie down for a bit, okay? Try anything weird and you're dead, Playboy."

"Hah... don't worry."

He wondered if there was anyone crazy enough to try something like that with an S-Rank Hunter, but he nodded anyway. If he had a little sister, would it feel like this?

"Still don't need anything?"

With a comfortable expression, Karen stroked Chaerin's hair as she lay there, bringing up the promise from the day they'd first met. If he granted her something, maybe this kid would come around a little less.

"Something I need..."

Chaerin gazed up at the living room ceiling as if she were looking at the night sky. A faint moisture gathered in her eyes, and her lips parted slightly, as if she were about to speak — but in the end, she didn't open them.

No need to make things uncomfortable.

To Chaerin, Karen was a comfortable, good person — like an older brother. But an unhappy matter with no solution, she thought, would only ruin the mood.

"No. Nothing."

Karen could tell from the way she hesitated that there was something there, but he didn't press.

"Alright. Tell me whenever you're ready."

After that, neither of them opened their mouth again. But for a while a comfortable silence held, the kind that didn't need conversation at all.

How much time passed like that, he couldn't have said. The silence broke with a sound from Chaerin's watch.

"Huh?"

The moment the caller ID appeared on her watch, Chaerin's face changed and she sat up. She swayed a little from the alcohol, but Karen caught her by the shoulder.

"Hello? Did something happen to Jaehyeong?"

A sudden call from a hospital would make anyone's heart race. And as the voice on the other end went on, Chaerin's heart began to pound as if it would burst.