You... You Should Have Protected Him!!!

It was an ordinary day. June had arrived, and the sun hung high and hot, but every so often a cool breeze would drift by, and the cold slushie in my hand tasted good. Just that kind of ordinary day.

Ryu-yeong and I were exploring the neighborhood again on our way home. We took a route we didn't usually walk—an alley we'd passed through a few times on these little adventures of ours—heading toward her house.

The closer we got, the more Ryu-yeong's feet drifted away from her actual house ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and deeper into the alley instead. She wasn't going to go inside just yet. It was a cute little sulk—she just didn't want to head straight home.

We reached the dead end of that deep alley, and when we turned around, two adult women were standing there. No presence. No footsteps. Just suddenly there, looking at us with ugly little smiles.

"Hey, this is the brat, right? One of the little shits who snitched on our hideout."

"You got any idea how much of a pain it was when the cops showed up? Still—thanks to that, we get to snatch a rich kid and squeeze some real money out of it."

Their getup looked a lot like the bandits I'd seen in the other world. Clothes that covered as much of their faces and bodies as possible; only the hair sticking out and their voices gave away that they were women.

At their appearance, Ryu-yeong shoved me behind her back and spread both arms wide, putting herself between me and them. The women just snorted, as if the sight of us was funny.

From behind her, I scanned our surroundings, hunting for any way to run or call for help. The alley walls were far too high for either of us to climb, and we'd wandered out to the edge of the neighborhood—even if we screamed, I doubted anyone would come.

That left only one exit: the mouth of the alley the two women were currently blocking. Neither of us had any real hope of shoving past them and getting away.

They'd appeared at our backs without a single sound of approach. I didn't know what kind of ability they had, but it was more than clear they were stronger than the two of us right now.

I gripped the fabric at Ryu-yeong's waist tight. She must have thought I was scared, because she tried even harder to hide me behind her—but that wasn't what I was going for.

"What business do two grown adults have with a couple of kids that they'd come all the way out to a secluded alley like this?"

"Hey, kid. Get lost. Or what—you got money at home too, since you're this one's friend?"

"We'll let you go if you leave your buddy. Big sisters here don't feel like dragging two of you along."

"…Really…? You're letting Harang go?"

At my question, the women had openly stated their goal of kidnapping Ryu-yeong. They already knew we were the type to call the police and ask adults for help—we'd reported their hideout, after all—and they were still willing to let me walk. That meant one of two things: the promise to let me go was a lie, or they were confident enough that even if I ran for help, they wouldn't get caught. Neither option was good.

I eased my tension just a little at their words, then tugged hard on Ryu-yeong's collar as she started asking them questions—a silent pressure to snap out of it. Thankfully, she tightened up again.

If we were going to escape, we needed a gap in the alley mouth they were blocking. And the fact that they weren't just overpowering us and dragging us off right now suggested that, like they'd said, taking two people at once wasn't easy for them.

So what I needed to do was throw them off balance, create an opening, and break through it. Our attacks weren't going to land—so I decided to borrow a little help from a magazine I'd read at the library.

"You're kidding around pretty hard. 'Big sisters'? You ought to call yourselves what you are. You're a-jum-mas, aren't you? Just listening to your voices, I can tell you've never even held a man's hand at your age. Ah—that's why you're covering your faces! Honestly, if I lived like that until I got that old, I'd hide my face too."

"You little fucking psycho—!!"

"Who the hell are you calling an ajumma!!"

The magazine at the library had listed "ajumma" as the word modern women reacted to most sensitively. The provocation worked even better than I'd imagined.

Both women's faces went red with rage as they swung their fists at me. Still gripping Ryu-yeong's waist, I wrapped my arms around her and rolled across the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ground, tumbling through the space their punches had opened up and coming out behind them.

Fortunately, neither of them seemed to have a Physical Type ability—their punches were oddly clumsy—so I managed to roll toward the alley entrance without getting hit. But that didn't mean we could just sprint away from here.

They'd approached us without us noticing. Even if Ryu-yeong, who was faster and stronger than me, picked me up and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ran, the odds of them catching us again almost immediately were high.

So the ideal play was for me to hold them off while Ryu-yeong ran and got the police or some adults.

Their original target was Ryu-yeong, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd buy more time standing in their way than she would—and she was way faster on her feet than I was anyway.

I glared at the women, who were still red-faced and spitting curses at me, and spoke quietly to Ryu-yeong, who'd ended up behind me after the roll.

"Ryu-yeong. On three, we both run backward."

"…Okay."

"One… two… three!!"

The instant the word left my mouth, Ryu-yeong started running back—and I charged the opposite direction, slamming into the women's legs and locking on hard.

"Run and get the adults!!! I'll hold them here!!!"

"Wh… what…?"

"Hurry!!!!!"

Ryu-yeong had bolted, then hesitated with wide, startled eyes when she realized I wasn't following—that I'd thrown myself at the women instead. At my shout, she spun back around and started running again.

The women tried to go after her, but even if I was on the small side, having a kid hanging off your legs made chasing anyone pretty difficult.

They were probably about to get a little rougher about shaking me off—

BAM!!

"Guh—!!!"

"Ah, fuck. Ah—aaaah!!!! You little shit of a brat!!!"

"Hey, beat the crap out of him later—right now we bounce. Looking at how fast that one's running, the cops'll be here any second."

A massive impact slammed into my back. Thankfully I didn't feel anything break, but a huge wave of pain started from my spine and crushed down on my lungs until even breathing hurt.

I fought the fading of my consciousness and tried to get up, but while my brain ordered my body to stand, my body just twitched on the ground amid the crumbled wall dust and refused to rise.

Through the blurring edges of awareness, I felt one of the cursing women grab my head and start dragging me somewhere. And in that dwindling consciousness, I understood.

I was far too weak to be the bait.

SPLASH!!!

A sudden cold sensation started pulling my hazy consciousness back little by little. I slowly opened my eyes and looked ahead—

SMACK!!!

"Mmph!!"

Clatter—

"Hey, go easy. If the kid dies, cleanup's a pain."

"Fuck. This little shit—!! Just thinking about it again pisses me off!!"

A fierce pain bloomed across my left cheek as I toppled sideways, and in the process I realized I was tied to a chair with tape wound tight over my mouth.

A burning cheek. A back that still throbbed. And now the pain in my right shoulder from the fall. My reason knew that looking weak in a situation like this wouldn't do me any favors—but my fragile body instinctively started to cry.

It was a place I'd never seen before. A space enclosed on all sides by thick gray walls—not just without an entrance, but without even a visible vent for air. And yet neither I nor the women seemed to have any trouble breathing.

The woman who'd slapped me spat on the floor and walked away from where I lay crying. Off in the distance, the other woman—who'd been sorting through some papers—sighed and came over.

Maybe because of the slap, my body flinched when I saw her approaching. But even as the tears kept coming, I glared up at her.

She snorted at the look I gave her, hauled me upright in the chair, and cracked me across the right cheek.

SMACK!!!!! SPLASH! SMACK!!!!!!!

"What are you staring at, you little brat."

Unlike the first woman, her slap wasn't hard enough to tip the chair over—but she fell into a rhythm of hitting me, dousing me with cold water, and hitting me again.

The cold water mixed with the slaps made the pain worse. All I could do was make muffled sounds through the tape and keep crying as I endured the pain crashing over me.

After beating my face for what felt like forever, she seemed to tire herself out. Panting hard, she ripped the tape off my mouth with a rough yank.

RIP!!

"Ugh—!!"

"Hey, got anything to sa— wait. Why are this kid's cheeks bruised this bad?"

"Ahaha!! You told me to go easy, and then you got all excited and beat the crap out of him yourself."

"No! Wait—hold on. Don't tell me…?"

The tape was gone, but nothing came out of my mouth except the blood dripping from the inside of my burst cheek. I didn't want to give them even the slightest hint about my gender—not when they already seemed to have their suspicions. Of course they'd heard my voice, but I had no intention of turning suspicion into certainty.

The choice wasn't mine, though. The woman who'd started questioning my gender rummaged through a stack of boxes against one wall, came back with something like a broken-edged knife, and tore open my pants.

RIP!!!

"Hey—this one's a boy."

"What!?! For real!?!?!!!"

The woman who'd confirmed my gender through the torn pants bolted for the boxes, yanked out a white-and-red case that was obviously a medical kit, and came running back. The other one—who'd been snarling curses at me moments before—had her eyes sparkling now. She came over, opened the kit the first woman had brought, and started applying medicine to my cheek.

"Hey! Just leave the med kit and get out of here! You're the one who turned the kid into a mess!"

"What are you talking about? If his face looks like this, his back's gotta be worse. Who was it that kicked him into a wall, huh?"

Watching the women rush to treat my wounds, I found myself thinking the earlier violence had almost been preferable—and swallowed down the curses climbing up my throat.

To those two, with greed already glittering in both their eyes, anything I said would sound like nothing more than a little canary's song. So I just closed my eyes and waited for this nightmare of a time to end.

The tears kept falling from my eyes even now that the pain had stopped.

I ran. I just ran. The scenery around me blurred past, and my body carried me toward Harang's house on pure memory. If I'd been stronger, I could have protected him right there—

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Harang's—!! Harang's been—!!!!!"

I hammered on the door of Harang's house like a madwoman, calling for his family. I was so panicked I couldn't even get the words out properly—but when his mother saw that Harang, who always came home with me, wasn't there, her face went hard and she told me to show her the way.

My legs burned. Tears kept welling up and I bit them back hard as I led Harang's mother back to the alley where I'd left him. But all that remained was a partially broken wall.

"Ah… aah……"

I sank down right there. I was too late. If I'd been faster—if I'd been stronger—the thoughts churned through my head without end.

Seol-hee unnie, who'd followed me and Harang's mother, arrived late, grabbed me by the collar, and seemed to be shouting something—but I couldn't hear any of it. Harang… Harang…

"Hey!!! You… you should have protected him!!!"

Beside me, my eldest daughter had Ryu-yeong by the collar and was screaming at her. On any other day I would have stopped her. Right now, there was something I had to do first.

With hands that shook just a little, I forced my pounding heart as calm as it would go and worked my phone, calling the Boss. There were no CCTV cameras in the alleys around here, so tracking that way was impossible—

"Boss. Harang's been kidnapped."

With hollow eyes, I grabbed Ryu-yeong by the shoulders and shook her—her cheeks already red from however many times my eldest had slapped her, still pouring tears.

"Kang Ryu-yeong!! Do you remember what the people who took Harang looked like?"

"Ah… th… that…"

I pressed her, but Ryu-yeong just kept crying and couldn't answer. Too much of a shock for a child, maybe. I clicked my tongue softly and spoke to the Boss again.

"The child's in too much shock. She can't remember."

I caught Seol-hee's arm as she went to slap Ryu-yeong's face again. Even held like that, Seol-hee kept spitting curses at the girl.

A faint current prickled against the palm holding her. Her emotions had exploded so hard she didn't even notice electricity running through her own body.

In the end I sighed and struck the back of Seol-hee's neck. Even as her consciousness faded, she glared at Ryu-yeong all the way down.

In the middle of a midsummer afternoon with the sun still high, a chill hung in the alley. Only I stood on that street—holding a dazed, crying child and an unconscious one.

I kept myself as composed as I could so the children wouldn't panic further, and spread my threads as far as I dared without letting them touch the kids. I needed even the smallest scrap of a lead.

But by the time the OFS team arrived with the Boss, I still hadn't found anything worth calling a trace.