Then as a Cute Little Brother
Day fourteen of summer vacation. Even though the break had started, I had nothing particular to do, so I was sprawled out in the living room playing with Seol-hwa.
"Unni! Unni! Look at this! Guess what it is!"
Seol-hwa held up a little sculpture she'd built out of block pieces.
It looked a bit like a dog and a bit like a cat — something with four legs and a tail.
"A dog?"
"Wrong! It's a cat!! Try again next time~"
Seol-hwa grabbed more blocks and started assembling them.
Watching her play, I found myself thinking about the summer homework I'd already finished completely.
Maybe it was because I was still only in first grade, but for a stretch as long as two months, the entire assignment amounted to writing in a diary ten times and getting ten praise stamps from my parents.
I'd been keeping the diary steadily since the first day of break and had already hit the quota, though I kept writing anyway. As for the praise stamps, the moment I told Mother about the homework, she stamped all ten of them in a single day.
When I asked if that was really okay, she said she'd done it because she was just so happy I'd asked her for something.
It was true — since coming to this house, I'd barely ever asked for anything or said I needed help.
"Unni! Unni! What about this one??"
Seol-hwa showed me another sculpture.
It looked similar to the last one, but this time two pointed ears stuck up clearly from the head.
Having spent so long with my werewolf comrade, I'd learned plenty about the differences between wolves and dogs, and those were unmistakably a wolf's ears.
"A wolf?"
"Wrooong!! It's a cat! Geez!"
Not even close.
Seol-hwa brought the blocks over to me and declared with total confidence, "You make one too, Unni! I'll guess!"
I sat up from where I'd been lying and started fitting together blocks smaller than the palm of my hand.
I shaped it as close as I could to the wolves I remembered, drawing on every feature my comrade had once explained to me.
Seol-hwa watched from beside me for a while, then got bored, clung to my back, and started counting. By the time she reached a hundred, I was done.
It was a pretty convincing wolf sculpture — good enough that my werewolf comrade would have been satisfied.
I held it up to Seol-hwa with pride.
"Seol-hwa, what do you think? It's a wolf."
"Nuh-uh! That's a cat!"
I learned then that, to Seol-hwa, every four-legged animal was a cat.
Day twenty of summer vacation. I was in Seol-hee unni's room helping her with her homework.
Seol-hee unni had turned ten this year, which meant a lot of her assignments involved using her superpower. The main one she was wrestling with right now was channeling her ability into a cylinder and sealing it inside — basic homework, apparently.
I'd wondered if it might be dangerous if she lost control and her power went flying everywhere, but Mother had said that by age ten, moving your ability was freer and more natural than moving your own fingers.
And sure enough, even though Seol-hee unni was pouring everything she had into it — sweating, face scrunched up with effort — nothing more than a faint crackle of static rose around her. No electricity leaked out in any particular direction.
Ting~!
"Pwah! Haa… haa… haa…… I hate this… so tired…"
Something like a pin popped up from the top of the cylinder — the signal Seol-hee unni had told me about earlier that meant the assignment was done.
Four cylinders already sat beside her, and with this one she'd finished all five.
"Unni, if it's that hard, couldn't you just split it up over a few days?"
"Too much of a hassle… I can do it all at once."
I went over and wiped the sweat from her face with a damp towel.
With magic, pushing yourself to the limit could shatter your mana circles and put your life in danger — and even short of that, dizziness, vomiting, and collapse were the usual results. Superpowers, though, supposedly just left you with muscle soreness and heavy fatigue no matter how hard you pushed.
In that respect, too, they felt superior to magic.
After wiping the sweat from Seol-hee unni's face and arms, I gathered all five cylinders — including the one she'd just finished — and tucked them into her bag.
If I didn't put them away now, knowing her personality, she'd definitely forget them.
"Is that everything?"
"Mm… still got the diary… and the book report… ah, and the free assignment."
Unni slowly pushed herself up, looked me over from head to toe, and then spoke as if a brilliant idea had just struck her.
"Free assignment: Observation Log of My Cute Little Sister."
"Won't you get in trouble for that?"
"Then as a cute little brother."
"Won't you get in even more trouble…"
Seol-hee unni said, "I'll think about it later," and lay back down.
She knew I'd been adopted, and she knew I was a boy, but none of it seemed to bother her much. Seol-hee unni simply didn't take much interest in other people, boy or girl.
The only thing that truly held her attention was delicious food.
I'd once watched her polish off a curry Father had accidentally made with the wrong proportions — along with three bowls of rice — and wondered where on earth it all went in that tiny body of hers.
Mother had explained that Seol-hee unni's superpower burned through a huge amount of energy, which was why… but honestly, it was outside my knowledge, so I just found it fascinating.
"Alright, I'm heading out. Should I wake you up before dinner?"
"Mm~"
I left a water bottle and a towel beside Seol-hee unni and stepped out of the room.
Summer vacation wasn't even halfway over yet.
Day thirty-two of summer vacation. We'd come out to the riverside with Se-ah's family.
The moment we left the city and entered the forest path, a flicker of worry crossed my mind — what if a monster came bursting out? — but I shook my head and reminded myself that this was not the other world.
"Harang? Does it feel strange because you're not used to it? It's okay. Mommy's right here."
"Ah… no, Mother… it's just…"
Of course, no matter how much I shook my head and said it wasn't that, the terror and dread burned so deeply into my memory weren't going to simply vanish.
Back in the city, with its tall buildings, I'd never once confused this world with the other one. But the moment we set up the tent in the woods and lit a campfire, I couldn't stop the flood of memories — countless nights of camping in the other world, standing watch, scanning the dark for danger.
Rustle.
"Hhk!!"
At the sound of something moving in the nearby underbrush, my hand shot forward on pure instinct, ready to cast — but nothing came out of the grass, and nothing came out of my hand either.
My breathing turned ragged.
My head was spinning.
I couldn't even force my mind clear with mana.
I could feel my whole body trembling, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Whoosh!
"Harang! It's okay! Mommy's here! Honey! Harang and I will be in the tent!"
"Got it! You two go ahead. I'll look after Seol-hee and Seol-hwa."
Clutched in Mother's arms, I was carried into the tent.
The world outside turned a deep green, and little by little, the feel of Mother holding me brought me back to myself.
"Haa… haa… haa……"
"It's okay, Harang. There are no monsters here, and no Demon King. This place is different from the world you protected."
"I… I…"
"But you're still scared, aren't you? That's okay too. Mommy will stay right beside you."
I trembled faintly in Mother's arms.
I'd lived nearly twenty years in the other world and survived countless battlefields. And yet this moment — unable to wield mana, unable to hold a sword — felt more terrifying than any of them.
"I'm sorry, Harang. Should we go home? Just you and Mommy can head back if you want."
At her words, I grabbed the hem of her clothes and shook my head.
I couldn't spend the rest of my life drowning in fear.
This was my original world, and it was safe — which meant adapting was my problem to solve.
As long as my reason held, instinct could be rewritten through familiarity.
"Okay. Mother… outside… outside…"
"Alright. Hold on tight to Mommy."
Still nestled in her arms, I slowly moved my feet.
Once we stepped out of the tent — out of that world of nothing but deep green — I focused on the sound of flowing water, the crunch of gravel underfoot, the rustle of leaves in the wind.
This place is absolutely safe.
I'm okay. I repeated it over and over.
But my instincts only tightened their grip on Mother's clothes, clutching them like a lifeline.
"I'm fine… I'm fine. I'm fine… really… just… just let me stay like this a little longer… haa… haa…"
Slowly — very slowly — I made my way over and sat down in front of the campfire.
The crackling of the flames only stirred more memories of the other world, but I forced them down as best I could.
I was still sweating cold and gradually calming down when a sudden chill touched my cheek.
"Eek!!! Se-ah…? Sorry. Did I scare you…?"
"Ah, n-no! I'm the one who's sorry… Are you okay…?"
I jerked around toward the cold sensation, and there was Se-ah, eyes wide with surprise.
I apologized at the look on her face, and she, seeing the state I was in, looked worried right back.
I felt bad for her — she'd been so excited about this trip.
A little unsteadily, I stood up, took Se-ah's hand, and started walking slowly toward the river.
"I was just… just a little startled, that's all. Once we play in the river, I'll get used… used to it."
"O-okay! Let's play! Seol-hee unni, you come play too!"
Whether she was trying to cheer me up or simply because she was a kid whose mood flipped in an instant, Se-ah was already bright again as she led Seol-hee unni and me down to the water.
Behind us, I heard our parents telling us to be careful.
Mother watched me with worried eyes, but she only gave a small wave — maybe so the kids could play among themselves.
The current wasn't strong.
Even at its deepest, the water only came up below the knees of my still-small body, so there wasn't any real danger.
The stream flowed between my legs, and a coolness spread through my whole body. Bit by bit, my jumbled mind began to settle.
"Wooow!! Seol-hee unni, that's amazing!!"
"Harang, look at this. It's a fish."
Se-ah seemed determined to show me firsthand what "a fish in water" really meant, riding waves she'd created beneath her own feet and playing against the current. Meanwhile, Seol-hee unni came over with a little fish resting on her palm and held it out for me to see.
Judging by the way it was faintly twitching, she'd given it a tiny shock.
My legs were in the water the whole time and I hadn't felt a thing — which drove home all over again what it meant for something to be more natural than moving your own fingers.
"Unni, that's way too small to eat. Let's let it go."
"I'm not eating it… I just wanted to show you."
"Ah — no, Unni, that's not what I meant. I just thought, since you brought it over… s-sorry, Unni."
When I answered as if I thought she wanted me to eat the fish she'd brought, Seol-hee unni looked hurt and released it. I hurriedly scrambled to explain myself and apologize.
Seol-hee unni gave a small laugh, said she'd been joking, announced that she was hungry, and wandered off toward our parents, who were grilling meat in the back.
"Se-ah, let's go eat too. I'm okay now. Thanks."
"Huh? For real? Yes! I'll show you my special move! Whirlpool~!!"
At the news that I was fine, Se-ah threw both arms wide atop her wave with a cheer — then spun her body and conjured up a massive water whirlpool to show off.
Wait… was that whirlpool wobbling a little?
"Kang Se-ah! Didn't Mom tell you not to do that?!"
"Ah! Mom! I said it's fiiine— aaah!! Ow!!"
Se-ah's aunt's scolding rang out from behind us. Se-ah shouted that it was fine, then started screaming.
The giant water whirlpool collapsed into a massive wave and went surging violently down the river.
And before I knew it, my body was already running.
In my head, I was screaming that this was insane.
I was telling myself to call the adults for help.
Behind me were reliable grown-ups who could protect both Se-ah and me.
I didn't know what Mother's or Se-ah's aunt's superpowers were, but they were adults — trusting them should have been enough.
But my body —
faster than it had moved at any point since returning to this world —
kicked off the gravel without a second's hesitation and dove into the water.
"Harang!!!"