Chain (7): A Familiar Face
The next morning.
“Jihwan.”
“Is it… edible?”
Gong Haeseon approached me with a slightly nervous expression. The bread she had baked herself was so good that I would have believed it came from a fancy bakery. Especially on an empty stomach first thing in the morning.
“It’s delicious today too. Your skills really do seem to be improving every time.”
At that, Gong Haeseon smiled shyly, leaned forward a little, and spoke to Min Soyeon, who was sitting beside me.
“Soyeon. How is it? Okay?”
I followed her gaze and saw Min Soyeon biting down hard on her lip, glaring at the bread in her hand. Her face screamed how much she hated admitting it.
“…It’s edible.”
But her mouth was honest.
Having received a satisfactory review, Gong Haeseon prepared for class with a pleased expression while Min Soyeon tore into her bread roughly and shot me a sharp glare. Her eyes were full of complaints—more than one or two.
I subtly avoided her piercing stare and quietly took a bite of my own bread.
We finished breakfast in that uncomfortable atmosphere, and soon the morning classes began.
The morning schedule consisted of theoretical subjects. There were plenty of sections that required note-taking, but the habit I’d picked up from Gong Haeseon helped me organize everything decently.
But….
“…”
Min Soyeon was another story. I hadn’t noticed when we sat apart, but she was listening to the lecture without even opening her textbook. She stared at the blackboard with a blank, unfocused gaze, clearly lost in her own thoughts. It didn’t seem like she had any interest in the class itself.
This was a serious problem….
Come to think of it, Soyeon had never shown any interest in studying from the very beginning. It felt like she simply didn’t welcome the profession of Hunter at all.
For me—someone who needed to make her the strongest—there could be no bigger issue than this.
“…”
Honestly, from her point of view, it wasn’t hard to understand why she had no interest in Hunters. Her father, whose job had been a Hunter, died in a Gate accident. Her mother, who had become famous as a Hunter, abandoned her and disappeared to the countryside. On top of that, the label “Daughter of the Sword Empress” meant that even if she became a Hunter herself, comparisons with her mother would be unavoidable.
In such a tragic situation, it was only natural that she wouldn’t have positive feelings toward Hunters.
Of course, Soyeon possessed talent that rivaled her mother’s. One day she would far surpass my wife. She had to.
But that didn’t make it right to force her into becoming a Hunter. When I thought about it, this whole situation existed because I had died. How could I possibly tell her to walk that path with my own mouth?
It would be nice if I could create an opportunity for her to discover her own dreams….
Unfortunately, my wife had given me one clear warning: to keep some distance from Soyeon. This time it had turned out to be my misunderstanding, but the possibility remained that one day she might truly see me as a man.
After listening to my wife and thinking it over carefully, I had to admit it was possible. She was still young, but she was at the age where first love wouldn’t be strange at all.
If she couldn’t find a man stronger than the Sword Empress, then the only male presence around Min Soyeon would be me.
Since I couldn’t reveal my true identity, if she ever actually confessed….
Ugh. Maybe it would be better to just run away.
That evening.
“…Today, I’ll do it.”
I was just about to put on an apron to prepare dinner when Min Soyeon’s sudden declaration left me flustered.
“…Huh?”
What are you going to do?
“…I said I’ll cook. Hand over the apron.”
She snatched the apron from my hands, slipped it over her neck, and added,
“…T-tie the strings for me.”
For someone who had taken it so boldly, she looked surprisingly cute.
After I tightly tied the apron strings behind her, she began moving with a determined expression, working with surprising efficiency.
Watching Min Soyeon prepare the ingredients with such a serious face, a small question arose in my mind.
…Why did she suddenly insist on making dinner?
Because I was away every weekend, I had been steadily teaching her how to cook. But today was a weekday. Since I was here, she didn’t need to do it. After all, the whole reason I came was to take care of the meals….
So I couldn’t figure out why she had suddenly decided to cook tonight.
Sitting at the table and observing her actions closely, I casually asked,
“What’s on the menu today?”
Min Soyeon, who had been rummaging through the refrigerator, pulled out a green onion and answered,
“…Fried rice.”
Fried rice. It was the very first dish I had taught her. It would probably be the classic version with green onions and eggs.
To think I’d get to eat a meal that Soyeon made….
Whatever her reason was, good was good, right?
With a strange mix of worry and excitement, I told her as casually as I could,
“I was actually craving it. I’m looking forward to this.”
She glanced at me and told me not to get my hopes up.
Oh… She really does remember.
Min Soyeon seemed to have remembered everything I taught her. She handled the ingredients with surprising skill—beating the eggs, removing the chalaza, seasoning them properly, and finishing the egg mixture. Then she immediately moved on to the green onions.
She cut the green onion in half for easier slicing, then sliced it thinly.
Chop—chop—chop—chop—
As expected of someone who wielded a sword, her knife work was quite proficient.
“Wow…”
I was unconsciously letting out sounds of admiration while watching her prepare the ingredients when—
Slip—
Her knife slipped slightly.
“Ouch!”
She let out a short groan and clutched her hand.
“A-are you okay!?”
Startled, I kicked my chair back and rushed over to her.
“…Damn it…”
But Min Soyeon turned her back to me as if she didn’t want me to see, hiding her hand.
This girl really….
Still, she couldn’t hide the red stain on the cutting board.
“Blood…”
The moment I saw the bright red blood, my heart dropped.
“Let me see it!”
I urgently grabbed her arm.
“…I-I’m fine, I said…”
“What do you mean you’re fine? Give me your hand!”
After I stubbornly insisted, she reluctantly let me have it, and
“Sigh…”
I saw her thumb completely stained red.
Blood was still trickling out. It didn’t look like a deep cut, but it wasn’t minor either.
This wouldn’t do. For hemostasis, I immediately put her finger in my mouth.
The unfamiliar metallic taste spread across my tongue. Her finger twitched against it.
In that instant—
“Y-you crazy bastard! Why the hell are you putting that in your mouth!”
Min Soyeon shouted while hitting my head.
Because she was thrashing so much, I quickly spat her finger out. She stared at me with wide eyes, looking back and forth between her finger and my face.
“…It won’t bleed anymore. Let’s disinfect it and put on a band-aid.”
Min Soyeon, who had been staring blankly at her own finger, pressed her lips tightly together while gazing at me.
After I sat her down in the living room, I brought the first-aid kit and continued treatment.
“It might sting a little. Bear with it.”
“…Ugh…”
Every time I dabbed the disinfectant on the wound, she flinched. It started to worry me.
If she became a Hunter in the future, she would suffer far worse injuries than this. If a mere cut already made me this concerned….
Strongest or not, I wasn’t sure I could send her into a Gate.
“Almost done…”
I gently blew on it, applied the ointment, and wrapped a band-aid with a cute character on her finger.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
Min Soyeon stared at the band-aid on her finger for a moment, then slightly avoided my gaze and said she was fine.
After finishing the treatment, I tried to prepare dinner since she was injured, but she stubbornly insisted on doing it herself and returned to the kitchen.
Even after cutting herself, her determination to finish the meal with her own hands was impressive.
I wished she would use that same determination when it came to studying….
In the end, Min Soyeon successfully completed the fried rice. I happily helped her set the dinner table.
“Wow…”
When it was all plated, it actually looked pretty good.
“Let’s eat.”
I sat down, picked up my spoon, and immediately took a bite of the fried rice Soyeon had made.
The savory flavor and rich aroma spread nicely. It was a little salty, but still quite tasty.
It was clear her cooking skills took after mine.
Feeling a strange sense of emotion, I took another spoonful. That was when Min Soyeon, sitting across from me, carefully asked,
“…H-how is it?”
I quietly gave her a thumbs-up in reply. Only after seeing my reaction did she pick up her spoon with a proud expression.
After we finished that warm meal, she even tried to do the dishes. I stopped her and took over the task myself….
“…Hey.”
Min Soyeon, still sitting at the table, spoke up hesitantly.
“…How was dinner today, really?”
How was dinner today. This was the fourth time she had asked.
Was there a specific answer she wanted to hear?
“…It was really delicious. Maybe because you made it, it tasted even better.”
Scrub—scrub—
I couldn’t turn around while washing the dishes, but since she didn’t say anything else, it seemed like she was satisfied.
After finishing the dishes, I told her I was heading straight home.
“…Aren’t you going to play some games?”
Maybe she felt a little disappointed that I was leaving right away, because she mentioned games to try to hold me back.
Ugh…. Seeing her subtly sulking made me almost say I’d stay, but….
I recalled my wife’s advice once more, made an excuse that I had things to do, and said,
“See you tomorrow, then.”
“…Go.”
Leaving the disappointed Min Soyeon behind, I stepped out of the house.
…Maybe I should stay and play with her a bit tomorrow? Three days a week probably wouldn’t be too bad.
Thud—
As I stepped through the gate, the dark sky filled my vision. Since I had come out earlier than usual, the sky didn’t feel quite as dark.
I was walking home absentmindedly, thinking about Min Soyeon and Gong Haeseon, when—
“…”
Suddenly, I felt an enormous flow of mana. It was like the surrounding mana was being sucked away, similar to water draining down a sewer.
…A Gate?
No, Gates didn’t form like this. It felt closer to a bomb exploding and tearing a hole in space.
That meant this was an artificial phenomenon created by someone.
I slowly drew up my mana in preparation for any situation and carefully moved forward.
As I advanced slowly, staying alert to my surroundings—
“Hello.”
A strangely familiar voice came from behind me.
!
The moment I spun around while pulling mana into my hand—
Bang—
With a small explosion, every streetlight in the area went out as if the power had been cut.
…Except for one.
“You’re Yu Jihwan, right?”
Only the streetlamp shining directly on me remained lit, casting bright light on both me and ‘her.’
Pink hair that sparkled under the lamplight. A cute, gentle-looking face.
“Nice to meet you.”
A woman who looked exactly like Gong Haeseon—no, identical to her—stood before me.