“Hide, hide well~”
The girl walked through the ruins. Trampling and killing the survivors as a human would crush bugs, she kept walking.
“Where, where are you hiding~”
“…Now die, Heukya…!”
Many variables can arise when dealing with bugs. However, humans do not lose to bugs.
“What are you doing? You said you’d kill me.”
“G-gurk…”
Tossing yet another corpse far into the distance, the girl resumed her steps.
“Heukya! What have we done wrong? Do you not wish to compromise?”
Rare as it was, there were bugs who approached her with negotiations.
“You are strong, but alone. Yet we are still many. Will you not withdraw even now?”
At a glance, it was a reasonable proposal, but the girl’s reaction was not much different from before.
“…What? Compromise?”
No—as if the indifference until now had been a mask—the girl slowly curled up the corners of her lips.
“…Everyone prepare! The opponent is Heukya! Think of it as fighting an S-rank monster!”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I felt emotion for the first time in a while.”
Within her cold smile,
“You will live long. Until you beg me to kill you. Even after that… you will continue to live.”
A breath of *han*—layered hatred and pent-up grief intertwined and accumulated—was pulsating.
And I was watching this entire situation.
Episode 3: Heukya
***
“…Hah…!”
The moment I opened my eyes, I gasped for breath. My back was damp with cold sweat, and my heart was beating violently.
I felt like I had dreamed something, but I couldn’t remember it well. It seemed like a dream I should not forget, yet only a throbbing sensation in a corner of my heart remained.
It felt as if I had missed something. Something very important, something I absolutely must not miss.
“What was it…?”
It was right then, while I was rummaging through my memories.
“Unni! Good morning!”
A child who had poked her head out from the blankets approached me with a sparkling smile. Upon seeing that innocent appearance,
tears suddenly flowed down.
“Uh… Unni…? Why are you crying?!”
“H-hngh… I don’t know…”
I truly didn’t know. The moment the child entered my sight, I simply couldn’t hold back my tears. The pain in my chest, which had merely been stinging, now hurt as if being struck by a hammer.
“Daughter?! Who made you cry?”
Urgent footsteps echoed from outside the room. Mom entered through the door and immediately pulled me into a hug, gently wiping away the flowing tears.
Strangely, the moment I burrowed into her embrace, my crying soon ceased. It was a relief, but my face heated up for no reason.
‘…A warm scent.’
That I had sniffed her scent, wanting to smell more of it for no reason, was something I would take to my grave. As if confirming that my crying had stopped, she carefully ran her fingers through my tangled hair and opened her mouth.
“Seoyeon, will you go out for a bit? Unni has something on her mind.”
“I don’t wanna…”
The child, who had been trying to insist and throw a tantrum, scrambled out of the room at her following words.
“If you listen well, Mom might buy chicken again today?”
“…Seasoned?”
“Of course~ Seasoned.”
“Talk lots!”
Once the door closed, she lightly stroked my head and tilted hers.
“Did you have a scary dream? Shall Mom scold it for you?”
“N-No… that’s not it…”
Scold what? The woman before me had such a gentle appearance that she couldn’t kill a single bug.
“Hehe~ Our daughter, don’t you trust Mom?”
With those words, she rolled up her sleeve, but the revealed arm was so thin it was gaunt. She looked like she needed to take care of her own health before scolding anyone.
“……”
“You little rascal?”
The hand that had been pulling my cheek stopped. Soon she put away her smile and met my eyes.
“Seorin, Mom can do anything for you girls.”
The moment I reveal that I am not the owner of this body, this warmth reaching me now would cool in an instant. The kindness born from ignorance was blindingly, unbearably bright.
My heart throbbed again at her goodwill bestowed upon an outsider. …Perhaps, I was taking advantage of this comfort for my own ease.
“…For me…?”
“Of course~”
With those words, Mom buried her face in the crown of my head. As if indulging a cute child’s antics, without a care in the world.
“Because you’re our daughter.”
*Us.* I chewed on that word internally over and over. The word “us” pulled people in so lightly. Even to those who had no right to be inside that fence.
“…Even so?”
I had to object for sure, but the words that slipped out merely scattered into futility.
“Even so?”
“Even if… I’m a bit strange?”
Outsider. Usurper. Liar. The words I was supposed to say, the lips that should have conveyed the truth, unknowingly chose avoidance.
She tilted her head for a moment, then suddenly grabbed both my cheeks and stretched them out.
“Oh my~ Who did you take after to worry so much?”
“A… It hurts…”
“I pulled it to hurt you.”
She released my cheeks while laughing playfully, then bent down to bring her face close as she continued speaking.
“Daughter, I told you earlier, right? Mom is on your side.”
Even at Mom’s gentle words that came like a whisper, the chains of “being on your side” coiled tightly around me. To be on someone’s side meant you had to entrust your back to them. You had to stand upright, and you shouldn’t feel like running away.
“…Really, me too?”
This place belonged to Lee Seorin, not me.
“Then whose side should I be on?”
“…I don’t kno—”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You’re our daughter, aren’t you?”
“……”
She lightly tapped my forehead. With a face that hid no worry for her daughter, Mom slowly knelt down to meet my eye level.
“…Are you still upset that you couldn’t go to school?”
“Huh…?”
This was quite unexpected. Even looking as young as possible, this body’s age was upper elementary school.
“…I’m sorry for being an insufficient mom.”
At her unexpected apology, my heart dropped. Wasn’t I the one who should be apologizing?
From not being the owner of this body, to hiding that fact and being embraced like this. No matter how much I thought about it, there was no reason for her to apologize. Yet, my lips moved on their own, escaping control.
“No. I’m not angry.”
“…Really?”
I quickly nodded, but the inside of my throat stung. It was a small pain that occurred whenever this body told a lie.
Memories that weren’t mine surfaced. The me who pouted at passing students. The me who got irritated for no reason at the glittering city nightscape in the distance. But all of that wasn’t me—it was Seorin.
“I like things as they are now. Living like this with Mom and Seoyeon is enough.”
Those words were only half true. In the memories, Lee Seorin had imagined going to school with her younger sister. Imagining wearing pretty uniforms, passing through the same school gate, eating school meals together. But Seorin soon gave up on that dream.
‘…Because Mom has it hard.’
Not wanting to trouble Mom, the eldest daughter gave up on her dream.
“But I wanted to send you… Our Seorin is so smart.”
A slender hand stroked my head again. Each time her fingertips parted my hair, I somehow felt breathless.
“…I’m really fine.”
“You’re lying again.”
It was a playful tone, but Mom’s eyes weren’t smiling.
“Our eldest daughter is too honest.”
“……”
“Your eyes waver, and you bite your lips.”
She placed her finger on my lip, which I had been chewing on before I knew it. Not holding me so I couldn’t escape, not pressing me.
“You’ll start bleeding. Hurry up and relax.”
It was a touch that simply wished her daughter wouldn’t get hurt. An act that should have been only natural, yet it was all the more agonizing to me now.
“You’re still upset about not being able to go to school, right?”
I hesitated for a moment, just a moment. Then I nodded very slightly.
“A little…”
“Yes… I thought so.”
She smiled faintly and pulled my head into her embrace. Her arms held a bit more strength than before.
“…I wanted you to live a better life.”
Contrary to her arms that held more strength, her words gradually faded. Eventually to the point where they could barely be heard.
“Because Mom has nothing…”
“You do.”
It was a word that slipped out thoughtlessly. Since I had no right to say it, I felt a flash of alarm after letting it out.
“You have me, and you have Seoyeon.”
I still wanted to say it. No, I had to. I didn’t want to see her blaming herself, and I wanted to comfort the dedication of a mom who barely looked older than me. At my words, she lost her words for a moment and just looked down at me.
“…That’s right. You girls are everything to Mom.”
Soon she rubbed her reddened eyes and smiled again.
“Yes, if I just have my daughters, Mom is the richest person in the world.”
I couldn’t quite understand what she meant by “everything.” Was it because I had never raised a child, never given birth to one? Had my own mother raised me with such feelings too?
“M-Mom… didn’t you go to school either?”
A foolish word came out first. I had brought up the topic trying to comfort her, yet I couldn’t even say the word “Mom” properly. I was afraid she might think it strange at my slip of the tongue.
“Hm? Mom is similar.”
She blinked for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders as she continued.
“I lived with my oppa. Without a mom or dad, the two of us hid in back alleys.”
Why was it? It felt like many things were suppressed beneath her light tone.
“I studied with abandoned books… and when I grew up, I only worked.”
She looked at me, who was staring blankly, with an expression saying I was cute.
“So… if I ever had children, I wanted to make sure to send them to school.”
She wore a lonely expression, as if she hadn’t completely shaken off her lingering regrets.
“…Mom.”
“Hm?”
If I opened my mouth any further, it felt like everything would pour out. I wanted to confess my name, my memories, my identity. The thought of kneeling down to atone circled in my mind right away.
“B-But… it’s okay even if it’s later.”
But what finally came out was something completely different.
“What? Are you talking about school?”
“School too. …There are other things too.”
In the end, I chose the second-best option. Once again, I ran away like a coward.
“If I earn a lot of money, you should go to school with me too, Mom.”
I knew it would sound ridiculous. Words coming from a child’s mouth were usually vague. As expected, she only burst into laughter.
“Hehe, really? Thank you, daughter~”
“I’m serious…!”
But I was not a child. I vowed that I would send Seorin to school together with Mom and her younger sister.
If I returned, this happy family would become a little happier.
…Even if I couldn’t return, I would definitely make Mom and her younger sister happy.
That was the promise this outsider could make, and the atonement this usurper had to carry out.