The morning of Crystal, an executive of the Silver Order, comes early.
“…4:59.”
She opened her eyes before the alarm she had set for 5 AM even rang, immediately got up, and folded her blankets.
Leaving her bed right away without getting distracted by her smartphone. Even at that moment, Crystal’s diligent nature was evident.
“Hoo.”
In this manner, she woke at 5 AM, finished washing up, prepared breakfast, and at the same time packed a lunchbox.
They were balanced meals and a lunchbox made with consideration for the growth of her younger brother, who was still in elementary school.
Afterward, Crystal used the remaining time to finish dishes, cleaning, laundry, taking out the trash, and so on.
This was the daily routine she had naturally absorbed since losing her parents at a young age.
“Nil! Time to wake up and eat!”
“Mmm…”
She woke her brother, who still showed no signs of rising, and lined the table with plates of food.
At least on a holiday like today, Silver Order activities slackened, and the time she spent looking after her brother had also decreased.
On a normal day, she might have slept in a bit, but considering the schedule ahead, she couldn’t afford to act too leisurely.
“Noona! We’re going to meet that hyung later, right?”
“…Yeah. That’s right.”
She gave a somewhat timid answer to her brother, who asked such questions with sparkling eyes.
Today was an important day she had deliberately cleared her schedule for in order to repay Jade, who had saved Nil’s life a few days ago.
He had seemed busy with cafe operations and the kidnapping incident involving Brilliant Youngae, so she had postponed the appointment until a holiday, and finally today had become D-Day.
‘…Just what kind of face should I meet him with?’
Crystal traced the rim of her bowl with her chopsticks, lost in thought.
The other party was a low-ranking member of the Silver Order she belonged to. Moreover, a subordinate Amber cherished dearly.
Showing such a man her weak side could be considered a considerable blunder on Crystal’s part.
Leading the Silver Order’s combat division, displaying the charisma of a harsh drill instructor while at the same time exuding dignity—she herself felt immense pride in that persona.
Even when difficult tasks or endless paperwork hell continued, the time spent concentrating on work was enough to hide her weak self.
‘Of course, I’m grateful to him, but that’s exactly why I can’t show him such a pathetic side.’
A young lady who had grown up receiving love, knowing nothing of the world—that was the public’s perception of Crystal.
Crystal thought that as a superior who always had to show a reliable side as an executive, she could not reveal such weak parts.
‘Fortunately, he still doesn’t know my true identity, so if I keep hiding it like this, I won’t be found out.’
The benefactor who had saved her precious younger brother—she could not treat such a person negligently. If she were to cause offense through her own carelessness, she wouldn’t be able to hold her head up for the rest of her life.
Now that it had come to this, she needed to continue acting the part of a pure, refined young lady. For both herself and Jade.
Having finished her meal, Crystal embarked on her full-scale disguise to hide her identity.
She fixed her hairstyle, or put on pure undergarments that no one would even see…
“Kuh.”
Maintaining that appearance was indeed incredibly embarrassing. Thanks to that, she had to wear a flowy one-piece dress and even put on unnecessary makeup.
If anyone from the Silver Order were to see her like this, what would they think? At the very least, it was certain that Crystal would lose sleep for a week.
But since she was doing it, she had to do it thoroughly. That stubborn and diligent nature was precisely the secret to her rise to become an executive of the Silver Order.
***
Approximately five hours later.
The siblings, who had taken the subway to a nearby park, sat on a suitable bench and waited for Jade to arrive.
“There are still 30 minutes left, why did we come so early, noona!”
“Be patient. It would be rude if we made him wait by coming out late for no reason.”
The promised time was 11 o’clock. Since roughly 30 minutes remained, there was still time to spare, so Crystal watched her brother, who had started running around nearby, and enjoyed the park scenery.
The green grass displaying its fullness with the atmosphere of summer, and the clear lake. Just looking at them felt purifying to the mind.
‘Has it been a while since I last came to a park?’
A place found everywhere in the world, yet hard to visit unless you deliberately decided to.
Looking around, she saw people enjoying their own daily lives in their own ways.
A man walking his dog, a family having a picnic, a couple eating ice cream on a bench, a woman exerting herself jogging…
At the same time, she recalled memories of being led by her parents’ hands and running around wide fields in her childhood. Those days when she had lived purely and innocently without a care in the world.
But now that she had grown into a proper adult, she must not long for such ordinary days. Now she had to move forward without looking back.
Just as she finished that resolution, a familiar silhouette began to appear in the distance.
“Ah, hyung’s here!”
The siblings, having met up with Jade like that, welcomed him without hesitation.
“I’m sorry, this child insisted on coming…”
“No, I was bored too, so it’s fine.”
It didn’t seem like empty bravado or a lie. She didn’t sense any pretense in his expression.
‘Is he unexpectedly someone who likes children?’
He seemed quite comfortable with younger people, seeing how he got along well with Amber, who was about four years his junior.
“Um, how should I address this noona?”
“Ah… please call me Quartz.”
Crystal smiled as she told Jade the pseudonym she had decided on in advance.
“Miss Quartz. I look forward to today.”
His polite demeanor exuded the dignity of an adult. She felt she could understand at least a little why Amber always stuck by him.
Anyway, now was not the time to evaluate him. There was something she had to do first.
“Jade, I truly appreciate what you did last time. Thanks to you, my younger brother ended up unhurt.”
“Thank you~!”
Seeing the two bowing to express their thanks, Jade immediately raised Crystal’s head.
Saving her younger brother from being hit by a large truck was something worth bowing over many times, but the man himself didn’t seem to mind.
“Well… it certainly was dangerous. If I had been a bit more focused, I could have saved him more safely.”
“Yes. I scolded him thoroughly for that.”
Crystal had already scolded her younger brother harshly for running out onto the road to catch a soccer ball that had rolled away.
Of course, considering that the signal had been green and the truck driver had had a seizure, it was impossible to place the blame entirely on Nil.
“Forget that, let’s play soccer! I brought a ball on purpose!”
“What a carefree guy… Not that I mind.”
Tap—! Tap—!
Phantom dribble, Marseille turn, rainbow flick…
“Ooh! Hyung, you’re so good!”
“Here, you try practicing too.”
Crystal gave a small round of applause to Jade, who showed off various soccer individual techniques and taught them to her brother.
To Crystal, who didn’t know much about sports, the only impression left was simply that he was good at soccer.
After enjoying soccer for a while, before they knew it, the giant clock standing in the center of the park was pointing at noon.
“Noona, I’m hungry~!”
“I know. Then the lunchbox—”
Crystal reflexively started to take out the lunchbox from her bag, but flinched and stopped her hand with a tremble.
‘…When treating my benefactor at a high-class restaurant wouldn’t even be enough, why did I pack a lunchbox today as well?’
If she had to explain, it was an unconscious act. Obsessed with the need to hide her identity at all costs, she had unconsciously made a lunchbox for lunch.
She couldn’t show Jade such a shabby lunchbox.
She had already prepared a separate gift for him, but here she had no choice but to spend a bit more money and find a good restaurant—
“Hyung, do you want to eat our noona’s lunchbox too?”
“Oh. Is that okay?”
“…….”
For the first time, Crystal resented her younger brother.
In the end, she had no choice but to serve Jade the crude lunchbox she had made in the morning.
“Ah, this rolled omelet is delicious. There’s pollock roe inside.”
“…You know that?”
Seeing him accurately recognize the taste when few people even knew of pollock roe, Crystal was quite surprised.
“I learned a bit of cooking in the past. Not that I’m a chef or anything.”
Come to think of it, he was a master chef capable of making countless desserts. Thinking about it again, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have this much knowledge.
But that fact only tightened the grip on Crystal’s heart.
“I’m sorry. I still wanted to treat you to something more delicious…”
Negative thoughts kept rising—wondering if he couldn’t be satisfied with such an ordinary lunchbox.
But Jade waved his hands exaggeratedly and praised the food she had made.
“It’s more than delicious enough. These days, it’s hard to taste food made with such sincerity.”
It wasn’t just the rolled omelet. Every dish filling the lunchbox contained Crystal’s effort and affection.
Jade seemed to recognize the fruits of her dedication over nearly ten years without missing a single day for her one and only younger brother.
“Even though I might not look it, when I was young, I always made do with easy-to-eat things. I was an only child, and both my parents worked, so there was no one to prepare meals for me… If I could eat a lunchbox like this every day, I’m sure I’d be happy.”
“…….”
Crystal felt the indescribable emotion welling up inside her and blushed for a moment.
Gazing at the man before her who had affirmed not the charismatic executive of the Silver Order, but a girl who had desperately struggled after unwillingly losing her parents.