The morning in Berlin was peaceful as always. Sunlight poured down upon the streets, and a slightly cold wind gusted strongly through the wide-open office window.
“……Hoo.”
Bracing against the strong wind, a woman sat by the window, sipping coffee.
Her brightly dyed blue hair fluttered about in the wind, and a deep lilac scent, riding the breeze, filled the office. It wasn’t perfume—it was her unique natural scent.
“Haa.”
A faint mist formed on her breath. May had arrived, but Germany’s average temperature wasn’t that high; it seemed this weather would last until at least June.
‘It wasn’t like this in Korea. Didn’t May get pretty warm there?’
Propping her chin in her hand with a sullen expression, she looked down at the bustling Berlin streets. Hurrying people and cars flickered past her dark eyes.
It was then. The office door suddenly swung open, and a blonde woman and a man walked in.
“Hi, Hanuri! Did you wait long?”
“…….”
A woman with a frivolous tone and a man with an indifferent look. The name tags on the chests of their suits read Greta and Jonas, respectively. Naturally, there was a name tag on the chest of the woman called Hanuri as well.
[Kim Haneul]
The name was written in German. She set down her coffee cup with a disinterested face and leaned back against the chair.
“It’s Haneul, not Hanuri. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“They all sound the same to me, you know? This is why I can't deal with foreigners……”
“…….”
Haneul stared at her as if dumbfounded. Regardless, Greta hummed a tune and, carrying the envelope she had brought, headed toward the fridge.
Click. She opened the fridge, revealing blood packs crammed inside along with someone’s limbs. It was quite grotesque, but without a care, she carefully stored a PET bottle full of blood from the envelope and a woman’s hand painted with black nail polish into the fridge.
Watching this, Haneul asked.
“Did the hunt go well? You said it wouldn’t be an easy one.”
“Of course, it went well! Well, it wasn't easy, but I ambushed her properly and slit her throat, and she died without being able to do anything. All that waiting outside for a week paid off!”
Saying that, Greta still had a long, torn wound on the back of her neck. Thanks to first aid, the bleeding seemed to have stopped, but without Cartel’s ointment, a scar would probably remain. Haneul let out a deep sigh, rummaged through her drawer, and tossed a green ointment to her.
“Use it.”
“Oh, what’s this, Hanuri? Are you worrying about your unnie?”
“If a scar remains, wizards could track it and come looking. The ones we caught this time are Walpurgis witches. It’s better to prevent them from finding any fault with us.”
The answer came without a moment’s hesitation. Greta pouted her lips and grumbled.
“Would it kill you to lie sometimes? It’s been over ten years since we first brought you here, and you still have no charm……”
Haneul didn’t bother to respond. Instead, she fiddled with the silver ring on her left ring finger and turned to look at Jonas.
“The request is handled. We’ll take all the bounty, so you can keep the blood and the corpse. ……What’s that? Why does Laplace want us?”
“…….”
“Grimoire hunting? That’s not our specialty. We don’t touch wizards that don’t pay in the first place. ……85,000 euros as payment? They’re insane. They’d spend that much just for a single grimoire?”
As always, Jonas was on the phone, talking business. Haneul, as if losing interest, gazed back out the window and toyed with her ring.
“…….”
A ring bearing the marks of time. It received professional care once a month, but the silver ring wasn’t in particularly good shape. Fine scratches were engraved here and there, and faint discolorations dotted it like spots.
Logically, it was an item worth discarding, but Haneul had no intention of throwing it away.
Wasn’t it natural? This was the first ring she had gotten together with her beloved.
“I miss you……”
She murmured in Korean and gulped down her now-cold coffee.
As you could guess from her name, she wasn’t German. She was a mixed-race Korean with some German blood. But she had lost her parents when she was very young, so she didn’t know whether her father or mother was Korean. In fact, if the nun at the orphanage hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t even have known she was mixed.
“…….”
The orphanage.
Haneul smiled softly, recalling the church-turned-orphanage where she had lived until she was twelve.
‘That’s where I met you.’
Scrape. She opened the drawer and pulled out a worn photograph.
A photo of a young boy and girl. The girl was beaming and kissing the boy on the lips, while the boy was straining to push her away.
But at that age, girls were often stronger than boys, so the girl cleanly ignored his resistance and held him tight. Their pressed-together lips showed no sign of parting.
‘The day we had our first kiss.’
Haneul rubbed her lips, her cheeks flushing. As if reminiscing, the corners of her mouth quivered and she rubbed her thighs together.
‘You freaked out when I instinctively slipped my tongue in, calling it gross.’
I was fine with it. I could have accepted anything you did. If you’d told me to swallow your spit, I’d have done it in a heartbeat.
So Haneul thought, smacking her lips.
Flip.
She turned the photos and looked through more memories with him.
Twenty-five in total. A lot, or maybe a little. But Haneul meticulously examined each one, a faint smile playing on her lips.
“What, looking at your first love photos again?”
Having finished applying the ointment, Greta approached Haneul from behind. She draped both arms over the back of Haneul’s chair and looked down at the photo with a bored expression.
“You’re really something. Wasn’t that a kid you liked when you didn’t even know what love was? And you still like him?”
“Yep. We’re destined. It was like that from the first meeting, and it still is. Once I’ve saved enough money and I’m confident I can protect him, I’ll go back to Korea and propose.”
“Whew. Total love freak. But hasn’t it been over ten years since you last saw this kid? What if he changed for the worse? Like, fat, short, and ugly?”
“You judge by looks? Every night, I masturbate while imagining how my love has grown up. In my imagination, he might be fat, skinny, muscular, short, tall, handsome, ugly, or average, but whatever he is, he’s still the person I love. The reason I liked him in the first place wasn’t his appearance but his insides, like his personality. Looks don’t matter. And even if his personality suddenly changed, it wouldn’t be a big problem. Even if it changed, it would still be so close to my taste that it wouldn’t be an iss—”
“Argh, okay, I get it, I get it. I know you fucking love him so just shut up. You talk too much.”
“…….”
Greta clamped her hand over Haneul’s mouth. Haneul frowned and shoved her hand away.
“What’s your problem? It stinks.”
“That’s your breath.”
“…….”
“Anyway, you sure it’s okay to go back to Korea? Even if you meet that kid, he’s just a normal person with no connection to the supernatural. What if he gets taken hostage or gets tangled up in the supernatural because of you?”
“……Mm.”
It was an irrefutable point. Hadn’t she come to a foreign country far away from him precisely because of the supernatural?
Once you got involved with the supernatural, unless your memory was erased, you were bound to keep getting involved.
The same went for Haneul.
April of the year she turned twelve. She encountered a wizard, nearly died at his hands, was coincidentally found and saved by Greta and Jonas who had been dispatched to Korea, heard an explanation about the supernatural, and left the orphanage because she didn’t want to bring harm to her beloved……
Quite a long time had passed since then, but Haneul was still not free of the supernatural. A brief face-to-face might be one thing, but to actually live together, she needed more experience. To handle supernatural phenomena skillfully and deal with all threats without his knowledge, she needed to become stronger than she was now.
“…….”
It’s fine. There’s no rush. We’re still young. She figured that if she got a long vacation someday, she’d go see him.
Even if he had another woman by his side now, it wouldn’t matter…
“Hm.”
No, that’s not right. If possible, she wanted no one else around him. They had shared all kinds of firsts together. Shouldn’t they have each other’s first love? Naturally, they should have each other’s first experience too.
As Haneul nodded at that thought, Greta burst into a snicker and spoke.
“She’s thinking weird thoughts again.”
“……What did I do.”
“You have a certain look. Every time you think about your first love, your face goes all dark and creepy.”
“Creepy……”
“Ah, right. Rapists! You look exactly like those rapists in movies!”
“Don’t talk bullshit. I have no intention of ra—”
…….
“……no?”
“…….”
“Ah-ha, so not entirely no. You crazy bitch. If things don’t go your way, you’re planning to just jump him? Then say ‘I came a fuckton inside you’ while beating him up?”
“……Don’t say weird stuff. What the hell do you even watch?”
“Still better than a bitch who masturbates every day imagining her first love, don’t you think?”
Greta cackled and backed away. Haneul sighed at her, then pecked a kiss on the photo and put it back into the drawer.
“I love you. I have since the first time I saw you, and I still do. I always will.”
“What are you saying! Stop speaking Korean!”
“Both of you. Get ready for dispatch. An overseas request has come in.”
Jonas’s deep voice cut through the bickering. Haneul and Greta both turned to look at him.
“An overseas request? All of a sudden?”
“They say they’re offering a huge sum. The job is to hunt down wizards who possess grimoires and just seize the grimoires. About one million US dollars per volume, they say.”
“A m-million?! Really?”
“We’ve already received the advance payment. They said they’d give ten times the amount for the grimoire they’re looking for, but there’s no need to go that far. I plan to seize just one grimoire and then wash our hands of this job.”
“Ack! But isn’t that a waste?”
“It’s not a waste. A request that pays that much always has a reason. Besides, it’s a request from Laplace. It’s not good to be involved with them for long.”
Laplace.
A notorious terrorist group made up of wizards. But those in the office didn’t have any strong feelings about Laplace, so they just shrugged it off. As long as they got paid, the client’s identity wasn’t a big deal.
“Ugh… Then where are we going? As long as it’s not Africa……”
“Asia. It happens to be Haneul’s homeland.”
Jonas’s gaze shifted to Haneul. Her eyes widened.
“My homeland? Korea?”
“Yes. I’m not sure of the reason, but Laplace seems very interested in Korea. Aside from us, they’re also releasing other wizard hunters and grimoire hunters into Korea.”
“……Are they looking for some Lovecraftian grimoire? Otherwise, there’s no reason to be so fixated on Korea. If it were the UK, maybe……”
“The reason doesn’t matter. Like I said, we’ll seize just one grimoire and leave Korea. That’s all.”
Psst.
Jonas lit a cigarette and plopped down into a chair.
“We leave in two days. Have everything ready by then.”
“Ack! That’s tight!”
“Two days is plenty of time. Quit bitching and just get it done.”
“Would it hurt you to speak a little nicer? You and Hanuri, you’re both a pair of complete bastards……”
Greta grumbled as she left the office first. Jonas stared at the spot where she’d disappeared, then turned his head toward the sky.
“How does it feel to go back to your hometown? It might only be for a little while, but you’ll at least have time to see that first love you’re always going on about.”
“……What do you mean, how does it feel?”
Haneul grinned sheepishly, her cheeks flushing. Her slightly drooping eyes curved into crescent moons.
“I’m so happy. My heart feels like it’s going to burst. No matter what, no matter what I’m going to meet him and kiss him first thing.”
“……A kiss? Isn’t that a bit sudden? I think he might not like that.”
“No, there’s no way he’d dislike it. After all, we’re connected by destiny.”
She brought her left hand to her mouth and planted a light kiss on the silver band wrapped around her ring finger.
“This couple ring proves our love. I’m sure he’s treasuring his ring just as much.”
“…….”
“The ring I gave him. Our first couple ring. The engagement ring. The wedding ring. The friendship ring.”
Haneul smiled bashfully and tilted her head.
“The symbol of our love.”
“……Heh.”
“Ah, God. This must be the chance you’ve given me. Thank you, thank you. Even if it’s only for a short time, I absolutely won’t miss the opportunity you’ve given me. I will definitely win my love. Amen.”
After offering that reverent prayer, she immediately pulled out her phone and called someone. The other person picked up soon after.
“Ah, yes, Sister! How have you been? This is Haneul! Kim Haneul! Yes, yes! You remember me! I’m so touched!”
Squeak, click.
Still chatting into her phone, Haneul left the office. Jonas stared at the empty space she’d left behind for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and looked out the window.
“I don’t know who you are, but you’re completely screwed, pal.”
Words that had lost their target drifted up into the air along with cigarette smoke.
*
“Hmm, what about this ring? It’s in pretty good condition. Is it a necessary ingredient?”
“I don’t really need a ring. If you’re going to use a silver ring, you might as well just use a silver ingot. For things that require a ring, gold’s better than silver.”
“Oh…….”
“I’ve only used a ring in alchemy once. It was a friendship ring I got with a kid from the orphanage, but since I wasn’t wearing it anyway, I just used it instead of a silver ingot.”
“……And that was okay?”
“Yes, well…… it doesn’t really matter. I’m not going to see their face anyway. They were adopted overseas.”
As Ian said that, he lifted a massive metal sphere from the shelf.
“First, let’s buy this…….”
“If it’s that one, the one next to it is slightly better quality. Let’s get that instead.”
“Oh, really? Thank you.”
Ian smiled and placed the sphere back in its spot.
Inside his head, the existence of the silver ring had long since been erased.