My mother didn’t particularly like Jaehee’s family.
The connection was originally formed by my father’s friendship with Jaehee’s father, which had nothing to do with my mother.
To my mother, who built connections by socializing with influential political and business figures, Jaehee’s family was relatively ordinary, and she may not have felt the ‘merit’ of being close to them.
She used to nag my father and me to spend time with people from prominent families she introduced, rather than Jaehee’s family, probably for a similar reason.
But she wasn’t the type to actively stop us from spending time with Jaehee’s family, either.
She was always too busy living her own life.
Although she’d grumble in displeasure, if I insisted, she would just pout and show her disapproval but let it go.
And when Jaehee’s father passed away, perhaps feeling sorry for Jaehee, she even rolled up her sleeves and personally helped out.
My mother was that kind of person: self-centered and selfish, but not without a little kindness.
Though she wouldn’t want to hear this description, she was, in fact, ‘ordinary.’
‘Didn’t two children get dragged in together? Why did only one come out?’
‘Well, apparently, the family of the one who was rescued first is very well-off. They say they’re a Hunter family.’
‘Ah, so that’s why…’
‘Sigh, at times like this, it makes you wonder if people’s lives are treated so differently, even though they’re the same…’
‘What sin did the child commit…’
Because my mother was that kind of person, I wasn’t hugely surprised when I learned that she had rushed the rescue team to save me sooner, putting pressure on them, which ultimately resulted in them leaving Jaehee behind.
Even before hearing it from others, I had vaguely anticipated and prepared myself for the possibility that it might have happened that way.
After all, my mother wasn’t a Hunter.
Although she was an Awakened, she was only D-Class, and her ability was far removed from the flashy things people usually imagine when they think of an ‘Awakened.’
She was closer to an ordinary person. Furthermore, it was the first time she had properly encountered an incident site, so it was possible she panicked upon hearing that I, her only child, was caught in it, and made a poor judgment in the moment.
So… even though I resented her, I wasn’t particularly disappointed.
‘Wow, Jung Jaehee is really amazing. I resent them.’
‘Huh? Who?’
‘The ‘Mothers’.’
‘The ‘Mothers’? My mother and your mother? Putting my mother aside, why your mother?’
‘…There’s something. It’s just a little bit, so don’t worry about it.’
I knew that whatever she did, my mother did it out of love and concern for me.
It was just bad luck that the rescue team found me when I was separated from Jaehee; otherwise, we both could have been rescued quickly.
Since Jaehee also told me not to resent her and to get along well, I decided to forgive her too.
She was family, after all, the one who gave birth to me and raised me, so I should resent her a little and then just move past it.
There was a time when I thought that way.
Cha Taeyang is a person who typically adopts the stance of being strong against the strong and weak against the weak, and it seemed he saw me as the strong one right now.
He said everything he wanted to say, then heartlessly left me behind and hurried home alone.
I had no choice but to take a taxi home as well.
Entering the house without Jaehee was agonizing, but I had things to do there.
I hadn’t finished cleaning up the traces of the past few days I spent with Jaehee.
It was a moment I would likely never experience again, the moment I fully possessed Jaehee.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it ‘the happiest time of my life.’
I didn’t want the traces of that moment to be erased by someone else’s hands.
And I certainly didn’t want to leave them neglected to become covered in dust.
As I headed home in a taxi, my heart was stirring with anticipation and anxiety.
I wondered if Jaehee might have come back.
If Jaehee were to return, I might not be able to let her go a second time.
I spoke morally in front of Cha Taeyang, but if I were actually faced with Jaehee again, there was a high possibility I would abandon my last bit of conscience and just beg her to love me.
I wasn’t an upright person to begin with.
Didn’t I quickly give in to my desires over her body when she allowed it?
I wanted just one more thing, just one more, and ended up taking all of her firsts.
‘…And I don’t even regret it.’
Even if I went back to that moment, I would do the same thing.
Even if the night I held Jaehee repeated countless times, I would kiss Jaehee, open her body, and take her purity every single time.
I even felt I could sell my soul if I could repeat that moment.
What wouldn’t I do to hold her body while hearing her say she loved me?
“This is the place. Please let me off here.”
I wanted to walk and get some air, so I got out a short distance away.
I sighed and moved my feet.
“…Oh.”
But… someone was standing at the door.
My heart dropped for a moment, but unfortunately, that shadow was not alone.
It also wasn’t the slender figure I could hold in one arm.
That is, it wasn’t the lovely person I missed.
I quickly recognized the dark figure.
He was an unwelcome guest.
Of all days.
At this moment.
The person I least wanted to see had come.
I frowned deeply and thought about turning back, but that was clearly my house.
I had things to do, and running away while leaving my belongings was not in my nature.
Barely suppressing the rising irritation, I decided to face him.
“…Father.”
“Taehwan, you’re late. Jaehee is in a safe place right now. I’ve even assigned a guard just in case, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
“Ha.”
A puff of air escaped my lips automatically.
“Father, are you monitoring me? And Jaehee too?”
“…You two are the only S-Class Hunters in our country, aren’t you? The Management Bureau must keenly keep track of your whereabouts. Especially Jaehee, who is still inexperienced, and the groups targeting her with impure intentions haven’t been completely eradicated. To just stand by and watch would be no different from neglect, wouldn’t it? Please bear with this level of management.”
A sigh erupted from my parted lips again.
I was so dumbfounded and flabbergasted that the corners of my mouth curled up.
“Don’t make me laugh. As Hunters, you won’t intervene no matter what happens to us, will you?”
Though his kind appearance sometimes led to misunderstandings, my father was the most cold-hearted person I knew.
This was true as a father, as a person named ‘Im Jaewoo,’ and especially as the ‘Director of the Hunter Management Bureau.’
The Bureau’s policy of not getting involved in every incident and accident among Hunters stemmed from his detached nature.
Unless it was a matter of life and death, he thoroughly left it up to the individuals concerned.
Didn’t the same thing happen during the incident where Jaehee was almost kidnapped at the camping ground?
The Bureau did not intervene at all before the ‘Sun’ Guild reported it.
Even though they must have been watching in some way.
So, if my father moved, it was for a private reason. He had business with just ‘Im Taehwan’ and ‘Jung Jaehee,’ who were not Hunters.
Or… with ‘the children who were victims of that day’s Gate.’
“Are you feeling guilty now? Because I think the incident that day is why Jaehee and I were separated?”
“What are you talking about, Taehwan. I…”
“Father. I’ve kept thinking about it. My mother can be excused. She only occasionally saw Jaehee, she’s a civilian, and she’s naturally self-centered. But.”
Grind.
My teeth ground together.
Unable to contain the emotions boiling up inside me, I spat them out.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Father.”
I only learned the truth of that day about six months after starting my activities as ‘Gray Coat.’
I found it when I sneaked into my father’s study to find a case—a ‘righteous act’—that Jaehee would like, as I always did.
I found a video showing my father, weeping and shouting that his son, that I, must be saved.
The Management Bureau staff were desperately holding back the rational-losing man who was about to rush into the Gate.
Startled by the usually composed father’s agitated state, the rescue workers rushed into the Gate, seemingly feeling chased.
That’s when I knew.
‘It wasn’t just my mother.’
