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Chapter Text

A pair of violet eyes stares at the moving scenery from the backseat of a white rental car.  Watching as the car passes by various buildings and other manmade structures.

The owner of the violet eyes was a 7-year-old boy.  Besides having violet color eyes, the boy had short platinum blond hair and his skin tone was pale.  For clothing, the young boy was wearing a white T-shirt and navy-blue shorts.

‘Never would I have thought that I would be reborn.’ He couldn’t help but ponder as the scenery before him was changing.  From a busy highway to what he thinks to be a residential area, everything that he was seeing before his eyes was new.  Then again, in his past life and current life, he has never been to Seoul before.

He turns his gaze over to the diver’s seat.  More specifically, the person driving the car.  It was a woman.  From the backseat of the car, he could see long champagne blond hair that was style into a low ponytail.  Not only that but from the rearview mirror, he could see the woman’s amber eyes.

He then begins to reminisce.

This blond woman was not his biological mother.  But rather, she was his teacher (or shifu, a title he would occasionally refer to her as).  A teacher that has been raising him ever since he was a baby.  When he was old enough to speak, he asked her what happened to his parents; it was then that her expression turned into one of gloom.

“To be honest, I never knew your mother when I was on my way to rescue both you and her.  Even on death’s door, she used her body to protect you.  Your father on the other hand is a different story.  Don’t know whether he’s alive or dead.  And even if he is alive, he probably doesn’t know that he has a child or that your mother is dead.”

Was what she told him.  A mother that protected him until her dying breath and a father whose status is unknown.  And when he inquired about the status of his other relatives, she merely told him that some were still on parole, and some were arrested and are currently residing in a prison made for those who can use magic or spiritual powers.

A prison for those who can magic…

At first, he wasn’t sure what she was talking about.  So out of curiosity he inquired whether he could use magic.  Surprisingly, she gave him an answer.

He was a Sleigh Beggy.

Sleigh Beggy, Beloved Child of the Night.  A queen bee who attracts nonhumans to them, or a lantern that shines brightly in the darkness that nobody can resist its beautiful light.  They are human yet are closer to nonhumans.  Yet because they are heavily loved by nonhumans like faeries that they can gain their help more easily.  However, not all help or gifts that nonhumans grant to a Sleigh Beggy resulted in good fortune.

It is both a blessing and a curse.

With this information, he finally realized what world he was reborn in.  Mahou Tsukai no Yome, or with its translated title, The Ancient Magus’ Bride.  A manga about a Sleigh Beggy girl named Chise Hatori who has been shunned and scorned due to seeing things that normal humans couldn’t see, so she decided to sell herself.  She is then bought by Elias Ainsworth, the Thorn Mage.  A magus whose head was a canine shaped skull with goat horns.  The reason why Elias bought her was he not only needed an apprentice but also a bride as well.  A 2 for 1 deal for a lack of better words.  As the story progressed, the relationship and emotional development between the two grew.  The young girl who was regaining the will to live and a seemly inhuman mage who was learning about human emotions.

All in all, it was a Beauty and the Beast type of story with a fantastical flare to it.

He was filled with mixed emotions at this revelation.  On one hand, he’s in a world where magic is still alive in the modern era, on the other hand he has a short lifespan due to being a Sleigh Beggy.  After his teacher told him that he was Sleigh Beggy, his eyes began to water and soon tears fell down his cheeks.  He remembered that his teacher panicked when he began to cry and quickly got a tissue to wipe away the tears.  She quickly reassured him that it was not because of his special constitution that got his mother killed.  In fact, it was for a different reason that his mother died.

While she didn’t tell him the whole reason (since she told him that there are some details that were a bit too much for a young child like him to know about), she did her best to explain to him the circumstances of his mother’s death.

Apparently, his mother was part of a clan that forced the eldest daughter to become a bride to a yōkai that was masquerading as a god.  However, becoming a bride to the yōkai also meant that they would become a human sacrifice.  His mother found out about the whole human sacrifice bit and ran away.  It was during her escape that she met his father.  The man was a foreigner who was in Japan for business or vacationing.  The reason for his father being in Japan matter little, for the two seemly felt a natural attraction toward one other.  Love at first sight, or pity at first sight?  Either way, the two fell in love and he was the result of their union.  His mother wanted to tell his father that she was pregnant.  Would the man shun her?  Or would the man be excited and happy like she was?  Unfortunately, she never got the chance to tell him.  The clan she escaped from had finally found her.  They had kidnap her and were not happy in the least when they found out she was with child.

It was then that things took a turn for the worse for his mother.  While his teacher omitted the horrible things that his mother went through, he could at least make some educated guess that since his mother was pregnant that they may have tried to induce a miscarriage to get rid of him.  Thankfully they failed to cause a miscarriage since he’s still alive and healthy.  In the end, no matter what they did to his mother, she endured and managed to give birth with a bit of help from some clan members who were against making her a bride.  And then his grandparents proclaimed the baby a demon because of his hair and eyes.  Once again, his teacher omitted parts of the story that she felt were too much for a young child to know and he had no desire to guess what his so-called grandparents were trying to do to get rid of him.

Then on the night of December 24, things went south.  The yōkai could no longer wait for its bride and demanded that the clan hand over its bride now or face the consequences.  The clan members panicked.  With very little time and not many opinions left, they went ahead and decided to make his mother the bride.  His mother wanted to resist at first, but when told if she didn’t do as they commanded her to, they would not hesitate to end the life of her child.  She relented when they threatened to terminate him.  Thus, she donned on a shiromuku along with a wataboshi; and with her fellow clan members, departed to the place where the yōkai resided.

It was at this point that his teacher said that things got a bit fuzzy.  Apparently, his teacher got his mother’s point of view from a diary she had left behind.  And the last entry was when she and her fellow clan members went to where the yōkai lived.  The rest of what she was going to tell him would be from her point of view and not his mother’s.

So, his teacher and some Church members from the Extermination section arrived at the location of the yōkai.  However, when they got there, they saw nobody in sight.  The only sounds that they could perceive from the area were the sound of fire crackling by what looked to be a cave entrance.  Just when they thought they had arrived at the wrong place, a deafening roar rang out from within the cave.  She remembered that everyone took a quick glance at each other and then they hurriedly sprinted into the cave.  What they saw when they reached what seemed to be the end of the cave was an altar.  The altar was littered with bodies, both the unconscious kind and kicked the bucket kind.  Amongst the kicked the bucket bodies, his teacher noticed that one of the bodies was that of an old woman’s.  The body was presumably that of his grandmother.  They also noticed something else besides the bodies.

Hanging from the ceiling of the room were numerous white silk threads.  Some of the silk threads were long enough to reach the ground.  It was then that they noticed a female body covered in white silk threads to the point of cocooning it.  The body was clad in a shiromuku that was stained in red and the wataboshi was tossed to the wayside, to reveal long black hair spread out onto the floor.  Yet in the body’s arms, was a small bundle wrapped in a white cloth that was weakly crying.  The cry sounded like a baby’s cry.

Before the Church members could react, his teacher quickly darted to the female body and swiftly unsheathed her blade.  The blade slashed at a hand that was reaching for the female body.  Something made the sound of a pained grunt, and the silk threads fluctuated to reveal the yōkai that they were sent to destroy.  What appeared in front of everyone was a tall man with long light green hair and matching colored bipectinate antennae.

His teacher asked the man if he was the one who was responsible for the “mess” (AKA the bodies scattered about the alter).  The man merely replied that he decided to punish his subjects for damaging his bride and that they were about to destroy a blessing.  He told them, while ignoring his injured hand as if it was nothing.  His teacher then asked him if he was going to consume the baby that his bride was holding.

The man’s lips formed a grin that revealed sharp canine teeth and answered that it would be stupid not to eat the infant.

That was all his teacher needed to know and immediately attack the man.  The Church members that were with her were no slouch either.  Some went to help those who were unconscious to someplace safe, others were helping her attack the bride eating yōkai, and some went up to heal the woman stained in red.  His teacher didn’t talk much about the fight (probably she didn’t want to bore him, or that the fight was a bit graphic for a young child).  So, she skipped that part and went straight for what happened after the fight.

After they defeated the yōkai, she went up to check up on his mother.  It did not look good.  His mother’s breathing was shallow, and she was barely hanging on.  His mother weakly lifted her head up to his teacher and smiled.  She profoundly thanked the blond woman for defeating the yōkai who wanted to eat not only herself but also her baby as well.  She coughed a bit and asked his teacher if she could take care of her baby, seeing that she didn’t have much time left.  Suddenly a baby’s cry interrupted her.  His mother lightly smiled and gently caressed the baby’s head.  His teacher squatted down and his mother weakly handed his teacher her baby.  Knowing that her baby was in good hands, his mother slowly closed her eyes and her breathing ceased.

Later from witness testimonies from those who survived the yōkai’s punishment, told the Church that his biological grandmother was going to smother the baby and in her last act of defiance, his mother snatched him from his grandmother and attempted to run away.  However, she didn’t get far, and his grandmother ordered the clan members to cripple her.  Some clan members comply while others were hesitant.  Regardless of whether some clan members were unwilling or willing to obey orders, the beating had commenced.  Yet his mother did not yield.  She used her body as a shield for her child.  At some point his grandmother had enough of her daughter’s stubbornness and decided to end it.  His grandmother pulled out a knife and injured his mother.  With this injury, his mother lessened her hold on her baby.  Just when his grandmother was going to injure the child, the yōkai showed up and punished them.

And that was the end of his teacher explaining to him regarding what happened to his mother.  Again, his teacher assured him that he being a Sleigh Beggy was not the caused of his mother’s death.  Her death was because of her fighting back against her clan for not only freedom, but to run away from being a human sacrifice.

It was then that the memory of his teacher telling him about his mother ended.  He absently wondered if he should continue to reminisce to pass the time.

However, before he could continue to reminisce, his teacher pulls him back to reality.

“Esther, we’re finally here!” His teacher exclaims as she was in the process of parking the car.

The boy, Esther, blinks and looks out of the car window.  From the car window, he could see a large apartment building (at least large from a young child’s perspective).  In front of the apartment building were some shrubs and street trees to add a bit of greenery to the surrounding area.  From the looks of things, they seem to be in a residential area.

“Don’t forget to wear either your sunglasses or glasses, Esther.” His teacher says as she parks the car.  “Wouldn’t want you seeing [Them] now, do you?”

Esther nods, knowing what his teacher was implying and reaches down to grab a black bag that was near his feet.  He unzips the black bag and rummages around in it for a bit.  He quickly finds what he was looking for and pulls it out of the black bag.

It was a black glasses case.

He opens the black glasses case to reveal a pair of silver rimless glasses.  He then puts them on and gives his teacher a thumbs up.  She merely chuckles that his gesture and unlocks the car doors.  The two of them step out of the car and enter the apartment building.  They then walk into an elevator and his teacher presses the button that had a 9 on it.

“Our apartment number is 903,” his teacher says as the elevator begins to ascend, “I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, maybe a few years or until they find out why I need to be here.  Are you okay with that, Esther?”

“I don’t mind Teacher.  Besides, I get to learn a new language while we’re here!” He cheerfully replies.

“Good,” his teacher chuckles at his enthusiasm and the elevator suddenly stops, “looks like we’ve arrived at our floor.”

The elevator door opens, and they both step out of the elevator.  While walking to their apartment, the door to apartment 902 abruptly opens.  Something or someone bumps into Esther, causing both him and the instigator to fall onto the floor.  Esther’s glasses also tumble onto the floor.  The platinum blond boy groans and rubs his head.

“Ow…” He also heard a groan from the instigator.  It sounded like a young boy.

“Jinwoo, slow down!” An older woman’s voice exclaims.  “I’m sorry, are you alright?”

‘Huh? Jinwoo?’ Esther thought and opened his eyes.

The one who bumped into him was a young boy with short black hair.  The black-haired boy wore a yellow T-shirt and black shorts.  The other boy stopped rubbing his head and opened his eyes to reveal gray irises.

“I-I’m fine ma’am.” Esther tries his best to hide his surprise.  “Oh, where did my glasses go?”

‘It can’t be…’ He tried to divert his attention elsewhere.  ‘This is the Mahou Tsukai no Yome world, right?’

As he tried to find his glasses, someone’s right hand appeared in his field of vision.  It was the right hand of the young boy who bumped into him.  And in the boy’s hand were his glasses.

“H-Here,” the boy lightly stutters, “sorry for bumping into you.”

“It’s okay,” Esther takes his glasses from the black-haired boy and checks to see if they had any damage on them.  He sighs in relief when he doesn’t see any scratches or damage on them.

“Are you two our neighbors?” Apparently, his teacher seemed to notice that he stopped following her.  The first thing that caught her eye was a woman with long black hair and gray eyes.  The black-haired woman wore a light pink dress that went down to her ankles and a short-sleeved cream-colored cardigan.  The woman’s stomach was also protruding.

“Oh, you two must be our new neighbors,” the woman says.  “I was wondering why there were movers outside of the apartment building yesterday.”

“Yeah, we just arrived today from America.” Gilda bowed, “Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Wittebane Gilda and this is my son, Esther.”

“Annyeonghaseyo,” the black-haired woman also bowed in returned.  “My name’s Park Kyung-Hye and this my son, Sung Jinwoo.”

‘You have got to be kidding me!’ Esther thought.  ‘Solo Leveling?!  But how is that possible?'

“Esther, why don’t you introduce yourself?” Gilda suddenly said and Esther almost jumped in surprise, but he quickly regained his composure.

“Hello, my name is Wittebane Esther,” he said and bowed, “I’m 7 years old and I hope we get along with each other.”

“Ah!  I’m Sung Jinwoo and I just turned 7 years old last week.” Jinwoo also introduced himself.

‘7 years old…’ Esther couldn’t help but think.  ‘That means 7 more years until the gates open.’

Esther couldn’t help but look at Jinwoo.  Sung Jinwoo, the protagonist of Solo Leveling, was oblivious to the future.  Yet Esther knew that in the future, Jinwoo would experience many hardships and become powerful due to these hardships.  A little puppy who would become a mighty wolf.

‘I think I’ll give him a hand.’ Esther thought.  ‘Besides, it’s not like I have any other choice due to being a Sleigh Beggy.  Might as well do something with this short lifespan I have.’

“Nice to meet you, Jinwoo.” Esther held out his hand.  “Let’s be good neighbors, okay?”

Jinwoo nods and grabs Esther’s hand and shakes it.

“Looks like our sons are going to get along just fine.” Kyung-Hye smiles at the interaction between the two boys and Gilda nods in agreement.

Prologue End

Chapter Text

It has been a few months since Esther and his Teacher came to Seoul.  So far nothing noteworthy has happened.  Well, other than meeting Sung Jinwoo and his family that is.  After meeting Jinwoo and Kyung-Hye, it didn’t take long to meet the father, Sung II-Hwan.

Il-Hwan was a man who gave off an aura of someone who can be depended upon whenever a person’s in trouble.  Then again, the man was a firefighter whose job was to deal with fires that are out of control and respond to situations ranging from car accidents to going into a burning building to rescue people.  A dangerous job indeed.

Well, a dangerous job in the realm of the mundane that is.

Besides that, Esther was busy writing down every detail that he can remember from not only Solo Leveling, but also its sequel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.  He wasn’t sure that as he grew up, whether or not his memories of his past life would disappear.  Though curiously he couldn’t recall how he dead.  He would always get a splitting headache whenever he tried to remember how he dead.  Was it important in the current context of things?  Esther wasn’t so sure.  Other than maybe some closure and perhaps to satisfy his own curiosity.  Now memory manipulation and removal on the other hand, were a whole other story.  In the Mahou Tsukai no Yome world, memories can be altered or erased.  On the Solo Leveling side, the only ones that were shown to have the ability to manipulate or erase memories are the Monarchs, Jinwoo once he officially became the Shadow Monarch, and the Ruler Envoy who erased Il-Hwan’s memories of the pre-Cup of Reincarnation timeline so that he could live as a normal dad to Jinwoo.  There was also Jinwoo’s son, Suho, who could give people back memories of the pre-Cup of Reincarnation timeline.  Fortunately, that was something Esther didn’t have to worry about since Suho wouldn’t be born until much later in the future and not in the present.  If there was a situation where his memories were to get messed up without his permission, at least he could keep a record of what was going to happen in the future on hand.  Better to be prepared for anything the future might throw at this world than not preparing at all.

And that is not going into how the magic side would react to the Gates and Magic Beasts (or would it be more accurate to call the Magic Beasts, Denizens of Chaos?).  On one hand it would probably reinvigorate families that hunt monsters like House St. George.  That and since Magi, Witches, Alchemists, and other magic users have been around much longer than Hunters; they probably would have more knowledge on imbuing weapons with magic.  Weapons that include modern weaponry like guns.  Since in Solo Leveling guns didn’t have much of an effect on Magic Beasts other than slowing them down or hindering them.  It would be interesting to see the incorporation of magic in modern weaponry.

However, on the other hand, there are aspects of magic culture that would be frowned upon in a modern mortality sense.  For starters, due to the Great War (or was it Great Wars?) many magic users dead and there’s been a severe lack of magical talent in the modern era.  So, in desperation to replenish their numbers resorted to kidnapping and human trafficking.  Was this morally wrong?  It absolutely was morally wrong.  However, he also understood why they had to do it, even if it rubbed him in the wrong way.  Thankfully, there were ways to get young people with magical talent without relying on illegal means.  Adoption and apprenticeship being some of the legal means of invigorating the current magical generation with new blood.  Another thing would be the lack of ethics.  For example, with the Webster family tragedy.  Esther dead before the manga could be finished so the truth behind the tragedy was still a mystery.  The only known facts are that House Sargant were the ones responsible for the slaughter of the Webster family.  In the eyes of Alchemists, it wasn’t exactly uncommon for an Alchemist family to be deliberately purged by rival families or by those who wanted the family’s secrets.

While with Hunters it wasn’t uncommon for Hunters to turn against each other due to greed, grievances against each other, prioritizing themselves when things go south, or even bloodlust.  Hunters weren’t exactly the sort to put stocks into bloodlines.  Since Hunters were a relatively new existence compared to Magi, Witches, Alchemists, and other magic users.   This is especially true with magic users who are long-lived like Magi or Witches who have been on this planet since time immemorial.

There was also the inevitable fact that Hunters may outnumber Magi, Witches, Alchemists, and other magic users…

Esther sighed as he put down a navy-blue pen and closed the white notebook.  He then stretched his body and rubbed his forehead.  After a few minutes of contemplating, he turned off the white desk lamp and got up from a dark blue desk chair.  He walked toward his bed that was covered with a gray duvet and unceremoniously fell onto his bed with a soft thump.

‘In the end…’ Esther grabs a light brown teddy bear that had a bright yellow ribbon around its neck and hugs it.  ‘Everything gets engulf by the wave of humanity.’

With that thought lingering in his mind, Esther yawns and closes his eyes.

“Esther, I’m going to go out for a bit,” his teacher says as she grabs a cream-colored messenger bag and slings it over her left shoulder.  “I will try to get back as fast as I can.  If you need anything or if an emergency comes up, do not hesitate to call me.”

She walks up to Esther and pats his head.

“Ok Teacher, drive safely.” Esther says and waves goodbye.  His teacher smiles and also waves back at him before opening the front door.  Esther watches as his teacher leaves.  Once the front door closes with a soft thud, Esther heads for his bedroom.

As Esther enters his bedroom, he lets his eyes roam around his bedroom for a bit.

The walls of Esther’s bedroom were painted in a soft gray color and the wooden floor was sandy colored (oak perhaps?  Unfortunately, Esther hasn’t learned much about the magical and mundane aspects of wood yet to correctly identify what type of wood was used as flooring).  A black computer desk that had three sets of drawers on both sides of it was placed near his bedroom door.  By the dark blue desk chair was a window that was covered with sky blue curtains.  And to the left side of the window was a white bookcase that had six shelves.  However, the bookcase didn’t have much stuff in it.  The only shelves that had any items in them were the bottom shelf and the second shelf.  In the bottom shelf were a couple of books.  Some of the books were in Japanese, while the other books were in English.  A good majority of the books were about fairytales and urban legends.  But there were also some books on plants, herbs, and flowers too.  The second shelf on the other hand had some video games.  And just like with the books he had, there were some video games that were in Japanese and others that were in English.  Though the vast majority of the video games that he had owned were in Japanese and only a few games were in English.

Esther then turns his attention to his bed.

The size of Esther’s bed was big enough to fit at least two grown adults or three kids.  And besides the gray duvet that covered the bed, there were also azure bedsheets and two azure pillows on the bed.  There were also nightstands arranged on both sides of the bed.  Both nightstands were white but what was on them was different.  On the right nightstand was a digital alarm clock and by the alarm clock was a hair brush, while on the left nightstand was a book about Chinese mythology.

However, the thing that stood out the most about the bed (and Esther room in general) was the large amount of plushies on the bed.  There were a variety of plushies on the bed ranging from normal animals (like bears, cats, foxes and whatnot) to fantastical animals (like dragons, griffins, merlions and etcetera).  Size wise, all of the plushies were big enough for a young child to hug in their arms.

The reason why these plushies were in his room and on his bed was because the plushies gave Esther a sense of comfort.  Whenever he felt anxious or lonely, Esther would hug one of the plushies to calm himself down or until he didn’t feel lonely anymore.  These feelings only intensified after being reborn and haven’t shown any signs of disappearing anytime soon.

Besides comfort, these plushies also had additional functions to them as well.

Esther saunters toward his bed and climbs onto his bed.  The platinum blond boy then crawls up to the pillows and grabs a light brown teddy bear.  A light brown teddy who has a yellow ribbon wrap around its neck.  Esther begins to inspect the light brown teddy bear and from its fluffy head, he sees milky white crystal flowers of various shapes and sizes.  These crystal flowers that have grown from the teddy bear’s head are Esther’s magic given a crystalized forum.  Since Sleigh Beggies can both absorb and generate magic, their bodies cannot cope with the strain of the magic energy that they store within their bodies.  Hence, for a Sleigh Beggy it is paramount that they have ways to moderate the excess magic in their body.

One of the ways to get rid of excess magic would be to “burn” it like how the human body burns calories.

Of course, another way to get rid of excess magic would be to make a pact with a nonhuman.  Thus, making them into a familiar that in exchange for subsisting themselves on a magic user’s magic energy, will perform various tasks in return.  However, his teacher had very high standards for what creature could be his future familiar.  So far there were very few creatures that she would accept to be Esther’s familiar.  Esther himself was not in a hurry to get a familiar since he would rather have a relationship where both he and his future familiar are in an equal relationship rather than a master-servant relationship.

But getting rid of excess magic was not the only way to moderate additional magic; there was also limiting certain ways to get magic.

Esther took a glance at his left wrist.  On his wrist was a beige wooden beaded bracelet.  This bead bracelet was something that his teacher gave to him after they had settled into their new place.  She told him that this bracelet would suppress his ability to generate magic so that his body could only concentrate on absorption rather than generating magic.

Easier to take something than it is to make it from scratch.

Esther shifts his attention from the bracelet to the nightstand on the left side of the bed.  He scoots over to the nightstand and reaches down to open one of its drawers.  The drawer his hand touches was the second drawer.  His pale hand grabs the handle of the drawer and pulls it open to reveal a white box.  He grabs the box and sets it on the bed.  With a pale hand, he touches the lid of the white box and opens it.

Inside of the box was a large amount of crystal flowers of different shapes and colors.  The crystals flowers inside of the box range from daisies, snowdrops, cosmos, and poppies.  And the colors range from light pink, yellow, milky white, teal, and even transparent.

Esther puts the lid beside him and grabs the light brown teddy bear.  He begins to pluck off the crystal flowers from the teddy bear’s head.  As he was plucking the crystal flowers off the teddy bear’s head, a knocking sound suddenly came from the front door.

“Huh?  Did Teacher forget something?” Esther murmurs as he removes the last of the crystal flowers from the teddy bear’s head.  “It hasn’t been that long since she left, right?”

He puts away the last of the crystal flowers into the white box and picks up the lid.  He gently closes the box and sets it back into the drawer.  He closes the drawer and gets up from his bed.  He trots out of his bedroom and approaches the front door, the knocking sound getting louder as he got closer to the front door.  He grabs the front door handle and opens the front door.

Standing before the front door was a boy that Esther was all too familiar with by now.

“Hi Esther, would you like to come over and play?” Jinwoo asks, the young boy’s gray eyes twinkling with expectations.

"Oh, hi Jinwoo,” Esther was a bit startled at Jinwoo’s unexpected (yet not so surprising in the least given that the two lived next to each other) visit.  “Um, sure, why not.  Let get my glasses and something else, ok?  Would you like to come in and wait a bit?”

Jinwoo nods at Esther’s question.  Esther leads Jinwoo inside of the apartment and into the living room.  As they walk into the living room, Jinwoo notices a large book on the light brown coffee table.

It was a beginner’s cookbook for Korean cuisine.

“A cookbook?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, currently trying to learn how to cook.” Esther answered as he walked toward his bedroom.  “Mom has been teaching me how to cook for a while now.  Be right back, shouldn’t take long to find my glasses and that other thing.”

Esther left Jinwoo in the living room and hurriedly went into his bedroom.  The platinum blond boy quickly spotted his glasses on his desk.  On the black desk was the white desk lamp along with the white notebook and navy-blue pen that he used last night.

‘Oh, almost forgot to put this away last night.’ Esther thought and grabbed the notebook.  He opened the middle drawer on the left side of the desk and placed the white notebook inside of the drawer.  As he closed the drawer, he grabbed his glasses and donned them on.

The reason why he wore these glasses is because they temporarily sealed the use of his Sight.  The Sight in the world of Mahou Tsukai no Yome enabled one to see those who are invisible to normal humans.  Faeries, yokai, ghosts, and other entities that humans cannot see with the naked eye.  It unfortunately came with some downsides.  For one, if normal people saw a person with the Sight talking to a fairy, all they would see is a person talking to thin air.  Normal people would then perceive those with the Sight as “weird”, “abnormal”, “freak”, “mentally ill” and other derogatory names to ostracize them from the mundane.  Secondly, once nonhumans know that a human can see them, they will involve themselves in that person’s daily life.  Unfortunately, if a person with the Sight is not well prepared to deal with nonhumans interfering with their daily life, it can make that person miserable and go insane.  This sadly happened to Chise’s mom.  For some unknown reason, the Japanese entities hounded and mentally tormented the poor woman after her husband left with Chise’s younger brother.  Chise’s mom couldn’t hold a steady job due to the unending harassment from the entities.  She also slowly got weaker physically and mentally.  Then in a moment of weakness, something influenced her, and she tried to kill Chise.  But she fortunately managed to get hold of herself before she could commit to the act of killing Chise.  However, the woman was horrified at what she was about to do to Chise and in attempt at making amends for her daughter, committed suicide.

In the end, was it just for the sake of entertainment that the Japanese entities harassed Chise’s mom?  Was it because they saw that the family’s protector was gone that they could now mess with the mother-daughter duo?  Or was there no reason at all?  Either way, at the end of it all, a child was left traumatized; and her mother jumped out of the apartment balcony to redeem herself from the act of almost murdering her daughter.

And then there was the last downside to having the Sight.  If nonhumans hounding a human with the Sight aren’t enough, there is also the fact that some entities will outright kill a human who has the Sight; just because they don’t like it when a human can see them.  To make matters worse, some nonhumans are carnivorous, and animals aren’t the only meat that they eat.  They also eat humans as well.

Esther knew why his teacher gave him these glasses.  She wanted Esther to have a relatively normal childhood and minimize the risk of early childhood trauma.  That and making sure he had little mental scarring to deal with as he got older.

As the saying goes: “If I can’t see you, you can’t see me.”

‘I shouldn’t dilly dally any longer, Jinwoo’s waiting for me.’ Esther shook his head to get rid of any more thoughts that might pop up into his mind.  ‘Now, where is it?’

Esther’s violet-colored eyes scanned his bedroom, and he quickly spotted what he was looking for.  The platinum blonde boy walked toward his bed and amongst the numerous stuffed animals on the bed, there was a seemingly ordinary orange fox plushie.  He grabbed the fox plushie and quickly left his bedroom.

“Ugh, having a bunch of gossiping fae talk my ears off is not what I call having a good time during my vacation in England.”

“Oh?  It must have been something good that would make them this excited.”

“Oh, yeah.  It’s something that we who reside in the east already know about.”

“Is it now?”

“Yep.  Ah, and the one that the fae were gossiping about is here.”

“Hm?  What are you two talking about?  I’m not late, am I?”

“Nah, you’re early, Shen Huiyan.  Out of curiosity, have you been to England as of late?”

“Yes, I have.  Went to England last year to visit my daughters.  Why do you ask?”

“Ah, it looks like you got an answer as to why the fae were excited.  The fae must have figured out that Shen Huiyan’s current little one is a Sleigh Beggy.”

“Hey, Shen Huiyan, what to know what they called you?”

“…What they call me?”

“‘The Golden Lung acting as the surrogate womb for the Star.’”

“Tch, of course they would refer to me as such.  So, any ideas why we were called for?”

“Apparently it has something to do with Jeju Island…”

The sudden sound of a knife clattering onto the floor startled both Esther and Jinwoo.

“Mom?!” Jinwoo exclaimed as he and Esther went into the kitchenette to see what was wrong with Kyung-Hye.  “Mom, what’s wrong?!”

On the ground was Kyung-Hye, who was panting heavily and clutching her stomach.  Compared to when Esther first met Kyung-Hye, the long black-haired woman’s stomach was now a lot bigger to the point where it seemed like she could give birth at any moment.  It was then that Esther realized something was off and began to survey the kitchenette floor.  It didn’t take long for Esther to find what he was looking for.  Underneath Kyung-Hye was a slowly forming puddle of clear liquid.  While Esther was no doctor in his last life, he at least somewhat knew the signs of when a pregnant woman was about to go into labor.  The clear liquid that was leaking underneath Kyung-Hye was probably amniotic fluid.

It seemed like Jinah was about to be born into the world.

‘But…’ Esther couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong.  ‘Early labor shouldn’t be this painful, should it?’

“Jinwoo,” Kyung-Hye gasped as she leaned against the sink cabinet, “get my phone and call your dad.  My phone should be in the bedroom.”

Jinwoo nods and sprints into his parents’ bedroom.  Whilst Jinwoo searches for his mom’s phone, Esther stays with Kyung-Hye.  While staying by Kyung-Hye’s side, Esther suddenly gazes at the glass sliding doors that lead to the apartment’s balcony.

Even though his glasses temporarily sealed his Sight, he could still sense the presence of a nonhuman.  He felt this type of presence many a time during his stay in Japan.  Esther gulped and he lightly bit his lower lip.

There was something on the apartment’s balcony.

Esther glanced at Kyung-Hye and noticed that sweat was running down her face.  The platinum blond boy wasn’t sure if her condition was worsening by the second or if it was something else.  He had very little knowledge on how South Korea cope with childbirth other than how a joriwon (a Korean postpartum care center) would manage postpartum care.  Esther could temporarily relieve Kyung-Hye’s pain but that would require help from a nonhuman.  Of course, he could try and relieve her pain without aid from a nonhuman but that would require him to pay a great price.  And that great price or something similar to a great price, would probably be his life force.

Esther suspects that if he uses his own life force, his teacher will probably not be happy with him at all.

There was probably a way to temporarily relieve pain with alchemy, but Esther had zero experience and training with alchemy.  To do something without any training in it would be a bad idea.  Not only would he risk danger to himself, but also to Kyung-Hye and the unborn Jinah as well.  Using alchemy in this situation was just not feasible.

With only one option left, Esther decided to take a gamble for the sake of lessening Kyung-Hye’s pain.  He strolled out of the kitchenette and paused when he got near the black sofa.  On the black sofa seat was the orange fox plushie he brought with him.  The platinum blond boy grabbed the orange fox plushie and hugged the animal plushie in his arms to give himself a sense of security.  While to normal eyes this orange fox plushie looked like an ordinary animal plushie, it was anything but ordinary.

It was a scapegoat doll.

A scapegoat, whether in doll form or as a talisman, can be used to take the brunt of an injury.  The injuries can range from small injuries like a cut or a sprain, to injuries that would threaten a person’s life like a concussion or getting stabbed in the chest.  But there were some downsides to scapegoating that balanced the benefits it offered.  For one, a scapegoat can only be used once.  After taking the brunt of the injury, the scapegoat will be damaged and cannot be fixed.  A scapegoat was generally disposed of once it can no longer be used to take the brunt of an injury.  And secondly, a scapegoat cannot be used for illnesses.  A scapegoat can only be used for injuries.  A person with the flu or cold will unfortunately have to ride out their affliction.

‘I hope that whatever’s on the balcony doesn’t have an appetite for human flesh or children.’  Esther thought as he hugged the orange fox plushie and walked toward the glass sidling doors.  With a trembling right hand, he slid open the sliding glass door and stepped onto the balcony.  ‘Here goes nothing…’

And with a shaky yet firm right hand, Esther removed his glasses.

Perched on the balcony railing was a black three-legged crow.  Its black feathers were glossy and shone beautifully in the sunlight.  On its head was a single black plume that was about as long as its body.  The three-legged crow seemed to be grooming itself on the balcony railing.

“Um,” Esther began nervously, “excuse me, Crow-san?”

The three-legged crow stopped grooming itself and looked at Esther with a surprised expression.

“Huh?  Wait, you can see me?  I didn’t think there were still humans in this day and age with the Sight.”  The three-legged crow said, before pausing for a moment as if noticing something.  “Wait a second, this scent…”

Esther shuffles in place nervously.

“It’s a pleasant scent.” The three-legged crow dipped its head downward toward the platinum blond boy.  “Little one, are you a Sleigh Beggy?”

“And if I am?” Esther tightens his hold on the orange fox plushie.

“No need to hide it, little one.” The three-legged crow resumed its position on the balcony railing to give Esther some space, which made the violet-eyed boy let out a sigh of relief in response.  “Only those who let their instincts guide them don’t know the true value of your kind.  Also, I don’t like eating meat.”

“Was I that obvious..?” Esther winced when the three-legged crow mentioned that they don’t like meat.

“Just a bit, but you’re still young and have room to improve as you grow.”  The three-legged crow said and hopped onto Esther’s shoulder.  “So, what problem do you have?”

Before Esther could answer the three-legged crow’s inquiry, Kyung-Hye screamed in pain.  Esther turned around to see that Jinwoo was running into the kitchenette with Kyung-Hye’s phone.  The platinum blond boy also scurried into the kitchenette, but not before setting his glasses down onto the coffee table.  He entered the kitchenette just in time to hear Il-Hwan’s voice.

“[I’m almost home, Kyung-Hye!  Just hang in there for just a little while longer!]” Il-Hwan’s voice shouted from Kyung-Hye’s phone.

“Hurry Il-Hwan, I-“ Kyung-Hye felt a contraction and had to repress a scream.  “I-I think the baby can’t wait any longer…”

Suddenly, the phone let out several beeping noises.  An indicator that the call ended.  Il-Hwan must have hung up the call to concentrate on driving.  Esther glanced at Jinwoo to see that the black-haired boy was both confused and anxious.

“Jinwoo,” Esther begins as he walks up to Jinwoo.  He then reaches out to the phone that was in Jinwoo’s hand and ends the call so that the phone can cease its beeping.  “Why don’t you stand on the balcony?  Your dad is probably panicking, and it may slip his mind on what floor we’re on.”

“You think so?” Jinwoo asked in a confused tone.

Esther nodded and Jinwoo seemed to be convinced by what Esther just said.  The black-haired boy walked toward the balcony and kept watch for when his dad would arrive.  Once Jinwoo was out of earshot, Esther looked at Kyung-Hye and noticed that the woman’s light blue maternity dress was getting soaked with amniotic fluid.  Not only that but the amniotic fluid now had a pink tint to it, and it was staining Kyung-Hye’s maternity dress.

“Hmm…” The three-legged crow stared at Kyung-Hye with a keen eye.  “So, you want to help this woman?”

“Yes,” Esther answered in a hushed voice so that Kyung-Hye won’t get suspicious as to why he was talking (at least to a person with no Sight) to thin air.  “I want to transfer both her pain and her worsening injury into the scapegoat doll.”

“Have you ever tried to transfer a person’s pain or injury before?” The three-legged crow inquired.

“A few times during my stay in America.” Esther replies and walks closer to Kyung-Hye.  “Will you allow me permission to use your [limbs], Crow-san?”

Esther wasn’t sure if the crow would be willing to lend him its aid.  If the crow refuses to lend Esther its power, then he would have to try to bargain with it.  Whether it be with the crystal flowers made from his magic or something else.  Hopefully that something else would be something that was within the realm of possibility that a kid could do and not, well, anything extreme.

“While my duties are that of a messenger,” the three-legged crow climbed down Esther’s shoulder and onto his forearm, “it’s nice to help humans every once in a while.”

Esther’s expression brightens up as the crow gives him its permission to use its power.  He nods and turns his attention to Kyung-Hye.  Esther then crouches down in front of Kyung-Hye and lightly taps her abdomen with the scapegoat fox plushie.  The young boy glances at Kyung-Hye to see if she was paying any attention to him.

Kyung-Hye eyes were close shut, and her lips were pressed together to prevent any screams from coming out.

Seeing that Kyung-Hye was paying more attention to the contractions that were causing her pain than being attentive of her surroundings, Esther closed his eyes.  And yet he couldn’t help but feel nervous.  It probably didn’t help his nerves one bit that his heart was beating a bit faster than normal as well.

‘Come on, Esther,’ Esther thought with a hint of nervousness, ‘you’ve done this spell enough times to know how to perform it.  Don’t stop just because you’re getting cold feet.  The longer Kyung-Hye is in pain, the worse her injury will get.  And who knows if this worsening injury will turn life threating for both her and the unborn Jinah?  Stay focus, calm your nerves, and be confident that you can perform this spell with no issues.’

Esther then inhales a deep breath to calm down and begins to chant.

“Pain, pain, go away,” Esther begun to chant in a quiet voice, the three-legged crow spread its wings wide and dipped its head down.  The three-legged crow’s head bumped its head against the scapegoat fox plush.  “Disappear for another day.”

A red goo-like substance slowly emerges from Kyung-Hye’s abdomen.  The goo-like substance floats in the air for a bit before it enters the scapegoat fox plush.  As the scapegoat fox plush absorbs the goo-like substance, unbeknownst to Esther, several thin black strands were swaying inside of the red substance.

“If you don’t go away,” Esther slowly opened his eyes.  The violet eyed boy watched as the goo-like substance crept downward toward the scapegoat fox plushie’s stomach.  It was during this point that he noticed the black strands in the red substance.  However, Esther quickly diverted his attention away from the black strands since if he were to lose his concentration during the final part of the spell, something bad may happen and that is the last thing he didn’t want to happen.

‘Almost there, just a bit more...’ Esther thought as he watched the goo-like substance that was between Kyung-Hye’s abdomen and the scapegoat fox plush finally turn transparent.  Also, thankfully there were no black strands in the clear part of the substance.

“Then let’s send you far away.” As Esther chants the final part of his spell, the clear and red parts of the goo-like substance split apart from each other.  The clear part retreats into Kyung-Hye’s abdomen and the scapegoat fox plushie absorbs the red part.  He watches as the reminding red part of the goo-like substance dyes the scapegoat fox plushie’s belly crimson red.  Once the scapegoat fox plushie has done its job in absorbing the entirely of the red substance, the plushie’s belly suddenly rips open and the black strands unexpectedly spew out from the tear.  Although thankfully the black strands didn’t spread beyond the plushie’s stomach.

‘Kinda reminds me of hair strands being bundled up together in the drainage…’ Esther was vividly reminded of whenever he had to unclog the bathroom’s drainage, he would pull out a large clump of hair.  This though was his first time experiencing and seeing hair coming out of something that it should not be coming out of.  ‘Gives me a bit of a horror vibe just looking at it.’

“To think something like this would be the cause of this woman’s aliment.” The three-legged crow said as the crow lifted its head off from the scapegoat fox plush’s head.

“What is this?  This is my first time seeing something like this.” Esther muttered in a confused voice.  Red usually meant pain or blood, but black?  The color black usually meant something ominous or a bad sign.

“Well-“

“Ah, Dad!” Before the crow could say anything, Jinwoo suddenly let out a shout.  It seemed like Il-Hwan had finally arrived.

Esther looked up at Kyung-Hye to see that her breathing was slowly stabilizing.

‘In any case, at least both Kyung-Hye and Jinah should now be ok.’ Esther thought as he, Jinwoo, and Kyung-Hye waited for Il-Hwan.  Because it would be very hard for two 7-year-old kids to lend aid to Kyung-Hye.

“Excuse me for a second, I need to take this call.”

“Yeah, go ahead.  The meeting’s about done now anyways.”

“Many thanks.”

“I’m not sure how to feel about this…”

“About what?”

“About transporting those eggs to Jeju Island.  Wouldn’t it be better to just send the eggs to the Dragons’ Aerie?”

“I honestly agree with you on that, but the higher ups that are comprised of the older generation disagree.  They think that we shouldn’t rely on foreigners to help or assist in our problems.  Even if the Dragons’ Aerie is currently responsible for the welfare of all dragonkind.”

“Even the eastern dragons?  From what I heard, not all eastern dragons went to the aerie.”

“It’s probably because eastern dragons have the ability to shapeshift, unlike their western counterparts.  Shapeshifting would allow them to mingle with humans without arousing any suspicions.  So at least for them, they don’t see going to the Dragons’ Aerie as a priority.”

“Basically, the eastern dragons are content with their own version of the status quo?”

“Hmm, pretty much.  Although there are some eastern dragons that aren’t content with the status quo and decided to do something rather than just be idle and do nothing.”

“Wait a minute, does that include-“

“Hey you two, I gotta go.  An emergency just came up for me.”

“Something wrong?”

“My neighbor just went into labor and her husband is taking her to the nearest hospital.  Her husband didn’t want to leave his son and Esther alone at home, so he brought them along as well.  So, I’m going to go check on them to see if they need help with anything.”

“Oh, that sounds bad.  Best be going then.  We’ll inform the others that you have an emergency to deal with.”

“Many thanks you two.  I’ll update you two on the situation as soon as I can.”

“And there she goes.”

“Hope everything’s ok with the Human family she’s neighbors with.  Ah, I forgot to mention that there is a consolation in knowing that almost all of the dragons are located at the Dragons’ Aerie.”

“And what’s that?”

“At least we know that the dragons who are man-eaters are extinct…”

When Il-Hwan received the call from Kyung-Hye’s phone, instead of hearing his wife’s voice, what he heard instead was his son’s voice.  Jinwoo sounded confused and panicky.  At the time, Il-Hwan didn’t know why Jinwoo was so flustered, and tried to calm his son down to ascertain what was wrong.  Once he managed to calm Jinwoo down, his son told him that Kyung-Hye had suddenly fallen to the ground and looked like she was in pain.  Jinwoo also mentioned that something was leaking out of Kyung-Hye.  It was then that Il-Hwan knew what was happening to his wife.

Kyung-Hye’s water broke, and she was going into labor.

However, when Kyung-Hye was pregnant with Jinwoo, it had never gotten this bad.  Il-Hwan was getting a bad feeling.  Something wasn’t right.  He couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread.

As if to confirm this feeling of dread he was having, he suddenly heard a scream.  A scream that was filled with pain.  And he knew the voice that had screamed in pain.

The one who screamed in pain was Kyung-Hye.

Il-Hwan wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that Jinwoo called while he was driving the car.  When Il-Hwan heard his wife’s pain filled scream, he felt his heart drop and he quickly instructed Jinwoo to go to Kyung-Hye so that he could inform her that he was almost home.  Jinwoo heard what Il-Hwan told him, and the young boy swiftly headed for Kyung-Hye.  Il-Hwan could hear that Jinwoo was scurrying for a bit, and it didn’t take long for him to hear Kyung-Hye’s labored breathing.  He quickly reassured his wife that he was almost home.

However, just as he was done reassuring Kyung-Hye, she had to suppress another scream.  After she suppressed the scream, she replied to Il-Hwan that the baby couldn’t wait any longer.  Il-Hwan then hung up his phone and threw it onto the passenger seat in a panic.  In hindsight maybe it would have been better for Il-Hwan to stay on the phone to at least give his wife some form of emotional support.  But anxieties and worst-case scenarios kept popping up into his mind.  In addition, there was also this nagging feeling that was ever present in his mind.

If there is anything that he had learned while being a firefighter, it’s that one shouldn’t ignore their instincts.

Il-Hwan didn’t know how long it took him to get to the apartment building.  He could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he parked the car.  When Il-Hwan got out of the car, he heard a familiar voice shouting at him from above.  Gray eyes looked upward to see Jinwoo, who was waving his arms at him from the Sung family’s apartment balcony that was located on the ninth floor of the apartment building.  Il-Hwan calmed down a bit when he saw Jinwoo, but was still anxious since he didn’t know what type of condition his wife was in.

Il-Hwan hurriedly ran into the apartment building and entered the elevator.  Every second that passed seemed to increase his agitation and his heartbeat.  It felt like his heart wanted to burst out of his chest at any moment.  Il-Hwan took some deep breaths in an attempt to calm down his heart rate; and just when his heart rate was stabilizing, the elevator suddenly dinged and his heart in response began to race again.  When the elevator door opened, he rushed out and immediately headed for apartment 902.

He quickly unlocked the apartment’s front door and made a beeline to the kitchenette.

What Il-Hwan saw when he reached the kitchenette was Kyung-Hye leaning against the sink cabinet.  His gray eyes widened when he saw how much amniotic fluid had leaked out onto the floor.  Compared to when Kyung-Hye’s water broke when she was pregnant with Jinwoo, the amount of amniotic fluid that leaked out of her back then was only a little bit.  Hence why the amount of amniotic fluid that was on the kitchenette floor greatly alarmed him.  He quickly rushed to his wife’s side and checked her condition.

Kyung-Hye’s face was drenched in sweat and her breathing, while a bit ragged, was overall stable.  Due to her sweat, Kyung-Hye’s long black hair clung to her face.  And as if she sensed Il-Hwan’s presence, she opened her eyes and looked at him.  She seemed a bit out of it.  Perhaps the pain from both the contractions and whatever other discomforts she was having were making it hard for her to differentiate her surroundings.  While he was no doctor, he did have a lot of experience carrying or assisting injured people from accidents or life threating situations.  The black-haired man was at least confident in his ability to help his wife get out of the apartment building and into the car to drive to the hospital.  He was about to help his wife when he suddenly paused for a brief moment.

In his hurriedness to prioritize Kyung-Hye, he almost forgot about Jinwoo.  Not only Jinwoo but there was also someone else in the apartment.  Another child to be more precise.  Due to being a firefighter, Il-Hwan’s schedule could get a bit hectic at times, so it took him a bit longer to meet their new neighbors who moved into the apartment building a few months ago.

A mother and her son moved into apartment 903.

Il-Hwan looked around the kitchenette and the living room.  He found Jinwoo, who was standing by the dining table with a worried expression on the young boy’s face.  The black-haired man continued to search around a bit more, when he suddenly heard the sound of the balcony’s glass sliding door being closed.  In front of the glass sliding doors was a child with short platinum blond hair who had on a pair of glasses.  The child was also holding onto an orange fox plushie that was pressed against their chest.  Il-Hwan immediately knew who the child was by their hair color.

The son of the Wittebane family who now occupied apartment 903, Esther.

Il-Hwan wasn’t that surprised that the platinum blond boy was at their apartment.  Since there weren’t many children around Jinwoo’s age in the apartment building (or not many children that Jinwoo would go out of his way to play with), his son would usually hang out with Esther.  Hence it was not an uncommon sight to see Esther at their apartment and vice viscera with Jinwoo, who would go over to the Wittebane family apartment.  It’s just that the situation felt a bit awkward what with how Kyung-Hye was going into labor.  Since Il-Hwan was unsure of whether or not Esther’s mom was home, he had to ask the violet-eyed boy where his mom was.

“Esther, where is your mom?”

“She went out for a bit.  A friend of Mom’s is in a pinch, and she went to go help them.”

Was what Esther had replied to him.

Il-Hwan didn’t know how long Esther’s mom would be gone and he didn’t want to leave Jinwoo or Esther by themselves while he took Kyung-Hye to the hospital.  And thus, Il-Hwan made his decision without any hesitation.  While he wasn’t sure if the decision was the right one, he at least felt like it was the right one to make considering the situation.

As Il-Hwan helped his wife up, he looked at the 2 boys and told them to follow him to the car.  Jinwoo and Esther glanced at each other for a moment before they followed behind Il-Hwan.  It didn’t take long for them to reach the elevator.  Once they were inside the elevator, Esther pressed the button that had a 1 on it and the elevator door closed.  Il-Hwan thanked Esther and reached inside of his pants pocket.  The black-haired man froze when he felt nothing.  He then rummaged around in another pants pocket and still felt nothing.  Il-Hwan frowned, before recalling that he threw his phone on the passenger seat.  The black-haired man’s lips tightened into a thin line.

Il-Hwan can only hope that there would be no troubles or surprises on their way to the nearest hospital.

The elevator came to a halt and dinged.  Once the elevator door opened, everyone quickly exited the elevator.  They made a beeline for Il-Hwan’s car and the car door that Il-Hwan first opened was the passenger side door.  When the black-haired man opened the passenger door, he immediately spotted his phone on the passenger seat.  Il-Hwan instantly grabbed his phone and handed it to Esther.  While Il-Hwan helped Kyung-Hye get into the car, he told Esther to use his phone to call his mom.

Esther nodded at Il-Hwan and quickly dialed his mom’s phone number.  While Esther was dialing his mom’s phone number, Jinwoo opened the backseat door.  The black-haired boy then got into the car and scooted over to the backseat that was opposite to the opened backseat door to give Esther room to get into the car.  Esther thanked Jinwoo and quickly got into the car.  Once inside of the car, the violet eyed boy grabbed the backseat door and closed it so that Il-Hwan didn’t have to close it.  Il-Hwan paused a bit when he saw that Esther closed the backseat door by himself, but a groan from Kyung-Hye quickly redirected his attention away from Esther.

Il-Hwan saw that Kyung-Hye’s right hand was gripping the fabric of her light blue maternity dress.  The black-haired man tried to assure Kyung-Hye that everything’s going to be ok.  However, it was better said than done.  Il-Hwan didn’t know what was causing his wife’s pain nor did he have any idea if she had sustained any injuries.  All that he knew was that she was going into labor and that she was leaking a lot of amniotic fluid.  Il-Hwan squeezed Kyung-Hye hand to give her some comfort and fasten her seatbelt.  He closed the passenger door and sprinted for the driver’s door.  Il-Hwan hastily got into the car and started the engine.  He then drove out of the apartment building’s parking lot like a bat out of hell.

Thankfully nothing happened during their drive to the hospital.

Il-Hwan temporarily parked in front of the hospital and hurriedly got out of the car to get some help from the hospital staff.  Fortunately, a nurse happened to spot Il-Hwan as he was exiting the car.  The nurse rushed over to Il-Hwan and asked what’s wrong.  Il-Hwan quickly told the nurse that his wife’s water broke and that she was going into labor.  The nurse instantly realized the severity of the situation and rushed to get a wheelchair.

It didn’t take long for the nurse to get a wheelchair.  Both the nurse and Il-Hwan helped get Kyung-Hye into the wheelchair.  Once his wife was in the wheelchair, the nurse wheeled Kyung-Hye into the hospital.

What happened next after Il-Hwan watched as Kyung-Hye was taken to an emergency room, was a bit blur to him.

Perhaps the adrenaline was wearing off since Il-Hwan knew that his wife was in good hands.  And while it seemed like Kyung-Hye was out of the woods, Il-Hwan wouldn’t know for certain until he was 100% sure that both his wife and unborn (or soon to be born) child were safe and sound.  Though Il-Hwan made sure that both Jinwoo and Esther stay close to him.  Since for two 7-year-old kids, it would be easy for them to get lost in a hospital.

So here they are, the three of them anxiously waiting for any news on Kyung-Hye’s condition in the emergency room waiting area.

The three of them were seated near a TV that was playing the local news.  Closest to the TV was Il-Hwan and the one who occupied the seat next to him was Esther.  And Jinwoo was seated next to Esther.

Il-Hwan takes a glance at the waiting area’s clock.

Il-Hwan wasn’t sure how long they were waiting.  Minutes, half an hour, or maybe an hour had passed.  To Il-Hwan, it felt like an eternity.  An eternity of waiting for any news concerning his wife.

After checking the time, Il-Hwan glances at Jinwoo and Esther to see how they were holding up.

Jinwoo was looking down at the ground with a worried expression on his face.  His son’s hands were gripping the fabric of his dark blue shorts.  Esther on the other hand was hugging the orange fox plushie close to him and the platinum blond boy’s chin was resting on the fox plushie’s head.  Both boys looked tired, although Esther in peculiar looked especially tired.  Il-Hwan could see that every now and then, Esther closed his eyes as if to doze off for a bit.  However, Esther’s eyes quickly flew open due to the fact that the violet-eyed boy realized that he was about to fall asleep.

‘I should apologize to Esther for dragging him along with us.’ Il-Hwan thought and turned his head to Esther.

“Sorry for dragging you along with us, Esther.” Il-Hwan apologizes to the platinum blond boy.  Esther blinks and looks up to Il-Hwan.

“It’s no problem, Sung-nim.” Esther replies to Il-Hwan.  “Besides, I have already called Mom and informed her of what just happened.  She said that she’ll try to get here as fast as she can.”

Even though Esther’s mom had informed him that her son was learning not only how to speak and write in Korean, but also South Korean culture as well.  So, it was inevitable that the violet-eyed boy would make mistakes here and there.  As both Kyung-Hye and Il-Hwan got to know Esther, they gave the platinum blond boy permission to call them “eomeoni” and “abeoji”.  “Mother” and “father” in Korean respectively.  But Esther’s reaction to this was to look uncomfortable to say the least.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that it sounds a bit unformal for me to refer to you two as such.”

Esther then bowed in apology.  Il-Hwan and Kyung-Hye had to stop Esther from bending his waist even deeper to show how apologetic he was.  Therefore, whenever Esther addressed either Kyung-Hye or Il-Hwan with “Sung-nim”, they would usually just let it slide.

“Oh, here is your phone Sung-nim,” Esther interrupted Il-Hwan’s musings.  In Esther’s right hand was Il-Hwan’s phone.  “Thought you might want this.”

“Ah, thank you, Esther.” Il-Hwan said and took his phone back from Esther.  It had almost slipped from Il-Hwan’s mind that Esther had his phone.  With everything that had happened, losing his phone was the least of his worries.

 It was during this exchange between Il-Hwan and Esther that Jinwoo suddenly stopped looking at the floor and stared at Il-Hwan.

“Dad,” Jinwoo begins, “will both Mom and the baby be…ok?”

“They’re…” Il-Hwan pauses for a bit.  “They’re going to be fine, Jinwoo.  The doctors will make sure that both she and the baby will be ok.”

“Will they, though?” Jinwoo questions, not at all conceive by Il-Hwan attempts to reassure him.  “Will both the baby and Mom really be ok, Dad?”

Il-Hwan was unsure on what else he should say to Jinwoo to quell his son’s uneasiness.  Even Il-Hwan wasn’t sure if both Kyung-Hye and the baby were going to be ok.  For all he knew, the worst-case scenario may or may not have already occurred to Kyung-Hye and the baby.

While Il-Hwan tries to think of a way to placate his son, Esther abruptly starts talking.

“Do believe in her, Jinwoo?” Esther suddenly asks.

“Huh?” Jinwoo blinks and looks at Esther.

“Your mom,” Esther gazes at Jinwoo, “do you believe in her?”

“I…” Jinwoo fidgets in his seat.  “I do, but…”

“Then keep believing in her,” Esther says, “as long as you believe in her, both she and the baby will be ok.”

Il-Hwan watches as Jinwoo’s restless expression turns into confusion at Esther’s words.  Jinwoo tilts his head to the side, not really understanding the meaning behind Esther’s words.  Jinwoo then crosses his arms over his chest and mulls over Esther’s words for a bit.

“Believe in her?” Jinwoo inquires.

“Believe in her.”

Jinwoo becomes silent and he stares down at his hands that are still gripping his pants.  He stares at his hands for a bit.  Then, Jinwoo loosens his grip on his pants and turns his attention to Esther.

“Ok,” Jinwoo says with a hint of determination in his voice.  “I’ll continue to believe in Mom.”

While Il-Hwan had a somewhat general understanding of what Esther was saying, the black-haired man was a bit surprised that Esther words managed to soothe Jinwoo’s restlessness.

‘Believe in her, huh…’ Il-Hwan ponders the meaning behind Esther’s words.

In Il-Hwan’s line of work, it wasn’t uncommon for people to take a wait and hope approach.  Whether it be someone trapped inside of a car, someone who can’t escape from a burning building, someone who is outside witnessing the chaotic situation, or even someone who became hysterical because their pet was in danger and many other scenarios that he could think of; all that they could do was wait and hope for the situation to take a turn for the better.  Not only that but they had to wait until someone came to help them.  Whether or not those rescues were successful or not depended on various factors.  Be it skills, careful planning, teamwork, the environment, or even luck itself can change the outcome of the situation.  On top of that, the ones who are doing the rescuing also have to make sure that the people that they’re rescuing have faith in them.  For the rescue itself can take a turn for the worst if both parties don’t trust each other.

Trust is a two-way street, after all.

‘Maybe I should also have faith in Kyung-Hye.’ Il-Hwan thought, and he could gradually feel that the uneasiness that he had was easing up a bit, as if a weight was being lifted off of his shoulders.  Although not all of Il-Hwan’s anxieties were gone since he still felt on edge about what was happening to Kyung-Hye.  ‘To not put in any faith in my wife would be kind of insulting to her, wouldn’t it?’

For as long as Il-Hwan had known Kyung-Hye, his wife was someone who was not only kind and selfless, but also strong as well.  When the two first started dating, Kyung-Hye’s parents were against it.  They even tried to set her up with someone else because they believed that Il-Hwan was a bad influence on her.  However, Kyung-Hye stood firm in her decision to date Il-Hwan.  Kyung-Hye parents at first tolerated their daughter’s rebelliousness.  But as the years went by and it got to the point where both she and Il-Hwan were going to tie the knot that her parents started to get agitated.  Kyung-Hye parents tried to tell her that he was not a good match for her (despise the fact that by this point in time, he had long gotten a job as a firefighter).  And when they found out that Il-Hwan became a firefighter, they argued with her that she shouldn’t get marriage to him because if he died while in the line of duty, then she would become a widow, and their children would have no father to look after them.

At that point, Kyung-Hye had enough of her parents’ attitude toward Il-Hwan.

“You know what Eomeoni, Abeoji, I’ve had enough of you two constantly talking down to Il-Hwan.  I’ve been waiting to see whether or not you guys would eventually warm up to him, but it seems like I was sorely mistaken.  I do not care about your opinions on Il-Hwan.  So, what if he’s a ‘bad influence’ or a ‘bad match’?  Go ahead and disown me.  In fact, I’ll make sure our children wouldn’t see hide nor hair of you two until they’re adults!”

And that was the last time Kyung-Hye spoke to her parents.  She then proceeded to cut off contact with not only her parents but also some family members as well since they too didn’t look too kindly upon Il-Hwan.  The only family members that Kyung-Hye didn’t cut off contact with were her grandparents on her father’s side, a few cousins, and an aunt from her mother’s side.

After the dust had settled and Kyung-Hye had calmed down, Il-Hwan told her that she didn’t need to go to such lengths to be with him.  However, Kyung-Hye begged to differ with Il-Hwan’s point.  Kyung-Hye always felt that something was a bit off about her family.  She couldn’t put her finger on what it was that she felt was off about her family.  It wasn’t until she started dating Il-Hwan that she finally figured out what it was that felt off about her family.

They were a bit toxic to say the least.

“Il-Hwan, the comparison between you and my family is like night and day.  I always wonder why my parents and other family members looked down on those who have disabilities and those who are single parents.  Various thoughts constantly plagued me as I grew up.  ‘Why are you guys treating these people with disdain?’ or ‘Why do you guys look at these people with such scorn?’ and many other similar thoughts kept repeating in my mind like a broken record.  Am I wrong for thinking that such behavior was not normal?  And when I saw you treating our one friend who has a single father with respect and friendliness, I was surprised to say the least because that was my first time seeing a positive interaction with those that my family don’t like…”

“Kyung-Hye…”

“Don’t give me that look, Il-Hwan.  Besides, this was a perfect opportunity for me to cut contact with those in my family that aren’t exactly kind hearted people.  So don’t go blaming yourself for my decision, Il-Hwan.”

After Kyung-Hye cut contact with her relatives, Il-Hwan was offered a job transfer near Seoul due to the fact that some of their firefighters were going to retire and they needed some new people to fill in for their positions.

Il-Hwan immediately accepted the job transfer offer and both he and Kyung-Hye moved away from their hometown.  The ones that they informed about the move were their closest friends and the non-toxic relatives of Kyung-Hye’s family.  Their friends, of course, were ecstatic and congratulated them.  Kyung-Hye’s non-toxic relatives were also happy and told them that they would make sure that their new address wasn’t leaked to her parents or anyone else in the family that they didn’t trust.

The two then moved to the Seoul area without a hitch and began a new chapter in their lives.  And sometime later, Kyung-Hye gave birth to Jinwoo.  Of course, they had their ups and downs but other than that, their family was just your average run-of-the-mill family.

‘Can’t believe that almost forgot about what I and Kyung-Hye have been through…’ Il-Hwan thought as he leaned forward slightly in his chair and covered his eyes with his right hand.  ‘And to give up on Kyung-Hye now…’

“Dad?” Jinwoo looks at Il-Hwan with a worried expression.

Esther on the other hand stays silent and merely observes Jinwoo and Il-Hwan.

“It’s nothing Jinwoo, I was just thinking about stuff that happened in the past.” Il-Hwan replies and uncovers his eyes.  “We are about to have a new addition to the family soon, and your mom and the doctors are working hard to ensure that the baby enters the world safely.  That’s why Jinwoo, we should believe in both the doctors and your mom, ok?”

Jinwoo looks at Il-Hwan with a perplex expression on his face but nevertheless nods.  Il-Hwan then reaches his left hand out to Jinwoo and ruffles his son’s hair.  Jinwoo frowns and ties to stop Il-Hwan from messing with his hair.

‘To think all it took were some words from Esther to not only calm Jinwoo down but also make me contemplate about the past for a bit…’ Il-Hwan ponders as he slowly removes his left hand from Jinwoo’s head.

Il-Hwan then turns his attention to Esther.

“Esther,” Il-Hwan begins, “are your arms getting tired?  Do you want me to hold your plushie, or do you want to set it down?”

Esther blinks for a bit and his glasses slightly slide down his nose.  The platinum blond boy turns his head away from Il-Hwan and uses his right hand to quickly readjust his glass.  After readjusting his glasses, Esther then turns his head to face Il-Hwan.

“No need for you to hold onto my plushie, Sung-nim.  My arms aren’t tired.  Besides, hugging a plushie helps calm me down.” Esther says and gives the fox plushie a squeeze.

(Was it Il-Hwan’s imagination, or did the fox plushie emanated a squishy and wet sound just now?)

Before Il-Hwan could reply to Esther, someone’s voice interrupts him.

“Sung Il-Hwan-nim?” Someone calls out and all three of them look up to see a man wearing teal scrubs along with a white lab coat approaching them.

“Yes, that would be me.” Il-Hwan quickly gets up from his seat.  “Any news concerning my wife?”

“We do indeed have news regarding your wife, but would you like me to say it now or in private?” The doctor asks as he glances over at the two children.  “If private, I can have one of nurse’s watch over them for a bit.”

“…Private,” Il-Hwan says and turns his attention to Jinwoo and Esther.  “I’ll be right back you two, so don’t make any trouble, ok?  If you two need to use the restroom, don’t hesitate to ask the nurse to lead you two to the restroom, alright?”

Both Jinwoo and Esther nod their heads at Il-Hwan.  Satisfy with their respond, Il-Hwan pats their heads and walks up to the doctor.  The doctor then gestures to a nearby nurse to come over and look after the two children.  A nurse soon comes over to them, and both Il-Hwan and the doctor walk away from them.

As the two walk out of the emergency room waiting area and pass by various hospital rooms, Il-Hwan’s heart begins to race a bit.  The two walk for a bit more before stopping in front of one of the hospital rooms.  The doctor then turns around to face Il-Hwan.

Now that the two were alone and out of earshot from the two children, Il-Hwan didn’t hesitate to ask the doctor about Kyung-Hye’s condition.

“Seonsaeng-nim, how is my wife?”

“Well,” the doctor begins, “it was a good thing that you rushed here as fast as you could Sung Il-Hwan-nim, for your wife has suffered from a placental abruption.”

“Placental abruption?” Il-Hwan paled at what the doctor just said.

“Yes, a placental abruption happens when the placenta separates from the inner wall of the uterus before birth.” The doctor explains.  “We checked to see how severe the abruption was and found that it was almost in the moderate range of separating from the uterus.  So, for the sake of both mother and child, we decided to act.”

“You mean…”

“Congratulations Sung II-Hwan-nim,” the doctor pats Il-Hwan’s left shoulder, “your wife has delivered a healthy baby girl.”

Il-Hwan froze, and his mind screeched to a halt.

“Are…” Il-Hwan swallows his saliva nervously, “are they alright?”

“They’re fine.” The doctor says and gives Il-Hwan another reassuring pat on his left shoulder.  “However, to ensure that there is no lasting damages or sudden health concerns, we think it’s best to have both your wife and daughter stay in the hospital for a while.  Just so we can monitor both of them and make sure that they both have a clean bill of health.”

“Ah, yeah, of course.  I have no problems with them staying in the hospital for a while.  Better to be safe than sorry, you know?” Il-Hwan says in a perplex tone as his brain tries to process the doctor’s words.  Yet he could feel a wave of relief washing over him.  Because Kyung-Hye and their daughter are now out of harm’s way.

“Absolutely.” The doctor replies.  “If you want, you can go see them now, Sung Il-Hwan-nim.”

“Can I?”

“Of course,” the doctor then points to a hospital room.  More specifically, a hospital room on the left side of the hallway that they are standing in front of.  “Right now, your wife is recuperating and the examination on your daughter has been completed.  Currently, we’re just watching over them for a while before we transfer them to the postpartum unit.  So, you can go check on them now before we move them.”

“T-Thank you, Seonsaeng-nim.  Without you and the other hospital members, I dare not imagine what could have happened to my wife and daughter if I didn’t make it to the hospital in time.”

“It’s no problem, Sung II-Hwan-nim.” The doctor replies with a bit of a chuckle.  “Besides, like I said just now, if you didn’t rush here as soon as you could then the placental abruption would have worsened.  And if the abruption got any worse, then both your wife and daughter would have been in danger.  Anyways, I’ll give you three some alone time before we move your wife and daughter to the postpartum unit.”

Il-Hwan nods and watches as the doctor walks away.

‘They’re safe and sound…’ Il-Hwan breathes a sigh of relief.  ‘Safe and sound…’

Il-Hwan almost wanted to fall down to his knees but didn’t because his left hand was pressed against the left side of the hallway for support.  He then closed his eyes and dipped his head down as he felt the weight that he had been carrying was disappearing.  Il-Hwan didn’t move from his spot and looked down at the ground.

Just as Il-Hwan was about to start contemplating on his next course of action, a voice suddenly called out to him.

“Sung-ssi?” It was a woman’s voice that called out to him.  A woman’s voice that Il-Hwan was slowly becoming accustomed to.  Il-Hwan raised his head and opened his eyes to see that a woman with long champagne blond hair and amber eyes was approaching him.

It was Wittebane Gilda.

“So, this is where you were,” the blond says and stops in front of Il-Hwan, “Esther explained as much as he could on the phone, and I rushed here as fast as I could.  How is Kyung-Hye-ssi’s condition?”

“Ah, Wittebane-ssi,” Il-Hwan stares at the blond woman with a stupefy expression for a brief moment before he quickly removes his left hand from the wall and answers her inquire, “the doctor just told me that Kyung-Hye had a placental abruption.  However, both Kyung-Hye and the baby are now out of harm’s way and are doing fine.  But for now, both of them are going to be staying in the hospital for a while just to make sure that no other complications occur.”

“I see, that is good news that both Kyung-Hye-ssi and the baby are ok.” The blond woman says with relief.  “So, boy or girl?”

“Baby girl.” Il-Hwan replies.  “By the way, is your friend alright?  Esther told me you had to go help them for a bit.”

“Yeah, a friend of mine’s dog got their head stuck in a fence.  She called me and asked me if I could come over to help her.  So I went over to her house, and we managed to free her dog from the fence.  Fortunately, the dog was only stuck in the fence for a little while.  But just in case, my friend took her dog to the vet to make sure that her dog didn’t have any irreparable injuries.” Wittebane says and lightly scratches her head.

“Did you guys call for the fire department or anyone that helps with animal control?  It’s not unusual for us firefighters to lend a helping hand when it comes to dealing with animals, whether it be for emergencies or for something that’s relatively low priority.  I even do a few tasks that involved dealing with animals.” Il-Hwan says, curious as to how Wittebane and her friend manage to get the dog’s head out of the fence.

“No, we didn’t call for anyone.  We just sawed off a bit of the fence bar and my friend’s dog was freed.” Wittebane shakes her head.

Silence.

The two adults stare at each other, unsure as to who should continue the conversation.

While Il-Hwan didn’t know what Wittebane was thinking about, he on the other hand had a lot of questions on his mind that he wanted to ask Wittebane.  But he wasn’t sure that the questions he wanted to ask would be considered overstepping her boundaries.  Because between Kyung-Hye and Il-Hwan, Kyung-Hye was the one who knew Wittebane the most.  Il-Hwan himself only interacted with Wittebane a few times, but not enough to actually be familiar with her.  He and Wittebane were more or less strangers rather than acquaintances.

And the questions he wanted to ask her were definitely questions that strangers (much less acquaintances) wouldn’t be asking; like would it be inappropriate to ask Wittebane to look after Jinwoo for the rest of the day?  Not only that, but there was something in the back of his mind that kept nagging at him ever since he arrived at the Sung family apartment.

Wasn’t Esther just a bit mature for his age?

At first, Il-Hwan thought that Esther would have a similar reaction like Jinwoo (who was confused and panicky), but no the platinum blond boy didn’t.  Instead, the violet-eyed boy was rather calm and not only followed Il-Hwan’s instructions but also did things that made him be more attentive to Kyung-Hye.  Whether it was pressing the elevator button or closing the backseat door of the car, Esther was the one who took the initiative to do such actions by himself.  Il-Hwan didn’t ask nor gestured to Esther (or even Jinwoo) to do those things.  Esther just acted on his own as if it was natural not to get in the way of an adult who was dealing with a very intense situation.  Not only that but the violet-eyed boy also managed to calm down Jinwoo with ease as well.

Overall, Esther was very mature for a 7-year-old boy.

There was also the fact that Il-Hwan haven’t seen or heard of Wittebane’s husband at all.  And not even Kyung-Hye knew anything about Wittebane’s husband during the times his wife was becoming acquainted with Wittebane.  Was there a reason as to why Wittebane’s husband didn’t live with them?  Did Wittebane and her husband get a divorce?  Or was Wittebane’s husband dead?

There was also the possibility that Wittebane never had a husband to begin with.  But even Il-Hwan felt that those types of questions that involved Wittebane’s personal life would be overstepping boundaries to say the least (especially coming from someone like him who’s practically a stranger to Wittebane).  And the last thing that he wanted to do was ask Wittebane questions that may offend her and sour her opinion of him.

Il-Hwan was a firefighter, not a detective!

As Il-Hwan tries to think of a question to ask that will not trigger any metaphorical landmines, Wittebane suddenly speaks.

“Sung-ssi,” Wittebane begins, “why don’t I look after Jinwoo for the rest of the day?  Right now, Kyung-Hye-ssi and your daughter will be transferring to the postpartum ward soon.  And you probably have a lot on your plate now like informing your workplace that you and Kyung-Hye-ssi now have a new member of the family to take care of.  Not only that, but you probably also have to inform Kyung-Hye-ssi’s employer too, so that you guys can concentrate on taking care of your new little one.”

“No, I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that, Wittebane-ssi!” Il-Hwan eyes went wide at what Wittebane just said.

“It’s fine Sung-ssi,” Wittebane says, “besides, Esther doesn’t mind if Jinwoo stays with us for a bit.  And if you need to stay in the hospital overnight, I don’t mind looking after Jinwoo for a while longer.  Nor do I think that Esther would mind either.”

“But…” Il-Hwan hesitates.

“I insist, Sung-ssi.” Wittebane holds her right hand up to stop Il-Hwan’s attempts to decline her help.

“Well, if you insist…”

“No worries.  Besides, life happens sometimes when you least expected it to happen.  Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, you know?” Wittebane says and puts out her phone.  “Ah, before I forget, go ahead and save my number on your phone, Sung-ssi.  Kyung-Hye-ssi recently got my phone number, and I might as well also give it to you too.  Just in case either you or Kyung-Hye-ssi need to get in contact with me and vice versa.”

Even though Il-Hwan was a bit hesitant to accept Wittebane’s phone number, he nonetheless added her phone number into his phone.  After both parents saved each other’s phone numbers into their phones, they then put away their phones and looked at each other.  Wittebane then smiled at Il-Hwan.

“Then I’ll go and take Esther and Jinwoo back home.  And if it doesn’t get too dark, maybe I’ll take them to go get some ice cream or something sweet to eat.  From what I heard from Esther and Jinwoo, they didn’t totally freakout while in a very stressful situation.  Maybe a bit anxious, but that’s par for the course since the two are still children.” Wittebane then tilts her head to Il-Hwan.  “So why not give them a treat as a reward?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.  They’ve been through a lot today and could use something to relieve them of today’s stress.” Il-Hwan agrees with Wittebane’s suggestion.  “Wittebane-ssi, do you need-“

“No need to give me money, Sung-ssi.”  Wittebane interrupts Il-Hwan.  “I have no problem paying for Jinwoo’s dessert.”

No matter what Il-Hwan said, it practically seemed like Wittebane knew what to say to counter him.  Almost as though she had experienced this type of situation lots of times before.  Yet at the same time, Il-Hwan couldn’t help but feel grateful for Wittebane’s help.

“Then I’ll leave Jinwoo in your care, Wittebane-ssi.” Il-Hwan says and bows to her.

“Don’t mention it, Sung-ssi.” Wittebane says with a smile.  “Then I better get going.  Call me when you get an update on Kyung-Hye-ssi’s condition or if something urgent comes up.”

Wittebane then turns around and begins to walk away from Il-Hwan.

“Wittebane-ssi,” Il-Hwan suddenly spoke up.

“Hm?”

“Even though we are only just neighbors,” Il-Hwan begins, eyes gleaming with determination.  “And it isn’t my place to interfere into your personal life.  But don’t hesitate to tell us if you and Esther need any help, okay?”

Wittebane pauses for a brief moment and turns around to face Il-Hwan.

When Wittebane’s amber eyes gazed into Il-Hwan’s gray eyes, the black-haired man couldn’t help but feel goosebumps all over his body.  The feeling that he felt from her gaze was off putting to say the least.  It was almost as if…

…As if he was being stared at by something that was higher on the food chain.

‘Shoot, was that overstepping it?’ Il-Hwan winced inwardly.  ‘I probably should’ve kept my mouth shut…’

Even though what Il-Hwan just said might have come across as crossing the line; he couldn’t help but at least let Wittebane know that if she ever needed help, both he and Kyung-Hye wouldn’t mind giving her a helping hand.  Because even though both families were neighbors and their children went to elementary school together, the adults in both families haven’t formed any friendly ties yet.  But that didn’t deter Wittebane at all.  In fact, it seemed as if Wittebane didn’t care at all whether or not she and the two adults of the Sung family were on friendly terms or not.  It was also Wittebane who first put forth to Il-Hwan that she wouldn’t mind watching over his son for a bit so that he could deal with the aftermath of today’s events.

And if there was one thing that Il-Hwan was learning about Wittebane was that she gave off an impression of someone who would lend a hand to those who needed help.

Even though Wittebane expressed a willingness to help, the stare that she was giving Il-Hwan was anything but amiable.  Because goosebumps weren’t the only thing Il-Hwan was feeling from her stare.  His heart was beating fast, and chills were going up and down his spine.  Il-Hwan wasn’t sure why his body was reacting like this.  But he recognized the feeling that was making his body react this way.

It was fear.

Il-Hwan was no stranger to fear, but the fear he felt from Wittebane’s stare was different.  It wasn’t an irrational or rational fear that he was feeling.  But rather it was an instinctual fear that he was feeling.  As if his entire being was warning him not to anger or mess with Wittebane.

Yet even though Il-Hwan knew that it was fear that was causing his body to reacted this way, he still maintained eye contact with Wittebane.

Despite the fear, Il-Hwan did not back down.

“Does Kyung-Hye-ssi share the same opinion as you, Sung-ssi?” Wittebane suddenly inquires, eyes still staring into Il-Hwan’s gray eyes.

“While I and Kyung-Hye may see things from different points of view, we both reach the same conclusion one way or another.” Il-Hwan gulps nervously.  “That and she would speak highly of you anytime she mentioned you, Wittebane-ssi.  So yes, I would say she has the same opinion as me.”

“Is that so…”

The two adults continue to stare at each other.

Neither one of them was willing to break eye contact.  However, Il-Hwan could feel that he was beginning to buckle under the effects of Wittebane’s stare.  Sweat was running down his face and his shirt was slowly getting soaked in sweat.  Not only that but he also found it hard to breathe as well.  As if there was some sort of invisible pressure that was pressing down on him.

Il-Hwan wasn’t sure how long he could withstand Wittebane’s stare.

Because just when he was about to reach his limit, Wittebane suddenly averted her eyes away from Il-Hwan’s eyes.  And instantly, the fear and pressure that he felt immediately vanished.  The pressure that was pressing down on him had disappeared and the feeling of suffocation that accompanied it was also gone as well.   As though the pressure he felt just now was nothing more than his imagination.

‘Is my fatigue finally catching up to me?’ Il-Hwan ponders as he unknowingly lets out a shaky sigh of relief.

(It didn’t even cross Il-Hwan’s mind that what happened just now may have been caused by something supernatural.)

“…Then I’ll keep that in mind, Sung-ssi,” Wittebane says, as she seemingly ignores Il-Hwan’s attempts to regain composure.  “Anyways, I should get going.  Esther and Jinwoo are probably getting a bit antsy as to why it’s taking you or me so long to inform them on what’s going on.”

“Ah, r-right,” Il-Hwan says as he regains his composure.  “Telling them that Kyung-Hye is ok now should put the two at ease.”

“Yeah,” Wittebane nods.  “Hopefully there won’t be any more surprises for today.  Well, good bye Sung-ssi.  And remember that if anything happens, don’t hesitate to call me.”

Wittebane lightly smiles at Il-Hwan and takes her leave.  Il-Hwan watches as the Wittebane leaves and disappears from his sight.  Once Wittebane has disappeared from his sight, he blinks and pulls out his phone.

‘Oh right, what day is it today?’ Il-Hwan ponders as he turns on his phone to check the date.

June 22

‘It’s practically been about 4 months since those two have moved next door to us.’ Il-Hwan thought as he put his phone back into his pants pocket.  After Il-Hwan put away his phone, he then opened the door to Kyung-Hye’s temporary hospital room.

Sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed was Kyung-Hye.  Her eyes were closed, and her chest was rising and falling in tandem to her breathing.  Il-Hwan then directed his gaze to a hospital bassinet that was positioned near Kyung-Hye’s hospital bed.  In the bassinet was something small wrapped in a light pink blanket.

As Il-Hwan steps into Kyung-Hye’s temporary hospital room, he quietly closes the door behind him and walks up to the bassinet.

Every step that Il-Hwan took felt heavy like lead.  Yet as he got closer to the bassinet, he could feel a sense of anticipation well up inside of him.  He stopped walking once he was near the bassinet.

Il-Hwan gently picks up the light pink bundle and carefully cradles the bundle in his arms.  He then pulls down the light pink blanket a bit to reveal a baby.  The baby blinks and looks up at Il-Hwan.

“Hey there,” Il-Hwan couldn’t help but smile.

He watches as the baby smiles at him and begins to make cooing sounds.

“Mmm…” Il-Hwan suddenly hears a groan, and he turns his attention to the hospital bed.

Kyung-Hye slowly opens her eyes and turns her head to Il-Hwan.

“How are you feeling?” Il-Hwan asks as he walks up to her hospital bed.

“Tired.” Kyung-Hye muttered in a soft voice.  She blinked for a bit when she noticed that Il-Hwan was cradling something in his arms.  “Honey, is that…”

“Yeah,” Il-Hwan shows his wife the baby, “it’s a baby girl.  Want to hold her?”

Kyung-Hye stares at Il-Hwan in quiet surprise for a moment before she nods.  Il-Hwan passes the baby over to Kyung-Hye, who quickly cradles their daughter.  Now that he sees with his own two eyes that both Kyung-Hye and their daughter are fine, he leans his head onto his wife’s shoulder.

“Il-Hwan?” Kyung-Hye asked when she felt Il-Hwan’s head on her shoulder.

“I-I’m so, so glad that you two are ok.” Il-Hwan could feel tears starting to fall from his eyes.  “Thought that something bad was going to happen to you two…”

Il-Hwan begins to sob and pulls his wife and daughter (being careful as to not smother the baby) into a tight hug.  Kyung-Hye in respond leans against Il-Hwan.

The only sound that resounded in the temporary hospital room was the sounds of a husband crying in relief.

Chapter 1 End