Retire 325

325 Declaration of Revenge (1)

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang—a sound I almost never heard.

I glanced toward the bathroom, then opened the front door.

“Good morning!”

Isabella Blake greeted me with a bright, beaming smile.

“Oh my, I told you we should go together.”

“You’re just too slow! How did you ever manage to explore dungeons at that pace?”

“And you never thought maybe you’re just too fast?”

Isabella paid no attention to Robert’s words. I looked past her shoulder at Robert, who waved at me. I returned the greeting with an awkward smile.

Even though I was supposed to call them Grandma and Grandpa… I still had no idea how to act around them. How would I know, when I’d never had grandparents of my own?

“Hi, oppa…”

Behind Robert, I saw Sophia Blake, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

Of course, even if the Blakes were excited about their new grandchildren, they weren’t so out of their minds as to bring a ten-year-old over to our place first thing in the morning.

I glanced at the open door.

Not the apartment where Uirok and I lived.

The one across the hall.

There were only two units on each floor, so that was our only neighbor.

…The very apartment where the Blakes and Sophia now lived.

Isn’t it remarkable?

When Hong Seokyeong first told me it was all right to live here, there had been someone else living across the hall.

Did they move out…? I suppose they must have. Honestly, I was at school during the day, so I didn’t really know, and sometimes I left the house empty for days at a time, so I had no idea when the move-out and move-in happened.

It just annoyed me. It meant Hong Seokyeong had been preparing this for a long time.

“Hello, Teacher.”

And behind Sophia, Kang Taewoo appeared, smiling awkwardly.

I didn’t know exactly what explanation Kang Taewoo had been given. But after talking to him—a little too relaxed, as if a screw were loose—it seemed he thought his and Uirok’s circumstances were similar to his own.

That is, that we had escaped from the lab and Hong Seokyeong was helping us. That in the process, we’d become a family… something sentimental like that.

…Not exactly wrong, but not exactly right, either. There were plenty of details I wanted to correct.

But there was nothing in particular to object to, so I let him think what he wanted.

Well, for someone who’d accepted the situation so easily, he still seemed to have trouble accepting that his school teacher was now his neighbor.

“Time for breakfast! Is Irok still asleep?”

“No, he’s washing up right now…”

“You’re still so stiff.”

Isabella burst out laughing and patted my back, not hard enough to hurt.

The elderly couple, who had learned Korean and immersed themselves in Korean history and culture for the sake of their Korean daughter, were so much more familiar with Korean ways than someone like Sandra Gamble, who merely spoke the language well. Perhaps it was because they had continued to meet with Hong Seokyeong even after their daughter’s death.

“…! I-I’m here?”

“You need to wash your face properly! Bring me a towel.”

Uirok burst out of the bathroom, water dripping everywhere. Isabella fussed over him, wiping his face with a towel. Under her gentle, affectionate touch, Uirok blinked and stood quietly.

I was surprised to realize that he… could actually look like a child for once.

Well, he’d always been a child. Even compared to the co-ed school kids, he looked obviously younger.

But there was always something about him that wasn’t quite childlike. He was wary of strangers, disliked attention, spoke sharply, and had a faintly cynical air.

I’d gone through the same phase myself, so I hadn’t realized how odd it was.

“Aren’t you hungry? Grandma made lots of your favorite foods. Come eat.”

“Want to go out with Grandpa today?”

“…Are we hiking again?”

“Hiking is great for your health! Korea has so many mountains—I love it. Where I lived, there weren’t any tall mountains, so it was boring.”

Uirok, clutching Isabella’s sleeve, crossed over to the apartment across the hall.

“I don’t like hiking.”

“Even if Grandpa carries you?”

“……”

“Want me to run with you? All the way to the top?”

“…Won’t that be hard for you?”

“Grandpa was a famous Hunter back in the day. And you’re as light as a feather! You need to eat Grandma’s food and grow up big and strong!”

Robert scooped Uirok up.

I was pretty sure it was the first time he’d ever been picked up like that. I, well, preferred sitting. I liked watching things from a seat. Maybe it was because I loved movies. Aside from exercising with Father every morning, I hadn’t been very active.

But I doubted Uirok would be as fond of movies as I was. He went to taekwondo, wanted to be a Hunter…

…I found myself genuinely curious what kind of person he would become.

Soon, Uirok’s laughter echoed down the hallway. That laughter made him seem like any ordinary child. Like a kid who’d never even heard of a lab, just a normal child you’d find anywhere.

I shook my head. What a commotion for so early in the morning. I didn’t mind, but I worried the neighbors on other floors might complain.

“Meow.”

Even the cat seemed to agree, letting out a long cry.

“Heejae?”

“…Yes.”

Isabella called out to me before crossing to the other apartment. Hearing my name like that felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Come eat breakfast.”

“Yes. Just a moment. I’ll feed the cat first…”

Feeding the cat was Uirok’s job, but I could handle it this once.

Isn’t it a child’s privilege to promise to do everything and then foist it off on their guardian?

I sighed and took out the cat food. The sly creature, who only meowed sweetly for the one who fed it, raised its tail high and slipped between my legs.

---

I didn’t like that Hong Seokyeong had secretly moved his entire in-law family in across the hall, but his judgment itself wasn’t wrong.

In fact, you could say he’d placed the right people in the right positions.

Hong Seokyeong never played games with the children’s safety. Especially not if it was his son.

The Blakes were probably the people Hong Seokyeong trusted most.

And as Robert had bragged to Uirok, Robert Blake really had been a famous Hunter. Not just famous, but truly renowned. He’d been retired so long that not many people remembered him, but in his day, a Hunter who’d even received medals… well.

Now he just looked like a hiking-loving grandpa.

Still, with someone like that, I could entrust Uirok to him with peace of mind. It was far more reassuring than leaving him with the Dasun Hunters, even if I knew them.

And it made it easier to talk about Uirok’s eyes, too.

“You know you’ll be back in the dorms starting next week, right?”

“Ah, yes. I know.”

Kang Taewoo nodded from the passenger seat.

“I could have gone back sooner, actually…”

“You were so eager to be with your sister. Tired of her already?”

“Ahaha…”

Kang Taewoo laughed awkwardly, but didn’t deny it.

“Being around Irok is exhausting.”

“Well…”

“I don’t think they fought that much before. I don’t know why it’s like this now… Sohi—Sophia isn’t that kind of kid.”

Judging by his sighs, Kang Taewoo had been having a rough few days with his sister.

I couldn’t say I didn’t understand. Lately, Uirok and Sophia had been fighting constantly.

“Irok isn’t really that kind of kid…”

I couldn’t bring myself to say otherwise. Kang Taewoo was one of the few who knew what Uirok was really like.

So I changed the subject.

“I don’t know why he suddenly started acting like this, either.”

“Well… they say kids grow up fighting.”

You’re not supposed to say that when you’re a kid.

“Still, it’s kind of cute when all they’re fighting over is who gets to use the cookie cutter.”

“…Do you think Sophia will awaken?”

“Sophia?”

The thought of two elementary school Awakened fighting over cookies was not something I wanted to imagine. Especially if one of them was Uirok—that would be a disaster.

Kang Taewoo tilted his head at my question.

“I’m not sure… But if Irok awakened, wouldn’t she too? You know about the lab experiments.”

“That’s true.”

“Oh, but as far as I know, Sophia had an older brother who was an Awakened.”

I barely managed not to slam on the brakes.

“…She had a brother? Other than you?”

“I don’t know how much Sophia remembers about him. She mentioned him a few times, but even then, it seemed fuzzy.”

Kang Taewoo frowned, searching his memory.

“I think… he was an Awakened, yeah. So Sophia probably has a high chance of awakening too.”

Then, as if just remembering, he added,

“My father was an Awakened, too.”

“……”

For a moment, I considered pulling over. I hadn’t expected to miss the school counseling office so soon.

Just in case, I eased off the gas. Stay calm.

“Do you remember?”

“Of course I do. My mom announced it every morning—told us to take our medicine.”

“……”

“I wasn’t that young when I went into the lab, you know… I had Awakened family, and so do Sophia and Irok.”

Kang Taewoo stared out the window, speaking offhandedly.

“Since Irok and I awakened, Sophia probably will too.”

“…That makes sense.”

“I told Grandpa back in Hawaii. He said he’d keep an eye on her, so I’m not worried…”

“Yeah. You never could control your strength.”

“Oh, that was ages ago!”

“It’s not even been a year, kid.”

“I’m good at it now.”

“You’d better be.”

Kang Taewoo giggled at my words. He’d changed a lot. For the better, of course. Like Woo Heejae and Sophia, he seemed more like a kid now.

I asked playfully,

“So. Should I start calling you Jonathan, too?”

“No way!”

“Why not? That’s your real name.”

“Ah… Teacher, you weren’t like this before.”

“Maybe I changed after leaving that place.”

“Ugh.”

Kang Taewoo shuddered.

“Honestly, I don’t get why Sohi wants to be called Sophia, either. She probably just likes the English name.”

“And you?”

“I told you, I don’t like it… It’s weird.”

“Jonathan Blake.”

“It’s weird, I’m telling you!”

I snickered. Still, there’s one thing to remember when talking to a teenager—the topic can change to something you never expected, in an instant.

Fortunately, I had plenty of experience with that.

“Oh, right. Teacher.”

“Yeah?”

“You told me to think about what I want to do in the future.”

“Well…”

“Now that Sohi—Sophia is here, I’ve already achieved what I wanted most.”

I remembered what Kang Taewoo had drawn. His little sister.

“So this time, I’m going to do that.”

“That?”

“Yes. Revenge.”

The fact that I didn’t slam on the brakes then and there makes me think I’m a pretty good teacher.