Retire 556
by Cristae556 (Hunter Academy Side Story 23) Lemon Candy_2
‘Hi.’
There were many children who were afraid of the masked watchers in black animal masks. Usually, these were kids who hadn’t been in the lab long. The ones who trembled and cried at injections. The ones who wandered the halls at night, sniffling for their mom or dad. The ones who glared with venom, swearing their parents would tear this place apart if they ever found them.
Those kids were terrified of the watchers, who were always bundled up so not a scrap of skin showed.
But by the time they grew numb to needles, stopped calling for their parents, and gave up hope that anyone would come for them, even those kids got used to the watchers. They also realized that, in this place, the only people who cared even a little about the kids were the watchers.
The snacks the children said they liked would appear again two days later. The toys from cartoons they wanted would show up in the playroom. It was the watchers who soothed injured kids into accepting treatment, and the watchers who separated abusive researchers from the children.
Children always cling to those who care for them.
The watchers didn’t interact with the kids directly very often, but even that was enough.
Kang Tae-woo didn’t dislike those people. In the end, they were in much the same situation as the children. Having seen the “outside,” Tae-woo could sense the deep cynicism that permeated the watchers. Back then, he hadn’t known what to call it, but now he did. He understood, because he’d felt the same way himself.
Once, Tae-woo had thrown away the lemon candy his mother gave him. He was angry that she thought a few candies could make up for everything.
One night, just before bedtime, the watcher in the pig mask pressed a lemon candy into Tae-woo’s hand. When Tae-woo looked up with blank eyes, the watcher started to move their fingers quickly, then gave up and gently patted Tae-woo’s head with a gloved hand.
He learned later, after leaving the lab, that those gestures were sign language. If he’d known, he would have tried to remember what was said.
But the half-melted lemon candy, warmed by body heat, and the barely-there touch lingered in his memory for a long time—enough to dispel the vague fear he’d carried.
If you start paying attention and observing, you notice more than you’d expect. There wasn’t much to do in the lab anyway, and the people you saw every day were always the same.
Of course, just because someone wore the same mask today as yesterday didn’t mean they were the same person. But if you were looking for something, you’d start to notice things you’d overlooked before.
Some watchers were short. They wore antlered deer masks to obscure their build. Some had a slight limp, always putting more weight on the left leg. That watcher had been in the lab the longest. Their usual mask was a tiger, but sometimes they’d wear a rabbit or monkey.
Tae-woo could distinguish at least three different crow-masked watchers. Woo I-rok’s brother was the second crow mask. He was the only watcher who ever spoke to the children.
‘If anyone’s mean to you, tell me.’
Woo I-rok said that man was his brother. Tae-woo hadn’t fully believed it, but since Woo I-rok got special treatment, it wasn’t strange for him to have a “brother.”
And that “brother” didn’t just sneak around to help the kids when the researchers weren’t looking, like the other watchers. He didn’t dote on Woo I-rok openly, but he’d play blocks with the kids.
If he was Woo I-rok’s brother, then he must have been the lab director’s son. That would explain why he was different from the other watchers.
‘…You don’t like candy?’
‘…….’
‘There’s a full disinfection day coming up. Make sure you hide the ones under your mattress.’
‘…You won’t tell?’
‘Tell who?’
That was almost the only conversation Tae-woo ever had with the crow-masked brother.
It was the time of day when the researchers watched least closely—right before bed. In a low voice, he spoke to Tae-woo.
‘Candy. I don’t dislike it.’
But the uneaten lemon candies just kept piling up under his mattress.
‘Lemon flavor, huh…’
‘Yeah?’
‘But I don’t like not taking them…’
The watcher in the pig mask, who managed the test subjects’ bedtime, saw Tae-woo and the watcher together and pretended not to notice.
The crow-masked brother didn’t say anything more. Tae-woo quietly got into bed. The next day, with disinfection coming up, he took a handful of candies from under his mattress and shared them with the other kids.
Another day passed. He got his morning medicine. In the clear plastic cup with the pills, there was a lemon candy as usual.
‘…….’
No, there were two candies this time. One lemon, one strawberry.
Sometimes the strawberry would be grape, or orange. Tae-woo still never ate the lemon ones, but he always ate the other candy after his medicine.
‘Hey! I want candy too!’
Woo I-rok would snatch the lemon candy from Tae-woo’s hand. The little guy was so energetic, Tae-woo just let him have it. The candy itself wasn’t what mattered to Tae-woo.
‘That’s the teacher, right?’
That’s why, even though Number 12… Woo I-rok looked so much like him, Tae-woo hadn’t recognized him at first. The image he had of that “brother” was just too different.
It was only natural that things would change once you could come and go freely, even if your little brother was missing.
‘The brother who was always with Number 12.’
A face that couldn’t not be related to Woo I-rok. That’s why Tae-woo just assumed Woo Hee-jae was the “crow-masked brother.”
Because the memory of Number 12’s brother was so strong.
And he never doubted it.
‘Here.’
At least, not until Woo Hee-jae handed him a sticker for good work and a lemon candy.
Once you notice something off, you get more sensitive the next time.
Still, Tae-woo didn’t think much of it. Even if he thought it was strange, he never doubted that Woo Hee-jae was that brother.
If he had to make excuses, it was because he was busy. He had to adapt to a new life, get used to his awakened powers. And what about school? Tae-woo hadn’t planned to become a Hunter, but before he knew it, that’s where he was headed.
Well… now he’d decided he wanted to be a Hunter.
And then there was his sister.
What would he do, even if he suspected the teacher’s past? It wasn’t as if the teacher had done anything wrong. Honestly, whatever the reason, Tae-woo was grateful just to have been taken from the orphanage and given an education. Even when he didn’t fit in with the other students, he didn’t mind. School was better than anywhere else. Except for not having his sister, he finally had choices. And later, if he ever wanted to quit being a Hunter, he’d have somewhere to go. He had family to go to when he needed rest.
Tae-woo wasn’t deluding himself.
Even if Woo Hee-jae wasn’t that brother, he was the one who’d made all this possible. Tae-woo had plenty of reasons to like him.
Sometimes, he’d notice little inconsistencies between the crow-masked brother he remembered and things Woo Hee-jae said. At first, he’d just let it go, but after So-hee came back and he felt more stable, he started to think about it.
It was So-hee who pointed out the confusion he hadn’t even realized he had.
‘It would have been nice if that brother could have gotten out too.’
‘…Huh?’
‘The crow brother.’
Tae-woo realized then what all the vague unease around Woo Hee-jae really was.
But he wasn’t surprised. Instead of asking his sister what she meant, he just nodded.
‘Yeah. It would have been nice.’
‘Why does Hee-jae oppa pretend to be that brother?’
‘I don’t know… Maybe because I made the mistake first? There were other people around, so maybe it was hard to say otherwise.’
‘Other people?’
‘That Hunter… and the Daseon Hunter teachers.’
The other adults didn’t not know about Woo Hee-jae’s background, but it was another thing entirely to explain all the details.
And Tae-woo had let his guard down around Woo Hee-jae because he was sure he’d met him in the lab. Not just someone he’d passed by, but someone who’d helped him.
Even if he wasn’t really that crow-masked brother, he must have seen Tae-woo before. He knew things only someone who’d been inside the lab would know.
And he must have known the crow-masked brother, too. Even if he didn’t look just like Woo I-rok, it was inevitable. He knew things Tae-woo and So-hee had told that brother. He knew about things that happened with Woo I-rok. So at the very least, he must have heard it from him.
That explained all the little discrepancies.
‘But Hee-jae oppa is taller than that brother, so is he the oldest?’
‘…Was he? I think they were about the same.’
‘No, he’s taller!’
‘That brother was tall, and Teacher Woo is tall, so…’
‘He’s taller, I’m telling you!’
So-hee insisted. Tae-woo had never once won an argument with her, so he wisely conceded.
‘I don’t remember well, but you played with him more, so you’d know.’
So-hee snorted. Tae-woo tried to recall, but to a kid, all adults look big.
‘Just because he’s a brother doesn’t mean he has to be taller.’
He thought of Lee Seung-yeon, who was shorter than him and probably always would be.
But he understood what So-hee meant.
‘Still, Teacher Woo doesn’t seem younger than that brother… He must be the older one, right?’
‘That’s what I’m saying!’
So-hee grinned triumphantly.
They’d talked about the crow-masked brother a few more times after that.
He hadn’t told So-hee, but Tae-woo figured the reason Woo Hee-jae hadn’t been honest about his identity was because of Woo I-rok.
How could you go to a little brother you’d never met and say, “The brother who took care of you is dead”? Tae-woo looked at his sister’s bright, smiling face.
He could never do it.
“Hey.”
Tae-woo looked up.
“What’s that?”
Black hair. A scowling face.
He could still see the baby fat in those cheeks. It wasn’t hard for Tae-woo to recognize Woo Hee-jae in that face.
“What?”
“Candy?”
“Oh, yeah. Candy.”
“You always eat lemon.”
Woo I-rok pointed at the candy Tae-woo was holding. Usually, he’d have left the candy from Teacher Woo in his dorm, but today, he’d come straight home and still had it.
He’d been rolling the lemon-wrapped candy in his hand, feeling oddly unsettled, and of course, Woo I-rok had noticed.
“If you’re not going to eat it, I will.”
Woo I-rok reached for the candy.