Retire 560
by Cristae560 (Extra Story 27) Choice_3
Ssshhhhh…
Waves crashed along the shoreline.
It didn’t look like rain was coming, but the sky was thick with clouds. Perhaps because of the overcast weather, the sea, too, had taken on a muted hue.
“How is it?”
“Even if you ask me that…”
I looked at my father with a complicated expression.
“Shouldn’t we look at the land first? The house design is pretty much finished, isn’t it?”
“There was land we already had. There was, but…”
My father’s gaze grew distant.
“Once I started adding in everything you all wanted, that land turned out to be too small…”
“…….”
“I mean, sure. I was going to put in a gym even if no one mentioned it. With this many Hunters in the family, what’s the point of a house without a workout space?”
He was asking me, but it didn’t seem like he really wanted an answer, because he just kept talking to himself.
“A library… Maybe not a full-scale library, but books are good. There are plenty of materials that are hard to show others, so I like the idea of a large study. It’s not like only Hyeeun and Taewoo will use it, right?”
“…….”
“I have a lot to say about the swimming pool, too. It’s nice. It is. But to settle for just an indoor pool? Is that really something to say?”
“…….”
“Sohui, who wants a big yard to raise a large dog, is the most reasonable of you all!”
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Huijae, don’t think I don’t know you lured Irok and Jieun in with the swimming pool.”
“I only mentioned it in passing.”
“Who do you think they learned it from?!”
“A swimming pool would be nice. Let’s build one at the school later. The problem is the school doesn’t have one.”
My father looked at me, his mouth opening and closing in disbelief. But I stood my ground. There had been many twists and turns, but my father’s Hunter Academy was, after all, the perfected version of the training school. Most of the incidents that happened at the start of the academy could be prevented this time, so raising the school would be easier.
…If not my father, then I would do it.
“Because of you, Dr. Sandra came to me and asked for a room, too. This isn’t a guild residence, you know.”
“She’s been saying she’s looking for a house… It’s not like you’ll only see her once or twice.”
“So should I give her a room?”
“It’s your house. Do as you like.”
“Han Taekyung asked for one, too.”
“That guy already has a house in Korea.”
“I figured you’d say that, so he asked if he could build a house next door.”
“You didn’t say yes, did you?”
“And Teacher Kim, too. After hearing Sandra, she started saying she should have a garden… This isn’t a residence hall, I’m telling you.”
“With a great mage around, at least we won’t have to worry about security.”
“Is that the issue here?”
“Are you going to say no?”
“…….”
My father turned his gaze away without a word.
He wouldn’t be able to refuse in the end, so why bother complaining?
Just as Irok can’t become me, my father can’t become the man who raised me as a child.
It would be a lie to say I didn’t miss my father. My father, my sister, and so many others I would never meet again. People who might have become family. Those who might have ended up in a different relationship with me…
But as I realized long ago, the reality I’ve built now is precious, too. My father is still my father, Yu Jieun has become something like my cousin, I’ve met new people, and those I couldn’t save are now smiling.
Just as I have changed, so has my father. The father I knew never built such deep relationships with so many people. Part of it was because I was a difficult child to raise, but the circumstances around him probably didn’t allow it, either.
But the father I see now is far more relaxed and laughs much more than I remember. He makes silly jokes and enjoys taking care of those within his circle.
Perhaps this is the real face of Hong Seokyoung—the true self that was set aside in that harsh reality.
If my father wants to look after his people, who am I to stop him?
“Ah, you’re so picky.”
My father grumbled at my teasing.
“Anyway, that’s why the land we had wasn’t enough! You know what it’s like there, right?”
“Well… yeah.”
I’d never been there myself, but if my father said so, it was obvious. He was probably talking about the place with the mountain out back. When I was young, I didn’t live there because of school, but my father took me every weekend. It was because of my awakening. Since it was private property, we could train away from prying eyes.
Was it really that small? I wondered, but seeing my father still grumbling about the swimming pool, it must have been too small to build one. It was fine for three people, including my sister, but now…
“My bank account hasn’t been this low in twenty years.”
“Don’t complain.”
“I’m serious! Do you know how much Dr. Sandra took off me?”
“It’s an investment in the future.”
“These days, even Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo are bleeding me dry…”
“Doesn’t Teacher Kim take anything?”
“Don’t you know those two just repeat whatever Teacher Kim tells them to me?!”
“Of course I know.”
Sometimes I tell them to.
My father heaved a deep sigh. I knew he was secretly enjoying it. What a troublesome old man.
If I let him go on, his complaints would never end, so I played along just enough before cutting him off.
“So, is it here?”
“What do you think?”
“It’s quiet and nice. There are some houses nearby, though. What about that?”
“That’s what took the most time.”
“You bought them all?”
“Mmm.”
My father nodded.
“I checked with Sandra, and apparently, in two years a dungeon appears here, and it doesn’t last long before it breaks…”
At this unexpected news, I looked at my father.
“It’s a remote area, so there wasn’t much preparation, and as a result, some of the local residents died. You can’t erase a dungeon that doesn’t exist yet, but if you can prevent it with money, that’s good. And we can build a house while we’re at it.”
My father continued in his usual tone.
“Honestly, with me here, I could stop a dungeon break, but I won’t always be home…”
“Are you worried?”
“And if the kids start digging up the land for training, how could the neighbors live in peace? They’d think the Hunters in that house are up to something crazy. It’s better if everyone can avoid trouble.”
“That’s true.”
It was the perfect location.
It was remote, right on the coast, but not too far out. From here, the training school was easily accessible, and there was a small city nearby. And it felt familiar.
A little ways off was Imi-seon’s pension—the one the training school kids used as a temporary school after Alex’s early attack.
Maybe it had been Imi-seon’s recommendation.
“So, what do you think?”
“Did you already have everything prepared before asking me? What if I say I don’t like it?”
“I’d just start looking again.”
My father answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I looked out at the sea.
“…You know.”
“Hmm?”
“I think Taewoo and Sohui have more or less figured it out, too—not just Irok.”
“Figured out what?”
“What do you think? That I’m not their brother.”
I’d always known I could never truly replace him.
I can’t even remember my brother’s way of speaking anymore, but those kids probably remember him better than I do.
Not to mention Irok, but even Kang Taewoo and Sohui are more perceptive than they appear. Since they saw my brother as often as I did, I figured they’d realize it eventually.
And as for Kang Taewoo, I was sure he’d keep it to himself.
“Is that so?”
My father, whatever he thought inside, replied outwardly as if it were nothing.
I answered just the same.
“They’re smart kids.”
“They’re good kids.”
“Almost to the point of being pitiable.”
“…….”
“I can see it now. All of it.”
How my father and sister had felt toward me.
Once I realized that, I felt almost relieved.
The things my father and sister did for me weren’t things you could do out of simple pity. Of course, there was pity. Wasn’t I pitiful?
But no proper adult could take full responsibility for a child’s life with such a feeble emotion.
If not pity, then duty?
That wasn’t it, either. Maybe it started with a sense of duty—the feeling that if not me, then no one could do it. That I had the ability to care for this child.
But even that isn’t enough to keep you smiling through all those years.
What raised me was not pity, nor duty, but love. Because I was family, they raised that impossible child.
For no other reason than that we were family.
Even in the midst of all that chaos, they held on, somehow.
Now I understand that feeling. And because I do, I don’t feel indebted. Because I know what it is, I can care for my family in the same way. My father and sister didn’t have the emotional or physical space to care for more than that, but thanks to their sacrifice, I do.
So I will help as much as I can. That’s why I brought those two first-years from America—not out of pity or duty.
No, perhaps including all those feelings.
I will build a shelter for children thrown into the world as lonely as I was. Just as my father wanted. Just as he is doing now.
“Hey. Huijae.”
My father listened to me with a somewhat awkward expression.
“It’s good that you’ve found something you want to do, but this father of yours is still in good health.”
“And?”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk as if I were already dead.”
“When did I do that?”
“…….”
My father looked exasperated, then finally laughed.
I let his laughter wash over me and kept my eyes on the sea. At just the right moment, the wind pushed the clouds aside, and sunlight streamed down onto the water.
Now, the moment had come.
I gazed at the sea, where the waves rolled in.
“Hey! Slowly, this way!”
“Careful!”
With the workers Imi-seon had recommended, the excavator moved into place. The land that had been so quiet when I visited with my father not long ago was now noisy with construction.
Once the work progressed a bit, I would bring the children here. Since they’d all contributed to the design, they should see how it was coming along. My father still grumbled about the swimming pool.
But today wasn’t the day for the kids to visit.
My father stood quietly behind me.
Today, the sky was clear. A few white cumulus clouds floated in the endless blue, and the cool weather was just brisk enough to feel refreshing, not cold.
I held a bouquet of flowers. The day my father showed me the land, saying he would build a house, I’d gone home and carefully prepared these flowers.
White chrysanthemums and lilies, baby’s breath with their delicate mist, eucalyptus leaves shining green, carnations, and the yellow freesias my sister used to pretend not to look at, all bloomed brightly.
I hadn’t wrapped them in any fancy paper. I unwrapped the newspaper around the flowers and set them, one by one, afloat on the sea.
The flowers vanished beneath the waves, only to bob up again, drifting.
I stood there for a long time, until the flowers disappeared from sight. My father stayed by my side the whole time.
I took a deep breath in and let it out. My father’s dog tag, my sister’s sword, and the photograph Tati gave me of my brother would always be with me.
“Let’s go home.”
I turned, smiling.