After finishing our meal, clearing away the remaining potatoes and greens, everyone except the elder gathered in the living room.
The first session of what was supposed to be self-defense training, but felt more like close-quarters combat, had finally arrived.
However, after getting hit a few times while learning, it didn’t feel like combat training so much as a session to build endurance.
As I had suspected at dawn, Kang Do-jin was clearly waiting for this moment.
Even now, while pinning my younger sibling down and explaining this and that, his voice sounded more excited than usual.
Oh no, our Hayul is going to get flattened!
I wanted to tell him to let the kid go and talk, but I was in no position to say anything.
Kang Do-hee, who was sitting on my back, pressing down on my arm, also seemed extremely thrilled, leaving me barely able to speak.
All I could manage were choking gasps.
“Guh, s-stop, ugh, I’m gonna die…!”
“Don’t be dramatic, Haje. I told you, in this situation, put strength into the arm that’s being held, think about throwing your opponent to the ground, and roll your body. Use your arm and body together, roll to the side, and slip out quickly when the person on top loses balance for a moment. Try it again.”
“Guh, ugh! Argh! Damn it, move! Damn this body!”
“Guh, gurk, gurgh!”
“Kyaang… Kying!”
Bamtol and Gamja cheered us on with incomprehensible gestures, but despite my heart’s desire, Kang Do-hee held firm.
It felt like I was pinned under a boulder.
How was I supposed to shake this off?
I couldn’t see a way out, so I tried twisting my body the other way, but Kang Do-hee muttered, “Oh, what’s this?” and twisted my arm back even harder, pressing me down.
“Ow! That hurts! Noona, it hurts! My shoulder’s gonna pop!”
“If it pops, I’ll set it back, so don’t worry.”
“What kind of talk is that—argh! Wait! Hayul? Do-jin, our Hayul’s gonna die! Hayul’s dying!”
Is he already passed out? The kid’s not even moving!
I watched in panic, blinking, when suddenly Hayul twisted one of the arms Do-jin was holding, rolled to the side, and threw a punch aimed at Do-jin’s jaw.
Do-jin dodged with ease, but his eyes widened in surprise.
“Well, look at that! I loosened up a bit, and you slipped out right away?”
“Ugh, I thought my shoulder was gonna dislocate!”
Grumbling, Hayul got back into position with Do-jin.
I stared at them blankly, blinking, and Do-hee, leaning close, whispered in my ear.
“Haje. Did you see your sibling? Acting weak and limp, then striking when the opponent lets their guard down—that’s one way to do it. You’re just flailing around. Save your strength.”
“Ugh, this—guh! I don’t think saving strength is gonna help here. Ow, it hurts!”
I was serious.
From a distance, probably from the room, I faintly heard the elder muttering, “They’re gonna kill the kid.”
Exactly, elder. This person’s killing me.
I struggled and twisted my body again, but I failed to break free once more.
I looked at Hayul and Do-jin, who had already moved on to the next lesson, with hollow eyes.
‘Hayul… is surprisingly good at this physical stuff?’
“Haje. Got time to daydream, huh?”
“No, noona, that’s not—argh!”
Sadly, judging by my current state… I don’t think I’ll make it to the next lesson today.
★★★
“Haje, you okay?”
“Does it look like I’m okay?”
“You don’t, so I asked just to tease you.”
“………”
Jubi-young’s being slyly mischievous.
Too exhausted to even respond to the joke, I could only manage a weak smile.
I was painfully reminded once again that I have no talent for physical activities.
Despite the stamina and strength I’d built up through stats, I was no match for Kang Do-hee.
Of course, the level difference between us played a part, but that was no excuse.
From the start, I could tell Do-hee was holding back to match my level.
In other words, she was going easy on me.
Compared to Hayul, who picked things up quickly and applied them well, my progress was painfully slow.
Hayul was already learning how to disarm an opponent holding a knife or gun at close range, attacking their knees and jaw.
‘You’re doing great, Hayul.’
While taking a break due to my lack of progress, I watched Hayul.
Seeing my sibling swiftly strike an opponent’s wrist to disarm them and close in made me feel strange.
It didn’t matter how Do-jin, who’s the same age, knew so much about close-quarters combat.
Hayul watched, listened, understood, absorbed, and applied everything like a sponge, performing admirably.
The kid who was always teased for being small, fragile, and quick to cry over little things was nowhere to be seen.
‘Must’ve grown well during puberty.’
I’d always thought Hayul was small here, but that was only compared to the Kang siblings.
When I saw Hayul with Jubi-young, they looked like a perfectly grown boy.
Realizing that difference again made my chest feel odd—churning, maybe a bit bitter.
Probably because I’d already digested breakfast.
Suddenly, I felt a gaze and turned to see Jubi-young staring at me.
She’d been watching me for a while, but her eyes seemed different now.
Not like she had something to say, but not entirely without meaning either.
It was a bit heavy to meet her gaze, but it wasn’t unpleasant or scrutinizing, so I gave an awkward smile and looked away.
The sound of rain was still fierce, loud enough not to be drowned out by Hayul’s increasingly heavy breathing.
“What’s for lunch?” Jubi-young muttered.
At that moment, Hayul, whose arm was grabbed by Do-jin, was slammed onto the wooden floor.
Thud!
“Hey, take it easy! You’re gonna break the floor!”
The elder’s scolding rang out from the room.
An hour ago, I would’ve panicked and checked on Hayul, but now I just watched.
I’d realized Hayul wasn’t so fragile as to break from this, and more than that, the fire in Hayul’s eyes showed a burning desire to beat the guy in front of them.
“Haje. What’s for lunch?”
“Hmm.”
That’s a real dilemma.
Thud! Crash!
“Ow! You tripped me!?”
“Well, if I can trip you, why wouldn’t I?”
“Grr!”
While Hayul, thoroughly riled up, charged at Kang Do-jin, Jubi-young spoke in a calm tone.
“For now, the only thing we can make right away is siraegi soup.”
“Sounds tasty. It’s a shame we don’t have rice.”
“Right? It’s been a while since we had rice. The last instant rice we had, we saved it so long it was three months past its expiration date when we ate it.”
“Didn’t it upset your stomach?”
“Nah, it was fine, I guess.”
Come to think of it, we haven’t had rice since we got here either.
White rice isn’t exactly healthy, but somehow it’s already something I miss.
Anyway, thinking about lunch options, as far as I know, all we have right now is some old kimchi and a bit of seasoned greens made with the elder’s skillful touch.
The greens, which seemed to multiply endlessly, shrank to about 20% of their original amount the moment they were turned into a side dish.
That leaves me thinking of nothing but potatoes.
Jubi-young, seemingly on the same wavelength, suddenly thrust out her fist.
“Why bother thinking? Let’s just steam some potatoes. Haje, wanna play rock-paper-scissors, and the loser goes to dig up the potatoes?”
I glanced at Jubi-young’s fist, extended near my chin, then shifted my gaze to the window.
The outside wasn’t visible through the boarded-up window, but the sound of heavy rain was unmistakable.
With rain pouring like that, even a quick trip to the garden to dig up potatoes would leave me soaked.
“I’ll go get them. I don’t want to make more laundry, so I’ll just go in my pants.”
Passing by the kids rolling passionately on the wooden floor, I took off my hoodie near the entrance.
Wearing only slippers, I unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a landscape blurred by torrential rain.
It wasn’t just the heavy rain; thick fog made it even hazier.
Hmm. It’s the kind of scene where a ghost could pop up and it wouldn’t be surprising.
Leaving the front door slightly ajar, I headed to the garden, picked up a hoe that was lying around, and started digging potatoes.
The rainwater streaming down my face made it hard to keep my eyes open, but I managed to fill the basket pretty quickly.
I’m getting good at this.
I used to think I was bad at physical tasks, but seeing how well I dig potatoes made me feel a bit proud. At least I’m good at something.
After placing the basket on the low wall and scrubbing the potatoes under the increasingly heavy rain, I suddenly felt something odd and jerked my head up.
Shaaaa—
“……….”
What was that?
The rain and fog made the view so hazy that even the house’s front door was barely visible.
It seemed absurd, but I felt someone’s gaze. Clearly.
Could it be that as my stats improved, my senses sharpened too?
My hearing and eyesight seem the same, but I was certain someone was watching me from far away.
“……..”
I stared in the direction of the gaze, toward the sunflower field near the front yard, beyond the house’s gate.
The sunflowers were just a blurry mass in the poor visibility, but I saw a faint glow among them.
At first, I thought it might be my status window appearing slowly, but I soon realized it wasn’t.
It wasn’t the blue light of a status window, and it felt fundamentally different.
‘What kind of light is that?’
Since there’s no marker on the map, it must be a local resident.
But if that were the case, I couldn’t see any human shape or silhouette.
As I looked at the faint, flickering light, my heart started to race.
Was it nerves? Surprise? No, it was different.
I didn’t feel tense at all.
Instead… I felt an urge to get closer.
“………”
Once I understood this impulse and desire, there was no reason to hesitate.
Leaving the potato basket on the wall, I stepped out past the gate.
The faint light seemed to retreat slightly, creating a sense of distance.
Was it scared?
But it didn’t flee, which made it feel like it was waiting for me to approach.
To show I meant no harm, I made my presence known and walked slowly, step by step.
I thought I was walking slowly, but I reached the sunflower field in no time.
As I got closer, the faint light retreated a bit further.
But it was still there, not running away, as if watching me from hiding.
I could see the light peeking out, half-hidden behind the sunflower stalks.
“……..”
I was about to say, It’s okay, I’m not a bad person, but I stopped myself.
‘Would it even understand if I spoke?’
The idea of trying to talk to an unknown entity didn’t feel strange at all.
Instead of speaking directly, I felt it was better to just keep approaching.
Finally reaching the source of the light, I carefully pushed aside the sunflower stalks and froze.
“…….”
Shaaaaaa—
“……..”
“……..”
The being hiding among the sunflowers was a child.
A five-year-old. Definitely five years old.
How could I be so sure of the child’s age?
Because it was obvious.
The clothes the child wore were the beloved shirt of five-year-old Hayul, stained with soy sauce that wouldn’t wash out, so we had to throw it away.
“…Big brother.”
The being hiding in the sunflower field, looking up at me with a face on the verge of tears, was five-year-old Hayul.