Prologue

"I know why I'm here."

The young girl speaking had no discernible

expression.

Having been locked in a small room for three days, she had been tossed into a rattling van without even a proper wash.

Her stomach felt as if her insides were being scooped out from hunger, and her mouth tasted as bitter as soap, but the girl kept her eyes wide open until the end.

Quite some time had passed since she was thrown into this place surrounded by gentle wallpaper, but her stiff neck did not loosen in the slightest.

She simply stared at the psychiatrist in the white coat, slowly picking at her scabbed lips.

"I fought with the kids at the orphanage, and I'm the only one who's fine. I didn't

even cry...."

"I see.'

The doctor scribbled something with a silver pen.

"But you look like you're hurt and in pain, too."

"This? Not really."

Wounds like these were truly insignificant. n fact, it was almost funny how the teacher reacted so excessively to such minor scars.

*This teacher must be a real weakling...*

"The kids I hit were hurt much worse."

"How many did you hit?"

"Five."

"……”

"I snapped one's forearm, and I knocked one over. I also kicked someone in the hip, choked another, and tripped one."

The girl spoke, folding her fingers one by one.

Her tone was utterly nonchalant.

"......I see. Then how did it feel when your friends were crying?"

"It was funny."

"Why was that funny?"

The doctor's hand grew busy. The girl continued speaking, her gaze fixed on the silently moving silver pen.

"Because those idiots were crying because it hurt.

Real idiots. That's not something to cry about; it's something you have to endure.

That's how you get healthier. They said bones get stronger the more they break and fuse back together.

“….....”

"I hit my shins with branches on purpose to make my bones strong. Then, eventually, my shins will become as hard as iron."

For the first time, a flicker of pride appeared on her emotionless face.

"I heard martial artists train like that. Do you want to see my shins?"

"Do you want to be a martial artist when you grow up?"

"No."

"Then why do that kind of training?"

"......"

Though her expressions were sparse, the girl, who had been chirping away like a bird, suddenly clamped her mouth shut. She tilted her head repeatedly, as if it were a question she had never once considered.

The doctor waited patiently until the child could answer for herself.

Do they teach ballet at orphanages these days?

Her exceptionally graceful lines and straight posture made her look like the child of a noble family. With her delicate features and thick, long eyelashes, she was a child as beautiful as a doll.

"Because I can't throw it away."

"What do you mean?"

"......This is all I have, so I keep doing it without forgetting. I don't have a mom or a dad or a hometown anymore, so if I let go of the things I learned with my own hands, I'll be too lonely."

The words were ambiguous, but the doctor understood instantly.

"That's why I like things that are mine."

It was then that a strange heat pooled in her eyes, which had previously been lifeless and dry.

"I don't have anything like that yet, but later, when I become an adult and find something truly precious, I'll give it everything I have. I'll be really good to it. I'll cherish it so much."

"That's very thoughtful of you."

"So I'll never let it go."

"Hmm?"

The doctor, who had been writing in a flat file, looked up a beat late. It was around then that the conversation began to diverge.

"Because it's mine.”

“…….”

"I won't let it ever leave my side. If it leaves, I'll drag it back, and if it runs away, I’ll catch it again and make it stay only by my side."

A boiling longing dwelled in the girl's hungry eyes.

Oh dear... The doctor desperately resisted the urge to clutch his forehead.

"Child, no matter how much you like someone, you cannot possess them exactly as you wish."

"Why?"

The girl tilted her head innocently.

"People, and love, are not things you can possess unilaterally. It might be hard to understand now, but truly cherishing someone is not a concept of ownership."

"But there's only one thing I want. I want something of mine that will never disappear.

Something that is truly the only one of its kind in the world, and it's mine."

The girl was stubborn, and just as desperate.

And she was craving love to a surprising degree. Perhaps it was because she suffered from emotional poverty; she instinctively knew how to find what she needed. That sharp sense was similar to that of a hunter.

The doctor put down his pen for a moment and met the wavering young eyes.

"In that case, you must learn the method."

"The method for what?"

"The method to ensure you don't make a mistake when you meet someone you like one day. If you use violent methods, won't the other person be frightened? We often lose the people we love forever because of one tiny mistake."

The girl raised her petite hand to cover her face. Just imagining someone leaving her side felt like a skewer piercing her insides. No... I can't lose anything more...

"That is why you must always be careful when dealing with people."

It was just as the doctor, satisfied with the girl's reaction, was leisurely sipping his black tea.

"Then what if I hit my shins more?"

He spat out the tea he was drinking with a pfft

- His chin and clothes were drenched in a mess. Regardless, the girl's pretty eyes were merely sparkling.

"I can't beat up something precious. What if their legs just get strong and they leave me again?"

"......!"

"I have to become strong. So that even if they leave me, I can always bring them back."

A strange aura momentarily flickered across the face that had been as blank as a white sheet. It wasn't a smile, but the corners of her mouth twitched and lifted in a similar fashion.

"I'll be the one to drag them back."

A somewhat eerie and stubborn glint settled in the girl's eyes.

After that first meeting, the child, Han Seo-ryung, visited this place once a month.

She fought so incessantly that there wasn't a single day when her body wasn't covered in bruises.

Then, from a certain point, she began entering competitions, claiming a talent for gymnastics, but she ended up dropping out of high school due to an unfortunate incident and subsequently failed her college entrance exams.

Upon reaching adulthood and leaving the orphanage, she had no choice but to dive straight into the job market.

Even then, consultations continued frequently.

When visits became difficult, they were replaced by brief phone calls.

In this way, the vast amount of consultation records spanning a child s entire life eventually became the record of the person known as Han Seo-ryung.

Having overcome her deficiencies to successfully become an adult, Seo-ryung used the skills she learned through gymnastics to get a massage certification and worked as a caregiver for a long time.

She said the work was hard, but she liked that the steady paycheck allowed her to live a stable and ordinary life.

However, life was an unpredictable realm.

"Doctor, I'm getting married next month."

The girl, who visited after several years, held a folding cane for the visually impaired in her hand. Yet, her expression was in finitely bright, if she possessed the whole world.

A vitality that had been absent even in her childhood now fluttered across her entire face.

She smiled shyly, holding out a flower-scented wedding invitation into the air.

You finally found your person!

At his surprised exclamation, the girl's eyes grew reddish with tears.

Then, I hope you are happy.

But the next time he saw her after she had gone silent following her marriage was—

On the 9 o'clock news.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***