🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 02
The Hidden-Strength Child Is Looking for Their Dad – Episode 2
“Ugh—why is it so hot today?”
That day.
Astie—or rather, Tie—was lying flat on the floor, enjoying the breeze from the fan that Grandma from Room 107 was waving for her.
She crossed her eyes, watching her bangs flutter slightly, when the lady from Room 203 opened the door and came in.
“U-unnie… I think something serious has happened…”
Normally, that lady would have scooped Tie up right away, saying how pretty she was.
But this time, she quickly averted her gaze. Tie tilted her head.
“What’s wrong? Did someone cause trouble or something?”
“No, it’s just…”
Again. The lady glanced at Tie, then avoided eye contact.
Tie’s eyes naturally shifted to the envelope in the woman’s hands.
The lady from 203 was gripping the crumpled paper envelope tightly, like it was a leash she couldn’t afford to drop.
“Don’t tell me it’s nothing again. You always make a big fuss and scare the kid…”
But when the envelope was opened, Grandma from 107 fell silent.
The fan stopped.
Sweat began to bead on Tie’s forehead.
Silence filled the tiny room, broken only by the sound of cicadas.
“…What are we going to do?”
Suddenly, Grandma turned around and pulled Tie tightly into her arms.
“What do we do?! What should we do?!”
And then she burst into loud sobs.
Held in her arms, Tie just blinked.
The lady from 203 was sniffling too.
Confused, Tie quickly realized something was wrong.
[In accordance with Article 12, Paragraph 1 of the Funeral Services Act, the body of an unclaimed deceased has been processed. We hereby announce that any relatives should come to claim the stored remains.]
That day marked ten days since her dad hadn’t come home.
* * *
“Funeral…?”
What is that?
Left alone after the two adults rushed out, Tie kept staring at the paper.
It was full of difficult words.
But there was one word she recognized.
“…‘Deceased’ means a dead person.”
A sudden fear crept in, and she slowly set the paper down.
As she fidgeted with her fingers, her eyes landed on the Tani-Pang sticker book that Seulhee had given her at kindergarten.
Most of the stickers were already used, but her favorite—Ttona-Pang—was still there.
“Shining magic, show me~ Catch catch…”
Humming the theme song, Tie carefully peeled off the sticker.
Then she left Room 107, went into Room 106, and brought back the flyers her dad had collected.
On the blank back of one flyer, she carefully wrote with a marker:
[Please let my dad come home.]
No one in the Quail Class wrote as well as Tie.
She didn’t forget to press the Ttona-Pang sticker firmly after the period.
“…Dad…”
Her dad always said strange things.
He believed he came from an empire called Talotium—and that Tie’s hometown was there too.
He said he used to be a powerful holy knight in that world.
That he defeated monsters and villains every day, a hero admired by everyone.
Tie shook her head.
Of course, she had believed him until she was about three.
He sounded so cool that her heart would race, and she couldn’t sleep even past nine.
But now she was four.
Old enough to know better.
‘A hero loved by everyone must be rich.’
But they weren’t.
They were poor.
Her kindergarten friends went on vacations every summer, but she and her dad never had.
Her dad hardly ever had days off either.
He worked on weekends, Children’s Day, Hangul Day, even Christmas.
When she asked why he worked so much, the adults in the building said:
“It’s because his job doesn’t pay much for the effort.”
She didn’t fully understand, but she got the gist.
No matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t even afford to buy her a new Tani-Pang sticker book.
Still, she didn’t mind.
Her dad was a hundred—no, a thousand times more important than any sticker book.
She always thought her hardworking dad was amazing and was grateful to him.
“She must have her reasons…”
“Exactly. Look at the guy in 106—young, handsome, but living like that. It’s for the kid. He’s afraid she’ll be taken away.”
“But it’s strange. If he’s undocumented, can’t he just get a visa or something? Tie is already four—they should register her birth soon…”
“They can’t even do that! If they try now, the district office won’t let it slide. If he’s caught, the fine will be huge—and the kid could be deported. He’d go to prison. That’d be a forced separation.”
“Anyway, good thing the kindergarten director was kind. If she refused to accept Tie, the kid would’ve been in trouble.”
“Not really. Tie’s naturally smart. I’ve never seen a kid like her—she basically learned to write on her own! But has the guy in 106 still not said what country he’s from?”
Tie had learned a lot from overhearing such conversations, but she was still happy living with her dad.
“…Sniff.”
A drop of snot fell onto the paper.
She froze.
Tears were already trickling down her face without her noticing.
“Sniff…”
She buried her face in her hands.
Her dad needed to come home quickly.
“Daaad…”
The word “deceased” kept floating in her mind.
She curled up tightly and shut her eyes.
It couldn’t be him. It couldn’t mean her dad.
Repeating that to herself, she eventually fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was dark.
Grandma from 107 returned late at night, drenched in rain.
In her hand was a damp cardboard box.
Tie opened it and froze.
“Dad will live with you for a long, long time. One day, we’ll return home and live in a bigger, cleaner house where you can smile.”
“I even used the sticker…”
It wasn’t her dad who came back.
Tie stared at the three words written on the box:
“Personal Effects.”
She knew what it meant.
She had seen it in a drama once.
So…
Without living long, without returning home, without making her smile—
Her dad had left her behind.
In the end.
* * *
Late at night.
Leaving behind the sound of Grandma’s snoring, Tie quietly slipped out.
She entered Room 106—the room she had shared with her dad.
On top of a drawer sat the box.
She climbed up and opened it.
Inside were her dad’s usual hat, some keys, and a wallet.
As she tilted the box to look closer, something clinked and fell.
At the bottom was a broken necklace.
“…Dad’s…”
Without thinking, she picked it up.
He always kept it hidden, so she had never seen it before.
When she removed the broken chain and held the stone in her hand, her throat tightened.
It felt like her dad’s warmth was still in it.
Just as tears welled up—
Thud.
The ceiling suddenly shook.
Startled, she looked up.
Then the floor trembled.
Thud!
She stumbled back as a bright light filled her vision.
[Why are you crying?]
Tie blinked.
The stone had floated into the air.
Glowing brightly.
“The… the stone is talking…”
Then—pop.
Something appeared on it.
A small black head, about the size of an adult’s fist.
Eyes like rubies. A nose. A mouth. Ears.
Tie stared, mouth open.
[Why are you crying?]
The second question snapped her back to her senses.
Carefully, nervously, she spoke.
“M-my dad…”
[I see.]
Arms, legs, a tail, and wings sprouted from the stone as it interrupted her.
It licked its tiny paw and said:
[That man is dead, isn’t he?]
Tie’s eyes trembled.
“…Dad… my dad…”
[Do you want me to bring him back to life?]
Until that moment—
The stone creature shook itself and spoke again:
[If I bring your dad back, will you stop crying?]
Next →
