Black Badger

Ye-hyeon looked at the cake with weary eyes.

"Yeah."

He half rose from his seat to blow out the countless candles.

Then he blew them out listlessly.

"Isn't that too much?"

Jae-yeon scolded Ye-hyeon as she looked at the two-thirds of the candles that were still lit.

"There are still this many left!"

"There are too many candles."

Ye-hyeon said in an exhausted voice.

I understood his fatigue.

I turned to Jae-yeon and added sullenly.

"Don't you know they have big candles? That one big candle counts as ten years."

"Are you ignoring the effort I put into counting out all seventy-eight individually?"

Jae-yeon arched her eyebrow and shot me a sharp glare.

I was about to retort that yes, I was, and shouldn't I point out the obvious, when Ye-hyeon blew out the remaining candles.

It seemed like he anticipated I was about to give an unfriendly response.

"Good."

Jae-yeon clapped happily.

"Now let's eat the roast chicken!"

Her whims.

It didn't surprise me. Few people could accommodate this being's pathological whims. To be precise, only Colton could. I was on the side that endured rather than accommodated.

Kyle and Ray had grown fed up with Jae-yeon and refused to get involved with Colton.

Young, arrogant, cold, and beautiful Colton.

Sometimes his latent potential took my breath away.

The problem was that he only used it for bad purposes. Well, it was pointless to talk about that now. We started eating the roast chicken.

The roast chicken was infuriatingly delicious.

Jae-yeon looked pleased as she watched us munch on the chicken.

She brushed my white hair behind my ear.

"How's the sunny side up?"

Annoyingly perfect.

She always nailed it at times like this. I grumbled as I burst the yolk and let it soak into the well-toasted bread.

"Perfect."

"I'm glad."

Jae-yeon propped her chin on her hand and smiled, genuinely happy.

Then she turned her gaze to Ye-hyeon, who was shivering from chills beside her and poking at his food sullenly.

"You... does the food suit your taste?"

"Yeah."

Ye-hyeon scooped up some scrambled eggs with his spoon.

"It's good...."

Should I knock him out right then?

I pondered while tearing into the chicken meat. It might have been better to take him out while he was being this agreeable and secure some peace. The problem was that the moment I raised my hand, Jae-yeon could snap and wreck everything around us.

As I mulled it over, Jae-yeon handed Ye-hyeon a gift box.

"It's your birthday present."

This was driving me insane.

The red box was beautifully wrapped with a green ribbon. Ye-hyeon took it carefully, as if handling a bomb.

It wouldn't have surprised me if it exploded the second he opened it.

I tensed up as my superior slowly untied the green ribbon.

If something blew up, I'd have to shield Ye-hyeon immediately.

The box didn't explode.

"Come on, open it!"

When Ye-hyeon pulled out what looked like a huge album or diary with a dubious expression, Jae-yeon slammed the table.

A glint of anticipation flashed in her eyes.

"Hurry!"

I stopped toying with my utensils and watched my superior.

Ye-hyeon carefully turned the cover with his pale hand. The cover flipped over, revealing the gray inner page. I wouldn't have been surprised if curse words were written in red ink inside, but there was nothing like that on the back of the cover.

Instead, there were photos.

Several photos of unfamiliar people, neatly arranged.

As I peered into the album wondering what on earth it was, I noticed Ye-hyeon's face turning pale.

"They're your subordinates from below."

Jae-yeon made a flower bud shape with her hand and narrowed her eyes.

"So you don't forget."

Ah.

Oh my god.

These were the fallen comrades.

"You crazy bastard."

I averted my gaze from Ye-hyeon's trembling fingers.

Jae-yeon smiled slyly at my short curse.

"I have a gift for you too."

How gracious.

I shot her a look filled with contempt and disgust, then replied curtly.

"Thanks. Sorry, I didn't prepare anything for you."

"That's why I'm so thoughtful."

The woman gently stroked her braided hair cascading past her shoulders.

Then she reached down with one hand and lifted a small box.

"Isn't this the Christmas spirit?"

I took the box.

Before untying the blue ribbon, I reached out and closed the album. Click. As the album shut with a sound, Ye-hyeon, who had been unable to tear his eyes away from it, slowly raised his head.

Pretending not to notice Ye-hyeon looking at me with shaking eyes, I pulled the ribbon.

The black box opened.

"Huh?"

The sound escaped reflexively.

No way....

"No way...."

"It's what you've been looking for, right?"

Jae-yeon smiled brightly.

It was a smile beautiful enough to stop passersby in their tracks.

"You're really happy, aren't you?"

From K.

The game that had faded from my mind for a while. But the game I had vowed to collect and play someday was right in front of me.

The 'From' series that Walker, Shu, and I had discovered at the game shop we visited together.

My jaw dropped.

I could feel Ye-hyeon lowering his head to check my expression, but I had no time to look back.

Jae-yeon tilted her head and chuckled.

"Out of that series, I liked this one the best."

Her nails, painted red, tapped lightly on the small black box.

"The message it contains really resonates with me."

I stared at Jae-yeon in a daze.

My hunger was gone. The resolve to somehow drag this being out of here had melted away. I just sat there, speechless, looking at Jae-yeon.

A being whose true form I didn't know, whose age was a mystery, whether even human at all.

That's when the change happened. As if keenly sensing that my determination to chase her away had dissolved, Jae-yeon suddenly grinned like a fox spirit and stood up.

Scrape! The chair was pushed back with a sharp sound.

Jae-yeon neatly pushed the chair back in and then walked out of the cabin.

And just like that, she was gone.

As if she had never been here to begin with.

Without leaving even a single strand of her light hair.

*

It took a long time after Jae-yeon vanished for us to come to our senses.

I was the first to snap out of it.

I stood up and checked on my pale superior.

"Commander."

Ye-hyeon, who had been frozen, lifted his head.

"I'll escort you back to your residence."

Big, dark eyes.

Eyes mixed with sorrow and battle-hardened experience, always making it hard to read his thoughts, looked up at me quietly. I didn't look away until he blinked and emerged from the shock.

The emotional shock washed away.

Ye-hyeon slowly broke the silence.

"Question time."

His pale finger pointed to the chair.

"Sit back down."

It wasn't a question but an order.

I sat down obediently, relieved that he wasn't treating me as a superior. The roast chicken on the aluminum foil was cooling. No more steam rose from the latte.

No one touched the food.

Once I was seated, Ye-hyeon spoke in a husky voice.

"Since it's just us, ask whatever you want."

The supreme commander spoke in formal language.

"You'll be busy for a while, so it might be best to ask everything at once."

I stayed silent.

To formulate the right questions. It wasn't the mood to ask him to drop the formal speech. I racked my brain and selected questions. I eliminated any that someone other than Ye-hyeon could answer. He was that busy.

I started with official questions.

"If we start clashing with the titans, I won't be able to keep hidden that I'm not human."

"Probably. As long as the elders' existence isn't exposed, it's fine."

Ye-hyeon answered with his eyes downcast.

"As long as we hide that the titans have been on Earth for a long time and that the elders benefiting from them are operating behind the core. Of course, it's best not to get your identity exposed. If they find out you're not human, most will suspect and hate you."

"Betrayers have no place to go anyway."

I chuckled briefly.

"I'm prepared. I'll try my best not to get caught, but if it seems like I will, I'll respond as instructed."

Ye-hyeon nodded slowly.

Then he didn't move.

He still hadn't fully recovered from the shock.

I'd be flailing in shock too if someone shoved something like that at me.

If his condition didn't improve, I'd have to carry him home.

As I closely observed his pale profile, his eyes shifted toward me.

"Nothing else?"

I looked at him and smiled faintly.

"Can I ask personal questions?"

Ye-hyeon gave me a look that said, do you even have personal questions for me?

He unclenched his interlocked hands and leaned toward me.

"If you want."

"How long do you plan to keep using formal speech?"

"If you're asking personal questions, I have to."

His voice revealed his thought: why ask something so obvious?

I let out a small laugh.

Then I took in the sight of him staring at me with wide eyes.

The unfortunate child who had received my sword.

"Lee Seung-hyun didn't celebrate your birthday properly, did he?"

Ye-hyeon's eyes widened.

For a moment, he reverted to a hurt child. The deep eyes, filled with wounds and sorrow from his father, then faded.

His reaction alone told me the answer.

I'd suspected a lot the moment I heard the name from Lee Seung-hyun's mouth that day. But the expression that appeared and vanished in an instant told me even more. I bitterly took in Ye-hyeon as he opened and closed his mouth.

"Have you ever received a birthday present from Lee Seung-hyun?"

Ye-hyeon stared at me blankly.

Then, after a long pause, he slowly shook his head.

It was the answer I'd expected, but anger surged up, and I spat out a curse with a smile.

"That crazy bastard Lee Seung-hyun."

"...Still, thanks to my father, I survived the war."

"Did he hit you?"

"...If I didn't resist, not particularly.... As an augmented body owner, he never completely lost his reason and beat me senseless...."

That meant he got hit even without resisting sometimes.

The unspoken answer was clear. I suppressed the urge to sigh.

A heavy silence settled.

It was an uneasy silence, but it lingered for a while. There was nothing more to say. I'd asked what I wanted to ask. No need to probe deeper; it would only hurt Ye-hyeon more.

I had to hand him over to the Choi siblings after finishing the last task.

I'd worried if getting what I wanted from the angry and confused Lee Seung-hyun would cross a line.

I looked up at Ye-hyeon, who had his mouth shut.

Assessing his condition, I slowly stood.

"To give you a birthday present."

I walked to the TV and picked up the envelope I'd placed carefully on top.

Back at the table, I handed it to Ye-hyeon, who was blinking.

"It's from Lee Seung-hyun."

Ye-hyeon looked puzzled.

The man reached out silently. His hand, as it took the envelope, trembled with fear and hesitation.

But I didn't add any explanation. I just stood quietly beside him, watching as he hesitated and opened the envelope, pulling out the photo inside.

The photo revealed its subject.

A pale, beautiful woman.

"Sasha."

I whispered down at Ye-hyeon, whose eyes were wide open.

"A photo of Sasha."

Ye-hyeon's hand shook violently.

He jerked his head up. He looked up at me with widened eyes from the shock.

I smiled faintly as I saw tears welling in his eyes.

As Yoon said, it wouldn't have been strange if his neck had snapped and he'd died from the request. Even if the strongest human alive turned him into a bloody pulp.

Fortunately, he'd come back alive.

"He said it's okay to hand it over."

I whispered as I watched the tears drop one by one.

"It annoyed me how he said something obvious like he was doing a favor."

I hoped this would help heal at least a little of the wounds from his childhood.

His arm reached out to catch the photo slipping from his trembling hand, but I grabbed it. I let my body be pulled as Ye-hyeon gripped my arm and tugged.

He didn't let go of the arm he clutched.

Ye-hyeon bowed his head and cried, gripping my arm tightly. Tears fell in streams, soaking the cabin floor. His thin body trembled.

Suppressed sobs.

If only he'd given him even a sliver of attention back then, he would have been so much happier.

If only he'd asked his name, or his birthday. Regretting it, I let Sasha's son cry for a long time.