According to what Rize-chan said, the two siblings were lucky that they had no vaccinations pending during this visit.

But unsurprisingly, Rize-chan, who skipped her 10-year-old vaccination, had to receive her’s today.

“She’s receiving her vaccine rather late. Is there any reason for the delay?”

The nurse raised her head from Rize-chan’s medical report and looked right at me.

I had no idea how to respond to her.

“Oh. That’s because I was busy with my military duties.”

“Military duties?”

The nurse glanced at Rize-chan before looking at me bewildered.

“Are you her mother?”

“A-Ah. No, I’m not.”

…It’s the other way around. But it’s not like I can admit…

“Then you’re her guardian? Where are her parents? She’s only twelve, how could you let her work in the military at such an age…”

“Is it a compulsory requirement for a parent to be present as an orphan? Can’t I get my jab?”

Rize-chan looked at the nurse slightly fed up.

“Orphan…?”

The nurse awkwardly checked Rize-chan’s identity card for a second time.

Point to note. 15 years old is considered an adult. However, as an orphan, there is an exemption where they are allowed independent status at the age of 12. Sure enough, the nurse had to apologise for mistaking the situation.

“Still. As a child, you need a legal guardian to serve as a witness… let’s see… it says here the last time you came with Mr. Hai Aki. He’s your guardian during your last visit.”

“Then it can’t be helped. I’ll go ask Mr. Hyeon.”

“And who is this young lady with you? Since she’s your companion, she could sign for the documents…”

“No way. She’s my daughter. I can’t let my daughter sign for this.”

Daughter. Yep, right, I am… wait, what did Rize-chan just say?

“Give me a sec. I’ll go find a witness for you—”

Rize-chan left the nurse’s cubicle to find Hyeon-ssi. I saw the nurse’s mouth fall wide open.

“…She, daughter… wha?”

“…”

I could almost imagine the mind fuck she was going through having heard something so absurd.

“…”

“…”

“Excuse me, but how old are you?”

It must take a completely dumbass not to ask about what was going on.

It was impossible to refuse an answer.

Fuck.

“…Seventeen.”

“…”

I sat there with the nurse for a full 5 minutes before mom arrived with Hyeon-ssi.

¸☆▫.-⌎.- ▫☆\*: .｡ _ ▫.｡.:*

You may only create your national identity card after your 12th birthday. And Rize-chan already had hers. This means that…

“Your birthday has passed?”

I asked Rize-chan who was removing the cotton wool tapped to her injection site.

“My birthday? No, why?”

“Huh? Then how did you make your ID card?”

“Oh, that’s because I don’t know my actual birthday. I came into existence without knowing anything about my age or body… and probably have no parents in this world. So Sergeant Hai Aki simply registered me for 7 years old on the 1st of Hana. So I made my ID earlier this year.”

“That’s very close to my birthday.”

“Oh? Is it? What a coincidence. When is it?”

“2nd of Hana.”

“Wow! You’re born a big baby then.”

A big baby…

“For me, I simply took the date I came into existence and made it my birthday. That would be the 5th of Mina.”

Kenji too, chose his birthday based on the day he arrived in this world.

It was currently the month of Yǔ. Which means there is about half a year between now and her birthday. I better remember that.

“How about the two of them? When were they born again?”

Rize-chan turned to Hyeon-ssi.

“Both of them were born last week. 11th of Yǔ.”

“Wha…! You should’ve told me. We didn’t host a birthday party!”

“You expect me to host a birthday party after all that has happened the past month?”

“Then let’s go do that now! SuBin, ChaDong, let’s go eat ice cream!”

“Ice scream!”

“What’s I scream?”

“Don’t know!”

“Rize-chan, correct me if I’m wrong but hadn’t you advised a while ago that it’s not a good idea to feed sugary stuff to kids so young?”

“That’s recommended advice that applies to kids below two years old! They’re old enough for pure sugar now!”

Prodded by Rize-chan’s enthusiasm, we stopped by the nearby mini-shopping district to have lunch. It was also a sightseeing trip for the kids who rarely get the chance to leave the house.

A cafe that serves Western dishes and various desserts.

Western dishes don’t actually imply that the food came from the Western side of the world. Rather, it’s how the culture refers to this cuisine when humans still lived on Earth.

“It’s their first time having it.”

Hyeon-ssi said.

“How do you like it?”

Rize-chan asked with a grin.

SuBin and ChaDong, who each had a small scoop of vanilla, were completely bewildered by the taste. It’s as if they never thought food could be eaten cold.

Really… as a child, the innocence and amazement of trying something novel creates such an awe-inspiring reaction. It’s really silly seeing the two try something for the first time.

“Yummy!”

“It’s cold!”

“Eat it slowly.”

Hyeon-ssi stoked ChaDong and SuBin’s heads. Since he lost his left, and only had his right hand remaining, he had to do it alternately.

“How’s writing?”

Rize-chan asked.

“Writing?”

“Aren’t you writing your latest magnum opus?”

Hyeon-ssi rolled his eyes.

“Decided to take a break.”

“Too bad, too bad. How far have you gotten?”

“I’ve decided to spend more time copy editing.”

“Heeh… are you short on cash or something?”

“Nothing like that. Isn’t it obvious why someone would stop writing?”

So it seems Hyeon-ssi who lost use of his left hand was now a writer?

“Heh. Don’t worry. You’re still young enough to get remarried someday.”

“You…”

“It’s the fact of the world sir. I’m sure Ms. Lili would’ve also wanted that. Didn’t she say it herself last time? Ahem, quote, how nice it would be if she had a friend to accompany her? And quote.”

“…”

Huh? I looked at Rize-chan.

“Yes, Ms. Lili is in support of polygamy.”

What, how?

I’ve heard that such people exist, though it’s usually the patriarch who pushes for multiple wives… it’s the first time I’m hearing it requested by the matriarch herself.

“Oo…”

SuBin enunciated her awe, watching as the semi-solid yoghurt ice cream melted back into liquid. Actually… was it even appropriate to talk about this in front of the kids?

“Because you know, traditionally, it was said that back in our hunter-gatherer days the females stayed back in groups to nurture the young while the males went out to hunt. Too bad I’m not open. So you should find someone else. Nom.”

Rize-chan said as she bit into her souffle.

“Neither my wife nor I ever had any intentions of choosing you to begin with.”

Hyeon-ssi rolled his eyes.

“Harsh.”

Oddly enough, despite cunning words from both parties, neither of them seemed offended? Normally, I would’ve expected a conversation like this to escalate into a full-blown conflict. Most especially because Rize-chan kept bringing up Ms. Chu as the topic.

Was Hyeon-ssi really that magnanimous or was he hiding his real feelings?

“Anyways, until you get another wife, do you have anything else you need help with? Do you have new clothes for them? How is their potty training coming along? Do you need more milk powder? How about their education? Can they do maths? What kind of unique talents have you noticed in them so far?”

“Right…”

“What?!”

“Cut me some slack. I’m still learning about these things, okay? Give me the rundown since you’re so experienced. SuBin and ChaDong are still both in diapers, but that’s just because of precaution. They’ll let me know every time they need to use the potty.”

“At two years of age, I think you can remove their diapers and teach them to not depend on it, slowly. But if you can still let them wear it at night when they’re sleeping if you’re still wary. In the mornings, let them go without it. Since you’re home most of the time right?”

“Yes.”

“How about clothes?”

“I don’t think my wife bought anymore for them, previously.”

“So we’ll need new ones then. How about milk? How much do you have left?”

“The nurse advised that they can eat proper meals now, so do we still need milk?”

“Depends on the child. You said ChaDong still prefers to drink milk, right?”

“Right…”

Mn… Rize-chan did say she was a nurse in her past life. That would explain how she knows so much about taking care of children.

Rize-chan’s expert council was indeed helpful to Kim Hyeon-ssi. That said, seeing an adult take advice from a child was rather bizarre.

.- ▫☆\*: .｡ _ ▫.｡.:*☆▫.-⌎

It happened that there was a clothing store nearby which sold children’s wear. Rize-chan, with Hyeon-ssi’s consideration, picked out new clothes for SuBin and ChaDong. As mentioned, they were going to outgrow their current ones fairly soon.

They also bought formula milk, additional diapers, some light groceries, and educational books.

“Should we have brought them back first?”

“Perhaps we should…”

And during the time they were busy buying, I took care of the two siblings. They were happily jumping around the miniature store-built playground just earlier. How was it that they suddenly fell asleep on me?

“SuBin, ChaDong…”

I poked them.

SuBin’s brows curled, vexed, refusing to open her eyes. Meanwhile, ChaDong responded by dropping the empty milk bottle from his mouth.

Both of them were curled up around me, their hands grasping my clothes.

“Jeez. What kids.”

Rize-chan clicked her tongue as she picked up the bottle ChaDong dropped and shoved it into the baby bag.

“I’ll carry SuBin. EiYun-san, you can carry ChaDong.”

“No, wait. I can carry them both. It’s fine.”

I denied Hyeon-ssi’s offer. He was already carrying a lot.

I took SuBin and ChaDong both, into my left and right arm respectively.

If I couldn’t carry this much, then I must be a failure of a soldier. Moreover, I could burn my bioprana to assist in the weight.

Reaching Hyeon-ssi’s house, I laid SuBin and ChaDong down to sleep on the mattress.

The two siblings were very cute.

I then went to the kitchen where Hyeon-ssi and Rize-chan were busy arranging the bought items.

“Thanks a lot, EiYun-san.”

“No, I should’ve done as much.”

“Hey, Mr. Hyeon, where does the milk powder go again?”

“Right-most upper shelf.”

He said right before leaving with all the baby clothes to the first floor.

“Right upper-most shelf. Right upper-most…”

Rize-chan muttered repeatedly as she stared at her target.

“Damn it.”

“I’ll help.”

She had no choice but to curse out loud because her target was too high up… she was too short. I reached over carefully and flipped the cabinet open. Inside were two more cans of the same brand of milk which they had bought.

“No fair, why am I so short… I swear kids my age should already be about your height.”

She’s cursing me short, isn’t she…

“What you eat maybe?”

“Eat? No way. You’re saying I’m so short because I didn’t drink enough milk?”

“Perhaps?”

“No way!”

No way… yet why are you considering my random assumptions so deeply.

“Well, my menstrual cycle hasn’t started yet so I still have a chance. I suppose I should buy some milk later.”

“Your menstrual cycle hasn’t started yet?”

“Nope. A girl’s growth spurt happens just before their menstrual cycle. Which means I still have a chance!”

“Then what if it’s simply a problem of your real age? What if you’re actually 10?”

You did say you came into this world without knowledge of anything about the body you’re currently inhabiting?

“That could be a possibility too… yeah. Let’s hope that’s what it is. You know, I was this tall in my past two lives.”

“Eh…”

She gestured her ideal height. Which was almost a head taller than me.

“It’s my previous height. The perfect height for any mature woman. I should aim for that, yep.”

Closing the cabinet after stuffing the can of formula milk in, I looked towards the table. I didn’t notice earlier but, it seems to be today’s newspaper.

On the front page was a picture of me. No.

It was a picture of Hwang EunHa.

And in bold letters that announced her death.

My eyes lost focus to the rigging in my ear that grew every passing second. My heart beat to the blood pumping in my veins. Black thoughts stained my mind.

A scintillation of light hit my eye, forcing me to blink away.

I turned to where it came from; the small bonsai tree in a pot sitting beside the window caught my eye.

I took a breath of air. It calmed me down.

“Rize-chan, I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Why isn’t Hyeon-ssi mad when you talk about Ms. Chu?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should ask him?”

What kind of answer…

“If I were to guess, I’d say it’s because that’s just the kind of person he is. Both Mr. Hyeon and Ms. Lili had very open personalities.”

“…Open personalities.”

“They knew one or the other would die eventually. I heard from Ms. Lili to make a vow not to mourn for each other’s deaths. Well, Mr. Hyeon couldn’t keep that promise though. I don’t think a sane person could.”

“…”

“Why’d you ask?”

Rize-chan touched my shoulder.

“Are you worried that your family wouldn’t cry because of you?”

“…No.”

That’s not it. Rather… it’s because everyone I met who had a loved one die gets dyed black.

I found it odd that Hyeon-ssi was the first person whom I’ve seen accepting death in such a positive light.

Sure, he may be stained in some parts, but it didn’t engulf him. The pain of loss.

I could almost call him an anomaly. To forgive me, the person who brought Ms. Chu’s death… so readily. I’m worried if he was bottling up his actual feelings.

“Then you should just ask. I’m sure he’ll be happy to give you an answer.”

Mom said with a reassuring smile.

¸☆▫.-⌎.- ▫☆\*: .｡ _ ▫.｡.:*

“What are your plans after this?”

“No idea. I suppose to teach them how to do basic calculus?”

“Actually, it would be better to focus on their conversation skills first.”

“And how do I go about that?”

“Talk to them often. In adult sentences. I’ll also drop by every now and then to play, so they’ll at least have company.”

“I would appreciate it.”

“Now, Eun-chan here has a question for you.”

Rize-chan pushed me to the front.

Hyeon-ssi raised a brow.

“So?”

“Eh, um…”

“It’s alright. I won’t get mad, just ask.”

“Why… no. I’m sorry for asking. And I don’t mean what I say but… just, because of your actions, a little… I wondered if um, you’re not sad that Ms. Chu passed…?”

“Of course I’m sad. But life goes on, that’s just how it is.”

“…But…”

“What she means to ask is, why is your reaction to death so different from everyone else.”

Rize-chan helped follow up. I could only nod because she was right.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know Hyeon-ssi wasn’t sad. It was that I didn’t understand why he wasn’t swept away by the dark emotions.

“Who knows really. Maybe because she wouldn’t have wanted me to be that way. Plus, I have kids to take care of, any reasonable father should understand what to put first.”

“I still don’t understand…”

“Well, just think of it like this. Some people will screw their lives over after the death of their family, but that isn’t who I am. Maybe because of my past or whatever, but a person’s actions aren’t simply black and white. Someone else might have a different reaction to what happened, there are a million ways to react to one thing. I simply chose what I thought would be most beneficial. Everyone is doing their best in their own way. This is just who I am.”

“…Okay.”

“You still look confused.”

He sighed. And it was a justified reaction.

I understood what he meant. In simple terms, everyone is different. Everyone is trying their best.

But, is it appropriate to apply this kind of thinking to myself? As someone who was meant to die?

“I think she got it. She’s just processing your philosophy.”

Rize-chan said.

“Thank you Hyeon-ssi.”

I bowed.

“No problems. Just promise me one thing.”

“Yes. I won’t die.”

“No.”

No?

He looked me resolutely in the eye.

“Don’t just ‘not die’. Live your life to the fullest, the one my wife granted you.”

Right.

“I… will try my best.”

I do have this vow to keep.