Prologue Story

I swallowed the curses that tried to escape my lips, protected Min-hee, and took a few more steps back.

I called Auntie Suna using Telepathic Magic.

「Auntie, can you hear me?」

「Hm? Oh, Eun-ha! Did you find Min-hee?」

「Yes, I found her, but… something unpleasant is happening right now.」

I stopped speaking there and glanced at Senior Ji-hyun.

Even while arguing with that man, it seemed he was paying attention to this side.

Judging by the way he scattered magic as if reaching his limit the moment Min-hee stopped talking, there was no doubt about it.

Is he going to do it?

That disgusting man, as if in response, also released his magic.

I continued my whispers.

「It looks like Senior Ji-hyun is about to cause a commotion. Please come here right away.」

「What?!」

As soon as I finished the telepathy, the situation exploded.

The magic of the two clashed violently.

“So, did I touch her? Huh? Where does a kid half my age get off—”

“Shut up. Not all adults are the same kind of adults.”

“Ugh!”

As the magic collided, a strong wind swept through.

The tense atmosphere caused onlookers, who were avoiding the two, to grow increasingly alarmed.

“Kyaaah!”

“A fight in a civilian area!”

“I heard that man’s a pervert.”

“Then it makes sense to be mad.”

“Call the police, call the police!”

Soon, familiar faces descended in front of us.

Auntie Suna, Chunho oppa, and In-ha had arrived.

“What’s going on? How did it come to this?”

Chunho oppa asked with a grim expression.

Since Min-hee didn’t know what was happening, I answered instead.

“That man tried to sexually harass Min-hee…”

Not knowing how far that man intended to go, I gave a slightly toned-down answer.

Even so, Auntie Suna and Chunho oppa immediately grasped the situation and furrowed their brows deeply.

Chunho oppa glared at the man being attacked by Senior Ji-hyun, ready to join in if necessary.

“…We witnessed it. That’s why it escalated like this.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“I’ll beat him to death.”

“It’ll get complicated. Don’t get involved.”

Auntie Suna, clutching her forehead as if pained by the situation, firmly stopped Chunho oppa.

At that moment, I felt a sinking sensation watching the scene before me.

A chill ran through my body.

I raised my head to look at Auntie Suna.

Unlike how she had stopped Chunho oppa from intervening, Auntie Suna was seething with terrifying rage.

In that fight, Senior Ji-hyun clearly had the upper hand.

I already thought he was strong, but as expected, that man wasn’t a match for a B-rank like Senior Ji-hyun.

However, Auntie Suna decided to step into the fray.

She removed the interference-prevention item from her ear, took a step toward the battleground, and raised her hand.

Wind swirled around her upraised hand, sparkling like ice.

Auntie Suna slammed the wind down between the two of them.

Crack!

The result was astonishing.

With a single, light strike, the water along the trajectory split apart before instantly freezing solid with white frost.

People watching the fight from a distance stared at Auntie Suna in a daze.

Tap, tap, the sound of her footsteps drew everyone’s gaze.

Her magic also affected the two men near its trajectory of power.

Senior Ji-hyun was barely affected, but the other man’s face turned visibly pale.

Frost shaped like snowflakes began to fall around us.

When I exhaled, my breath was visible in the air.

Frost in the middle of summer… even Min-hee marveled at the sight.

“Wow, Auntie Suna is amazing…”

“She’s my mom… But Eun-ha.”

“Yeah?”

As I marveled at Auntie Suna’s power, In-ha turned to me.

In-ha asked, “What does ‘sexual harassment’ mean?”

“Huh…?”

“Yeah! What does it mean? You said I was harassed, right? What is it that makes everyone so angry?”

“Uh, well, it’s…”

I grabbed my head, searching for words to explain.

This is driving me crazy!

What on earth is this school doing without even teaching elementary students about sex education?

In this rough world, isn’t sex education urgently necessary for kids?

For a moment, I was deeply troubled.

If I explained sexual harassment as it was, it might itself become verbal harm to their pure minds.

Could I even talk about this before properly educating them?

After some thought, I decided I’d give them a comic book about sex education later.

“…It’s a bit too complex and difficult for me to explain directly, so I’ll show you a book about it later. Try to understand it through that.”

“…? Okay.”

“Ehh? But I hate books.”

“I’ll get a comic book.”

“Well, in that case.”

We turned our attention back to Auntie Suna.

She clenched her fist into her palm and smiled coldly.

“You dared to do something disgusting to my child? Then stay frozen quietly. I’ll turn you into solid ice and hand you over to the police.”

“You, you’re… Wait, you’re Kim Suna?!”

“If you mess with an angelic child, this is what happens to you. Ji-hyun, take the kids to where he is. We can’t let them see anything too harsh.”

“…Understood.”

“Even though you’re now an adult, you’re still a student. It would be problematic if you caused trouble.”

“Thank you.”

Senior Ji-hyun bowed his head toward Auntie Suna and approached us.

Our bodies were soon relocated.

We were greeted again by Mom, Dad, and Uncle Jungmin.

“Oh… Thank goodness. You found Min-hee! Min-hee, you should stick with your brother and friends.”

“Hehe… I’m sorry.”

“But where’s Suna?”

When Mom asked, I hesitated, unsure how to respond.

Fighting?

Was that the right term?

It was more like a one-sided punishment.

I chose my words carefully.

“Uh, well, she’s casting magical bombardments.”

“What? Why? All of a sudden?”

“A man tried to lure Min-hee away…”

“What?!”

Mom let out a shocked cry, crouching down to meet Min-hee’s eyes.

“Min-hee, are you okay? That man didn’t touch you, did he?”

“Um, lure… lured? Ugh, it’s hard to say. Anyway, what does that mean?”

“You don’t need to know! You don’t need to know yet! Oh, no wonder Suna’s so furious! Don’t worry. Suna will get revenge for you!”

And… as Mom said, Auntie Suna thoroughly avenged Min-hee and returned to us.

With a relieved face, Auntie Suna explained every detail of how she had taken revenge.

I stopped listening midway, plugging my ears and lowering my head.

I can’t handle seeing or hearing anything brutal!

I glanced at my clueless friends’ faces and felt a slight sense of relief.

It’s fortunate you don’t understand what she’s saying yet…

Anyway, from this incident, I gained an important realization.

Never take your eyes off a child.

No matter how mature they seem, you never know what kids will do.

I let out a small sigh.

Fortunately, the rest of the trip ended without incident.

We returned to our beloved home with a somewhat refreshed feeling.

After our trip, Han-soo, Hyun-ho, and Shia heard about the incident and reacted indifferently.

[So, what does sexual harassment actually mean? Oh, is it just a fancy way of saying bullying? How childish for an adult.]

[Or kidnapping? That would make them really terrible!]

[Yeah, for sure.]

Of course… I lowered my head sharply.

Second graders.

They’re only nine years old.

What was I even expecting from these kids?

[But from what I hear, it sounds like Senior Ji-hyun and Chunho oppa really like you? It seems like you’ve gotten super close.]

“What?”

I widened my eyes at those words.

Really?

Even In-ha seemed a bit surprised as she asked again.

Han-soo nodded.

[Yeah. Especially Senior Ji-hyun. He’s really protective of Min-hee, but he doesn’t like other girls much. You know, girls that age tend to be loud, and when things don’t go their way, they just cry. He says that’s why he dislikes them.]

Kik, pretending to sound like an adult.

I listened to Han-soo’s words with a slightly skeptical attitude.

You’re just a kid yourself, you know.

[But it seems like Senior Ji-hyun treats you well.]

[Agreed! Chunho oppa is nice to everyone, though.]

[Yeah, that’s true.]

“Is that so…”

In-ha, who had been pondering, finally answered.

“…Maybe. Senior Ji-hyun doesn’t really talk to me much, but… he pats your head and even smiles at you sometimes, doesn’t he?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s kind of annoying.”

“Oh…”

For a moment, I wondered if she was angry about being treated differently.

But In-ha’s answer was entirely unexpected.

“He takes away time I could spend with you.”

I let out a bitter smile.

“Oh, come on…”

Maybe it’s because she’s a kid.

In-ha’s world still revolved around me.

And I didn’t dislike that.

Because right now, my world revolved around In-ha too.

Having read many comics, I actually held a greater fascination for friendship than for love.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

After all, I’m already in love.

“It’s getting late. Let’s sleep now.”

“Oh, really?”

[Yeah, okay. Talk again soon.]

“Sure.”

[Keep in touch!]

“Okay.”

In-ha and I ended the video call, turned off the lights, and lay down on our beds.

Soon, I could hear the sound of her steady breathing beside me.

Although it usually took me a long time to fall asleep, ever since I gained the ability to wander through dreams, I could somewhat control when I slept.

Instead of falling asleep immediately, I stared quietly at the ceiling.

I reached out and pulled out a ring from the chain tucked inside my collar.

I held it up, and a familiar face naturally came to mind.

Yes.

Right now, my entire world is made up of my friends and family.

I remember when my entire world was filled only with love for you.

It’s not that I didn’t cherish my family back then.

It’s just that you were the most precious to me.

To be precise, the feelings I had for you were the most precious.

But now, I feel a happiness closer to fulfillment than I ever did during those days of longing for love.

When I meet you again, I probably won’t be able to consider you my entire world.

Because you’re not my entire world anymore.

I’ve changed.

Even after crying, rejecting, and trying to push it all away, you were everything to me.

But now, I’ve been reincarnated and found friends who fit my heart perfectly.

And I have a family who loves me by my side.

I don’t believe in eternity.

I’m too practical to believe in unchanging feelings.

Isn’t that how it is even in comics or novels?

There’s nothing that remains unchanged forever.

Whether feelings grow stronger, disappear, or change, they’re never eternal.

I don’t think the friends by my side now will be eternal.

I’ve never had a friend who stayed by me forever.

Even the ones I was close to drifted away after a year or two, finding new friends.

Whether that was true friendship or not, I don’t know.

And yet, there was a time when I believed in eternity.

That was the love I had for him.

But it’s also true that there’s now something else I’d like to believe could be eternal.

I want to stay friends with these kids for a very long time.

And, someday… with you.

I brought the ring to my lips.

‘…Let’s make a Blood Oath. Let’s choose each other.’

I mean it.

Even now, in this reincarnation, I haven’t forgotten you.

I still love you.

So please, I’ll wait.

For some reason, I’ve always known—from my past life to this reincarnation—that I’d meet you again.

And I also knew it was natural that those memories would fade after being reincarnated.

I don’t know why.

To be precise, it’s as if that knowledge is “missing” from my memory.

But even now, having forgotten the details of that belief, I still instinctively feel certain that I’ll meet you again.

So I’ll wait.

For the day I meet you again.

I still firmly believe that I’ll love you forever.