#214
When Min-woong waved his hand, they soon spotted them as well. Yoon Pa-ran and the younger ones happened to be standing at the end of the cloud bridge installed in the middle of the botanical garden.
Of the two people standing at the opposite end of the bridge, Sehee was the first to call out to Min-woong cheerfully and came running over.
“Min-woong!”
“Sehee!”
Unlike Yoon Pa-ran, who looked at them suspiciously, Min-woong waved his hands enthusiastically with a bright expression. Sehee’s face was the same. Only the two little ones were jumping around excitedly, delighted by this chance encounter.
Yoon Pa-ran felt the security guards nearby watching this way as someone suddenly approached. However, they seemed to recognize Sehee’s face and cautiously radioed each other.
Soon the team leader made eye contact with Yoon Pa-ran from a distance, asking for his intentions on how to handle the situation.
With mixed feelings, Yoon Pa-ran looked at Sehee’s bright face and slightly shook his head from side to side. First, he needed to find out what was going on, so there was no need to be overly sensitive. Especially since Sehee was just a child around Min-woong’s age.
Of course, he didn’t forget to grab Min-woong’s shoulder, who had been wanting to run out since earlier, and subtly hide him behind. Min-woong looked up at him as if puzzled by his older brother’s behavior, but didn’t shake off his hand and obediently clung to Yoon Pa-ran’s leg.
Meanwhile, Sehee’s mother began crossing the bridge with a bright smile. There happened to be no other visitors between them at the moment.
He observed keenly, but the approaching person was indeed Sehee’s mother. Yoon Pa-ran was certain since he had encountered her several times at the playground near their home.
“Hello, oppa!”
“Oh, hello.”
“Did Sehee come to the botanical garden?”
“Yes!”
Sehee, who had run over first, grabbed Min-woong’s hand and shook it vigorously. Sehee’s mother was still not close enough for her voice to be heard by civilian standards.
“……”
In that brief moment, Yoon Pa-ran recalled that paper from not long ago with a complicated expression. After seeing that ridiculous advertisement, he had casually asked Min-woong about the source of the paper.
‘Min-woong. Where did Sehee get this paper? Did her parents give it to her?’
‘No! The mister over there secretly gave it to her. It’s a secret, hyung. You know?’
It was a suspicious matter that was unpleasant just to hear about. Yoon Pa-ran, who was starting to worry about Sehee as well, carefully examined the approaching child’s face.
Fortunately, Sehee looked healthy. There didn’t seem to be any other problems either.
Perhaps Sehee’s mother might not even know that the place was suspicious. Especially if that paper had only passed through the child’s hands. Like the words used to persuade other parents, maybe it was just about the prizes. He had made other excuses to the orphanage director because it was a bit embarrassing to mention.
While Yoon Pa-ran was thinking intensely, Sehee’s mother arrived in front of them.
“Hello, Hunter.”
“Hello.”
Since she was Min-woong’s friend’s parent, Yoon Pa-ran bowed his head awkwardly but politely in greeting. He deliberately used formal speech as well.
Unlike his constant anxiety, he didn’t sense anything strange from Sehee’s mother standing before him either.
“You came to the botanical garden.”
“Ah, yes.”
However, the tone that followed was quite strange. Because of that, Yoon Pa-ran still couldn’t relax his tension and had to keep watching her.
He had answered for now, but somehow felt odd. He was flustered by the strange nuance in Sehee’s mother’s casual remark.
It sounded as if she were reproaching him for not sending Min-woong there and bringing him to a place like this instead.
What’s this about?
“Didn’t Sehee say she was going out to play today?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Sehee answered naturally that it was so. Seeing her innocent attitude, Yoon Pa-ran also became curious. Since it was already afternoon, it seemed a bit late to go to Gangwon Province.
Were they leaving late to have dinner?
“I have something to give you.”
“Yes?”
Then Sehee’s mother spoke naturally. Even though she was smiling more kindly than usual, Yoon Pa-ran thought that smile was strangely unfamiliar.
Yoon Pa-ran watched the woman searching her pocket with heightened tension. Although there was sufficient distance, he felt anxious because two younger siblings were with him and Sehee was there too.
What came out of Sehee’s mother’s pocket was some kind of letter envelope.
“Here.”
“……”
Strangely, as soon as he saw that paper, Yoon Pa-ran froze completely.
The tension was so great that his spine stiffened. As if he thought he shouldn’t carelessly grab the item.
“Please take it quickly. It’s a letter that came for Yoon Pa-ran.”
Even those words were extremely suspicious. Why would a letter addressed to him be in Sehee’s mother’s hands?
He could feel the security guards positioned around them all moving at once. Probably Heo Sang-yeon, who must be hiding his presence somewhere, would be the same.
While he was stiffly trying to understand this situation, Min-woong pulled on Yoon Pa-ran’s hand, finding his behavior strange.
“Hyung?”
Then he reached out his small hand toward the paper as if he would take it instead.
As soon as he sensed this, Yoon Pa-ran snapped to attention and reflexively snatched the paper.
“Ah.”
The moment that paper came into his hands, Sehee’s mother smiled even more benevolently than before, her mouth splitting wide.
“I came to deliver good news.”
The cult-like dialogue made his spine feel cold. At the same time, he could feel the security guards rushing over.
“Ah……”
Fortunately, no particular energy could be felt from the paper. As if it were really just a letter.
While Yoon Pa-ran looked down at it in bewilderment, Sehee’s mother turned around smoothly with Sehee.
Then they moved away without even saying goodbye.
With somewhat vacant expressions.
“Hunter Yoon Pa-ran. Is there any problem?”
“……”
A security guard who had rushed over urgently asked what was wrong, but Yoon Pa-ran couldn’t answer hastily.
This situation, which seemed like nothing much on the surface, was strangely creepy, so his lips just wouldn’t open.
❖ ❖ ❖
While touring the rest of the botanical garden with his younger siblings, Yoon Pa-ran’s mind was half focused on his pocket. He was concerned about the letter “for Yoon Pa-ran” that Sehee’s mother had given him.
Anyway, he demonstrated superhuman self-control and completed the botanical garden outing to the end. He hoped his younger siblings wouldn’t sense any strange discomfort.
Following the security guards, Heo Sang-yeon also appeared quietly to ask if anything was wrong. Yoon Pa-ran said he was fine for now, conscious of his siblings’ gazes. He planned to read it and discuss it with Dan Joo-hyuk if anything seemed strange.
Min-woong looked somewhat dejected throughout. Although he was very excited to be out playing with his family, it was because Sehee had left without even saying goodbye.
When he worriedly asked if he might be upset because he wasn’t going on the trip with them, Yoon Pa-ran told him it wasn’t that. However, Yoon Pa-ran also felt somewhat uncomfortable in hindsight. In many ways, the attempt to divert Min-woong’s attention from that trip had essentially failed.
Moreover, the expressions of Sehee and Sehee’s mother as they turned away had been somewhat peculiar.
“……”
If there had been any real problem, he surely would have sensed the energy of [■■■ Fragment].
The younger siblings who returned home like this washed up and went to sleep early. It was natural since they had gone around the botanical garden twice, eaten out, and even played in the orphanage yard.
“Phew……”
As he headed alone to the empty room, Yoon Pa-ran seriously hardened his expression. It was finally time to check the letter he had put in his pocket a while ago.
But strangely, an uncomfortable premonition kept bothering the back of his head. He couldn’t understand why he felt so wary of a mere scrap of paper.
Just in case, he had asked Heo Sang-yeon before parting whether this might be an item. He had also examined it thoroughly but couldn’t find anything strange. Yoon Pa-ran had considered showing him the letter’s contents but decided against it.
Yoon Pa-ran still didn’t trust Heo Sang-yeon that much.
“……”
Entering the quiet room, Yoon Pa-ran plopped down on the floor. He found it amusing that he was desperately hoping this letter would at least contain something like a request to a neighborhood hunter he knew well.
The tightly sealed white envelope had no patterns or writing on it. Even after taking a deep breath and slowly opening it, no poison was detected.
What was inside was also just ordinary letter paper.
“……What is this.”
However, the content written there was the problem.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
