Chapter 16 : Gyarrrrrrung

When I think back to my childhood, my mother was always absent.

Busier than anyone, More silently enduring than anyone.

She lived each day for me, and me alone.

But back then, I didn’t know.

Sitting alone at the table, eating, Lifting my head to find an empty living room—

I just felt disappointed.

“Why is Mom never around?”

That was all I thought, sulking in silence.

It was a time when I was immature,

Not even trying to grow up.

But now, I understand.

My mother wasn’t neglecting me—

Even with no time, she was doing everything for me.

When she found a brief moment of spare time, she’d go to the local cake shop, put a candle on a cake, and celebrate my birthday.

She’d force her tired eyes open to watch cartoons I liked.

All those moments I took for granted—

They were, in truth, everything she could give.

And I realized it far too late.

Then, that day came without warning.

As a high schooler, wanting to ease her burden, even just a little, I studied hard and was on my way home.

In front of the door, a familiar pair of shoes sat there earlier than usual.

And in the center of the living room—

My mother had collapsed.

Quietly.

So very quietly.

Like someone who had already died.

A cold aura rising from her body.

“…Mom?”

I couldn’t breathe.

My fingers trembled, my knees froze, and it took me a long time to approach.

Even while calling 911, I kept thinking, maybe she’s just asleep?

I called her name again and again with that hope.

“…Wake up, Mom. I’m home.”

But no answer came.

Since that day, my mother has never opened her eyes.

Leaving her unconscious body in the hospital, I moved from job to job to pay off our debts.

Nights fell asleep sitting in chairs, and my visits to the hospital grew fewer and fewer.

Even saying “I’m home” became something I only whispered in my heart.

But today.

Here, in the Seo family’s estate— I never imagined I’d witness the exact same scene again.

A body growing cold.

Red spots slowly surfacing on the skin.

A faint breath barely hanging on.

It gave me chills.

It looked so similar, I wanted to look away.

…That illness.

The one even the hospital couldn’t identify.

Why is it here? That’s when it happened.

“…Do you know about the symptoms?”

Seo Kang-il’s careful voice.

I paused for a moment, then slowly turned my gaze and answered.

“Yes. My mother is… currently experiencing the same symptoms.”

A silence fell.

At that moment, it felt as if the room’s temperature dropped even further.

The once-light air turned heavy, and everyone’s eyes turned to me as cautiously as silence itself.

“…I see.”

Seo Kang-il was the first to speak.

His expression didn’t show surprise— Only deep regret and sorrow.

“So Mr. Min-woo’s mother… is suffering from this as well.”

He quietly nodded and looked over at the bed.

“Unfortunately, we still haven’t figured out the exact cause of this condition.”

Seo Geum-cheol, head of the Seo family and father of Seo Yuna, looked at me briefly before closing his eyes.

For a while, he said nothing, lips tightly pressed.

“To think your mother is also enduring such pain…”

A low sigh escaped him.

He began to speak, cautiously—so very cautiously.

“This illness began seven years ago. My wife… it was like her life force was being slowly drained away.”

Seo Kang-il added,

“Medically, it can’t be explained. But through the Bureau of Anomalies’ analysis, we’ve discovered one thing. This is a curse.”

My heart sank with a thud.

“A curse?”

“Yes. A trace left behind by an anomaly — a curse. Someone, or something, is slowly… steadily draining life away.”

I couldn’t breathe.

That means…

Even now, in this very moment, my mother is having her life stolen from her.

“Then… is there no way to stop it?”

When I asked, Seo Kang-il shook his head firmly.

“This curse cannot be stopped by any medicine or technology unless we find and remove its source. This lies within the domain of the anomalous.”

I looked silently at the middle-aged woman lying in bed.

Her lips were bluish, her fingertips slowly turning a pale, frozen shade.

It overlapped with my memory of my mother.

Again, I couldn’t breathe.

A feeling slowly, but surely, began to rise from within.

We have to find it.

“Actually…”

As I was lost in thought, Seo Kang-il spoke again, carefully.

“There might be a way to deal with these symptoms — though it’s uncertain.”

“There’s… a way?”

He looked at me directly.

A subtle mix of determination, hope, and sympathy flickered in his eyes.

“It’s an anomaly.”

“An anomaly?”

“Yes.”

He took a short breath, then continued in a low voice.

“It’s one of the anomalies currently in containment at the Bureau. A difficult entity to deal with… but if the conditions are right, we might be able to uncover a lead.”

“You mean… a clue to the source of the illness?”

Seo Kang-il didn’t express full certainty.

“I can’t say for sure, but it’s likely.”

Still, my heart, which had been calm just moments before, pounded violently.

It wasn’t certainty.

There weren’t even enough clues.

But I had more than enough reason to act.

“It’s a Class-A threat. Even the Bureau avoids engaging it lightly. That said, the anomaly’s willingness determines the terms of any contract. It is possible to try, but the results are unpredictable — and the risks are high.”

I gave a small nod.

“…I’ll do it.”

Seo Kang-il smiled at that.

“Good. I’ll organize the relevant information and pass it along to you.”

As he gave me his word, I reached out my hand.

We shook hands — and in that moment, it felt like I’d found a comrade walking toward the same goal.

Then, as I turned my head, I met Seo Yuna’s gaze.

For some reason, Her expression was full of deep thoughts.

After a short conversation,

We sat down to eat — me and the Seo family.

The quiet clinking of tableware echoed softly,

And Seo Yuna remained deep in thought.

“Yes. My mother is also… experiencing the same symptoms.”

The words Min-woo had quietly spoken moments ago still rang in her ears.

She couldn’t believe it.

No — she didn’t want to believe it.

That Mr. Min-woo’s mother, like her own…

Was slowly, silently having her life drained away.

A strange sense of kinship weighed down on her chest.

And then, Min-woo’s calm determination.

“…I’ll do it.”

Her brother had cautiously proposed a dangerous contract —

And Min-woo had agreed to face an anomaly even their family had given up on.

A Class-A threat anomaly.

An entity so dangerous that her father had nearly lost his life confronting it —

And one the Bureau’s own manual clearly warned to avoid at all costs.

And yet, Min-woo said he would stand before it.

Seo Yuna’s fingers trembled.

And still, Min-woo…

“…He’s incredible.”

She truly thought so.

“I couldn’t do anything.”

When her mother collapsed,

Seo Yuna had fallen apart.

She had simply collapsed in place and cried.

Her brother and father had been there by her side.

She endured by leaning on them,

Crying in their arms,

Finding comfort in their support.

But Min-woo was different.

He had no family to hold him up,

No one to lean on.

He simply stood up on his own, and walked forward.

“He’s really… a strong person.”

Watching someone like him, Seo Yuna made a small vow to herself.

…That she wanted to be of help.

That she wanted to support him.

And—

That she wanted to walk beside him.

But in order to help him, there was a “condition.”

The condition the bakeneko had mentioned.

“Ask my male human to pet me regularly.”

That was the sole requirement for the extended contract.

The price of gaining more power.

But for Seo Yuna,

It was harder than giving up her own life force —

A simple, yet utterly foreign request.

“Please… pet me.”

Just a few words would do it.

But it felt impossibly difficult.

She had never approached a boy her age so closely before.

Inviting Min-woo to her home,

Sitting across from him at the dinner table — even that was a first.

And now she had to ask him to pet her? Personally?

Her heart pounded, thump, thump.

Her face gradually grew hot.

“Female, get out. Let me do it.”

The Bakeneko urged her impatiently.

Given what happened last time, the Bakeneko wouldn’t hesitate.

She looked ready to take over Yuna’s body and jump on Min-woo right then.

“That’s not okay.”

Seo Yuna reflexively whispered.

If the Bakeneko came out again…

That ear-biting incident would definitely happen again.

She couldn’t let that happen.

“…This time, I’ll do it.”

‘Yeah, asking Min-woo to pet me… I can handle that much.’

Placing her trembling hand over her chest,

Seo Yuna slowly got to her feet.

Min-woo had just finished eating and was about to leave.

She cautiously called out to his back.

“Um… Min-woo…”

He turned around.

The moment their eyes met,

Yuna felt her cheeks burn.

“Do you have a moment?”

Her voice was thin and timid— but it held the sincerity of a girl mustering her courage.

Min-woo hesitated for a moment, then quietly nodded.

“Sure.”

They moved to a quiet corner of the small garden inside the house.

A breeze brushed against their backs, and the night air was a little chilly.

Seo Yuna took a deep breath.

“Um… Just a second.”

He waited silently.

‘If I don’t say it now, the Bakeneko might jump out.’

With her eyes tightly shut, Seo Yuna said,

“Please… pet me.”

“……?”

A heavy silence followed her words.

She instinctively covered her face with both hands.

Ah, this was so embarrassing.

But then—

“Um… where?”

Thankfully, Min-woo accepted it.

“…My head.”

As she quietly bowed her head, a cautious hand reached toward the top of it.

The moment his palm touched her, it was surprisingly warm.

She hadn’t known human hands could feel so kind.

Tap, tap.

His strokes were a little rough and clumsy, but the feeling behind them was gentle.

The wind blew, and her hair fluttered.

Seo Yuna unconsciously closed her eyes.

‘I feel like a cat…’

From deep in her throat, a sound escaped her lips without her knowing:

“…7228…”

Shocked by the sound she had made, she quickly covered her mouth— but judging from Min-woo’s expression, he had already heard it.

Her face turned crimson.

“P-Please stop!”

Even as she turned and ran away, the sensation from his fingertips still lingered.

As soon as she shut her door and dove into her bed, she groaned.

‘Ahh… What on earth did I just do…!’

The kind of shame that made her want to roll around on the floor.

“Haaa… But still…”

Without realizing, she stroked her own head.

That warmth— strangely, she didn’t hate it.

‘It didn’t feel bad…’

Then—

“Oh…!”

She suddenly sat up.

“I forgot to tell him the reason…!”

She asked him to pet her because it was part of their contract!

What if Min-woo thinks she’s some weirdo!?

Her vision went dark.

“…Then maybe… I’ll just have to marry Min-woo…?”

She muttered unconsciously and buried her head under the blanket.

‘So stupid…’

But somewhere in her chest, a strange flutter tickled her heart.

And at that moment, another voice whispered in her mind.

“Well done, female.”

It was the Bakeneko.

“Keep asking that handsome male to pet you regularly. That’s how I’ll give you power.”

The Bakeneko’s warning.

To that, Seo Yuna thought:

Yeah, this is for the sake of the contract.

She justified it that way and pulled the blanket over herself.

And slowly thought,

‘…But honestly, I kind of liked it…?’

Min-woo’s touch.

And the thought of walking alongside him in the future.

The imagined number of children was three.

And the desire to feel that warmth again— just a little bit.