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Chapter 16
Wake up, three, Jo! Zio nim!
Z,io-
Zi.
…
“Zio-ya.”
“…”
“Gyeon Zio, my princess. You have to wake up.”
“I am not a princess.”
[The next station is the last stop for this train, Jukjeon, Dankook station.]
[Please double check to make sure you don’t leave behind anything when you get off.]
The mechanical sound of a door opening.
The busy steps of many people moving all at once.
Gyeon Zio opened her eyes.
She mumbled in a muffled voice.
“I am the king. How many times would you call snow white Seulgi?”
“Haha. Isn’t the prettiest girl in the class supposed to be a princess? In dad’s eyes, my daughter is the prettiest.”
“Dad, listen to me. Don’t talk as if you are a caveman from a stone age or something. Seulgi is worth watching. But Nayun isn’t any inferior to the queen, she looks just like snow white.”
“Is there a queen? But why is my daughter the king?”
“When I said I wanted it, the kids immediately gave me all their tickets.”
Gyeon Tae-song held back his laughter as he hugged his daughter in front of the stairs.
He couldn’t believe that this feisty girl was already in her third year of elementary school.
“Why do you want to be the king?
“You are the strongest when you have nothing to do. The people just take care of themselves.”
“…daughter, aren’t you being a bit too snobbish?”
Zio’s eyes became clear as she was waking up.
She looked at him, who had a sad expression on his face and took a deep breath .
“It’s effective. My mom and dad told me that since I am a bear I have to find my own way to live smartly.”
“…Soon-yo…”
He remembered his wife who was currently watching their nine year old son and six year old youngest daughter at home.
Before getting out of the station Gyeon Tae-song took out a children’s mask.
It still felt chilly during March.
Zio, who had gotten seriously sick just a few days ago, still had a slight cold left.
“Do I have to use it? I don’t like how stuffy it feels.”
“No. Doing this is required. If Zio catches a cold again she will get scolded by mom and you won’t be allowed to go to Yong-in again.”
The father and daughter duo walked slowly along the Tancheon Stream.
Couple of jogging women smiled while passing by at the sight of the elementary school student buried in a fur hood with bear ears.
“I helped Dad.”
“Huh?”
“I helped dad get scolded less by mother. If I come with you, grandmother will be more docile. I promised to watch Toy Story with Bambi at home.”
“Did you? Oh my. My daughter is all grown up. Thinking of her dad.”
“Why do you keep doing things you don’t enjoy? I don’t see anything good at grandmother’s house.”
Zio grumbled, kicking the floor.
Her mother cut off ties with her family even before Zio was born.
It’s because in that family it was deemed normal for a daughter to sacrifice for their sons.
She couldn’t go to college and instead worked and made money at the factory, but she soon realised she couldn’t keep living like this while being robbed of everything she earns but until then they somehow kept in touch.
Ever since she found out that they had been secretly extorting money from her husband, who they were neglecting by calling him an orphan.
At that time, her grandmother asked her hunter son-in-law if he couldn’t even get this much.
That was something Zio had heard directly from her grandmother.
The stubborn old woman had hit her chest insisting that She didn’t do anything wrong.
She couldn’t take it from her son who was in business so instead she took it from her daughter’s bank account…
In the end, all that was left of her was a small apartment in Yong-in that no one looked for.
And that too was prepared by Gyeon Tae-song, Zio’s dad.
“It’s because even she is lonely. How lonely would you be if you were all alone? Zio, you don’t want to see grandma?”
“I don’t like her because my mom doesn’t like her.”
“Of course your mother wouldn’t like her. But if we do this your father will feel more at ease. Even if she hates her daughters and is terrible to them she is still their mother.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s something like that. Actually dad doesn’t perfectly understand it either. Your mother told me this.”
“Mom?”
“It was a drunken confession. Your mother is a weak drinker. This is a secret only Zio and dad knows.”
The neighbors around recognised Gyeon Tae-song who visited every weekend.
Seeing how they greeted each other face to face and asked to come back again, Zio thought that this time she would be a bit nicer to her grandmother.
But that wasn’t easy either.
“Zio, come here for a second.”
“What is it?”
“A few days ago I heard a new oriental clinic opened nearby, apparently the manager there is a famous doctor in Seoul? To celebrate it’s opening, if you get a membership there it is said you will get acupuncture, cupping, food bath etc. What do you think Mr.Gyeon? Don’t you think that’s good?”
“…yes, mother-in-law. That’s nice, but Geum-hee will be going to Kindergarten starting this year… I don’t have much time to spend with my family these days. So if you don’t really need it…”
“No, of course! I am telling you what I need, would I tell you if I didn’t need it? Really you!Do you want me to be the only one staying at her house while all the old people in the neighborhood are going? What is it, it’s not like I am asking to ride a yacht like some other people’s mother-in-law’s! Oh god, Okay okay! Let’s pretend I never asked!”
With a broken look her grandmother snatched back the flyer and folded it.
Because he was a hunter at the time, she thought it was okay to be petty and clicked her tongue.
It had almost been 10 years since Babel tower appeared but the number of people awakened were still too little, and the TV would show propaganda every day to try and shake off people’s fears.
Advertising things like the wealth and honor people get once they become a hunter.
And the luxurious life they could enjoy.
Perhaps it was normal for the old woman to misunderstand because all she did was watch television at home.
But that sort of story was limited for top-rankers.
Gyeon Tae-song was only an E-rank support hunter.
He would go into dungeons, and on some days he would serve as a porter when there were no grade requirements.
“Oh, no mother in law. I was just saying. Relax a bit if you are offended. Then  yes… shall we go register tomorrow? Food bath sounds really nice.”
‘Foolish bear.’
Mother was right on everything she said.
Zio kept pretending to be asleep until her dad came back to the room sighing and patted her head.
***
The oriental clinic had 4 floors.
Since it was a Sunday the number of people inside was noticeably less than the size of the hospital.
Thanks to that, the sound of the loud TV could be heard.
[Today’s guest is who everyone talks about in Korea right now! These days, when girls gather together all they talk about is this person! A famous university student who has become the dream man of all the sisters out there.
We invited Jeong Gil Gaon, the national man of youth. Can you sense your popularity these days, Gil-Gaon-ssi?]
[It’s hard not to notice.]
[Haha. His good looks and academic background is great, but above all else his fighting skills are a hot topic.
To be able to learn and use someone else’s ability! That’s amazing. It goes well with his nickname ‘Alpha’ but in various forms people call Gil Gaon-ssi an ‘actor’. Actor Jeong.]
[You are saying a lot of good things about me. How embarrassing.
Though of course, unlike what many people say it’s not an invincible ability. I can’t go into details though.]
[Well of course! The ability of hunters is an important information, we know that much. But I’m sure it’s a great ability anyways.
Let’s take a look at the current rankings!
I used to think that these kinds of graphs could only be seen in music charts, But look at this, you have already entered the top 10 in the country. That’s amazing. Do you plan on going higher?]
[Well, I don’t think this is my place yet. I have to climb up and reach where I want to be. I will make my face look even better on screens.]
“Where’s your mother?”
Zio turned around.
The voice came from the young lady who was sitting next to her. She was wearing a belt around her waist.
“At home.”
“…Huh? Are you here alone then?”
“No. I am with my dad and grandma. They went inside for an examination.”
“Oh you scared me. I thought they sent a baby by herself.”
“I am not a baby. I am in 3rd grade.”
“Oh? Then you are the same age as my daughter! But why are you so small? I bet you are a picky eater aren’t you?”
“…It’s a bad bias to think someone is picky just because they are short.”
“Oh my, look at you talking. Who told you that?”
“Myself.”
The young lady laughed as she slapped her wrist.
Together, they talked about this and that, and she took out a yogurt from somewhere. It was given to her at the desk while they registered.
Zio, who had already devoured the 3 given for her father and grandmother, took it and ate it as if it was her first.
“Zio’s house is in Seoul then?”
“Yes.”
“I figured you were some kind of a miser, so you were a Seoul miser?”
“Miss, that’s a curse isn’t it?”
“You are a quick-witted little girl.”
“Oh, It’s my dad.”
“Is that your father? Wow, so he is the hunter, he has such a pale figure.”
While they talked, Zio had mentioned her family.
–, — – -!
It started out as a wave of earthquake.
“I-Its an earthquake!”
“Bow down!”
The young lady quickly got a hold of Zio and fell to the floor.
At the same time, the objects around the room started falling down and various sounds could be heard.
“Zio!”
Gyeon Tae-song rushed to take over Zio, and then.
“…”
“…”
Black out.
The building that was resonating with vibrations was suddenly struck by silence.
Haak, haa. Nervous breathing rang around.
Zio lifted her head from the arms surrounding her. Faces of bewildered people began appearing in the dark one by one.
“…”
In the midst of the silence, Gyeon Tae-song was the first to rise.
Fortunately, it was currently 4pm so there was still light coming in from the windows.
It was a silence filled with goosebumps.
No one ran out of the building.
Maybe it was because everyone instinctively had a hunch.
Tae-song stood in front of the window, he looked out and then looked back at the people waiting as he swallowed his dry saliva.
“…It’s not an earthquake.”
“Cr, ack… gate.”
Paat-! Crank-!
The sound of machines started again, and in the blink of an eye the lights were back…
Zio tightened her arms around her father’s neck.
People blankly stared towards one direction, with the television turning back on just in time.
[Breaking news of an emergency crack. It is estimated that there are at least two major cracks in Yong-in city, and the government…]
“T-That… Is it Jukjeon…?”
Someone said in a whiny voice and pointed at it with trembling fingertips.
But even if they didn’t look, everyone knew.
It was because the scenery on top of the screen was too familiar to deny it.
And just like that, people started turning pale.
Waaaan-!
The sirens began ringing.
They were too close.
T/N: We are finally at the father’s story! I have a really hard time translating sfx, can you tell? Anyways, Happy 4th of July to anyone who celebrates it and happy reading to everyone else! If you are enjoying the story so far do consider leaving a comment and letting me know what you think. Your support means the world~
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