100) Chapter 16. I’m Glad (2)
“Glad?”
Seo Arin tilted her head, but I still had more to ask.
“T‑the… the cat.”
“Oh, that.”
Seo Arin giggled.
“Cute, right? That smiling face.”
“……”
I glanced sideways.
The woman still had her head bowed.
The cat’s breathing had slowed. Maybe too much.
She clearly loved that cat. Would she have cooperated? Would she have made the cat smile like that? Even if forced?
“Like this.”
Seo Arin lifted her fingers proudly, moving them like she was conducting.
It was different from how I unconsciously reached out when using my power. She wasn’t moving to activate an ability — she was moving because she was enjoying it.
“Kyaa!?”
The woman screamed.
Her body jerked upright against her will.
…Just like the cat earlier. But the cat didn’t move now. It still lay discarded on the asphalt.
The woman’s head snapped up.
Her hair fell back, revealing a face covered in bruises and cuts.
Was she originally pretty? I couldn’t tell — her face was swollen everywhere.
“Like this.”
Seo Arin made a squeezing motion with her hand.
The woman screamed louder, twisting violently.
Children covered their ears. Some crouched down and cried.
“Th‑th‑th—”
I wanted to shout stop, but—
My jaw trembled too much to form the words. My mind went blank.
Maybe that woman was a villain too. Even if she’d been forced, she was involved with Seo Arin.
But did she deserve this?
Her face twisted unnaturally.
As if someone pinched her eyes upward, pulled her eyelids, and clamped her lips into place.
Her face became a “smiling face.”
Teeth bared, lips stretched unnaturally high.
Saliva and blood dripped from her mouth.
“Ugh, messy.”
Seo Arin said lightly, shaking her hands as if wiping off dirt.
She released her grip.
The woman collapsed face‑down.
Her body trembled. Her long hair spread across the asphalt like discarded seaweed. Her shoulders shook — she was crying.
“I can’t control animals, but I can control people.”
“……”
I couldn’t breathe.
The relief I’d felt earlier vanished instantly.
What if she did that here?
To me—
No.
To the children.
“A‑ah…”
“Should I let the kids go?”
Seo Arin cut me off with a giggle.
“This is what you want, right?”
Then, almost pitying:
“But seriously, what did that Seo Yujin woman do to you? Why are you like this? Last time I saw you, you could at least speak properly.”
“N‑no!”
I shouted without thinking.
And I startled myself.
I was terrified — too terrified to speak properly — but suddenly anger surged up and burst out of me.
Right.
Of all people, she didn’t get to say that.
Because Auntie Yujin treated me more like a mother than this woman ever did.
No — “like a mother” is wrong.
She was my mother. She never once acted like I wasn’t her daughter.
Birthday gifts, Christmas gifts — I always received as much as Soi.
And after I became this broken mess, she even started tiptoeing around me so she wouldn’t scare me.
And this woman—
“……Hmph.”
Seo Arin scoffed.
Her smile faded slightly.
“Well, fine.”
She looked at me.
“But I’m not stupid. I’m only safe if this place is dangerous. I might handle a teacher or two, but if the principal shows up, that’s trouble. Looks like she’s running around down there trying to evacuate more people.”
Meaning there was a time limit.
Just like at the middle school.
“If a teacher shows up, should I break their arms and legs and toss them aside? That’ll buy me time, right?”
But before I could even think of stalling, she spoke again — as if she already knew what I was planning.
“Or… want to make a deal?”
“A d‑deal?”
“Come with me.”
“……”
“And before we go—”
She stepped closer.
I stepped back.
“Before we go, can Mom hug you? Just once?”
“……”
My heart pounded again.
No.
Absolutely not.
I didn’t want that.
She abandoned me the moment I was born because raising me was “annoying.”
Then she came back, claiming she wanted me again, and destroyed my life.
I know blaming others is pointless.
I was the one who couldn’t endure.
I was the one who gave up.
But still — the cause of it all was this woman.
I still can’t call Auntie Yujin “Mom.”
I still can’t fully lean into her arms.
That trauma is strange even to me.
It came from Uncle Dohyun hugging me to protect me.
He didn’t hurt me — he saved me.
And yet I developed trauma from that.
I hated myself for it.
I still feel guilty.
Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun have been so patient with me.
And the one who started all of it—
“N‑n…”
“You don’t want to? Really?”
Seo Arin asked.
Her smile was too knowing.
If I said no, what would she do?
It was obvious.
She would force me to say yes.
“This is a wound, you know. A deep one. A simple hug won’t fix it.”
“……”
“How do we heal it? How do we make it go away? Ah, it hurts~”
She teased, then suddenly clapped her hands.
“Okay. Let’s do this. Hug me tight and call me Mom. And keep calling me Mom from now on. We’ll be living together anyway. Look — I’m dressed nicely, my hair is well kept. It’s a good place. They save people there.”
“S‑save?”
I asked before I could stop myself.
“Mm, I don’t really get it. Something about ‘superhumans’ being literally superior to humans and needing to guide humanity. They think they’re better. So we’re better too. Funny, right?”
She looked genuinely amused.
“I mean, I’m the amazing one. It's the person that matters, not having powers. But hey, they give us a place to stay and food to eat. Using them a little is fine, right?”
“W‑what is that supposed to mean…”
“Who knows.”
Some of the kids turned pale.
Ah.
I understood.
Of course such people existed.
There were people who thought they were superior because of skin color or hair color.
So of course there would be people who thought they were superior because they had superpowers.
“Anyway, betrayal isn’t allowed. To convince them, my daughter needs to call me Mom. You’ll be calling me that once we live together, so you can practice now. Hug me tight, close your eyes, and Mom will take you.”
I clenched my teeth.
Should I obey?
I couldn’t trade all these children’s safety for my own feelings.
The mountain hadn’t collapsed yet. But the rumbling was real. Maybe the whole mountain wouldn’t fall, but the buildings might.
So—
Even without my answer, Seo Arin approached as if she already had permission.
My breathing quickened.
The closer she got, the harder it was to think.
I stepped back, little by little.
Then something touched my back.
There shouldn’t have been anything behind me.
It must have been her hand.
Where were the teachers?
Someone, please help.
I knew hugging her would end this.
But I didn’t want to.
I didn’t want to call her Mom.
If I ever called someone Mom, it would be Auntie Yujin.
I was weaker than I thought.
I cried as I was dragged forward.
I kicked my legs, but my shoes scraped uselessly across the ground as I was pulled closer.
“N‑no… no, no! I don’t want to!”
The closer I got to the trauma, the more I screamed.
Before, my body only froze.
But now — I couldn’t even think straight.
Seo Arin smiled as she approached.
“No! No! D‑don’t come near me!”
“Oh, come on.”
Her voice was light.
“That’s too much. To your mom.”
You’re not my mom.
No.
Someone like you could never be—
“Don’t be like that—”
“Stop!”
A voice cut through the air.
Seo Arin froze mid‑step.
Her head turned with a creaking slowness.
The children scrambled aside, as if trying to show that they weren't the ones who had spoken.
In that gap, a bold-looking girl was standing.
A girl with her hair tied in pigtails, who looked like she might be a bit of a troublemaker.
Ah.
Right.
Not all the heroines had appeared yet.
“S‑she said she doesn’t want it!”
“……”
Seo Arin tilted her head.
“Ah.”
No.
No, no, no.
This was bad.
“I‑I—”
I tried to speak.
I had to stop her.
Tell her not to come.
Tell her to leave me and run.
But I was shaking too hard to form words.
“…What did you just say?”
Seo Arin asked.
She sounded genuinely surprised.
Almost curious.
“I said stop!”
The girl shouted.
“She said she hates it!”
She didn’t back down.
Even though her face was pale.
She stood firm.
===
A word from the author (A/N):
Thank you for reading today as well!
While the heroines from the original work remain as characters, the heroines of this work will likely primarily be the children who have been near Rua so far.
After all, there need to be pure friends like Mirae or Ji-hye at the Academy too!
Though I’m not sure how things will turn out in the side stories!
Thank you, as always, for reading!