Chapter 2: Return

*

How many demon lords had I defeated with these hands?

But I can say with certainty that among all those battles, none made my heart race more than this moment.

“This is the place…”

A small villa on the fourth floor, tucked away in Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu.

The address had changed strangely with all this road name nonsense, so I got a bit lost, but standing in front of the door, I knew for sure.

This was the home I hadn’t returned to in 15 years—7 years and 6 months in this world’s time—the home I missed so desperately.

My finger trembled as I reached for the doorbell. Fear was only natural.

Because I was about to walk into this house in a completely different form, to tell them I was their son, knowing how unbelievable that would sound, knowing I’d likely be treated as a lunatic, my whole body shook like a quaking aspen.

A Gumiho is skilled at shapeshifting. I can use illusions too. Bewitching my family by showing them my old self would be no trouble at all.

Mimicking the 17-year-old Han Seok-hyeon wouldn’t be difficult in the slightest.

I could even act the part of a grown-up version, aged 7 years, if I wanted.

But that’s not the home I want.

Endlessly piling up lies and deception, constantly tricking my family—that’s not what I want.

Sure, I could cast an enchantment to make them believe and follow me unconditionally.

But that’s not what I want either. If I wanted to be worshipped or coddled, I’d have stayed in that other world and become a god.

Because I can manipulate hearts too easily, I don’t want to control anyone’s heart at all.

I need a family that sees me for me and accepts me as I am.

That’s the precious thing I’ve missed so much over these 15 years, something I didn’t realize I’d lost until it was gone.

So, I’m going to face my family as this me.

And tell them I’m back.

* *

Joo Mi-hye had been an office worker until 8 years ago.

But after her son suddenly disappeared on what should have been a festive Christmas Eve, she quit her job.

Instead of working, she spent that time searching everywhere for her lost son. It was far more grueling than any office job, and the emotional toll was incomparable.

Was it because they were a dual-income household? Did she neglect her teenage son, hurting his feelings and causing him to run away? Was it all her fault?

She agonized over it hundreds of times, regretted it thousands of times.

In all those years, there was never any progress in finding her son. No results at all.

If only she’d found a body. Every time such a harsh thought crossed her mind, Joo Mi-hye hated herself so much she wanted to die.

In Korea, they say finding something difficult is like looking for a needle in a haystack or searching for a Mr. Kim in Seoul.

In a city as crowded as Seoul, finding one single person is near impossible. Joo Mi-hye had spotted people who resembled her son countless times, only to confirm they were strangers, each time feeling like her heart was being stabbed with an awl.

But perhaps even the deepest wounds can’t withstand the passage of time.

Her torn and tattered heart no longer felt pain, and now she could look at her son’s photo without crying.

Instead of pain and sadness, there was only endless emptiness.

The void left in her heart by her son’s disappearance was as vast as an infinite universe, so wide she marveled that such a space could exist within her.

Was it something to be grateful for, that time had dulled the pain?

Or was it something she should feel guilty about toward her son?

No longer a housewife but unemployed, Joo Mi-hye sat at the dining table, doing nothing, not even turning on the TV.

Since giving up the search for her son, she had spent countless days, thousands of moments, burning time without meaning or purpose.

As if lighting incense to honor her son’s spirit.

She kept burning it.

Her husband didn’t scold her for it. He didn’t envelop her in warm embraces either. He simply stayed quietly by her side, waiting for her wounds to heal.

Her only remaining daughter, despite her young age, matured quickly, taking on chores like cleaning and laundry, steadfastly holding the family together.

But even so, Joo Mi-hye couldn’t heal.

The wounds in her heart wouldn’t close, and she couldn’t shake the endless emptiness seeping through the scars. Today, too, she sat there, doing nothing.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang.

Delivery services these days were so careless. They’d ring a few times, and if no one answered, they’d just leave the package at the door.

Joo Mi-hye liked that. She didn’t have to go outside.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

But the bell kept ringing, over and over, relentlessly, as if it would never stop.

Not a delivery, then. Something urgent? Joo Mi-hye finally moved to open the door.

Standing there was a girl, not very tall.

Her hair was pink—dyed, perhaps.

Her eyes were the same color—contact lenses, maybe.

She wasn’t tall. Maybe middle school height.

Startlingly pretty, the petite girl didn’t say a word to Joo Mi-hye, despite having rung the bell so persistently.

Or perhaps she couldn’t?

She didn’t seem threatening, so Joo Mi-hye asked kindly,
“Do you need help with something?”

“It’s not something to talk about out here. May I come in?”

Maybe she had some embarrassing issue as a young woman. It seemed natural enough for her to ask an adult woman for help, so Joo Mi-hye let the small girl inside.

Seating the girl at the dining table, Joo Mi-hye opened the fridge but found no drinks suitable for a guest.

When was the last time she’d stocked the fridge herself? She couldn’t remember.

She’d been such a burden on her daughter and husband. Her job was supposed to be a housewife, yet she hadn’t done any of it.

“Would you like milk? Or water?”

“Water, then.”

Joo Mi-hye poured a glass of cold water, handed it to the girl, and sat across from her, asking,
“What do you need help with?”

“…”

The girl hesitated, and Joo Mi-hye grew a bit serious.

If she was hesitating this much, could it be something more than just embarrassment?

“I,”

Finally, the girl spoke.

Joo Mi-hye resolved herself.

No matter what came up, she’d handle it calmly.

She wouldn’t let this girl feel fear or guilt.

“I know this is really hard to believe.”

The girl, who was once the son of this house, finally said the words.

“Mom, it’s me, Seok-hyeon.”

Her face was filled with fear, her eyes trembling with anxiety.

Joo Mi-hye thought,
‘What does that mean?’

The girl was too small to take the words literally.

It couldn’t be that her son went to Thailand for a sex change, right?

She hadn’t heard of medical technology advanced enough to shrink someone’s body.

It didn’t seem plausible.

Was her name just Seok-hyeon? But then why call her “Mom”?

Unable to understand, Joo Mi-hye couldn’t react.

She wanted to snap, “Don’t joke around,” but the girl’s face looked so anxious and trembling that she couldn’t say anything.

“I fell into another world, not Earth, and ended up like this. It took me so long to come back.”

Words came out of her mouth, but they didn’t sound like words.

Nonsense. Another world? People turning into someone else? Could that happen in reality?

She should have shot back with logic and reason, but different words came out of Joo Mi-hye’s mouth.

“Son?”

“Yeah.”

“Really my son?”

“Yes.”

A crack formed in the heart that had been empty for years. Emotions hidden in some corner came flooding back.

Sadness, joy, anger, happiness—every emotion she could feel came alive, one by one, coloring the once-dark universe of her heart with the vibrant hues of starlight.

It was impossible, unbelievable, but she’d rather be deceived than accept otherwise.

The story of a cruel, young con artist appearing before her was far less beautiful than the idea that her son, thought dead, had returned alive. So…

“Son!”

She stood up so abruptly that she banged her thigh on the table. The chair fell over. That didn’t matter.

“Mom!”

A reunion after 15 years for one, 7 years and 6 months for the other.

A separation where they didn’t even know if the other was alive or dead couldn’t be resolved with mere catching up.

The girl cried, the woman cried, and the two embraced, sobbing for a long time.