One week ago, in Incheon City;
On almost an empty bridge, save for a few vehicles, a luxury sedan was going at a nominal pace, not intending to take advantage of less traffic to go faster.
Inside, a woman was seen slumping against the passenger seat.
Her hair, tousled and wild, spilled over her shoulders. Smudged eyeliner framed half-lidded eyes, staring blankly at the invisible sea beyond the window.
"Did you have to drink that much?" her husband asked, glancing sideways at her. His voice contained a slight irritation.
"Success tastes better with champagne, Honey," Kang Saeri mumbled in a lazy tone. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the headrest, a half-smile curling her lips. "Well, I worked very hard for this movie. I deserved a few glasses of champagne."
"Yeah, you surely worked very hard, doing great service to your male and lesbian fans." Mingsu scoffed at her remark, looking straight down the road.
Saeri's muddled eyes glare at her husband, and she shouts in a drunken stupor. "Hey! We have been through this already. The scene demanded a few near-topless acts. And we used a body double. I'm not even the one who is in there. What are you so bitter about?"
"But for the rest of the world, it is Kang Saeri, not some girl named Im Sujin. You don't read the articles bashing you left and right?" Mingsu calmly responded to her, his gaze retreated to the road. "You aren't just an A-list celebrity Actress. You are also a Platinum-ranked hunter and a mother of a child, at that."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever… save those lectures for when I'm sober…" She complained aloud in a drunken voice before lightly dozing off into sleep.
His eyes flicked toward her, hardening a little bit, but before he could continue his conversation, the sharp trill of her phone interrupted them. Her hand fumbled lazily at the side pocket of her coat, taking it out and pushing it to her husband. "Ugh, just… You deal with it."
Mingsu sighed, taking the phone from her with a quiet shake of his head. Glancing at the screen, his brows knitted together. "Dear, it's your uncle."
She didn't react to it, as if she didn't care much.
He swiped to answer. "Hello?" "Hello, Uncle Hyungjin, this is Park Mingsu."
"Ah, yeah, Saeri is too tired… She is taking a rest."
The voice on the other end was hurried, low. "No, wake her up. It's urgent. Saeri's father is…"
Mingsu listened for a second, and then his eyes widened. His hand clenched the phone a little tighter. "What? Hospital?"
"Hospital?"
Saeri blinked, her head turning sluggishly toward her husband. "What happened?"
"Your father seems to have been admitted to the hospital."
"Give it to me," she said, her voice quite hoarse. As he slightly stretched it to her, she swiftly snatched it from him and spoke. "Uncle, what happened?"
"Saeri-yah, your father's condition looks quite bad." Her uncle's voice was filled with urgency. "It's stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer."
A breath hitched in her throat. "Wha…"
Her father, a highly successful and honest police officer who retired as the Seoul Police Department's Chief Superintendent General, the second highest ranking in the city's law enforcement. But, as a father, he was a complete failure.
Even when her mother died, her dad was busy with so-called an important mission.
Her dad never cared to ask her when she returned home with injuries from the dungeon.
Even when she made it to the Platinum rank, her dad didn't send any congratulations to her.
Even when she entered the fashion industry and later the entertainment field, he didn't care.
And even when she accepted Mingsu's proposal of marriage and they set a date, her father simply agreed and didn't care enough to have a proper talk with her husband either.
And yet the small, wounded part of her stirred in emotion upon hearing that his father was suffering from such a disease.
"What hospital?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Hankook University," her uncle replied.
She exhaled, long and slow, pressing her palm to her forehead. The remnants of champagne in her system dissolved into nothing, cleansed by her mana.
"Take me there," she said.
The husband inwardly sighed and pressed on the accelerator.
After a while;
Kang Saeri's heels clicked sharply down the hospital corridor, eventually reaching the VIP section: Room 503.
The man waiting outside the hospital room, her distant uncle and yet closer than her own dad, hesitated before shaking his head. "Your brothers... Your step-brothers, they made it clear they wouldn't come."
A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. "Of course, they wouldn't. They hate him even more."
With a deep breath, she pushed open the door.
Her father lay in the hospital bed, a pale ghost of the formidable police officer he once was.
Wires and machines kept him tethered to life. His eyes, sunken but aware, flickered open at her entrance.
"Saeri-yah," he rasped, voice fragile as paper.
She stepped forward and kneeled to the bed's height.
He lifted a trembling hand, and without thinking, she moved closer. His fingers brushed against her cheek, an unfamiliar gesture.
"I wasn't... a good father," he whispered. "I can certainly see that now."
A lump formed in her throat. She responded. "Appreciating that now is a little late, don't you think?"
He gave a faint smile. "Not much time left anyway," he muttered. "The doctors say six months, maybe less. But I wanted to see who would come… So, I asked Hyungjin to call my children."
He gave a soft, broken laugh, turning his eyes to the ceiling. "Only you have responded to it. Your elder brothers… they didn't even ask for details. One told your uncle that he doesn't care, while the other told him to cremate me when it's time and then call him for the funeral."
She stared at him for a long moment. Then quietly, she said, "You really were a terrible father."
After a beat of silence, he nodded slowly, his eyes looking at the ceiling. "I was the worst father one could ever ask for. I'm sorry to Alex, more than anyone."
Saeri looked up, her eyes welling up in tears.
"I was part of your lives at least… but Alex... he was only six when his mother died. And I just…" He trailed off, the regret in his voice raw. "I wasn't there at all. I don't even know if he's alive."
Saeri lowered her gaze.
"I wonder," he continued weakly, "how he's doing now. Whether he's okay. Whether he even remembers me."
After a long pause, Saeri finally said, softly, "I know where he is."
Han Donghyun's eyes widened. He turned to her, surprised. "You do? Where…?"
She scratched her head awkwardly, "Well…"
*
Present day, St. Petersburg City;
"Ha" "Ha" "Eiiya"
In the front yard of a mansion, a teenage girl darted forward, fists flying, as her father effortlessly evaded each strike. Her kicks sliced through the air, but he sidestepped with ease, a smirk constantly appearing on his lips as if to agitate her.
"Argh… c'mon, Dad. Let me hit you once." Vera huffed, throwing another jab at Alex's face.
Alex leaned back just enough to let her punch slip past his chin. The bionic eye under his left contact lens glowed faintly as Alex processed Vera's movements with razor-sharp precision. He let out a smirk. "Sorry, munchkin. True victory cannot be handed on a platter. You have to snatch it with your own hands."
Name: Veronika Alexandrovna Han (Vera)
Age: 14
Ethnicity: Korean/Belarusian
Arcane Path: Shapeshifter
Ability: Lightning Wolf Transformation
Ability Rank: S
Mana reserves: Tier-9 (Max: Tier-3)