Chapter 1
The sun was already dipping behind the buildings when Seung-Yu turned into his driveway.
Another long day. Meetings, numbers, clients, endless noise. His shoulders felt heavy, and all he wanted was five minutes of quiet.
He parked the car and rubbed his eyes before stepping out.
Home.
The porch light was already on.
A small smile appeared on his face as he walked to the door and unlocked it.
The moment the door opened—
"Appa!"
A tiny blur launched straight at him.
Seung-Yu barely had time to react before his daughter wrapped her arms around his waist.
For a second he just stood there, surprised. Then he laughed, the tension from the entire day melting away.
"Well, where did you come from?" he said, pretending to look around the room. "Was there a small ninja hiding in my house?"
His daughter giggled proudly.
"I was waiting!"
"Waiting?" Seung-Yu gasped dramatically. "All this time?"
She nodded with absolute seriousness.
Behind her, the warm smell of dinner drifted from the kitchen.
His wife's voice followed a moment later.
"Did she ambush you again?"
Seung-Yu smiled as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
"Completely defeated," he said. "I never stood a chance."
For the first time all day, he felt at peace.
He didn't know it yet…
but this would be the last normal evening of his life.
Chapter 2: Dinner at Home
Seung-Yu pushed open the apartment door, exhaustion still clinging to his shoulders after another long day at work.
Before he could even step inside properly, small footsteps rushed toward him.
"Daddy!"
A tiny blur crashed into his legs. Seung-Yu laughed as he bent down and lifted his daughter into his arms.
"Mira, slow down," he said, smiling. "You'll knock me over one of these days."
"I missed you!" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I missed you too, kid."
He carried her into the living room and dropped onto the couch with a quiet sigh. Mira immediately grabbed the remote and turned on the little cartoon they always watched together when he got home.
It had become their routine.
A short show. Just the two of them.
From the kitchen came the sound of sizzling food and the warm smell of dinner filling the apartment.
His wife leaned slightly around the corner.
"You two started without me again?" she said with a small smile.
"Someone couldn't wait," Seung-Yu replied, nodding toward Mira.
"Hey!" Mira protested, though she was already giggling.
A few minutes later his wife called out from the kitchen.
"Dinner's ready!"
Seung-Yu stood up and grinned at his daughter.
"Alright. First one to the table gets ice cream."
Mira's eyes widened.
"Ice cream?!"
Before he could even finish laughing, she bolted across the room toward the table like a tiny rocket.
Seung-Yu followed behind at a normal pace, shaking his head.
"Well… looks like my little Mira is growing big and strong," he said, chuckling. "And apparently fast now too."
His wife set the plates down and smirked.
"You work too much to see her progress."
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Fair point."
She pointed at the table.
"Then hurry up. The food's getting cold."
"Alright, alright," he said, sitting down beside Mira.
The three of them began eating together, the apartment filled with small conversations and Mira's excited chatter.
For a little while, everything felt simple.
Normal.
About thirty minutes later, Seung-Yu's phone vibrated on the table.
He glanced at the screen.
Work.
He sighed and answered.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other side was rushed.
"We need you now. Come to the building ASAP. This is a deal we can't ignore. We need you here in forty-five minutes."
The line went dead.
Seung-Yu slowly lowered the phone.
Across the table, his wife looked at him.
"Work again?"
He nodded, his mood sinking.
"…Yeah."
She gave him a calm look.
"Then it's best if you go."
He hesitated.
"But I promised Mira we'd go somewhere in an hour and—"
"Daddy!"
Mira interrupted him with a bright smile.
"Don't worry. We can go another time. Work is important, isn't it? And we can always go later."
Seung-Yu looked at her for a moment.
Then he smiled softly.
"Yeah… we can."
He leaned forward and kissed Mira on the forehead, then kissed his wife.
"I love you both."
Neither of them knew it would be the last kiss.
He grabbed his coat and left for the office.
The meeting went perfectly.
The deal was massive, bigger than anything the company had handled before. His coworkers congratulated him, shaking his hand while the night kept moving forward.
One hour passed.
Then two.
Three.
Five.
By the time Seung-Yu finally returned home, the clock on the wall read 9:00 PM.
The apartment was silent.
And that silence would soon become the moment he regretted for the rest of his life.
Chapter 3: The discovery
Seung-Yu stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.
"Honey? Mira?"
No answer.
He slipped off his shoes and pushed his feet into his house slippers.
The hallway lights were still on.
Strange.
Maybe they had gone out. The carnival downtown had opened today. Mira had talked about it all week.
A tired sigh escaped him.
Maybe they went without me.
The thought stung a little, but he couldn't blame them.
He started toward the kitchen.
Then he smelled it.
Something foul.
At first it was faint. The kind of smell that makes you wrinkle your nose without thinking.
But with every step closer to the kitchen, it grew stronger.
Rotten.
Metallic.
Wrong.
Seung-Yu's stomach tightened.
"…Honey?"
He reached the kitchen door and flipped on the light.
Everything inside him froze.
Two bodies lay on the floor.
His wife.
His daughter.
For a moment the world stopped moving.
His face went completely dark, like someone had turned off the light inside him. It felt like staring into a bottomless abyss.
But he was still human.
A tear slid down his cheek.
Then another.
He dropped to his knees beside them, grabbing their shoulders.
"Wake up."
His voice shook.
"Hey… wake up."
Nothing.
"Please… wake up."
His hands trembled as he shook them harder.
"Wake up… wake up… please…"
His voice cracked.
"WAKE UP!"
The scream echoed through the empty house.
Then something moved behind him.
A shadow shifted.
Before Seung-Yu could react, a hand wrapped around his throat and slammed him against the wall.
He gasped, fingers clawing at the arm choking him.
A calm voice whispered near his ear.
"You should have stayed at the office."
Seung-Yu's eyes widened.
Chapter 4
The man's grip tightened around Seung-Yu's throat.
Air refused to enter his lungs.
He struggled, fingers digging into the attacker's arm, but the man didn't move.
"You ruined a very important deal tonight," the stranger said quietly.
Seung-Yu forced the words out between choking breaths.
"Who… are you…?"
The man chuckled softly.
"Someone cleaning up a mistake."
His eyes drifted toward the kitchen floor.
Toward Mira.
Something inside Seung-Yu shattered.
His vision blurred.
They killed her.
His body trembled.
They killed my daughter.
A strange warmth suddenly spread through his chest.
At first it felt like heat.
Then like electricity.
Tiny sparks flickered across his fingers.
The attacker frowned.
"What the—"
Lightning cracked through the room.
Golden light burst from Seung-Yu's hand.
The force threw the attacker backward across the kitchen.
Both men stared at the glowing energy dancing around Seung-Yu's arm.
Even Seung-Yu looked shocked.
"What… is this…?"
The stranger recovered quickly, his eyes narrowing.
"An Awakener…"
Seung-Yu's hand trembled as the lightning gathered together, forming the shape of a blade made of golden energy.
He didn't understand it.
He didn't care.
His eyes were locked on the man who had murdered his family.
"You…"
His voice was low.
"…you killed them."
The attacker took a step back.
For the first time, there was caution in his expression.
Seung-Yu raised the lightning blade.
The room filled with crackling thunder.
But before he could strike, the attacker suddenly turned and sprinted toward the back door.
The door burst open.
Cold night air rushed inside.
By the time Seung-Yu stumbled forward, the man had vanished into the darkness.
The lightning around his hand flickered weakly.
Then disappeared.
Seung-Yu stood there for a moment.
Then his legs gave out.
He collapsed onto the floor beside Mira and pulled her small body into his arms.
Sirens wailed somewhere in the distance.
But Seung-Yu didn't hear them.
All he could hear was the silence.