CFZ

Her eyes were red and bloodshot.
Tears welled up and streamed down her cheeks.

Her trembling eyelashes, slightly furrowed brows—
The faint flush on her nose and the corners of her lips drooping downward.
She was desperately trying to hold back her tears but failing.

Her face betrayed every bit of sorrow she was feeling.
That was the expression Cheonma wore.
“…What the hell? Are you crying?”

I pulled my hand away from her shoulder.
It was a sight that left me stunned.
Cheonma was crying.

The one who ruled above all, gazing down at the world with cold indifference—
Now she was sobbing so miserably.
And she was clutching Dol-dol in her arms as she did so.

Her fingers trembled, her entire body quivering.
Meanwhile, Dol-dol just looked confused.
Not only her—even the others in the room were frozen in disbelief.

‘What is this?’
Seriously, what the hell was this?
Why was she crying here of all places?

No—could she even cry?
I’d seen her smirk in contempt and glare with disdain countless times, but this—this was the first time I’d ever seen her cry.
And strangely enough—
Now she looked even more like Wi Seol-ah.

Not just in appearance but in the way she seemed so fragile in this moment.
Maybe that’s why—
“...”

My hand, which had just pulled away, hesitated.
What could possibly make Cheonma cry like this, holding Dol-dol so tightly?
Something I couldn’t explain lingered in the air.

[Come here.]
‘Huh?’
I frowned.

I tilted my head slightly and glanced around.
Whose voice was that?
It felt like someone had spoken just now, but the voice faded in and out, leaving behind an eerie sensation.

[Say hello to Daddy.]
“...”
Pain suddenly shot through my temples, and I instinctively grabbed my head.

Whose voice was that?
I could hear it, but it wouldn’t register—it wouldn’t click.
The throbbing pain in my head worsened, making my breathing ragged.

Crack—!
Something felt like it was breaking inside me.
Vwoooom—!

Then, all of a sudden, vibrations spread from deep within my chest.
It felt like something was forcing the fragments back together, binding them so they wouldn’t fall apart.
Tightening.

As if tying loose threads into a knot.
And just like that, the headache vanished.
The faint voice disappeared as well.

My breathing steadied, and the trembling in my fingertips stopped.
Even the hesitation in my heart was gone.
I grabbed Cheonma’s shoulder again and yanked her back.

“Get up.”
“...”
She resisted, holding on tightly as if she refused to let go.

I frowned.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you think this is your personal room or something? Get up!”
“...”

“And why the hell are you clinging to him and crying? Do you even know him?”
I asked sharply.
Cheonma’s eyes twitched.

Wait—did she actually know Dol-dol?
No way.
But the way her expression shifted made me pause.

“…I don’t… know.”
Her voice cracked.
“What?”

I don’t know… I don’t know who he is…
She didn’t know?
She didn’t know who the child in her arms was?

Well, obviously.
“…Then what’s with that face?”
If she didn’t know, then why did she look like that?

Cheonma looked down at Dol-dol, her eyes filled with disbelief—
Like she couldn’t understand it herself.
“What kind of look is that?”

“…I don’t know….”
“So let me get this straight. You don’t know this kid, yet you storm in here, start bawling, and now you’re making that face?”
“…I don’t know that either.”

“Then what the hell do you know?”
“I don’t….”
Snap—!

I grabbed Cheonma and pulled her away.
She must have let her guard down because this time, it was easy.
With some distance now between her and Dol-dol, Cheonma reached out desperately to grab the child again, but—

Grip—!
I caught her wrist and stopped her.
“If you don’t know, then back off.”

Even I was surprised by how cold my voice sounded.
“...”
Maybe it was the tone of my voice, but Cheonma’s strength drained from her hand.

I pushed her back further.
She stumbled, and Gu Heebi quickly stepped in to catch her.
With the distance widened, the tension finally began to ease.

I turned to Dol-dol.
“You okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.”

Unlike Cheonma’s dramatic breakdown, Dol-dol didn’t seem even remotely shaken.
Was it because he wasn’t human?
“I guess I have another mom I didn’t know about.”

“…What kind of nonsense is that?”
He spouted something ridiculous and even clicked his tongue.
“I was in the middle of eating something good, too. Ugh.”

“...”
Yeah.
Something about this kid was definitely off.

He looked like me when I was younger, but everything else about him was… wrong.
‘Maybe he just looks like me and that’s it.’
I was never this unsettling.

There had to be something else going on.
As I stared at Dol-dol, still trying to piece things together, he suddenly started moving.
He took a step forward, and his expression changed completely.

From a sly, smirking face to—
“Grandmaaa!”
His face transformed into the picture of innocence as he called out and ran straight toward Lady Mi.

‘What the hell?!’
I froze.
Dol-dol ran into Lady Mi’s arms and hugged her tightly.

And as if that wasn’t enough—
‘Wait… What did he just call her?’
My mind went blank.

I braced myself for Lady Mi to explode in anger, but instead—
“Were you scared?”
‘Huh?’

“No, not really. I’m fine.”
“...”
Lady Mi simply hugged Dol-dol and even patted his back gently.

“…?”
I turned and stared at Gu Heebi, looking for answers.
But—

“...”
“...”
Gu Heebi just shook her head slightly.

She didn’t know either.
‘Yeah. Figures.’
I nodded to myself.

‘What a goddamn mess.’
None of it made sense.
Honestly, calling this a dream felt more believable than what I was seeing.

I lowered my head slightly, letting out a sigh.
Not toward Gu Heebi—
But toward Cheonma, who was still watching Dol-dol with that strange expression.

I furrowed my brow and called out to her.
“Hey.”
“...”

“You’re done now, so just….”
Come with me.
I was about to say that when—

“It’s awfully noisy in here.”
“…!”
A voice rang out from outside the room.

All eyes immediately turned toward it.
At the entrance.
More precisely, a few steps behind Gu Heebi.

That was where the voice had come from.
And standing there, as the owner of that voice, was—
‘…’

The moment I saw him, I knew.
‘That old man.’
The man draped in plain white robes, with a head full of white hair and deeply carved wrinkles.

He was the one who had called for me.
The former head of the Baekhwa Trading Company.
The one who led it before Lady Mi.

The man they called the First Baekhwa Leader.

   ******************
   
 

Chirp. Chirp, chirp.
Birdsong drifted in through the window.
It wasn’t exactly morning—the hour was far too late for that.

But with the sunlight streaming in and the birds chirping, it felt like morning nonetheless.
It should have felt peaceful.
A bright day, sunlight filtering in, birds singing—it was the picture of serenity.

‘This is ridiculous….’
But despite the scene—
‘This is so goddamn uncomfortable.’

My chest felt tighter with every passing second.
How could it not?
Anyone who felt at ease in this situation would have to be insane.

I glanced down at the table.
The tea before me sat untouched.
It had cooled completely, no longer letting off steam.

And it was still as full as when it had first been poured.
In other words—
Time had passed.

A lot of time.
And I hadn’t taken a single sip.
‘Tsk.’

There was no better sign of how uncomfortable this was.
God, this was awkward.
I cleared my throat.

I’d already done that more than a dozen times.
I shifted my gaze, unable to keep staring at the same spot, and repeated the process several times.
And yet—

‘Why isn’t he saying anything?’
The old man sitting across from me hadn’t spoken a single word.
He looked to be in his eighties, and despite his age, there was no sign he had ever trained in martial arts.

Yet his sharp, knife-like eyes and unyielding presence hinted at a strength that didn’t come from the body.
His features suggested he had once been strikingly handsome—
A man who likely turned heads in his youth.

This was Lady Mi’s father.
The First Baekhwa Leader.
The man who had summoned me.

After his sudden arrival and single remark that silenced the room, he had entered and called me to follow him.
And now—
For what felt like a quarter of an hour, we’d been sitting face-to-face in complete silence.

Why?
Because the old man simply refused to speak.
I wasn’t much of a talker myself, but by this point, stubbornness had kicked in, and I’d decided not to break the silence first.

‘Then why the hell did he call me here?’
I’d cleared my entire schedule and come all the way here—
And yet, there wasn’t a single word of explanation.

‘Is he trying to test me?’
As ridiculous as it sounded, it was possible.
Maybe he didn’t like me.

A concubine’s son—a bastard—poised to inherit the family name simply because I was male.
If he thought his legitimate granddaughters were being overshadowed because of me, this might be his way of showing his dissatisfaction.
‘…Hmm.’

If that was his reason, I couldn’t exactly argue with it.
Because, honestly?
He wouldn’t be wrong.

So I decided to drop the pride and just bow my head a little.
“…Uh.”
I finally broke the silence, addressing him.

“Sir.”
The old man’s eyes shifted toward me.
His gaze was sharp and cold.

Suddenly, Lady Mi’s piercing stare made a lot more sense.
She got it from him.
Did he not like the way I addressed him?

I didn’t have any other title in mind, though.
“I heard from Elder Il. He said you requested to see me.”
I spoke carefully.

Finally, the old man’s lips parted.
“Yes.”
A curt answer.

The first words he’d spoken since we sat down.
“…May I ask why?”
Why had he called me here?

This man—someone I’d never even met in my previous life—had summoned me.
Sure, unexpected encounters had become common in this life, but this?
This one felt stranger than most.

‘Today has been one crazy thing after another. It’s pissing me off.’
Cheonma’s breakdown.
Lady Mi’s uncharacteristic reaction.

And now this.
One weird thing after another.
It was enough to make my head spin.

Clink.
The old man picked up his teacup.
He didn’t answer.

Instead, he took a sip.
Like mine, his tea had long gone cold.
After wetting his lips—

“I apologize.”
“…What?”
An apology?

I blinked at him in confusion.
“Suddenly… what do you mean?”
“I just realized, drinking this tea, how much time has passed.”

“...”
Wait.
Was he saying he hadn’t even noticed?

“Perhaps it’s my age. I find myself lost in thought more and more these days. I apologize.”
“…It’s fine. But if you could, I’d appreciate it if you spoke more casually. Honestly, the formality is making me a bit uncomfortable—”
“I do not speak casually to those I do not consider close to me. I hope you can understand.”

“Ah, yes.”
I shut my mouth awkwardly.
He said he didn’t speak casually to those he didn’t consider close.

There was a massive wall behind those words.
It was clear—I wasn’t someone he considered close.
And just like Elder Il said, he hadn’t called me here simply to see his ‘grandson.’

That was the implication.
‘Then what the hell is it?’
If not that, then why had he sought me out?

I couldn’t make sense of it at all.
‘If it’s nothing important, I really hope he gets to the point soon.’
I wasn’t excited about being summoned, nor would I be upset if he kept his distance.

We were strangers—
Not even bound by a drop of blood.
And considering I’d had no connection to him in my past life, I didn’t really care.

The only thing that gave me pause was the fact that he was Lady Mi’s father.
That alone stuck with me, though…
‘…Why does it bother me?’

I pondered the thought. Was there any reason for it to bother me?
Lady Mi wasn’t related to me by blood either.
‘Hmm.’

I couldn’t figure out why it lingered in my mind.
Regardless—
“Then, may I ask why you called for me?”

The old man’s earlier words had eased some of my nerves.
If he didn’t have any grand intentions, then I didn’t have anything to stress about either.
Relaxing slightly, I asked my question.

But—
“...”
The old man just stared at me.

His gaze was so intense that I almost felt the need to fix my posture.
…Should I straighten up again?
I was seriously debating it when—

“I didn’t summon you for anything complicated,” he finally said.
Thank God.
He continued.

“I called you here because there is something I need to ask.”
“…What is it?”
“Could you put up a Qi barrier for us?”

“…?”
Without asking why, I waved my hand.
Vwoooom—!!

A barrier quickly enveloped the area.
It was thicker than necessary since I hadn’t bothered to control its output.
“It’s done.”

“Thank you.”
What the hell was he about to say that required a barrier?
At this point, my confusion was turning into frustration.

“I’ll ask now.”
The old man’s eyes locked onto mine.
“Have you… turned back time?”

Vwoooom—!!
The moment I heard his words, the Qi barrier I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ had just raised trembled violently.