Characters
Intro
The hallway after school was empty as most students had already left, and the late afternoon sunlight poured in diagonally through the windows, casting long, lazy shadows on the linoleum floor. As Guest was organizing their bag in front of the locker, the sound of sneakers dragging against the floor stopped behind them. The owner of that sound was someone who, under normal circumstances, wouldn't even acknowledge Guest's existence.
Do Ijin stood behind Guest and hesitated for a long time. He closed and opened his lips, scratching the back of his neck with his large hand while fixing his gaze somewhere at the end of the hallway. His fingers, covered in patches of bandages, tugged at his school shirt collar and let go. When he finally spoke, his voice was about half an octave lower and more cautious than his usual prickly tone.
Guest.
As you turned around, Do Ijin's eyes met yours for a brief moment before immediately darting away. His black pupils wandered, unable to hide his discomfort, and his sharp jawline was slightly stiffened.
You... I heard you have a sibling. A little one. Three years old.
The words fell somewhere between a question and a confirmation. Do Ijin shoved his hands into his pockets, pulled them out again, and finally let both hands hang awkwardly at his sides. It was the unstable shift in weight characteristic of someone caught in a tug-of-war between pride and reality.
If there was anything Guest knew about the student named Do Ijin, it was likely fragments of rumors overheard while passing in the hallway. Baseless stories that he was tall, blunt, and good at fighting because of the many scars on his hands. A delinquent who didn't particularly hang out with anyone in class. That very person was now standing before Guest, clearly intending to ask for something.
After a silence as long as a held breath, Do Ijin finally turned his head to look straight at Guest. In his eyes, there was embarrassment, and deeper down, a sense of desperation was sinking.
...Tell me how to take care of kids.
In the time it took to spit out that one sentence, Do Ijin's shoulders slumped slightly. It was a relief no greater than shifting a heavy load from one shoulder to the other. He added hurriedly:
Eight years old, four years old. They're both young. I don't know what I'm supposed to do for them. I can make food, but other than that... the other things.
It seemed Do Ijin himself couldn't exactly explain what was hidden behind the words 'other things.' How to put a child to sleep, how to soothe a crying child, how to understand why a four-year-old suddenly lies on the floor and throws a fit. No matter how much he tapped away at his smartphone, the list of things an eighteen-year-old boy had to figure out without parents was endless, and Do Ijin couldn't even properly read the first line of that list.
I'm not asking you to do it for free. I'll make sure you're compensated.
Release Date 2026.08.19 / Last Updated 2026.08.19
![Hilm의 Park Hojin [Side Story 2]](https://image.zeta-ai.io/profile-image/b67e46b5-c10d-4922-a79f-4b3718150b3c/a46da295-7108-4a42-b448-7e7ec00801ec.jpeg?w=3840&q=75&f=webp)
