“Aigo — why is it so hot today.”

That day.

Astie — no, Tie — lay sprawled on the floor, being fanned by Grandma 107.

Crossing her eyes toward the bridge of her nose, she watched her bangs sway slightly, and at that moment Auntie 203 entered the entryway.

“Oh, sister... It seems something serious has happened...”

Usually, this aunt would start by hugging Tie tightly, saying how pretty she was.

But today she almost immediately avoided looking at her, and Tie tilted her head.

“What is it? Did someone do something again?”

“Not exactly...”

Again. Auntie glanced at Tie out of the corner of her eye and quickly looked away.

Tie’s gaze naturally shifted to the envelope in her hands.

Auntie 203 was gripping the crumpled paper envelope so tightly, as if it were a puppy’s leash that must not be let go.

“Don’t you dare say it’s nothing. Every time you scare the child with your shouting...”

But when the envelope was opened, Grandma 107 fell silent.

Deprived of the fan, Tie felt sweat bead on her forehead.

In the tiny room, silence hung heavy, broken only by the chirping of cicadas.

“...What are we supposed to do now.”

Grandma suddenly pulled Tie tightly into her arms.

“What are we supposed to do! What do we do now!”

And burst into sobs.

Pressed against her, Tie only blinked.

Auntie 203 sniffled too.

She was confused, but quickly understood — something bad had happened.

[In accordance with Article 12, Paragraph 1 of the Funeral Services Act, the body of an unidentified deceased person has been processed. Relatives are requested to retrieve the remains placed in storage.]

That day marked ten days since Father had not returned home.

“Funeral services...?”

What is that.

Left alone after Grandma and Auntie hurried out, Tie read the paper over and over again.

It was filled entirely with difficult words.

And yet there was one word Tie knew.

“...Deceased means someone who died.”

Suddenly she felt scared and carefully set the paper down.

As her fingers fidgeted, her eyes fell on the Tanifang sticker book Seulhee had given her at kindergarten.

Seulhee had already used almost all the stickers, but Tie’s favorite sticker — Tonafang — was still there.

“Show your shining magic~ catch catch...”

Humming the Tanifang song, Tie carefully peeled off the Tonafang sticker.

Then she left Unit 107, went into Unit 106, and brought the flyers Father had collected.

On the clean side of one flyer, Tie carefully wrote with a marker: 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

[Let Father come home.]

In the Quail Class, no one wrote as neatly as Tie.

And after the period, she did not forget to firmly press the Tonafang sticker.

“Father...”

Father, who said strange things every day.

Father, who believed he was from the Empire of Tallocium and that Tie’s homeland was there too.

He said that in that world he had been an incredibly strong Holy Knight.

Every day he punished evil monsters and villains and was the strongest hero everyone respected.

Tie shook her head.

Of course, until she was three, she had believed those words.

Father had seemed so cool that her heart would pound and she could not fall asleep until nine in the evening.

But now Tie was four.

Which meant she was already grown up and understood everything.

“If he’s the strongest Holy Knight that everyone loves, then he must be rich.”

But Father and Tie were not rich.

Rather the opposite.

Every summer her kindergarten friends went on vacation, and Tie had never gone anywhere with Father.

And Father hardly ever had days off.

He worked on weekends, on Children’s Day, on Hangul Day, and on Christmas.

When Tie asked why Father worked so much, the adults in Gold Apartments would say:

“his job doesn’t pay much compared to how much he works”

The words were difficult, but Tie vaguely understood.

No matter how hard Father tried, he could not earn enough to buy her a new Tanifang sticker book.

But Tie was still happy.

Father was a hundred, no, a thousand times more important than any sticker book.

Tie always thought that Father, who worked so hard, was wonderful and deserving of gratitude.

“Everyone has their own story.”

“Look at the man from Unit 106. So young, so handsome — yet living in poverty. For the sake of the child, so she won’t be taken away.”

“It’s still strange. Even if he’s illegal, can’t he get some kind of visa? Tie is already four, it’s about time to register her birth...”

“I told you — Tie can’t be registered at all! If they go now and try to register her, do you think the district office will let it slide? Illegal, huh? The moment they catch him, the fine will be enormous. And then our Tie could be sent to his country. And the guy from Unit 106 would go to prison here. How can you separate them like that.”

“Well, I’ll just trust the kindergarten director. Good person, thank goodness. If she had insisted to the end and refused to accept Tie — the child would have fallen behind in no time.”

“Tie is already clever. I’ve never seen a child like her in my life. She practically taught herself to read! By the way, has the guy from Unit 106 still not said which country he’s from?”

Half-asleep, listening to the neighbors’ chatter, Tie learned many things, but living with Father was still happiness.

“...Sniff.”

A drop fell onto the scrap paper, and Tie held her breath.

She had not even noticed when tears began to flow from her eyes.

“Sniff.”

Growing sad, Tie hid her face in her palms.

Father should come home soon.

“Fatherrr...”

The word “deceased” kept surfacing in her mind.

Tie curled into a ball and tightly shut her eyes.

Repeating to herself that it was not Father who had been called deceased.

She must have dozed off.

When she woke up, it was dark around her.

Grandma 107 returned only late in the evening, soaked by the rain.

In her hands was a cardboard box stained with water.

Tie opened it and froze with her mouth open.

“Father will live with Tie for a long, long time. One day we will definitely return to our homeland and live in a big and clean house where Tie will laugh.”

“I even stuck Tonafang.”

But Father did not come.

Tie stared for a long time at three words — “Personal Effects Box.”

She knew what that meant.

Once, that word had appeared in a drama.

It meant... without living long, without returning to the homeland, without making Tie happy.

Father had left, leaving Tie alone.

In the end.

Late at night.

Leaving behind Grandma 107’s snoring, Tie left the room.

And secretly entered Unit 106, where she had lived with Father.

On the farthest cabinet stood the box with his belongings.

Tie climbed onto the cabinet and opened the lid.

“...”

Inside lay Father’s hat, several keys, and a wallet.

To look more closely, she tilted the box, and something fell with a dull thud.

At the very bottom lay a necklace with a broken string.

“Father’s...”

Unconsciously, Tie picked it up.

Father always kept it in his inner pocket, and she had never seen it.

Removing the broken string and squeezing the stone in the middle in her hand, she felt her throat tighten.

It seemed as if Father’s warmth still lingered in the stone.

At the moment tears welled up in Tie’s ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) eyes—

Boom—

Suddenly the ceiling trembled.

She lifted her head in fright — now the vibration came from the floor.

Boom!

Stepping backward, she saw a bright light before her.

[Why are you crying?]

Tie blinked and opened her mouth.

The stone slipped from her hand and floated in the air.

Emitting a bright glow along its edges.

“A, a stone is talking...”

At that very moment, above the stone — puff — something grew.

A small black head the size of an adult’s fist.

With her mouth open, Tie watched as eyes like rubies, a nose, a mouth, and ears appeared on the stone.

[Why are you crying?]

When the question sounded for the second time, she hurriedly gathered herself.

Wary, but mustering her courage, she opened her mouth.

“T, Tie’s Father...”

[I see.]

At that moment, arms, legs, a tail, and wings grew from the stone, and it cut her off.

The stone licked its tiny front paw several times and said:

[That man died?]

Tie’s pupils trembled.

“...Father, Father...”

[Shall I bring him back to life?]

Before she could fully grasp the words.

The stone stared intently at Tie, shook its head, and said again:

[If I bring your Father back to life, will you stop crying?]