SWNOVELXO Chapter 36
The woman disliked people.
They always hated her, and they always made her suffer.
Even the children who threw stones at her when she was just a little girl.
Because they looked down on the foolish girl who hadn’t done anything wrong.
There was a time when she thought she didn’t want to be close to anyone other than Ain, wishing everyone would just disappear.
That was the basic shape of the woman being formed.
In other words, each stone that came flying during her childhood pounded away until it created this.
The beautiful inner self that longed for people’s affection became so uneven and small like that.
The round heart that used to be so kind and pure turned sharp and angular.
It became a shape with no entrance, which could only be melted down again and carefully pounded if anyone wanted to enter.
It was a closed fence that only accepted Ain, who would hug her when she entered.
If someone were to try to step inside, they would have to care for her and protect her all the more.
And she couldn’t even imagine that there would be someone in the world willing to make that effort for a woman shrouded in gray.
She couldn’t trust those who smiled just because the color of her hair and eyes changed.
So.
She thought the bearded uncle who continued to stay by her side and talked to her was the same.
At least the woman, who had only been hurt by people until now, thought that way.
The woman was always awkward and clumsy.
She wanted to work for Ain, but even the act of directly conversing with people made her stomach churn.
Facing customers and speaking to them, she could feel chills running down her spine every time their hands brushed against hers to receive money.
That stirred her emotions.
An uncomfortable and sticky feeling kept boiling in her heart, making it very hard to restrain.
That was the reason.
‘Good child.’
The reason the woman continuously made mistakes, being so awkward and clumsy, was that.
‘…, good child.’
As she repeatedly uttered that inside, she managed somehow to send the customer away, creating a brief opening.
‘Good child.’
She would turn her head sharply to look at someone and speak.
“Ain, did I do well?”
When she faced the gaze of his eyes, always watching her, and took a deep breath, that was her true self.
Perhaps that’s why, on days without Ain, she would make even more mistakes.
Even if she turned her head sharply to look back, there was no kind smile watching over her.
Only a few unfriendly gazes surrounded her.
She was likely trying to suppress the emotions spilling out.
Despite having a gaze from a little distance, worried about her, she was thinking that way.
Therefore.
That such a woman would open up her small inner vacancy to others.
It was because she had finally begun to feel the sincerity that embraced her one day after trying hard not to make any more mistakes.
That day was Ain’s day off.
It was a day with unusually many customers, and some men seemed to come just to see the woman.
“…, Thank you. Please, go well.”
There was a customer who purposely grabbed the woman’s hand while receiving change.
“Altogether it’s 85 Dera.”
“Miss, what will you do after your shift?”
Even when she tried to ignore them, there was a man leaning over the counter, scanning her with a lecherous gaze.
‘Good child.’
And whenever the woman felt her emotions surging at those men, she murmured that she had to be a good child.
“…, Thank you. Please leave now.”
“Hey, are you ignoring me? What are you doing after work?”
Those were the kinds of mistakes that came out.
‘Good child….’
It took considerable concentration to ensure the grayness didn’t engulf the store in the grip of her emotions.
“…, Next customer.”
“Miss, aren’t you going to answer? You’re not smart enough to understand when I tell you you’re pretty and should speak kindly?”
How could she not be patient, trying to pull those eyes that were scanning her body in front of her?
‘Good…, oh, this.’
That’s why she would grip her fist tightly, reciting the same word like an incantation in her mind.
The woman hid the blood dripping from her skin as her nails dug in and, to calm her trembling body, she inhaled and exhaled.
Since it was something she began for Ain, she thought she couldn’t create any problems that might cause him harm.
“Please leave now… Next customer.”
And if Ain had been beside her, it would have surely been something worthy of praise.
However.
That man was someone who crossed the line, ignoring the woman’s dismissals and the warnings of other customers.
“Hah, I didn’t want to go this far. This girl is hopeless.”
Then, a rough hand suddenly grabbed the woman’s shoulder.
‘Good…’
Despite her efforts to endure, the grayness began to rise from her surroundings.
‘Oh, this.’
It spread so slowly that no one seemed to notice the change, and with a single word of activation escaping her lips, the man’s hand would turn to dust in an instant.
The woman’s body trembled.
That was her struggle to prevent the grayness from swirling around.
She was flailing about to not get swept away by the emotions.
Yet at the same time, emotions forcefully pried her mouth open, chanting the first activation word.
“Gray powder.”
And.
Before the next activation word could be spoken.
Bam! Thud!
The man who had put his hands on the woman went flying off into the distance.
A thick coat draped over the woman’s shivering shoulders, and someone was seen repeatedly pounding their fists down on the man who had flown away.
“Have you ever seen such a scumbag?”
The voice that came out was not the usual hearty one.
Bam!
“How dare you touch anyone in my store?”
Bam!
It was certainly filled with the emotion of rage, thick and heavy.
“The two little kids working in my store are like my children!”
Perhaps that intense feeling embedded itself firmly in the woman’s heart.
Bam!
Ignoring the man’s screams and moans, fists kept pounding.
Bam!
Even as bewildered customers rushed to intervene, the fists continued to strike with emotion-filled expressions.
And loudly shouted so that it would reach the woman too.
“I’m the one who treats them carefully! You dare to touch my first daughter!”
That was so vivid.
It came into her ears, knocking on the tightly closed fence.
“You, insignificant little bug, don’t you dare treat them carelessly!”
It had already become small and uneven, and someone was trying to cross over the sharp and angular fence.
It had hardened into an ugly shape, leaving no entrance unless carefully melted down and pounded again.
“Dare…! How dare you speak carelessly to my daughter and put your hands on her!!”
An uncle, cleaving through the high and thick fence with no entrance, leaped over and entered.
There was a bearded uncle who realized that if someone wanted to step inside, they had to care for her and protect her all the while.
Therefore.
“…, Ah.”
The gray that had filled around the woman soon disappeared without a trace.
Bam!
“You bastard!!”
The eyes witnessing the back of someone who continued to strike despite customers’ deterrents were wide open, proving the woman’s surprise.
Someone would surely open the gate of the fence and confidently step inside.
And others would also enter through the small hole at the edge of the fence.
In that way, people would surely keep coming into the woman’s enclosure.
Just like Ain, who entered first and took more than half of her heart, others would be given such roles too.
However, among them, there would be no one who would leap over this high fence and surprise the woman as he did.
Rendo.
The owner of the grocery store.
An extra on a stage that was ordinary yet very ordinary.
Indeed, a new role would be given to him as well.
New variables continuously emerged and intervened on the stage shaped by the divine.
What was once a solitary cog in the machine slowly began to color its surroundings.
Rendo, he was the protector of the gray.
As time passed.
After the last customer left, an awkward feeling flowed between the two who remained after closing the store.
“…, Are you alright? I’m sorry for not being able to protect you.”
“…”
On Rendo’s hand was a wound.
The woman stared at it blankly and looked up to see the uncle’s face.
“I won’t let them do such terrible things again.”
“…”
Still cautious, still struggling with the woman.
“Um, and I got a bit emotional earlier and blurted things out. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
“…”
He was someone who said there was no need to mind the words he had spilled.
So the woman stared at him, then dashed into the small room.
“Hmm? Where are you suddenly going…?”
She didn’t answer the voice behind her but opened a small drawer in the small room and pulled something familiar out.
Then, she dashed back to the uncle.
“…, Thank you.”
“…”
She said this while extending ointment and a bandage.
Now, it was the opposite; the uncle stood there blankly, unable to reply.
The woman bowed her head in gratitude, surprising him, and he stammered, a far cry from the confident and intense figure he had shown earlier.
That was the first word the woman had spoken.
“And I’m sorry, uncle.”
“…”
That was the first step towards someone other than Ain.