I will be the Strongest

Chapter 9

It was neither quick nor easy; choosing the ring took as long as shopping for clothes. After failing to find the "ideal ring" in her eyes, Hye would quickly get up and head to the next jewelry store with her aunt.

Samantha smiled at the sight.

Hye's reaction to not finding a ring suitable enough, her frustration and impatience expressed through small gestures like repeatedly tapping her fingers on the counters.

As the attendants took longer to bring out the stored jewelry, her happiness at thinking she found a good ring, and the evident frustration in her actions and expressions through her words.

That moment seemed unique to her, certainly something that had never happened before.

Genuine smiles had never adorned Hye's face before, nor the expressions of dismay that followed soon after.

In all these years, the word "no" had never left her mouth as a form of expressing dissatisfaction or the desire not to do something, so hearing and seeing her say it so many times as attendant after attendant tried to convince her that the ring in question was ideal was more than gratifying; to Samantha, it meant a possible "hope," a small "light at the end of the tunnel."

'I wish you were here now...' Samantha thought as she watched Hye trying to choose a ring in the fourth jewelry store they had visited so far.

"This one is also for engagement," she said, smiling, as she watched Hye abruptly drop the ring on the glass counter and quickly head towards the exit with the shopping bags in hand.

With every step, every person who passed by them stared until they were out of sight.

It didn't matter if they were accompanied or not; instinctively, their eyes followed those figures as if it were impossible to resist.

Everyone admired and desired them, some even envying the beauty contained in just two beings.

No one could imagine that Samantha was in her 45th year; on the contrary, everyone would say she was at most 25.

Samantha, while following Hye's hurried steps, smiled as she said, "What are you going to do now? It seems no ring is good enough, and if I'm not mistaken, the jewelry stores here are all gone... Why don't we go to another mall?"

"No, there's still one more place I want to go..." Hye replied, stopping in front of the entrance of a large store, the biggest store in the entire mall. "I saw something that looked like a ring when we passed this floor earlier... Do you think they also sell rings?"

Samantha looked inside the luxurious place.

Gold served only as decorations, nothing more than a simple, worthless mineral when surrounded by those items.

Armors both simple and gleaming, some excessively large.

Shields capable of effortlessly defending against cannon shots, some even nuclear bombs: but obviously, the shield being intact after the bomb's explosion wouldn't mean the hunter would be.

And what stands out the most among all the items in the store, the weapons.

Swords, daggers, spears, axes, and much more.

This place had everything a hunter could want, the only company in the world capable of producing items usable in monster subjugations as well as houses strong enough to withstand invasions from C-rank monsters: Orian.

Hye took a step towards the transparent entrance and reached one arm to the handle. But before he could even open the door, he was stopped by his aunt.

"Let's go somewhere else..." Samantha said, her eyes constantly scanning the place. "It doesn't seem like there are any rings here."

Hye looked at his aunt, understanding why she acted that way; the reason was obvious, but the feelings and emotions didn't reach him at all.

Looking at the counter on the other side of the store, a place that, although very distant, he could see perfectly, Hye saw what he thought was the best ring he had seen so far.

It wasn't adorned with gold and silver; instead, it was made of a black mineral, as deep as the abyss of night.

Its edges were intertwined with yellow streaks, like rays of the sun piercing through the darkness.

But the true charm lay in the small gemstone set in the center. A gem that seemed to contain the sun's own fire.

When light touched it, sparks danced on its surface, like stars in a night sky.

Beside it was what appeared to be its perfect pair.

Following the opposite of the previous ring, the mineral used in this small ring was golden and shiny.

Its edges were intertwined with black streaks, as if darkness were constantly trying to cover the sunlight.

However, what truly made that ring the perfect pair to the one a few rings away was the small gemstone set in its center.

A gem that seemed to be made of pure darkness, contrasting with the light emitted by the previous ring.

"...I’ll just buy the rings, don’t worry. If there aren’t any here, we’ll go somewhere else."

Samantha hesitated.

She knew that store like the back of her hand, and the fact that it was a store where only products for hunters were sold made her a bit apprehensive.

But what could she do?

Simply preventing Hye from entering that place wouldn't be right... even if she knew she was only doing it for his own good.

He was no longer a child, and despite still following what she said, at some point, he would prioritize his own desires, especially if this really worked... If this change continued to progress and was indeed related to this girl, his new girlfriend.

Letting go of Hye's wrist, Samantha followed him into the store and towards the counter.

There was no doubt, even though she didn’t know where they came from or why they were in that particular place, those rings were truly beautiful, and despite not being a pair of engagement rings, they worked perfectly as such.

Seeing that walk directly to the objective and the confident choices, for a moment, Samantha even wondered if Hye had seen those rings before...

She shook her head in denial.

Besides the large number of items in the way, it's impossible for someone to see something from that distance: How could anyone see two rings from more than two hundred meters away?

"Will it really be these two rings, sir?" the store attendant asked, placing the ring holders on the counter.

"Yes, I’ll take both and... do you happen to have a box where I can put them?"

"A box?"

Normally, hunters buy items for immediate use or simply put them in their inventories.

Hye could store it that way, but it didn’t seem right to him.

For some reason, to him, that wasn't how a ring should be given, simply pulled out of thin air.

"He meant a ring box," said Samantha. "Is there something like that here?"

She knew the answer.

Being responsible for various things, including checking and distributing items around the world, Samantha was completely sure there wouldn’t be anything like a ring box in that place.

"Oh, I understand!" the attendant exclaimed. "You’re not hunters, they usually store them in the inventory or use them right after buying. Sorry, it's quite rare for someone to come and buy from this store without being a hunter; usually, people go to the smaller branches. Wait a second, I’ll look for something that might serve for what you’re looking for."

It didn't take long, the attendant returned with a small box in his hands. Blue in color with golden chains intertwined and running across all its faces.

Looking at those objects on the counter, Samantha wondered: 'Where did these things come from? None of these objects were on the list destined for South Korea... or any other country, for that matter...'

"Well, it’s not exactly a ring box... but I believe it can be used as one."

"What exactly does it do?" asked Samantha, looking apprehensively at the small box. "And the rings?"

"Well..." the attendant said, averting his gaze. "I’m not sure... We don't have information on these items.. But... I can make you a special offer because of this."

"A special offer? Does your manager know about this?"

"Well... it was the assistant manager who said to sell them, so..."

"It’s fine. I’ll take all three," said Hye, pulling a small black card from his pocket. "Charge this card, please."

While the purchase was being made, Samantha couldn't take her eyes off those items.

They didn't seem to be simple rings or just any box; all three gave her a strange feeling, something she couldn't explain.

Paying seven and a half million dollars for three items in a store where each item is sold at a minimum price of four million...

Well, what really mattered was that Hye seemed satisfied.

However, she couldn't help but think that, despite the unknown nature of the items, due to what she felt coming from them, which served as proof that they were not just ordinary items, that had definitely been an excellent purchase, and this also made her happy.

With the shopping at the mall finished, there was only one place left for them to visit; after all, after so many years, Hye couldn’t go on his first date walking.

"Hmm... Maybe you're right..." Samantha pondered, sitting on Hye’s living room sofa, while analyzing him from head to toe. "Maybe the tie is indeed too much."

A navy blue suit and a red tie, a white dress shirt underneath, and brown shoes on his feet.

Hye stood in front of his aunt like a statue, a statue that stood in the ordered position waiting for the next command.

"Let’s move on to the next one."

Hye went to his room and quickly changed, without leaving any wrinkles in his clothes. Perfectly folding and storing the ones he had just worn, and putting the suit jackets on hangers. This process had been repeated five times by now.

After changing, while returning to the living room, constantly looking at the clothes he was wearing. A red suit, light blue tie, and black shoes—Hye said, "This is too much..."

"Yes, too much!"

"Not this one, right?"

"No, absolutely not!"

Before even reaching the center of the room, Hye returned to his room, saying, "I suspected as much..."

And the trip back to the room repeated a few more times. 'The problem isn’t the clothes…' Samantha reflected while waiting for Hye to return. 'The problem is him! How can someone look good in every type of clothing, no matter how strange it is? How can I choose the best outfit like this?'

After standing up, Samantha quickly headed towards Hye’s room. 'I didn’t want to do this, but...' she thought, placing her hand on the doorknob. 'It seems I have no choice.'

"Yes... this is certainly the only option at the moment," Samantha affirmed, sighing as she sat on Hye’s bed. "All black never disappoints."

"Are you sure?" Hye asked while looking at himself in the mirror.

His hair freshly cut, it had been some time since he last did it. As usual, the sides were shaved, but the fringe was definitely longer than before; even with his curly hair, it easily reached his eyebrows, sometimes even covering his eyes. The overcoat, shirt, and pants all the same color—black—though new, brought a certain familiarity, but...

"Didn’t you say I should wear other types of clothes? Different colors?"

"No, it’s fine. This has been harder than I expected," Samantha admitted, averting her gaze, and for a moment, her eyes fell on Hye’s shoes. "But, if you really want to change something, wear those white sneakers. All black is great, but it will break a bit of the nonchalant feeling it can give off, like you just grabbed the first matching pieces you saw and left."

Hye had only changed clothes, but for some reason, his heart was acting so strangely... why did the heat seem to be rising with each passing second?

His first date with his first girlfriend—was this how everyone felt when that moment arrived? Is this anxiety normal?

"Oh, and don’t come home late..." Samantha reconsidered, looking into Hye’s eyes, which, for the first time in years, were so bright. Various thoughts crossed her mind. What if he gets frustrated? What if she deceives him? Betrays him? What if she just toys with him? Many 'what ifs' arose, but what actually came out of her mouth was, "Or better yet, don’t come home tonight. Consider it an order."

"Yes, ma'am," Hye replied, with a smile on his face.

That smile surprised Samantha.

She didn’t know what to say or do.

Watching Hye walking away, heading towards the corridor’s elevator, her worries intensified even more.

However, she couldn’t stop him just because of her fear.

Frustrations are necessary, she knew that, but she also knew she couldn’t bear to see him sad over something like this.

Having him express emotions had always been her greatest wish, but not this emotion; she never wanted him to feel any kind of sadness or unhappiness.

And as she let her body rest on the large sofa, she smiled, saying, "You’re seeing this, right? Your... your boy is growing up. He finally..."

The words wouldn’t come out.

Happiness or pain, it didn’t matter, both were at a level she could no longer hide.

Tears filled her eyes as the smile disappeared from her face, replaced by constant sobs that no one heard in that large room, which at that moment, was filled with solitude.

"I... I really hope... that you’re seeing this..."