Chapter 4

I felt like I was growing lighter, floating up into the air like a single feather.

Everything before me went pitch black. My body didn't hurt anymore, and I wasn't scared at all. Just a little cold.

I saw another "me", dressed in my clothes, lying on a cold iron bed.

The man who had offered me the candy was talking to another stranger. "This batch of 'goods' is top quality. You can settle the bill now."

I didn't understand what they were saying, but I had completed the "payment" for that candy.

Maybe, just like the picture I drew, I had "earned" a whole lot of money for our family.

When Mom and Dad saw the receipt, they were bound to be so happy.

I missed Mom.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I drifted upward, floated right through the walls, and returned home.

The house was still as quiet as ever. Mom and Dad sat on the couch, neither saying a word.

I saw the drawing I had left by the entryway, along with those few crooked words: "I went to earn money".

I was thrilled. They would find out very soon that I had made a real contribution to our family.

I watched Mom spot the note. Her face instantly drained of color, turning whiter than the wall behind her.

I didn't quite get it. Why didn't she look happy?

She grabbed Dad's arm and screamed, "Call the police!" in a voice I had never heard from her before.

Dad's face turned strange too. For the first time ever, he tossed his phone with the ledger app right onto the couch.

I drifted behind them to a place filled with men wearing uniforms.

I heard Mom and Dad describing me to one of the officers, saying I liked "splitting bills", loved "making transactions", and never left the house without my bear purse.

The uniformed officer's expression turned deeply grim.

I felt a little proud inside.

See? Even adults I didn't know understood my rules.

Then I appeared on a screen.

I saw myself holding the man's hand and getting into a white van.

Mom and Dad became hysterical all at once.

I was happy too. Were they here to pick me up from "work"?

But soon, a phone call came in. The officer said the license plate was fake.

Mom broke down crying on the spot, and Dad slammed his fist into the wall.

I floated over to Mom's side, wanting to give her a hug the way Aunt Sophie did, but my hands passed straight through her body.

For the very first time, I felt lost.

Why were they so sad? I left to earn money. Wasn't this something to celebrate?

Aunt Sophie rushed over too, and the house descended into complete chaos.

Dad kept raising the reward amount online, muttering over and over, "Any amount is fine! I'll pay! I'll pay!"

I looked at those numbers. They were endlessly bigger than all the money in my bear purse and all my drawn "Family Love Vouchers" combined.

It turned out Dad was so rich.

Then why did I have to pay for a single hug in the past?

The phone rang again. They said a child matching my description was found in a neighboring city.

I floated beside the car as Mom and Dad drove fast, so very fast.

I heard Mom sobbing continuously inside the car.

She said that once she found me, she would never keep a ledger again.

She promised to buy me the best toys in the world and every piece of candy I ever wanted.

A gentle warmth filled my chest. So, completing such a huge transaction could yield this many rewards.

Except… that child wasn't me.

I heard Mom let out a horrifying wail.

Dad held her close. That calm, rational Dad was crying too.

Floating beside them, I felt their grief for the first time.

Just as they were at their absolute lowest, the officer called out to them.

I followed them into a small white room.

At a single glance, I spotted my favorite jacket. Only it was covered in bright red, like the red paint I used to spill by accident when drawing pictures.

Lying beside it was the golden candy wrapper I had "earned".

I was so glad. That was my "receipt"! They had found it!

Now it could prove that I completed the transaction.

The moment Mom saw that jacket, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed onto the floor. Dad caught her just in time.

Panicking, I wanted to tell him, "Dad, don't be scared! I earned this!"

But no sound came out, no matter how hard I tried.

I heard the officer whisper to Dad, his voice trembling with effort. "…The child's organs… have been harvested… Based on the items left at the scene, we compiled… a bloody receipt."

A receipt?

I was so familiar with that word. I tried my best to look at Dad's face, hoping to see the relief on his features after a "settled account".

But I didn't.

On Dad's face—the face that was always calculating—I saw a complete, hollow blank for the very first time.

At that moment, I finally understood.

This final transaction of mine… seemed to have gone horribly wrong.