---
The first confirmation of a new life rarely cos with emotion.
It cos with paper.
And this morning, paper was waiting for .
Thin morning light slipped through the curtains.
---
I woke up first.
It took three seconds to rember why there were two futons in the room.
Then, I heard the soft rustle of fabric from my left.
Yuna was already sitting up.
Her hair was slightly ssy, but her posture was as straight as a model student’s.
"What ti did you wake up?" I asked.
"Six."
"Why?"
"I don’t know Papa’s habits."
"My habits aren’t interesting."
She nodded seriously, as if processing vital information.
I sat up.
In the morning light, the room looked smaller than it had at night. More real.
---
"We’re heading out for a bit," I said.
"Where to?"
"Social introductions, so we don’t beco a rumor."
She blinked.
"Is that important?"
"In a small apartnt complex, yes."
We changed into simple clothes. I wore a gray hoodie. She wore a white t-shirt and a plain skirt.
The mont I opened the door, the sll of breakfast imdiately greeted us.
---
And as if scheduled by the universe itself—
Door 204 opened at the exact sa ti.
The middle-aged woman erged wearing a floral apron. Her hair was hastily pinned up. She held a small bowl in her hands.
Her eyes imdiately dropped to Yuna.
"Oh... morning."
"Morning," I replied.
She looked Yuna up and down.
---
"This is...?"
I didn’t give her assumptions ti to grow.
"My niece. She’s staying here for the ti being. I’m her guardian."
Yuna bowed politely.
"Good morning, Obaa-san."
The woman softened slightly.
"Ah, so polite..."
Then her eyes returned to .
"How old are you now?"
"Twenty-one."
"And you’re already the guardian of a nine-year-old?"
"Yes."
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Her parents?"
"They can’t take care of her."
It wasn’t a lie.
Just the condensed version.
---
She nodded slowly.
"Kids these days, huh... so many problems."
"This apartnt is soundproof," I said.
She chuckled.
Yuna stood quietly beside , not speaking unless necessary.
"Where does she go to school?" the woman asked.
Yuna shot a quick glance.
Half a second.
I answered first.
"It’s being taken care of."
"Oh, don’t be late registering her. The elentary schools around here fill up fast."
"I know."
She looked at Yuna again.
"What’s your na?"
"Yuna," she answered for herself.
"What a pretty na. Just like that idol... what was her na..."
----
I didn’t react.
Neither did Yuna.
"Yeah, the one on TV..."
The woman waved her hand dismissively, giving up on rembering.
---
"Never mind. If you need anything, just let know."
"Thank you," I replied.
She went back into her unit.
The door closed.
The hallway returned to silence.
I turned to Yuna.
"Good reflexes."
"About what?"
"Not ntioning your mom earlier."
She gave a small nod.
"That’s the hard part."
"Did you practice?"
"A little."
---
I stared at the empty hallway for a few seconds.
School.
Administration.
Docunts.
A birth certificate alone wouldn’t be enough.
---
"Let’s go back in," I said.
We stepped back inside the apartnt.
The door clicked locked.
I walked over to the table and picked up the birth certificate again.
---
"To register for school," I said quietly, more to myself than to her. "We’re going to need more than just this."
Yuna sat across from .
"Like what?"
"A family register."
She fell silent.
"Do we have one?"
I stared at the docunt in my hands.
Good question.
If soone had gone to the trouble of altering a birth certificate...
---
How far had they gone to prepare the rest?
I set the paper back down.
"We’re going to the ward office," I said.
"Today?"
"If I put it off, I’ll just get too lazy to do it."
She stood up without a single protest.
As if she had been ready from the start.
And for the first ti that morning,
I began to feel that perhaps—
---
the administrative aspects of my life had already been taken care of by soone else before I even had the chance to think about them.
And if that was true,
then the ward office wouldn’t be verifying the truth.
It would be revealing it.
---
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