Chapter 5 - My Asian Parents Are Big Shots
Blue and red lights flashed from the police cars parked at the gas station, casting their glow on the passing vehicles and catching the attention of curious onlookers. Three officers unraveled yellow crime scene tape, barricading the area to prevent the growing crowd from wandering too close to the investigation.
Carn sat on the curb in front of the convenience store, his hands resting on his knees as he waited, silently detained by the police. The investigators inside moved methodically, collecting evidence while paramedics loaded the injured thief into the back of an ambulance.
The scene was tense, but Carn's demeanor was calm. He even wore a faint smile.
It was 9.30 PM.
He gazed upward at the fading evening sky. The crimson haze that had hung over the scene earlier had vanished. In its place, a small crimson firefly now floated gently in front of him. Its shimmering wings caught the light, and its tiny face—the face of the thief's murder victim—wore a peaceful smile.
Carn's eyes softened. He closed them and let out a deep sigh.
This spirit was not the criminal. It was the victim, killed by the dead thief. With a quiet voice, Carn whispered.
"Justice has been served. May you rest in Aether's embrace."
The firefly raised its tiny hand in a wave before fading to the dark sky, leaving behind fine silver dust, which drifted toward Carn's outstretched palm. The glowing remnants merged into his skin, and for a brief moment, a silver claw mark appeared on his hand.
Unfortunately, it faded as quickly as it had come. Carn exhaled again, deeper this time, as all the aches and dizziness that had plagued him vanished instantly. No one but Carn was aware of the firefly, the wisp of Aether, or the silver mark on Carn's hand.
The transaction was complete. The Aether had restored his strength. Yet, he knew it wasn't enough to keep him going for long.
He was back at square one.
No Aether.
Carn's eyes narrowed in frustration as he mentally retraced his steps, calculating his deficit.
'One mark only gives enough for five minor spells,' he thought, grimacing. 'I tried a medium one earlier in the bathroom, failed because I didn't have enough Aether, and ended up with one spell's worth of debt. The second spell was for that bag in the morning, the third on the bus, the fourth in the classroom, and just now, I sped myself up—that's the fifth. Hah, back to zero.'
Carn's fingers curled into fists, feeling the familiar emptiness inside. The hunger gnawed at him again.
He needed Aether.
After living in a world powered by it for over a thousand years, getting through a day without it felt suffocating, like trying to live without oxygen. For the people in this world, it might be like going a day without the Internet.
His thoughts were interrupted when Carlos, the shopkeeper, approached with a paper plate of homemade burritos. He waved the plate in front of Carn's face until the latter turned his attention from the sky to the food.
"Take this. It's gonna be a long night."
Carn nodded and took the plate. Seeing the food, he suddenly realized how empty his stomach was and he hadn't eaten since morning. Now the hunger hit him like a wave.
"...Thank you," he muttered and started digging in.
Carlos sat down nearby, cracking open a can of beer. As he sipped, he glanced at the flashing lights of the police cars and the paramedics tending to the scene. He snorted, more to himself than anyone else.
"The world's gone to shit," Carlos mused, shaking his head. "All these damn rifts, explorers running around, and now these idiots making everything worse. It's like living in a nightmare. This is the fifth time this month. What were they thinking?"
Carn ignored Carlos' rant. He focused on eating the burrito in front of him. But Carlos, with a beer in hand, wasn't done talking.
"Say, kid. How old are you? Where are your parents?" Carlos asked, watching Carn lick his fingers clean.
"I'm 16," Carn replied, setting the empty paper plate down beside him. Wiping his hands on his jacket, he turned to face Carlos. "Don't worry about my parents. My pop will be here soon enough. Cops are involved, so... yeah."
Though Carn barely remembered their faces after all those centuries, he could never forget their iconic professions.
And just as the thought crossed his mind, the sound of tires crunching over gravel caught his attention. A sleek black car pulled up to the scene, and from it emerged a middle-aged man in formal attire and an Asian woman in white collar clothes and a coat.
Carn's parents had arrived.
His father, Han, walked toward the officer standing by the yellow tape and flashed his badge. The officer's eyes widened upon seeing the rank, immediately saluting and allowing both parents to enter the crime scene.
Carn's mother, Wong, marched ahead with determined strides, her eyes scanning the area until they locked onto Carn sitting in front of the store. She stormed over with heavy footsteps.
Carn stood instinctively, ready for the inevitable scolding. Instead of yelling, Wong grabbed his hands and inspected his nails and face with a mother's practiced eye. Her voice, usually accented with broken English, switched to a clear, American tone.
"Were the thieves armed?" she asked while her eyes narrowed.
Carn was momentarily surprised by the question but smiled wryly. "Yes, Mom."
"How many did you kill?"
"…One."
"Good enough," Wong muttered with a snort. Then, without warning, she pulled a plastic hanger from her coat, much to the surprise of everyone watching.
Where had she been hiding that?
And why was she carrying it in the first place?
Before Carn could even react, Wong swung the hanger with practiced precision, landing a stinging smack across his backside.
*PA*
Carn jolted, completely unprepared for the ambush. Wong reverted to her usual broken English. Her high-pitched voice echoed as she smacked him repeatedly.
"Yu stoopid brat! How dare yu embarrass yur parents?! I told yu to get food, not get arrested! Yu wanna be homeless and disowned, huh?!"
*PA! PA! PA!*
Wong didn't hold back, swinging the hanger a full ten times. Each strike landed with a loud crack.
Carn didn't resist. He stood there with his arms crossed, welcoming all punishment with a bitter smile on his face. It didn't hurt, not really. In fact, in a strange way, he relished the moment.
He had missed his mother, her tough love, and the public scolding. A thousand years in another world had been so dull without his mother's chaotic discipline.
After the 20th strike, the hanger snapped in half. Wong huffed, tossing the broken weapon aside like it was nothing.
"Get yur ass to the car! We go home!" she barked, still fuming.
Carn laughed softly, shaking his head. He glanced at Carlos, who was watching the whole thing unfold with a smirk. Carn gave him a slight nod of thanks for the meal.
Carlos chuckled, lifting his beer in salute. "Ah, parenthood, how nice." He then raised his voice to Carn. "Hey, kid! Listen to your parents, you hear? Don't turn into one of those idiots!"
Carn raised a fist in acknowledgment before turning and following his mother toward the black sedan. Though Carn was supposed to be detained for investigation, nobody bothered stopping them. In fact, many of the officers chuckled and shook their heads, amused by the family drama.
"Child abuse and he's still detained, but whatever," one of the cops muttered under his breath, grinning as he watched Carn walk off with his parents. His tone was lighthearted, but beneath the joke, there was an unspoken understanding.
The family business was its own beast. No one was going to interfere with a scolding like that, especially not after what the kid had just been through.
Inside one of the parked police cars, a sophisticated onboard computer lit up the dim interior. The screen displayed the file of the arrest warrant of the dead thief that Carn had taken down. An officer scrolled through the details, and a long list of criminal charges appeared.
Highlighted in bold were the words:
- Murder
- Abuse of a Dead Human Body
- Resisting Arrest with Violence
- Fleeing and Eluding Law Enforcement
The officer leaned back in his seat, hovering his fingers over the keys. The dead thief hadn't just been a petty criminal. This man had terrorized victims, left bodies desecrated, and fought tooth and nail to escape the law. And then, Carn had unknowingly crossed paths with a dangerous man.
"Good riddance," the officer muttered under his breath. The streets were a little safer tonight.
…
Meanwhile, Carn's father, Special Agent Han of the FBI, approached the detective who was overseeing the investigation. The detective, who had just finished collecting the store's CCTV footage, smiled when he saw Han approaching.
"First time bailing out your kid, Han?" the detective asked with a smirk.
Han, who was in charge of explorer-related crimes, nodded. It was the first time in his career that he had received a tip-off about his son being involved in a crime scene.
He wasn't even mad—just intrigued. After all, his son, who had been bullied relentlessly in school, had somehow managed to take down three armed men in a robbery.
And that was something worth looking into.
"So, what happened here?" Han asked, stepping up to his friend, Detective Cooper, who was carefully maneuvering through the marked areas, avoiding evidence tags and the scattered debris on the store shelves.
Cooper emerged from the convenience store, glancing at Han with a look that made it clear this was no ordinary case. He wiped his brow before asking, "Has your son received an augment?"
Han raised an eyebrow. "Impossible. My son's 16th birthday was a month ago."
Cooper nodded knowingly. "Ah, I see. Did he work out a lot? Bulk up?"
Han let out a dry snort. "Workout? He's more of a punching bag than a bodybuilder."
There was a trace of bitterness in his voice, a hint of the frustrations that came with raising a kid constantly bullied and pushed around.
Cooper's mouth tightened into a thin line. "You're going to want to watch the CCTV footage. I'll send it to you later, but…" He hesitated, then met Han's eyes with a serious gaze. "You need to watch your kid."
Han's expression darkened, deepening his frown. "Cut the crap, Cooper. Just summarize everything."
Cooper stopped, inhaling sharply as if to steady himself. He leaned in closer and muttered, barely above a whisper.
"Your son twisted a guy's neck and snapped another's arm like it was nothing. If the dead guy wasn't already on the wanted list for murder, your son would be facing excessive force charges, even if it was self-defense."
Silence hung in the air as Han processed the words.
Carn? Excessive force?
That kid couldn't even hurt a fly!
Cooper gave a wry smile, placing the plastic bag containing the CCTV hard drives into the evidence box on the hood of a nearby police car. He glanced sideways at Han.
"If your son hasn't gotten any formal augmentation, you better get him checked out ASAP. If he's mutated, or worse, enhanced without your knowledge... you're gonna have some serious explaining to do."
Han's jaw clenched, tightening his fists.
"…I know," he muttered, aware of the implications.
His son had changed more than he could have imagined. And now, it was on him to find out why.