Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 1

The boy sat leaning against a wall.

Despite the cold winter, he was barefoot and wore only a thin layer of clothing. His face was grimy with dirt.

Unusually, he was completely bald, without even eyebrows.

Only his eyes were remarkably clear.

A girl walking by glanced back, and their eyes met.

The boy stared blankly at her.

The girl couldn't look away from his brightly shining gaze.

"Are you hungry?"

In the girl's basket were freshly bought dumplings.

The boy thought for a moment.

'Am I hungry?'

He wasn't sure if he was hungry, but the smell wafting from the freshly steamed dumplings was pleasant.

The girl took out a dumpling and handed it to him.

The boy took it and took a large bite.

"Eat slowly... Huh! You finished it already?"

The boy had swallowed the large dumpling in an instant.

"It's delicious."

The boy said it as if he had just discovered what deliciousness was.

"..."

The girl hesitated before taking another dumpling from her basket and offering it to him.

This time too, the boy devoured it in a flash.

"I can't give you any more. These two are for my mother and Old Man Ma."

The girl turned and walked away.

The boy shot up and followed her.

As the boy followed, the girl frowned and said, "Why are you following me? I told you I can't give you any more."

"..."

"Go home..."

Seeing the boy's bare feet, the girl was at a loss for words.

Barefoot in this cold winter.

"Hmph..."

The girl looked on the verge of tears.

Then she handed him a dumpling.

Once again, the boy swallowed it in one gulp.

"Eat slowly."

It was no use for the girl to say anything.

'He must have been so hungry...'

In the end, the girl gave him the last remaining dumpling.

That too, was gone in a gulp.

"There are no more. It's no use following me."

The girl said firmly, turned, and walked away with quick steps.

The boy trotted along behind her.

The girl, who had been walking briskly, turned around.

"There are no more dumplings. Why are you still following me?"

"..."

The boy remained silent.

The girl sighed lightly and asked again, "What's your name?"

"..."

"I'm Yang Soryeong. What's your name?"

Yang Soryeong asked again.

Only then did the boy open his mouth.

"I don't know."

"Oh my, you don't even know your own name?"

Yang Soryeong's round eyes widened.

'He must be a fool.'

The boy just rolled his clear eyes blankly.

His gaze swayed Yang Soryeong's heart.

"Where is your home?"

"Home?"

The boy tilted his head.

Strangely, he couldn't remember anything. He didn't even know who he was or what his name was.

'Who am I?'

Until Yang Soryeong asked, he had been watching the people passing by without a single thought.

But when she asked for his name and home, he realized he knew nothing about himself.

So, he could only grin.

What you don't know, you don't know.

It was a pure, untainted smile.

'He's a fool. How pitiful.'

Yang Soryeong felt sorry for the boy who didn't know his name or have a home.

"You'll freeze to death if you sleep on the street in this cold. Follow me."

Yang Soryeong led the way.

* * *

Yang Soryeong's house was not far.

The cozy house was clean.

An old servant sweeping the yard looked back and forth between Yang Soryeong and the boy trailing behind her.

"Young Miss? Who is that?"

Yang Soryeong whispered in the old servant's ear.

"He's a fool who doesn't even know his own name. He was just sitting on the cold ground."

"Aigoo. Young Miss. How can you just bring anyone home like that?"

Yang Soryeong had a soft heart and would often take care of injured cats or birds she found.

Now, she had finally brought home a beggar.

The old servant shook his head.

"You went to buy dumplings and brought back a beggar..."

The old servant trailed off, then frowned upon seeing the empty basket.

"Don't tell me you gave the dumplings to him too?"

"He must have been starving. He ate them in an instant. I've never seen anyone eat dumplings so fast."

"Aigo. That's why I said I would go."

The old servant licked his lips and looked at the boy.

Even to him, it seemed the boy would freeze to death if sent back out.

"I'll take care of him, so please go inside. The Master has arrived."

Yang Soryeong was surprised.

"What?"

It was her father, who had never once come to their house before.

Her father lived in a wealthy district with large manors.

Yang Soryeong had been there only once and had almost gotten lost because the manor was so vast.

'Father came to our house.'

Yang Soryeong hurried into the inner room.

Her father seemed to be just about to stand up.

Seeing Yang Soryeong, he asked in a stern voice, "Where has a grown girl like you been wandering around?"

"I went to buy dumplings."

Yang Soryeong answered politely.

Her father didn't ask further and looked at Yang Soryeong's mother, saying, "I will send someone in the spring. Be prepared."

Her mother's face was pale and stiff. She trembled as she spoke.

"Why don't you even ask for our opinions?"

"Haven't I done enough? Now it's your turn to help me."

At her father's words, her mother froze like a stone statue.

"We should help each other live, shouldn't we?"

Her father said with a sigh, then turned and left.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

Her mother, who had been staring blankly as if she had lost her mind, hugged Yang Soryeong.

"He says he's going to take you."

"What? Me?"

Her mother couldn't continue and only shed tears.

Yang Soryeong couldn't understand.

Her father's house was where her stepmother and half-sister lived.

What more could they possibly need that they had to take her?

"I don't want to go."

"That's right, don't go. Let's live here with Mom."

Her mother hugged Yang Soryeong tightly.

* * *

Dawn.

Yang Soryeong, who had been tossing and turning all night, gave up on sleep as the sky outside began to lighten and went out to the yard.

"Huh? Who's there?"

Yang Soryeong was startled to see a pale-faced boy.

The boy was sweeping the yard.

"Me? I'm Baekji."

Yang Soryeong then recognized him as the boy she had brought home yesterday.

"Baekji? Your name was Baekji?"

The boy said with a proud face.

"Old Man Ma gave me the name. He said since I can't remember anything, I'm no different from a blank piece of paper, so he called me Baekji."

Yang Soryeong let out a small laugh.

Old Man Ma probably didn't know how to read either, so he must have just made it up.

"It's too weird. What kind of name is Baekji?"

"I like it."

Yang Soryeong looked Baekji up and down.

After bathing and changing into new clothes, he looked quite handsome.

"You need a family name too. Do you want to be a Yang too?"

"Family name?"

"Yang Baekji! Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"Really? Then let's do that."

"But why are you sweeping?"

"This? Old Man Ma told me to. He told me to work at this house. He said they'll give me food."

Just then, Old Man Ma came out of the kitchen.

"Did you put Baekji to work?"

When Yang Soryeong asked, Old Man Ma nodded.

"I told the Mistress, and she said we should hire him as a worker."

"Well, you're getting old, so it must be hard for you to do strenuous work."

"That's not it. She said it's not right to send a homeless child out in this freezing winter."

Old Man Ma raised his arm to show off his strength but ended up spraining his back.

"Aigogo."

"Hoho. See?"

"Oh dear, the rice is burning."

Old Man Ma went into the kitchen, rubbing his back.

Meanwhile, Baekji was just stirring the leaves around the yard with the broom.

"What are you doing?"

"Sweeping."

"That's not sweeping."

Baekji was just sweeping back and forth, scattering the fallen leaves.

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"You have to gather the leaves."

"Gather them?"

"Give it here."

Yang Soryeong took the broom and swept the leaves into a pile.

"This is how you make the yard clean."

"Aha. So that's how it's done."

Yang Soryeong sighed.

She was once again reminded that Baekji was a fool.

The fool Baekji ate a lot.

No, it would be more accurate to say he ate voraciously.

He swept the table clean as if he had never seen food before.

His chopsticks moved so fast they were a blur.

Before Yang Soryeong could even pick up a single piece of vegetable, the plate was clean.

'This is...'

Yang Soryeong picked up her bowl of white porridge and ate. If she left it, it seemed he would take that too.

Baekji stared at the bowl of white porridge Yang Soryeong was eating.

"This is mine. Do you always eat this much?"

"No."

"What do you mean no? Look at this. You've eaten everything."

"It's delicious."

"Still, you should leave some for others. From now on, when you eat with others, don't do that."

"...?"

"Um. Um. So, when the other person eats one piece, you eat one piece too. That's how it's fair."

"Why do I have to do that?"

"Yesterday, you ate all the dumplings by yourself. So Mom, me, and Old Man Ma couldn't eat any. That's unfair."

Baekji just stared blankly.

He didn't seem to understand at all. Yang Soryeong thought for a moment and then said, "The dumplings were delicious, right?"

Nod, nod.

His mouth was hanging open, and he was even drooling, a clear sign that he wanted to eat them again.

"You were the only one who ate those delicious things. I wanted to eat them too, but I couldn't. Then I become an unhappy person who couldn't even eat delicious dumplings. Do you like it when I'm unhappy?"

"You could have eaten them too."

"There were only four dumplings."

"You could have brought more."

"You need money for that. Do you have money?"

"Money?"

Yang Soryeong went into the inner room and came out with an iron coin.

"This is money. You have to give them money to get dumplings."

Yang Soryeong showed him the iron coin.

Baekji looked at the iron coin in Yang Soryeong's palm, then snatched it and went outside.

"Hey!"

He was so fast that Yang Soryeong couldn't catch him.

"Where are you going!"

"Dumplings!"

Yang Soryeong was furious.

'Isn't he a complete robber?'

Yang Soryeong hurriedly followed him.

Baekji was nowhere to be seen.

'Does he even know where the dumpling shop is?'

She was secretly worried.

Yang Soryeong quickly went to Son's Dumpling Shop.

As she left the alley and entered the main street, she saw the owner of Son's Dumpling Shop and Baekji arguing.

Yang Soryeong ran over quickly.

"Mister, what's wrong?"

The dumpling shop owner, Mr. Son, raised his voice.

"This kid brought one iron coin and is demanding four dumplings. I told him he needs to pay two iron coins, but he won't listen."

Baekji just stared blankly.

"I'm sorry. I'll give you another iron coin."

Yang Soryeong handed over an iron coin.

On the way back with the dumplings, Yang Soryeong said, "It seems you have a lot to learn."

Baekji lowered his head with a gloomy expression.

He seemed to be thinking that there were too many things he didn't know.

Seeing this, Yang Soryeong chuckled.

There was an innocent charm about Baekji that somehow moved people's hearts.

(End of Chapter)