Not Imprisonment, but Living Together (4)
I was at a loss for words at his response. I simply couldn’t ask if he had really confused me with someone else. Although Sa Hae-geon was responding calmly, his eyes carried a hint of resignation.
But if Sa Hae-geon truly remembered “me” correctly, I needed to ask about the circumstances at that time. After all, I needed to recall that incident too.
I began by apologizing to Sa Hae-geon, who was looking at me as if wondering if I had more questions.
“Well, first of all, I’m sorry. I don’t remember how we happened to meet. So, could you tell me how we met and what happened?”
Sa Hae-geon, whom I had expected would chatter freely about that time, suddenly closed his mouth like a clam. He seemed somewhat troubled. No, how exactly did we meet that would make Sa Hae-geon choose silence, which didn’t suit him at all?
At first, I only thought, ‘I need to know too,’ but seeing him hesitate to answer made me even more curious. While Sa Hae-geon kept his mouth shut, various possibilities bloomed wildly in my mind.
“Is it difficult to answer? Did we… meet in a strange way? Or did we meet… badly?”
“It’s not like that. You wouldn’t do that kind of thing.”
When I awkwardly nodded at his confident words, Sa Hae-geon met my eyes. I was worried he might continue to remain silent, but fortunately, he soon opened his mouth. He seemed to think it was better to talk rather than have me misunderstand something strange.
“But… you really don’t remember anything?”
“Hmm… It’s really strange that I wouldn’t remember a face like yours, right?”
“What? No, it’s not like you have to, to remember me, that’s not…”
Sa Hae-geon, who had been stuttering with round, surprised eyes, hurriedly lowered his head. His ears had turned bright red. Could complimenting his face be that embarrassing? I thought someone like Sa Hae-geon would be used to such compliments.
Seeing his ears, red like overripe fruit, made me feel mischievous. Taking advantage of Sa Hae-geon’s lowered head, I extended my index finger and lightly touched his reddish ear.
“Hae-geon, what if your ear bursts at this rate? It’s so red.”
“H-H-Hyung!”
As soon as I touched the tip of his ear, Sa Hae-geon jumped up in place and looked at me. More accurately, he seemed to be glaring. Sa Hae-geon stared at me for a long time with eyes that seemed to say ‘how could you do that?’ before sitting back down on the sofa.
…Far away from me.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Sa Hae-geon suddenly being wary of me. He was quick to approach before, but now he was acting so distant.
“Why are you sitting so far away? Don’t you want to be with me?”
“N-no, that’s not it.”
Sa Hae-geon, who had stuttered his response, seemed to examine my face for a moment, then began to inch closer while remaining seated, moving only his bottom. Then he stopped with about two hand spans of distance between us.
“…I’ll talk from here. You just stay there.”
“Why?”
“B-because you might… do that again.”
“What did I do?”
“My, my ear… Anyway, just listen from there.”
Sa Hae-geon spoke with a plaintive voice, then took a moment to catch his breath as if relieving some tension inside him. Eventually, Sa Hae-geon began his story.
Most ability users awaken before the age of 15. Without any trigger or symptoms, they are reborn as either an Esper or a Guide with the pain of awakening. And immediately after awakening, they enter a school for ability users to learn how to use and control their ability or Guiding.
Of course, though extremely rare, there were occasionally those who awakened long after turning 15. Such individuals were reluctant to receive training at the ability users’ school because older ability users were considered difficult to teach and control.
And Sa Hae-geon says he awakened as an Esper at 16.
* * *
As he approached 16 years of age, Sa Hae-geon was depressed. Though his parents said it was okay, he couldn’t believe that he, born to parents with exceptional qualities, had not awakened and remained an ordinary person, a civilian.
Of course, like others, his parents had high expectations for him. They gave up those expectations when they saw that he ultimately didn’t awaken. Sa Hae-geon knew it was to avoid putting pressure on him.
But even though he understood it intellectually, accepting that fact wasn’t easy. To make matters worse, because he lived near a school for ability users, Sa Hae-geon inevitably encountered newly awakened ability users every time he headed to his regular school.
“Hey, did you finish the assignment? I tried practicing with water in the bathtub yesterday. When the water rippled, it really… felt so damn good.”
“Huh? How did you do that? Was it really an assignment meant to be completed? Are you a genius or something? I think your grade classification might be wrong.”
“Did you fail?”
“…That’s a secret.”
He was curious about what assignments they were talking about, what they learned at the training school, and how it felt to be an ability user. But even after turning 16, Sa Hae-geon hadn’t manifested. Since it was said that some people manifested late, he begged his parents to have his wavelength checked by an expert, but…
‘Hmm… I can’t detect a wavelength.’
He heard nothing but devastating words. As if seeing his disappointed expression, the professor later offered some unlikely consolation.
‘Of course, there is an innate ability itself. It’s just that the wavelength of that ability isn’t felt… Usually, in cases of late manifestation, the wavelength shows slight movement, but in Hae-geon’s case…’
All ordinary people have an innate ability. Only when a proper wavelength is generated from that ability and begins to move does one awaken as an ability user.
‘I imagine Hae-geon must be having a hard time emotionally, especially since your parents are such remarkable people.’
The professor added one more comment upon seeing Sa Hae-geon sitting in the chair with his mouth tightly shut.
‘There is a way, though the possibility is extremely slim. We’re still researching it, but… Occasionally, when the wavelength—what people commonly call the matching rate—exactly matches with a Guide and receives Guiding, one can manifest as an imprinted Esper. It’s very, very rare, and there are no cases in Korea, but…’
It wasn’t worth listening to. There was absolutely no possibility of such a rare event happening to him. So Sa Hae-geon decided to give up on awakening as an ability user. That’s what he resolved to do.
But things don’t always go as planned. Every time he encountered kids attending the ability users’ school, every time he received calls from his parents asking about his awakening disguised as checking on him, every time he saw his parents acting overly kind in front of him, and every time he saw his ordinary, pathetic reflection in the mirror.
Each time, Sa Hae-geon’s inner self was festering without him even knowing.
It was on a day when, feeling suffocated while studying for admission to a famous private high school, he impulsively left home. Facing the cold wind, Sa Hae-geon moved his steps aimlessly. He just moved wherever his feet took him, not knowing where he was heading.
When he suddenly came to his senses, he had already lost his way. Unfamiliar buildings, unfamiliar people, unfamiliar smells. Sa Hae-geon’s face colored with bewilderment as he realized he had come to a neighborhood he had never visited before. He stood alone among people passing by him casually, then moved his steps urgently.
But the more he moved trying to find his way back to his neighborhood, the more he headed towards increasingly remote areas. Eventually, he ended up in an alley. Sa Hae-geon crouched down under the alley wall, which was tinged orange due to the sunset, and buried his face between his legs.
He was angry at his own stupidity. Coming out without a wallet or a mobile phone, leaving no means to contact home—it was so reckless. He could only sigh. He kept growing anxious and uneasy at the thought that he might never be able to return home.
It was when he was getting up, thinking he couldn’t just stay like this.
“What are you doing there?”
Someone’s kind voice fell over Sa Hae-geon’s head. Sa Hae-geon looked around cautiously, then slowly raised his head to look at the person. Sa Hae-geon’s pupils filled with shock as he faced a man who had jet-black hair and eyes, yet was whiter than anyone he had ever seen.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
