# Chapter 17
A three-story building constructed on the outskirts of the city.
From a distance, this building, which resembled a small elementary school, was an orphanage currently sheltering 63 children. Contrary to people’s prejudice that orphanages only housed wounded and listlessly depressed children, the children here were all vibrant and always boisterous. But even this place was blanketed in deep silence during the late hours when everyone was asleep.
“Oppa. My blanket. My blanket is gone.”
“Here’s a new blanket. Cover yourself with this one.”
“My blanket! Not this one, find my blanket! My blanket!”
The boy wore a perplexed expression. His little sister, who hadn’t fallen asleep despite it being well past bedtime, suddenly began throwing a tantrum, demanding her missing blanket. The young sister clutched at the boy’s clothes and whimpered. The boy was flustered as his usually well-behaved and obedient sister had never acted like this before. Finding the blanket would be simple enough, but the problem was that the teacher had thrown it away this morning.
Even the boy could see that his sister’s blanket was definitely something worth discarding. She called it a blanket, but in reality, it had lost its function as a blanket long ago. Having been clutched by his sister for over five years, the blanket was little more than a rag. The fabric had thinned, frayed in various places, worn through with holes, and its edges were torn with fuzz flying about. It was only natural that the teacher considered it trash and threw it away, but his sister couldn’t accept this.
“Waaah. My blanket!”
“Okay. Okay, but shh. Other kids are sleeping.”
The boy hurriedly extended his hand to cover his sister’s mouth as she was about to burst into tears. The small room wasn’t occupied by just the boy and his sister. Children younger than the boy were asleep. If they woke up and started crying, they could get in serious trouble with the teachers.
“Lie down here quietly. I’ll go find your blanket.”
“Really? You’ll really bring my blanket?”
His sister, who had been whining, immediately stopped crying and looked up at the boy with an expectant expression.
“Yes. But you have to stay quiet, okay?”
“Okay!”
The boy, still young himself, patted his little sister reassuringly with a dependable expression and then left the room. The place where his sister’s blanket would be was the storage room on the first floor. Since roll call had ended on the second floor where the boy was, the chances of a teacher coming up were low. So, if he moved quickly and quietly, he could safely make it to the storage room on the first floor.
“……”
The corridor, usually bustling with noise, was utterly desolate. Despite having occasionally come out to use the bathroom, his heart pounded at the thought of moving around secretly from the teachers. Nervous, the boy clenched his fist and bravely stepped into the dark corridor.
“Hmmph!”
Throughout his walk down the corridor, the boy held his nose and took deep breaths, then paused. Even though this wouldn’t make him invisible, he held his breath until his ears felt stuffy as he moved.
After creeping like a stray cat, the boy finally reached the storage room.
“Where is it?”
After blinking for a moment to adjust to the darkness, he surveyed the storage room. Since garbage was collected on Wednesdays, the blanket thrown away today would still be here.
“Found it!”
The boy let out a small cheer of triumph. As he had expected, his sister’s blanket was in a basket of old clothes. Just as he was about to leave the storage room with the rag draped over his shoulder, eager to hand it to his sister quickly…
“Did you hear about the fire at Hanmaeum Orphanage early yesterday?”
“I did. This is already the third orphanage fire incident.”
The voices of teachers were heard right outside the storage room door. Startled, the boy removed his hand from the doorknob, quickly covered his mouth, and held his breath again, just as he had when coming down the stairs.
“What was the cause at Hanmaeum? Was it an electrical short circuit again?”
The voices coming from outside weren’t from just one person.
“It seems so. An entire building burned down completely, and they say all the teachers and children inside died.”
“Oh my, it’s terrifying. How could no one have noticed until the fire completely consumed everything when it was that large?”
“That’s exactly what I’m wondering. But isn’t it strange that fires only occur at orphanages? Everyone says it’s an electrical short circuit, but could it be a series of arsons?”
“Ms. Kim, don’t say such scary things. If it was arson, the police would have announced it as such, right?”
“I guess so? But just in case, we should conduct evacuation drills with the children soon.”
The teachers’ voices gradually faded, as if they were passing by the storage room. Having unintentionally eavesdropped on the teachers’ conversation, the boy rushed back to the second floor as soon as the presence completely disappeared. His steps were much faster and more urgent than when he had gone down to the first floor.
“My blanket! You found it! My blanket!”
“……”
“Oppa? What’s wrong?”
His sister, who had been delighted to see the blanket her brother had found, tilted her head curiously. For some reason, the boy’s face was filled with anxiety.
“Did you get scolded by the teacher? What’s wrong?”
“No, no, it’s nothing.”
The boy shook his head, reassuring his sister that nothing was wrong, and silently lay down to sleep.
But though the boy lay down, he couldn’t fall asleep easily. Recalling the teachers’ conversation he had overheard earlier, his heart pounded as if someone was beating a large drum inside his chest.
‘Hanmaeum Orphanage.’
That was where the boy had temporarily stayed for a month before coming to this orphanage. Since it primarily took care of preschool children, they had transferred him to this orphanage, saying it was difficult to care for him as he was about to enter middle school.
And now there was a fire there. Moreover, everyone had died. Rather than feeling relieved that he was no longer there, the boy felt the fear that he could have died too.
What if there’s a fire here too?
The boy, with his needlessly rich imagination, envisioned a scenario where the orphanage building he was in caught fire. Despite any evacuation drills, if a fire broke out in the deep of night when everyone was asleep, it would be difficult to make it down to the first floor.
The boy closed his eyes, thinking that from tomorrow, he should practice escaping through the window with his sister.
***
“Hyung, isn’t the weather absolutely amazing today? Cherry blossoms are at their peak this week!”
Heerim suddenly thrust his phone in front of my face. The screen showed what appeared to be cherry blossom photos he had taken himself. Not knowing how to react, I let out a soulless “Wow…”Â
“Jeongmun hyung, Noona, look at this. I took these photos.”
Despite my lukewarm response, Heerim pulled in both Jeongmun and the Director to show off his flower photos.
I quietly looked out the window. As Heerim said, the weather was really nice. It was weather that clearly indicated that the cold snap had passed and full spring had arrived. Actually, my phone gallery was also filled with flower photos I had taken on my way to work.
“They’re pretty. Where is this?”
“At the intersection behind the company. The cherry blossoms there are almost in full bloom.”
Jeongmun showed interest in Heerim’s flower photos. Despite his somewhat rigid and blunt appearance, he was the most sentimental and warmhearted person in our office.
A few days ago, Jeongmun had seen an elderly woman selling vegetables on the street and, with reddened eyes, had bought twenty bundles of green onions. Because of that, we had to eat green onion pancakes all of last week in the office. Besides that incident, Jeongmun also showed unexpected sides, like enjoying romance movies or liking cute items. He was a gentle person with a soft side contrary to his appearance, just not talkative or eloquent.
“Oh! Starting the day after tomorrow, there’s going to be a cherry blossom festival at the lake park!”
Heerim shouted excitedly. His face, full of excitement, looked even more innocent and bright than usual.
Since the Guiding began, Heerim radiated a sparkling vitality and energy. Though I still found it hard to believe that I was a Guide, the effect was definitely noticeable. Perhaps because of this influence, not only Heerim but I had changed a little too. The distance I had felt toward Heerim had significantly decreased. This seemed to be the effect of ‘resonance.’
“Let’s go too. To see the flowers.”
“No.”
The Director, who was flipping through today’s newspaper at her desk, firmly declined.
“I know you’ve been breathing easier lately thanks to Jaeo, but Heerim, you know you can’t live as ordinarily as others.”
“……”
Heerim seemed to agree with the Director’s words as he didn’t speak further. I cautiously observed the two of them in the suddenly chilled atmosphere. Going to a flower festival hardly seemed difficult, so I didn’t understand why the Director was being so serious about it.
I thought people wouldn’t even know Heerim was an Esper, so what was the problem? I wanted to ask the Director about this, but I held back. The Director wouldn’t tell me anyway, and I didn’t want to get entangled here by knowing too much.
I planned to keep a low profile at the company during my one-year contract period. To do that, I shouldn’t show any interest in the work here, but I kept noticing Heerim’s dejected expression.
Heerim, who had never attended school, had no friends, and couldn’t even go to a cherry blossom festival like everyone else. What kind of lonely life had he been living all this time?
“Heerim…”
Just as I unconsciously reached out to him…
Creak—
The sound of the office door opening was heard, and someone cautiously entered. Everyone looked at the visitor with vigilant expressions. For some reason, it seemed they were treating the person who came to the office not as a guest but as an intruder.
I wasn’t the only one confused by the suddenly tense atmosphere. A woman who appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties stood awkwardly in place and opened her mouth.
“Um, hello. I came because I saw the advertisement…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
