# Chapter 54
It had already been ten days since I stopped going to work. Never in my life had I idled around doing absolutely nothing like this. After leaving the orphanage, I always had to earn money, and even when I was supposed to be resting, I couldn’t really relax. It was because I kept wondering if this was okay. So while my body rested during the days I didn’t go to the Earth Peace Research Institute, my mind couldn’t find peace. But that was temporary. After five days, my body had already grown accustomed to the comfort that comes with rest.
These days, I would get up late after Jaeyeon left for school, eat a late breakfast that doubled as lunch, then lie in bed watching utterly nutritionless videos on my phone, giggling all day long. Before I knew it, the sun would set and night would fall.
Though this first taste of rest was enjoyable, the pleasure didn’t last long. As time passed, lethargy and depression crept in. It was because my mind had grown anxious.
“Hey. Son Jaeo.”
Someone who had entered my room early in the morning lightly kicked at my body, which was rolled up in the blanket like a silkworm cocoon.
“Ugh. What is it.”
Opening my eyes that were still heavy with sleep, I saw Jaeyeon wearing her school uniform. It seemed she had barged into my room in the middle of getting ready for school.
“I’m asking again because I can’t stand the sight of you. Are you sure you didn’t get fired?”
“How many times do I have to say it? I told you I didn’t…”
“Then go outside and take a walk or something! Why do you look like this?! It’s worrying!”
“What do I look like?”
“Rotten. Completely.”
Jaeyeon fumbled in her pocket and pulled out something, holding it in front of my face. It was a circular mirror slightly smaller than a palm. I frowned and examined my face in the mirror.
Jaeyeon’s description of me as “rotten” was hardly an exaggeration.
Hair sticking out in all directions from not brushing it, dark circles under my eyes from having my days and nights reversed, and even my chin area—which I had neglected to shave due to having thinner and less facial hair than others—was now darkened with stubble.
“…”
I was momentarily speechless seeing my condition properly for the first time in ten days.
“Please at least wash up and look like a human being even when you’re just lounging around. I’m a high school senior. I’m vulnerable to psychological trauma. And why are you wrapped up in blankets when it’s so hot?”
“Ugh.”
Jaeyeon kicked my side once more with her sock-covered foot. Having been attacked without warning in the middle of sleep, I couldn’t even attempt to counterattack.
“Well, I’m off to school.”
“Mmm.”
I scratched my bird’s nest hair and waved goodbye to her.
“Ah… how could she kick her sleeping oppa?”
I got up from bed, rubbing my side where I’d been kicked. When I went to the bathroom and saw myself in the large mirror above the sink, my appearance was truly a sight to behold. Jaeyeon, who had better aesthetic sensibilities than she let on, had every right to berate me.
I immediately turned on the hot water, and while waiting for it to warm up, I shaved and then showered. I washed my body with citrus-scented body cleanser that I’d bought during a buy-one-get-one-free sale at the supermarket, and thoroughly washed my hair too.
After drying my hair until it was fluffy and exiting the bathroom, I felt more refreshed than I had in a long time.
“Now what should I do?”
It was good to have escaped from being “Rotten Jaeo,” but I still had nothing to do. When I checked the time, it was only 10 o’clock.
I mindlessly fiddled with my phone and ended up opening the messenger app again. Heerim was still ignoring my messages. I had tried calling him several more times, but never got through. Concerned that something might have happened, I separately contacted Jeongmun, but he said that while things were busy, nothing was wrong.
[Me: Why are you ignoring my messages, Heerim?]
[Me: Don’t you want to see me, Heerim?]
[Me: That’s so mean]
By this point, I was getting stubborn. Since the day before yesterday, I had started sending messages to Heerim, who was clearly deliberately avoiding my contact. Each time, the “1” indicating that he had read the message disappeared, which made me even more frustrated.
“Surely the Director didn’t say something strange…”
I recalled the Director saying that the situation was becoming difficult because of me. In my mind, I pictured a villain from a drama who ruins the relationship between the main characters with false words.
“This won’t do.”
I immediately got up and prepared to go out. Regardless of what the Director might have said, I needed to see Heerim’s face and talk to him right away.
Hanyoung Building.
I had boldly come all the way to the company building, but today the building name, which was named after the Director, felt particularly burdensome. I hadn’t even entered the building yet, but I could already feel the Director’s gaze on me.
“She only told me not to come to work. She didn’t say I couldn’t visit.”
I tried to rationalize to myself as I entered the building. Just in case I got scolded for coming, I had packed cake for three people from the café that Heerim liked.
I took the elevator up to the 6th floor and walked down the quiet hallway. Today, the hallway felt longer and more silent than usual. I felt the same tension as when I had come for my first interview.
I stood in front of the carelessly written paper sign reading “Earth Peace Research Institute” at the end of the hallway, debating whether to knock. After contemplating, I decided that knocking would look a bit silly, so I carefully opened the door and peeked my head inside.
“Huh.”
The office was empty. Looking around after entering, I found that no one was there. Since they never left the office door open when it was empty, it seemed everyone had just stepped out momentarily. I awkwardly sat down on the sofa. During the ten days I hadn’t come to work, the office hadn’t changed much. It still looked like a disorganized club room.
I sat quietly, waiting for someone to return. If I couldn’t see Heerim, I planned to at least leave the cake and go. How long had I been sitting there?
“…?”
I heard a strange sound coming from the pantry. I couldn’t hear it clearly, but it sounded like Heerim. Heerim would sometimes let out moans like an injured young animal when he used his abilities too much, and the sound was similar to that.
Could he be hurt?
“Heerim!”
I immediately ran to the pantry and flung the door open.
“…Jaeo hyung?”
Heerim, who was sitting in the small chair they had placed in the corner of the pantry for Guiding, looked at me with surprised eyes. As if he had used his abilities while I was gone, Heerim’s hair was lightly bleached. I was about to take a step toward him, thinking he might need Guiding, when I noticed another person I hadn’t perceived before.
“W-who are you?”
A middle schooler?
A young boy who looked to be at most a first-year in middle school clutched Heerim’s hand tightly, shrinking back as if frightened by my unexpected appearance. At that moment, Heerim’s bright hair color darkened again.
He had been Guided.
By someone other than me.
“What is this…”
I felt like my heart had been thrown off a cliff. While he hadn’t been responding to any of my messages, Heerim had been receiving Guiding from someone else.
If so, there was only one reason why he hadn’t contacted me.
Because he no longer needed me.
Coming to that conclusion, a wave of wretchedness washed over me, and my vision went white.
“Jaeo hyung!”
I heard Heerim’s urgent cry behind me as I fled the office. I headed toward the emergency staircase instead of the elevator. Heerim, who had been chasing after me, slowed down in the middle of the hallway, gasping for breath. It seemed he wasn’t completely Guided yet and was struggling to breathe. This was fortunate for me. At the moment, I didn’t think I could properly process anything Heerim might say to me.
“Hic, sob.”
Only after leaving the building and blending into the crowd did tears begin to pour down. I could feel passersby glancing at me, but the tears wouldn’t stop.
I just couldn’t understand the current situation. Before feeling betrayed, I wondered if I had seen things wrong. But I knew that wasn’t the case.
“Hic. Ugh…”
Tears poured down again. I walked aimlessly through the business district, dropping tears as I went. I clutched my phone tightly, wondering if Heerim might try to find me, but it was a useless gesture. My phone remained silent, and there was no sign of Heerim looking for me.
While I stood there crying for a long time, forgetting even to be embarrassed, I sensed someone behind me.
“…!”
Thinking it might be Heerim, I brightened and immediately turned around. A man with a similar build to Heerim was looking down at me, but it wasn’t Heerim.
“I thought it might be you. It is you.”
“Ah…”
Standing behind me wasn’t Heerim, but Ha Suan.
Why is he here when this isn’t even school?
I let out a sigh, unable to hide my disappointment. It would have been better to just exchange greetings briefly and go our separate ways, but Ha Suan continued to show interest in me.
“Gasp. What? Were you crying? What happened?”
“N-no. It’s nothing.”
“Nothing, right. There are literally tear marks all over your face.”
Ha Suan’s hand touched my cheek, perhaps trying to wipe away the remaining tears. I flinched at the cool temperature on my cheek and stepped back.
“Ah. Sorry.”
Ha Suan withdrew his hand with a regretful expression.
“I’m just feeling down.”
I smiled bitterly, seeing that it was impossible to hide the fact that I’d been crying.
“Well, I’ll be going now.”
“Hey, Jaeo.”
Ha Suan grabbed me as I was about to turn away.
“Want to hang out with me if you’re feeling down?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
