#128
Whether he looked or not, Ho-woo had made up his mind to break up with Oh-yul anyway. And since this was his own memory, there would be no problem whether he looked or not. Ho-woo stood in front of the door closest to the black door that had been closed among the brightly shining door frames.
Creak— Creak—
The sound of rusty metal shaking was heard from within the light. Ho-woo poked his head inside. As the blinding white light gradually cleared, he glimpsed a fragment of a very old memory.
Creak—
The old swing with its chain handle made a strange metallic sound as it swayed with each push of the small child’s feet. Ho-woo carelessly put down the bag he had been carrying near the swing and pushed with his feet.
He looked more gloomy than excited. Unlike the swing rising high, Ho-woo’s face was dark. Creak, creak. In the empty playground, the child rode the swing alone, hiding his reddened eyes in the fading sunset.
Sniff.
The small sound of swallowing a cry was about to scatter with no one to hear it. If not for the shadow that quietly appeared next to the swing.
“Why are you crying?”
The shadow asked from within the shade created by the trees. Startled by the sudden voice, Ho-woo began to hiccup, and the shadow let out a gentle laugh.
“I guess I surprised you, I’m sorry.”
“Who, hic, are you?”
To Ho-woo’s question, the shadow just laughed. In a world entirely red due to the sunset, blue eyes that hadn’t lost their color narrowed to half-moons.
“A passing fairy.”
“…Hic.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I’m not a little kid, you know?”
Twelve-year-old Lee Ho-woo, who believed Santa Claus didn’t exist, didn’t believe the words of the passing fairy. Since his dad and Do-hyun had told him not to deal with strange people, he was thinking of grabbing his bag and running away quickly. However, as if sensing this thought, the passing fairy slowly walked towards Ho-woo’s bag, picked it up from the ground, and even dusted it off.
“I’d like to make it completely clean for you, but since I came out secretly, I can’t. That’s a shame.”
The fairy held out the dusted bag to Ho-woo. When Ho-woo hesitated, he patiently waited, still holding out the bag.
“So, why were you crying?”
“I wasn’t crying.”
At the fairy’s question, Ho-woo hugged his bag tightly and pouted his lips. He didn’t cry. Even though his eyes were brimming with tears, he didn’t shed them, so he didn’t cry. They say a man cries only three times in his life. He was still a man.
“…Hmm. Alright. Then, shall we change the question?”
“…”
“You went on a picnic today, why are you in a bad mood?”
“How do you know I went on a picnic?”
“I’m a fairy who knows everything.”
Even while thinking this person was strange, Ho-woo couldn’t suppress his curiosity. In the end, instead of running away, Ho-woo sat back on the swing and kicked the ground beneath his feet.
“If you know everything, why don’t you know why I’m in a bad mood?”
“Well. That’s why I want to know.”
Standing a couple of steps away, the fairy slowly tilted his head.
“I need to know everything, after all.”
It was an eerily chilling statement. But Lee Ho-woo didn’t care. Because this sorrow he was feeling now was something he couldn’t tell Do-hyun or his dad, so he wanted anyone to listen.
“…I went on a picnic today.”
“That’s right, you went to the amusement park.”
Even though it was called an amusement park, it wasn’t a grand place. Since they couldn’t build a huge theme park on a wide area like before the monsters appeared, it was just a small one built on a leftover piece of land on the outskirts.
“You were so excited until this morning, weren’t you?”
This fairy really does know everything.
Ho-woo was impressed but hung his head dejectedly. That’s right. Until this morning, Ho-woo had been infinitely happy. Clearly he was, but…
‘Ho-woo, didn’t you bring a lunchbox?’
When asked this question as others pulled out their pretty blue lunchboxes, Ho-woo couldn’t bring himself to take out the kimbap in his bag.
A roll of kimbap that cost 1,500 won from the nearby Kimbap Heaven.
The plain kimbap wrapped in aluminum foil looked shabby compared to the colorful, pretty lunchboxes.
In fact, it was nothing much. Even though it was nothing much, it returned as a subtle wound to the young heart.
Even now, that kimbap was still intact in his bag. Ho-woo hugged the bag in his arms a little tighter.
“The lunchbox… Everyone else had ones made by their moms, but only I… only I…”
Unable to take out the store-bought kimbap, he had eaten some of Do-hyun’s lunchbox, but the afternoon wasn’t very fun. Though his words were disjointed, the fairy smiled as if about to melt sweetly, kneeling at Ho-woo’s feet and looking up at the child.
“I see.”
The fairy neither comforted Ho-woo nor sympathized with his gloominess. He just understood why the mood was bad. A calm gaze fell on Ho-woo.
“There’s not much I can do for you right now.”
“Some fairy you are.”
“I’m sorry for being a powerless fairy.”
The nameless fairy apologized quickly. Young Ho-woo thought that while he was going along with this strange person’s rhythm, he really was a strange person.
Where in the world are there fairies in the first place? Even if there are terrifying monsters outside the city.
“I’ll work hard from now on to do anything for you.”
“Anything?”
“Yes, anything.”
At the fairy’s boast, Ho-woo furrowed his brow. His dad had said not to make promises you can’t keep. But this strange person was saying he’d do anything for Ho-woo without even knowing what Ho-woo wanted.
Even if this was just an empty promise, Ho-woo didn’t want the person who listened to him to get in trouble. Because promises are very important things.
“Mister.”
“Yes?”
“Dad and Do-hyun said you shouldn’t make promises carelessly.”
“…”
“What if I said I wanted to conquer the city?”
Like the villain currently popular on the TV show “Hero M of the Righteous Management Corporation,” Ho-woo bared his canine teeth, hooking his fingers in his mouth, and went “Waaah” in a threatening manner. However, at this pitiful threat, the other person just blinked his eyes and burst out laughing, “Puhah!”
Shaking his shoulders and laughing for quite a while, he rested his chin on Ho-woo’s thigh, who was sitting on the swing, with considerable strength and said,
“If you want it, I should give it to you.”
A faint purple mixed into the eyes hidden behind long eyelashes and quickly disappeared. Ho-woo laughed as if he had heard a joke at the fairy’s words. A small smile now hung on the face that had been clouded with gloom.
The fairy, who hadn’t taken his eyes off that face for even a moment as if he might miss even the slightest change, got up, showing his regret. The sun had almost completely sunk below the horizon, and now the sky had sunk to the color of a deep sea. Above that indigo sea, one by one, starlight unveiled itself, unobscured by the city lights.
“Are you leaving?”
Ho-woo asked the fairy who was looking up at the sky. Instead of answering Ho-woo’s question, the fairy left a short farewell.
“Let’s meet again next time.”
Ho-woo, who had been watching the back of the fairy walking away with leisurely steps, also got up from the swing and headed home.
“Phew!”
Ho-woo exhaled as if he had dunked his head in water and pulled it out of the door. Perhaps due to the effect of deeply examining the memory, his head felt dizzy. Or was it spinning?
Anyway, he shouldn’t have looked. The person who remained in his memory, pretending to be a strange fairy, was of course Oh-yul. This strange fairy would often come to visit Ho-woo after this day.
Now he remembered more clearly. The person who would often come to visit when Ho-woo was alone, regardless of the place, was Oh-yul.
He didn’t do anything great when he came. Most of the time, Oh-yul was the listener. He would listen to Ho-woo’s trivial, or sometimes angry, stories as if they were precious things.
Even though the existence of a person who just listens, without offering comfort or advice, was quite strange, Ho-woo didn’t feel it was that strange.
Come to think of it, it’s super strange.
Ho-woo looked at the glowing door frame and gave up on looking inside. He had already decided to break up, and he didn’t want to waver.
When the day breaks tomorrow, I’ll talk to him as soon as possible.
Sitting down in the corridor of memories, Ho-woo endlessly stared beyond the wide-open black door.
***
Early in the morning, even though the noise Do-hyun was making should have been quite loud, the room door remained firmly closed.
When Ho-woo came to him, seemingly about to go crazy with confusion, Do-hyun didn’t ask what was wrong. That would be better for Ho-woo. He had given up many things, and thanks to that giving up, he had gained many things.
After countless agonies and countless desires, he decided to keep the only position he could.
While preparing one more cup of coffee in addition to the one he prepared every morning, Do-hyun spent ten minutes debating whether to call Ho-woo or not. Whether to let him rest a bit more or make him eat breakfast at least.
After pondering for a long time between these two options, Do-hyun made a decision. He lightly knocked on the closed door.
“Hey, Lee Ho-woo.”
It was a moderate voice, neither too loud nor too soft. Do-hyun, who had decided to feed him breakfast if he woke up to this and leave for work if there was no response, watched for any sign from inside the door.
There was a small sound of sheets rustling, followed by a thudding sound. Did he wake up? Do-hyun, who had a small question, frowned in perplexity as he faced the door swinging open and Ho-woo with a pale face.
