Everyone left for my rest, and only Serubi and I remained in the room.
I received guiding from Jeong Seyeon, which lowered my risk level of going berserk, but guiding alone couldn’t alleviate the physical strain from using my abilities. The pain in my body was gradually rising, something I hadn’t noticed when my berserk risk level was high. It felt like my entire body had been thoroughly beaten without a single spot left unbruised.
‘I’ll probably feel even worse tomorrow.’
Even though I tried to protect my body with my abilities as much as possible, this was the natural result of barefoot-kicking steel-like magical beasts and shattering cores with my bare fists.
‘At least I don’t have to travel by boat, that’s a relief.’
Just knowing I wouldn’t waste the sweet rest after a mission due to seasickness was a great comfort.
As I lay down with proper posture and closed my eyes, something light and warm climbed onto my stomach. Without opening my eyes, I reached out my hand to feel fluffy, soft fur between my fingers. Even in my half-asleep state due to drowsiness washing over me, it felt quite pleasant, and a smile unconsciously formed on my lips.
For a moment, my consciousness rose to the surface. The first thing I recognized was that someone was holding my hand and guiding me.
They were deliberately letting their energy flow in thin threads, making it impossible to identify who it was by energy alone.
Curious, I turned my head and lifted my heavy eyelids. But what caught my eye first wasn’t the person’s face, but a black ball of fur.
‘Who is he being held by?’
Serubi, who had been on my stomach before I fell asleep, was now purring in the arms of someone who was guiding me. Even in my half-awake, foggy state, seeing them look closer than we were made me feel slightly betrayed.
‘At this hour, the only person who would guide me would be Do Wonjin.’
Thinking about when those two had gotten so close, I raised my gaze from Serubi. The other person seemed to notice I had awakened, as the energy flowing into me wavered slightly.
Just as I was about to confirm his face, a large hand created a shadow and covered my eyes. The long, stretched fingers on my skin, especially the calluses firmly built up at the fingertips, reminded me of my father.
‘Does Do Wonjin know how to play the piano?’
My father consistently played the piano even while serving as my mother’s dedicated guide. With those hands, he would often stroke my head, caress my cheeks, and hold my hand. Though the memory was old and the shape of his hands was blurry, the sensation remained as vivid as if it happened yesterday, quickly immersing me in nostalgia.
In an instant, the boundary between reality and dreams became ambiguous. More than curiosity about who was guiding me, I wanted to savor this cozy feeling, and I fell back into a deep sleep.
I frowned at the sensation of bright light in my eyes. As I turned my body while raising my hand to block the sunlight, the Center Director’s words about departing early in the morning suddenly came to mind, snapping me awake.
‘Morning?’
When I closed my eyes to rest yesterday, it was around late afternoon. Realizing I had slept straight through until morning made me chuckle.
I wasn’t a growing child anymore, yet I’d completely crashed just from overexerting myself. And I’d slept so soundly without the usual nightmares…
‘Wait. Didn’t I wake up in the middle?’
While massaging my face, which felt swollen from oversleeping, I furrowed my brow at the vague memory surfacing.
I wasn’t sure of the exact time, but judging by how dark it was, it must have been deep in the night.
‘Who was that?’
Even though there was no way to know now, there was only one person who came to mind.
‘It must have been Do Wonjin, right?’
He was the only one who had been holding my hand every night, so it had to be him.
‘I should thank him later.’
I stretched my stiff body completely. It was a refreshing morning.
* * *
A week had passed since returning from Quardo Island. My body recovered after a few days, but with the mindset of resting while I could, I stayed home. I was rolling around alone at home, thinking I should start training again tomorrow as I was getting antsy, when it happened.
“Oh, it’s raining.”
As I turned my body while sprawled on the living room sofa, I noticed raindrops falling diagonally outside the window. The drops that had been falling with a gentle tap, tap, suddenly filled the window, and the collected rainwater streamed down the transparent glass.
“I wonder if everyone remembered umbrellas.”
I muttered while lying on the sofa, recalling Yang Garam’s back view as he rushed out late for morning exercise.
‘Well, Garam definitely didn’t take one.’
After that, I remembered Jeong Seyeon’s profile as he said goodbye before leaving, and Do Wonjin telling me he was going out for an appointment, adding that I should call instead of crying if I missed him.
‘Seyeon hyung probably carries a spare umbrella in his car given his personality, and Wonjin probably has plenty of women who’d give him an umbrella even if I don’t.’
As I nodded while wiggling my toes, Yang Garam’s face hazily appeared in my mind again.
‘Garam shouldn’t get wet in the rain.’
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I sprang up from my seat like a coiled spring. Looking around for my phone, I found it wedged between the sofa cushions and sat back down, half-leaning against the sofa.
‘Garam sent me his schedule before, it should be around here somewhere.’
Yang Garam, who had become noticeably more familiar after returning from Quardo Island, reported his every move to me without being asked. Recently, he installed a messenger app on my phone and used it to contact me at all hours.
Opening the messenger app, I saw a dense wall of messages he had sent one-sidedly. The last time I checked was about 30 minutes ago, and six new messages had been added since then. Though not at regular intervals, they averaged one every five minutes.
[The professor won’t end class even though it’s over. Want to escape.]
[OMG, he says it’s another group project. He must be crazy.]
[Hyung, are you sleeping? (emoticon)]
[You haven’t checked since earlier.]
[I think I can come home early today. They just canceled evening training!]
[(Photo) It’s raining outside.]
Unlike here where the rain had just started, it seemed it had been raining where Yang Garam’s school was located for a while. I checked all his messages up to the last one from ten minutes ago, then clicked on the photo gallery.
‘Here it is. The schedule.’
Once when I was bored staying at home, I asked Yang Garam when his classes ended, and received his entire semester schedule marked with fluorescent highlights. At the time, I didn’t think I needed to know his schedule, but I hadn’t expected to use it like this. Looking at it now, I saw he had a free period right after his current class.
‘This messenger app is more convenient than texting after all.’
The day Yang Garam installed the messenger app on my phone came vividly to mind. He asked for my phone, and when I gave it to him, he installed an app without warning. Wondering what he was doing, I watched quietly as he asked if he could create an account, and I told him to do as he pleased. After completing all the procedures, Yang Garam returned my phone, and I immediately expressed my pent-up curiosity.
‘Why did you install a messenger app?’
‘I’m going to contact you through this from now on.’
Yang Garam looked quite pleased with himself for installing this app on my phone.
‘I won’t expect replies, but please at least check them.’
‘Is there a reason you’re sending messages through this instead of texts?’
‘This shows the time when you read it. With texts, you can see if it’s been read, but not exactly when.’
‘Why do you care when I read it?’
‘I’m always curious if you’re doing well, hyung.’
True to his word, Yang Garam was always concerned about my well-being. But I wasn’t particularly attached to my phone, and I didn’t share my every schedule even with my only family member. So Yang Garam’s actions were somewhat unfamiliar to me.
But I wasn’t oblivious to why he behaved this way. Yang Garam simply wanted me to do for him what he did for me. He could easily ask me what I was doing or where I was with question marks at the end, but instead, he shared his own stories first. All while swallowing countless questions he really wanted to ask.
[Do you have an umbrella?]
I absent-mindedly typed a message below Yang Garam’s rain notification but immediately deleted it. I worried he might lose focus in class if he received my message.
‘Since I’m just going to drop off an umbrella at school, there’s no need to contact him beforehand.’
I immediately went upstairs, changed clothes, grabbed an umbrella, and left. If I took the bus to the school, I should arrive just as his class was ending.
“Se… Never mind. Sleep well.”
Before leaving my room, I saw Serubi, who had made my bed his own. Seeing him sound asleep, oblivious to the world, I decided against greeting him.
‘Tsk, sleeping like that during the day is why he doesn’t sleep at night.’
Since bringing him back from Quardo Island, Serubi had spent his time sleeping. He claimed he was recovering his depleted energy, but to me, it seemed he was simply nocturnal—sleeping during the day and becoming active at night.
‘Playing with him every night is making his habits worse.’
Do Wonjin came every night to guide me, and after returning from Quardo Island, Yang Garam had joined as well. The two seemed to have made an agreement behind my back, taking turns guiding me, while the other would play with the energetic Serubi. And my room was gradually filling up with Serubi’s toys bought by Joo Seolhyeon.
‘Honestly, at this point, it’s become an open secret.’
Now Do Wonjin didn’t bother climbing trees anymore; he openly came to see me with Yang Garam. I wasn’t sure if Jeong Seyeon had noticed, but Joo Seolhyeon, who lived in the next room, definitely knew.
‘Well, why should I care? It’s not like we’re gathering to gossip and play.’
Just because they showed up together didn’t mean they were being disruptive. They silently guided me until I fell asleep, and quietly played with Serubi in the corner to prevent him from disturbing my sleep. That was all. They returned to their own rooms once I fell asleep. There was nothing problematic about it.
‘If anyone complains about it, I’ll just throw Serubi at them and shut them up.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
