Chapter 62
“Haha….”
I laughed awkwardly. I was holding Junwoo in my arms while grasping Seungwoo’s hand with my free hand as I looked at Kim Doyun and Jang Jae-gyeong. Both of them seemed quite confused by the sudden appearance of the children. Seungwoo and Junwoo seemed more afraid of the larger adults than they were of me. Tears welled up in Junwoo’s eyes again, and Seungwoo hid behind my legs.
“Who are these little ones?”
“They’re the children from that house Jae-gyeong mentioned.”
“…What about their parents?”
I didn’t answer and instead glanced briefly toward the building. It was difficult to explain with Junwoo present. How could I explain in front of a child who was calling me dad due to the shock of his parents being beaten to death? Jang Jae-gyeong seemed to grasp the situation somewhat from just my look and sighed while scratching his head. Kim Doyun silently observed me before approaching and extending his hand.
“Hello?”
Junwoo, who had been burying his face in my neck without budging, slightly raised his head at Kim Doyun’s greeting. The child still seemed scared, but when Kim Doyun smiled gently, he cautiously straightened up and stared at him. …Does his face work on kids too?
“My name is Kim Doyun.”
“…Shin Junwoo.”
Junwoo looked hesitant before lightly placing his hand on Kim Doyun’s outstretched one. Junwoo couldn’t grasp Kim Doyun’s large hand completely, so he barely managed to hold onto two fingers. Even so, he still didn’t seem fully reassured. Junwoo looked at me anxiously.
“It’s okay, he’s not a bad person.”
Perhaps because of my reassuring words and smile, Junwoo thought for a while before stretching out both arms toward Kim Doyun. The small child was easily lifted into Kim Doyun’s arms. Junwoo opened his small mouth at the newfound height, making “wow, wow” sounds. With a happy face, Junwoo shouted to me:
“Dad! It’s super high up here!”
“Pfft!”
Jang Jae-gyeong made a strange sound and covered his mouth.
* * *
Perhaps because he was still young, Junwoo slept a lot. Maybe he felt relieved after meeting adults when he’d been left alone with just his sister. And he was still mistaking me for his dad…. With the sleeping Junwoo in my arms, we returned to the tree and talked about what had happened. I was worried they might object to bringing the children along, but Jang Jae-gyeong and Kim Doyun said having two kids wouldn’t be a problem. They explained we could each carry one child when moving. The moment I heard that, a huge sigh of relief escaped me.
Seungwoo was hiding behind my back, quietly listening to the conversation among the three of us. Being ten years old meant he had more to worry about than a six-year-old, and he wasn’t quick to trust the two men. He seemed more cautious with them than he had been with me.
“There were four men in the building…. Their weapons were just wooden clubs, nothing special. I didn’t see anything stockpiled either…. I wonder how they managed to survive? And what was it they said… something about finding the grave robbers’ hideout, that it must be nearby, I heard them talking about it.”
As soon as Jang Jae-gyeong finished speaking, my clothes were suddenly pulled from behind. Seungwoo, who had been hiding behind me, was gripping my clothes tightly with clenched teeth. With Junwoo in my arms and Seungwoo behind me, I couldn’t comfort him properly. Instead, I reached around behind me to pat Seungwoo’s back. His trembling back gradually calmed down. Meanwhile, Kim Doyun spoke up.
“I looked around here and there, and I did see quite a few collapsed buildings, but nothing good. It seems like someone already searched through them…. I found a few tunnels. They were too narrow for me to enter, so I couldn’t investigate, but I found this inside.”
Kim Doyun pulled out a can of food. The moment Seungwoo saw it, his eyes sharpened, and he rushed forward.
“That’s what my mom and dad found!”
His movement was quite fierce as he snatched it from Kim Doyun’s hand. After taking the can, Seungwoo ran back behind me and hid. He was breathing heavily, which seemed concerning, so I quickly handed the sleeping Junwoo to Kim Doyun and hurriedly checked on Seungwoo. Seungwoo burrowed into my arms and panted for a long time. Even just from the child’s behavior, I could sense what had happened, so no explanation was necessary. The two men stopped talking to let me comfort him.
I did my best to soothe and calm Seungwoo. His nerves were so frayed that if I told the two men what Seungwoo had revealed without his permission, I was afraid he might collapse from stress. Perhaps because I comforted him so earnestly, contrary to my expectation that it would take longer, Seungwoo gave his permission quite readily.
“I’ll trust you, mister. Even when I hit you, you didn’t hit me back like those bad guys….”
It was a heartbreaking statement. My chest felt tight, and I couldn’t speak for a long time. After taking a moment to steady my breathing, I explained to the two men how the children’s parents had found the items.
“Some man, you say….”
“That’s a bit strange.”
However, Kim Doyun and Jang Jae-gyeong’s reactions were quite different from what I had expected. They both looked uncomfortable, so I asked why, and Kim Doyun answered while looking down at Junwoo in his arms.
“He could have been a kind person, but isn’t it strange that in this situation, he just gave them good information and left? If he knew there were supplies, it would be difficult to leave so easily.”
That made sense. By that point, I had many questions.
“Seungwoo. About those two men who told your mom and dad.”
“Not two, only one person told them.”
“Yes, right. What did that man say when he told them? Do you remember what kind of person he was?”
Seungwoo buried his face in my chest and pressed his lips tightly together. After moving his lips for a while, he raised his head to look at me.
“He was a scary-eyed man. His hair was white here like this, but his face wasn’t like an old man’s….”
Seungwoo pulled at the top part of his own head as he explained.
“I was really scared of that man, but mom and dad said he was a kind person and that was good. He said he was looking for someone and also… um….”
There didn’t seem to be anything special as Seungwoo fell into thought, unable to remember anything else to say. Maybe he really was just a kind person passing by. Adults might seem scary through a child’s eyes. Since he mentioned looking for someone, he might have been searching for his family. Jang Jae-gyeong and Kim Doyun didn’t seem to find any major issues with the child’s story either, as they lightly shook their heads. Suddenly curious about the other companion, I asked the child:
“What did the other person who was with him look like?”
Just maybe… though the possibility was slim, it could be someone I knew. Seungwoo pursed his lips again. It seemed to be his habit when thinking.
“He wasn’t a man, he looked similar to you, mister. He seemed really hurt… his arm was bruised this much, but he said it didn’t hurt, which worried my mom.”
“I see.”
“Oh, and… the scary man told my mom and dad that if it was hard to live here, there was a place where people gathered over there, so they should go there.”
“Ah….”
I looked up in surprise. Kim Doyun and Jang Jae-gyeong had quite serious expressions. Jang Jae-gyeong approached, rubbing his chin, and asked when this happened, while Kim Doyun just quietly observed Seungwoo. Seungwoo was startled by Jang Jae-gyeong’s question and clung to me even more.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be scared. Jae-gyeong, please step back a little. You’re scaring the child.”
“What did I do?”
Jang Jae-gyeong looked wronged, but since Seungwoo was clearly afraid, he grumbled and stepped back. I continued patting Seungwoo’s back for a while and repeated Jae-gyeong’s question.
“When did that man come and go?”
“…I don’t know when it was, I couldn’t see a calendar either….”
“Then do you remember which way he went?”
Seungwoo stretched out his hand slightly and pointed in one direction. It was toward the building.
“He went behind our house. I remember because I watched from my bedroom window.”
“I see. Thank you for telling us.”
“…Yeah.”
Seungwoo now seemed to completely trust me, as he smiled slightly in my arms. Jang Jae-gyeong and Kim Doyun looked curiously at this before staring at the building the child had pointed to for a long time. The two didn’t share any conversation or opinions, but they were behaving similarly, which was both amusing and strange.
After observing the two deep in thought for a while, I became curious about something else and quietly asked Seungwoo:
“By the way, why are you afraid of those two?”
Seungwoo stared at me. He seemed to be wondering if he should answer my question. Was it because the two were acquaintances of mine?
“It’s okay, this is just between us. You can tell me quietly.”
Seungwoo nodded and put his hand to my ear. Then he whispered in an extremely small voice:
“Their eyes are too scary.”
“Their eyes?”
“Yeah. Too scary. You won’t tell them, right?”
He still seemed uneasy, so the child asked me again. After I promised I absolutely wouldn’t tell and even hooked pinkies with him, Seungwoo cautiously said:
“At night… I saw that man from my bedroom window. But he was dragging someone away.”
“…An injured person?”
“No, it wasn’t that man. That man was talking with my mom and dad at our house. I was surprised and told my mom and dad, but they didn’t believe me and said I was still half asleep….”
Seungwoo buried his face deep in my chest.
“But those men have the exact same eyes as that man. That’s why I’m scared.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
