By Zephyria ‘Hyung, I’m leaving. Crybaby.’
Ki Jae-eon recalled Kim Ju-won, who had disappeared over the window again, and slowly unfolded the paper, that is, Kim Ju-won’s style of letter.
[TO. Ki Jae-eon]
The letter started with a formal greeting. That was funny again, and a slight laugh leaked out.
‘It doesn’t suit him……’
I had heard somewhere that you shouldn’t laugh after crying, but if I feel this good, I guess it doesn’t matter.
Especially in the [Hello, this is Kim Ju-won] part, I even laughed out loud. Ki Jae-eon shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the letter with satisfaction.
“Ah…… Kim Ju-won.”
I unconsciously leaked a murmur.
[It’s awkward because it’s my first time writing lol]
‘It’s like an elementary school student wrote it.’
I didn’t mean it in a bad way, but I thought so in a good way.
When I imagined his face, sitting in a chair in an awkward and stiff posture, worrying about ‘What should I write?’, I felt he was cute for the first time in my life. How many minutes, or how many hours, did it take? He must have frowned again and muttered, ‘Aish!’
‘But he must have tried.’
Anyway, the contents that followed after that short self-introduction were surprisingly trivial. Asking typical questions such as how is your body, the kids are also worried, etc.
The highlight was next.
[Points to reflect on!]
It is the third paragraph written in bold letters.
The letter, which had been going well normally, suddenly became a letter of reflection.
[I sincerely regret hitting you because I misunderstood you! I’ll buy you food and let you win games later]
I read and read the pressed letters.
[It’s okay to hit me the same way. I’ll let you hit me if it’s you]
How he repays me was also like Kim Ju-won.
[I regret the swearing very, very X999! But it’s not easy to fix;;]
Kim Ju-won was full of apologies. I can feel his sincerity because he even multiplied it.
But the swearing……
‘Listening to what he said earlier, he usually controls his words to some extent.’
I should rather thank him for speaking so nicely.
[I swear to fulfill my duty as an exclusive servant from now on]
The letter, which I read through, had an appropriate mix of humor and reflection.
Even the content of ‘raise me’ mentioned earlier was written concisely.
Then at the very end.
[Thank you for coming to the main office.]
My breath stopped for a moment at that sentence.
Ki Jae-eon couldn’t take his eyes off it for a long time.
“……Thank you.”
The word that I put in my mouth and rolled around was very sweet.
“Heut.”
Rustle- Unable to contain the sweet feeling, I buried my face in the letter.
At that moment, I remembered one day when the kids from the main office handed me letters and comforted me.
‘It’s the same.’
They are really the same lovely children.
Ki Jae-eon suddenly missed the children’s bright smiles. I wanted to see them right away, if only I could.
“……”
Ki Jae-eon looked out the window and thought.
Ah, spring was always by my side.
“……Good.”
And so, the next day, before the sun even rose.
Ki Jae-eon left the room early in the morning.
The steps walking down the hallway were quite hectic. It’s because I’m so anxious to see the kids. But it was only five o’clock, so it wasn’t time to go to the guest room yet. The usual wake-up time is between seven and eight o’clock. I had to wait at least two or three more hours.
But it was okay.
Because there was a place to visit first.
Turning down the long hallway, the first place I found was Ki Jae-ha’s room. It was located closest to the yard, so I could smell the unique humid and clear scent. The clear energy emitted by the plants made my empty stomach feel refreshed.
Creak- When I opened the door and went inside, I saw Ki Jae-ha deeply asleep. He was in better condition than before, but he still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Ki Jae-eon knelt down next to him.
“Hyung.”
I called him, tidying up his disheveled hair. But there was no answer.
“Recently, well, you know.”
Even so, I started talking persistently.
“I got caught doing something I really, really didn’t want to get caught doing. Uh, I even made Mom cry……”
I calmly unraveled what had happened in the meantime in a calm voice. There’s Seo-myeong. You must have seen him too. And Kim Ju-won-. I’m not usually a very talkative person, so there were moments of silence in between, but I said everything I wanted to say.
“I, I decided to be together this time.”
Ki Jae-eon twitched his hand that he had placed on his knee.
“So…… Hyung, please open your eyes soon too.”
A faint voice flowed out.
But it didn’t seem as sad as before.
Instead, I gave a faint smile. As if telling him not to worry.
“Whether it’s Sokcho, Ga, Gangneung…… Let’s go anywhere.”
“……”
“Just the two of us.”
I’ll be waiting. It was when Ki Jae-eon, who had finished saying everything he wanted to say, was about to straighten his knees and get up.
“……-.”
A familiar echo was heard in the air.
It was very, very fleeting, but it was clear.
When I hurriedly lowered my gaze, what I saw was-.
Hyung, Ki Jae-ha, looking at me with his eyes open.
He opened his parched lips and conveyed a word, panting.
Then he smiled and fell asleep again.
“……”
Only Ki Jae-eon stood there blankly. Rather than being surprised that Hyung had suddenly woken up, I couldn’t come to my senses at the words he had left behind. I thought he would ask if it hurt too much when he woke up someday, or what had happened in the meantime. Or maybe he would answer the story I had just told him……
‘Ki Jae-eon, my brother.’
That was all Hyung said.
Moving his stiff tongue like that.
As if not to forget who the other person was.
Ki Jae-eon clenched his fist so hard that his fingernails dug in and lowered his head deeply. Affection permeated his watery black eyes. He forcibly pulled up the corners of his lips.
Instead of crying.
Yes, because it’s a happy thing. I shouldn’t cry.
“……Yeah.”
Ki Jae-ha, my Hyung.
He repeated the answer “Yeah” for a long time after that, without anyone hearing.
“Everyone, hello.”
“Wow, I’m really tired.”
“Not a good morning.”
“What a fuss from the morning.”
Eight o’clock in the morning. It was the place where the kids from the main office woke up and gathered for breakfast.
Everyone seemed bright and dark, quiet and noisy. It was because they had stayed up late all night discussing solutions to the future that was coming.
“First of all, don’t neglect your personal training, yaaaam-!”
Lee Gyeong-hak yawned with his mouth torn open with a sleepy face.
“Do one thing, either yawn or talk.”
“What can I do if I’m sleepy.”
The kids giggled and laughed. The atmosphere was basically a bit subdued, but… there was no feeling of fear. Rather, I could see their will to overcome the impending crisis somehow.
“Eat your meals well.”
“That’s right. Eating is what’s left. You need to eat well to use your strength!”
It was just when he picked up his chopsticks like that.
Thud-!
Suddenly, the door burst open, and someone appeared, backlit by a bright light. Haa, haa-. He seemed to have run all the way here, slightly panting as he hesitated before opening his mouth.
“…Food! Can I, can I eat with you?”
At that, the eyes of the main office children widened. Huh? A moment of silence followed as if they were trying to grasp the situation.
But soon, “Woah!” an over-the-top exclamation burst out.
Lee Gyeong-hak pushed up his glasses and jumped up from his seat.
In response to his reaction, the other children gradually came to their senses and their faces brightened.
“Jae-eon!”
“Wow!”
“What, what! Hey, Jae-eon-!”
“Oppa!”
“Why are you even asking? Come in quickly!”
“Are you feeling okay?”
Rumble! The children surrounded the welcome guest, no, family. Why are you only coming now! We really missed you! At the children’s fuss, Ki Jae-eon smiled, saying, “S-sorry.” His expression looked quite cheerful for someone apologizing. The naturally upturned corners of his lips made him seem quite like a young man of his age.
It was during that time.
His eyes met Kim Ju-won’s, who was sitting far away. He was resting his chin on his hand, quietly watching this way, and then he silently mouthed the words.
‘Hello, Teacher.’
The coolly folding eyes seemed to be asking, ‘Am I ready to raise you well?’