***
“Hello. I’m Declan Russell.”
“Oh my, hello. Come in, Declan. I’m Henry’s mom. Margaret Lowell. Thank you for coming even though we invited you suddenly. And thank you for helping our Henry. Have fun.”
Henry looked at the scene unfolding before his eyes with a dazed expression.
So, let me explain how this happened—it started when Henry arrived at his family home.
When Henry returned home, Margaret greeted him with excessive worry as usual.
‘How did this happen? Hm? Are you really not hurt anywhere else?’
Even though they’d talked during the week and he’d told her he wasn’t hurt, she was consistent.
Margaret’s touch was meticulous to the point of seeming obsessive. She slightly lifted Henry’s chin and turned it this way and that to check for scratches. Then she had him roll up the clothes on his arms and legs, and finally was satisfied only after having Henry take off the t-shirt he was wearing.
It was nothing more or less than typical overprotection toward a grown son.
Henry complied while standing awkwardly at the thorough and caring touch.
The examination that continued for quite a while ended only after Henry’s youngest older sister, Iris, stopped it with a fed-up expression.
‘Geez, Mom. Is Henry a child? He’s all grown up. He would’ve done all kinds of things like exercising and showering during that time, so if there was a problem, Henry would’ve known first. That’s excessive.’
‘Excessive? I raised you all like this too.’
‘Exactly. If you did that to us, then it’s time to stop doing it to him. It’s not like you’re raising a kid for the first time. Nothing that serious will happen. Look at his build. He doesn’t even look like he’d get minor illnesses.’
Henry smiled awkwardly at Iris’s words. He quite agreed with his sister too.
As he silently thanked her with eye contact for helping him, Margaret’s voice, having finished her brief grumbling, was heard again.
‘Ah. Who’s the friend who helped you?’
‘Ah… You know when I was fighting with Columbus, there was a teammate next to me who got caught up in it.’
‘Did that kid fight with you too?’
At her question, Henry shook his head after brief consideration.
‘Then why did he receive punishment together?’
‘I don’t know. Even though I told the teacher he had nothing to do with it, she just gave us the punishment together.’
‘Really? That’s strange.’
Margaret, hearing Henry’s words, had a thoughtful expression. Just when he was getting curious about what she wanted to say, she asked.
‘By any chance, what is that friend doing now? Did he go home?’
Hearing the question, Henry recalled his past conversation with Declan. He’d definitely said he didn’t go home much.
‘Probably… he didn’t go?’
‘Why probably?’
Iris, whose curiosity was piqued by Henry’s answer, joined the conversation. Whether he should answer honestly—Henry considered it dozens of times before carefully spitting out his words.
‘We’re not that close so I don’t really know.’
‘Why aren’t you close? Aren’t you in the same club?’
‘Well, yeah… but he transferred last semester so there wasn’t time to get close.’
‘Last semester? No time? Then it’s already been almost a year! The fall semester is almost over too.’
‘Uh, yeah. That’s true but…’
Henry awkwardly read the atmosphere while watching their reactions. Somehow anxiety struck at Iris’s reaction, her eyes wide open as she was surprised that there was ‘a club member Henry Lowell couldn’t get close to.’
Henry saw it clearly.
Margaret and Iris’s gazes exchanged in mid-air. It was a scene of silent conversation passing between the two. A clear plan was flickering in both women’s eyes.
Henry realized it. That he’d walked right into the trap Iris had dug.
‘Henry! Let’s invite that kid!’
‘Yeah. Let’s eat together. Mom’s grateful. He’s a benefactor who helped when you almost got seriously hurt. Mom will make something delicious. Okay? Hurry and call him.’
Soon the mother and daughter were making a racket, urging him to hurry and invite Declan. Henry realized his anxiety detector had rung very well.
‘I don’t have his phone number.’
‘What? You don’t have his number? Weren’t you teammates? Henry. If a transfer student friend isn’t adapting well, you should’ve approached him first. Everyone in this neighborhood knows you’re your father’s son, and you just ignored him?’
Margaret looked like the world was ending as she scolded Henry.
‘Your team captain right now is David, right?’
Iris finally thought of a way to obtain Declan Russell’s number.
Henry felt dizzy at the conversation going on without him. Before he knew it, Iris was even more excited than Margaret.
‘David would know! Let’s ask David! Right? Henry!’
Iris and Margaret pestered him to contact him quickly.
Henry couldn’t win against the two women. In the end, pushed by their nagging, he had to send a message to David. Using the two women’s conversation about David’s marriage news as background music.
Henry prayed that David would discover his message very late. That hope was spectacularly ignored though.
He called immediately, not even a minute after the message was sent.
He seemed to have been worried something had happened when Henry suddenly asked for Declan’s number. His voice clearly carried concern.
As always, Henry, who was weak to David, confessed that it was Margaret and Iris’s order.
David burst into laughter at Henry’s words. He readily handed over the number and didn’t forget the thoughtful consideration of saying he’d contact Declan in advance.
Though he’d never know that it was consideration Henry didn’t want at all.
Since he’d talked in front of them, there was no way to avoid it. In the end, Henry called Declan.
Up until this point, Henry had something to believe in.
Wasn’t his relationship with Declan bad enough that everyone in school knew? Even though recently he’d received some help and had to spend time together.
Anyway, it was a clear fact that Henry Lowell and Declan Russell weren’t close enough to visit each other’s homes. If the person in question didn’t come, that was that.
Thanks to that, Henry could call Declan quite confidently. Receiving Margaret and Iris’s gazes all at once.
The ringtone went, and stopped not long after. Soon a low voice was heard.
—Yes.
‘Um, is this Declan Russell? It’s Henry…’
—I got a call from David.
An answer came right away.
‘You heard. Sorry for the suddenness. You know, that thing where you helped me at the gym.’
The other person didn’t answer. Henry felt anxious and continued speaking.
‘My family… wanted to thank you. If it’s okay, they said they want to treat you to a meal and spend time together.’
—……
‘Ah, that! It is burdensome, right? You can refuse. You must have your own things to do…’
—I’ll go.
‘…Huh?’
—I said I’ll go.
Henry froze holding his phone at Declan’s answer. To the mother and daughter who kept asking what he said with excited faces, he barely managed to open and close his mouth as he answered.
‘He’s, he’s coming…’
‘Wow!’
Leaving the delighted Iris behind, Henry asked again.
‘You’re… going to come? Really?’
—You’re telling me to come.
No, I did say that, but that’s because I thought you’d refuse.
Iris was all excited and volunteered to go pick him up, and Margaret opened the refrigerator in the kitchen, lost in happy contemplation about what food to make.
Glancing at his mom and sister like that, Henry said half-heartedly.
‘…I’ll go pick you up. Wait and I’ll call when I arrive. It’ll take about 30 minutes.’
With Declan’s answer saying he understood, the call ended.
His hand holding the phone was sweaty. It felt like a fire had fallen on his feet.
Surely… he kept it secret all along at school. He wouldn’t tell the secret to Margaret or Iris, would he? At that thought.
And so time passed.
Henry got in the car Iris was driving and brought Declan home.
This was the reason a nightmarish reality had unfolded before Henry.
“You transferred? Did your whole family move together?”
“No. Only I came. My family is in New York.”
“New York? Were you born in New York?”
“Yes.”
On top of that, before he knew it, Declan’s personal stories were being exchanged in front of Henry. Henry, who had been silently listening to the conversation, ended up looking at him with a dumbfounded expression.
