# Chapter 89
Summer camp was something Jeongyeon had never experienced before. He had only overheard classmates talking about it. Feeling excited about traveling to an unfamiliar place, Jeongyeon was in high spirits. It felt like becoming an adult.
His parents said he didn’t have to go if he didn’t want to, but Jeongyeon shook his head, saying he wanted to participate.
“I think Jeongyeon is more mature than his older brother and sister-in-law.”
“But… not seeing this adorable child all summer break.”
His mother muttered glumly. That aspect had also weighed on Jeongyeon’s excitement—not seeing his parents for a long time.
It would be his first time being separated for so long. What if he started missing his parents? Imagining that made him feel a bit down.
“Can’t mom and dad visit the research center?”
When Jeongyeon asked his uncle, he seemed to consider it.
“Hmm… that should be possible.”
“Wow!”
His parents burst into laughter seeing Jeongyeon turn to them with a proud face. Eat regularly, sleep early, call every day… As they made various requests, Jeongyeon nodded obediently until they were reassured.
His mother ended up crying a little on the day of departure.
“…Should I not go?”
With weakened resolve, Jeongyeon poked his head out through the open window. He had wanted to see his parents proud, not his mother crying. But his mother shook her head.
“You can do whatever you want to do.”
The large hand stroking his head felt the same as always. So Jeongyeon nodded and sat in the car, fastening his seatbelt.
His uncle’s research center was located in the mountains where the roads were bumpy, and it was enormous. The white building was similar in color to the things Jeongyeon created to pass time.
Jeongyeon unpacked in the room next to his uncle’s. The large windows reflected an abundance of green forest. Although slightly smaller than his room at home, it had everything necessary—a chair, desk, and bed. It was certainly incomparable to the orphanage.
His uncle led Jeongyeon around, offering to introduce him to the research center. The spacious facility allowed him to wander anywhere, but his uncle said there were a few places he shouldn’t enter. If the important data stored there accidentally disappeared, all their work would be wasted. Jeongyeon nodded obediently, memorizing these instructions carefully. He didn’t want to accidentally enter somewhere forbidden and make his uncle sad.
“And just two more things.”
His uncle held up two fingers and counted them off.
“Never take photos with your phone. Though you probably can’t do much since there’s no internet, anyway, only use your phone to call mom and dad. And while you’re an exception, research contents aren’t supposed to be disclosed to the general public. So you can’t tell mom and dad about what happens in the research center.”
“Then what do I talk about on the phone?”
“Your daily life is fine. What you ate, what you played with today, things like that. Just don’t mention the research being conducted here. You’re smart, so you understand, right?”
His uncle’s face was rarely this stern. He explained that the research center required an extremely high level of security, and if anything went wrong, even he would be in serious trouble. Naturally, Jeongyeon didn’t want that. He nodded with a determined face.
Jeongyeon’s task was to assist with his uncle’s research analysis once every three days. In his uncle’s words, “cooperate.”
“You just need to stay still. I’ll handle everything else.”
“Yes…”
Jeongyeon wasn’t so young that he didn’t realize “cooperate” was an extremely vague expression. His uncle said it was a concept difficult to explain in detail, so he had chosen a simple word.
It was a bit disappointing that he wouldn’t be directly caring for a child. Based on multiple experiences, Jeongyeon was confident he would excel at it… Still, helping in any way was a good thing. Thinking optimistically, he followed his uncle through the corridor and discovered a slightly open door.
Jeongyeon stopped while being led by his uncle and fixed his gaze on the small gap. Soon his uncle noticed Jeongyeon had stopped and followed his line of sight.
“Ah, the door isn’t completely closed.”
His uncle said casually as he closed the door. But in that brief moment, Jeongyeon had clearly seen what was inside. There were several large monitors. They seemed to be showing a room from different angles.
Inside was a boy.
Through transparent glass, a boy with pitch-black hair sat all alone.
“Who is that?”
His uncle smiled weakly at Jeongyeon’s question.
“A child you can help.”
Ah, so that’s him. He was older than expected. Jeongyeon had vaguely thought of a kindergartener or lower elementary school student when he heard “child,” but at a glance, the boy looked about his age.
“Is he the only child here?”
“For now, yes.”
Actually, Jeongyeon was a bit glad they were the same age. Since he had been ostracized in his class and had no friends, it would be nice to become friends with this boy.
However, his uncle said it would be better not to look for the boy as he might be startled. Though a little disappointing, it was fine since Jeongyeon could play with his uncle. Afterward, he quickly forgot about the boy as he focused intently on his uncle’s explanations during the tour of the research center.
Life at the research center was peaceful. It was generally quiet inside, though occasionally other people could be seen. They seemed to have been informed about Jeongyeon as they recognized him right away and were all kind.
With his decent sociability, Jeongyeon soon progressed to calling the researchers “hyung” and “noona” and exchanging greetings. Some researchers would whisper to him about good hiding places.
But the researchers didn’t have time to play with Jeongyeon. In fact, they didn’t seem interested in doing so. Playing with Jeongyeon was his uncle’s responsibility.
Jeongyeon ate meals with his uncle, and in his spare time, he read books or wandered around the research center. He played board games with his uncle during breaks, napped in the grass near the center, and did homework at a desk in front of a large window where sunlight streamed in.
After dinner, he consistently called his parents. They were curious about what Jeongyeon had played with all day, every day, and Jeongyeon explained diligently even if he had done the same thing as yesterday. The calls always ended with words of love. Afterward, Jeongyeon would fall asleep happily, clutching his phone tightly.
Although his uncle tried his best, he too had work to do, so it was impossible to play with Jeongyeon as much as he wanted. No matter how many solitary activities he brought, it was still a bit boring. While Jeongyeon was lying face down at his desk, listlessly flipping through workbook pages with a glum face, there was a knock on the door.
“Jeongyeon, let’s go.”
It was his uncle. It must be time to “cooperate.” Jeongyeon jumped up. His cheek, pressed against the desk surface, quickly returned to its plump state.
As his uncle had said, cooperation simply involved having something attached to his body and waiting for a few minutes. Afterward, he would feel a bit drained, but after a nap, he would be completely fine. It was an incredibly simple task.
This cooperation session also ended quickly. Since his uncle had to organize the results, Jeongyeon was told he could leave first, so he nodded. Until Jeongyeon left, his uncle kept his eyes fixed on the monitor, looking at the screen so seriously that he didn’t even glance at Jeongyeon.
Leaving the room, Jeongyeon unconsciously looked up. A nameplate high above eye level read “Collection Room.”
He immediately realized that the cooperation he had been doing was a kind of collection. Must be similar to donating blood, Jeongyeon thought lightly.
But unlike drawing blood, his uncle didn’t pierce his body; he simply attached cloth to it. It was difficult to understand how this could be considered collection. Curious, Jeongyeon discreetly asked his uncle during the next collection session.
“Can this really help him?”
“Of course. He’s already improved a lot.”
Since his uncle nodded and spoke so confidently, Jeongyeon also became convinced. The boy he had glimpsed seemed to have some kind of ailment, and it was apparently improving gradually thanks to Jeongyeon’s collections. When he’s all better, could he play with me? It would be nice to be friends.
Jeongyeon had never had a proper friend before. His parents occasionally told him he could bring friends home. Every time, he felt sorry for having to answer that he had no friends to bring. If he became friends with that boy, his parents would surely be delighted.
It happened one day. Swish, swish. Enjoying the sound of walking on sun-dried grass, he was taking a stroll near the research center.
Knock, knock.
Jeongyeon, who had been looking down at his feet while walking, turned to the side at the sound of something being tapped. Along the bottom of the research center’s white exterior wall were horizontally narrow, elongated windows in succession. Not far from Jeongyeon, a small fist appeared at one of the windows.
