# Chapter 91
A startled groan escaped with white breath. Jeongyeon, who had been fidgeting without knowing what to do, approached Sano. With each step he took, both the ice skates and the ice rink turned into white sand and scattered.
It was an embarrassingly obvious fact he hadn’t considered. If Jeongyeon was cold, Sano would be cold too.
Sano’s face, exposed to the cold for quite some time with only a thin layer of clothing, had turned blue.
“Hey, are you, are you okay?”
Of course, Jeongyeon had no intention of freezing Sano to death. Even after hastily removing all the ice, the warmth didn’t immediately return to the room. Only after examining him up close did Jeongyeon realize that Sano’s body was trembling slightly.
Mumbling incoherently “What should I do, what should I do,” Jeongyeon put gloves on Sano’s cold hands and covered him with his own coat. When he lightly touched his cheek, it was ice-cold. Panicking, Jeongyeon looked around helplessly for a while before finally managing to create a small campfire.
Crackle. Snap. Fortunately, the burning campfire quickly warmed Sano’s body. Seeing some color return to his lips, Jeongyeon let out a sigh of relief.
“You should have said something if you were cold.”
And I had no idea… As Jeongyeon mumbled excuses sheepishly, Sano stared at him. Since he was only cold, not unconscious, he had been able to watch Jeongyeon’s one-man show the entire time.
Perhaps the soft gloves and coat had thawed a tiny bit of his heart as well.
“Is that your ability?”
“Yes. I can create anything.”
“I can make things like this too,” Jeongyeon said proudly as he created various items. The completely white room with white walls and floors was soon filled with white miscellaneous objects. Toys, soccer balls, basketball hoops, books… It wasn’t difficult to remember and recreate objects from his own room.
“Do you have superpowers too?”
“…No.”
Sano answered, clenching his empty hands several times. After hesitating briefly, he murmured quietly.
“But if I receive treatment…”
Just then.
BEEEEEEP!
A strong alarm sounded from the ceiling, and simultaneously, the sprinklers activated.
In an instant, the campfire was extinguished, and both boys were completely soaked. They stared at each other with eyes as round as a rabbit’s. Only then did Jeongyeon mutter blankly.
“Ah, the fire alarm…”
Shortly afterward, his uncle, who had rushed in after hearing the noise, was horrified at the state of the room. After giving a lengthy lecture about how lighting fires in enclosed spaces was dangerous, he sent Sano and Jeongyeon back to their respective rooms to wash up and change clothes. Jeongyeon was lectured by his uncle until dinner time and could only be freed after glumly apologizing more than ten times.
That was the end of their meeting that day. It had been completely different from what he had expected—a complete mess. Jeongyeon went to sleep feeling a bit dejected.
The next morning.
“Uncle, you know what?”
“Yes?”
“How can you turn a person into a butterfly?”
At Jeongyeon’s question, his uncle let out an “Ah” of understanding.
“You must have heard from No. 3.”
“He asked if I could turn him into a butterfly, but I can’t do that… Does that mean I can’t help him?”
He felt discouraged at the thought of coming all this way only to be unhelpful. His uncle ruffled Jeongyeon’s drooping head and explained.
“Jeongyeon, you learned about butterfly metamorphosis in school, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s similar to that. No. 3 is, let’s say… currently in a caterpillar state.”
Not a real butterfly but some kind of metaphor. Understanding this, Jeongyeon nodded and asked.
“How can he become a butterfly?”
“By receiving treatment diligently.”
Come to think of it, his uncle had mentioned that he’d improved a lot. But when he saw him yesterday, he didn’t seem sick anywhere. Perhaps his confusion showed on his face, as his uncle smiled and explained.
“He’s not receiving treatment because he’s physically ill; it’s for his development.”
“Development…”
“Becoming a butterfly is a good thing for No. 3. He’ll be extremely grateful to your uncle later.”
“I see.”
Whatever it was, becoming a butterfly seemed to be a wonderful thing. Jeongyeon’s eyes sparkled.
“Then can’t you make me a butterfly too?”
His uncle finally burst out laughing at the innocent question.
“You’re already a beautiful and splendid butterfly.”
“Uncle says he can turn you into a butterfly if I work hard!”
Jeongyeon burst through the door and shouted to Sano, who was sitting in the same place as the day before. Sano, with his back turned, gave a quick glance but didn’t respond. His reaction was so similar to yesterday’s that it almost seemed like time had gone back.
“And I’ve thought of something fun. Don’t be surprised.”
Jeongyeon said proudly as he summoned the white sand again. In an instant, the sand spread throughout the entire room and soon transformed into flexible, elastic mats that covered the entire floor. Springs dangling around the edges remained neatly closed.
It was a massive trampoline park.
“Look. You get in here and jump…”
Jeongyeon hopped across the pathway placed in the middle and jumped into one of the mats. With a bouncing sound, his small body immediately rose high.
“This is super fun. You try it too!”
Sano showed no interest, remaining motionless with his gaze fixed out the window. However, having learned his lesson from yesterday, Jeongyeon pushed Sano into the trampoline park.
“Do you have a death wish?”
Sano, who had been pushed in by surprise, growled with his eyes fiercely raised. Though he was a bit bigger than Jeongyeon, they were roughly the same size. He couldn’t fully resist against the forceful push.
“Quickly, try jumping!”
Jeongyeon jumped on the mat where Sano was. Sano’s body jolted as he received the strong elasticity.
“Stop, do, ing, that.”
His firm tone was interspersed with ragged breaths as he couldn’t steady his wobbling body. Finally, Sano stood up irritably and jumped with force. Their rhythm was strangely out of sync. Jeongyeon, who had mistimed and lost his balance, landed on his rear on the mat.
“Wait, I’m, get, ting, up.”
“Serves you right.”
Sano, speaking mischievously, naturally didn’t stop. Jeongyeon was bounced around like laundry being shaken out for quite some time before he could finally escape.
“Hey, let’s do it again. How could you ambush me like that?”
“Go ahead and try.”
Sano stood firmly in the middle of the mat like a king and muttered arrogantly. Jeongyeon glared at his smooth face. He had been caught off guard just now because he didn’t expect Sano to suddenly stand up, but he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. This time, Sano would be the one getting bounced. His round eyes burned with determination.
That day, they played by jumping on the trampoline for hours. Competing to knock each other down, they even learned how to do somersaults, and as they jumped more, they developed to the point where they could jump from one trampoline to another across the entire room in a single leap.
As for the result of the competition, Sano won. Sano fell 53 times, Jeongyeon 55 times, and both of them passed out as soon as they lay on their beds that evening.
After that day, Jeongyeon visited Sano every day. Jeongyeon always created something in the room, and although Sano acted annoyed, he played well once it was made.
The varieties were diverse. The enormous room, which seemed like it could accommodate a hundred children, expanded their options. Sometimes he created a huge slide that encircled the entire room, sometimes a swimming pool, sometimes a giant playground, and sometimes a basketball court. When they rode the go-karts he created, they were scolded by his uncle who came running after hearing the banging sounds from repeatedly crashing into walls because they couldn’t slow down.
The two always competed, quarreled, and boasted excessively when they won. Sano’s snippy tone remained the same, but he no longer ignored what Jeongyeon said, and Jeongyeon gradually started bringing snacks on his visits.
Only when they had become that close did Sano reveal one fact.
“Your name isn’t Sano?”
“Right. I said I’m No. 3, but you misheard it.”
Jeongyeon, who had firmly believed Sano was his name, opened his eyes wide.
“But… that’s not a name.”
Numbers weren’t used for names. It sounded like a designation you’d give to a robot. Frowning as if displeased, Jeongyeon clapped his hands as if he’d had a good idea.
“Should I give you a new name?”
“…Like what?”
“Hmm… wait.”
Jeongyeon soon asked with a bright face.
“How about Chilchili?” [Translator’s note: Chilchili means “Seven-seven” in Korean]
The handsome face turned as cold as a glacier.
“Why would you think of something like that?”
“Seven is a lucky number, you know.”
It was a fact his parents had taught him, but irreverently, Sano scoffed, “Hmph.”
“No. 3 or Chilchili, what’s the difference.”
And then pretending to be generous, he said.
“Sano is much better.”
“Then shall I call you Sano?”
“If you want.”
Actually, Sano suited him better than Chilchili. Jeongyeon smiled brightly.
“Then what’s your surname?”
“I don’t have one.”
Why would I need something like a surname? Sano was asking that with his eyes. Jeongyeon folded his arms seriously.
“If you have a name, you should have a surname too. Lee Sano? Yoon Sano? Park Sano? They don’t suit you. Don’t you remember anything?”
“…The researchers do call me Subject No. 3.”
“Je Sano? That sounds good!”
“…”
Sano’s eyebrows curved in disapproval at the surname decided in just one second. However, he didn’t stop Jeongyeon from calling him “Je Sano, Je Sano” all day long.
