# Chapter 44
In the dark examination room where Jaehee had disappeared, Geonwoo was dreaming.
-Wow!
The young Geonwoo in the dream opened his eyes wide and looked between the stone walls.
-These are the flowers Mom loves!
Yellow flowers were blooming abundantly around the school. Young Geonwoo carefully plucked them, making sure not to damage them, and ran quickly. He wanted to give them to his mom as soon as possible. He was looking forward to his mom affectionately calling him “our Geonwoo.”
Geonwoo arrived home and shook the dirt off his feet as he took off his shoes. One shoe wasn’t coming off easily, so he sat down to untie the laces. That’s when he heard someone’s voice from inside the house.
-Mom! This is a present!
It was his younger sibling’s voice.
-Is this for Mom? Oh my goodness, my son! Thank you. Mom is really so~ so happy!
His mother’s delighted voice followed.
Geonwoo peeked at them through the crack in the door and slowly entered the room, carefully opening the door. Their gazes turned to him. The bright smile that had been on his mother’s face until a moment ago disappeared, and with her expression frozen stiff, she called out to Geonwoo while hiding her second child behind her.
-…You’re home.
A completely different attitude than the one she had with her second child. A voice tense with anxiety.
Geonwoo clutched the flowers hidden behind his back and looked up at his mother’s face. Then he lowered his head and looked at his younger sibling.
-Eek!
When his sibling’s eyes met Geonwoo’s, they flinched in surprise and quickly hid behind their mother.
A strange silence filled the room, and a man’s solemn voice from the TV gradually filled the room.
[Children are no longer safe. Breaking the established theory that Espers only manifest after becoming adults, for the first time, an unmanifested Esper showing signs of manifestation at 13 years old has appeared. There was nearly a major incident at the orphanage. If it hadn’t been discovered in advance…]
The man’s confident tone continued. Geonwoo glanced at the table. There was Geonwoo’s examination paper. High possibility of Esper manifestation.
Geonwoo went to his room while hiding the flowers. No one tried to stop him. He only heard his younger sibling’s crying behind him. And his mother’s loving voice comforting his sibling.
Entering his room, Geonwoo tossed the flowers onto his desk and lay on the bed, burying his face in the pillow.
‘Our Geonwoo, my son!’
The words he had heard every day before taking the examination echoed inside Geonwoo. He rubbed his face against the pillow and didn’t lift his head for a long time.
After a long time passed, Geonwoo slowly got up from the bed. Something made him feel suffocated, and he wanted to go outside. Geonwoo left his room and opened the front door. From the inner room, his sibling’s and mother’s laughter could be heard continuously. Geonwoo closed the front door.
Geonwoo headed to the playground. It was full of children. Many of his classmates were there too. Geonwoo quickly surveyed the playground and went to sit on a swing in the corner.
As soon as he did, that area emptied of children. Everyone went to the opposite side and whispered among themselves.
-What should we do… Looks like he’s going to play here.
-Who?
-You know, that time bomb.
Who was it that said children are like blank sheets of paper, learning exactly what their parents teach them? That’s why the words of innocent children were even more cruel than those of adults who masked their true feelings.
Geonwoo looked at the children who had been friendly with him. They were all busy turning their heads away. Geonwoo lowered his head and kicked his feet restlessly. Soon, the swing stopped.
-This is boring…
Just as he was about to stand up, lifting his bottom,
-Heave-ho!
-Whoa!
Suddenly, the swing shot forward. Geonwoo grabbed the swing ropes tightly in surprise. With eyes wide like a startled rabbit, he looked back. Then,
-Oh? Hyung!
The pretty hyung was standing behind the swing, smiling. It had been two weeks. The pretty hyung who had saved him when he was being chased by a monster!
He hadn’t seen him since he disappeared surrounded by men in black shirts…
Geonwoo jumped off the swing in excitement.
-Hey! That’s dangerous!
Geonwoo landed on the ground, barely keeping his balance, and the startled hyung ran to him. Seeing him, Geonwoo quickly hugged him.
-Hyung!
The hyung who had saved him. The only one who had had a long conversation with him. The hyung who had warmly embraced and comforted him when he was scared.
Geonwoo didn’t know what to do with himself, happy to be pressed against the hyung’s chest. He had wanted to meet him again but had no idea where to go to find him. Even after circling around the neighborhood, he hadn’t run into him even once.
‘I guess he doesn’t live around here…’
Just when he was feeling dejected and half giving up, the hyung appeared.
-Hyung! Hyung! Hyuuung~
That’s why Geonwoo was even happier. The longer he had waited, the more delighted he was to see the hyung.
But as if to break that joy, whispering voices were heard from behind. Familiar painful words reached the hyung and Geonwoo plainly.
Geonwoo became depressed while hugging the hyung. He slightly lifted his head and looked at the hyung’s face.
‘Will the hyung tell me to move away too?’
‘Will he tell me to go away?’
‘Or will he smile like adults do and quietly distance himself from me?’
Geonwoo bit his lip. He waited for the hyung’s words as if waiting for punishment. The pretty hyung pushed Geonwoo away. Geonwoo’s head gradually lowered toward the ground. The hyung went behind Geonwoo and left. Geonwoo’s lips trembled.
-…Hy…ung…
For the first time, he hated the children in his class.
‘They could speak so I can’t hear…’
‘They could speak after the hyung left…’
Geonwoo covered his ears, afraid that the hyung’s voice would be added to the chatter about him. He stood like that for a long time.
But then,
-Whoa!
Someone suddenly pulled him from behind. When he turned around, the hyung was holding Geonwoo’s hand. And around the hyung, a large crowd of children had gathered. They were all looking up at the hyung with shining eyes.
-Hyung! Is it true? Are you really a Guide?
-See this? This white shirt. Only Guides can wear this special clothing!
The hyung said with a shrug. The children cheered even more, clapping their hands.
-Wow! This is my first time seeing a Guide!
-They say Guides keep Espers from exploding. Is that true?
The children’s questions were full of admiration. If Espers were symbols of danger to ordinary people, Guides were the opposite. The only ones who could control dangerous Espers. That’s how Guides were perceived by ordinary people.
But the hyung easily shattered that perception.
-Dangerous? Espers protect all of you!
The hyung emptied his pockets and bought treats for the children, and sat in a circle with them on the playground, telling stories for a long time. As time passed, the children’s mouths opened wider in amazement, and they looked back and forth between the hyung and Geonwoo.
Geonwoo was also sitting right next to the hyung, eating the ice cream the hyung had bought him. Geonwoo’s ears were slightly red as he listened to the hyung’s story.
‘So Espers are really cool.’
Geonwoo realized it for the first time. The Espers the hyung described were no different from heroes. Wonderful heroes who endured their own pain to save people!
The children’s sparkling eyes, which had been fixed on the hyung, now turned to Geonwoo. They were sparkling so brightly that Geonwoo lowered his head.
One of the children sitting in the circle stood up, dusting off their bottom.
-No way! My mom lied! She said it was dangerous to be near him!
The child, seemingly embarrassed about having avoided Geonwoo all this time, shouted while kicking the sand with their feet. They also bounced a ball back and forth. A small child next to them snatched the ball. Then they held it out to Geonwoo with a bright smile.
-Let’s play together! Geonwoo~
-Hey, you! I was going to say that!
Starting with these two children, one by one, they flocked to Geonwoo. It was chaos as they all tried to play with Geonwoo, pouring out all the things they had wanted to say, as if he had regained his original popularity. Everyone smiled brightly at Geonwoo.
-Huh? Ah! Yeah, yeah!
Though startled at first, Geonwoo quickly regained his smile. Geonwoo also smiled brightly at the children.
The hyung beside Geonwoo looked at him and the children with satisfaction, then dusted off his bottom and stood up.
-Hyung?
Surrounded by the children, Geonwoo noticed the hyung moving away from him. Geonwoo immediately stood up and ran to grab the hyung’s clothes. The hyung turned around and looked down at Geonwoo, then raised his hand and gently stroked Geonwoo’s hair.
-The kids are waiting. Go play with them.
Geonwoo shook his head vigorously and held onto the hyung’s clothes even tighter.
-Hyung should play too!
The hyung grinned and shook his head once.
-I’d like to, but it’s about time for me to go.
Geonwoo’s lips protruded in disappointment. His hands, which had been tightly holding the hyung’s clothes, fidgeted before letting go.
Geonwoo hesitated for a moment, then immediately grabbed the hyung’s hand again.
-Hyung!
Geonwoo stood close to the hyung and pulled his arm down a little. The hyung’s upper body bent slightly, and Geonwoo stood on his tiptoes. Geonwoo whispered in the hyung’s ear.
-Hyung. Thank you~
Although they had only met twice. Whenever Geonwoo met the hyung, he always became happy. The hyung brought that happiness to Geonwoo. A tremendous happiness at that. That’s why Geonwoo liked the hyung. He had come to like the hyung.
-…
The hyung looked at Geonwoo silently. Then he narrowed his eyes for a moment and looked at Geonwoo with a strange gaze.
