Chapter 5: The beginning of us

“Oh my, he’s adorable.

He’s ten? He’s the same age as our son.”

“Let him play with my kid while we finish moving.

Makes things a lot easier.”

“Oh, is that really okay…?

Thank you so much.”

The man they’d never seen before repeated his thanks several times before disappearing inside.

Through the wide-open gate, workers could be seen moving furniture and boxes nonstop.

Soon enough, Han-geon found himself standing alone in the yard with the unfamiliar boy.

“Han-geon, this is the friend who just moved in.

Be nice, okay?”

“Okay!”

“I’ll get breakfast ready, so play for a bit.”

The boy stood awkwardly in the middle of the yard.

Han-geon sneaked a glance at him, studying him carefully.

‘An angel… he looks like an angel.’

He couldn’t think anything else.

Unlike Han-geon and his friends, who were tanned nearly black from playing in the sun, the boy’s small face was pale and almost translucent.

His eyes, nose, and mouth were delicately arranged, like a prince from a storybook.

Han-geon thought he had never seen anyone this pretty in his entire life.

But he was also a little shorter than Han-geon, and his frame was much smaller—Han-geon would have believed it if someone said he was eight.

“Hi, I’m Choi Han-geon.”

“…”

But the boy didn’t answer.

After staring quietly at Han-geon for a moment, he turned his head away as if he’d lost interest.

It was a bit awkward, but Han-geon was naturally outgoing and friendly, so he spoke up again without hesitation.

“What kind of games do you like?”

“…”

“Wanna ride bikes for a bit? I’ve got two….”

“No.”

That was the first word the boy spoke.

“I’m just gonna sit here.

You do whatever you want.”

“…”

This time, Han-geon couldn’t say anything.

After saying that, the boy actually went and sat down on the swing in the yard—the wooden swing Han-geon’s dad had set up for him to play on.

Creak, creak.

The swing swayed quietly a few times before coming to a stop.

At the end of Han-geon’s gaze were the boy’s sneakers, almost blindingly white.

Staring blankly at them, Han-geon glanced down at his own.

Even though his mom washed them often, they were still covered in dirt.

How were that kid’s shoes so clean?

And soon, Han-geon learned exactly why.

“Your name’s Cha Eun-gyeol, right?

Come play with us!”

“What games do you play? Do you have a phone number?”

“Wanna play soccer with us later?”

Eun-gyeol had transferred to Han-geon’s school—and even ended up in the same class.

Han-geon had secretly been happy about it, but that didn’t last long.

The boys crowded around him, asking all kinds of questions, but Eun-gyeol ignored all of them just like he had ignored Han-geon.

“…”

Seeing Eun-gyeol turn his head away without even answering, the boys briefly wore awkward expressions.

Then they started chattering among themselves before running off in a noisy group.

Eun-gyeol didn’t play with anyone.

While Han-geon and his friends spent recess kicking balls around and rolling in the dirt until their faces were completely tanned and their sneakers filthy, Eun-gyeol stayed pale and spotless, simply sitting alone in the distance.

‘Why doesn’t he play with anyone?’

Han-geon couldn’t help being curious about him.

But Eun-gyeol didn’t show interest even in Han-geon, who lived right next door.

They could have walked to and from school together, yet Eun-gyeol always went alone.

Sometimes, at the suggestion of Han-geon’s parents, the families would have dinner together—on those rare occasions they exchanged a few words—but other than that, Eun-gyeol never talked to him.

Yet strangely, Han-geon didn’t dislike him.

Maybe it was because of that strong first impression Eun-gyeol had left on him.

He just… wanted to be friends for some reason.

Even as a child, seeing the boy who always sat alone with that clear, delicate face made Han-geon concerned in a way he didn’t quite understand.

There was one more thing that bothered him.

Even though several days had passed since they moved in, Han-geon had never once seen Eun-gyeol’s mother.

Child Han-geon tilted his head and wondered quietly to himself:

‘Does Eun-gyeol not have a mother?’

Only later did he learn the truth.

One day, after falling asleep on the living room sofa while playing, he woke up to hear his parents whispering.

He didn’t understand everything, but his mother’s expression was grave as she murmured things like “domestic violence” and “alcohol addiction.”

And not long after that, an incident finally happened.

The children’s goodwill toward Eun-gyeol—who treated them like they were invisible and wouldn’t even acknowledge them—faded quickly, and it didn’t take long for it to turn into hostility.

Among them were one or two kids who were more cunning than others their age.

“Cha Eung-yeol’s mom! They say she’s an alcoholic! Ehhh!”

One day after school, as the kids were pouring out of the gate and heading home, the big, mean-spirited Kim Jun-woo started it by teasing Eun-gyeol, who was quietly walking home by himself.

The children didn’t even understand what the words meant, but they all joined in.

“Ehhh! Ehhh!”

“They say he looks! Like a girl!”

“Hey! His mom’s weird.

She drinks all the time and she’s in the hospital!”

“Yeah, I heard everything when my mom was talking to Dayoung’s mom.

They said his mom’s in the hospital so she doesn’t come home.

That’s why he’s so short and all skinny like that….”

Kim Jun-woo didn’t get to finish his sentence.

A moment earlier, Eun-gyeol had been walking ahead, but suddenly he whipped around. Before anyone could react, he shoved Jun-woo backward and lunged at him.

The face that had always stayed blank no matter what anyone said was now twisted with terrifying anger.

Thud, thud.

His tightly clenched fists were trembling as he struck Jun-woo’s chest and shoulders again and again.

Jun-woo, who had been standing there dumbfounded, snapped out of it and charged back at him.

Then the other kids all piled in too.

Eun-gyeol’s punches were sharp, but his small frame couldn’t take on everyone.

Eventually, his body was pushed back.

His white T-shirt was caked with dirt in an instant, and his backpack and indoor-shoe pouch tumbled across the ground.

What happened from that point on was what Han-geon saw when he came out of the school a little late.

Eyes wide, he bolted toward them like he’d gone mad, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Hey, what are you doing! Why are you bullying Cha Eun-gyeol! What the hell are you guys doing!”

“Whoa, Choi Han-geon’s mad!”

“Hey, let’s go, let’s go!”

Thanks to his overwhelming size and outgoing personality, Han-geon had naturally become the top of the school hierarchy, even though he had never actually been in a fight.

That hierarchy was proving its worth now.

The moment the kids saw Han-geon charging toward them like an enraged bull, they shrank back and then scattered.

Han-geon didn’t understand it either.

Seeing Eun-gyeol sitting on the ground, covered in dirt, made him so angry—furiously so.

And yet Eun-gyeol had always ignored him, had never really spoken to him properly.

Even as Han-geon walked right up to him, Eun-gyeol didn’t lift his head.

He was breathing hard, like he was fuming inside, but his gaze stubbornly stayed fixed downward.

After a moment of hesitation, Han-geon carefully held out his hand.

“…Want to grab it? I’ll help you up.”

“Don’t need it.”

It was the same cold voice as always.

Han-geon had been treated like he was invisible by Eun-gyeol more times than he could count, but today, for the first time, he was getting irritated too.

He couldn’t understand why Eun-gyeol would act like this even when he was trying to help.

Feeling a flash of annoyance, Han-geon turned to leave him there on the ground.

“You… are you c-crying?”

Eun-gyeol, his face flushed red as he stared hard at the dirt, finally let tears roll down his cheeks.

The moment Han-geon saw that face, he couldn’t take another step away.

‘He looks like an angel.’

The memory of their first meeting resurfaced.

Eun-gyeol was crying with a face that was, to Han-geon, the most beautiful and heartbreaking in the world—so much so that it made him instinctively want to protect him.

‘Poor kid… his mom’s addiction is pretty severe, isn’t it? I heard she’s in the hospital now.

They say she’s barely in her right mind…. And when she’s home, she hits the boy quite often.’

‘So that’s why he barely talks.’

The hushed whispers his mom and dad had traded came back to him vividly.

As a child, Han-geon didn’t fully understand what any of it meant.

But right now, none of that mattered.

Han-geon just wanted to comfort Eun-gyeol.

He didn’t know why—he simply wanted to wipe those falling tears from Eun-gyeol’s face and brush the dirt off his clothes.

Before he realized it, his hand was reaching out.

But the moment Eun-gyeol saw a hand coming toward his face, he slapped it away sharply with a fierce expression.

His body was slender, but the hit stung more than expected.

Even so, Han-geon silently extended his hand again.

With his big, rough palm, he wiped away Eun-gyeol’s tears.

Startled, Eun-gyeol lifted his eyes, full of confusion, and stared at Han-geon.

Looking down at that face, Han-geon spoke as though under a spell.

“…Um… Eun-gyeol.

Do you want to be friends with me?”

“…”

“I’ll chase away those jerks for you.

All of them.”

Eun-gyeol didn’t respond.

He just stared blankly at Han-geon for a long time.

But it was clear that the wall of prickly caution he’d always kept up had softened—at least a little.

Han-geon awkwardly scratched the back of his head and added.

“…I’m serious… I’m strong, and I’m tall, so I can protect you… really….”

After keeping silent all this time, Eun-gyeol finally spoke.

“…Why do you even want to be friends with me?”

“Uh… well…”

The answer didn’t come out right away.

While Han-geon hesitated, Eun-gyeol spoke again, his tone bristling like thorns.

“What if what they said earlier is true?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You saw it too.

You live next door.

You know my mom doesn’t come home.”

Eun-gyeol’s voice was cold, yet trembling in a way that wasn’t like him at all.

“…My mom… she really does drink all the time.

She’s in the hospital right now.”

“…”

“She always… fights with my dad, and does dangerous things.

One time she even came at me with a knife…”

Worked up, his voice rose higher, but he cut himself off mid-sentence.

The tears that had been pooling in his big eyes finally spilled over again.

Startled, Han-geon dropped down on one knee and quickly wiped the tears from Eun-gyeol’s face with his palm.

“I don’t care…”

“…Why don’t you care.”

Maybe it was because his answer sounded too careless.

Eun-gyeol slapped Han-geon’s hand away again, glaring at him with eyes full of hostility.

Scratching the back of his neck, Han-geon hurried to explain.

“I mean… I don’t want to be friends with your mom.

I want to be friends with you…”

“…What?”

“I don’t care what your mom is like… I just want to go to school with you, and eat lunch with you.”

He must not have expected that answer at all.

Eun-gyeol’s eyes widened.

Han-geon had never seen him make that kind of expression before.

And then—something unbelievable happened.

Pfft.

A sudden laugh escaped him, startling Han-geon.

For the first time, a smile spread across that small, pale face.

Eun-gyeol was actually laughing while looking straight at him.

Then Eun-gyeol said clearly, in a refreshingly firm tone.

“Okay.

Let’s do it.”

“…Huh?”

“Let’s be friends.”

“For real?”

Seeing Han-geon grinning from ear to ear, Eun-gyeol lifted his eyes into a beautifully curved smile.

“Yeah.

But you—no backing out.”

“Why would I back—? That’s never gonna happen.”

“Okay.”

The two boys hooked their pinkies together.

Han-geon brushed the dirt off Eun-gyeol’s clothes over and over again.

Their steps felt light as they walked home side by side.

From that day on, Han-geon stayed at Eun-gyeol’s side like a shadow.

At first, Eun-gyeol had pushed him away so coldly, but once they became close, he couldn’t have been more warm or affectionate.

“Han-geon, here.”

“Wow, what’s this?”

“A sticker that came with the bread I bought yesterday.

I wanted to give it to you…”

Saying that with a pretty smile, Eun-gyeol held out a sticker.

He must have carried it so carefully that the paper sleeve around it had grown a little soft and damp.

Han-geon took the sticker and gaped, delighted.

It really was his favorite character.

But honestly, more than the sticker itself, it was the fact that Eun-gyeol had thought of him and brought it all this way that made him happiest.

“But this is something you like too, Eun-gyeol!”

“You like it too, Han-geon.”

“You don’t have to give me stuff like this… but thanks.

Next time, I’ll get something you like. Promise!”

“Mm-hm.”

Han-geon, Han-geon… Calling his name in that sweet voice, Eun-gyeol relied on him—this big, sturdy boy who stood taller than him—and followed him around affectionately.

And whenever some boys tried to pick on the smaller Eun-gyeol, Han-geon kept his promise and protected him every time.

Whether on their way to and from school, eating meals, studying, or playing at the playground—Eun-gyeol and Han-geon were always together, right up until they reluctantly waved goodbye in front of their houses late at night.