Chapter 38: Jin

Everyday life as usual.

Time passed leisurely.

I stretched out on the bed and waved my arms.

“I’m bored.”

There was no one to respond to the words that came out of my mouth.

The voice echoing through the empty space scattered lonely.

“Baekshi—” I kicked Baekshi on the bed with my foot.

Baekshi, who was wearing a witch’s hat, fell backwards at my kick.

I put my leg on Baekshi’s soft belly and sighed.

“Shine.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s play.”

“Not now.”

Shine coldly rejected my request to play.

I stared at her back with blank eyes.

“When will Amy come?”

“Well. It might take a few more days.”

Two days ago, I received a phone call from Amy.

As soon as she answered the phone, her face hardened and she disappeared, leaving us only one word: she wouldn’t be back for a few days.

It was nice not having to study without Amy, but her absence felt so great.

Today, I couldn’t use the computer because I had used up all of my allotted computer time.

Shine said she was studying alone and didn’t even play with me.

“Does studying, Shine, enjoy it?”

“Yeah.”

Shine’s voice, focused on one thing, sounded dry at first.

I felt a little disappointed.

I, who had been fidgeting with my hands, suddenly got up from my seat.

I should go to the park.

Wouldn’t this stuffiness go away a little if I went there?

I looked at Shine’s expression.

She seemed to be concentrating on her workbook, moving her pen diligently, and she didn’t seem to have time to pay attention to me.

Stealthily, I moved, lifting my heels so that I wouldn’t make a sound.

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“Amy told me not to go out.”

“…I wasn’t planning on going out?”

I turned around and went into the bathroom.

After that, I poked my head out slightly to check Shine’s appearance.

Shine’s body was facing the exact opposite of the room entrance.

She was definitely turning her back to me.

How did she know that I was going to leave?

I slowly took a deep breath.

I couldn’t hear any footsteps.

Then, she must have noticed that I was going out through my breathing.

I started to move once more.

My gaze never left Shine’s back.

She was definitely not looking at me.

Her hands, which were moving without stopping, told me that she was concentrating on her studies.

“Jeff.”

The moment I reached the door, Shine’s voice was heard once again.

“Yeah. I wasn’t going out. I was just organizing my shoes.”

I pretended not to know and turned my head away from the door.

I also took off my half-worn shoes.

The slippers that flew off my feet made a mess of the hallway.

“Let’s go together.”

Shine put down the pen she was holding and got up from her seat.

It seemed like her studies were finally over.

I stood awkwardly, and waved with sparkling eyes.

I immediately grabbed my small bag.

The yellow bag Amy had packed for me was perfect for my sketchbook and colored pencils.

“Let’s go to the park!”

“Yeah.”

Shine and I left the room in light clothing.

The park, now that the Christmas season is over, has returned to its warm weather like before, and there is no need to pack a coat.

“Where are you going today?”

“Hmm…” I thought as I walked down the hallway in response to Shine’s question.

I passed on the rabbit farm since I went there last time.

Then where would be good?

“Shall we go near the Silver Pond today?”

“Let’s go where Jeff wants to go.”

That’s how today’s destination was decided.

We go down the long hallway and stop by a convenience store.

Instead of lunch, I bought a sandwich to eat and left the convenience store with a black bag in my hand.

I could have taken a tastier sandwich if I had made it myself, but the ingredients I could buy at the convenience store were limited.

“Whew…” I reached the endless staircase and took a deep breath.

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“If you have such a hard time climbing the stairs, why are you going to the park?”

“It’s frustrating.”

While answering Shine’s question, I thought to myself.

It wasn’t just a feeling of frustration.

There was something I couldn’t explain in words, something I absolutely had to do.

That sensual feeling led me to the park.

Shine nodded to my answer.

It didn’t seem like a very satisfying answer to her.

Shine and I started climbing the stairs.

Was it because of the vitamins Amy had given me?

My small and weak body was starting to gain strength.

My body used to be out of breath after climbing just ten stairs.

But now it was different.

My body was healthy enough to climb more than ten, fifteen.

I climbed the last staircase and took a deep breath.

“Ha… Ha….”

Shine was also right next to me, panting.

Her stamina was the same as mine.

“Shall we take a break?”

We stepped and watched people pass by.

They also looked at us as they passed by.

My panting breaths slowly subsided.

When my pounding heartbeats became quiet, I stood up.

Shine, who was holding my hand, also stood up and moved with me.

There were still a lot of stairs left.

I couldn’t even calculate how many times I had to take a break.

I climbed the stairs and rested.

I repeated this over and over again.

I didn’t realize it when I was in Amy’s arms and moved at once, but the number of stairs was too high.

“Last!”

Shine nodded at my suggestion.

We sat on the hard.

I gasped for breath and climbed the last step.

The hand I held with Shine was soaked with sweat.

We collapsed on the wide floor, gasping for breath.

“Huk… Huk…”

However, it was worth climbing the stairs with difficulty.

The vast blue sky welcomed us.

The wide-open entrance, and the green lawn beyond it.

The cool breeze cooled the sweat running down my forehead.

“Where is the silver pond?”

I got up from my seat at Shine’s question.

There was a huge map spread out at the entrance to the park.

If I just looked at this, I could see the entire park at once.

“It’s below the rabbit farm.”

I extended my finger and pointed to the right corner of the map.

Shine nodded and got up from her seat.

Now that there were no more difficult stairs, all that was left was to have fun.

I held out my hand to Shine.

I walked with Shine’s hand in my right hand and the convenience store bag in my left.

The cool breeze as I walked through the park relieved my stuffy feelings a little.

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“What are you doing?”

I was walking with my eyes closed, feeling the wind.

I opened my eyes at Shine’s question and looked in the direction she was pointing.

There was a wide pond.

Beyond it, a large pavilion was providing cool shade.

However, that wasn’t what Shine was pointing at.

A large rock.

A man sitting on it.

A long stick in his hand hung over the pond.

I squinted my eyes and began to examine him closely.

The empty space sparkled.

The sparkling line connected to the stick led to the center of the pond.

“Fishing?”

“What’s fishing?”

“It’s catching fish…”

I tilted my head.

Is it okay to fish in the park pond?

I couldn’t hold back my curiosity, and I walked towards the man with Shine.

I couldn’t see his face because he was wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat.

“Hello~”

The moment I got closer, I heard a familiar voice.

He continued talking without looking back.

“Do you like the park?”

A familiar question, I began to recall my hazy memories.

“Jin…?”

“You remembered my name?” He said, as if he was touched.

“Jeff. Amy told me not to talk to Jin.”

“Ah….”

I quickly shut my mouth at Shine’s words.

Shine grabbed my arm with a stiff face.

It seemed like she wanted to get out of here quickly.

“Amy said that? This is too much.”

Jin, who had been sitting looking at the lake, turned around and sat down.

The long fishing rod swayed.

“…”

Shine and I covered our mouths with both hands.

It was because we might have said something without realizing it.

“You really won’t talk to me?”

Jin’s expression turned gloomy.

He looked like he was looking at a big puppy.

It twitched my mouth.

“Let’s go, Jeff.”

Shine glared at Jin and grabbed my arm.

I was puzzled by Shine’s strong rejection.

Why does she hate Jin?

Even though Amy had told me not to talk, I couldn’t understand Shine’s attitude toward Jin.

Jin just looked upset and didn’t follow us.

Shine pulled me to a large pavilion not far from the lake.

As I entered the pavilion, cool shade blocked the sunlight.

We sat down on the floor in a moderately secluded corner of the pavilion.

I untied the bag on my back and took out my sketchbook.

On the white sketchbook spread out on the floor, colorful lines were drawn.

We lay side by side and drew for a long time.

Blue sky, green lawn, and even a wide pond.

While I was drawing a large rock near the pond, I could see that Jin had disappeared.

Rustle-

“Jin’s gone.”

“He must have gone home.”

Rustle-

Shine and I became even more absorbed in the drawing.

We filled in the empty spaces to complete the drawing.

“Finished!”

The drawing that was completed in this way contained the image of a silver lake.

Now that we had completed the wonderful drawing, it was time to eat.

I reached out to the side of my bag.

I was looking for the sandwich I had bought at the convenience store.

“Huh…?”

But for some reason, my hand was feeling the empty air.

I turned my head in confusion and was greatly shocked.

“Ouch!”

“Hello?”

My mouth wouldn’t open due to the shock.

My tongue, moving with difficulty, barely managed to complete the word.

“Sandwich!”

That’s right.

Jin, who I thought had disappeared, had already come to our side.

As if that weren’t enough, this evil man was stealing our lunches.

I reached out and pointed to the sandwich in his hand.

“Ouch!”

Jin bit into the sandwich as if it were nothing.

The sandwich disappeared into his mouth.

The torn sandwich wrapper was at Jin’s feet.

“I was hungry.”

He stuffed the remaining sandwich into his mouth.

The image of the pure white bread disappearing into his wide-open mouth flashed before my eyes.

My vision became blurry.

The water droplets welling up in my eyes shook as if they were going to fall.

“Jeff?”

At that moment, Shine, who had been standing behind me, stepped forward.

Her eyes were as cold as an ice rink in the middle of winter.

“Get out of the way.”