EFME 26

Up close, Kim Myunghoe was a pathetic adult. He acted with such insolence, as if Sunyul wasn’t even in the room. Honestly, it was disappointing. It seemed that disappointment must have shown on my face.

Kim Myunghoe began to find fault with Sunyul over every little thing. He would pick apart his work or criticize trivial actions as being ill-mannered. At first, it was just a word or two, but when Sunyul didn’t react properly, he gradually raised the intensity.

He’d say things like, “You act rude because you grew up without parents,” or “How dare you slack off at work while shamelessly leeching off taxes.” He would make Sunyul stand there for a long time while spewing verbal abuse, and sometimes he would even hit him on the head with documents or throw whatever objects were at hand.

Sunyul wasn’t deeply hurt by Kim Myunghoe’s words or actions. It would be a lie to say Kim Myunghoe’s words left no mark at all. They were certainly painful words, but they weren’t enough to shake Sunyul.

Bad adults like that are everywhere. Selfish people who try to cut others down and tear off whatever they can.

But Sunyul knew well that there were far more good people. It was thanks to their goodwill that Sunyul was here now.

Therefore, words filled with malice, unrelated to the truth, could not leave a deep wound on Sunyul.

‘I’m okay, Team Leader.’

‘Sunyul.’

‘I’m really okay….’

‘Sunyul, what if Kim Myunghoe had sworn at me?’

Sunyul flinched to a halt at Jaehee’s words.

‘What if he had called me a crazy bastard, a dumb bastard who got a title he doesn’t deserve and acts all high and mighty, someone who builds his performance by exploiting young kids?’

‘…Team Leader.’

‘You would’ve been angry, right? I’m angry too, Sunyul. You’re not the kind of kid who deserves to hear things like that, and to think I sent you to that bastard without even knowing you were hearing them… it makes me angry.’

‘…I’m sorry.’

‘Come here, Sunyul.’

Sunyul approached Jaehee. Jaehee stood up and hugged Sunyul.

‘We’re a team. When things are tough, you have to open up and lean on us.’

‘…Yes.’

‘It’s good to be a nice kid, but you don’t always have to be nice. You don’t have to.’

Jaehee let go of Sunyul and smiled.

‘I’m worried because you’re a kid who does too well on your own. Sometimes, you should lean on the adults.’

Looking into those affectionate eyes, Sunyul nodded.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

Sunyul suddenly woke up from his dream.

His whole body ached as if it were being torn apart, or shattered. It felt like someone was pulling him with immense force while simultaneously beating him mercilessly. As if they were trying to remove Sunyul from that spot, no matter what.

Sunyul felt a sense of anxiety amidst the pain.

I shouldn’t be dreaming.

I shouldn’t recall a single thing—not the kind faces, not the affectionate words, not the warm memories.

I mustn’t remember. If the memories keep coming back, surely, that thing lurking in the darkness, the thing I’ve forcibly suppressed….

“……”

His head throbbed violently. It hurt so much, as if it were being gouged with a knife, that Sunyul couldn’t finish his thought.

“Lim Sunyul.”

Sunyul jerked his head up. He saw Muyoung. His usually composed face was filled with anxiety as he looked down at Sunyul.

“…Guild Master.”

“Are you okay?”

“…Yes. I’m okay.”

Muyoung let out a sigh. Then, with a somewhat weary expression, he stood up.

“It looked like your head was hurting.”

“A little.”

“Should I get you some headache medicine?”

When Sunyul nodded, Muyoung left the room.

Sunyul realized his body was drenched in a cold sweat and tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness made him lie back down. He was soaked in sweat from head to toe, as if he had just run a full-out sprint.

Soon, Muyoung returned with medicine and a glass of water. Seeing Sunyul stumble, unable to sit up properly, Muyoung supported his body to hold him steady. Sunyul managed to swallow the medicine with some difficulty. He didn’t swallow it properly, and the bitter taste lingered in his mouth, making him frown instinctively.

“I should’ve brought something sweet.”

“It’s okay.”

Sunyul tossed back the remaining water.

“Are you still dizzy? You look pale.”

“A little dizzy…”

“Tell me right away if you’re hurting anywhere.”

Muyoung said in a calm tone to Sunyul, who had confessed honestly. Sunyul nodded and replied that he would.

“Lie down and rest a bit more.”

“What about work?”

It was bright outside. It wasn’t the time to be lazing around in bed. But Muyoung’s attitude was extremely relaxed.

“It’s fine to go to work a little late.”

“Is that really okay? Because of me…”

“There’s nothing urgent, so it doesn’t matter. If there was something important, I would have called a guild member to watch over you and gone to work myself.”

This explanation, with a reason attached, was much more convincing than a simple assurance that it was okay. Thanks to that, Sunyul could relax and lie down comfortably.

Muyoung remained seated beside him, looking down at Sunyul.

“You were moaning in your sleep the whole time.”

“I was?”

“Yes. You didn’t know I woke you up?”

“I had no idea.”

“Why do you keep getting sick?”

Muyoung muttered under his breath. His voice was filled with worry. It felt ticklish, as if someone were gently brushing the inside of his body with a feather.

“We can’t even take you to a hospital. A healer probably won’t be much help either.”

“It doesn’t hurt that much.”

Muyoung didn’t look like he believed Sunyul’s words one bit. He just continued to study Sunyul with serious eyes.

“It’s better to find the cause before it gets worse.”

But even as he said that, there was nothing he could pinpoint as a cause.

The only thing that was somewhat unusual was Sunyul’s dreams. His condition was always bad after he had one.

But he was reluctant to tell anyone about those dreams. He just wanted to bury everything about the dreams for the rest of his life and not think about them at all.

In the end, Sunyul chose to keep his mouth shut with a bewildered expression.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

Sunyul was lying on the sofa in the lounge attached to the Guild Master’s office, harvesting crops on Mallow Farm on his smartphone.

After finishing all his tasks in the game, Sunyul put down his smartphone and looked out the window. Beyond the glass, a wide, open view of Seoul spread out below. It was a sight he saw every day, but it was always magnificent.

He had grown quite accustomed to life here now. At first, it clearly looked like he was just freeloading in Muyoung’s space, but now it had become completely Sunyul’s space.

Glancing around the lounge, Sunyul felt a pang of guilt and started gathering and tidying up the books scattered about, the scarf he had just started knitting, the coloring book, and the stress ball.

Seemingly concerned about Sunyul staying in the lounge all day, Muyoung had bought and gifted him various things. Since he had plenty of time anyway, Sunyul happily accepted what Muyoung brought him and tried to make use of each one.

Sunyul started knitting again. His skills were clumsy, so he made little progress, repeatedly knitting and unraveling.

While he was engrossed in knitting the scarf, he heard a commotion from outside. Wondering what was going on, he peeked his head out the door, and his eyes met with a man who was looking around.

The man with a cool impression looked vaguely familiar.

Tilting his head, the man strode toward him. Sunyul, not knowing what to do, closed the door and fled inside. But the man nonchalantly pushed the door open.

“Hi?”

“Ah… hello.”

Not even knowing who he was, Sunyul greeted him in a daze. The man suddenly grabbed Sunyul’s chin, made a ‘Hmm’ sound, and examined his face.

Sunyul had no choice but to look back at the man. As he rolled his eyes, pretending not to look while observing him, he saw that he bore a surprising resemblance to Muyoung. On top of that, he was tall and slender like Muyoung. Even though he was wearing shoes with quite a high platform, he was about the same height as Sunyul.

After observing him for a long while, the man let Sunyul go.

“You’re Lim Sunyul, right?”

“Yes. I am Lim Sunyul, but… who are you?”

“Who do you think I am?”

“Are you a member of the Guild Master’s family?”

Sunyul asked, certain of the answer. The man nodded coolly.

“That’s right, I’m Muyoung’s mom.”

“What?!”

Sunyul stared at the man in astonishment. At most, Sunyul had thought he was Muyoung’s older or younger brother. No matter how bad Sunyul was at guessing people’s ages, the man looked no older than Muyoung’s brother.

“I-I see. You are the Guild Master’s mother.”

“Yep, that’s right.”

The man beamed, as if he found something incredibly amusing. Then, he wrapped both his arms around one of Sunyul’s and pulled him closer.

“Perfect timing. Muyoung’s not here, so should we go out and play?”

“What?”

“Let’s go, kiddo. I’ll buy you something delicious.”

Hearing the all-too-sudden proposal, Sunyul’s eyes darted about nervously.

“I can’t.”

“Oh my. Why not?”

“The Guild Master told me not to follow strangers.”

“Puhaha!”

As soon as he heard Sunyul’s words, the man bent over, laughing boisterously. Was that such a strange answer? Sunyul stared blankly at the man.