Sencha Replica - Side Story 25

Side Story 25

Cha Gweonwoo’s body shakes lightly as he laughs. My body, embraced by his, also shakes gently along with him.

“I want to be Cha Gweonwoo’s junior too.”

I pretended not to hear Cha Gweonwoo’s words, even though he had told me he didn’t want to learn sports.

“I want to be an umbrella too.”

“An umbrella?”

“Yes, I want to be an umbrella too.”

It might sound strange to suddenly want to become an umbrella, but Cha Gweonwoo didn’t laugh or tease me. Instead, he looked at me with an incredibly serious face.

Thanks to that, I didn’t feel very embarrassed saying that I was envious of his friend wanting to be an umbrella for him, that I wanted to have such an ability too, and that I wanted to protect Cha Gweonwoo from all threats.

Cha Gweonwoo, who had been listening to my words silently, met my eyes.

“Not necessary.”

“…”

“I’m already strong.”

His voice was firm. It was a moment when Cha Gweonwoo, who always seemed as fragile as a bird in one’s arms, looked dependable.

Right, come to think of it, this person was one of only two S-class espers in South Korea and the leader of the most elite esper team in the country. I might be the only one in South Korea who sees him as weak.

“This is all I need.”

Cha Gweonwoo kissed my left cheek briefly and then showed me his palm with careful movements, as if revealing a secret weapon. More precisely, the hedgehog drawn on his palm.

“I heard rumors that it hasn’t been listening well lately.”

“Who said that?”

“They say it doesn’t listen once out of ten times.”

Cha Gweonwoo asked me who told me that, ready to find the internal informant, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I pressed my fingernail into the hedgehog’s head, leaving a mark. Cha Gweonwoo, already exposed, reluctantly confessed to me.

“It hasn’t been listening well lately. Tell it to listen better.”

“How?”

“Give it a kiss.”

He brings his hand to my lips. When he makes such childish requests, his eyes are similar to the look I saw briefly when he lost his memories. It’s natural since he’s the same person.

“Don’t worry. We’re still adjusting to each other.”

“…”

“Sometimes I want to see the real Kim Doweon, even though I know this is Kim Doweon’s life. I guess I love you too much.”

“…”

“But still… I’ll love you.”

Cha Gweonwoo no longer says he’s sorry for loving me. Yet he still says he’ll love me. Knowing how much courage it took him to make this small change, his confession made my heart flutter every time I heard it.

***

After that, I followed Cha Gweonwoo’s training every day. At that time, Cha Gweonwoo finished his training cleanly without any mistakes, as if his previous behavior had been a mistake. This made me nothing more than an overly attentive boyfriend who followed his lover’s training and watched from the side, but I still needed to be by his side until the hedgehog could exert its power perfectly.

Min-jae, who couldn’t even dream that I might be Cha Gweonwoo’s boyfriend and thought I was just a dedicated guide, enthusiastically praised Gweonwoo in front of me again today.

I subtly tried to show Min-jae my fourth finger with the couple ring on it, but Min-jae’s attention was solely focused on Gweonwoo.

As if he had learned to draw somewhere, Min-jae skillfully sketched Gweonwoo’s movements with just a ballpoint pen that seemed to be scribbling. Sitting next to Min-jae, I also drew Gweonwoo. Compared to Min-jae’s drawings, mine were about the level of a second-grade elementary school student grudgingly drawing a picture diary.

“But Gweonwoo hyung is amazing.”

What’s amazing about our Gweonwoo?

“He usually doesn’t let people get close? And he always only says necessary words.”

Our Gweonwoo is a complete chatterbox though.

“No matter what you say, he…”

“Wait a moment, Cha Gweonwoo!”

I suddenly sprang up like a spring while quietly listening to Min-jae’s words. Cha Gweonwoo, who had been moving around the training ground like a programmed robot, had abruptly stopped in the middle of the training ground.

Even though there was a solid glass wall between us and the training ground was so large that no matter how much I shouted from here, Cha Gweonwoo wouldn’t be able to hear me, I kept calling his name while clinging to the glass wall.

How many times did I call his name until my throat felt like it was tearing? There’s no way my voice could have reached him, but as if he had heard it somehow, Cha Gweonwoo turned around and looked at me.

I couldn’t hear any of the surrounding noise. The moment our eyes met, there were only him and me in this space. I wanted to instill faith in him. Faith that I would be alive and well here.

Then, even from this distance, I sensed that his gaze had changed. Some strong conviction seemed to completely captivate him.

With me at his back, Cha Gweonwoo ran off again without any hesitation. Only after Cha Gweonwoo had run far away did I manage to take a deep breath.

I must have been more tense than I realized, as the back of my neck felt stiff as if I had caught a cold. As I sat down, rubbing my nape with hands damp with cold sweat.

“Ever thought about being a field guide?”

Someone suddenly spoke to me from behind.

It was a different person from Min-jae, who was standing next to me with his mouth open in a round ‘o’ shape.

When I turned around, startled, Seo Taeyoung, who should have been in Busan, was sitting there brazenly.

No way, how is Mr. Seo Taeyoung here? How long has he been here?

“Eh-hei.”

While I was too surprised to say anything, the Busan esper sitting right next to him straightened his legs that had been crossed on the front seat and tried to stop Seo Taeyoung.

“This guy’s starting again.”

However, Seo Taeyoung, with an utterly serious face, put his hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t you want to be a field guide with me?”

“W-what do you mean…”

As I slightly pulled away, a voice full of confidence captured me.

“We need someone who can control that guy in the field right now. As you saw in Busan, when that guy goes berserk, there’s no one who can stop him.”

“…”

“I think Kim Doweon could do it. I see potential in you.”

I… could be Cha Gweonwoo’s umbrella?

I swallowed hard, completely captivated by his dark gray eyes that sparkled as if looking at a rare gem. Blood rushed to my head, making my scalp feel hot. My heart was pounding wildly.

I could save Cha Gweonwoo when he’s in danger? Like just now?

“Eh-hei, really. Why are there so many potential talents in South Korea! He says everyone he sees has potential!”

But the Busan esper waved his hand, interfering.

“Don’t trust this hyung, he’s a con man. Do you know how many people have been fooled by him? Working in the field is hell.”

And clicking his tongue, he grabbed Seo Taeyoung’s arm and pulled him back as if stopping a troublesome customer. Let’s stop this, hyung. Don’t try to recruit decent people. As if Cha Gweonwoo would let Kim Doweon work in the field!

Those words suddenly reminded me of something Cha Gweonwoo had once said to me.

‘So they said you’re perfectly suited to be a field guide.’

‘Shit, which crazy bastard said such nonsense.’

Ah, right.

I carefully folded my briefly inflated hopes like origami and politely returned the business card Seo Taeyoung had given me.

I can’t do it. My dad says I can’t.

***

After Cha Gweonwoo’s training ended, we moved to a nearby French restaurant that the Busan esper had supposedly reserved. It was a unique two-story building with holes punched all over it, and at the entrance was a large sign that read <Reserved for: Prince Lee New-one>.

The Busan esper, acting like the restaurant owner, opened the glass door for us and escorted us inside, winking one eye. I thought he had just reserved a room, but he said he had rented out the entire restaurant.

“It’s noisy when there are too many people.”

I wondered if I would even get full from the tiny portions of food served on small plates, but by the time we got to dessert, I was mysteriously full.

After I had finished Cha Gweonwoo’s dessert as well, Lee New-one, who had been sitting next to me waiting for me to finish eating, pointed to the board games in one corner of the restaurant.

“Hyung, are you good at games?”

“I’m not bad. I play a little.”

“Want to play a round with me?”

While the two seniors were talking, New-one and I played games earnestly. Mostly games of chance like pressing crocodile teeth, stabbing the barrel man with knives, breaking ice to make penguins fall, and so on.

“Ah!”

I, who am utterly hopeless at games, lost them all. Ha-ha-ha, New-one laughed loudly and swung the toy hammer threateningly in the air. As a form of handicap, Cha Gweonwoo was hit with the hammer instead of me, but even though the large back that was turned to us didn’t flinch when suddenly hit on the head or back by New-one, I felt too sorry watching it.

“This time, I’ll take the hit!”

When I fired up my determination saying I’d really win this time, New-one excitedly shouted “Call!” and opened the closed crocodile mouth wide. Is there some kind of pattern to the crocodile teeth? I stared intently at the crocodile teeth. I just couldn’t understand why it only caught me and not that person.

“I don’t like Doweon being out in the field.”

“If Kim Doweon isn’t in the field, who will control you and how when you go berserk?”

Until just now, I hadn’t noticed because I was busy shouting “Waah!” every time I pressed a tooth, but now that I was keeping my mouth shut out of nervousness, I could hear the conversation between Seo Taeyoung and Cha Gweonwoo.

“Just having Kim Doweon in the field is a threat to me.”

“We need Kim Doweon in the field.”

New-one clicked his tongue and pointed at me with his chin, saying,

“Arguing about whether the chicken or the egg came first won’t get you anywhere. See who wins.”

With six teeth already pressed down, it seemed like someone would definitely get caught on this turn or the next. After deliberating between the innermost molar and the canine, I gently rubbed the molar with my fingertip.

New-one, resting his chin on his hand, raised one eyebrow as if to ask if I was really going to press that one. Is this not it? I hesitated, touching the molar again, then thought “whatever” and firmly pressed the canine.

“Ah!”

The crocodile ate my hand once again.

New-one, who had been laughing so hard he hit the table, retrieved the toy hammer he had thrown far away. The hammer looked so threatening that I wondered if it had always looked that scary. New-one swung the hammer in the air making a sound, threatening to make it so I could never stretch my neck again.

Hey, is it okay for an esper to threaten a civilian with a toy hammer!

Still, since I lost, I obediently offered my head. Surely he wouldn’t kill me. I tried to casually ask him to hit gently, but New-one, without batting an eye, just laughed and hit my head with the hammer.

“Ah!”

It hurt less than I expected, but I was so startled that I grabbed my head and let out a short scream. Cha Gweonwoo, who had been talking with Seo Taeyoung until now, quickly turned to look at me. Cha Gweonwoo’s face crumpled menacingly as he immediately grasped the situation.

“Hey.”

“No! Kim Doweon asked me to hit him!”

I was about to pretend it hurt more, but in the blink of an eye, I really got hit two or three more times.

“Ah!”

As I raised my head, feeling wronged, New-one laughed “Euhakhak” and stood up from his seat with lightning speed. The now half-crushed toy hammer was already in Cha Gweonwoo’s hand.

“No! I won, so why am I…!”

New-one shouted as he had already run far away by the time Cha Gweonwoo stood up with his large body. Seo Taeyoung called out to Cha Gweonwoo’s back as he followed New-one into the room.

“Anyway, think about it a bit!”

Instead of an answer, the room door slammed shut. As alternating sounds of whistle-like laughter and toy hammer hits came from inside the room, Seo Taeyoung shook his head, saying they were both childish.

“See, Doweon.”

Before long, Cha Gweonwoo reappeared holding the battered toy hammer and strode over to examine my head. My head has been famous for being hard as a rock since I was young. It won’t get even a scratch from being hit with a mere toy hammer.

Yet, as if he was still worried, Gweonwoo thoroughly inspected it. Only after checking for a long time did he sit back down next to Seo Taeyoung and say,

“Anyway. Doweon doesn’t need to be in the field.”

“…”

“That’s what I’m trying to make happen.”

Sensing that there was no use in saying anything more in the face of his confident voice, Seo Taeyoung just shrugged his shoulders. If that’s really what you want, there’s nothing I can do. I, who had been listening silently, fiddled with Seo Taeyoung’s business card that he had returned earlier, telling me to think about it one more time.

Someone once said that life is a series of choices. We may not know which path is the right one, but we continue to choose the better one among them, moving forward little by little.

Someday, we might regret saying ‘I shouldn’t have taken that path,’ or we might have to turn back as much as we’ve come when faced with a wall, but what of it? Even that is just part of the journey we will take together.

Cha Gweonwoo and I, we are moving forward like that. Slowly, little by little.

End of Sencha Replica Side Story.