RCKS 8

‘I can play alone too!’

Then, at that time, I will think of playing alone as well.

He did not tell his adoptive parents, but Lee Yoonsan had quite a lot of time playing alone at school as well. Especially at the beginning of the semester, it was like that because there were no friends who approached first to the plump and shy Lee Yoonsan. It was not that Lee Yoonsan could not create an atmosphere to step forward first and make friends either.

When he was in kindergarten or in the first grade of elementary school, he used to approach friends first and hang out with his unique bright personality, but after the second grade of elementary school, there were cases where that brightness did not work well with the kids.

Especially this year when he became a third grader, it was particularly bad because the kids started receiving education about the second gender little by little and began to judge ‘appearance’. Of course, not all kids evaluated their friends solely based on appearance.

However, the kids just approached a bit more actively to the kids who looked pretty or handsome in their eyes. Moreover, nowadays, at 10 years old, it was an age where they considered it as experiencing heterosexual relationships in their own way.

As the kids learned about the second genders ‘alpha’ and ‘omega’, they praised and lifted up the kids who were handsome or tall or good at sports saying they seemed to become ‘alphas’, and protected or found cute the kids who were pretty or skinny and small saying they seemed to become ‘omegas’.

Because they were young children, visual elements became the only criterion. That was why, just before the manifestation period, the phenomenon of interest concentrating only on the particularly popular friends was severe.

Even Lee Yoonsan’s school, which was known as a peaceful and quiet school district, often had only a few names mentioned in the kids’ mouths. And for those who could not become those ‘few’, or could not join the groups that ‘gathered while talking about those few’, kids who were soon excluded appeared frequently.

If one had to classify, Lee Yoonsan belonged to the ‘excluded type’ since entering the third grade. The kids did not deliberately bully or ostracize him, but they did not come to him first and show interest either. The kids were not curious whether Lee Yoonsan would manifest as alpha or omega, and they were not particularly interested in whether Lee Yoonsan was good at sports or not.

At least until the second grade, he had received friends’ attention for always winning arm-wrestling because he was strong, but from the third grade, it was because the kids’ interests had changed. In short, the kids did not approach first to Lee Yoonsan who looked ‘chubby’ and ugly externally.

Lee Yoonsan also did not actively approach to become close with friends because of the memory of being persistently rejected by Hwang Haekyung and his group.

As a result, although it was not bullying, the number of friends Lee Yoonsan hung out with closely became rarer than before. The fact that his capable adoptive parents were too busy to participate actively in the parents’ community probably did not have zero influence either.

Anyway, after becoming a third grader, Lee Yoonsan became particularly accustomed to playing alone. Mischievous kids in the class sometimes teased him for being chubby, but he did not tell his adoptive parents because he thought his moms would worry. And the source of all this patience was also Hwang Haekyung and his group. It seemed that he had developed some tolerance to their teasing and treatment knowingly or unknowingly.

Of course, unlike at the camping site, there was no target for the kids’ mischievous teasing at school, but since the teasing did not develop into bullying, he considered it bearable.

And Lee Yoonsan thought that he himself, who could have such thoughts, was quite ‘mature’ and admirable. He was ‘considering’ his moms by not saying things that would make his moms sad, and he had learned that ‘consideration’ was cool.

There were times when he felt sad or hurt and wanted to cry, but still, Lee Yoonsan endured by reminding himself of his own ‘coolness’. It was okay because after enduring the friends’ neglect or teasing at school tightly and going home, there were his adoptive parents who loved him more than anyone.

“Huh?”

So, this time as well, after glaring briefly at Hwang Haekyung’s back who was ignoring him and moving alone, Lee Yoonsan widened his eyes while looking at a tall pine tree far away. At the base of the pine tree, something like a pitch-black squirrel was attached. It was a red squirrel that he had seen in the animal encyclopedia he had been looking at frequently lately.

In fact, it was an animal he had often seen while going camping. However, he had never seen it this close, and usually, it was on the tree above, and his moms would point it out and show it to him, so he had only glanced at it briefly.

Anyway, Lee Yoonsan was tempted by the appearance of such a red squirrel. Since Hwang Haekyung seemed to have no interest in him anyway, in the situation where he had to pick up pine cones and play alone, an object that aroused curiosity appeared.

“Huh, don’t go!”

So, he lowered his body quite a bit and approached the red squirrel stealthily and carefully, but the red squirrel, who noticed Lee Yoonsan’s presence, quickly climbed up the tree. Lee Yoonsan ran after such a red squirrel, and the red squirrel started hopping and moving around here and there on the tree.

“Ah, shoot!”

Lee Yoonsan was a bit annoyed at such a red squirrel, but it was also cute. On the other hand, it was fun because a living wild animal was hopping and running away right in front of his eyes.

So, Lee Yoonsan also tilted his head back and looked up at the red squirrel on the tree while starting to run together. Because of the red squirrel running while changing trees, he bumped his head into trees here and there, but he ran without knowing it hurt. He ran until he was out of breath and almost hit his shoulder on a big tree.

“Hey!”

“Huh?”

Before Lee Yoonsan’s shoulder touched the rough pine tree trunk, Hwang Haekyung pulled Lee Yoonsan’s clothes. Then, only then did Lee Yoonsan, who lowered his stiff neck, look down at Hwang Haekyung, and Hwang Haekyung looked up at Lee Yoonsan with a face full of frown.

In fact, Hwang Haekyung had tried to pretend not to know Lee Yoonsan who was running looking only at the sky like an idiot. He thought the sight of running in a very dull and stupid way wondering if there was something on the tree was a bit pitiful. But the precarious steps of Lee Yoonsan running like that bothered him for no reason.

If that kid falls and gets hurt like that, Dad will make a fuss at me again, right? With such a thought, Hwang Haekyung held the net bag full of pine cones in one hand and watched Lee Yoonsan again. The staggering steps because he was running looking at the sky instead of ahead were unstable, and the appearance of constantly seeming to hit his head on trees made him frown.

So, in the end, he ran toward Lee Yoonsan. Grabbing the clothes just before Lee Yoonsan’s shoulder touched the thick trunk of the pine tree was an action that came out without him knowing. But this time, Lee Yoonsan was a bit faster. To Hwang Haekyung who was about to get annoyed, Lee Yoonsan spoke in a very excited voice.

“Did you see? There’s a red squirrel!”

“What? Where?”

“On that tree over there!”

Hwang Haekyung raised his head and looked up at the tree following Lee Yoonsan’s words. The annoyance he was about to pour on Lee Yoonsan disappeared in an instant from his face. Even to Hwang Haekyung, who was only 11 years old, a red squirrel was quite an existence that aroused curiosity.

“It’s not there.”

But when he looked up, there was nothing on the tree. There were only dense pine needles covering the sky and rough branches extending out. Hwang Haekyung lowered his head with a face full of disappointment, and at that moment, he spotted one creature far ahead and his eyes sparkled.

This time, it was two squirrels.

“Hey, squirrels over there!”

“Huh? Really!”

“Let’s go, quick!”

This time, Hwang Haekyung, who was hooked on the squirrels, started running first. Then, Lee Yoonsan also started running with a face full of excitement, and the squirrels, who noticed the presence of the two, quickly climbed up the tree and started running.

“Ah, we’re going to lose them!”

“No, there they are!”

The voices of the two kids chasing the squirrels hopping and moving from tree to tree were full of laughter. Hwang Haekyung shouted laughing as if Lee Yoonsan was one of the friends playing with him, and laughed urging him to run faster.

When Lee Yoonsan missed the direction of the squirrel, he pointed with his finger, and when Hwang Haekyung was about to trip over a tree root, Lee Yoonsan grabbed him. It was the first moment when the laughter sounds of the two mixed together.

But such laughter sounds of the two did not last long.

“Where is this place…?”

After running for a long time from the pine grove following the squirrels, the two young children had arrived at an unfamiliar place. They had thought there would be no getting lost since they kept running forward, but before they knew it, there was a coastal road behind, and ahead, a coastal area full of black rocks and stones was visible.

It was fortunate that the sky was not dark yet, but Lee Yoonsan, already scared by the unfamiliar scenery, made a whimpering voice. Hwang Haekyung looked back at such Lee Yoonsan once and then glared back at the path they had run as if retracing it.

“We kept running forward, so we can just go back the same way.”

“Then we can return to the camping site?”

“…Yeah.”

In fact, Hwang Haekyung could not guarantee it either. However, Hwang Haekyung thought that the sight of his big sibling getting scared was a bit pitiful because he was younger after all. And at the same time, it seemed like the words he had heard like brainwashing in his ears were coming.

‘Because you’re hyung, Haekyung has to take good care of Yoonsan.’

It was the words that his mom and dad kept nagging him day and night only during camping season.

In fact, Hwang Haekyung was the same in being suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar environment. It meant that he was flustered that an unknown place appeared after running excitedly like with his friends. Of course, such things were things he had often experienced while running around the camping site with friends. While running in the mountains or riversides near the camping site, getting far from the camping site was common.

But at that time, it was a mountain with walking paths nearby, and mountains or riversides managed by the camping site. It was not camping in a far place like Jeju Island, and there had not been times when cars ran on the coastal road right behind like this.

“Ugh, car…!”

As expected, right after a car passed on the coastal road behind, Lee Yoonsan shouted with his eyes wide open as if scared.

Thinking about it, Lee Yoonsan had been very timid compared to his size since before. He would freak out seeing a turtle smaller than his palm, and could not jump down even if placed on a slightly high tree. He seemed strong seeing he won arm-wrestling, but overall, his body movements were clumsy, and it was obvious that he was not accustomed to bugs or rough play.

Camping and being scared of bugs.

For Hwang Haekyung, that was already in the category he could not understand. That was why he did not play with Lee Yoonsan even more.

The way Hwang Haekyung played with friends was mainly catching insects or running around on mountains or dirt ground or low trees and rolling.

“Hey, come here.”

Hwang Haekyung beckoned to Lee Yoonsan who seemed frozen like he was scared seeing the cars passing behind. It seemed he was more scared because cars were passing and the boundary between the coastal road and where they were standing was not clear. No matter how young, he knew cars were scary. So, it would be better to go to the coastal area far ahead instead.

Anyway, Hwang Haekyung had a cell phone in his pants pocket. When he moved up from third grade to fourth grade, his parents had changed it from a kids’ phone to a smartphone. He did not know if Lee Yoonsan had a cell phone or not, but seeing him scared and whimpering right now, it seemed necessary to soothe him. Crying was noisy.

“I have a phone.”

“Huh?”

“We can just call and tell mom or dad to come.”

“Ah…!”

When Hwang Haekyung took out the cell phone he had put well in the pocket of his cargo pants and showed it, Lee Yoonsan’s expression brightened. Lee Yoonsan also had a kids’ phone, but he had left it in the camper van. But seeing Hwang Haekyung’s cell phone, it seemed hope was born that he could call the family.

“Should I call now?”

“Huh?”

“Call mom and dad to come?”

“Yeah… uh….”

“Or, want to play more?”

The road with cars passing was scary, and now that he seemed to have become a bit awkwardly aware of it, to Lee Yoonsan who was glancing as if reading his face, Hwang Haekyung pointed to the coastal area and asked. It was the first time Hwang Haekyung said to play with him, so Lee Yoonsan’s eyes widened.

“Play? With me…?”

“Then, who else to play with?”

It was not that he suddenly liked Lee Yoonsan just because they ran around a bit hooked on the squirrels. Lee Yoonsan, who was slow at running and bigger in both height and build than him, was still an irritating existence to Hwang Haekyung.

Lee Yoonsan also did not think Hwang Haekyung was okay just because they ran around laughing briefly. As evidence, as soon as the fun atmosphere ended and the cars passing on the coastal road and the unfamiliar environment became scary, Lee Yoonsan could not hide his awkward and scared expression.

In other words, it was also worrying that Hwang Haekyung would abandon him and go, or treat him like someone irrelevant.

“But there’s only you here.”

But it was a situation where only the two of them were in an unfamiliar environment. In fact, Hwang Haekyung, who had the cell phone, was also a bit scared of this unfamiliar environment right now.