I'm Cheering You On - 2
The summer sun seemed to envy human happiness.
After Aki and Dodam had joined us for lunch, the noon heat became so fierce that we took down the canopy. Of course, the children from the orphanage and Dodam still had plenty of energy left, and they went on playing with water guns.
-Psh, pshhh, psh.
-Kuh...! Is this the aim of a Transcender Rank...?!
“....”
Seonwoo Taek asked Aki, “Is your lesson schedule all right?”
“Ah, yes... They told me to rest until evening, so...”
“Still, is it all right to push yourself that hard?”
“Dodam... well. She always does that. If she gets tired, she rests on her own, so you don’t need to worry, oppa.”
“I see.”
Dodam roared as she fired a super hyper water gun with both hands. Her T-shirt was soaked through, revealing a little skin, but for some reason there was no trace of sexiness in it at all.
“Kyaaaah—! Water bomb—!”
“Wow, Dodam unnie is still doing that.”
“Can you stop making weird noises, Dami unnie? You’re twenty-one.”
Dodam told the little brats, “The heart is forever young.”
“I don’t want to grow up to be an adult like you, unnie.”
“Where else are you going to find an adult as sexy as me?”
“Sexy? You’re an asphalt gum wrapper.”
“....”
Dodam couldn’t bring herself to argue, so she answered with her water gun instead. That, in essence, was how those in power responded to the truth. And so the children kept running around beneath the blazing sun.
The adults, meanwhile, clicked their tongues and fled.
“Ugh, I’m dying from the heat.”
“Kids really do have endless energy.”
A few people, including the monk, went home, and the rest decided to head indoors.
That meant the second-floor break room of the convenience store.
Aki decided to open the staff lounge for everyone. But then she looked at Seonwoo Taek with a slightly awkward expression.
“I-I’m not even the owner.... It feels embarrassing to say that after all.”
“Not at all.”
“Huh?”
“Ms. A-yeong is the owner of this place.”
“....”
Aki nodded shyly.
“Ah, uh... yes.”
Watching that, Lee Eun-ryeong covered her mouth and smiled with sparkling eyes. Doctor Jang leaned in close to her and whispered, “You needn’t worry about the wedding gift.”
It was the sly, middle-aged logic of a melodrama addict.
Of course, both Aki and Seonwoo Taek heard it.
“....”
“....”
But neither of them responded.
Once Aki and Seonwoo Taek had turned on the air conditioner in the break room and unfolded all the spare chairs, a fine little resting place spread out before them.
Pastor Kim and Father Kwon basked in the cool breeze.
“Wow....”
“My goodness, there’s such a nice space here?”
It was a spacious room to begin with.
It could easily hold more than a dozen adults.
They found their places one by one, marveling all the while.
“Ah, I can breathe again.”
“Hoo... eating, playing, sleeping.... This is heaven.”
“Heh, say things like that and God will scold you.”
Saying that, Father Kwon cracked open the second-floor window and called down to the children playing with water guns.
“Kids! You’ll get overheated. Come inside and rest! It’s huge and cool in here!”
-Yes!
With a rousing answer, Dodam was the first to sprint into the break room.
“Hey! Somebody help me—! Too hot! Too hot! Emergency AC deployment requested! Requesteeeeed—!”
“....”
Father Kwon let out a wistful sigh.
“Dodam, honestly. You never change, no matter how old you get.”
“Isn’t the fact that I never change part of my charm?”
“That isn’t charm. That’s immaturity.”
Dodam tied back her damp bobbed hair and said, spreading one palm with theatrical grace, “Oh, Father, don’t speak facts. It hurts too much.”
“....”
Father Kwon shook his head.
Little by little, the children from the orphanage settled in and began to rest as well. With the ones who still had energy left, the break room quickly turned noisy and lively.
Some sat there blankly.
Some watched TV and laughed.
Some played games on their phones.
“....”
Standing by the doorway, Seonwoo Taek stared at them in a daze.
It was like looking at a beautiful painting.
Aki stood beside him, quietly watching his profile.
“....”
“....”
The silence between them lingered for a moment.
Then Aki tugged on Seonwoo Taek’s sleeve.
“Oppa.”
“Yes?”
“For a moment....”
“?”
Then Aki called him and took him outside.
A little later, at the open lot where the canopy had been taken down, only Seonwoo Taek and Aki were seated at the outdoor table.
“....”
“....”
Under the umbrella that shaded them from the sweltering heat, Aki was painstakingly weaving the Five-Colored Thread for Seonwoo Taek. She seemed to be recalling the old days, when she used to play at making bracelets.
She twisted the thread back and forth like a braid, shaping it into something fairly presentable.
“Mm, uh-huh.... Is this right?”
But it had been so long that she wasn’t doing very well.
One way or another, the orphanage days were nearly ten years behind her now.
And the Five-Colored Thread was too worn out to have much elasticity left.
In the end, she had been at it for two hours.
During that time, Seonwoo Taek had brought out a fan and turned it on, and when Aki started sweating, he produced a glass of ice and a drink for her beside him.
But he never asked why she was doing it.
He simply waited quietly.
“....”
“....”
By then, more time had passed.
It was already about time to prepare for the evening lesson, but Aki kept sweating as she tried to turn the Five-Colored Thread into a firm bracelet.
At least it was beginning to take shape.
The bracelet, which had looked like a caterpillar at first, was slowly becoming as solid as a grub.
Anyone who had done military service might even have mistaken it for a rubber ring.
Aki let out a helpless laugh.
“....”
Ah, this is rough. It’s been so long that I can’t do it properly.
In the end, unable to endure her embarrassment any longer, she said, “Ha, haha... I-it’s not coming out very well.”
“It’s fine. Take your time.”
“....”
Under that waiting, she found herself asking without thinking, “Doesn’t it seem weird to you, oppa?”
“What does?”
“That I suddenly show up, and after we eat I tell you I’m going to make you a bracelet first and have you wear it....”
“No. If it’s something you’re doing, then there must be a reason. And you’re putting so much care into it; why would there be any reason for me to dislike it or think it strange? I’m fine, so please take your time.”
“....”
Again.
How petty.
How casually he made someone’s heart rise and fall.
Annoyed by that, Aki poked his shoulder with the brim of her baseball cap. He didn’t say it hurt. He simply shifted back a little, helplessly. The unfamiliar reaction made her glance at him for a moment.
“....”
“....”
The same blank expression as always.
But he did look a little tired.
Maybe... he looks kind of sad.
So Aki asked, “Is something wrong?”
“....”
Seonwoo Taek shook his head.
“Nothing at all.”
“....”
It was a lie.
She could tell by instinct.
But she couldn’t press him.
He had already told her his biggest secret.
“....”
So she believed him.
She believed that someday he would tell her.
As she wound the thread little by little, she gradually finished the bracelet.
“Oppa.”
“Yes.”
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“I had a lot of lessons this morning.”
“Was it difficult?”
“No. All the members did well. Clara unnie and Berry unnie had built up their stamina too, so they kept up just fine. As for Dodam... she’s always secretly memorizing everything.”
“Dodam did?”
“Yep. That girl’s crazy smart.”
“I see.”
“Hoo....”
“Are you nervous, perhaps?”
“....”
Aki smiled faintly.
It was the sort of trivial talk he always waited for.
A daily life that made the heart feel at ease.
So she smiled.
“No. There’s still a whole week left. I was looking forward to it. I think we’ll be able to show something really good at this level. Honestly, I was even wondering whether we should go live right this second.... The Romantic Drive members have been giving us all sorts of advice too.”
“I see. I’m sure it will go well. I’m rooting for you.”
“Hehe, th-thank you....”
“....”
To finish the bracelet, Aki held it up to Seonwoo Taek’s wrist and asked, “What did you do, oppa?”
“I just thought for a bit. My head was a mess.”
“I see.”
She was curious, but she didn’t ask any further.
If he ever wanted to speak, she believed he would tell her someday.
As he trusted her, she trusted him too.
And so she tied the final knot.
“Ta-da....!”
“....”
Seonwoo Taek looked at the bracelet made from the Five-Colored Thread.
“....”
“....”
It was a little shabby.
A makeshift bracelet, carelessly braided from old Five-Colored Thread.
At least, that was how it looked in Aki’s eyes.
So she rushed to explain herself, as if making excuses.
“T-this, well. It’s something that was popular in Japan. Th-the idea is that if you wear a bracelet made from this thread, it brings good luck....!”
“....”
Seonwoo Taek slowly touched the bracelet and said, “I see. I’ll treasure it.”
“Th-that, huh?”
“I’ll treasure it.”
“....”
Aki asked anyway, knowing full well it was a foolish question.
“Why?”
“....”
Seonwoo Taek answered, “Because you made it for me, Ms. A-yeong.”
“....”
She was happy.
Happy for that one reason alone.
That he would think of it that way.
“....”
“....”
Her face felt a little hot.
So she looked ahead.
The scorching summer sun was turning orange-red.
Evening was drawing near.
Aki said, “Oppa.”
“Yes.”
“Are you happy?”
“....”
A moment of silence.
While the sun slowly dipped lower, Seonwoo Taek’s gaze drifted beyond the horizon crowded with apartment buildings. In eyes that were always so heavily still, the sunset flickered. Then, ever so slightly, they trembled.
“....”
“....”
Still, he answered.
“Very happy.”
“....”
His voice was a little quieter than before.
But Aki smiled at the answer.
“That’s a relief. I’m happy too.”
“....”
Then she looked ahead.
The sunset was sinking away.
With a racing heart, Aki said, “I’m excited for next week’s live.”
“....”
“I’m also glad I became a VTuber.”
“....”
“Thank you, oppa.”
“....”
Seonwoo Taek nodded.
In the end, he closed his eyes and no longer looked at the sunset. His face seemed to ease a little compared to before. In that state, he answered, “I’m also.... very much looking forward to July 30.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief.”
Aki thought,
Good. He seems to be feeling better than before.
But he still looked a little fragile.
She looked down at the bracelet.
It was a small, unimpressive bracelet.
And yet she had made it for him.
“....”
It’s superstition, but still....
Please.
It was something she had made while cheering for his happiness in her heart.
Aki tore her gaze away from the bracelet and looked forward again.
“Oppa.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“....”
The gratitude had been repeated.
But the sincerity had only deepened.
With his eyes closed, Seonwoo Taek nodded.
“It’s nothing.”
“It isn’t nothing.”
“....”
One of them was looking at the sunset.
The other was looking at the darkness.
So neither of them saw it.
The moment Aki gave her thanks...
the bracelet.
It shimmered faintly.
---