A Third Party's Opinion
"Uh, what...?"
I flinched for a moment, wariness tightening my body as a hooded figure suddenly approached me.
There were two of them. A large man and a small woman.
And under that hood, only after catching sight of the woman's red skin did I finally realize who they were.
"Baek Donggeon... is that right? And you're probably Sherry—"
"That's right, but hang on — shh...!"
"Ugh, I can't breathe...."
The gym trainer Baek Donggeon crouched down, tucking Sherry snugly into his arms. Through a brief gap under the hood, I could see his eyes darting busily this way and that.
"Could you cover for us a bit? Just for a moment...."
"What's going on...."
Even as I asked, I shifted my position — placing myself between the crowd and Donggeon, somewhere I could shield him from view.
"...Are you being chased or something? You look pretty out of breath."
"...Something like that. Hey, by any chance...."
Though even like this, there were so many people that we wouldn't be completely hidden anyway....
While I was thinking that, Donggeon spoke up.
"Yes?"
"You don't happen to see someone nearby, do you...? A tall woman with brown hair and leather gloves."
"Brown hair and leather gloves? Oh — there she is."
"Is she far?"
"Not so much far as...."
I glanced toward the center of the crowd gathered in the park, where the police were currently dispersing the protesters.
"...She's being taken into custody?"
"What?"
A dumbfounded voice rang out briefly behind me.
Pretending not to hear, I kept watching the brown-haired woman being led away.
"Let go of me, you bastard!! Let go, I said — I have to go catch that guy!!"
"Ma'am, if you keep this up here — wait, how are you this strong...!"
"...What a beast of a woman."
Massive build. Prominent muscles. She dragged two police officers around until a third one joined in, and only then was she finally subdued. There was even a faint sense of awe in that remarkable strength.
I'd lose for sure if I fought her. Yeah, definitely.
Looking a bit closer, I could tell she was fairly young for a protester. Not exactly young-looking, though — she seemed about Donggeon's age.
"Is she part of the protest too, Donggeon?"
I asked in a small voice, suddenly curious. I asked, but no answer came.
"...Donggeon?"
"That crazy woman, seriously...."
A voice mixed with a sigh reached me. When I turned around, I found Donggeon sitting flat on the ground, one hand pressed to his forehead. From within his arms, Sherry let out a meaningless "Whoa." of admiration.
"Who is that person?"
"...My ex."
"What?"
...What?
I wondered if I'd misheard. But regardless of my confusion, Donggeon continued in a weary voice.
"She was so obsessive I forced a breakup, but we ran into each other by chance while out walking today...."
"...Hold on. So you're saying... huh?"
Wait a second. So this guy wasn't being chased because of the protesters, but....
"...You were being stalked by your ex?"
"If you put it that way, yeah."
"And the protesters??"
"What protesters?"
"...."
I glanced back toward the muscular woman.
"What protest!? Even without me, look at this!!"
"Ma'am, for now please come with us...!"
"Out of the way!! Hey, Baek Donggeon! Where are you?!"
"...."
What kind of comedy was this.
An otherworlder and their guardian at an anti-otherworlder protest — and the reason they were being chased was actually stalking by an ex-girlfriend...?
It was pure chaos.
"So, did she leave?"
"Yeah, well. For now...."
I answered blankly, watching the woman screaming at the top of her lungs get taken away. She'd grabbed me so urgently I'd been sure it was a serious situation.
...Suddenly all the strength drained from my body.
"Whew. Thank you, Eunhyuk. I'll definitely repay the favor later.... ...Eunhyuk?"
Donggeon stood up, and this time I was the one who slumped down. I felt dizzy.
"You okay?"
Sherry came closer and poked my cheek with her red finger. She looked healthy and full of energy. It wasn't very noticeable, but her face was a bit flushed from running.
Right where an anti-otherworlder protest had just been happening, the otherworlder herself was standing with a carefree expression. To me, that seemed to indirectly show just how much influence that protest actually had.
"...It's been a while, Donggeon, Sherry."
I greeted them in a tired voice.
"The transfer program?"
"Yes. You got the text, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it."
We'd changed locations, and now we were inside a café. It was a high-end place a bit far from my house — one that even had private rooms. It looked more like a dessert specialty shop than a café, really.
"The transfer program... hmm. I think it's a good idea, for now."
Stroking his chin, Donggeon spoke in a somewhat uncertain voice. Beside him, Sherry — who'd thrown off her hood to reveal her red skin — was happily munching on a slice of cake.
"We have to learn all sorts of things anyway. Since the government is handling that, I figured it couldn't be a bad thing. She agreed too, though for different reasons than me."
"It looked fun!"
Sherry grinned mischievously with whipped cream on her cheek. Donggeon sighed softly and wiped her face with a napkin. Looking at the two of them, who seemed almost like parent and child, I spoke up.
"What about the safety aspect?"
"Safety?"
"I mean, things like the protest earlier...."
"Ah. Hmm."
At my question, Donggeon stroked his chin once more, just like before.
"Hmm~.... I feel like it should be more or less fine?"
"Is that so?"
"This is kind of from personal experience."
Opening up like that, Donggeon continued.
"My morning routine is jogging around the neighborhood. Even when it's not morning, if my body feels a bit stiff, I have a habit of going out for a run whenever. Since meeting Sherry, we do it together."
"Aum.... Yeah. The roads around here are nice. Good for running."
"But since we tend to run pretty far, we end up seeing all sorts of things while we're out...."
As he spoke, Donggeon looked up at the ceiling with a distant expression for a moment. I quietly waited for him to continue.
"One time, some students asked if they could take a picture with Sherry...."
"A picture?"
"Yeah. They seemed excited about meeting an otherworlder. Said they wanted to show their friends and asked for just one photo... well, I politely declined."
It was a pretty realistic episode. Young students meeting an otherworlder for the first time, getting all excited and asking for a photo. Imagining it in my head, it felt warm and wholesome.
"We do run with hoodies on, but Sherry stands out a bit. Things like that happen often."
"Not just a little — often? Things like that?"
"I've got a few episodes. People asking if they can touch her skin, or if they can touch her horns, or just saying she's pretty with a thumbs-up and walking right off...."
"Those are all good episodes...."
When I said that, Donggeon wore a playful smile. Then he plopped his hand on top of Sherry's head as she was absorbed in her cake.
"?"
"There are a lot of good people in the world. One time we got hassled by someone from that opposition group or whatever...."
Keeping his hand on Sherry's head, Donggeon continued.
"People around us gradually started gathering, and one by one they took our side."
"Must have been quite a sight."
"It was entertaining. So what I'm trying to say is, surprisingly, in the current situation, malice and goodwill seem pretty well balanced."
Malice and goodwill are balanced. In other words, I interpreted it as them being at a level where they could appropriately neutralize each other.
"Since there are a lot of good people, I feel like things like those protests might actually be pretty well contained. Just my opinion, though."
With that, Donggeon finished speaking. Facing him, I took a moment to think.
Balanced, huh.
Certainly, unlike what I'd seen on the news, the damage from the protest hadn't been significant. It mostly felt like the protesters and the people opposing the protest fought until they wore each other out. I also remembered how the police response had been more skilled than I'd expected.
"You know what."
The one who spoke then was the otherworlder herself — Sherry. Setting down her fork, she let out a satisfied breath. The cake plate in front of her was already empty.
"Honestly, I'm excited~. They said kids like me will gather at that school place, right? Then I can make lots of friends, right?"
"Well... yeah."
"I want to meet all kinds of kids! So I'm going to that school place. That's enough for me!"
It was simple and cheerful logic. Completely different from our wary little cat.
"So, well, what I want to say is that from our perspective, there's no need to worry too much."
Following Sherry, Donggeon spoke up. Taking a calm sip of his coffee, he said,
"Being alone is lonely, you know. It's a chance to make friends — no need to refuse it. Whether they're otherworlder friends or human friends, it's fun when things are lively, right?"
"Being alone is lonely...."
I quietly rolled the first words he'd spoken around in my mouth.
Being alone is lonely.
Thinking of Cecilia waiting alone at home right now, I quietly engraved those words in my heart.