Playground 2

Please help me.

Just one word.

But it was enough to raise my body.

After standing up, I immediately ran straight toward the uncle.

I squeezed out every last bit of strength from my legs.

Normally, beating an adult as a six-year-old kindergarten kid would have been impossible.

"Yayaya!!"

I don’t know where that power came from.

"…!"

I finally managed to make him lose his balance and throw Sia down.

I shouted at Sia.

"Sia! Run away quickly!"

"Eh… eh…?"

"Hurry!"

Everyone else is acting weird right now.

So if Sia just gets out of here, everything will be fine.

If she runs away before anyone else comes, she’ll be safe…!

SWISH!

"Ouch!"

The shock from my head made me roll sideways.

I tried to push myself up again.

THUD!

My body rolled to the side again.

Rolling around, the pain rising from my chest made me gasp sharply.

"Kak! Kak! Kak!"

I thought it was over.

SWISH! THUD! KICK! THUD!

I felt the stomps hitting me again and again.

Even though I wanted to run, he kept beating me.

I curled my body as small as I could.

"Uuu…"

After all those kicks, my whole body hurt badly.

In the haze of pain, he turned and walked away from me.

When I realized it was over, my eyes met Sia.

Sia was frozen in place with fear.

Even though I told her to run, she just stood there.

I wanted to shout, but all that came out was a choked sound.

"Kk… kuooh!"

In the meantime, the adult started walking toward Sia again.

But Sia stayed still, gripped by fear.

If he took just one more step, he’d be right in front of her.

I desperately crawled and grabbed the hem of his pants.

My arms and legs scraped against the playground floor, bleeding and stinging, but I only focused on holding on.

Luckily, the adult had stopped moving. This was my chance!

"Hurry! Run!"

As long as Sia got away from my grabbed ankle, she was fine.

I wasn’t moving anyway.

"Hurry!"

"Ah… ahu…!"

Sia slowly started to pull her foot away.

The moment I thought she was safe, she turned her back on me.

I squeezed my hand even harder, trying to stop her just a little.

But then…

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! KICK!

The kicks came flying anyway.

I thought this was the last time and refused to let go.

The kicks grew stronger, but I gritted my teeth and endured.

CRACK!

"Kuh…!"

I didn’t let go even when my head was hit and my vision went blurry.

Suddenly my hand slipped and I let go of his pants.

I tried to push myself up again, but the world started spinning.

I collapsed onto the floor.

"Hah… hah… hah… hah…"

Breathing hard, I turned my gaze and chased after Sia, wondering how far she had run.

I thought she’d gone quite far by now, but she hadn’t gone that far at all.

'Why?' I wondered.

When our eyes met, I realized.

Sia hadn’t run properly because she was worried about me.

It felt like I had only gotten in her way.

"Kuuuh…"

So I tried to stand up and grab Sia’s hand and run, but my body had no strength left.

While I was desperately trying to get up from the ground,

"Kyaah!"

Sia’s scream rang out.

I looked up in a hurry and saw the adult grabbing her arm.

"Let go! Let me go!!"

Sia was screaming to let her go, but of course he wouldn’t.

I wanted to run over and help her right away, but I couldn’t move.

Because my mind was reaching its limit and my vision was starting to blur.

I could only stay helplessly.

I quietly bit my lip.

Someone… please help me…!

And right next to me, someone’s voice spoke.

Thanks, Siwoo. I kept you safe all this time.

I couldn’t see clearly because I was half out of it, but when I managed to turn my desperate gaze, I saw long hair swaying.

But there was no wind blowing right now.

I didn’t even have time to wonder why the hair was swaying or who was talking to me.

I had already lost consciousness completely.

※※※※※※

"Ouch!"

"Son, why are you always getting muscle pain?"

"U… unng…"

A few days ago, after playing at Sia’s house, my whole body started aching for a few days.

No visible bruises, so Dad applied plaster saying it was probably just muscle soreness.

"By the way, muscle soreness lasting this long… you must have had a really fun time with Sia."

"Yeah, I heard Sia caught a cold."

"Yes, she said she’d be coming out starting tomorrow. She must have been playing too wildly. A little worried though."

"Hey, what’s there to worry about? It’s good for kids to play like that when they’re little."

"Is that so… Anyway, can our son go to kindergarten tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I can go."

Even though it hurts, I’m not at the point where I can’t move.

Dad ruffled my hair and said, "Wow, our son is so tough!"

"Then I’ll go shower and come back."

"Hurry up and go to bed. We have to go meet Sia tomorrow."

"Honey…!"

"Why? Siwoo takes good care of Sia."

"She’s still a kid…!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

I went to shower, then lay on the bed to fall asleep.

Lying in bed, before sleeping I tried to remember the day I played with Sia…

ZING!

"Ugh…!"

A sharp headache stung my head.

It had been happening before.

Every time I tried to remember that day, the headache would come rushing in.

I told my parents and went to the hospital for a check-up, but they said there was nothing wrong.

Just simple headache, and I wasn’t too worried about it now…

"…What is this? It feels like there was something important…"

Something important was happening but I couldn’t remember.

Lying on the bed and drifting into thought, my conclusion was…

"It’s probably nothing big."

If I was curious, I could just ask Sia. I closed my eyes to sleep.

◇◇◇◇◇◇

The next morning.

I arrived at kindergarten.

Sia normally arrived later than me, so I entered the gate without thinking.

"Si-Siwoo…!"

"…? Sia?"

Sia was standing at the gate.

I was a little surprised at the sudden appearance, but I greeted her right away.

"Good morning, Sia."

"Ah… yeah… um… that…"

"Yeah? What is it?"

Her expression looked really uneasy, so I was worried.

I asked what was wrong.

"Ah, it’s nothing! Let’s go inside!"

"Eh…? Okay… then."

Sia said it was nothing and grabbed my hand, leading me along.

I followed quietly behind Sia and looked at her.

Something felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠different… she seemed a little tense.

I entered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the classroom a bit uneasy.

The moment I stepped inside,

CLACK!

Sia linked her arm with mine.

We had clung together before, but not in this way. I never thought she’d do this first.

"…?"

"Why? Why? Don’t like it?"

Sia looked surprised, like she had done something wrong, and asked me if I didn’t like it.

Normally she wouldn’t ask that.

'What? Just do it! I want to do it!'

I thought she’d say something like that, but this was the first time, so I was a little startled.

"Ah… no? That’s not it… why the sudden change?"

"Eh? What?"

"No… nothing… like this, holding arms, asking my opinion."

"Eh… that… so…."

"……?"

"It’s just… I feel like I haven’t been good to you lately… and I haven’t seen you for a long time!"

"Eh… ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unng… yeah."

Even three days wasn’t long… even though I hadn’t seen you for a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whole week during last vacation, you’re not acting this way… I didn’t say it out loud.

Anyway, Sia stuck to my side and started the day with me.

Sticking to my side had happened before, so I didn’t mind…

"What do you want to play?"

"How about this?"

"It’s hot today, so let’s play inside."

I felt like she was always trying to match what I wanted.

Before, she would say let’s do what she wanted. Today she asked my opinion.

When I said "Hmm?", she proposed "How about this?"

Moreover, she didn’t do the childhood game she liked because it was hot.

The childhood game we did once a day whether hot or cold.

By now I had to notice.

There was something wrong with Sia.