The Man Named Jin
"Didn't I ask who you two were?" the man said, sounding rather hurt.
At his words, I slowly turned my head to study his expression. He had a dejected, sulky look on his face, but as if sensing my gaze, he waved his hand in greeting.
"Do you have business with us?" I asked.
"Just wanted to ask a few things."
Saying so, the man lay down on the wide lawn himself. Lying there, we looked at each other.
"What did you want to ask?"
"Just... this and that."
It was a strange feeling. Even though this was definitely our first time meeting, I felt a sense of familiarity, as if I had known him for a long time. Was he feeling the same way?
"Have we met somewhere before?"
"No, this is our first time meeting."
It was a question I asked just in case, but as expected, it was definitely our first meeting. I nodded blankly. He was a man with a mysterious aura.
"My name is Jin."
"We are..."
"Shine and Jeff, right?"
"...Yes."
The man who introduced himself as Jin already knew our names. When I gave him a suspicious look, he chuckled softly and waved his hands.
"Ah, I'm not a suspicious person."
"You look incredibly suspicious."
I slowly stood up. Most people who claim they aren't suspicious are definitely suspicious. Shine didn't seem to like the man named Jin either, as she stood up right after me. I grabbed Shine's hand and carefully backed out of Jin's line of sight.
"Hey, kids?"
Ignoring the voice coming from behind us, we ran quickly. Hiding behind a large tree, I peeked my head out slightly to check on Jin. He stared in the direction we had disappeared, then scratched his head and stood up. I hadn't realized it while he was sitting, but he was quite tall.
"Jeff. You're completely visible from out there."
"Huh?"
"Your hat is too big."
Shine was right. Jin's gaze was fixed right on me. I hurriedly pressed my hat down. The pointy, sticking-out cone collapsed and hid itself.
"...Can't see me now, right?"
"I think so."
I let out a sigh of relief and watched Jin with Shine. He was still staring at the tree we were hiding behind. I think we've been spotted.
I moved to the next spot with Shine. We kept low and crept around to avoid Jin's gaze, eventually arriving in front of a fountain. The large fountain was big enough to hide us. Cool streams of water cascaded down. Staring at the sparkling surface of the water, I unconsciously reached out and touched it. The cold temperature of the water felt nice.
"Jeff. Weren't we trying to hide?"
At Shine's words, I quickly ducked my head. Surely Jin wasn't still watching us, right? With that thought, I peeked out from behind the fountain to check the spot where Jin had been sitting.
"He's gone...!"
"He disappeared all of a sudden."
Jin was nowhere to be found. The man who had been sitting on the lawn watching us just moments ago had vanished. As I looked around trying to find him, Shine grabbed my hand.
"Let's go back now."
"Are you bored already?"
"Yeah."
I wiped my wet hands on my clothes and stood up. Having rolled around on the grass, my clothes were a complete mess. It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped. Since we didn't have any homework today anyway, going back to our room to play seemed like a good idea.
Jin. Jin. Where did he disappear to? Pondering his name, I recalled the person named Jin that Amy had mentioned before. Didn't she say the leader of her organization was named Jin? Could they just share the same name? It was hard to believe that a man with such a light, easygoing attitude could be the head of an organization that owned such a massive building. And he looked so young.
Leaving the fountain, we walked back in the direction where Amy was waiting. There were large signs and maps all over the spacious park, so there was no need to worry about getting lost. We retraced our steps toward the entrance. There, Amy was sitting on a small wooden bench, tapping away on her phone. Shine and I ran toward her at the same time.
"Did you have fun?"
I nodded at Amy's cheerful voice. She looked down at our clothes and let out a small sigh.
"We'll have to get you washed up when we get back to the room."
"We met a person named Jin," Shine said.
"What...?"
At Shine's sudden words, Amy froze. She had been about to put her phone in her pocket and stand up, but now she looked down at Shine.
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. He introduced himself as Jin."
Amy stood up with a serious expression. The phone that had just gone into her pocket was pulled back out into her hand. She began to dial a number. A faint ringback tone could be heard.
"Jin? Are you seriously in the park?" Amy muttered, looking around. I also scanned the park, but Jin was nowhere to be seen.
"No. I told you not to show up in front of the kids."
She seemed highly displeased that Jin had appeared before us. Her scowling face made it clear she was very angry right now.
"You didn't ask them anything weird, did you?"
"No, what would the kids even know? Stop trying to feed them your strange ideas."
Amy fired off a few more rapid-fire remarks like that. After ending the call, she let out a deep sigh, still looking angry, and put her phone away.
"Sorry, did that take long?"
I shook my head at her apology. It hadn't taken long at all.
"Is Jin an important person?"
"Huh?"
"You said it, Amy. That Jin is the leader."
"Ah. Yes, technically he is someone in a high position."
"Then does this place belong to Jin?"
"Well, the building is registered under Jin's name."
Amy softened her expression and spoke to us gently.
"Jin didn't ask you anything weird, did he?"
I slowly shook my head. He had only asked if we liked the park.
"He asked if we liked the park."
"What did you say?"
"I didn't say anything."
"Good job. If Jin ever shows up again and asks you something, you must never answer him. Understood?"
I just nodded at Amy's incomprehensible reaction. Shine didn't seem to understand the situation either, but since Amy said so, she nodded along for now.
"If Jin shows up, come straight to me. Got it?"
"What if you're not there?"
"Then go to Victor."
"I don't like Victor," Shine grumbled.
"Still, you have to."
Seeing Shine frown and express her dislike for Victor, Amy gave a bitter smile and stroked her head. I don't dislike him, so why does she?
In any case, having sorted things out for now, Amy led us out of the park. As I looked back at the park with lingering regret, Amy spoke.
"Jeff."
"Yes?"
"You want to come back next time, don't you?"
"Yes."
I quickly nodded at Amy's words. There was still so much we hadn't done. Looking at the park map, there seemed to be a small rabbit farm as well. If we came back next time, I wanted to go there.
"If you study hard, I'll bring you here again."
"Study...?"
"Yes."
I wasn't thrilled. I began to weigh the time spent studying against the happy time I could spend here.
"Jeff, I'll help you."
Seeing me in deep thought, Shine offered a helping hand. If I studied with Shine, all the problems would be solved easily. That meant I wouldn't have to sit around for long.
"Okay!"
I nodded excitedly. The large witch hat on my head flapped and brushed against Amy's cheek.
Returning to the room, Shine and I were dragged to the bathroom. Our clothes were stripped off, and we were tossed into a large bathtub. The bath was over in an instant. The moment Amy's hands touched us, it was all over. Slumping out of the bathroom, I went to the bed and lay down. My warm, heated skin slowly began to cool.
"Jeff, you need to dry your hair."
"It dries faster this way."
In response to Amy's nagging, I let my long hair drape over the pillow. Staring at the pillow as it grew damp, Amy pulled me over and sat me on her lap.
"Shine, don't copy weird things."
"Is this weird?"
"Yes, very weird."
Shine, who had been draping her hair over the pillow just like me, jumped up. I looked up at Amy with a pout. Is this really that weird?
Water droplets fell from my long hair, dripping onto the floor. Watching this, Amy picked up the hair dryer she had set aside and turned it on. A warm breeze blew out with a whirring sound.
"If you don't dry it properly, your hair will get damaged."
"Wouldn't it be better to cut it short?"
"Absolutely not."
"I don't like short hair either."
My suggestion to cut my hair short was easily dismissed by the opposition of both of them. Amy's gentle touch and the warm breeze began to make me sleepy.
"All done."
Yawning deeply, I hopped down from Amy's lap at her words.
"Come here, Shine."
Amy reached out to Shine, who was still dripping wet, pulling her onto her lap. Shine obediently did as she was told.
I ran my fingers through the hair Amy had dried. The fine strands scattered smoothly. It flowed beautifully without a single tangle, looking like silk. It felt completely different from when Amy wasn't around. I touched my hair with fascinated eyes.
While waiting for Shine's turn, I crawled into bed and wrapped myself in the fluffy blanket. The soft touch of the blanket and the subtle, fragrant scent. It felt so different from the blankets at the hospital, which were always filled with the smell of medicine, and a smile spread across my face.
"Jeff, are you going to sleep?"
"Yeees~"
Answering Amy's question from outside the blanket, I quietly closed my eyes. Perhaps because I had run around so much, I couldn't resist the oncoming sleep.