* * *
In the pitch-black darkness, I kept recalling Taehwan’s face.
Maybe because my visual input hadn’t been updated for a while, his face still remained vividly in my mind.
A lot of time had passed, and since I kept imagining and guessing how he had grown, my memory might have been slightly distorted.
But surely, he was still handsome.
There was no way that clean-cut face of his had changed.
“…Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
Taehwan was handsome back then, too, but I really wanted to see his face now.
I wondered if he looked similar to his uncle’s younger days… but to be honest, I felt bad for his uncle.
If I were being honest, based on childhood photos alone, Taehwan had always been much better looking, so I wasn’t sure.
Seriously, I missed him so, so much.
But if I said that out loud, Taehwan would definitely be upset, so I decided to keep it to myself.
“Jehee, let’s go out and get some sunlight before the sun sets. The weather is nice today.”
Im Taehwan and I had been friends for almost our entire lives.
Our fathers were high school classmates.
By some strange twist of fate, they got married around the same time, and their wives became pregnant together.
Since they had been best friends from the start, they made a promise.
“If we have children of different genders, let’s have them get engaged.”
But we were both born boys. Instead of being betrothed, we became friends.
Taehwan and I got along well.
Back then, I wasn’t exactly a “mature” child—I was just a typical, mischievous kid.
And since Taehwan was just as much of a troublemaker, we were a perfect match.
Almost every weekend, we went around causing trouble.
We’d run through the neighborhood singing at the top of our lungs, getting scolded by adults.
We’d break windows while playing ball or get covered in dirt chasing after strange-looking birds.
As we got older and the scale of our mischief grew, our fathers decided to step in.
They took turns taking us to the mountains, the sea, and the lakes.
We went camping, hiking, swimming, and spent time fishing.
We ran across open fields, kicked balls around, and with each shared experience, our friendship deepened.
Taehwan and I were inseparable.
…At least, until my father passed away.
“Jehee!”
“Listen carefully and try not to panic. Your father…!”
It was a gate accident. He got caught in a gate that appeared on his way home from work.
The rescue team arrived quickly, but by the time they reached him, he was already gone.
Later, I heard that my father had deliberately put himself in danger to save some kids my age who had also been caught in the gate.
He was the reason I first wanted to become a Hero.
My father truly lived a model life.
But regardless of how admirable his life had been, the reality left behind in our home was bleak.
At the time, my mother was pregnant with twins.
Losing the love of her life while carrying children broke her.
I had to take care of my mother, who was struggling with depression.
And once the twins were born, I naturally took on the role of the responsible eldest son.
Losing someone so dear and then dealing with postpartum depression on top of that only worsened my mother’s condition.
I took on most of the responsibility for raising the twins.
I had to learn how to change diapers, mix formula, and soothe crying babies.
Every day felt like a battle.
But at least when I was with Taehwan, I could breathe.
We didn’t meet as often, but being with him felt like stepping back into the time when my father was still alive.
…Though, I don’t think Taehwan liked the way I had changed.
“You’ve changed.”
“Ever since your dad died, you changed.”
“Right now, you… you’re just a pathetic, fatherless beggar.”
That day, after hearing those words, I went home and cried my heart out for the first time since my siblings were born.
The flood of emotions I had been holding in finally burst.
By the time I had cried myself hoarse, I understood where Taehwan was coming from.
We had always been equals.
Honestly, there had always been a difference between our families.
Taehwan’s family was well-known among Hunters, while mine was just a typical civil servant household.
My father and mother were both government employees—there was no comparison in terms of wealth or prestige.
But we had grown up together from such a young age, and we were both reckless kids who didn’t care about adult matters.
Back then, all that mattered was what kind of fun we’d have that day.
But after my father died… everything changed.
We were no longer equals.
I had become “the poor, unfortunate child.”
Adults looked at Taehwan and praised him, saying, “That boy is going to be a great Hunter someday.”
Then, they looked at me with pity and clicked their tongues.
My attitude must have changed, too.
I wasn’t just a kid thinking only about myself anymore—I had become the eldest son of my family.
I spent less than half the time I used to with Taehwan, and even when I ate at his house, I found myself hesitating, wondering if I could take leftovers home for my mother.
Naturally, even Taehwan’s mother started to look at me differently.
She didn’t seem too thrilled about me playing with her son anymore.
So, I understood why Taehwan had said those things… but after that, we drifted apart.
I figured if he didn’t want to hang out with me anymore, I shouldn’t bother him.
We only became close again when we ran into each other at after-school classes.
“Why are you taking this class?”
“Because I feel like it.”
Taehwan’s family wasn’t just a famous Hunter family—they were also one of the wealthiest in the country.
And he was their precious only son.
If he wanted, he could have hired the best private tutors or gone to a prestigious academy.
I even remembered his mother bragging about finding him an excellent math tutor once.
So why was he here?
In a school-sponsored after-school class of all places?
Just a while ago, he’d complained about how that kind of thing was a waste of time.
I didn’t understand, but I was happy about it.
No matter what, Taehwan always sat next to me.
He didn’t look down on me, and we could talk naturally.
“You can’t even do this, and you want to be a Hero?”
“Being a Hero isn’t about getting good grades.”
“What are you talking about? A Hero should set an example.”
“…I guess that’s true. Alright, I’ll try harder.”
“If you don’t understand something, ask me.”
“Okay.”
Having Taehwan sit next to me had its perks.
Since I often woke up at night to take care of my siblings, I was always exhausted.
It was hard to focus in class.
Even though I tried to review my lessons, I could feel myself falling behind.
Sleep deprivation made it harder to absorb new information, and my comprehension was slow.
I didn’t like asking the teacher too many questions.
I hated being pitied, and I also hated being scolded for not understanding something right away.
But with Taehwan beside me, I didn’t have to ask as many questions.
Since he had known me for so long, he knew exactly how to explain things in a way that made sense to me.
And he was surprisingly persistent.
Even when he grumbled about it, he kept teaching me until I understood.
If I tried to gloss over something, he’d hold me back until I got it.
“Thanks! I get it now. I think I can solve it on my own.”
“Hey. Jehee.”
“Huh?”
“Before…”
“Hmm?”
“That… so… before…”
“What is it?”
“Haah… never mind. Just finish what you were doing.”
“Okay!”
Taking after-school classes together, Taehwan and I became close friends again.
Around this time, my mother slowly started to regain her strength and her smile.
She couldn’t completely return to how she was before my father passed away, but we had a new blessing in our lives—our twins, Eunseo and Eunyul.
The twins grew up well.
Watching their angelic smiles, I felt relieved that we had managed to endure all those difficult years.
There were small incidents here and there, but little by little, everything seemed to return to “normal.”
…If only the Gate incident that swallowed up Taehwan and me had never happened.
Taehwan was right—the weather was nice.
Of course, I couldn’t see the high, clear sky or the vast, open scenery.
But I could feel it.
And I could imagine it.
The warmth of the sun against my cheek, the cool breeze playing with my hair, the crisp air filling my lungs when I took a deep breath.
The world of civilization had long become a realm beyond my imagination ever since I lost my sight, but nature was different.
Golden sunlight. Fresh green leaves swaying in the wind.
Flowers blooming in their season.
A smile spread across my lips as I pictured them with my eyes closed.
The experiences I had as a child, following my father into the mountains and the sea, had become a great comfort to me.
Because I had seen, touched, and felt so much back then, I could imagine things more vividly now.
“How is it? Think you’ll enjoy going on walks?”
“Yeah. The weather is really nice.”
I spread my arms wide.
Closing my eyes, I let the sunlight soak into my skin.
My cheeks warmed naturally.
* * *
