* * *

“Jungin…!”

Curled up outside the front gate, unwilling to enter the house, Jungin’s expression brightened at the sight of a familiar face searching for him.

It was Choi Jungin, his orphanage friend who shared the same name.

Sure, he had been annoyed when his friend teased him, but Jungin had long forgotten about that.

With a bright face, he stood up.

“How did you get here?”

“This is your house?”

“Uh… yeah….”

Noticing something off about his friend’s expression, Jungin instinctively gauged his mood.

“Wanna come in? My stepmom—uh, I mean, my mother’s not home right now…”

Although he’d never brought a friend over before, he figured there wouldn’t be any scolding.

His stepmother didn’t pay any attention to him now that his brothers were studying abroad.

Thinking about how she no longer locked him in the basement or hit his calves with a rod, Jungin glanced at his friend.

“Sure.”

“Okay…!”

When the boy nodded, Jungin’s cheeks flushed like ripe peaches.

Despite the unexpected visit, the household staff kindly prepared snacks in welcoming tones.

His friend clenched his teeth as he took in the clean bed, blankets, and a playroom overflowing with toys and books—things incomparable to the orphanage.

“Jungin, try this. It’s really good!”

“This? It’s expensive, isn’t it…?”

It was chocolate Jungin had never tasted before.

Watching the other Jungin boast as if it was no big deal, his friend frowned, as if holding back some unspoken emotion.

“Hey, I’m thirsty. Can I have some water?”

“Water? Wait here, I’ll get it!”

The moment Jungin dashed out of the room to fetch water, his friend sprang into action.

He hurriedly inspected the room, grabbed Jungin’s pillow, and retrieved a small pouch from his pocket.

Inside was a talisman, which he carefully hid deep within the pillowcase.

Quickly, he tucked more talismans given by his grandmother under the bed and in other corners of the room.

Hearing footsteps approaching, he returned to his seat, concealing his racing heart.

---

The two spent time idly, and soon the other Jungin reached out to stroke Jungin’s soft hair.

“Your hair is so smooth and pretty.”

“Really? Thanks. Your hair’s so dark it looks like the night sky!”

“Then, should we trade?”

“Huh?”

Jungin instinctively shook his head but froze under his friend’s unwavering gaze.

If he refused, he feared he’d get yelled at for lying again.

“H-how do we trade…?”

“Just cut off a little bit and give it to me.”

His friend’s sudden reveal of scissors was terrifying.

The blades gleamed sharply, as if ready to strike if he refused.

Jungin bit his lower lip and glanced at the other boy, his large, round eyes brimming with unease.

“O-okay, but only a little… just a little….”

“Sure.”

Snip, snip.

The sound of hair being cut echoed in Jungin’s ears.

Glancing at his friend’s reflection in the mirror, Jungin inhaled sharply.

Had he seen wrong?

The friend’s face seemed eerily frightening.

Terrified of the scissors in his hand, Jungin heaved a shaky breath when his friend finally moved away.

“Done now…?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, what should we do next—”

“I think I’ll go now.”

“Already?”

At the sudden announcement, Jungin looked disappointed, but his friend, having finished what he came for, saw no reason to linger.

“If I’m late, the director will scold me. You know that. Do you want me to get in trouble?”

“Oh…? No, that’s not what I meant…”

“Forget it. I’m leaving.”

Shrugging off Jungin’s outstretched hand with a cold voice, the friend got up.

Jungin, uneasy, trailed after him.

“Wait, Jungin… Take this and share it with your friends at the orphanage…”

Desperate, Jungin had asked the housekeeper to pack chocolates his friend had liked earlier.

“Do you think I’m some beggar?”

“What? No, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Do you think I’d be happy with this garbage?”

His friend’s face twisted in anger, startling Jungin into silence.

Watching him storm out, Jungin could only bite his lip and stare after him.

---

Friday, 9 p.m.

It was the time his brother usually called.

Jungin locked his door, pulled out the hidden phone Jungjin had secretly left him before departing, and crawled under the blanket.

“Hello… Hyung?”

• Yeah, Jungin. It’s me. How’ve you been?

Hearing Jungjin’s warm voice, Jungin felt his body relax.

Suppressing a sigh of relief, he took a deep breath and excitedly began recounting the stories he’d been saving.

“Hyung, guess what? My friend came over today! The housekeeper gave me this shell-shaped chocolate as a snack. It was so good I ate three of them!”

Jungin’s cheerful account faltered as he suddenly thought of his friend, his mood sinking.

Noticing the tremble in Jungin’s voice, Jungjin gently coaxed him.

• You don’t look too happy, my little one. Did something happen?

“N-no, Hyung, nothing happened…!”

Startled by his brother’s concerned gaze through the screen, Jungin shook his head.

He couldn’t burden his brothers.

He’d overheard people say his brothers were sent away because of him—because he’d upset their stepmother when he joined this family.

Their punishment was his fault.

The whispered accusations still pierced his chest.

Holding back tears, Jungin forced a cheerful voice.

“I’m not sick at all! I’m super strong now. I even ate bell peppers and cucumbers! And on Monday, I came first in my class race. Teacher Jin Song-young even gave me a first-place stamp!”

He glanced at his now-clean hand wistfully.

He’d been careful not to wash it away, but the stamp was gone.

Noticing his disappointment, Jungjin exaggerated his reaction, making his eyes go wide.

• My little one could be a track star! Even I’ve never been first in a race. You’re amazing!

Jungjin’s continuous praise lifted Jungin’s spirits, his earlier sadness melting away.

• Jungin, is anyone bothering or hurting you at home?

“N-no! No one!”

Sometimes, his stepmother would vent her anger by hitting his head or body, but for the sake of his older brothers, he could endure it.

Recalling the bruises on his stomach, Jungin deliberately tugged his pajamas lower and shook his head vigorously.

That late evening, continuing his call with his brother until sleep threatened to overcome him, Jungin finally gathered the courage to say what he had been holding back.

“When are you coming home, hyung…?”

— “Do you miss me a lot?”

“Yeah… I want to play drawing games with you, and I want to go to the amusement park too.”

Even Eunhyung, a classmate, boasted about having three older brothers and going to the amusement park last weekend.

‘I have lots of hyungs too…’

Despite pretending to be mature, nine-year-old Jungin was still just a child.

Seeing his little brother, whose loneliness was evident in his voice, Jungjin’s heart ached.

No matter how much attention Jungin received here, it wasn’t enough.

If Jungjin could just finish his current project well, he’d finally have time to visit Korea.

The housekeeper he had stationed at their family home to keep an eye on things for Jungin hadn’t reported any issues regarding their mother keeping her promises.

Yet a vague sense of unease gnawed at him, though he forced himself to ignore it as he spoke to his little brother.

— I’ll come soon. I’ll bring all the toys, jelly, and chocolate you love, so wait just a bit longer, okay, sweetheart?

Noticing his older brother’s face darkening on the screen, Jungin realized he might have acted too needy and felt a pang of guilt.

Smiling brightly on purpose, Jungin nodded and replied,

“Okay! I’m good at waiting, hyung! I can wait!”

— That’s my good boy.

Hiding their guilt from one another, the brothers continued their conversation until it ended.

Staring at the now-dark screen, Jungin’s face turned lonely.

“Hyung…”

In his arms was a frog plushie gifted by Jungseo, always his faithful companion.

Clutching the worn and tattered toy tightly, Jungin jumped up to mark off another day in his countdown to his brother’s return.

Flipping to the very back of his practice notebook, Jungin scrawled the number 136 in his wobbly handwriting.

“Ugh…”

Next to the number were still so many empty spaces.

Tears, born of longing, rolled down Jungin’s cheeks and stained the notebook.

* * *