Chapter 4: Side view
To be honest, I didn’t actually have to go to elementary school.
If this were the peaceful world I’d lived in before, maybe it’d be different, but in this dangerous world where unknown monsters roam, the disadvantage of being blind was enough to exempt me from mandatory education.
From commuting to school, to the inconvenience during lunch breaks, to even the act of attending classes—most people thought it wasn’t suited for me.
Well, it didn’t really matter to me.
If I set my mind to it, I could wander around outside without a cane just fine, and if I wanted to read a book or something, I could manage that too.
Of course, to anyone watching, it’d be an unbelievable spectacle—a blind kid with cloudy eyes staring straight ahead, fluently reading a book placed on a desk—so I hold myself back.
Oh, but no matter what, I can’t see the chalkboard.
It’s fixed flat against the wall, after all.
Anyway, despite the assumption that going to school would be tough for me, the reason I ended up attending a regular elementary school with other kids was partly because my parents wanted me to enjoy a normal school life with peers, but—
“—Cheong, class is over?!”
“…Yeah, Garam, just finished.”
“Great! Let’s go home together! Here, give me your hand!”
Tap—
It was because of my friend Garam, who lives near my house and goes to school with me every day.
Kids are pure. Or maybe innocent is the better word.
Rather than a glass full of clear water, their innocence is more like an empty glass.
You can see it in how they pit dragonflies against each other after tearing off their wings or burn ants with lighters and bug spray.
So, naturally, to their ordinary eyes, someone like me—white-haired, always with eyes closed, walking with a cane—inevitably draws attention, for better or worse.
Whether I wanted to live quietly in the back of the classroom like a wilting plant or not.
The question I got most often was probably, “Why do you always keep your eyes closed?”
The next most common was likely, “Huh? So you can’t read books or watch TV?”
If their parents overheard, they’d probably spit out their water mid-sip. Those innocent questions, crossing lines so far they’re doing jump ropes and somersaults with them, were enough to make me shudder.
These little brats… do they even have thoughts in their heads?
Of course, I wasn’t hurt by it.
If anything, I felt guilty telling them I couldn’t see.
You might think my reaction is a bit odd, but think about it—it’s kind of like Tarzan, right? Not that my mom’s name is Tarzan or anything.
Sometimes, kids would gasp and fidget apologetically after hearing my response, and just seeing the tops of their heads made me feel guilty.
Sorry…! I can actually see…! Well, except what’s in front of me!
So you don’t have to apologize! No, stop bowing so deeply!!
Anyway, just as my mind was getting dizzy from all the handshakes—
“Hey!! Stop it, you guys! You’re making Cheong uncomfortable!! Keep it up, and I’ll tell the teacher!”
“…Huh?”
Like a Kamen Rider from a movie, Garam swooped in.
Before starting school, I rarely left the house, so I didn’t even know who lived next door. That was the day I first met Garam, who, as it turns out, lived just a one-minute walk away.
After that, well, it’s a predictable story.
My mom, who’d been anxiously waiting outside the school gate all day, worrying if I could make friends, keep up with classes, or if I’d get bullied, cried tears of joy when she saw me walking arm-in-arm with a friend on the very first day.
And as it turned out, Garam lived so close by—a happy coincidence. Garam took a liking to me right away and volunteered to help with my commute even before my mom could ask. Garam’s parents agreed it’d be good for her to have a friend, and just like that, all of Mom’s worries were solved.
Ding ding.
Thanks to that, Mom didn’t have to hold my hand and follow me to school every day, and I could ease some of the burden on my heart.
Unlike me, who always seems to make problems bigger, Garam’s such a capable and kind kid.
The more I think about it, the more I feel she’s way too good for someone like me.
Tap!
“Ah, we’re here! Oh, Cheong, your mom’s at the door! Auntie—! Hello—!”
“…Thanks as always, Garam…”
“Hehe, no biggie~”
When the familiar blue roof came into my view, Garam let me know we were almost at my house.
The woman’s voice coming from a distance was unmistakably my mom’s, the same one I’d heard for years. I mentally thanked her for her tireless efforts as I pictured her familiar head in the distance.
Thank you, Mom.
When I grow up, for Parents’ Day, I’ll skip the useless flowers and slip you an envelope of cash instead.
“See ya, Cheong~! Come over to play sometime, promise!”
“…Yeah. I’ll come for sure.”
As I reached the front of the house and took Mom’s hand, Garam’s voice called out from ahead.
She was swinging something above her head, though I couldn’t quite tell what.
Realizing it was her hand, I awkwardly waved back.
“Hehe~!”
Swish swish.
As if delighted, Garam’s waving doubled in speed.
I used to think a life started from scratch would be boring, like watching a movie after reading spoilers.
Life is “come empty-handed, go empty-handed.” Having already experienced life and death, I thought life was ultimately futile—everything you achieve just vanishes when you die.
But stepping into the theater, I found something beyond the spoilers I’d read, something too vast to be captured in a few minutes of summary.
Things too warm and soft to fully express in words.
Things that, even now, make my heart beat.
The reason people live.
It’s—
“Here, Cheong, let’s go inside. I’ve got your favorite ginseng candy and soy milk~”
“Let’s go quick—!!”
“…Oh my?”
Obviously, food and fun.
What else? The privilege of being a kid is living carefree, not worrying about the future.
I grabbed my surprised mom’s hand and hurried into the house.
An ordinary day, an ordinary life.
Cats curl up and sleep on walls, and young kids just starting school head home from early classes, filling the city with vibrant life.
WEEEEEEEE—WAAAANG!!
A siren shattered the peace, swallowing the city.
[“—Citizens, this is the National Security Agency’s Central Alert Control Center. A real variant sighting alert has been issued. At 12:34 PM, a variant sighting alert has been issued for the Seocho-gu area. We repeat, a variant sighting alert has been issued—”]
The peace, shattered.
A variant has appeared.
*