Chapter 59

#59 <Growing Pains (2)>

Regardless of the various reactions, a flood of information poured out from the mouth of Yoo Se-ra, the human intelligence. It seemed like she was saying, “I’ll give you all the information I know, so interpret it yourself.” While the information was quite extensive, it lacked logical connections.

“Uh, is it a lack of growth hormone? Or is it an excess? And the nutrition is all over the place…”

Jin-hyeok swallowed a laugh. When explaining something long, she stuttered just like her mother. From Jin-hyeok’s experience, this happened when the mouth couldn’t keep up with the fast brain. As far as he knew, they weren’t stupid people.

Jin-hyeok quickly stepped in, sitting Hong Soo-jung on his lap as if comforting a sulky child. Since no one else was stepping up, he intended to rescue Yoo Se-ra.

“The muscles got shocked and pressed on the nerves around the waist.”

“Uh, uh. That’s what I said.”

Since the nerves were pressed, all treatments were temporary, and the pain persisted. A specialist in the city had diagnosed it that way. In the past, even as an adult, he had to suffer for over a week without moving. In severe cases, he had to walk carefully, like someone with one side of their waist dropped.

“If the hospital said that, then we just have to wait, right?”

“Yeah, well…”

Jin-hyeok pulled down his rolled-up T-shirt.

The local hospital just told him to get a shot and lie down. It was a prescription for the pain, so it wasn’t a wrong diagnosis to ignore.

His joints were so itchy that he couldn’t sleep, constantly rubbing them and rolling on the floor like a caterpillar. Anyway, if this immobility due to back pain is growing pains, then it must be growing pains.

‘Not being able to exercise is driving me crazy.’

It’s not just the disappointment of not being able to exercise.

He always exercised to tire his body out to shake off distracting thoughts, but being forced to rest made all sorts of thoughts torment him. When he couldn’t sleep, the question “Who am I?” beckoned to him, and each time, his soul wandered through a labyrinth of lost answers.

“Mom, can you give me a heat pack?”

“Sure.”

“Sorry, I’ll just lie down for a bit.”

Both his parents and the guests from Seoul looked at Jin-hyeok with curious eyes.

Especially Yoo Se-ra’s eyes sparkled. He’s talking a lot more now that he’s in pain. It seems like pain brings maturity.

‘They’re looking at me like I’m some kind of miracle. Have they never seen a patient before?’

But Jin-hyeok’s thoughts were different.

Unable to go up to his room, Jin-hyeok lay face down in the living room and attached a low-frequency heat pack. After trying various things, the low-frequency therapy device he bought for 5,000 won at the market worked the best.

‘Ooooh-, electric stimulation is the best. Tingling.’

It was painful but refreshing.

The adults’ conversation about the Olympic rerun faded into the distance, and his mind grew hazy as sleep crept in. He buried his face in the pillow and fell asleep.

*

“Oppa, oppa. Oppa, does it hurt?”

In his sleep, he heard Yoo-jin’s voice.

Afraid that his sister might make things worse, his mom had strictly kept her away from him.

But today, for some reason, she rushed to him without any interference. Maybe his mom was too busy catching up with Yoo Se-ra to stop her, or maybe Yoo-jin escaped while his mom was asleep.

‘Or maybe my condition has improved enough that they let her come.’

Whatever, it’s been a while since his sister played on his back. Even in his sleep, Jin-hyeok spread his back wide. It would be dangerous if the baby fell while playing.

Yoo-jin rubbed his bald head, climbed on his back like riding a horse, and tapped his back and waist.

Slap slap-!

‘Hehehe-. That’s it, that’s it. Good job, my sister! Your hands are still strong.’

In his half-asleep state, Jin-hyeok felt Yoo-jin slapping and pressing with her palms. His body warmed up, accompanied by a tingling sensation of pleasure.

The pain that had suddenly come before the downpour disappeared just as quickly, like clouds clearing.

The back that had tormented Jin-hyeok for ten days was healed like that.

‘…What.’

***

Son Yoo-jin doesn’t know how to get angry.

A baby who can’t speak would normally fuss and cry when frustrated, but Son Yoo-jin was used to smiling even as a baby.

‘She smiled even when she pooped, right?’

She liked the warm, squishy feeling, so she often sat on a diaper and rubbed her buttocks. After playing like that, her buttocks would itch, and she would pretend to tear off the diaper and cry. When she cried pitifully, someone would always rush to wash her with water and change her diaper.

She cried when she was hungry or scared. That was the only way to escape hunger and fear. But she never got angry enough to scream.

‘Oppa, uncle. She smiled even when scolded, right?’

That was probably because the family’s wish for her to be full of smiles influenced the baby. A harmonious environment must have also played a role. The baby, who had no logical explanation, vaguely guessed so.

Son Yoo-jin remembers the words that echoed in her head when she was a baby.

It was more of an intuitive communication than something that passed through her eyes and mouth.

【Grow up healthy.】

It was a voice with a form. If you ask how a sound can have a form, Son Yoo-jin has no way to explain. It’s like not being able to run before you can walk.

She wanted to find the owner of that voice from the moment she realized the presence of her family always around her. Son Yoo-jin searched for the owner of that voice.

‘It’s not dad, right?’

Dad’s voice was soft and pleasant but far from deep.

Mom’s beautiful voice was even less likely.

At least, there was no one in the neighborhood with that voice. After being carried around the neighborhood for years, she concluded that.

If she had to pick someone who felt the most similar, it was her brother, but from what she observed, her brother’s voice changed slightly, making it hard to pinpoint.

There was another reason she couldn’t find it.

‘As you live, the language changes, right?’

The words she heard in her head were different from the language her family used.

Son Yoo-jin could not only understand the language of that voice but also speak it. The reason it’s in the past tense is that she mostly forgot it. Of course, there weren’t many words she could say out loud.

They said it was wrong, that she shouldn’t use those words. Even her mom, who laughed when she called her “mommy,” said so.

When her mom and dad did that, she pretended not to hear, but when even her most trusted brother said so, she had no choice but to change.

‘But “dog” is still “Sanyal,” right?’

Finally, she even gave up the word for dog.

It’s strange. Dad also shouted “Sanyal” for dogs.

It was puzzling, but she couldn’t go against the words of the people who fed, clothed, and sheltered her.

And so, Son Yoo-jin began to compromise with the world, little by little.

Day by day, as she spent more time talking to people, she gradually forgot the owner of that voice.

However, the words “Grow up healthy” were deeply imprinted in her mind, so she decided to grow up healthy.

Slurp slurp slurp- spit spit-.

She ate dirt, sucked her toes, licked the fridge door, and even chewed on the sofa.

Her loving mom didn’t stop her from eating anything.

Ah, it’s not like she left everything for her to eat.

“Yoo-jin, this is soy sauce, right?”

Mom is a liar.

The soy sauce her mom hid had a color similar to the voice she heard as a newborn. If you ask how a voice can have a form and even a color, this 50-month-old baby has no way to explain. Logic is the realm of reason, but Son Yoo-jin is still in the realm of spirituality.

Anyway, the adults gulped down soy sauce. Her dad made a monster sound from his throat after drinking soy sauce. Groooooo-, a sweet smell came from the monster sound.

Her mom absolutely forbade her from drinking it, but Son Yoo-jin wasn’t a fool, even if she couldn’t express her anger.

‘This smell isn’t soy sauce, nooo-!’

Then there’s only one person to trust.

‘Oppa will give it to me, right?’

She vowed to pester her brother and taste it someday.

After all, her brother would do anything for his sister.

Son Yoo-jin also finds it more fun to grab her brother’s short hair than to touch her mommy. The short ones are hard to grab, which subtly stimulates her competitive spirit. So she sometimes bit them with her mouth.

‘There are two soy sauces in the fridge-.’

But for that, her brother needs to be able to open the fridge door.

But lately, her tall and strong brother hasn’t been walking much.

‘Oppa, aren’t you going to school and just crawling?’

He’s the kind of person who would jump up for his sister anytime.

Son Yoo-jin was waiting for the right opportunity.

Finally, the time came.

When other family members from Seoul came to visit, her mom got busy.

Her mom sat on the bed with the Seoul mom, looking at new cosmetics and blooming with laughter.

‘Cosmetics don’t taste good…’

Son Yoo-jin, who has tasted everything within reach, is the most knowledgeable about taste in this house. She once tasted cosmetics and experienced the bitterness of life.

Anyway, it was an opportunity for Son Yoo-jin.

She had to go to her brother!

With her mom’s surveillance lax, she could finally reach her brother.

Slap slap-!

After a long time, she touched and hit her brother a lot. She poured her heart into those touches.

It’s a special greeting she only uses for her brother, which could be called assault, but her brother always laughed like General Sanyal whenever she hit him like this.

But today, her brother’s reaction was strange.

“Yoo-jin, how did you do that?”

She just hit him out of excitement, but her brother seemed to be misunderstanding something. He jumped up and asked how she did it.

Though Son Yoo-jin isn’t good with words, she can answer simple questions.

She smiled brightly at her brother. After all, he’s the one who will give her the sweet soy sauce.

“I did it like this, like this, right?”

Now, the soy sauce that makes monster sounds-.

***

After suffering for over ten days, it was about time to get better.

But usually, the pain would go away after a good night’s sleep.

Feeling the pain disappear in real-time was something else.

‘This is a bit strange, isn’t it?’

Jin-hyeok was so surprised that he jumped up.

Hong Soo-jung, who was sleeping on Jin-hyeok’s legs, rolled off.

The dads, who were drinking makgeolli with kimchi pancakes, were startled and opened their mouths wide. It was understandable since the guy who had been lying on the floor due to back pain suddenly got up like a zombie.

Son Kwang-yeon, with a flushed face, moved his lips as if talking to himself.

“Did he grow up like that?”

“I was wondering when you went there while drinking.”

Even Hong Ki-jun, who hadn’t drunk much yet, found it strange.

He hadn’t seen him stand straight during his illness, so it made sense.

“Hahaha-.”

Yoo-jin burst into laughter seeing Hong Soo-jung roll off.

It seemed like Yoo-jin was the only one not surprised by Jin-hyeok’s sudden awakening.

Jin-hyeok touched his back, which had felt like it was about to break.

‘Could it be Yoo-jin…?’

Some people exist by causing accidents, but Jin-hyeok wasn’t the type to overthink everything. Partly because he didn’t have the mental space for it, and partly because he believed in learning through direct experience.

Yes, Son Jin-hyeok was a person who pursued efficiency in many ways. At least in situations he could control with his reason.

‘But this is a bit… something…’

With his back suddenly fine, normal thinking became impossible.

It was hard to tell if it was because it was time to heal or because Yoo-jin touched him.

He asked his smiling sister affectionately.

“Yoo-jin, how did you do it?”

“I did it like this, like this, right?”

Slap slap-.

Yoo-jin smiled and hit her brother’s back with her tiny hands. It didn’t seem like she was doing it with any particular intention.

‘Is Yoo-jin’s hand a healing hand?’

Jin-hyeok took his sister’s hand and placed it on his forehead.

Since he had just woken up and his head was still fuzzy, he wanted to test it.

Whether Yoo-jin’s hand was a healing hand or not.