This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 10

I don’t know what triggered it, but the distance that suddenly felt closer, along with the gaze aimed at my face since earlier, were more than just a few bothersome points. I pretended not to care and placed my hand on top of the envelope.

It was supposed to be flat, but the envelope felt surprisingly thick compared to how it looked from the outside.

Although Bora often showed signs of being bright and sharp compared to her peers, it must have been quite challenging to fill the letter-sized paper with the vocabulary of a seven-year-old.

Did she have that much to say to me?

‘Hmm…’

Should I call this admirable or bittersweet?

Recalling the glum and sad face Bora had when I last saw her at kindergarten, I momentarily found myself smiling inwardly, then slid my finger into the seam of the envelope.

Crinkle…!

The sound of something like dried glue tearing away from the paper rang out as a sheet of paper adorned with a rabbit character that Bora particularly liked was revealed.

Was it a bit embarrassing to show the contents as soon as I opened the envelope?

With careful hands, I pulled out the letter, which was folded neatly in half.

And the moment I unfolded it, the first thing that caught my eye was not a greeting but… clear traces of tears that had dried.

Was it that heartbreaking to suddenly part from Nana, Yoonseo, and the other friends?

‘Well…’

I can understand that feeling.

What could have happened in less than a day that led to such a hurried decision to move? Before that, Bora was likely thinking about what to play tomorrow.

But having to switch to another kindergarten so suddenly, feeling sadness over something that happened without her will would have been odd if she didn’t feel that way.

Lost in thought, contemplating the traces left on the letter, I soon redirected my gaze to the content.

– To Dogun

Hello, Dogun. It’s Bora.

The letter began in a perfectly ordinary way.

The handwriting was a bit… wildly crooked, but considering it was written by a seven-year-old, it was understandable.

‘Looks like she was pretty confused…’

The feelings behind it were clearly reflected in the content that followed the greeting.

The tear stain next to the greeting likely appeared while she was writing this.

As I slowly read Bora’s letter, I noticed Yoonseo… What was she doing? With a rare expression for a seven-year-old, she was staring at the letter in my hands with a blank face.

‘Seems like she felt disappointed, too…’

She should be comforted, but how should I soothe her?

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t find a grasp, so I instead focused solely on the letter’s content.

The mood of the letter, which expressed feelings of disappointment and anxiety in crooked handwriting, suddenly changed drastically.

What triggered this was—

– And Oh Yoonseo! You! Are you watching this?

That very line.

Honestly, the moment I saw it, I couldn’t help but jump a little.

It felt like she expected me to see it that way.

Is this what they call a woman’s intuition?

Still, putting aside my surprise, I felt relieved.

Seeing that she filled the letter with content as if targeting Yoonseo, it seemed Bora wasn’t trying to leave her out as she had appeared in kindergarten.

Both of them truly were high-maintenance characters.

I suggested to Yoonseo that we read the letter together because I couldn’t stand seeing her sulking, so if I hadn’t done that, the day after would have been when Yoonseo discovered her name written in Bora’s letter, her eyes wide with surprise.

If it had gone that way, would the letter’s content have had the same immediate effect?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

After all, like I mentioned before, Yoonseo had quite a strong, lingering personality.

Anyway, as Bora meticulously went through each line written for Yoonseo, I could see her slowly warming back up from her sulkiness.

‘Looking at it this way, she seems to have no lingering feelings after all…’

As I read out loud the lines left for Yoonseo, I couldn’t help but feel something was a bit strange.

Reflecting on the comment that the teacher made when Bora stood next to her to greet us, it was clear that her awakened talent was related to drawing.

Otherwise, there would be no reason to specifically say she was a great artist.

‘To be fair, she did have exceptional skills for a seven-year-old…’

So, it wouldn’t be strange for Bora to have awakened that talent.

As the saying goes, “A tree with promise can be recognized from its seedling.”

Perhaps there was something latent in Bora that had emerged unconsciously.

So that part was perfectly normal.

But other aspects were different.

‘Her actions are way too rushed…’

It seemed like a simple issue of moving to another kindergarten would be the end of it, but it couldn’t be that simple in reality.

If it were that straightforward, Bora wouldn’t have acted as if saying goodbye forever.

They couldn’t just send a seven-year-old kid who doesn’t understand the ways of the world to a completely unknown place, so surely one of her parents must have moved with her. But how could such a decision be made in less than half a day?

I already knew that education was important, but that felt like a rush—even after getting a nod or two.

And according to the talent-related info that I secretly read on my mom’s mobile phone, decisions made like that typically fell into one of two categories.

‘Either a talent that could harm others…’

Or a talent valuable enough that countries would line up to take it the moment it became known.

Yet, the talent that Bora was presumed to have awakened was related to drawing.

That’s where the pieces didn’t seem to fit.

‘Art is wonderful.’

But does that mean it’s a talent that has to be secured in a hurry to the point that it feels urgent? I wonder…

Honestly, it was tough to readily nod my head and say, “Sure, that makes sense.”

So in this case, it was likely…

Either it was “visible” that Bora unexpectedly got lucky right before a deadline, which led to a rushed decision, or…

The people in charge of Bora’s wellbeing deceived the teacher and the kindergarten.

And somehow, my gut feeling leaned towards the latter.

I’m not particularly extraordinary like Bora, but it seemed more realistic.

And if it is indeed the latter?

That would mean Bora’s awakened talent isn’t related to drawing but something so extraordinary that it made the country scramble to take her away in a hurry.

Perhaps because I had thought that far, my curiosity began to rear its head.

What were the odds that what I imagined could be true? If it were true, what on earth kind of talent did Bora awaken?

What kind of talent could prompt the country to act in such a hurry?

‘Could it be a talent to foresee the future?’

According to what I had read before, many types of talents have emerged since the existence of “talent” was made known by the first Awakened, but that kind of talent has never appeared before.

But perhaps we didn’t know everything.

Maybe it had never existed until now.

Or… it could have existed all along, but someone was deliberately hiding the fact.

After ruminating on this with my little head, I started to feel a slight throb in my head.

I had somewhat wrapped up the urgent matter of Yoonseo’s feelings, so I decided to wrap that line of thought up for now…

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‘What’s going on now?’

It might have been my misunderstanding.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Yoonseo, whom I thought I had successfully comforted, to show such a face at kindergarten.

It was okay back then, but when she thought about it alone after getting home, could it be that she felt more regret and sorrow about suddenly parting from Bora?

‘But her expression seems way too serious for that…’

How should I even describe that expression?

It looked as if she knew the world was coming to an end.

As if she carried every sorrow in existence on her shoulders, making it so that even if I tried to not care, I couldn’t ignore it.

If it were just her expression, it wouldn’t be a problem, but even her actions drew me in that direction, so I couldn’t help but notice.

If she were an adult, I might have just left her alone to solve it herself, but she’s only seven and has been like this for days, so I couldn’t just let it slide.

‘Sigh…’

What kind of fate is this?

While others are living a second life they didn’t want, I toil without reaping the benefits.

Now that we’ve reached a point where we can genuinely call each other friends, I truly don’t mind, but… I can’t help feeling a bit disappointed.

Anyway, to try and address Yoonseo’s gloomy state, I finally invited her over to my house again after a few days.

Taking advantage of the moment when mom brought out some snacks and stepped out of the living room, I carefully brought up the words I had been bracing myself to say since kindergarten.

“So… Yoonseo? Do you have anything on your mind?”

I had no idea what was bothering her, but the moment I said that, the pair of eyes that had been fixed downcast, unusually gloomy, started to tremble.

Perhaps because of that.

There was no response to my cautious question.

Well, even though I already got my answer the moment her eyes trembled, you could tell the weight of her unease was pretty heavy.

Her lips were moving as if trying to say something, so I decided to wait patiently, not rushing her.

At this moment, nobody felt more frustrated than Yoonseo.

I waited patiently without urging her, and it paid off.

Not long after, Yoonseo’s lips slowly began to open.

And from those lips flowed—

“Do, Dogun… what should I do?”

That was the kind of tone that would have bewildered me if we were both adults.

So, what is it she needs to do?

Could it be that there’s some sort of trouble at home?

But judging by Yoonseo’s father, whom we had seen today already two times, his demeanor and actions were no different than usual.

Maybe he was making an effort not to show it…

Bad events typically leave some mark, so that’s not it; it must be something personal, but what could it be?

‘What on earth could it be…’

Why does she look so serious and tense?

I would soon find out.

She told me she couldn’t show me here, then abruptly dragged me to the bathroom and immediately showed me with her own hands.

And what Yoonseo showed me was—

‘No, what is this…’

It was enough to astonish someone who had lived over 30 years combined in both first and second lives.

“I, am I going to be taken away like Bora now…?”