When Your Pain Becomes Mine

***

In the cafeteria of the orphanage.

"Eunyoung will get the meat and the other ingredients for us; what else do we do now?" Sun asked after cleaning up the table.

"Hmm, I think I just need to start heating up the charcoal now."

"Shall we go out together then?"

"I think you should sit here and get some rest. I can do it alone." Eunwoo spoke in an affectionate tone.

"It's not as easy as you think it is..."

"If I can't start the charcoal, then I'll tell you. Come out and help me then."

Eunwoo said after letting her fall on a chair. He then grabbed the charcoal and went outside.

"Huh..."

Sun, who was now seated, sighed for a long time.

She tried not to show that she was already drained. She was in such poor condition and felt over-burdened.

Then the door opened, and Ojae hurriedly came in.

"Hey Sun, do you know where the first aid kit that you bought is?"

"There it is." Sun turned her head and pointed into one of the corners.

"Thank you."

Ojae quickly opened the first aid kit and found something inside.

"Is it this? Or is this it?"

"What are you looking for exactly?"

"I'm looking for rubbing alcohol and a patch for muscle pain."

"Is somebody injured?" Sun asked in surprise as she approached Ojae.

"Yes, a huge baby was injured."

After hearing Ojae's words, Sun looked at him in doubt.

"It's Gyoenhui. I think he overdid himself."

"Oh..."

Sun remembered how Gyeonhui fell and slid during the game.

"Is this it?" Ojae picked up the wrong medicine while tilting his head.

"That's not it. It's the one next to you."

"This one?"

Sun was going to pick out the patch, disinfectant, and cream up for Ojae, but stopped.

After a while, she quickly put the medicine back into the first-aid kit.

"Where is he now?"

"Sorry?"

"Gyeonhui. Where is he?"

"... In the classroom next door."

Upon hearing Ojae's words, Sun walked out of the cafeteria while holding the first aid kit without saying anything.

"Hah…"

After Sun went out, Ojae breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gyeonhui should be really grateful that he has an assistant like me."

Ojae mumbled to himself and smiled satisfactorily. He then picked up a piece of kimchi on the table.

"Wow, that's so salty."

Ojae, who furrowed his face, quickly drank water while swishing it in his mouth and exited the cafeteria.

***

"Oh..."

He sat on a low desk and frowned.

Because of his muscle pain, it was difficult for him to lift his right leg, and his knees were still bleeding.

"Argh…"

Gyeonhui had no one to appreciate him, so he regretted that he ran all over the ground to win the game.

Suddenly, his conversation with Ojae came to his mind.

"What's wrong? You've won the game."

'... That wasn't what I really wanted.'

Gyeonhui closed his eyes while feeling that winning the game was useless.

"What I really wanted..."

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what he really wanted.

He thought that winning the game was what he wanted, but even though he had won, the emptiness in his mind grew, and a greater sense of loss came to him.

"What did I miss..."

He exhaled a sigh of frustration while covering his eyes with his arms.

'Drrrr.'

He then heard the classroom door open.

***

As Sun entered the classroom, she could see Gyeonhui lying on the desk while covering his eyes with his arms.

After pausing for a moment, Sun quickly approached him with a determined expression on her face.

With his pants rolled up, his injured sore knees were visible.

'Click.'

Sun opened the first aid kit, took out the disinfectant, and started wiping his wounds.

"Ouch!"

With her rough touch, Gyeonhui screamed with his eyes closed. However, she continued to disinfect the scr.a.p.es without an ounce of concern.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing..."

He looked at her firm face and slurred the end of his sentences quickly.

She continued to disinfect without saying anything.

"... Where is Ojae?"

"I'm here because he doesn't know much about medicine."

Sun answered while avoiding his gaze.

"What?"

Gyeonhui asked her again, not understanding what she just said.

Since Ojae was young, he had known about medicine deep enough to cure his own wounds.

"Hah…

Gyeonhui realized afterward what Ojae's intention was. Meanwhile, Sun disinfected his wounds and applied ointments.

"How about muscle pain?"

When Sun asked him, Gyeonhui pointed to his right t.h.i.g.h.

"I can't do it. Do it yourself."

Sun stood up from the ground after giving him the patch.

As soon as she tried to open the door and leave, she suddenly stopped.

"Gyeonhui." He looked at her. "Did you…" She kept her mouth shut as she stammered her words.

'Were you here when you were young?'

Unable to finish the question, she struggled again.

"... Come out after you attach it on your leg. Dinner will be ready soon."

Sun came outside the classroom, leaned back on the wall in the hallway, and closed her eyes.

'He's no one to me now.'

Her words could be seen as flimsy sympathy for him, and that could hurt him even more.

"Hah…"

Sun exhaled heavily and quickly walked into the hallway, struggling every step of the way.

***

'Maybe...'

Sun's voice hovered in Gyeonhui's head as he laid in the classroom. He had forgotten when she slurred the end of her words at that time.

'What were you trying to say?' He wondered.

No, he wanted to hear something. He rose up and walked out into the hallway while limping on his leg.

"Sun! Cheonsun!"

He looked around and called her name, but only his voice echoed in the empty hallway.

He didn't see her even though she was just here a second ago.

"Cheonsun!" He hurried to find her.

When he stepped out of the building, he managed to find her not far away.

"Is it right to do it this way?" He heard Sun's voice.

"Cheon..."

His voice did not continue until the very end.

Beside her, Eunwoo stood with a sweet smile.

As Gyeonhui watched the two of them, his eyes shook violently.

'... What I really wanted…'

Gyeonhui could finally see clearly what he really wanted.

"Cheonsun..."

The reason he came here and the reason why he wanted to win the game was all because of her.

When he realized his feelings in hindsight, he had sudden anxiety. He feared that he would miss her. He stepped toward them with a firm expression. At that point, he had already forgotten every pain in his muscles.