Chapter 7
Then, slowly, he opened his mouth.
“It looked like you were picking up pretty rocks… so… here…”
The boy extended his hand again—the same one on which he got hit earlier. My gaze dropped. A small stone rested on his damp palm.
“Ah…”
A stupid sound slipped out.
The stone he was offering was definitely prettier than the one I’d picked up. There wasn’t really a clear standard for what made a stone pretty, but this one just was.
“You’re… giving it to me?”
I didn’t understand. Why would he give it to me? My hands were already full of stones. I blinked, confused, but the boy nodded.
Why?
I didn’t know why he was giving it to me, but even so, I wanted it. That was the weirdest part—I wanted it, even though I didn’t understand the reason behind the gesture. Strange.
My hand inched toward the stone he held. All I had to do was to take it.
But I couldn’t.
Because another hand reached out before mine and snatched the stone away.
“Uh?”
The boy and I spoke at the same time, turning our heads in unison to follow the hand that had taken the stone.
It was Jin Eun-sol.
My eyes widened in disbelief.
Why is he here?
When did he get here?
Jin Eun-sol stared directly at me as he carelessly dropped the stone he’d taken. It landed with a soft plop.
Plunk.
The boy shouted, “Hey!”—but Jin Eun-sol didn’t even flinch. If anything… he looked colder.
Then, without a word, he turned around and started walking away, crossing back over the valley with his back to me.
I stood frozen.
Jin Eun-sol, who had worn long pants to avoid getting in the water from the beginning, was now soaked completely— his pants, shoes, socks everything was wet.
Why…?
“Ah… I found it with so much trouble…”
The boy muttered, his regret was clearly reflected. He smiled again, sheepishly, almost like he was trying to brush it off—but it felt off. Strange and suspicious
Why would he give me something he’d worked so hard to find?
I met the boy’s eyes for a moment, my eyelashes fluttering as my brow furrowed unconsciously. Then, I turned quickly and began chasing after Jin Eun-sol.
There was a loud splashing sound behind me as I hurried through the water.
Jin Eun-sol had reached the table. Without a word, he grabbed the plastic container I’d left nearby.
And then, in one swift motion—he flung it into the stream.
The container hit the water with a heavy sound, and all the stones and leaves I’d collected sank instantly.
“Ah…”
I bit my lower lip as I watched it sink. Why would he do that?
Only the empty container floated back up to the surface.
Jin Eun-sol finally turned to look at me. I flinched. My body tensed on its own. I couldn’t tell if those cold, sunken eyes were aimed at me—or at the boy still behind me—but one thing was clear:
Jin Eun-sol was angry.
“Why are you doing stuff like this…”
He clicked his tongue sharply, then walked out of the valley without another word.
On the way back to the mansion, I dropped the stones I’d still been holding and followed him, close behind.
Soon, Jin Eun-sol stopped on the grass and bent over—
and vomited.
Jin Eun-sol didn’t move after that. He stayed completely still in his room, as if he’d just gone through something deeply unpleasant. I didn’t move either. I lay in my own room, doing nothing, letting time pass. Eventually, I dozed off out of sheer boredom.
At some point, I remembered the plastic container I’d left in the stream.
But it was too late to go get it.
Even if I went now, it probably wouldn’t be there.
It must’ve already been carried far downstream by the current.
I didn’t see the stream again until Kim Eun-ah called me down to the barbecue area for dinner.
Jin Eun-sol was always a mystery to me.
I could never tell if he was being mean on purpose, or if he just didn’t care.
I left my room slowly and knocked on the door across from mine which was —Jin Eun-sol’s.
There was no answer.
As usual, I turned the knob and let myself in.
He was sitting on his bed, his back to me, staring silently outside the window.
“Come down and eat,” I said from the doorway.
Only then did he slowly turn his head toward me.
Thankfully, he didn’t look as angry as before.
Looking somewhat more composed, he got up from the bed.
I stepped aside to let him out of the room.
He walked past me.
He’d changed clothes—now wearing a full tracksuit with long sleeves and pants, even though it was the middle of summer.
Just looking at him made me feel hot, but he didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable.
There wasn’t even any sweat on him.
The air conditioner in his room hadn’t been on either.
I followed behind him, my eyes fixed blankly on his back.
It didn’t take long to reach the barbecue area attached to the mansion.
As soon as I stepped inside, I was hit by the smoky scent of the grilled meat. The rich smell filled the air, the kind that clung to your clothes and hair.
Jin Eun-sol immediately wrinkled his nose in distaste.
“Oh, are you here with Eunsol?”
Kim Eun-ah looked up and smiled when she heard the door open.
The crunch of gravel beneath our feet echoed through the room.
“Dear, our child is here. Eunsol, come over here quickly,” she called us cheerfully.
Suddenly, Jin Eun-sol stopped walking.
I stopped, too, and glanced at him.
He stood still, as if he hadn’t heard her voice at all.
What is he doing?
I frowned silently and asked, “Why?”
“It’s nothing,” he said, still not looking at me.
Then he started walking again.
I moved to follow him.
“Don’t follow me.”
The words dropped like a stone between us.
Ah…
I froze at a place. My jaw clenched.
A line had been drawn—clear and deliberate.
A line I wasn’t allowed to cross.
A space only he could enter.
And I wasn’t welcomed.
I watched as he walked slowly and calmly towards his family.
It felt like he was walking into another world.
I stood there, staring at the table where his family and another family sat together. They were laughing and talking, sharing food from the grill. I could smell the meat and hear the sizzling sound of oil dripping onto the coals.
Everything felt both loud and far away.
It was just a few steps.
But it felt like a place I could never reach—no matter how fast I ran.
That was my reality.
I blinked as the long summer sun dipped below the horizon. The lights strung up around the barbecue area flickered softly, casting reflections like ripples across water.
For a moment, it felt like I was underwater.
Like I was being pulled down into a deep current.
I had always felt the wall between them and me—a quiet, persistent distance that kept me just out of reach.
It left behind an awful loneliness.
A desperate urge to squeeze into that space between them.
To belong into their family.
But that gap only seemed to grow wider, and I felt like a stone sinking fast into dark water.
Everyone else floated effortlessly.
And I was the only one being dragged down.
I was so weighed down, I could feel it in my body—pressing, pulling, smothering.
I didn’t feel hungry anymore.
“I’m so unlucky,” I muttered to myself.
At that moment, my eyes met the boy’s.
The one sitting across from me.
Uh.
My body stiffened slightly.
