14.
On a rainy day, what Taeyeon saw was a single piece of news, and remains.
First, he lost two people. Then, he lost one more.
In that place, Taeyeon did nothing.
He hung his head, watching that sight.
“…”
Someone spoke to Taeyeon, but he could not hear their voice.
He was merely looking at his younger sister.
“…Hah.”
Recalling the last sight he had seen, Taeyeon closed his eyes.
What he had done, what he thought he had to do—none of it came to mind.
He simply remained there.
15.
He places flowers beneath the photographs of three people.
Taeyeon looks at their faces, feeling bitter.
“You came alone again today.”
“Yes. I don’t think I can come here with anyone just yet.”
“It can’t be helped.
It’s something you see from time to time.
At such a young age… the world is truly complicated.”
“…”
Taeyeon looks at the photographs.
The photographs of his parents.
The photograph of his younger sister.
At the photographs of the three of them.
Taeyeon places his hand on the glass.
16.
For several days, Yuna felt an emptiness in the park.
Even when she waited a while in the park, Taeyeon did not come.
“I suppose the young man won’t be coming for a while.”
“Ah, yes?”
“You’re the student who always listened to that young man’s performances here, aren’t you? I recognized your face.”
“Ah, yes.”
While waiting for Taeyeon in the park, the groundskeeper approached Yuna’s side.
The groundskeeper was looking at the spot where Taeyeon had been.
“That young man finds it difficult to come around this time of year.
Whether it’s raining or the weather is fine, no matter what.
It’s a personal matter, you see.”
“I had heard something like that.”
“You hadn’t heard the details?”
“…No.”
She hadn’t heard them.
She had only been able to tell that it was something important to Taeyeon.
The groundskeeper looked at Yuna, conflicted.
Wondering whether it would be good to tell the story, or if they shouldn’t.
“Do you happen to know, groundskeeper?”
“…I do.
Because I know about the situation from when the young man first asked if he could perform here in the park.
And why the young man plays here.”
“…”
The groundskeeper looked out over the entire park.
“Would you like to hear it?
It’s a personal story for that individual, so I cannot easily speak of it.
And it’s not a story for a student to hear.
Though it feels strange to say this… you don’t have any sort of relationship with that young man.
You’re merely someone who listens to him play in the park at this hour.”
Not family, nor someone with a close connection.
Merely someone who watches him perform in the park.
Someone who has an interest, but not someone with whom one can share so many things.
Precisely because of that.
“May I hear it?”
“…I can’t tell you in detail either.
I can only tell you the broad strokes.
And don’t tell him about this.”
“…Yes.”
17.
This was something that happened one day.
An accident on a rainy day.
In that accident, one person died.
About middle school age.
The sudden death of a middle school girl.
And the man watching it.
“…”
The umbrella he held fell to the ground.
The man stood in the rain, staring at that sight.
He stared, and stared again… he stared.
He did not move.
Flowing blood ran with the rainwater.
Someone called 119, and loud noises approached.
The man was still staring at it.
There was nothing he could do but stare.
“…Seoyeon.”
All he could do was speak in a small voice.
18.
“A middle school girl was hit by a car and died on a rainy day.
There was such an incident.
Near this park.
The one who saw that accident was the girl’s older brother.
There was nothing we could do.
There was nothing we could do but watch the scene of the accident.”
“What happened to the girl?”
She already knew what had happened.
Yet she asked anyway.
Simply wishing it weren’t so.
“She died.
She had already lost a lot of blood after being hit by the car.
It seemed even worse because it was a rainy day.
I was surprised when he asked if he could play here in this park after such a terrible accident.
That he would play in this spot, I mean.
At first, I thought it was simply mourning for his dead sister, but I suppose that wasn’t it.
It wasn’t something that would pass in a single moment.”
“That accident… when did it happen?”
“It’s been several years now.
That girl was probably… around your age.
If she were alive, she would be entering high school now, or about that age, as I recall.”
“…I see.”
It wasn’t a pleasant story to keep listening to.
It was enough to sicken a person’s heart.
Taeyeon’s past.
What Taeyeon had faced in the past.
A knot that still hadn’t untangled itself.
Yuna thought.
About what she should do.
Whether she could be of any help.
In the park, the figure of the one who waited did not appear.
Today, that spot—the spot where he had been—looked especially dark.
19.
What was reflected in the mirror was the figure of a sick man.
Taeyeon looked at his own reflection.
He thought about what he had to do, what kind of thoughts he should have.
His thoughts would not organize themselves.
In that suffocating feeling, he submerged his face in water.
“Huu.”
Looking at his face after pulling it out of the water, Taeyeon was silent for a while.
After wiping his face with a towel, he looked at his guitar.
He took out the guitar, tuned it, and plucked the strings.
The guitar he had touched for so long.
The guitar containing old memories of when he played before his family and they all smiled.
After touching the guitar for a moment, he let out a sigh.
Staggering, he put the guitar in its case and looked at the clock.
There was still plenty of time, but Taeyeon took his guitar and went outside.
Because today, more than ever, he wanted to go early.
When he arrived at the park, he saw Yuna sitting in her usual spot.
“You came early.”
“Yes, it’s the weekend.”
Seeing her waiting so early because it was the weekend, Taeyeon let out a laugh without realizing it.
“Ah, sorry.”
“No, is it strange after all?”
“It’s just… it’s been a while since someone waited for me like this… I think that’s why I laughed.
There’s no one who waits for me like this anymore.”
Thinking of old times, Taeyeon looked at his guitar with a distant expression.
Yuna looked at such a Taeyeon, holding herself back.
Taeyeon smiled, showing a smile that was not a smile, and looked at Yuna.
He saw Yuna’s expression.
“Did something… happen?”
“Um, I’m sorry.”
Yuna apologized to Taeyeon.
Taeyeon could not understand why she was suddenly apologizing to him.
“Actually… I heard the story.
About what happened to you.
Actually, even before hearing the story, I could tell from your demeanor that something had happened in your past.
So I was worried about it.”
Yuna thought about her own actions.
There had been no need to go out of her way.
To Taeyeon, she was merely an audience member.
Even so, Yuna had moved.
Perhaps it could be called meddling.
She thought so herself.
“When I was bullied at school, I always thought about it too.
About giving up.”
Taeyeon looked at Yuna’s expression.
She was feeling anguish.
To Yuna, Taeyeon’s matter was someone else’s business.
There was no need to pay it any mind, and yet she was.
How often did one receive this kind of feeling?
No, Taeyeon knew.
There had already been many people near him who worried about him.
It was simply that Taeyeon himself had not accepted it, that he had been turning away from it.
That he had simply been avoiding it.
“I’m grateful that you worry about me.”
“…It’s nothing.”
“It was because of my sister’s death anniversary recently.
I have a sister who would probably be around your age.
My sister… committed suicide.”
Yuna’s eyes widened.
What Yuna had heard was that Taeyeon’s sister had been in an accident.
Because she had heard it that way, she naturally thought it was a tragic accident where she was hit by a car.
But Taeyeon knew.
Because he knew about his sister, he knew it hadn’t been a simple accident.
“…You said you were bullied at school, right?”
“…Yes, I did.”
“Would you mind telling me the reason you were bullied?
Ah, if it’s painful, you don’t have to tell me.
I can just start with my story.”
“…As you can see, I’m a snake beastman.
I was originally an ordinary kid with no tail, without any beastman traits. But one day I suddenly became like this, so I was bullied.
The bullying wouldn’t stop, so I even transferred schools, but it was similar.
So I wanted to give up on everything, but I somehow endured thanks to my parents’ encouragement.
So it’s lessened a lot now.”
“I see.”
Listening to Yuna’s words, Taeyeon nodded.
Taeyeon looked up at the sky.
“It started when my sister’s ability awakened.
An ability that causes physical transformation—there’s no way to know when or how it activates.
It activated so suddenly, and her gender changed.”
“Her gender?”
“Yes. Her gender.
No one knew why it suddenly happened like that.
It literally appeared and ended just like that, suddenly.
There was nothing seriously wrong with her body, so the hospital said there were no abnormalities.
But that was only a story inside the hospital.
Outside, in society, the hospital’s results meant nothing at all.”