GB 17

“Looks like he’s got land sickness.” Seon Ik-hyeon made a simple diagnosis, looking at Haero, whose complexion had turned pale with cold sweat beading on his skin. “I had pretty severe land sickness too when I first came here.”

Lieutenant Gu, who had been sipping her cherry coke, asked, “What’s land sickness?”

“Ah. I guess you wouldn’t know. You’re not from a base, after all.”

“You’re showing off even though you were born on land too.” 

As Lieutenant Gu retorted disapprovingly, Seon Ik-hyeon shook his head. “No, that’s not it. For people born outside the system, the world is very small. When they realize there’s such a big world after being in a small one, the clash between these two perceptions creates swells over 5 meters high, like in rough seas.”

When swells exceed 5 meters, no ship can sail according to international maritime law. Ships are only reluctantly put to sea when the harbors are full and staying harbored might damage the hull. It doesn’t even need to reach 5 meters, even 4 meter swells can make even atheists start looking for God.

“The world feels unsteady and everything seems like an illusion. The kid might accept the truth faster than I did, but being a kid might make it scarier too. I can pretend I’m not dizzy, but if kids try to pretend, they might get sick.” Seon Ik-hyeon pointed at Haero with his thumb.

Haero was crouched on the roadside curb, sipping cola through a straw offered by Yoon Moo-hwa. After drinking, he panted like a puppy and sticking out his tongue. “It’s hard. I still feel seasick.”

Seeing Haero suffering with a furrowed brow, Yoon Moo-hwa also became quite serious.

They had to get vaccinations today, but Yoon Moo-hwa wondered if Haero could handle it in this condition. He was worried that trying to prevent illness might actually cause a bigger one. Moreover, as someone who naturally never got seasick or fell ill, Yoon Moo-hwa found it even harder to understand Haero’s condition.

It’s probably mental distress rather than physical. That was even harder for him to understand.

Yoon Moo-hwa watched Haero drinking cola in small sips and rubbed his cheek. “I was lucky,” he said in a low, handsome voice.

Haero looked up.

“To arrive on an inhabited island among so many uninhabited ones, for you to find me there of all people. To succeed in the gamble of boarding a pirate ship, to come back and rescue you.”

Haero was somewhat surprised by the word ‘rescue’. He didn’t even know he had been ‘rescued’.

“Even watching you eat the hamburger earlier, I thought I was lucky. Despite not being someone who usually believes in luck.” Yoon Moo-hwa stroked Haero’s cheek, which was slowly regaining color. It was a firm touch, almost pinching. “Although I still think we were both lucky to find each other, I think I didn’t consider your pace.”

Haero didn’t know about pirates. He knew about the navy but didn’t think of Yoon Moo-hwa as navy when he saw him. Haero probably only knew about the emerald-green rippling coast, the islands surrounded by mangroves like strong arms, and the somewhat strict adults. Just as children’s flesh and bones are all soft, he seemed to have overlooked that their delicate, unripe world should be broken very carefully.

“You liked me yesterday, but from today, you might start disliking me. That might happen.” But unless Haero tells him, Yoon Moo-hwa can’t accurately guess that child’s feelings. He was a soldier, not a fortune-teller. “We have a hospital appointment at 2 PM. We need to leave now. You can drink in the car, so let’s go for now.”

Just as only Haero will know his own feelings, only the doctor will know if Haero can get vaccinated today. Yoon Moo-hwa headed to the car after gesturing to Lieutenant Gu and Seon Ik-hyeon that he’d contact them later.

Seon Ik-hyeon watched Yoon Moo-hwa’s retreating figure with interest gleaming in his eyes when Yoon Moo-hwa tilted to the side as he held Haero’s hand,

“Even that Lieutenant Yoon Moo-hwa stumbles in front of a child. What an interesting sight, right?”

* * *

In the end, the vaccination was canceled that day. Haero, who had a slight fever, received fever medication in case of any unforeseen circumstances and returned home.

“Children often get fevers. They get fevers when they’re tired, when they can’t sleep— that’s just how kids are. You can think of it as a wisdom fever.”

Yoon Moo-hwa muttered the words “wisdom fever” while waiting for Haero, who had gone into the bathroom.

After washing up, Haero wore Yoon Moo-hwa’s pajamas again. Being still young and with unkempt hair, dressed like this, Haero’s gender was ambiguous.

Thinking the child was taking longer than usual to wash up, Yoon Moo-hwa called out, only to find that Haero had fallen asleep inside. The child’s eyes were full of drowsiness. 

Must be confusing, Yoon Moo-hwa thought when he silently fixing Haero’s pajamas as the child dozed.

However, contrary to Yoon Moo-hwa’s expectations, Haero’s eyes suddenly lit up at the notification sound indicating a family member’s arrival. Yoon Moo-hwa was taken aback by those bright, clear eyes.

“I heard that sound before. Is that scary-looking man coming?”

Haero, who seemed to find the electronic sound amusing, suddenly became energetic. Yoon Moo-hwa’s hands moved faster to properly button up Haero’s misaligned buttons, worried the child might dart off like this.

More importantly, “Scary-looking”? Yoon Moo-hwa asked. “You said he looks scary?”

Yoon Moo-hwa, who had often been told he looked just like his father when young, frowned.

“I couldn’t greet him yesterday, so I want to say hello today.”

But Haero was faster. The child grabbed Yoon Moo-hwa’s hand and rushed down to the first floor. Yoon Moo-hwa followed, hiding his annoyance, matching the small hand and the steps that couldn’t cover even one of his own strides no matter how fast they ran.

Yoon Sang-won, who had just taken off his shoes to enter, startled at the small feet before him. As he raised his head and straightened up, he saw a child half the size of his son bowing politely.

“Hello!”

The greeting was cheerful. It was hard to believe this child had cried several times today. Even to Yoon Moo-hwa, who knew the truth. It seemed that way, so it must have been the same for Yoon Sang-won.

It didn’t seem at all like a child raised on a pirate island.

Though Yoon Sang-won vaguely knew he shouldn’t have such prejudices, he was a very rigid soldier, and having grown up in the military all his life, he didn’t easily change his thoughts. 

Yoon Sang-won stared intently at Haero. “Yoon Moo-hwa must have taught you that greeting.”

“No, I already knew it. I’m not so young that I haven’t learned how to greet people yet.” Haero replied, bristling at the assumption.

It’s only newborn babies who can be forgiven for not knowing how to greet, not half-adults like me who can pull my own weight and earn my keep, Haero thought.

“So they do some sort of education there.” Yoon Sang-won muttered.

Then, either becoming serious at his own mutter or perhaps naturally born with such a stern face – even his son Yoon Moo-hwa couldn’t tell which,

Yoon Sang-won looked at Yoon Moo-hwa and asked, “Aren’t you going to greet me? How can you be worse than a child half your size?”

“Welcome home,” Yoon Moo-hwa replied calmly. “Haero is better than me. Cuter too.”

“Is this a new strategy? Your strategy-making skills are truly poor. What a waste of that top graduate title, such a waste. The Naval Academy’s standards must have really dropped.”

“You gave me that diploma yourself, Father. I clearly remember you even praising our class as the best in history back then.”

Yoon Sang-won snorted derisively. Glancing at Haero, he gestured to Yoon Moo-hwa, indicating he had something to discuss.

“If the child can greet properly, surely they can sleep well enough alone.” Yoon Sang-won headed to his room without waiting for an answer. 

What lecture is he going to give now? How annoying, thought Yoon Moo-hwa.

Not showing his irritation, Yoon Moo-hwa instead bent down behind Haero and whispered into his small ear, “Go up first and sleep. Try to sleep even if you’re not sleepy. If you turn on the radio on the desk, you’ll hear the sound of waves.”

Then he passed by Haero and followed Yoon Sang-won.

Haero watched Yoon Moo-hwa’s back until he disappeared after his father, then headed towards the stairs.

Yet the child kept looking back.

Haero had thought children were born on ships, so did that mean Yoon Moo-hwa was also born on a ship and Yoon Sang-won had taken him in? Like the Captain? What kind of ship was Yoon Moo-hwa born on? That huge ship they had come on? Or the black boat they had taken to reach the huge ship?

Since Yoon Moo-hwa was so tall, it probably wasn’t such a small boat. Haero thought Yoon Moo-hwa deserved to be born on a very grand and large ship, and entered the room.

As Yoon Moo-hwa had said, there was a radio on the desk. It was a familiar tool to Haero too. The adults, especially the Captain and Vice-Captain, always handled it, so Haero had never used it, but had seen the Captain’s sister occasionally bring it out and fiddle with it. Just a little touch, and such beautiful songs would flow out. Only that sister ever played songs instead of human voices.

Haero had very good observational skills, so even with just that memory, just that brief moment, the child had learned how to operate the radio.

Following that memory, Haero turned on the radio. It crackled for a moment, then Yoon Moo-hwa’s words came true.

“Wow… It is really the sound of waves.”

Waves began to surge in Haero’s room. The child climbed onto the bed, kneeling sideways. After pulling the radio closer, Haero lay down in front of it.

It felt as if everything from the feet to the shins was starting to get damp. The waves were coming in. It was clearly the sound of a quiet night sea. Haero closed his eyes and smiled slightly.

It felt as if the approaching sea foam was tickling his body.