His oldest memory was when he was playing with sand on the playground. He piled sand that had gotten wet from the rain on top of his hand and slowly pulled his hand out before smoothening the dome shape. He competed with his friends, whom he could no longer remember if he was close to or not, about who could make the bigger cave.

They were all so focused on making the cave that some of them would cry if it collapsed while they were making it. Eventually, one or two people started to leave after getting called by their mothers.

It was when he was the only one behind, watching over all the caves without owners.

“Aren’t you going home?”

He raised his head at the unfamiliar voice. He couldn’t remember the figures of his friends, but he could remember the face of that lady clearly. He couldn’t possibly forget. It was the first day he saw ‘that.’

* * *

“Do you see anything on mommy’s shoulder?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“No, I can’t see anything.”

“You’re sure, right?”

“Right.”

Changsik lied. There was definitely ‘that’ on his mother’s left shoulder. However, he said that he couldn’t see it. It was what he decided to say ever since he turned seven.

He realized that everyone would be uncomfortable with him saying the truth.

At first, he was uneasy that he was different from everyone else. When he got older and started wearing a school uniform, he had more interest...