More — Than Blue -seulpeumboda Deo Seulpeun Iyagi...

The next day, he started researching. He found a man named Lee Ji-hoon—a gentle, kind-faced dentist with a quiet smile and no apparent vices. Yoo followed him for a week. He watched him return a lost wallet, help an elderly woman cross the street, and buy flowers for his mother every Friday.

One evening, Chae-won came home early and found Yoo on the bathroom floor, a bloody tissue pressed to his lips. He looked up, startled, then smiled—that broken, beautiful smile.

Ji-hoon nodded, his own eyes wet. “I promise.” More Than Blue -Seulpeumboda Deo Seulpeun Iyagi...

Instead, Yoo would say, “If I ever become a burden, promise you’ll push me off a cliff.”

“This is garbage,” he said, his voice flat. “Like this life. Like you.” The next day, he started researching

They discovered they were the same age. They discovered they both liked the rain because it masked the sound of crying. They discovered, one night on the rooftop, that Yoo had a secret: a congenital condition, a slow leak in the machinery of his heart. The doctors had given him a timeline, but the orphanage didn't have the money for treatment. He was, in essence, a borrowed boy.

And Chae-won would reply, “I’ll push you, but I’ll jump right after.” He watched him return a lost wallet, help

He arrived in winter, his nose red, his suitcase a plastic grocery bag. He didn’t cry at all. Not when the matron led him to the cramped dormitory, not when an older boy stole his only sweater. Chae-won watched him from across the dining hall. He ate his rice methodically, as if it were a task to complete, not a meal to enjoy.

“A will,” he said, without looking up. “Everyone leaves eventually. I want to be ready.”

“Yoo,” she said quietly, “I know what you’re doing.”