003. NUMB

Running outside was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to make Minhyuk laugh and shout out loud. There were supposed to be nothing that can make him sad or cry.

So why is he now bawling while lying on his stomach on the hard ground?

“Hyung~!”

A blonde guy wearing a printed button down shirt over a white shirt and a pair of shorts runs in full speed towards his fallen charge. “Minhyuk! Minhyuk, are you okay?”

“I can’t feel my legs~!” The five-year-old screams. “I don’t have legs anymore, Jinwoo hyung!” The idea makes him cry even more, big, fat tears leaking from his closed eyes.

“No, no, it’s not like that!” In slight panic, Jinwoo picks the other up and shows him his legs. “See? You still have them?”

This stops the waterworks, calming the kid into soft sniffles. “But I can’t feel them.”

“Here,” Jinwoo sits down on the grass with the younger on his lap. He stretches the tiny legs and rubs them gently to bring back the feeling. He notes that there are no wounds anywhere.

The sniffles stop as sensation comes back little by little. “Hyung! I can feel them again!” The little one lets out a shout and gets up to run around, as if nothing happened.

The older one just stares after him, dumbfounded. Then he turns to his side and spots a gray thing protruding from the ground. It’s a rock. He hits it lightly, murmuring, “don’t trip him again.”