"What does this letter mean?" Byungjoo asked Xero the next day at the stop, though he didn't wait for a reply. "I feel like you're saying you're depressed, and you're worried if anyone would see you hurt yourself."
Xero waved his hand while tilting his head as if he were saying "kind of."
"Sort of? I can't really think of anything else this letter could mean..." The boy held a smile with a soft gaze to Byungjoo. "Can I... Can I keep this letter a little longer? I mean if you want it back I'll give it back, but-" Xero patted his shoulder to cut off his rambling, telling him it was okay with a nod.

 

　 　"What does this mean?" Byungjoo unfolded the letter and slapped the piece of paper onto the counter at his work where his grandmother stood behind. "This guy at the bus stop, he doesn't talk and his name is Jiho, but he calls himself Xero, and he gave me this letter."
She pushed the glasses dangling around her neck behind her ears as she picked up the letter. "So he's mute?" She asked before reading it.
"Yeah, but, he's really nice."
His grandmother took a moment to look over the short note, mumbling out each word as she read, then setting the paper back down. "You know, people who voluntarily become mute usually experienced some kind of trauma earlier in their life. I think what he's trying to say here is that he witnessed an innocent person get hurt, or worse. The beginning says that he will never judge someone, cause they could be going through something."
"So you're saying like... He saw someone get killed or something?"
"Could be, you'd have to ask him."
Byungjoo rested his elbows on the counter in thought. "I wonder what he could of saw..." He then postured himself with another question. "How do you talk to a mute?"
The elder shrugged, scrambling through multiple drawers. "Write 'em a letter, I guess."
He folded the paper back up, and shoved it into his pocket.

 

　 　"I have to say, I've never been so interested in living before. Maybe I should join the FBI." Byungjoo exclaimed to his uncle as they tossed through broken car parts.
"Why do you say that?"
"I met this guy who's mute. I've seen him everyday at the bus stop since a long time ago, and just started talking to him."
"I thought you said he was mute?" His uncle laughed.
"Well he nods and stuff. I do all of the talking. He's gotta be depressed or something when you don't talk like that, but it's confusing cause he always seems so happy."
The elder let out a heavy groan as he bent over to pick up a part that fell on the ground. "I'll let you in on a little secret."
"Yeah, what's that?" Byungjoo's attention was now focused on putting a rubber coat around the piece he carried.
"You only perceive the world the way you let yourself." He waved the metal he picked up as he spoke. "Meaning, you choose to be happy or sad or angry about things."
"I don't get it, but okay."
"Let's say one of your best friends did something you asked them not to, something minor. You could either choose to get upset about it, or move on and stay friends."
"What about war?" Byungjoo laughed.
"Same thing, you could choose to sit at home and whine about it on those stupid little touch phones of yours, or get up and do something."
"Like what?"
"I don't know..." His eyes rolled to the ceiling in search for an example. "Motivational speaking, volunteering, feeding the Veterans... Donate water, food, and blankets to other countries."
"How would that end war though?"
"It wouldn't, I'm not saying that at all, what I'm saying is that you only have control over your actions. Maybe that kid you talk to chooses to be happy, despite being mute."
Byungjoo stepped away from his activity with a blank look directed at his uncle. "Maybe that's what the letter means."
"What letter?"
"He gave me this letter, it's all poetic and stuff so I couldn't understand it." He reached for the paper and began to search along its lines with his finger. "He wrote 'That who is internally weak deserves more than a pat on the back' maybe he meant that he wants to be this... I don't know... Some sort of guide for anybody who is suffering from something. Like a inspiration to keep going."
"Maybe."
"Grandma says I should write a letter, do you think he'd respond?"
"Couldn't tell ya B-Joo, I'm not a mute."

 

　 　The next day, Byungjoo gave Xero his letter back, who responded with a smile.
"And here." Byungjoo handed him another folded paper after much hesitation. 
With a look of confusion of which he wasn't expecting anything else, he gradually reached for the note, opening it afterwards to read:
 

Xero,
My grandma recommends me to write a letter to try and get you to communicate, and I thought I'd give it a try cause she's pretty smart. She says that you might of saw something that made you mute, and I was wondering if she was right. She says people who are mute were traumatized or something.
And then, I figured out the beginning of your letter after my uncle was telling me that "you only perceive the world the way you let yourself." Something along those lines. I was thinking you're trying to be this hero for anyone who might be suffering. Is that what your letter means? And also, why do you call yourself Xero?

-Byungjoo

Xero folded the piece of paper after he finished reading it, handing it back to Byungjoo, who in return gave a puzzled expression.
"You're not gonna write back or anything?"
But Xero only smiled.