“What are you..?"
 

"What do they call these people?  Eum..
Oh yes!
Aren’t they called a… psychic...?"

"Are you a psychic? ”
 

What?
All these spirit guides and spirit talking has been enough for Sunggyu, and now there was another new term for him again.

“Psychic, you know? Like people who received a ‘gift’ from god since they were born and is able to help spirits. Isn’t that what you do?”
Dongwoo’s eyes glowed like an excited kid, while his hands clasped together under his chin.

Wait, this must be a misunderstanding.

“P-Psychic? Hey, just to clarify… I had an accident before I came here, I was on the verge of death,
so I don’t think it was a ‘gift’ from god. And, it’s not something I share with people.”
Sunggyu snorted as his eyes squinted at Dongwoo. He can’t believe how someone could call this a ‘gift’.

Dongwoo stopped for a moment, his eyes darting around warily, before he scurried beside Sunggyu and squatted down beside him.
He hid half his face below the desk, as he scanned around the area. After making sure no one was paying attention to them,
Dongwoo whispered into Sunggyu’s ear, and at the same time he clasped Sunggyu’s hand in his.

 “It’s a secret, right? It’s okay, your words are safe with me. Don’t worry, I believe you too. Kekeke.”

What’s wrong with him?
“Uh… thanks….” Sunggyu leaned back as he replied him with an uneasy tone.

“No problem!”
As Dongwoo raised up from his position, a high pitched music started playing through the loudspeakers around the cafeteria.
The sudden ringing triggered a mini jolt in Sunggyu’s heart which he responded by clenching his hand onto his chest.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he watches Dongwoo enthusiastically excused himself back to the food counter
and started stacking the food trays at the spot, which seems to be the start of the queue for the kids.

“It’s time for the kids to eat! Come over here quickly! Quickly! Kekeke. ”

“O-oh, eung!”

 Without hesitation, Sunggyu picked up the box that Yong Hwan’s mother passed to him and paced towards Dongwoo.
When he reached the food counter he noticed that Dongwoo was all prepared for the kids to arrive.
Both his hands were covered with plastic gloves, and an apron with cute stitching of a cartoon dinosaur hung over his neck.
Quickly placing the box at the corner of a counter, Sunggyu then put on a pair of fresh plastic gloves he took from the drawer,
and wore the other dinosaur apron, which was conveniently hanging on the wall beside him.
Not long after, the muffled sounds of giggles and footsteps could be heard approaching the cafeteria.
The door towards the cafeteria flew open and a teacher walked in, followed by a group of excited young elementary students.


-

-

-


 “Here here! You have to eat more to grow up eung.
Be good okay, I will cook you your favourite chicken soup tomorrow! Heh heh”

Sunggyu watched from the side as Dongwoo calmly patted the little girl on her head.
The little girl’s eyes gleamed with joy and she nodded shyly at Dongwoo’s words, before skipping light-heartedly towards her friends.
It must be nice to see such happy faces around here every day.
Sunggyu let out a soft sigh as he thought back to the childhood memories of him hanging out with his other school mates.
Hah, look where they are now?

“Ahjussi, I don’t want to eat vegetable.”

Huh?

As Sunggyu turned his attention back on the queue, he noticed a pouting face in front of him.
The little boy wasn’t looking at Sunggyu, his arms were folded and he was looking at the ground.
He doesn’t look as happy as the little girl with Dongwoo earlier.

This kid, aish. Is he trying to give me an attitude right now?


“Just eat it. Don’t you know that vegetable is good for you? You must eat it in order to grow tall like me, okay?” 
Sunggyu tried to force a smile as he added another spoon of vegetable onto the little boy’s tray.
The little boy frowned as he stomped away with his tray.

“Tsk, tsk. Don’t you know how to interact with kids?
Don’t talk too sternly to them. Also, that kid, he had been through a lot too,
so try not to be too direct to him. He doesn’t like it...”
Dongwoo rested his arm on the edge of the counter as he spoke to Sunggyu.

“Ah.. sorry! I-I’m not good with them….”
At that moment Sunggyu observed as an elderly woman shuffled towards the bench and sat right next to the little boy.
A layer of light pulsate around her body as she stood tranquil with a soothing smile.
No one seems aware of the old lady’s presence, even the little boy.
That’s when Sunggyu knew, that the person he was looking at wasn’t exactly a person.

“Ya! Stop staring. If you want to help and pass a message just do so, standing around won’t help, you know.”

Aish, that punk again. How does he always lecture me but still get away with it.
If he wasn’t a spirit guide or whatever he would have got it from me. Tsk.

Sunggyu mumbled to himself and rolled his eyes a little, when he recalled Sungjong nagging to him about all the spiritual stuffs or, lessons,
as what Sungjong likes to call it. That kid seriously needs to learn his manners. But, right now that’s not the problem.
From what he’s looking at now, he could sense that there was an important connection between this little kid and the ahjumma beside him.
Seeing that most of the kids had already gotten their food trays,
Sunggyu quickly removed the apron hanging over his neck, and strolled towards the little boy’s table.

“Hey kiddo, mind if I join you here?”
Sunggyu pointed at the bench opposite the kid and gestured if he could sit down.
The little boy peeked at Sunggyu over his food and returned a slight nod. His facial expressions were as still as before.  
He must be angry over that incident earlier.
After taking his seat opposite the boy, Sunggyu can’t help but notice the tiny puffy eyebags on that young boy.
Is that ahjumma related to the cause of this?

Sunggyu’s eyes unknowingly lead him to the elderly lady.
Despite the shabby-looking clothes, she still gives off a calm energy and she continues smiling as she watched over the little boy. 
Sunggyu’s attention directed back to the little boy when he heard a sigh.

“Ahjussi, are you going to speak or not?”
The little boy pouted, again.

Flustered at the sudden words, Sunggyu quickly said the first thing he could think of.
“O-Oh, sorry. Ah.. So what’s your name kid? I’m Sunggyu. You can just call me Sunggyu hyung. Ahjussi sounds too old for me. Heh heh.”

With his head still hanging low, the little boy mumbled, 
“… My name is Tae Yeong. Nice to meet you Sunggyu hyu- ahjussi.”
Tae Yeong continue fumbling the spoon on his food tray as he spoke.
At that point from the corner of Sunggyu’s eye, he noticed the elderly lady shifted to face him.
Her lips moved as she mouth words at Sunggyu. As usual the sound doesn’t project out verbally, but instead, mentally into Sunggyu’s mind.

“Tell Yeongie, no matter what he eat, or what he do, don’t feel bad that Halmeoni isn’t there to be with him.
I will always be right beside him, protecting him, and watching him grow.
It was time for me to go, and it was time for him to grow up too.
Please, tell him that I love him, and mention the gift under his bed if he doesn't want to believe you.” 

The elderly lady showed her slightly crooked pearl white teeth before she placed her hand on Tae Yeong’s shoulders and patted him a few times.

Sunggyu acknowledged the eldery with a firm nod just before she faded off into thin air.

“Er… Taeyeong ah… This might sound weird, but your halmeoni was here.”

With these words, Taeyeong’s head shot up and his eyes stared at Sunggyu in disbelief.


“Halmeoni…? B-But, I thought… You’re lying right! You know nothing about my Halmeoni! ”
Taeyeong shoot up from the bench and was about to move away from the table when Sunggyu’s words made him come into a halt.

“The gift. Under your bed.
Now you know I’m not lying, right Taeyeong?
Come,”
Sunggyu raised from the bench and bent down right in front of Taeyeong.
He placed his hands on Taeyeong’s shoulders and his hair.

“I have a message from your Halmeoni.”

-
 

-

-

-

-

-

“Goodbye Taeyeongie! See you again!”

The rattling echo of metal filled the school cafetaria as Sunggyu bid farewell to his new friend.
Just a few minutes of chatting with Taeyeoung,
Sunggyu noticed the change in his behaviour after he told Taeyeong about the message he got from Halmeoni.
Through the conversation he had with Taeyeong, Sunggyu actually realised one thing.
That kid had already made up his mind to move forward in life, but he just need a little push from someone,
like his Halmeoni, to reassure him with the right words. Relief swept over Sunggyu.
At that moment he felt so much better and more confident about his new ‘gift’. He let out a breath just as he felt one near his neck.

“How did you manage to make the boy smile? Its been months since he was that happy, you know.”

Sunggyu’s body reacted with a jolt and his body naturally swirled around.

“YA! Don’t do that, you dinoaur! You scared me!”

“Heh heh. Good job Sunggyu ah”

 Looking at him with a side glance, Sunggyu couldn’t help but cringed for one second.
Then suddenly he felt a tug as Dongwoo grab his hands and swayed it back and forth.

“Ya, ya! Are you done?”

Sunggyu let out a sigh and shook his head while Dongwoo continue to swinging his arms everywhere.
He was about to push Dongwoo’s grip away but all of a sudden, a question that had been bugging Sunggyu, abruptly pops into his mind.
Halfway through the swaying, Sunggyu’s hands made its way and he grabbed onto Dongwoo’s wrist instead.
Dongwoo was startled at the sudden action, and his movements came to a halt.





“Dongwoo ah,
I have something I need to ask you.”

 

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A/N
Wow I’m so sorry I went MIA for the past few years, TAT
Things got really busy for me and my laptop was acting up.
I’m trying to get back where I left off and I will also try my best to finish this series,
because I know many people have requested for new chapters!
It might still take some time because I’m working now (was studying before),
so I really apologise for this!  Still, I hope you enjoyed reading my fics!! <3