To Be the Perfect Childhood Friend - Chapter 68

Suddenly, the man’s voice couldn’t be heard. Only the gurgling sound, as if submerged in water, echoed, and Sarah slumped in the hallway.

“The body… couldn’t… be… cremated… risk of infection…”

The man’s words were barely audible. When Rutger turned his head to look beside him, he saw Elena’s melancholic face. She had been covering Rutger’s ears with both hands.

Tears welled up in Rutger’s eyes. The tears flowed uncontrollably.

His dad, who had been caring for patients day and night, got infected with the plague. He left the world without anyone being able to touch his body. Concerned about the risk of infection, the indigenous people, even before the soldiers sent by the Empire arrived, cremated his body. The body, along with others, was burned in the incinerator, making it impossible to even find the ashes.

His belongings, his clothes, and the letters he wrote every night to his family were also burned.

That’s how he disappeared from the world, as if he had never existed.

Months later, Sarah remarried, and Rutger became Rutger Baylan.

Now seven years old, Rutger Baylan was kicking a ball in the backyard. His target was none other than a thicket of roses. Staring at the bush of bright red rosebuds as if they were enemies, Rutger kicked the ball.

Thud.

Several roses fell to the ground. Regretting his actions as he observed the broken branches hit by the ball, Rutger soon felt guilt. The roses, lying on the damp ground after the rain, looked pitiful.

Bending down to pick up the fallen roses, the ball he had tucked into his side fell out.

“Hey, you dropped this.”

Rutger jumped at the unfamiliar voice coming from somewhere.

“W-who are you?”

“Don’t be scared. Just a neighbor passing through.”

Turning his head to the sound of footsteps on the grass, Rutger squinted. The man’s attire was too strange to consider him a neighbor. He wore a high-quality suit like a gentleman invited to a party, and his brown hair was neatly combed back and fixed in place. What was odd was not just that; there was a camera hanging around his neck.

“A…neighbor?”

Perhaps reading suspicion from the hesitant response, the strange man’s eyes softened, as if asserting his innocence.

“Are you Rutger?”

“Yes.”

“Your father passed away recently, right? How was your parents’ relationship before that?”

“Why do you…”

“No, I’m not a weird person. Just a small curiosity as a neighbor. Come on, want to have a candy bar?”

The man boldly pulled a blue candy from his suit pocket and thrust it towards Rutger. Even when Rutger turned his head away, the candy persistently followed him.

“Oh, don’t you like candy? Well, if you answer just one question for me we’ll go to the store and….”

“I don’t want to.”

“Did you ever think there was something strange about Ronald Allen’s death?”

“What? No, never.”

“I see.”

“Wait a minute. What are you writing now?”

The man pulled out a notebook from another pocket and scribbled something. He put the notebook away and raised the camera hanging around his neck.

Click.

With a loud sound, a flash of light illuminated the area. Startled by the sudden flash, Rutger staggered.

“Quick, come inside! Don’t engage with him!”

He was still trying to regain his composure when Sarah’s voice was heard from somewhere, and Rutger’s body was lifted into the air.

“Wait!”

“Get lost.”

Rutger, still disoriented, found himself being carried by Sarah like a sack. She slung her son over her shoulder and quickly moved away. Sarah pushed her son into the house, and Rutger tried to turn the doorknob to open the closed door, but it only rattled without opening.

Curious about what was happening, Rutger grabbed a chair and looked out through the kitchen window.

His stepdad, Heindel, was standing with a hose. As he turned the faucet, water sprayed from the hose. Then, he aimed the strong stream of water at the man standing in the garden.

Watching the scene, Rutger’s jaw dropped in surprise.

Clearly flustered, the strange man removed the camera hanging around his neck and expressed his frustration. Water was dripping from the camera he was holding. After shaking the water off the camera a few times with his hands, he scolded Heindel.

Although it wasn’t clear, it seemed like there was some argument between them. The man, who had been defiant for a while, turned away.

“What’s going on?”

“You wouldn’t know.”

Rutger narrowed his eyes and glared at Heindel.

“The kid is already learning nothing but bad things.”

Heindel tousled Rutger’s hair messily as he passed by.

It took young Rutger a while to realize that the suspicious man who visited their house was a journalist. When similar incidents happened several times, Sarah, unable to bear it, moved with her son and husband to an area where an old friend lived.

Rutger Allen, or rather Rutger Baylan, disliked his new home as much as he disliked his stepdad. He didn’t like being away from his hometown, friends, or the familiar surroundings.

And he didn’t like the new neighbor either.

The unfamiliar girl who would soon be his neighbor had shoulder-length black hair, and she wore a yellow headband. Her black eyes, the same color as her hair, were very clear and sharp. Her white dress was unblemished, with every button buttoned up to the collar.

“Hello? What’s your name?”

The girl introduced herself as Anita Rodel. She was undoubtedly an inappropriate person to be a neighbor—someone that parents would often bring up in lectures, saying things like, ‘Learn something from the girl next door. She’s always the top student in the class.’ Examples like that.

Feeling compelled to greet her, as not doing so might mean standing here forever, he reluctantly replied, “Rutger Baylan.”

For some reason, the girl seemed very curious. Her eyes were fixed on him as if she were examining something strange. The incessant gaze, curious like an investigation, annoyed him.

But the more annoying part was about to begin.