My Ex-Girlfriend Regrets Dumping Me

1 – A Fruitless Farewell (1)

[Mech-Hero~! It’s time to gear up and ride out!]

During my kindergarten days, I was deeply fascinated by superhero stories.

Emerging bravely in times of crisis, saving girls from the clutches of evil,

Defeating villains in a heroic manner and earning the respect of others.

So, even during kindergarten, I always played with the boys, engaging in superhero adventures.

[Future Aspiration: Mech-Hero]

A hero wearing a mask, sketched in my sketchbook.

Seeing that, my kindergarten teacher looked at me and said:

“hehehe. Gonyul, are you aspiring to be a Mech-Hero in the future?”

“Yes. I want to become a Mech-Hero and punish the wicked villains who torment people!”

Perhaps that was just the natural course of events.

After all, I had tried to rescue a girl who was being bullied in kindergarten.

…

…

Kindergarten outdoor playtime.

The kindergarten I attended had a decent playground inside.

“Take this! Mech-Gun!”

“Ahh!”

My kindergarten friends pretended to fall down as if shot by my finger-gun.

After a few minutes, they approached me with a bored expression.

“It’s not fun anymore. I want to play the role of the Mech-Hero now. You be the villain.”

But a justice-seeking Mech-Hero couldn’t play the role of a villain.

To them, it was just a game, but to me, it wasn’t just a game, and I sincerely believed so.

“Hold on. That doesn’t…”

“Hey! Why are you suddenly leaving?”

I fled the scene. I evaded the friend who was following me, and wandered alone, humming the tune of a superhero song, here and there.

“Mecha Hero! It’s time to get moving!”

And there, in the corner of the kindergarten playground.

The girl surrounded by three boys playing on the sand.

They were cheeky kids who often got scolded by the teacher for playing the fool.

“Don’t do it… I worked so hard to make this.”

The girl struggling to protect the sandcastle she had built.

Her tussled hair, slightly old-fashioned glasses, and timid, hesitant speech.

She was the perfect type to be teased in kindergarten because she would react entertainingly when teased.

“Wow, you’re really bad at this. Should I smash it?”

“Why do you stutter? Our mom said not to play with kids who stutter.”

“She’s so stupid, that’s why. Stupid. They say that stupid people stutter.”

The boys harassed her, churning around her.

Seeing the girl’s expression turning as if she were about to burst into tears, I felt the surging of my sense of justice.

This was the situation I had always dreamed of.

An underdog getting bullied by the villains.

My hero button was pushed inside me, and I sprang in front of them.

“Hey! Don’t bully her! If you don’t want to get in trouble with me.”

All fights are like this, but especially in children’s fights, size matters.

I was quite big for a six-year-old, so if people fought with me, there were only a few in the kindergarten who could beat me.

“Hey… it’s Geonyul…”

So, it was only natural that they looked cautiously at me.

At that age, it’s hard to grasp the concept of being hit.

Of course, there were also kids who would respond like this.

“Who are you? Does Geonyul like you?”

“Yeah. Why is she being like this to us without reason?”

“She better not. That stuttering idiot?”

The boys’ attempt to smoothly steer the situation into teasing.

Usually, if it were an ordinary boy, he would have retreated from here to avoid being teased.

But I, who was immersed in the apostle of justice within me, was not that kind of person.

“I am a Mecha Hero! I should punish weak people like you.”

I said so, holding up the toy Mecha Sword that I always carried in my bag.

The boys looked at me with strange eyes and then disappeared as if they were intimidated.

It seemed that they didn’t have the confidence to fight against me.

“Are you okay? You can relax now. The villains have retreated.”

I mimicked the dialogue I had heard somewhere.

And the girl with tangled hair raised her head and looked at me with her beautiful obsidian-like eyes.

And even tears beneath them.

It was an impressive face that I thought would look pretty without glasses.

“Th-thank you… for helping me.”

“No. It’s only natural. Helping the weak is what heroes do. Well then.”

Feeling satisfied with the expression of gratitude directed at me, I attempted to swing my sword and disappear, looking cool just like the heroes in the program.

As if she was relieved by protecting the sandcastle, the girl shouted behind me.

“I’m Seo Ha-yeon… What’s your name?”

At that time, I didn’t know why she asked for my name, but there was no need to hide it, so I just answered.

“My name is Yoon Geon-yul. I am the apostle of justice protecting the world.”

While uttering words that seem cringe-worthy to me now.

*

Since then, the relationship between Ha-yeon and me developed rapidly.

Perhaps it was possible due to our innocent childhood, where we unintentionally approached each other at such a pace.

“G-Geon-yul, do you like yogurt?”

“Yeah! I really like yogurt.”

“…Then, do you want to have mine too?”

“Really?”

Ha-yeon shared her food with me without any hesitation.

“Why did you follow me?”

“… I want to be with you, you.”

“Do they bother you again?”

“No… it’s not that…”

“Okay. If you’re by my side, I’ll protect you!”

And so, they followed closely around me.

It didn’t feel so bad to have a friend who liked me.

I didn’t feel the need to distance myself from her either.

“Where do you live?”

“I live over there, at the Seonghwa Apartments.”

“Seonghwa Apartments? I… I live there too…”

“Really?”

Since discovering that we lived in the same apartment complex, we became even closer.

While talking to her, I felt that we had many similarities beyond just living with Ha-yeon.

For one, both of us came from single-parent families with only mothers, so we were always alone and lonely.

Also, since our mothers went to work early and the house and kindergarten were less than five minutes away, we shared the experience of going to school alone.

“Should we go to kindergarten together then?”

“… Huh? Yeah… sure.”

Especially after starting to go to kindergarten together, we became much closer.

Even though it wasn’t a long time, it was boring for me to go alone.

“Hey, those two are always together. Maybe they’re dating.”

“Nonsense. Seo Ha-yeon and Yoon Geon-yul are dating~!”

We became so close that other kids at the kindergarten started misunderstanding our relationship.

We were always together like a set menu, so maybe it was only natural.

…

That day, as usual, we headed towards Ha-yeon’s house.

I passionately talked about mecha heroes to Ha-yeon, but she never seemed interested, which frustrated me.

“No, no… Instead, you have to shoot the mecha gun and knock them down.”

“That, really? Not a Mecha Sword… but a Mecha Gun?”

It seemed like Ha-yeon’s interests were more focused on dolls and pretty decorations, typical of a girl, rather than guns.

But Ha-yeon always listened to my stories well, and I was satisfied with that.

Now we were just moments away from reaching home, and I had a fleeting thought that it was a pity to part with Ha-yeon.

As we turned into the alley, Ha-yeon and I couldn’t help but be startled.

“Growl… Woof! Woof!”

There was a dog we had never seen before standing in the familiar street.

And it wasn’t a small dog either, but rather a big one about the same size as me, a six-year-old kid.

Whether its owner had lost the leash or for some other reason, the lone dog growled at the scared both of us.

It would have been great if we could just leave, but the dog continued to be on guard while looking at us.

“A person… a person…”

Even though I looked around for help, unlucky for us, there wasn’t anyone in sight.

“Eek! Geon-yul…”

Terrified, Ha-yeon clung tightly to my back, trembling.

Naturally, I was also afraid of the big, black dog.

Its sharp teeth and fierce-looking face made me think it would bite me any moment.

But I couldn’t do that while Ha-yeon was hiding behind me.

[Even when scared, it’s heroic to bravely step forward for justice!]

The line spoken by the protagonist Red from the Mecha Hero played in my head.

Although I wanted to abandon Ha-yeon and run away, then I wouldn’t be eligible as a Mecha Hero.

I don’t know where my courage came from, but I stared down the dog, refusing to retreat.

“I-It’s okay. Stay behind me quietly. Go! Shoo! You bad dog!”

“Growl… Woof!”

I swung my bag to chase the dog away, but instead, the black dog, stimulated by my actions, charged at me.

It was unbelievably fast.

Far beyond what a mere 6-year-old like me could react to.

“Ahhhhh!”

Ha-yeon screamed in terror, which only seemed to excite the dog even more.

As the dog approached, I tightened my grip on Ha-yeon, closing my eyes.

And we stood there.

– Quack!

Pain surged through my legs accompanied by a strange sound.

“Ugh.”

A black dog that bit me and immediately ran away.

It disappeared swiftly, turning corners in the alley, as if someone was chasing it.

Feeling helpless, I watched the black dog’s tail disappear and sank down to the ground.

My legs still trembled uncontrollably.

“Ge-Geonyura… bl…blood…”

Following Hayeon’s pointing finger, I looked down at my leg.

On my pale and slender leg from childhood, there were small holes oozing blood.

Seeing that sight, I had a stronger sensation of pain.

“Blood…sob…mommyyy!”

“I-I’m sorry… Geonyul…It’s because of me…sob!”

I could only cry in that spot along with Hayeon.