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When he was young, he thought that the entire world was green. That people were green, that roads were the refreshing color of grass, that animals were dark green, and that the sky was light green. Green colors danced no matter where he looked. One memory he had of his childhood was the time he went to the zoo with his family. Rather than walking around and watching the enclosures, they entered a safari, where visitors rode on a bus to tour an artificial wilderness. Paper bags filled with raw meat hung on the side of the bus. The eldest brother sat on the seat next to the window, and the two-year-old sister took the mother’s lap. He recalled being a bit down, unable to sit together being neither the oldest nor the youngest. The bus stopped. The wild animals lounging around the field sauntered up to the bus. The green animals jumped into a fierce competition for food. The way they pounced on each other reminded the boy of the game, Whack-A-Mole, so he laughed faintly. It was then. A single animal. Just one. It sat on top of a boulder like an emperor, reflecting the shining sunlight. The boy’s smiled disappeared. Why? ‘Its color…?’ Unlike any of the other animals he had ever seen, that one animal wasn’t green. Did it feel his gaze? The beast stared into the boy’s eyes. As if enchanted, the boy became afraid. He averted his gaze instinctively and stopped breathing. Both his hands and body trembled, and his heart pounded crazily. Even as he was swallowed by a terror that no boy his age was able to withstand, the boy raised a question. Why wasn’t that animal green? No, I must have made a mistake. The boy took a deep breath and looked out the window again. It was then. Pang! The window shook violently. The beast had been far away, but it had approached the bus before the boy even noticed. But why was it ignoring the food hanging at the side of the bus and sticking to the window? The beast opened its mouth and revealed its fearsome teeth, while repeatedly trying to chew on the window. The boy didn’t understand what had transpired. Still, he flinched and shrunk back. I have to run. Why isn’t the bus moving? I’m scared. I want to get away from here. Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom….! Just as the boy was about to burst into tears, a warm hand carefully covered his eyes. “It must have frightened you a lot.” The voice was as silvery and gentle as a spring breeze. Just that single sentence made the boy feel relaxed and relieved. The boy jumped into the woman’s embrace without checking to see who it was. “There, there, everything’s okay. The scary lion isn’t here anymore… Ah, the bus is moving again.” Pat, pat. The woman gently patted the boy’s back, and his stifled breathing became relaxed. Only then did the boy raise his head to take a look. “Eh?” Suddenly, the woman’s hands stopped. She drew closer to the boy, studying him carefully. Then, she gasped in surprise. “Oh my goodness… Really….” When the boy tilted his head in confusion, the woman smiled. “Your eyes are beautiful.” My eyes? “Yes, they’re beautiful. In the seven colors of the rainbow.” The boy stared at the woman curiously, but she only smiled in return. Then, she let out a sigh, as if she found something to be a great loss. “If only you were a little older… No, perhaps it’s better that you grow up unaware.” Before long, the safari tour ended. Tourists got up one by one, but the boy showed no sign of leaving. The woman also hesitated, as if she wasn’t ready to give up. The woman whispered into the boy’s ear. “What’s your name?” “Se- Seol….” “Seol? That’s a pretty name.” She then met the blushing boy’s gaze. “Hey, once you grow a bit older… and we somehow meet by coincidence, will you come to me?” “To you, Noona?”[1] “Yes, I’ll be there if you ever need my help.” Although the boy couldn’t understand what she meant, he still nodded his head in her embrace. Soon, the sound of his mother and younger sister looking for him rang out. “Here, promise.” A soft sensation touched the boy’s forehead before disappearing. “Let us meet again, little prince.” As the boy held his mother’s hand and walked out of the bus, he looked back longingly. The woman was smiling brightly and waving her hand, all the way until the boy disappeared. Time passed, and the boy became an adult. He had grown until the special memories from this day turned faint. With age, he lost his fear of wild animals, and he began to research the phenomenon he experienced that day. What was this ability of his? Why did he have a power that no one else did? In the end, he could not arrive at an answer, but he began to figure out the conditions where the green color appeared and disappeared. His life began to change as he began to apply this power to his everyday life. And when this ability suddenly disappeared one day, his life rapidly spiraled out of control. ** Seorak Land was a casino located in Gangwon Province’s Sokcho City. Regardless of winning or losing, people pressed buttons like a robot and flipped cards, as both cries of joy and despair rang out together. “….”