Sahan returns to Earth after being lost in space—only a year has passed for him, but eleven have gone by on Earth. He sets foot in his hometown expecting nothing; there is no family, no friend waiting. With nowhere to anchor himself, he braces for a life adrift, much like the days he spent floating in an emergency escape pod across a vast, indifferent space. Then, unexpectedly, he crosses paths with Heegeon—the little boy from next-door he once knew, now his equal in age.

“You were alive... You are alive, and you didn’t contact me even once...”

The resentment and sorrow contained in those words were heavier than his body ever could be.

That little dust of a boy you once had been. You never ceased to amaze me with those raw emotions and that bottomless energy.

I raised my aching arm and ran it gently along his broad back. Then I knew—or rather, it finally sank in. Ten years really had gone from my life.

“You were alive, you son of a bitch…”

And perhaps the sense of loss I should have felt had been trapped inside him all this time.

Original Novel:
Ridibooks, MrBlue, BookCube

Official Translations:
English