The boy waited until the gaze behind him was gone, then started running.
He sprinted all the way.
The boy stopped in front of his home.
He pressed his ear against the door.
Hmm...
There was no sound.
The boy breathed a sigh of relief.
The boy opened the door and went inside.
As he changed his shoes in the entryway, a flash of insight came to him.
He froze in place.
One foot was in a slipper, the other still in a sneaker.
Now he understood what the sanitation worker had been saying to him.
The boy couldn't help smiling.
He was happy to have solved a "mystery."
The sanitation worker must have heard him making noise while he was on the swing.
Seeing him alone, she had wondered what had caused all that commotion.
That was why she'd asked him so many questions.
After changing his shoes, the boy walked into the living room.
He carefully recalled what the sanitation worker had asked him.
He realized...
In the sanitation worker's eyes, he was probably a lonely child.
Always going to the park alone... and making strange shouts...
If he hadn't met Ya Ya, the sanitation worker's guess wouldn't have been wrong.
He would have been all alone.
But now that he had Ya Ya, he wasn't alone anymore.
Thinking of this, the boy's lips unconsciously curved into a smile.
Next time, he would have to be more careful.
The sanitation worker's appearance had reminded the boy of something he'd been ignoring all along.
Ya Ya had said it too.
He was special.
That was why he could see Ya Ya.
Other people, like the sanitation worker, couldn't see her.
So some of his words and actions would seem strange to them.