_Part One: Sunggyu – The Meet, The Myth_

The Kims moved into that small house in the countryside not long time ago. They came with an old dark blue car while their stuffs carried by a truck with big ‘Busan Pro Movers’ painted on its body. As soon as the vehicle parked on the front yard, the wife ushered their youngest son that wrapped in a thick mantel -although the weather was not that cold, since it’s not autumn yet- directly inside the house; the husband busied himself by giving instructions to the two workers on where he wanted the furniture placed in their new house; and that leave the oldest son wandered around absentmindedly.

“Sunggyu-yah, don’t stand over there! You are troubling the workers.”

Obeying his Dad’s words, Sunggyu stepped aside from the front door, giving way to the workers who carried a big sofa in. That six years old kid then shifted his position until he stood besides his Dad in the middle of the living room, and reached out his hand to tangled his tiny fingers with his Dad’s big ones. Dad crouched down until his eyes at the same level with Sunggyu’s, his free hand caressed his son’s hair warmly, “Sunggyu-yah, go to Howonnie’s room and stay there. It’s dangerous here, because the workers may bump into you when they are moving the furniture.”

Sunggyu nodded and skipped to the second floor, wondering which one was his little brother’s room. Sunggyu started by checking the rooms on the left corridor first to find a main bedroom for his parents and a bathroom, with doors faced each other. The right corridor also had two doors faced each other and Sunggyu tried his luck by opening one of them randomly.

“Hyung!”

Sunggyu greeted by a cute wave from his little brother who lied on his bed, enfolded in a warm looking blanket. Sunggyu grinned and jumped to the bed, landing half of his body on top his brother’s smaller body that responded by giggling cutely and wrapped his arm around to prevent his brother fall out from the bed. Their eagerness would be misinterpret by other people as not seeing each other for few years, whereas they just separated for less than thirty minutes. Sunggyu’s laughter soon heard too, as he snuggled closer to his brother. “Ho-aegi~”

“Aww, Hyung, don’t call me that. Howonnie will turn five this year, not a baby anymore,” Howon pouted and folded his arm in front of his chest.

“Nope, you are forever a baby, my Ho-aegi,” Sunggyu teased his brother.

The pout grew bigger until Sunggyu couldn’t resist not poking it, ignoring his little brother whined. He giggled and his eyes turned into a cute crescent arc.

“Yah, Sunggyu. Don’t do that.”

Sunggyu’s laughter died instantly as he turned his face and saw their Mom already on the doorframe, hands on hip. Their Mom stepped in and embraced Sunggyu in her arms just to bring the kid down from the bed. “Sunggyu, Howonnie needs his rest, he is tired from the journey here.”

“Mommy, Howonnie is not tired,” Howon talked back.

“No, Howonnie. You had to sleep, you don’t want to get sick again, right?” replied their Mom. “Sunggyu, you also don’t want your brother get sick again like last time, right?”

Sunggyu nodded. It was still fresh in his mind when his brother got sick, and it was not a pleased memory, he didn’t want his beloved brother experienced it again.

“Good. Nah, now be a good boy and leave your brother for a while, okay? You two can play again later,” Mom put her hand on Sunggyu’s back and pushed him out from the room.

“Why can’t Howonnie sleep with Gyu-Hyung?” Sunggyu heard Howon’s whine right before Mom closed the door in front of his face, leaving him alone in the deserted corridor.

But it was not a problem for him, being alone. He used to it. He used to be ushered out from his brother’s room and leaved alone, either it in their old house or in the hospital, so he felt indifferent this time. Sunggyu turned his body to the last door he hadn’t open yet, right in front of his brother’s door. “Must be my room.”

The room almost exactly the same with his brother’s, just like when you placed a big mirror in the middle of the corridor, it showing the same bed, table, and cupboard. Sunggyu ran toward the window on the opposite wall side of the door, opened it and decided that he loved the view that shown. In their old house, his window faced his neighbor’s house and peeping an old lady that lived alone in that house was not interesting at all. But from this new window, Sunggyu could saw their backyard and a forest not far from there. That afternoon Sunggyu wasted his time by sitting in front of his windows, observing a squirrel jumped from tree to tree, a couple of birds landed on the ground to peck a worm out, and a flock of bees worked on their hexagon hive in the highest branch of a teak tree in their backyard, until Mom called him for dinner.

***

“I want binocular for my Christmas present.”

“Sunggyu, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Mom scolded him without diverted his attention from Howon, feeding the latter. They were in the dining room, enjoying their dinner in silence –except for Howon’s whine, “Howonnie doesn’t want to eat that green thing”- until Sunggyu suddenly opened his mouth.

“Why, Sunggyu-yah?” Dad asked him.

Afraid of Mom’s nag, Sunggyu hurriedly swallow the food in his mouth before answered. “Because my birthday is still long away, and Christmas is the only time I can receive a gift besides my birthday.”

Dad chuckled. “No, what Dad means is why do you want to have binocular?”

“There’s a forest not far from the backyard, that I can see from my window. But I want to see more clearly,” Sunggyu explained.

“What did you see there, Sunggyu-yah?” Dad encouraged his older kid to recount what he saw earlier. Sunggyu’s face beamed in happiness as he tried to remember what he saw that afternoon and talked nonstop, except for the time he stuffed the meat inside his little mouth.

“Howonnie wants to see the birds, too,” Howon suddenly cut in.

Sunggyu turned his head toward his brother and smiled. “Come to my room, then.”

“Don’t let the window open when Howonnie play in your room. The chill air will come in, and it’s not good for him,” Mom reminded Sunggyu, eyes still on Howon while she wiped that kid’s corner lips.

“But, Mommy, my window is different with the one in Howonnie’s room. Mine is a wooden one, not glass-made, and we can’t see anything if I don’t open the sash,” Sunggyu complained feebly.

“No means no, Sunggyu. And you better finish your meal before Mommy back.” By that, Mom picked Howon up and carried that little kid upstairs, to put him in his bed. His whined echoed through the hallway, “Howonnie wants to see the birds~”

Sunggyu had his small shoulder slumped and bowed his head down, chin almost touching his chest, when he felt a big familiar hand on his head. He heard Dad calm voice. “it’s okay, Sunggyu-yah. Dad will buy you the binocular and we will see the birds together. Then we can take some photos of them, so Howonnie can see them too. How?”

Sunggyu widened his eyes at his Dad and nodded vigorously. “I really love you, Daddy.” He circled his tiny arm around Dad who gladly embraced him back.

***

That night Sunggyu awoken from his deep sleep as he disturbed by some faint noises. It sounds like a cheer, then followed by some restrained yell and shout. Sunggyu slipped out from the coziness of his bed and bravely tiptoed to the window, as he was so sure the sounds came from the outside. He unlocked the window as silent as possible and nudged the shield open. Not far away, on the edge of the forest where the trees were not so dense, a number of children gathered. The boys had their trunks in white and the end of the girls’ white gown wave around their thigh. Sunggyu awed at them, adoring how they look so pretty with their skin glowed in pale pearl under the moonlight. They seemed so happy, pushing each other in playful manner then laughing together.

He felt a strange feeling bubbled up in his chest –later he know that it called jealousy– because never in his lifetime Sunggyu ever had that many friends to play with. He lost count on how many time he picked up from school because his brother suddenly hospitalized, so he barely befriend with the other students. At house he was not allowed to play outside with the neighbor kids, since he had to play with Howon who was not permitted to go outside because of his weak immune. Although almost all the time Sunggyu ended up just play alone in his room because Mom insisted that Howon need his rest.

Sunggyu was taken aback when one of the kids suddenly turned and waved toward him. Hesitantly Sunggyu raised his right hand and opened his palm, waved back in awkward way. The kid then changed the way his hand wave, now looked like he inviting Sunggyu to join them, while some of the kids started to walk deeper to the forest. Sunggyu shook his head, although he really wanted to join them, but it was midnight and he was too lazy to leave his warm room. The kid moved his hand again, more eager this time, before turned away and ran to catch up with his friends, since he’s the only one left now. Sunggyu stared in disappoint as the kid turned his head for the last time to finally completely disappear from his sight, swallowed by the darkness between the trees. Now he was all alone again.