Reminisce

(v) indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events

(this is a flashback.)

“Yeol.”

“Hmm?”

“Should we go somewhere for your birthday tomorrow?”

“Where? You do know the requirements for taking me out right?” Sungyeol giggled.

“ you. What a high maintenance best friend I got here.” Myungsoo scoffed. “I know. Believe me okay. I know.”

“Sure. Have you asked my mom’s permission yet?”

“I’ve got that covered. I asked her before I got to your room.”

“What?! How dare you.”

“Well, it’s hard to persuade her, so I need to ask her first. You on the other hand, is easy peasy.” Myungsoo said with his eyes closed. “Now go to sleep Yeol. I’m going to school early in the morning and I’ll pick you up at 6:30PM okay. Night.”

“Ya! Kim Myung…” his word got cut when Myungsoo hugged him. “Get off me!”

“Sush. You have known me for years. And you DO know I need to sleep with bolsters.”

“It wasn’t my fault Sungjong spilled his milk!”

“It was your fault not to keep my bolster safe. Now sush. G’night Yeollie~”

“Night.”

“Don’t pout.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“I’m not. How could you have known? You keep your eyes closed.”

“I just know you too well. Now for the third time. Good night Yeol.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“I don’t care. As long as you stay put like this.”

“Goodnight.” Sungyeol gave up.

It was 6:25PM when Myungsoo arrived. He brought a bag with him. He looked Sungyeol with awe. Sungyeol looked so fine with his brown hair and those piercings.

“Why I didn’t see those yesterday?!”

“What?”

“Your… one two three. . Four piercings.”

“Because you’re a . Because I let my hair down.”

“You sound like a girl just now.”

“You know I would love to kill you right at this second right??” Myungsoo laughed at Sungyeol’s statement.

“Too bad you got mad, I would love to strip you off and make you wear this though.” He gave Sungyeol the bag he brought.

“What’s this?”

“Just change. I’ll wait outside.”

Myungsoo was playing with some random rock, kicking it here and there when someone shrieked behind him.

“WOOOOW… Did you steal this?!” Sungyeol pointed at Myungsoo’s motorcycle.

“No you .”

“You’re not even 18 yet. It’s illegal to ride without a license!”

“There are no police at time like this. Come on…” Sungyeol got on Myungsoo’s motorcycle.

“Hold my waist tightly okay, you’re as light as a feather I’m afraid I’ll drop you somewhere.”

“YAH!” Sungyeol yelled. He did hold Myungsoo tight though. “What’s with this uniform you gave me?”

“Shut up. I need to concentrate. This is my first time riding a motorcycle.” He said, the next time he knew, Sungyeol was screaming.

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“Do you have a ing claw Sungyeol?!”

“What?!”

“You held me so tight I couldn’t breathe!!”

“You rode that ing motorcycle too fast! I am sure I was gonna die.”

“IT WAS ONLY 60km/hours!! You screamed like someone was about to you!”

“It seemed so ing fast okay. NOW start talking! Why are we here?! I am scared of ghost you do know that!! What are we doing in this old building?!”

“Shut up. This is my school!”

“Your what?!” Myungsoo dragged Sungyeol inside the building, and surprisingly to Sungyeol, the school wasn’t pitch black dark and he could tell it was well maintained. And to add another amazement, there are still a few people at school. No, a bunch of people.

“What are they doing? I thought the school ended at 4?” Sungyeol asked.

“My school has this new program since last semester. Night classes for they get a lot of new students lately. The morning classes aren’t enough.”

“Oh. And why the hell am I wearing this uniform, carrying this big bag, walking inside this school now??” he kept asking while Myungsoo was dragging him.

“You said, you wanted to know how does it feel to be an ordinary school student. So this is my present for you. A school life.” Myungsoo said then stopped in front of a locker. “What? Why do you look so shocked? Here. Let me give you a mini tour. Welcome to Myungsoo’s Daily Basis. This is my locker. Nothing fancy here. Those letters we read once in a while, those people slipped it inside here. I don’t even know how. Why are you so quiet? Hey…”

“Why?”

“What??”

“Why are you doing this? It’s not necessary you know.”

“Hey, look at me. It is necessary. You told me once you want to know how it feels to be an ordinary kid. So here I am, being your genie. I am sorry though I couldn’t do much.”

“This is ‘much’ already Soo.”

“Well, the night classes start at 4, we’ve missed 2 classes, and one break. This is the second break. You’ll only get one class to attend. So no, this is not that much. Now stop sulking. We need to get to the class.” Myungsoo said, and Sungyeol sighed. “Please Yeol, this is my present for you this year…” Myungsoo looked at Sungyeol with a pleading look.

“Okay. I am Lee Sung Yeol from… what grade are we taking?”

“Ten. Grade ten.” Myungsoo smiled.

“From grade ten. So what class are we going to have?”

“Your favorite major. Literature.”

They both sat in the class, in the back row. Myungsoo was staring at Sungyeol, he had been doing it since they got inside. How Sungyeol was acting perfectly as a new comer, and how the administrator switched his class made him attend night classes. How Sungyeol eyes shone so bright listening to the teacher about some poetry crap. How Sungyeol impressed the teacher by his answers to which Myungsoo had no idea how Sungyeol knew those things. How Sungyeol got startled when some girls tried to make a move towards him. Myungsoo loved the way Sungyeol blushed when those girls whispered to each other about how good looking the new kid was. He loved the way Sungyeol made his way to Myungsoo when the class ended. He found it weird when he felt so happy when those girls squealed ‘he has a boyfriend already.’ He just didn’t care about how he felt at that moment, to see Sungyeol was smiling, gums showing out was enough. He knew, Sungyeol was wearing the smile he gave him.

“How was it?”

“It was so much fun!”

“It was your favorite major. Of course it was fun. I should’ve just brought you to Algebra.”

“You won’t.” Sungyeol replied and got a scoff from Myungsoo. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For everything you’ve done to me. It is the best present I have ever get.”

“It’s not everything yet.”

“Excuse me?”

“We need to go somewhere now. We couldn’t be late.” Myungsoo said while looking at his watch. He began to hold Sungyeol’s hand and ran to the parking lot. They rode the motorcycle for a while, Sungyeol’s hand on Myungsoo’s waist, head rested on the back of Myungsoo’s head. He wanted this moment to last.

----------------------------------

“Another building???”

“This one is different though. Come quick.” Myungsoo held Sungyeol’s hand, they got into the elevator, went up to the highest floor. They didn’t stop though, Myungsoo took Sungyeol to the emergency exit and went up to the roof.

“Where are we exactly?”

“My second and third favorite place.”

“What?”

“My second and third favorite place. Are you deaf or something?”

“No. I need explanation, the sooner the better. Start talking.”

“This is an art gallery, we’ve been here a few times when they have 24/7 show remember? Remember the girl who didn’t talk? Who kept shut for 3 days.”

“Yes, it was hilarious, and tensed at the same time.” Sungyeol remembered. Myungsoo walked near the wall and sat, he leaned his back on his wall.

“Come, sit here with me.” And so Sungyeol did. “I like this place. The art installation they have each and every show takes my breath away. They do a lot of photography showcase here as well. That’s why this building is my second favorite place.”

“Continue…”

“Okay okay, I was just taking my breath, gosh Sungyeol I can’t talk like you do!”

“What the hell does that mean?!” Myungsoo chuchkled.

“So, the third favorite, now look ahead, in front of you…”

“What?” Sungyeol turned his head and gasped in awe. The city lights shimmered in front of him, they shone so bright in the darkness, they are colorful and each color somehow compliments each other. The stars above shone so bright they look as beautiful as the city lights below them.

“I like the view here. Especially tonight.” Myungsoo said and pressed the send button on his phone.

“Why tonight? The view here will stay the same. It’s nice to know something good like this stays forever.” Sungyeol tilted his head a bit.

“Tonight is ever better. Look…” Myungsoo pointed to the sky, while the other hand was embracing Sungyeol. A split second after Myungsoo said that, there go the fireworks. Burst out of somewhere around the city embellished the dark sky. They looked too good to be true.

“Happy Birthday Lee Sung Yeol…” Myungsoo whispered and took out a small cake with a small candle on top. He had asked the manager in this building to keep it for him and put it hidden on the other side of the wall before midnight. Sungyeol stared at his best friend and smiled. “Make a wish…” Myungsoo said.

‘I wish… We could be infinite… No limitation. No…’