Lee Howon

---

 

Howon his hand over the glass case positioned length-wised in front of him. He took a step back and squatted to set down a bouquet of burgundy-coloured roses and baby’s breath next to the engraved stone tablet on the ground in front of the case.

 

It was that day of the year again.

 

He noticed that someone else had already been there before him, for there laid a single pink carnation over the stone, the same spot as last year, and the year before, and every year since the year she disappeared.

 

Not physically disappear, though. Her body remained in the case before him, and looked the same as it did seven years ago. A sixteen-year-old’s body is all Howon had to look at, to talk to, to remember what part of her he still remembered.

 

You know I’m here, right? You can hear me, right?

 

He wished he could take her out of the case, or if he could just open the case--so he could touch her, feel the warmth he once felt from latching onto her hand when they played together throughout his childhood--but then every time, he must force himself to remember that she’s just a cold, empty shell of a girl whose mind is adrift somewhere in the universe. A human vegetable preserved over the last seven years.

 

"Ah, you're here again," a raspy male voice suddenly sounded from behind him. Howon turned around and the corner of his lips slightly curved up when he saw his guest. Or rather, his host.

 

"Dongwoo, long time no see," Howon said and he stepped toward the young man to give a quick hug as a greeting. "It's been awhile, huh?" He could see the smile in Dongwoo's eyes, happy to be reunited once again with his childhood friend.

 

"Yeah, right. It's only been a year. You were here for my sister's birthday last year, too." Dongwoo glanced around Howon at his dear older sister's soulless body, oh how he missed her so. He saw the bouquet on the ground, as well as the single carnation. "Roses again? Carnation too? Sungjong was here?"

 

The number of roses Howon brought increases by one each year, but the number of carnations that Sungjong left was always one.

 

Howon frowned. "I guess. I didn't see him come. Or go, for that matter. That kid shows up every year too."

 

"Hey, well, you're not the only one infatuated with my sister, you know.  Don't be so irritated. Sungjong has the right to like whoever he--"

 

"I'm not infatuated with her!"

 

"--wants. Whoa there. Calm down, I was just saying."

 

Howon's eyes widened. "I--oh my god, I'm sorry, Dongwoo. I.. I just really miss her is all. It's been too long." He sighed as he focused his attention back at the face of the young maiden sleeping peacefully in a glass case.

 

"And so does Sungjong. And so do I. We all do, not just you. We all want her back. And we all know she isn't dead."

 

"And none of us know the cure," they both sighed in unison.

 

Dongwoo started out the walkway first to leave the greenhouse.

 

His sister wouldn't have liked being trapped in a dark stuffy place inside, so they decided to keep her case in a greenhouse, where nature was readily visible without actually being outside, Dongwoo had once explained to Howon.

 

"Are you just going to stand there all day?"

 

"Maybe I am."

 

Dongwoo frowned and grabbed Howon’s wrist, leading him outside. “You can watch her as long as you want, but it’s not going to make her come back just like that. Come into the house and have a cup of tea first.”

 

“I don’t like tea.”

 

“I baked some fresh cookies before I came out here.”

 

“Oh.”

 

--

 

“Are you sure you didn’t want to give your regards to Dongwoo first before you leave town again?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“But Sungjong! He’s Soya’s brother.”

 

“Myungsoo, shut it. Just go prepare the bike. We’re leaving early morning, before dawn.”

 

Myungsoo shrugged and finished the last of his melon-flavoured popsicle, tossing the stick into the waste bin next to the park bench on which he and Sungjong sat. He lazily stood up and then quickly smacked the back of his pants a few times to rid of any dust foreign to his rear.

 

He strolled back to the convenience store across the street to buy some supplies for their trip the next morning. Wafers, water, wet sanitary wipes. He snuck in a few chocolate bars into the basket too as he lined up to check out.

 

"Wait," Myungsoo suddenly paused as he was about to cross the street back to Sungjong. "Where are we staying tonight?"

 

And as the crosswalk light turned green, Myungsoo jolted across the street to confront the younger boy, for neither of them had a home in this town anymore.