16. Emotions

As I take a look at the rooftop I notice that Lay’s already there, with his guitar on his lap, while playing some random notes. He notices my presence and looks up, showing his gentle smile.

I automatically grin after seeing him and walk towards him. Hands trembling and heart beating fast, I approach and greet him, while holding my notebook, pencil case and the storage room keys.

“So, which lesson should be the first?” I ask him.

“Well, maybe the Korean lesson as it might get dark and then we won’t be able to read properly,” he tells me as he puts the guitar aside.

“Alright then. I haven’t prepared anything yet as I need to get some books from primary school. Would you mind helping me with that?”

“Not at all,” he answers while shaking his head.

I beam satisfied with his answer and put the objects I was holding above the wooden bench and gesture him to follow me. We walk towards the rooftop’s exit and I open the door, since I’m leading the way.

“Where are we going?” He questions.

“To the storage room,” I answer as we don’t take much time to get there. I lean forward to put the key in the door lock. I rotate it to the side and it cracks. I push the door and its wooden creaks, showing the long time it hasn’t been touched.

The storage room is quite big and since it has no windows I have to turn on the light. I do so and I get the view of many cardboard boxes scattered and piled throughout the room. Dust is seen and as we walk inside, we have the urge to cough because of it.

Only some of the boxes are labeled, still we might have some trouble to find the right box.

“Is this all yours?” Lay asks as he points to the boxes.

I nod. “Yes. I mean, they aren’t all mine. These boxes have family memories and school books and those things from our past that we keep in boxes,” I tell him as I kneel down to open a box.

“What are you looking for?” He keeps on making questions.

“My primary school books,” I answer him. I open the box in front of me to check if the content inside it is what I look for, however, there are no books inside the box. I reach for the first object that’s at the top and grab it. A frame with a family picture in it.

Suddenly, images of my father surface in my mind and I miss him. I caress the glass with my thumb and a tear drops in it. I find myself crying while seeing the picture, in which there’s only mom, dad, me and Chung Hee.

“I found some books, however I don’t know if these are the ones you want,” Lay looks at me, waiting for my reply. When he sees me crying, he walks towards me and crouches down next to me.

I quickly wipe away the tears from my cheeks and their traces. Noticing the frame I am holding Lay doesn’t say anything and just stays there, afraid to ask anything.

I give him the frame and he accepts it. “It’s a family picture. That’s my father, my mother, my older brother and that’s me,” I point to the people in the picture as I’m explaining.

“This was taken a year after my father died. I was four at the time,” I tell Lay and he keeps in silence.

Although we’re in a comfortable silence, Lay decides to break it. “You were cute,” he shortly remarks as he looks at the picture. I can’t help but chuckle at his remark, as he managed to say something that wouldn’t make me sadder or even more emotional.

“Thank you. I think I still have that charm of mine,” I make a V sign and