Kim Minseok

I was around 10 that time when we moved from China to Korea during our summer break because of my mom's work. We moved into a town house which was placed in the middle of the three-row houses. On the other side of the street, there lies a two-storey house. And there lived a boy approximately 6 years older than me with his sister my age. They lived with their grandma and uncle since their parents were working abroad.

 At first people thought they'd be out casted and feel inferior, but in fact, they were lively and outgoing - especially the guy. He always had this goofy grin on him and dorky smile. I was always fond of watching them play from the room I shared with my sister. And I was kind of jealous of them since they play various games with their cousins. It was either a ball game or something which has to do with running.

I never got to know his name because we never really talked, since the entirety of the time me and my sister would always be in our room, watching television or playing on our own, in my case - watching him.

In a month of being neighbors I got to know his schedule. Around 6 in the morning he'd usually go out with his younger sister for a jog, and an hour later they'd come back dripping with sweat. By 11 before noon they'd go out once again to buy snacks in a nearby store. They'd usually come back with a bag of popcorn in their hands. Around 5 or 6 in the afternoon, they would come out with a ball in their hands, and come for their cousins, who were living a block away from us. It was on that time that the streets would turn rowdy. Their gleeful laughter, their slight bickering and their cheer for victory would envelop the silent street.

After an hour or 2 they'd go to either their cousin's place or theirs, exclaiming they found a really good movie to watch, but usually the movie watching was held in their place. Around 8 in the evening I would hear their gate clanking open. And there I'd see him and his sister escorting their cousins out of the house. They'd exchange a ‘goodnight’ and ‘see you tomorrow’, and they'd be locking their gates. Usually he'd snap his head in my direction and it was my cue to duck my head. After a loud pop from the padlock I'd hear some scuffling of feet and I'd peek to see their backs turned as they talked on whether they'd continue the movie or not, and if they'd eat dinner or not – he’d usually pick the latter. Around 9, all of their lights would come out except for his bed room. And at 10 in the evening he would usually go to their balcony and play his guitar, he'd come back inside around 11 and close his bedroom light along.

One rainy afternoon I heard laughter coming from outside, I peeked from my window and saw him in their balcony, playing in the rain. His sister was hesitant to join him, so he carried her by her stomach and he twirled her around. His sister’s delighted squeal echoed in the street accompanied by his melodic laughter of triumph. Once he got his sister on the ground he earned a kick on his side, and he started to tickle his sister as revenge. They played like that for a while and there I was staring when he shifted his gaze towards me. Our eyes met and locked gazes, and there I could feel my face tinting red. His lips twitched to a breath taking smile and I hurriedly ducked my head in embarrassment.

Summer break soon ended and it was time to go to school again. I was in my middle school by then and he was in his last year of junior high school before entering senior high. And the schedule I once known was then changed along with the atmosphere of the street. He comes out of their house 6 in the morning, in his school clothes, and comes back also by 6 in the afternoon.

The street became quiet without their laughter, and bickering noise. He didn’t come out of their house on weekdays, and at times even on weekends. The busy atmosphere was lurking all over the place, and it was quite saddening. At times he would come out to buy drinks, but that was all. There were also times were his school friends would come over their place, but they wouldn’t come out of the house not until it was time for them to go home. And little by little, I got lower chances of seeing him.

After 5 months of school we had our 2 weeks semester break, but things didn’t go back the way they were. He didn’t come out to play like before, instead he and his sister would come out to go to other places. They would then come back on the evening with paper bags at hand. At times they’d invite their cousins to go with them, and still come back by the evening.

On the 2^nd week mark of the break, he came out with his sister and uncle around 4 in the morning. They were then fetched by a van together with their cousins. The van then came back around 12 noon, and once they went out of the van they had an addition to their number. I didn’t recognize the man and woman since I haven’t seen them anywhere around. But then he called them ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ as he greeted them ‘welcome back’.

Things turned rowdy again with their parents’ arrival. The schedule I once known came back, but then they did everything with their parents. They once had a ball game with their dad. Other times they’d go out with cookies at hand with their mom as they delivered it to their cousins. At night they’d take their places in the balcony as he strums his guitar while his sister sang, their parents enjoying the night breeze while singing along.

But it wasn’t all fun. When we finished our break I expected to see him at 6 with his school clothes, instead, I saw him in his workout clothes as he jogged alone. At that time I thought they had a break extension and did not mind one bit, but then days turned to weeks and still, they didn’t attend school. They occasionally go out as a family, but most of the time they spent their days with their cousins. One time they had a sleep over at their cousins’ house, though it was only a block away. Or other times their cousins would sleep at theirs.

On a rainy afternoon, on a Saturday, I heard a honk outside. I peeked outside my closed window to see another van parked in front of their house. I saw their parents come out of the house with their luggage at hand. He then came out with his sister crying beside him. At first I thought they would just drop off their parents at the airport, but then I noticed the luggage at his hand. I was still contemplating whether it was his or his parents’ but then I saw their cousins crying while crowding on them, hugging them, and bidding them farewell. That was when it dawned me… he was leaving.

I watched him as he bid his loved ones farewell. My windows were closed but I was certain that it was his back on the other side. The warmth of my room contrasted the coldness of the rain, and a thin layer of mist formed into my window. I tried to erase the mist in order to clear my vision, but I couldn't see him properly, because the windows were blurred by the rain, so were my eyes blurred by tears. At that time I wondered, would my tears stop when the rain did? And as the thunder roared, I knew the answer.

I watched as they entered the van, but then his sister’s head popped out of the window and exclaimed so loudly, even I heard from the closed window.

“Bye guys! Chanyeol says he will miss you. Saranghae~!”

And that was the first time I learned about his name, but the last time I’ve seen his face…