Chapter 16: The green box

 

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2024

       Sara opened the door to the basement and entered. It was Sunday afternoon and they were all free. They couldn’t go out because it was freezing and windy, so they decided to sing and play the songs they wrote when they were school boys. Sara was looking for the box they said they had kept their music notebooks in, but it was impossible to find in such a mess.

       The basement was big and full of both useful and useless things. It was a mess. Old music instruments, hundreds of big and small boxes and some other bits and pieces. And everything was covered by thick dust.

“How am I supposed to find that box amongst all these… in this mess!” she complained and continued searching for it. When finally she gave up on finding the box and was about to go out a little green box got her attention. It was familiar, but why?! She bent down and took it, when she opened it, she couldn’t believe her own eyes.

“What are you doing Sara…” EunAh paused when she heard Sara say; “It’s impossible!

“What’s impossible?!” the older woman entered the basement and stood beside Sara; “What’d you find Sara?!”

Still astonished, Sara turned so that EunAh could see the box in her hands.

“Oh my God!” EunAh gasped when she saw what she was shown.

Then they both stared at each other for a long moment; “I thought I lost it!” Sara murmured.

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       The Living Room

 

“Hey! Long time no see girls!” Jung Min teased.

“You sure took a while! Did you find it?” YoungSaeng asked.

They were all sitting on couches waiting for them to come, and they were very late.

“Hey! What is it, guys?” Haily said, “Cat got your tongues?”

But then they all looked at the green box in Sara’s hands; “What is that?” Jung Min asked.

“Memories!” EunAh said with a quiet voice.

“What do you mean?” KyuJong asked.

Sara looked up at them; “Well… I should have given them to you a long time ago… but…” a pause; “But a lot happened and I forgot… sorry…” she truly was sorry.

       HyungJun and MaeRi came downstairs, tired. “They are naughty Jun!” MaeRi and HyungJun were talking. They’ve been with the children in the room, playing games with them for a while then forcing them to sleep; well, they needed to rest. When they came to the living room, HyungJun threw himself into one of the couches; “I’m tired!” he whined.

But MaeRi looked at the guys and said: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Sara smiled and sat in front of YoungSaeng’s couch, put the box down and opened it; “I’ve got a little present for all of us!”

“Present?” JungMin asked.

“Christmas’s ov---“ Haily paused when she saw what was in the box. “Is this us?” she asked and picked up one of the pictures of her and JungMin, hugging each other under the rain, looking out to sea. It was their first trip together. Jung Min took the picture and looked at it, and then looked at the table, “There are more.” He said.

HyungJun was sitting now, and EunAh sat on his lap. They were looking at the picture, in which EunAh was draping the blanket over HyungJun’s body and kissing his forehead, “I told you, you’d get sick, but you didn’t listen!” EunAh said, remembering that night and smiling.

“Couldn’t help it. And hey…” he whispered into her ear; “You loved me even then and said nothing to me?” he smiled.

“I loved you but I couldn’t trust you!” she said and kissed his cheek, “But now I love you andI trust you…”

“Good!” the young mansmiled satisfied.

MaeRi took the picture ofher and HyunJoong sitting at the beach, watching the sunrise together. A faint smile crept up on her lips.

“Which one is it?” YoungSaeng asked his wife who was sitting beside him on the arm of the couch.

“That brat!” Sara chuckled then leaned down and kissed YoungSaeng’s temple, “The one where we were kissing on the balcony, in the villa and they interrupted us. You remember?” she asked.

YoungSaeng smiled and held her hand, “How can I ever forget that?”

       KyuJong’s hands were shaking, he couldn’t believe it, they had a picture together. He could see her face again. In the picture, they were at the beach, his back against the big stone and Nagisa was leaning against him. She was asleep in his arms. He could still remember the smile on her face.

       There were other pictures, too.  JungMin and HyungJun arguing… YoungSaeng running after JungMin… Haily and MaeRi in the kitchen cooking…. Haily burning the food … every moment… every minute, they wished they could have them again….

       They all had smiles on their faces but their eyes; they were moist with tears, remembering those days when they were all together. When they were happy.

“When did she take all these pictures?” JungMin swallowed hard, tears visible in the corner of his eyes; he missed his friends so much. He missed those days when he could still stand on his own feet, when he could run after his dongsaeng and torture him to death. He missed it all.

“She was always carrying her camera… “Sara whispered but her voice was heard by all of them since they were all quiet.

“But… who took our pictures?” KyuJong asked, still looking at the picture in his hands and touching Nagisa’s face as if he could feel her.

“I did that!” Sara smiled, “She always wanted to have a picture like that… just the two of you! So I granted that one wish for her!”

“Thank you!” KyuJong said, “Thank you very much!”

The wind blowing was making terrible sounds.

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2014

“You’ll catch a cold!” KyuJong said as he put the extra coat he’d brought outon her shoulders, then stood beside the girl.

“Thank you sempai!” the girl smiled but kept on looking at the setting sun and the sea. It was more like a sea of fire now that the sun was setting. Like the sea was swallowing the sun. And the moving tides were like flames of fire.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked, eyes fixed on the sea. KyuJong nodded, “Yeah! But… why do you like the sunset?” he asked, looking at her, “Isn’t the sunrise more beautiful?”

“Why?” she asked; “What’s the difference?”

“Well….” He shrugged, “I think the sunrise is a sign… that a new day is starting… that the night is over… but sunset…”

“It depends on how you look at it, Kyu!” Nagisa interrupted him.

KyuJong looked at her again, waiting for her to explain; “How you look at it?!” he repeated questioningly.

“Yeah.” She nodded, “You think that sunset just leads to darkness… that it’s the end of the day, right?” she asked, looking at him for the first time since their conversation started.

He looked at her amused, “Yes. What else could it mean?”

She smiled; “For me… it means the beginning of a new day…” KyuJong was surprised; “How is that possible?”

“It is. You just need to believe there’s another day coming… you’ll fight the darkness and wait to see the sun rise again”, she paused, “The hope of seeing another day, gives you the strength to live on!” she was smiling now.

Kyu Jong stayed silent, contemplating about what Nagisa said and then he asked, “Then… what about the sunrise?”

Nagisa sighed; “It doesn’t give you hope… the sun rising, that’s all. But…” she paused and slipped her cold hands into her pockets.

KyuJong looked at her; “But?”

“If you think about it… after the sunrise, there’s always a sunset. So… isn’t that a bit scary? The things you love coming to an end!” she was thinking about herself now, which one will she see last?, “I don’t  like sunrise!” she said under her breath.

       Looking at her and her face when she was thinking, KyuJong smiled and put one hand around her shoulder, “Well… if you’re lonely, then yes, it’s scary! But you’re not alone Nagisa. I’m with you… and the others… we’re friends!” he said.

She smiled and wrapped her arm around his waist, he’s never left her alone, he was supporting her always; she nodded, “Best friends!”

       After the sun was completely gone and the stars started shining, the young man said; “Home?”

Nagisa shook her head; “Let’s watch the sunrise, together!” she pouted.

“OK!” he chuckled; “But let’s go inside and eat something, then we’ll come again.”

She puffed her cheeks; “Yaksoko?” she really loved the sea and couldn’t take her eyes off of it.

“Yeah… yaksoko!” KyuJong laughed at the pout and poked Nagisa’s nose lightly; “Now, let’s go!”

 

       It was the third day of their vacation and everyone was getting along well with each other. Haily, Sara and MaeRi were new to the group, but everything was fine and they were having fun every day. They were the best days of their lives… all of them together… they all cherished every single moment.

Back in the villa, JungMin was teasing poor HyungJun again and the other two were laughing at them.

“Wise girls don’t fall in love with turtles like you!” JungMin said.

Seeing KyuJong and Nagisa coming in, HyungJun pouted, “Taskete Nagi-chan!” he said in Japanese.

“What’s wrong Hyungie?” she walked to them with KyuJong following behind her.

“JungMin says no one can ever fall in love with me, because I’m not interesting or y or attractive… “ now he was being a kid.

“Oh sweetheart don’t worry about him, you’re cool and attractive! He’s just jealous of you!” she winked at him.

HyungJungrinned, it was a signal that they’re going to drive JungMin crazy, “And he called me a turtle!” he pouted again, playing innocent.

“Turtles are cute… what about horses?!” Nagisa looked up at Jung Min who was now going crazy; “And I love you HyungJunnie!” then she kissed him on the cheek hard.

“I love you, too, Nagisa!” the young man responded kissing her cheek.

“Who did you call a horse?” JungMin snapped.

“Who else?” Nagisa looked directly into his eyes; “You’re the only horse here!”

“Oh uh!” YoungSaeng chuckled, “The war is about to begin any minute!” 

“We may need to take shelter!” HyunJoong smirked. “Hey Saeng, you ok?” he asked.

YoungSaeng was rubbing his temples again; “Yeah. It’s just a headache!” he smiled at his elder.

“Hey what are you guys doing to my poor JungMin?” Haily asked coming out of the kitchen and laughing when she saw Nagisa and HyungJun pinning Jung Min down to ground and tickling him mercilessly.

“Never call me a dog, ever again!” Nagisa said poking him hard in the ribs.

“Ouch!”the redhead yelped; “Don’t just stand there Haily… help me.” He pleaded.

“How can I?” She was not going to help him and was standing there, enjoying what she was seeing.

“No one’s going to help you…” HyungJun said; “You’re a bad bad person and no one likes you!”

“Yah!” JungMin was going crazy.

“Hey Haily, did you know your boyfriend has a horse’s face?” Nagisa said.

Haily blushed; “He’s not my boyfriend!” she protested embarrassed.

They stopped  tormenting JungMin and the red head stared at her; “Am I that bad?” he asked.

“Yes you are!” Nagisa said, letting go of him.

“I told you!” HyungJun stood uptoo and went to sit beside Nagisa.

“No… no…” Haily didn’t know what to say; “I didn’t mean that…”

“Then what did you mean?” Jung Min pouted; “You don’t like me!”

“No, that’s not it!” she was helpless; “I like you… but…” it was embarrassing, so she just ran upstairs to their room, the room the girls used to share.

“Hey, Haily, stop!” JungMin shouted and then stood up, looking at the two grinning at him; “You’ll pay for this!” then he ran after Haily. “Yah! Haily.”

HyungJun and Nagisa were giggling. Then they gave a high five and hugged each other.

“You’re a good team!” KyuJong said, smiling.

“We are!” HyungJun Said; “I love you Nagisa!”

She laughed; “I do too!”

       And that hurt KyuJong a little. Well he knew they were friends and there was nothing between the two of them, but still it hurt to hear them saying I love yous to each other. Why couldn’t she tell those words to him? Why couldn’t he be like HyungJun and confess?

       The headache was getting worse and he couldn’t keep his eyes open so he stood up; “Sorry guys! I think I need to rest, so don’t wake me up for dinner!” YoungSaeng said, holding his head by his hands.

“Saeng you ok?” Sara rushed to him and helped him stand.

“Yeah! I’m fine. I just need some rest!” he said.

“Need help Sara?” EunAh asked.

“No noona. Everything’s fine. I just want to sleep, ok?” YoungSaeng stated looking at his girlfriend pleadingly.

“Ok! I’ll come with you then!” Sara said and started walking to their room.

“Noona!” HyungJun pouted; “I need help!”

Nagisa covered to hide the smile.

“What’s wrong HyungJun?” EunAh asked seriously.

“My leg… it hurts…” he said.

“Well, if it doesn’t you need to worry!” she smirked; “You’ve broken your leg, it has to hurt!” then she left the room and went to the kitchen.

“K.O!” Nagisa laughed; “Sorry Junnie, but she’s not going to give in that easily.”

“I know!”The young man pouted. Then they started talking and waited for the dinner.

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       After dinner, KyuJong and Nagisa took a blanket and some fruit then left the others in the house and went to the beach again. Seeing the big rock near the sea, they both decided to sit there. KyuJong sat and leaned against the big stone, smiling coyly at Nagisa. She looked down at him then shook her head smiling; “Ok!” she said and settled between his legs and leaned against his chest, her head on his shoulder.

KyuJong smiled and felt warm; “Good Girl.” He murmured.

“I heard you!” Nagisa . She was closing her eyes; it felt so good to be in his arms.

“Hey!” KyuJong poked her in the side, “Don’t fall sleep on me!”

She groaned and opened her eyes; “OK! OK! I’m awake. Fully awake.” She was looking at him with wide open eyes and big pout; she wanted to fall asleep in his arms even for once.

KyuJong couldn’t help but laugh at her expression.

       They were both happy; the way they felt now was so good they didn’t want to let go of it. They talked and laughed and had fun the whole night. It was the best memory.

“Nagisa!... hey Nagi!” KyuJong was trying to wake her up. She fell asleep just some minutes ago and now the sun was rising; so he wanted her to see it; “Come on, wake up!”

The girl cracked one eye open but closed it immediately and nuzzled into KyuJong’s neck; “I’m tired!” she groaned.

The older man chuckled. She was just like a child; “Come on kiddo! I’ll carry you home, just let’s watch this together!” he said and moved so she was forced to wake up. “Didn’t you say you wanted to watch the sunrise together? Come on…”

       The minute she opened her eyes, she saw the sun poking her head from beyond the sea. It was beautiful, she smiled sleepily.

They waited until the sun was completely out, “Now! Let’s go! I’ll carry you!” KyuJong said standing up.

“Kirei ne!” she said.

(“It’s Beautiful!” she said)

“Tashika ni kirei da ne.”  (“It sure is beautiful!”) KyuJong agreed then he bent down and held her up in his arms bridestyle; “Now we need a good rest!”

Nagisa yelped when he suddenly held her up but then smiled; “Thank you!” she said.

He looked at her then at the villa in front of them, “Why?” he mused.

“Because you showed me this!” she pointed to the sea, “I’m not afraid anymore… I kinda like it!” she smiled.

“Good!” he smiled, “And… you’re welcome!”

It was nice! They were good friends and they both wished to be more than that. They wished…

       The sun was coming higher and they felt warm, both from the sun and the warmth in their hearts. She fell asleep in his arms again, smiling. Even a dream couldn’t be this beautiful.

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2024

       KyuJong was sleeping in his bed, their pictures surrounding him. He was smiling; maybe he was having a sweet dream after 10 years of nightmares.

In the other room, YoungSaeng and Sara were in their bed trying to sleep.

“You awake Saeng?” Sara asked.

       They were both trying to fall asleep but it was impossible with the memories playing on in their minds like a movie.

“Yes!” YoungSaeng answered with his eyes closed, “Can’t sleep!”

“Meneither!” Sara whispered looking at his face, “Seang?”

“Hmm?” he answered.

“I love you!” her voice shaky, she was crying and YoungSaeng could feel it so he turned and pulled her closer, kissing her head and caressing her hair, whispering ‘I love yous’ into her ear, “What is it Sara? Why are you crying baby?”

Was it ok to talk about it? She didn’t know… so she paused and stared at him, thinking.

 

To be continued…