Suzy managed to sneak inside the school without being seen by the P.E. teacher guarding the main gate. Sighing with relief, she hurried over to her classroom, hoping for the best. Fortunately, their first period teacher was late.

“If you got caught for one more time you’d be suspended,” Sungjong, her seatmate, pointed out.

“But I didn’t get caught,” Suzy replied, grinning.

Sungjong smiled and shook his head hopelessly. “You’re too carefree sometimes.”

“I just don’t worry too much,” she returned, as she took out her notebook which contained words she believed would get turned into songs and novels one day.

<:>

Myungsoo always spent his time alone. He didn’t seem to mind, and so did his classmates. Every once in a while he would receive several love letters sprayed with sickeningly sweet perfume and he would unhesitatingly throw them away, unopened. He thought love letters were ‘immature’, so he could never care less about such trivial things.

“For someone who pursues music,” his teacher would always say to him. “You sure are a heartless one, Kim Myungsoo.”

Myungsoo opened his locker, and as expected, several pastel-colored envelopes fell out. He picked them up in a rush and threw everything in the nearest bin. He didn’t care if people saw or not, because that was who he was. If anything, he never wanted to be mistaken for someone he wasn’t—and being incredibly nice was one of the many traits he avoided. Finally taking out the books he needed, he shut his locker and went straight to the tiniest music room located at the end of the hall. He could always choose the bigger ones, but he found solace in that suffocating space, so he never bothered.

After placing the books on the table, he began to take out his composition notebook from his case, together with his guitar. He fished out a pick from his pocket and resorted to tune the strings. Moments later, he started to strum and hum with the random tunes he made. Funnily enough, the words that came through his head were mostly ‘summer’ and ‘sunshine’.

With his eyes closed, Myungsoo, once again, started to relentlessly chase that one summer day which was already out of his grasp.

<:>

“Sungjong,” Suzy called out during their lunch break, while staring at her friend’s left hand. “Why do your fingertips look like that?”

The boy paused, and grinned after realizing what she had meant. “You mean why it’s callused?”

“Yeah.”

Sungjong sighed, and placed his chopsticks down. “It’s because I play the guitar.”

“I never knew that,” she replied, as she cocked her head to a side. “Since when?”

“Just recently.”

“I never knew you could be musically inclined,” Suzy pointed out. She popped a piece of cutlet in . “Does it hurt?”

“Only at the beginning,” he returned. “But once your skin thickens, you’ll be all right.”

Suzy scoffed, and this caused Sungjong to be confused. “Did I say something weird?”

“Why the guitar all of a sudden…” she muttered in disbelief.

“It’s a nice hobby,” he defended. “Do you want to try it out?”

“The cutlet’s amazing,” Suzy concluded, completely steering away from the conversation. “You should have one.”

<:>

Myungsoo sat down in the train, and a girl, about eleven years old, was sitting across him. She stared at him, and he simply stared back. It was hilarious, how he could read a person’s eyes so easily. The girl gave away everything and he was certain that if he winked at her she’d fall in a heartbeat. That was how simple people were in his perception, after all.

A girl, about eleven years old, was already wearing a skimpy, faded denim skirt.

A girl, about eleven years old, already had fake, purple lenses on.

A girl, about eleven years old, had her face caked with make-up.

A girl, about eleven years old, was already giving signals to an older guy.

The thoughts he had inside his head were far from nice, and he could only scoff at himself. His teacher could be right. He could be heartless.

<:>

It was eleven in the evening when Suzy’s phone rang. She stared at the screen, and she had a hunch that the private number was from the stranger. Without even thinking about it, she picked the call up, and silence engulfed the two.

She could hear his calm breathing, and it didn’t even frighten her.

Finally, the voice said, “What do you think of eleven year old girls wearing stupid short skirts and thick make-up?”

Suzy was a bit taken aback, so she had to pause and think of an appropriate response. Finally, she answered in a hushed tone, “It’s either they can’t wait to grow up, or they’re insecure.”

The stranger scoffed, and it was quiet again. It stayed like that for fifteen more minutes. They simply listened to each other’s silence, and the static over the phone could be clearly heard.

“Can I call you again tomorrow?” he asked.

“Of course,” she whispered.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Beep.

Suzy wondered why he would ask something so out of the blue like that. It intrigued and confused her all at the same time. Despite their limited conversations, however, she still couldn’t wait for his next call.

<:>

Myungsoo held up his phone, pondering about what she had just told him.

“Insecure, can’t wait to grow up…” he mumbled. His mind played around those phrases for a long while. Finally, he smirked, and plopped the phone on his bed. “Well, that’s just plain stupid.”

He took his phone again, and decided to play his very own lullaby.

Hello, this is Mrs. Kim. I can’t answer the phone at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep.

Beep.

“Hey mom, it’s Myungsoo. I saw a girl in the train today. Someone said she was either insecure, or she simply can’t wait to grow up. I still don’t like her, though. Bye.”

Hello, this is Mrs. Kim. I can’t answer the phone at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep.

Beep.

“Mom, it’s me. I’m talking to this girl I barely know. She reminds me of you. Bye.”

Hello, this is Mrs. Kim. I can’t answer the phone at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep.

Beep.

“Mom, it’s Myungsoo. Sometimes, I can only hate you for dying on me.”