Day 1:

  I kick a stone while carrying my camera in my hands and the strap around my neck. It was summer but my teacher gave my class an assignment to make a scrapbook to make and show to the class. Luckily, I found a camera in my mom’s closet, and she didn’t mind me using it. It’s for class anyways. The only problem is I don’t know what to take a picture of!

  I’m walking in the streets with sun on my back, making me warm. My eyes begin to wander as I search for something to take a picture of. It has to be something that I will be doing or something that catches my eye. Basically, I have to be able to put captions on it for my scrapbook.

  Scrapbooks aren’t my thing since I’m not so artistic or creative, but I’ll try. I’ll try to find something that I can do and make a decent scrapbook. Okay, now I need a picture.

  I shoot a picture of a squirrel crossing the street and nearly getting run over by a card. Caption:

  First sight I see in the morning. A squirrel being in its natural state.

  I sigh. I doubt I would get any points on something so dumb and not thought through. Why is making a scrapbook so hard and why does she want everything to have meaning?!

  I begin taking random pictures of things I see and I’ll just review them when I get home. I had my camera to my eye, taking a shot of a tree and a bird flying away. Still having the camera to my face, I looked ahead of me and shot a picture. Realizing there was someone in front of me, I removed my camera.

  My eyes widen as I saw who stood in front of me.

  I didn’t know the girl nor did she know me, but we just stared at each other as if we were the only two in this world. My heart thud loudly in my chest as my cheeks flares red. I don’t know what’s wrong with me! Could this be what people call love at first sight?

  I bow, showing my respects. I don’t even know how old this girl is!

  She bows awkwardly back at me and takes a sip of her coffee(?) before walking away.

  The moment she passes by me, I could smell the scent of vanilla. It was a simple scent but I like simple things and surely that girl was simple. I turn my head to find her walking. She pauses for a moment and looks at me. She blushes and continues her path.

  I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I heave a deep sigh. What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling this way towards a stranger? This isn’t normal at all! I’m just going to be a fool if I actually call this love at first sight! It’s not like I’ll see her again!

  I groan and continue on with my day by taking pictures wherever I went. Like I said, I’ll edit everything once I get home.

  It was near noon time when I was getting hungry. I stride back home, satisfied with my day. I wonder what kind of pictures I took today! There has to be at least ten photos I can use for the scrapbook.

  I flip through my pictures and definitely deleted the squirrel picture. I would never be that stupid to add that. I find a few pictures I like, some I was contemplating on, and some I did not need.

  One particular photo caused me to pause from my normal duties. I couldn’t bring myself to press the next button to check what other pictures were in store. My heart was beating just as fast as it did when I first saw her. Who knew I would take a picture like this?

  It was the girl, looking out in the distance with her cup in her hand, either ready to drink her cup or finished drinking. Her long brown hair was settled on her shoulder as a few strands flew in different directions. Who knew a simple picture would make my heart flutter like this?

  I closed my eyes tightly and pressed the next button. There’s no way I would delete that photo, but there’s no way I’ll show it to the world. Maybe one day I would see her again. Maybe.

☼☼☼

  Day 2:

  Once again, I head out to search for more photos to take. By the end of the week, I’ll have enough to fill up most of my scrapbook. My next destination, I have decided, would be at the beach. I usually go there to hang out with my best friends, but not today. They were all probably sleeping right now since it’s the second day of summer vacation.

  I was walking down the road leading to the beach when I spot the girl I saw yesterday. My heart dropped to my stomach as I saw her alone, carrying a bag. I didn’t know where she was going. However, I couldn’t help but think what does she do in the day time? Yesterday, it seems as if she was heading to work, but I don’t even know how old she is! What if she was some old hag that got surgery to make herself younger or what if she’s actually younger than me?

  I panic without realizing I was staring straight at her. I guess she felt it because her head whips towards me and we made eye contact. I blush and look down. I couldn’t believe I just made eye contact with her again! I wait for a couple of seconds before looking up again. She was still staring at me with her big brown eyes, but this time I didn’t leave my gaze off of her.

  We stare into each others’ eyes. We would blink a couple of times and see a few people passing by but we didn’t say words. We just stood there, unmoving like a statue.

  A shiver went up my spine, bringing me back to reality. I clear my throat and bowed before walking passed her. The moment I was next to her, I pause and smile to myself. It was as if my body was acting on its own as I mutter, “You have pretty eyes.”

  I see her eyes widen and turn to me. Soon, she relaxes and smiles. “Thank you.” Her gaze drops down to my camera. “I like your camera.”

  This time, I fully face her. “This old thing?” I take the camera in my hands and turn it around. “It’s my mom’s camera. I found it in my closet and because I needed it for school, I asked her if I could borrow it. She said I could have it instead.”

  Her sparkling eyes remain on the camera. “How old is it?”

  I shake my head. “I really don’t know.” I let out a soft chuckle which soon fades as I remembered something. I hold out my hand towards her and say, “I’m Joon Hong but call me Zelo.” I blush as I introduce myself, but my face was flaring when I felt her hand take mine.

  “I’m Ah Ri,” she says shyly. Again, her eyes go to my camera. “What do you need the camera for?”

  I was proud to tell her what I was doing with my camera and I don’t know why. This was the first time someone was more interested in my camera than me. “I have a school project I need to do and it’s to make a scrapbook over the summer of what I did. So I’m just going around and taking pictures of things I see and put caption under it when I make my scrapbook.”

  “Are you going to add me to it?”

  I blush. “W-what?”

  She giggles. “I know you took a picture of me yesterday. I noticed you taking pictures of everything yesterday but I didn’t know what. I was going to ask you yesterday, but I was afraid to confront you. How old are you? You seem old.”

  I don’t know how to react to that, so I simply answer, “I’m sixteen.”

  Her eyes widen. “Really? You’re so tall and… What? You’re only sixteen? I really thought you were older!”

  “Do I look that old?”

  She didn’t answer that and say, “I’m seventeen turning eighteen next month.”

  My jaw drops. “You look younger! I thought you were my age.”

  “I’m near.”

  “Yeah…” I didn’t know what to say next. I wasn’t the type to randomly talk to strangers and suddenly get so comfortable with them like other people. I don’t even know why I said what I said!

  “Where are you heading?” Ah Ri asks, looking behind her towards the direction I was heading.

  “I was thinking of going to the beach.” I reply. “I was going to take pictures.”

  “But you’re not going to do anything dealing with the beach? You’re just going to take pictures of random people and say you actually did something?”

  She made it sound like I was doing something bad. “Uhm… Well, I don’t- I can’t- I’m not sure where to go.”

  Ah Ri laughs softly. “I’m kidding, but you should do the activity also if you’re making a scrapbook,” she points out, “A scrapbook basically tells about your life.”

  I just nod, not knowing how to respond to that. She’s right. However, where am I going to go? I would hang out my friends, but like I said, they’re probably all sleeping at this moment.

  “How about we hang out for a bit?” She asks.

  Already? I’ve only known her for a couple of minutes and we’re going to be walking together like close friends? This girl is definitely not shy whatsoever. Well, she is going to be eighteen and by that point you would need to be independent since your childhood life will end.

  “Where are we going?” I ask, looking around. “I still want to go to the beach.”

  “I’ll take you there tomorrow since we’re both not prepared for the beach. We are going to swim, right?”

  “Uhm. I guess?” Ah! I really don’t know what to say to this girl!

  “Come on. Let’s take a little stroll.” She starts walking.

  I keep a distance from her. I wasn’t comfortable to be walking right beside her or right behind her because it would make it seem like we’re together or I’m a creepy stalker. I mean look at this girl! She’s beautiful and yet she doesn’t have a boyfriend… Or does she? I don’t want to ask her though because it was a personal question.

  Ah Ri suddenly stops and turns towards me, hands on her back. She stands on her tiptoes and grins up at me. “Wait, shouldn’t you be with your girlfriend for this? I mean, it would be perfect for your scrapbook! It’s part of your life and it will be the perfect theme to use!”

  I blush. “I-I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  “Oh.”

  “D-do you? I mean, do you have a boyfriend?”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t have time for one and they just cause trouble anyways. I like feeling free and not caged like a canary.” Her eyes grow distant. Suddenly, she snaps her fingers. “This is the perfect place for a photo!” She points out towards the ocean.

  The sun has already risen, but the water still sparkled. I snap a picture and turn towards her. She faces me, fixes her hair, and smiles. At that moment, I take a shot of her and immediately regret it. Oh no. What if she didn’t want me to take a picture of her?

  “I-I’m sorry! I’ll delete the picture right now!” I panic, switching my camera to the play button.

  She stops me by a small giggle. “It’s okay. I’m fine with pictures as long as you don’t lie and say I’m your girlfriend.”

  I laugh nervously and turn of my camera, letting it dangle on my neck. I ruffle my hair and bit my lip. This is so embarrassing.

  “Okay, let’s continue walking.” Ah Ri walks down the path once again.

  As we stroll, Ah Ri would tell me what to take and say why I should take them. She said these would have more meaning to them rather than the ones I took from yesterday. How should she know anyways? She hasn’t seen the pictures I took yesterday!

  That’s basically how today went and by the end of the stroll, I had less photos from yesterday. We go back to the place where we met and stand there.

  She bows. “We’re going to meet here tomorrow at noon, okay?”

  I nod my head.

  “Make sure you wear something appropriate for the beach because we will have to get wet and have some interactions with the ocean and sand.” She smiles widely. “It’s nice to meet you Zelo. I hope to see you again.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be here.”

  She does a single nod before leaving me.

  I stand there for a moment, watching her disappearing figure. I smile to myself. “Ah Ri. What a cute name.”

☼☼☼

  Day 3:

  I quickly got ready, changing into my swim trunks and muscle T. I grab my camera, tell my parents where I was going and head out the door. I pace towards the place where Ah Ri told me to meet and soon felt my calves hurting. Who knew this place was a long way from home?

  When I reached my destination, I didn’t find her standing there, waiting patiently for me to come. I check my phone and found it was 12:01. I’m not that late, so where is she? She couldn’t have left me because I wasn’t there at exactly noon! That’s too much! I kick the dirt and sigh. “I really hope she remembers.”

  At that moment, I felt cold and small hands over my eyes. I unintentionally smile. “Ah Ri?”

  Soon those hands release me and I turn around to see Ah Ri wearing a t-shirt and shorts, hiding what she was wearing underneath.  She was also carrying a bag of towels and other things inside.

  “Are you ready?” She asks.

  I nod, blushing a little as I realize I would be alone with a girl and not my best friends. I just hope I won’t see them here today. Who knows what they’ll say.

  She smiles and takes my arm as we walk towards the beach.

  Once there, she sets up the towels, laying them on the ground and turns to me. “So what do you want to do first? Do you want to take a swim or sit here and tan-slash-read a book?” She asks while taking off her shirt.

  I look away, my face burning like crazy. “Uhm. Uh. Well...” I stutter, “Maybe we could take a swim?” I point towards the ocean behind me.

  “Okay, but you have to put your camera down.”

  “Right!” I was about to take off my camera when I remembered something. “Let me take a picture first. Look here.” I hold the camera to my eye and shoot a picture of her with her big eyes staring back at me and holding a petal off her headband. I put my camera down. “Is it alright if I put it in your bag so it won’t get wet?”

  “I don’t mind.”

  Once I had the camera in the bag, I follow her to the water. I tap my toe into the water. “It’s cold!” I exclaim while turning to her. To my surprise, she was already knee deep. I made a face.

  She giggles. “Are you scared of water?” Ah Ri teases.

  “No!”

  “What are you waiting for then?”

  I didn’t wait any longer and step inside next to her. I shiver from the cold and made a face. “How are you not cold from this?!”

  “I am… But I’m not showing it.” Her smile widens. Suddenly, she splashes water at my face and tries to run away.

  “Hey!” I splash water back at her, starting a water fight. Soon, the water didn’t feel so cold to me.

  We didn’t stop our water fight until I had grabbed her by her waist and felt eyes watching me. I froze as I found my friends staring at me with wry smiles on their face. I knew what that meant. They were probably thinking she was my girlfriend. I let her go and take a couple of steps back.

  She looks at me, wondering why I did that. She follows my gaze and finds my friends there. “Oh look! It’s Yong Guk and Himchan!”

  “You know them?” Well, she knows two of them.

  “Yeah. They were in my class.”

  Oh right. They’re the same age.

  She starts toward them and greets Yong Guk and Himchan right away. Ah Ri turns to the rest and greets them, too.

  My heart felt as if I got shot. I don’t know why I’m feeling this when I’ve just met her! How can I feel this way when I barely know her! I shake it off and head towards them. “Hey you guys! What are you doing here?” I didn’t want them to be here, but I can’t drive them away or else they would get even more suspicious. These guys are crazy anyways.

  Jongup gets close to me and whispers, “I didn’t know you like older girls.”

  I blush and whisper back. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Then what is it?” Youngjae butts in.

  “Are you hiding something?” Daehyun adds.

  Jongup gasps. “Did you…”

  “No! Shut up!” I exclaim.

  “Zelo, you know you’re too young…” Youngjae starts.

  “Stop it you guys. I didn’t do anything!” I groan in frustration. This is what I hate about these guys, but I can’t get away from them. They’re those kinds of friends where you want to strangle them, but at the same time, you got to love them.

  I glance at Ah Ri and find her still talking to Yong Guk and Himchan.

  Jongup nudges me.

  “I see someone has a crush,” Daehyun states while wiggling his eyebrows.

  “Oh god, will you please stop!”

  They laugh and continue to tease me.

  After what felt like eternity, everyone had decided to hang out together.

  “What do you think?” Ah Ri asks. “Maybe we could take lunch now, too?”

  I turn to the group and meet eyes which each of them. I scratch the back of my head. “I’m thinking of going home now.”

  She blinks a couple of times at me. “You’re going to leave now?”

  I nod my head. “Yeah. I’ll see you guys later.” Why am I acting this way?

  “Okay…” Ah Ri sounded disappointed, but I didn’t take it at heart. I think she’ll be fine with Yong Guk and Himchan since she already knows them and the rest of the gang isn’t so bad. Five guys and one girl is bad enough, so there doesn’t have to be another.

  I manage a weak smile and nod my head. “Bye. I’ll see you later.” With that, I left them, not looking back. I head home and shower, changing into my pajamas. I lie on my bed and realize something. “Crap! I left my camera!” I bolt up and scratch the back of my head, but then I thought about how long I took to do everything. How am I going to get my camera back now? I don’t even know when I’ll see her again!

☼☼☼

Day 4:

  I wake up and the first thing I remember was the fact that my camera isn’t with me. How am I going to do my scrapbook now? All I have are photos from the first day and I’m sure they won’t fit the whole scrapbook!

  I roll around in my bed and check my phone. I have no messages. Maybe the next time I meet Ah Ri, I’ll ask her for her number, but when will be the next time I see her? She did go to my school, but she already graduated! She’s going to college and I’m sure I wouldn’t see her again!

  I’ll just use my digital camera even though the pictures wouldn’t be that great. It’s better than nothing at least. I get up and get ready for the day. Today, I have decided to head to the park. I wonder what I’ll see there.

  On my way to the park, I take a picture of things I pass by. I review the photos and found some of them blurry. I sigh. Enough pictures for now, I’ll just wait until I get to the park.

  At the entrance of the park, I find it super crowded. Figures, it is summer anyways. “Okay, time to take some pictures.” I walk around, finding animals and people and taking pictures of them, but when I review the pictures, they were too blurry since most of them moved too much. I face the camera towards me and shoot a picture. Might as well show that I’m “enjoying” it.

  I head to the playground and smile. Who knew I would see Ah Ri here! I find her sitting on the swings with her face puffed up like a blowfish. I shoot a picture and find her looking up with her hand on her cheek.

  She was surprised to see me. “What are you doing here?”

  I smile. “Taking pictures.” I show her my camera.

  For a moment, her eyes stayed on the camera but then she jumped. “Oh! You’re camera! I have it right here! I wasn’t sure when I would see you, so I have decided to bring it everyday and sure enough, I see you today!” She giggles and pulls out my camera in her big bag. “Here you go.”

  I take it from her and bow. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s in good shape.”

  I shoot a picture of a tree and review it. I’m so glad I have this camera back! Now my pictures wouldn’t be so crappy like in the digital camera. I stare at her. “Want to hang out with me for a bit?”

  She nods and stands up. “Sure.”

  We walk together at the park while enjoying the view. I continually take pictures as she points at what I should take. We must have taken an hour because by the time we reached the park again, I had hundreds of pictures.

  We sit on a bench, flipping through what I had. She points at a picture of a woman feeding birds with seeds while a few were flying away. Ah Ri was amazed on how clear it was. She was like a little kid, not like a nearly eighteen-year-old girl.

  I don’t know why, but I kept staring at her. I couldn’t help but notice how light her skin was, how big her eyes were, and how plump her lips were. I inch forward, getting closer and closer, my eyes closing slowly, but when I was close enough to kiss her soft cheek, I pull away. What am I doing?

  It was as if nothing had happened.

  She turns to me while smiling like an idiot. “Make sure you give me a copy of this one.” Her eyes stare longingly at it. “I hope I can get it soon,” Ah Ri says in a soft whisper.

  “You will.” I flip through more pictures and take a few glances at her once in a while. Never did she look at me, but the photos and never did she fail to make me want to kiss her.

  “Is there anything else you want?” I ask, still gazing at her.

  She shakes her head. “I like those.” Suddenly, she grabs my camera and shoots and picture of me.

  I was taken by surprise and when she looked at it, she laughed hysterically. “I want this one, too!”

  I look, too and laugh at myself. Who knew I could make a face like that. “Okay, you can have it.”

  Ah Ri hands back the camera. “Thank you for today,” she whispers and rests her head on my shoulder.

  I blush and look down at her, finding her eye closed with a soft smile on her face. I smile too and move a strand of hair away from her face. If only this day could last or occur one more time. I just want to be with her for a little bit more.

  Ah Ri raises her head. “Zelo. Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you like me?”

  I hold my breath at that question. Do I like her or do I admire her? Those are actually two different things that can get mixed up pretty easily. “Uhm…”

  “Do you like me?” She repeats, slower.

  I don’t know how to answer, but I know my feelings are more than a friend’s. Slowly, I nod my head and gulp. Is this the right decision?

  Her eyes turn sad and she frowns. “You shouldn’t,” Ah Ri says in a soft whisper.

  I stand, causing her to sit up. “What do you mean?” Is it wrong to like someone older than you? Is it wrong to like someone you just met? There are some occurrences where people fell in love that way!

  “You shouldn’t like me,” she repeats.

  “Why not?”

  “You won’t see me after summer.”

  “I don’t care if you go to a college far away! We can still contact each other!”

  Her eyes widen, but soften after a while. “Okay… Fine.” She whispers something I couldn’t hear and stands, her lips touching mine ever so lightly as her arms wrap around my neck.

  It was hard to process this. I don’t understand why she was doing this. First she says I can’t like her and now she’s kissing me! What is going on? Women are strange!

  She releases my lips, tears flowing down her cheeks. She bites her lower lip and mutters, “I like you, too, but…”

  I place a finger to her lips, not wanting to hear more. “I don’t care. Let me spend the time I have left with you, okay?”

  She nods her head slowly and manages a weak smile. “I wonder how long that will be.”

  I didn’t understand her words, but for the rest of the day, I was with her, spending each and every moment with her at the park, doing the same things we did in the last couple of days.

  I really do wish this day could last a little bit longer.

☼☼☼

Day 5:

  I was excited today because today, Ah Ri and I will be spending time with each other at the mall. She said she wanted to buy something there, but didn’t want to go alone. I’m glad she asked me to come because I was hoping to buy her something special along the way.

  Once again, I meet with Ah Ri at the mall. I hold her delicate hand and found it empty. Now I know what I’ll get her. “So, where to first?” I ask with my camera at my neck. I’m ready to take pictures if she wanted me to.

  She squeezes my hand. “Let’s go to the clothing store.”

  We head to the clothing store and takes pictures there. She would take a hat and wear it, acting as if she was a model. Soon, she grabbed clothes and tried them on. Ah Ri didn’t ask me to take pictures, but I did anyways. She then grabbed some clothes for me and shoves me into the dressing room.

  I try on the clothes and step out. Not to my surprise, she takes a photo of me. I sigh and shake my head. For the first few clothes, I didn’t pose, but she would scold me for that. I pose for a bit, but was embarrassed as people stare.

  After the modeling, we head to the food mart. Who knew we would take that long modeling for fun.

  I order fast food since I didn’t have enough money for both of us to eat something. Another thing to add on my embarrassment list for today. I’m on a roll aren’t I?

  We eat for a bit, talking and laughing about anything. We mostly spoke about what happened today since we had our fun at the store. I take a few pictures of us eating and other people eating before actually finishing my food.

  Afterwards, we head to another store where I found the perfect gift. Without her looking, I escape as she was staring at this diamond necklace that I know I can never afford. I search around and find a ring that I knew she would like and told the cashier how much it was.

  My eyes widen as I heard the price. It was expensive! “Uhm… Do you have anything cheaper than that?” I ask the cashier.

  She laughs. “I’m sorry I don’t.”

  I sigh. “Well, I do have this ring, but I’m not sure if she would like it. It’s fake, but I was hoping to give her something real.”

  She doesn’t even looks at it and says, “It doesn’t have to be real. I’m sure she’ll like it.”

  I nod and turn towards Ah Ri who was still staring at the necklace. There’s no way am I going to afford that! I walk towards her and say, “Let’s go somewhere else. Maybe we can find something better.”

  “Maybe…” she says longingly. She really wants that necklace!

  We continue to walk around and I didn’t know when I should give her the ring. I wanted to give it to her now, but I also wanted to wait. But what if I wait too long? AH! I’m just going to give it to her now!

  I block Ah Ri’s path and hold out the ring. “H-Here!” I stutter. Smooth, wasn’t it?

  She blinks and couple of times before processing what happened. “What?”

  “Th-this ring is for you.” I know my cheeks are as red as a tomato, but I don’t care. I’m sure everyone knows what I’m trying to do and no, I’m not proposing.

  Ah Ri giggles.

  I bite my lip. Instead of waiting for her to take it, I grab her hand and slip it on her ring finger. I kiss the ring and say, “You’re mine.”

  Her eyes turn sad and again, she mutters something I couldn’t hear. Then louder, let’s continue our day.

  “But first, let me take a picture.” I get my camera ready and snap a shot of her with her hand with the ring near her face and a small smile on her lips. I’m going to cherish this picture forever.

☼☼☼

Day 99:

  The time at the mall was the last time I saw her. At first, I thought she had abandoned me. I thought she had forgotten about me. I thought she had left and thrown me away like trash. But no. It was something much deeper than that. A month later, I had received a letter from an address I didn’t know, but when I opened it, I knew where it had come from.

  To: Jun Hong/Zelo

  I’m sorry. I tried my best to stay with you. I tried my best to be strong for you, but my body is deteriorating. I wish I could spend more time with you like the days at the beach and the park. But my time is slowly running out.

  I couldn’t tell you before because I thought it would be best for you to know, but I have cancer. It’s already serious and there’s nothing I can do to slow it or make it go away.

  I’ve pushed everyone away, but not you. I don’t know why, but you’re the only one who I couldn’t. I just couldn’t stand seeing you sad.

  I truly enjoyed the time we spent and cherish every moment of it. But I also wish I had those pictures you promised me. Maybe you could send them to my parents? I’m sure they will give it to me since I requested it.

  I really wish I could see you…

Love,

            Song Ah Ri

P.S. And never forget to take pictures of things you do, not what you see. Cherish all those photos and remember me.

  The moment I read that letter, I didn’t know what to do. I literally fell on my knees and cried. I wanted to visit her, but I didn’t know where she was. I wanted to be there for her, but she was gone. She wasn’t in my grasp. I knew it was too late because there was another page, telling me when and where the funeral was. I realized the letter was made a day before she had left. I didn’t know what to do.

  Now I’m back to school, flipping through the scrapbook I made. The first five days of summer were my favorite and I even labeled it. The rest of the days were what I did for fun, but not full heartedly. I even had photos of the funeral. Feeling a tear ready to drop, I wipe it away and closed the scrapbook.

  Of course, I will remember her. I will never forget those five days of summer in the rain.