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There was a nice breeze coming from the open window, a sort of warmth that had started appearing in the air with spring slowly making its presence known. Minje accepted the weather with delight, it’s definitely what he needed, motivating him to finish quicker. He was finally moving out from his childhood room. First year at university had gone smoothly and he felt comfortable in his shoes, and ready to take the next step into adulthood.
After another hour, Minje looked around his room at all the boxes. It was finally done. He just needed to do a quick check all around to make sure he had not forgotten anything. The shelves had been long empty so he skipped them and went to his drawer, then closet, then under the bed… A box was pushed under there. When had he placed that there?
Minje reached in with one arm, it was easy with how long they are. He grabbed the top of the box and pulled it against the floor, towards him in a swift movement. It was black and most likely belonged to a pair of sneakers. With a child’s curiosity, he took the lid off and was then met with memorabilia from his high school years. Two wristbands from different events, an aquarium ticket, a journal and a bunch of polaroid photos.
A journal was mostly filled with future plans and past events he had been too. It had a section where Minje had written down his dreams and nightmares, some felt like they would have been great movie plots according to himself. He checked the dates on the wristbands and ticket, he had been sixteen and seventeen when he had used them.
The polaroids took up most space, he doesn’t even remember taking so many. His high school friends had probably taken some of them as well. The thought was confirmed when the first picture he looked at was of him, he wore a big grin. His best friend Juwang was next to him, looking annoyed since Minje had used his arm around him, pulling him closer to Minje.
A smile on his face while looking through all the images, even laughing to himself at how obscured some of them were. Until he stopped at one image, it had a message written with a black marker, “By Kyehoon”. The photo was of Keiju. He wore a striped sweater, hand partially covered by the sweater, a sparkler in his grip. His face was concentrated on the glowing stick, clueless to the camera on him.
Minje had to put it down, look away and move on to the next photo, which happened to be a picture with a similar theme. This time, the message was “By Keiju”. The image was of Kyehoon, looking away from the camera. His mouth opened, his lips almost curling up like he was ready to smile at any moment. A lump in his throat and an ugly feeling in his chest. He’s too old for this. Minje held up both the images and looked at them both.
A buzz.
It came from the bed. Minje put the photos back in the box before grabbing his phone that had been discarded on his bed. A message in a group chat. It was Juwang.
“Hey guys, it’s been a while. I was wondering if we should hang now that we’ll be going on spring break.”
Kyehoon and Keiju are already typing.
Minje just reacts to Juwang’s message with a heart and puts his phone down before he sees any replies. He knew he wouldn’t be able to say no even if he wanted to. Did he want to?
Some feeling is bubbling in him. He tries to keep his eyes trained on the tree right outside his window, but his brain keeps betraying him as he feels his eyes keep searching for the box on the floor.
Of course, he can’t escape just by hiding from the truth. But he’s so good at pretending.