somewhere only we know | huang renjun

001 | next, a boy.

!next, a boy.

               "SEVENTEEN POINT FOUR," i said aloud to myself as i wrote the digits down onto my page. only ten more questions and i'd finish the assignment, as if that meant anything. i knew i'd just move onto the next one straight away — if i put my pen down for even one second, the yells would start and they simply would not stop.

since i moved into high school, that became my life: screams from an unstable and verbally violent father, and three tonnes of pressure hanging over my shoulders everyday. i guess it was nice to tick something off, though.

my ears pricked up with the sound of my door handle twisting. i put my head down lower just to look extra focussed on the math in front of me, trying to suppress the automatic nervous throbbing in my ears that came every time i knew he was nearby.

"what are you doing?" he asked, his voice stern.

"i'm finishing my assignment," i said, turning around and showing him the paper in front of me. he gave a small nod after analysing the work in my hand.

"dinner will be ready in ten minutes," he said before turning out the door.

i glanced at the time — which was 7:10, if you're wondering — but something else caught my eye other than the clock that sat in front of my window. it was a car pulling up to the empty house next door. i figured it must be our new neighbours, no one had lived in that house for years until it was finally sold last month. i fixed my posture to try and get a better view of the family coming out of the car that was sat in the driveway.

first, a woman. she came from the front seat. she looked tired, wearing stained grey sweatpants and an old-looking cardigan. i frowned, feeling some kind of pity towards her — she couldn't have been that old, maybe mid thirties? — but honestly speaking, she looked like she had already had her life torn apart.

next, a boy. he stepped out of the driver's side. he was young, probably about my age. he, unlike the woman, looked clean and fresh. he wore black skinny jeans with a baggy white t-shirt that hung down just a little past his hips. he made his way around to the car trunk, pulling out a couple suitcases and dragging them towards the front door of the house. i watched him follow the empty-handed woman inside before looking out to the road again to see if anyone else was to show up behind them.

sure enough, a truck soon pulled up, reversing its rear into what was left of their driveway. the boy returned again and made his way towards the opening of the truck's trailer, but the woman seemed to stay inside.

that's strange, i thought. why isn't she helping him?

i shook it off and sat down again to face my assignment. one more question, and then i'd go down to dinner.

soon i made my way down the stairs a couple minutes early to help my father dish up — i'd never hear the end of it if i ever left him to do anything himself. i walked into the kitchen and pulled some plates out of the drawers and paired them each with a set of cutlery before setting them on the table, ready for him to serve on.

we each sat down at our place at the table and ate in silence, just like always. a few minutes later, i reached the last crumbs on my plate and stand up to bring my dish to the sink, grabbing my father's plate on the way over as well. i reached to turn the tap on, but was interrupted by a ring at the doorbell. i glanced up to see a silhouette standing behind the stained glass windows of our door.

"i'll get it," i said, emptying my hands and making my way over. i opened the door to see the boy from before standing in front of me, hands full with a ceramic dish covered in aluminium foil.

"hi!" the boy greeted with a smile. he wasn't as much taller than me as i had expected. in fact, he looked kind of small for his age, though i was still a few centimetres shorter than him. he held out the dish in front of me, gesturing for me to take it.

"i'm huang renjun, my mother and i are your new neighbours. we just moved in this afternoon and wanted to give you this as a way to introduce ourselves. it's homemade casserole." he spoke confidently, effortlessly keeping eye contact with me the whole time.

i grabbed the dish from his hands, sending him back a polite smile.

"thank you," i began, not really sure of what to say. no one had ever done anything like this for us before, i didn't feel like i should be accepting it since it was so out of the blue. "i'm y/n, nice to meet you."

"do you go to the school just down the road here?" he pointed his wrist in the direction of my high school. i nodded and looked away, shy from the constant eye contact.

"what year are you in? i'm moving there as a senior this year," he spoke again.

"i'm a senior this year too," i replied. "looks like we'll be there together."

renjun gave a warm smile. "that's good, i was worried i'd have some trouble making new friends since it's such a late time to start at a new school, but at least i'll already know someone!" he said happily, nodding towards me.

"uh," i started to speak, but was interrupted by yells from inside the walls behind me. "y/n! you have work to do remember! stop wasting time!" they echoed.

"i better go," i said, feeling sorry to cut our semi-awkward conversation short. i spotted a small frown form on renjun's face, a thin layer of pity showing in his eyes.

"well, it was nice to meet you, y/n," he said.

"you too," i gave him one last smile before quickly closing the door in front of him.

"y/n!"

"i know! he's gone, okay!" i yelled back, frustration obvious in my voice. i took a step back, regretting every word that had just left my mouth.

"don't you talk back to me like that! how many times have i told you!" the yells became louder as i heard footsteps making their way from the other room and closer to where i was standing.

shit, i thought to myself again. last time i did this, he had slammed the door in front of me and nearly broke the door frame. i stood still, worried for what he'd do this time.

"you're a rude and ungrateful child, y/n. is that how i brought you up to be?!" he made his way closer to me, a scowl strong on his face. i kept my lips shut, knowing that he wouldn't be happy no matter what came out of my mouth.

he took the dish out from my hands and dropped it onto the carpet, a crack forming along the base of the white china.

"if this happens again y/n, you'll be sorry," he yelled. "get up to your room and finish your homework." with that, he pointed upstairs and i ran to follow his orders, trying to hold in my tears. as often as this happened, it never got easier.