A Vihokratana's tragedy

12. Eri's photo

Ohm was still unsure about going on tomorrow's trip, and after receiving that late-night call from Nanon, he was even more confused. It had taken him an hour to lull his boyfriend to sleep. But all of those worries could wait until tomorrow. Now, it was noon, and Ohm had finished cleaning almost every corner of his sweet home. Though his Aunt Eri had advised him not to overexert himself—encouraging him to enjoy tomorrow's trip with Perth and his other friends—Ohm didn’t want to break the promise he had made to clean the house with her during this special holiday.

While Aunt Eri was busy cleaning the old, precious artifacts, Ohm decided to do something else. The idea of cleaning their seldom-used cupboard, filled with so many memories, popped into his mind. He remembered keeping the family photo albums there, and the thought of exploring them again excited him even more.

After informing his aunt, Ohm stood in front of the neglected cupboard. He needed to wipe away the dust from the outside before opening it. Both he and Aunt Eri rarely had time to spend at home, always busy working hard to survive in an expensive world. Night was the only time they found peace, along with Sundays. Ohm had already informed his café owner about taking leave, and, fortunately, Aunt Eri was also free today, thanks to the two-day holiday from the store where she worked.

Sitting in front of the small cupboard, Ohm carefully opened it. The first thing that caught his attention was a small purple bag. A soft smile spread across his face. Though the bag was covered in dust from months of neglect, Ohm didn’t mind. He unzipped it and pulled out the photo albums. The first one was filled with childhood photos of his dad and aunt. As people often said, Ohm really did look like the male version of his aunt when she was young. He wasn’t complaining, though—it was a compliment.

Among the photos, Ohm found one of his aunt and dad from a studio session, where they were forced to hold hands and smile at the camera, as if letting go of each other’s hands would make them cry—though, in reality, it was quite the opposite. Looking at these photos of his dad and aunt always made Ohm wish, for a moment, that he could have a sibling too. This album was full of memories, capturing the cuteness of his dad and aunt from childhood through adulthood, along with photos of Ohm’s paternal grandparents.

The second album was a collection of photos from his parents’ time before they were married. His dad had always been passionate about keeping memories in the form of photos and videos. Ohm recalled how his dad would ensure that every time they accumulated two thousand digital photos, he would visit the photo studio to have them converted into physical copies. These photos were likely among those converted. 

One photo caught Ohm’s eye—a picture of his mom, looking somewhat angry at his dad. He instantly remembered the story his aunt had told him countless times. It was his mom’s birthday, and his dad had completely forgotten. He hadn’t wished her and had ignored her throughout the day. That night, when he finally called her, it was her turn to ignore him. But after seeing 27 missed calls from his dad, she became concerned and picked up the 28th. Hearing his voice relaxed her, but when he invited her out, she refused, still angry. Even when Aunt Eri came to pick her up, she refused to go. In the end, she agreed to go, not wanting her birthday to end without seeing the man she loved. 

This was the moment just before the slap. The photo showed his mom slapping his dad hard for making her upset on her birthday, but despite the pain, his dad had knelt down and pulled out a ring, proposing to her on her special day. The next photo was of the decorations his dad had arranged for the proposal—done entirely on his own—held in the presence of both sets of parents, along with Aunt Eri. As Ohm turned the pages of the album, the stories of his parents, which Aunt Eri had shared with him so many times, seemed to come back to life.

By the time Ohm opened the third album, his eyes were already teary. This was his favorite album—the one that held memories from the day his parents had first learned about his existence. There were photos from his mom's first check-up, her first pregnancy craving, the chaos his dad had caused in the kitchen trying to make a healthy breakfast for her, and, of course, Ohm’s first photo. His first step. His first day at school. The album was filled with the milestones of his early life, captured so lovingly by his parents.