Maybe in Another Life

The clock that should be frozen is now advancing, step by step, like moving on

6 months later, Yoongi and I had gone from strangers to acquaintances, to roommates, to friends. I thanked Halmeoni for her foresight, because I honestly wasn't sure how I would have survived without her, and now Yoongi, in my life. It wasn't that Yoongi took care of me, but he was just there. I wasn't alone and that made all the difference. Alone together.

Over time, we went from being in each other's space just due to living in the same home to being in each other's space because we wanted to be there.

Even though Yoongi had given me the money he received from selling Halmeoni's house, I wasn't satisfied staying at his house doing nothing all day.

There wasn't much work in the neighborhood because there wasn't really a neighborhood this far in the countryside.

When I asked Yoongi about it, he offered to let me work for him. I didn't really know what he did for work, but it was something with art preservation or maybe art history. Whatever it was, it granted him the opportunity to do most of it while at home. Halmeoni had mentioned him traveling around France, so assumed that was where he got all his art. And he had so many pieces. That kept me busy most days. He had me take inventory, move things around, and keep a record of the types of pieces he had. The more I worked, the better my grasp on things I got. Eventually, he started to take me into the city to nearby galleries that he worked with.

It was nice traveling with Yoongi, nice to be out of the house, and interacting with other people again. While I still felt odd to be back in the "real world" without Tae, it felt more doable than it had before. I felt like, in a way, working with art brought me closer to Taehyung. Closer to the life we were supposed to have. It was a bittersweet feeling.

Soon, I was going into the city by myself, visiting galleries, and generally working as Yoongi's apprentice.

Even though we'd lived together for 6 months, I hadn't learned that much about Yoongi other than his work. I couldn't decide if he was reluctant to tell me much about his life or just didn't have anything worth sharing. Just like me. So, I took to using context clues and our environment to learn more about him.

He didn't have much by way of family. He never mentioned any brothers or sisters, so I assumed he was an only child. Halmeoni had told me he inherited the place from his late mother and father, but I didn't know how long it had been. He never got visitors, and rarely left the house unless it was for work.

He didn't even seem friendly with the people he associated with at the galleries. I felt like in the short time that I worked for Yoongi, I had managed to make some connections, but that was only after I stopped coming in with Yoongi. It was like they were afraid of him. But I guess that was to be expected. He wasn't really the softest of people. The only time he ever was, was when he talked about Halmeoni.

And while Yoongi seemed to like art, he loved music. I wondered if maybe he taught music while he was away as well. In a short 6 months, I had learned the proper basics of playing the piano and was even starting to branch out into making songs of my own. And while they were quite simplistic, it was still nice to feel creative. Sometimes, when I heard him playing downstairs I would create lyrics and sing them to myself, but never dared to tell him for fear that I might ruin his creative process.

There was one obvious thing I learned about Yoongi during my time with him. He was a night owl. Whenever I awoke from a bad dream, (which was more often than I wanted to admit, and more about Taehyung than I was willing to handle) I'd sit in his study and listen to him play the piano until I fell back asleep again. His songs were so soothing. Like lullabies, whether he meant them to or not.

One afternoon while Yoongi was giving me lessons, we were startled by a strong knock on the door. Yoongi growled with annoyance before stalking off to see who it was.