Can you change the fate that has been there for centuries?
Seonghwa had lost everything important to him, but nonetheless he continued with his life as it was already written. However, sudden secrets were brought to light, and he decided that the n...
The secret hideout, my dad had been talking about, had been a surprise to say the least. It ended up being much more than a small house.
My father found it during his younger years while he was playing with his best friends. At the time, he used to live close to the forest, the city being a small town that relied on the power of the river to get their necessities; his father loved hiking and being outdoors, transferring that trait to my father who then was able to find this house.
He said that when he found the house, it already completed. It was strange as it was in the middle of nowhere and that there was no sign of a person in sight. They would have been able to clear the grass circling it and then build the house around.
Under the board daylight of the new day, I saw the tree house in its true glory. After the long years, it had still maintained its structure. There were two stories to the house, one leading to the other, however i couldn't get a good look from the point I was standing.
With Hongjoong, following in tow, I made my way to the stairs leading to the house. There were a few missing steps, decayed by the rain as it penetrated through the natural shield that the forest had created. . It led to a basic platform , the very foundation of the tree house and the platform was surrounded by a fence held by ropes, still in perfect condition .
Carefully, placing my foot on the steps, I held onto the rail and carefully advanced, Hoonjoong was still following but had a hand hovering over my back. A small tumble happened, as I had skipped a step in which shocked me into panic, but Hongjooong's hand held me in position as I gripped my hand tightly to the rail. A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I thanked Hongjoong before continuing.
Once we got up there, I looked around. My breath was taken away. The view was amazing. There was a small opening through the barrier of trees that faced the river, a flower field on the opposite side. Hongjoong followed silently, wary of the whole place.
I couldn't blame him, as I had dragged him along with my journey. I stopped the though as i had particularly been hostile towards him to avoid a deeper connection with him, but it had not stopped him from getting closer.
Is this what they called a ... friend?
I looked back at him , catching his gaze and smiled, before for heading for the door.
The purple door leading to the house was decorated with dandelions, known for symbolising wishes, as from a young age you were told to blow after making a wish.
The height of the door was a bit shorter than me, requiring for me to bent down. I entered inside, carefully, as I did not want to hit my head. The creaks from the door echoed through the house and, and looked around, observing the faults in this house.
Inside, the house resembled a normal house. The first floor had a space with two bean bags on the floor, and it resembled a living room. I imaged my mother and father taking their time of the day to talk, laugh as their relationship grew stronger. At a closer inspection , the bean bags were covered in dust and a had deflated cover time. I placed my bag on it , which lifted a cloud of dust, a couch erupted from my lungs which altered Hongjoong, who came to pat my back and wave the air to try to disperse the dust particles.
After the couching fit, which I noted down as one other reason to be embarrassed about in the future, I noticed that the other space had cabinets and table with 2 seats. It must have been their makeshift kitchen. Another image flooded my thoughts as the younger selves of my parents were throwing some of their snacks at each other as my mother had got angry with my dad due to an argument resulting into a food fight.
I instructed Hongjoong to take a side and then go through each cabinet, a total of ten ,to search for anything that must have been left once my mother got married and moved out of her house.
We found nothing, sadly, so we moved up. This time Hongjoong was leading. He offered his hand to me, but i looked at him quizzically.
"Give me your hand", he said, "That way you won't fall."
I felt touched by the gesture that i didn't hesitate, recalling the earlier events when coming up to the house. The upper part of the house was plain. Just a small balcony, semicircle style, with a bed frame, made out of multiples pillows and blankets. Books by the windows and blow out candles.
The window faced the small gap between the natural shield, and the rain was hitting it rhythmically. With the rain coming more heavily, Hongjoong panicked and decided to go out and check the boat.
I gave my cloak to him, hoping that it would have at least keep him away from getting wet sooner, and he made his way out of the house.
Meanwhile, I searched the place. The books were all my mother favourites, the original copies she owned . I flicked through a few of them to see liquid stains, a bookmark, Post-It notes and scribbles. The last one I took was glued, I tried to pick it up, however there was another effect that happened before my eyes.
