A Melody in the Twilight Sky

12 The House of Memories

"Really?" My eyes widened, and I grinned too. This way, we wouldn't have to wait for his grandma to come back.

Poon opened the side panel and held down a button. No light came on. After a moment, he looked up. "I hope it's just the battery. Please don't be broken."

Hearing that, I took the cardboard box from him and rummaged through it until I found a tangled mess of wires.

"Is this the charger?"

"Let's try." He pulled the cable out of the box and plugged it into the camcorder. He chuckled and ran off with it.

"Poon, where are you going?" Startled by his strange behavior, I called out his name and ran after him. I saw him plugging the other end of the cable into a wall outlet in the kitchen.

"Wait for it to charge for a bit. If it turns on, it means it's not broken."

"Okay." I nodded, and Poon, who had just put the camcorder down on the floor, stood up to his full height. He made eye contact with me, and suddenly the smiles on both our faces faded.

He was smiling again...

Moreover, I had accidentally smiled back at him. Ever since we met, he had been teasing and annoying me, making me frown at him constantly. So what was the reason now? Could it be something as simple as him being nicer?

We looked at each other silently. The atmosphere was quiet, so quiet it was uncomfortable. Finally, Poon spoke up.

"I'll wait outside then." He opened the kitchen door and went out.

"Phew." I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I was relieved, thinking I could stand there alone in silence for a while, but then his voice came from outside.

"Wow, the stars are beautiful. You wouldn't see anything like this in Bangkok."

I quickly followed him out and saw Poon standing outside the door with his back to me, looking up at the blue sky.

He was right. Looking out from here, all I could see was darkness amidst the tall trees. No lights from any buildings were visible, making the twinkling stars in the sky even more prominent.

"Actually, you can't really see the stars from my house anymore either," I said. "I'll go turn off the lights in the house so we can see them better."

"No need." The tall figure in front of me quickly turned around.

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow. "Are you scared?"

"You crazy? Scared of what? This is my grandma's house."

"So I can turn off the lights, right?"

"It's not necessary. I..."

"Okay, you wait here. I'll be right back."

I cut him off and ran back into the house. I turned off the lights in the living room first, then the lights in Grandma's bedroom and the storage room. Now the whole house was pitch black, like we were really in the forest, because as I said, the whole village area was a plantation.

I walked back out to the backyard and found Poon sitting on the concrete floor, leaning against the wall of the house. The starlight illuminated his face and his somewhat gloomy eyes, which I couldn't tell if it was because of the atmosphere or his inner feelings.

When he saw me, he shifted, making room for me to sit beside him. A gentle breeze blew, making this April night pleasantly cool. Along with the wind came the fragrance of wood, a unique and indescribable scent.

"Hey... can I ask you something?" He suddenly spoke up amidst the silence after we had both been lost in our own thoughts for a while. He sat up, hugging his knees. "Do you really want to meet my grandma just to hear her sing?"