Sentience

09

Belle posted it - the photo.

A second ago, it was written under her username, A.Belle, joined together with an emoji of a white heart as the caption. If it was as fast as this to make Changmin alert of her posting, anyone could've been convinced that he might have set up a notification for it.

What a shame, it was only a mere coincidence that he stumbled over the posting upon logging in.

However, he was hooked. Although he had seen this picture privately earlier, he hadn't been able to break his gaze off it even after clicking on the heart icon. He could feel it; the corner of his lips going upward. He was smiling.

"Pretty..." Someone cooed from next to him, almost making his heart stop working. He remembered being left alone here 15 minutes ago at this same playground when Mother excused herself to go back to her apartment for a while.

Shock was painted all over his face; widened eyes, furrowed brows, and slightly apart lips, as he glanced over at the demeanour who had just arrived. Then, Changmin sighed as the figure was recognizable.

"Mother... you scared me," he breathed out again, rubbing his chest in the process.

"From afar I saw you almost disappeared into your phone," she laughed, peeking again over the phone screen. "So this is your girlfriend... She looks lovable."

"Correction, Mother. Girl... friend. Not girlfriend."

The lady chuckled. She wouldn't be easy to convince, but if Changmin wanted her to believe so, then she should just agree. Although her heart was saying something different. I've lived longer, to tell the truth, would be her stance.

Mother then pulled Changmin's hand, which was still holding the phone, to take another glimpse of the picture, her eyes immediately dripping honey as she outstretched a smile. Either because the picture was cute or the fact that it was a picture of a girl that may have triggered her longing for Anne, her daughter.

"Don't you have any other picture of her?" She casually asked, which at first made Changmin ponder, but then, smiling, the widest.

"Of course, I have," he confirmed, swiftly opening the gallery in his phone.

Although he never uploaded any picture of Belle to his social account, he did have many pictures of her and also pictures of them. Chanhee as an example, who was following Belle on social media could easily notice that the pictures she uploaded were mostly the same ones as in Changmin's phone when he raided in; password was never a thing between boys. Because Ji Changmin photographed them for her.

"This one was taken on the last semester break," he then showed Mother a picture of them both at a snack bar. Belle was showing off her churros with a funny face but cute while Changmin looked at the camera rather seriously behind the glasses over his eyes.

"She's beautiful..." The comment sounded dragged.

When Changmin looked over, Mother had her lips pursed, her hand twitched as if she wanted to caress Belle's picture. The sight alone had wrenched the boy's heart; tears were rushed, pooling in his eyelids.

"Belle really wants to come and see you. But, today, she can't make it." He told her, noticing the subtle change of emotion in her eyes.

It's an excitement, Changmin told himself and he was sure that he was right.

Up until here, he already could conclude. That Belle had triggered Mother's longing for her own daughter.

"Next time, you will bring her over, right?" The middle-aged woman questioned, her eyes full of hope. She was truly anticipating.

Changmin vigorously nodded. He was satisfied, no lie. And right now, he couldn't wait to tell Belle about it. That she would become a part of his journey to help someone, to help Mother. She must be ecstatic.

But, that could wait.

Right now, his focus was more on the thing Mother brought along after dropping by her house earlier. It looked like a book, with a beige hardcover and written on it, Memories. Which, he could tell rather easily that it was a photo album.

"Can I see that?" He questioned, opening his palm to receive it.

Mother gladly passed it to him, and in no minute, Changmin flipped the thick cover open, revealing the first page. 3 pictures fitted in, all were babies; perhaps the same one. They were old photos taken with an old camera, the colour had almost faded, but the aesthetics of the old film got the best of him. He unknowingly fell hard for it as his fingers caressed it.

"Is this Anne?" Subconsciously, Changmin asked, and Mother hummed, confirming the question. "She's cute."

But then, Mother was heard sighing as she leaned against Changmin's arm, softly patting.

"It's a shame that back then, we don't have phones like today. If only we have, maybe I can save a lot of Anne's pictures without worrying about it being rotten." She sighed, the heaviest so far. "I'm worried that one day I will forget what she looked like when she was a baby."

Heartbroken. Mother's thought unknowingly had broken the boy's heart into thousands of pieces. Much to his hatred to disclose his thoughts to her, knowing best that he would only pour salt on the wound, but she was right. Maybe in one or two years more, she wouldn't be able to see this picture clearly. She would totally forget what her daughter looked like.

Deeply in his heart, Changmin hoped he could help. Even the slightest.

Wait... It was still unclear; something that had crossed his mind. However, he knew where would it end up. Yes, he was sure of it.

"It's killing two birds with one stone," he mumbled, feeling victorious deep inside.

His loud thought made Mother ponder, blinking furiously as she looked his way. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her lips were apart. Confusion clouded over her but she did not seem to find any word to be ejected to ask what was on the boy's mind.

So, she just waited. Hopefully, until Changmin told her the deal. But, Ji Changmin chose to be mysterious and secretive, keeping the plan to himself.

Because the first person who needed to hear his thoughts was Belle.