Voiceless Cries

Chapter 8 : Moments Together

The bathroom door swung open. Myungsoo stepped out, draped in a white bath robe. His wet hair clung to his scalp; the drops shimmering in the sunlight. Annoyed that they were getting into his eyes, he swung his head, swinging his hair out of his eyes. Rubbing a towel over his head, he walked towards his writing desk and picked up the calendar.

4th March.

Myungsoo’s eyes widened. Two months had already slipped away, retreating away for liberty without his knowledge. Spring had started to rake in, welcoming itself with a warmer breeze that began to melt the cool snow. Time had been passing swiftly now, like sand through invisible fingers.

Myungsoo leaned his head on the windowsill, enjoying the wind that tickled his cheeks. He noticed that he and Jiyeon were getting closer lately. Occasionally, they would play together like they did on that day, interacting with each other through the notes. He admitted that he did get to know a great deal more about this mysterious girl through their silent communication. He now knew about her heart that was strengthened by the prejudiced world; the emptiness of her soul and her intense yearning for acceptance. A crook formed on his lips. Did Jiyeon get to know anything from him?

A sudden thought of the time conjured into his mind and it summoned him back into the real world. With haste, he grabbed his attire and buttoned them on. With the last layer on, he hooked his fingers on the tie, pulled it out and did not bother to put it on before heading down. He did not but stole a glance at the breakfast neatly prepared on the table before progressing on. But then, deciding that it was too tempting, he went back took one of the sandwiches and inserted it into his mouth, letting his teeth hold it in place.

Going out the front door, he noticed that his chauffeur was waiting patiently beside the car. Myungsoo slipped on his shoes. At least, he was trying to. With his bag carelessly swung on his shoulder, his crumpled tie in his hands, his sandwich which was threatening to fall, and his feet struggling to slip in the cavity of the shoe, he was obviously in a state of quandary. Yet, the middle aged man with greying hair did nothing to help him. Of course, he did not ask for help either. And he never planned to.

Just when he was about to give up and drag himself into the car in that state, a hand pushed his shoulder down and forced him to sit on the bench behind him. It was his butler. He was in his mid fifties and was clad in a black suit. His hair was cropped short and he had that benevolent smile that was always on his face without fail. He knelt down and shoved Myungsoo’s feet into the shoe. Then his nimble hands began tying shoelace. Myungsoo looked at him, baffled. Why was he helping him?

“The novelty of your behaviour attracted me. I had to do something,” he said, knowing exactly what Myungsoo had in mind. He had served the family for a very long time and was a father to Myungsoo more than his parents had ever been.

“Eat your sandwich and don’t stare at me like that,” he said without looking up. Myungsoo did as he was told, taking slow bites off the sandwich. When the butler was done, he stood up, and so did Myungsoo. The butler smoothed the creases on Myungsoo’s uniform and looked at him.

“Don’t ever show up to school like that. You will lose your image,” he narrowed his eyes jokingly as he said those words.

“It is not an image, it’s my nature. And I will never lose it,” Myungsoo replied as he swung his tie around his neck, all ready to wear it in the car. Without bidding farewell to his butler, he strode to the car door that was opened for him and slipped in. His butler only watched as the car drove off the driveway and off to the school.

What a difficult kid.

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Miss Janice’s eyes widened as soon as she saw the state of the class. She had been teaching English for five years in this school but had never seen a class as dirty as this one. And she was not exaggerating: tissue papers were scattered all around the class, scraps of papers under every desk and an overwhelming amount of dust that covered the floor. It was Friday and the person on duty had obviously not done his duty for the whole week. Is this class that irresponsible?