Our Love Story | Kim Seokjin

vii

Chapter 7: laughter

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"So what's it like? 'Cause I can't really imagine what you're saying," I chocked a laugh as I asked him. He was telling a story when he was a kid; and he was at this place that I can't really imagine how it looks like.

He smiled with his eyes closed, "It's like the Snow white's cottage with the seven dwarfs, but it's not, you see it's not really a famous place so I understand that if you can't imagine it—I'll try to search for some photos for you next month!" he cheerfully said with a clap at the end.

"Alright carry on with your stories while I'm boring as hell," I said as I whined for like the fifth time for the day. I know I should be studying since I only got few more days until I go back home.

"Oh yeah where was I..." he scrunched his nose, I assumed he was thinking in deep thoughts about it. "Ah! Yes my grandmother part!" I actually remembered where he stopped but looking at him making hideous faces just makes me in happy as pig in shit—well not really hideous; he is never hideous-and I don't get that how did he manage to make his face flawless.

And he continued on talking, I must say his stories are amusing—and I had this little thought that he had an amazing childhood. I love watching him speaks, he's enjoying himself with his hands wandering making gestures—it's funny but also delightful.

"She scolded me; 'Jin, you didn't tell me that you went into the woods!'' I was so scared when she asked because in my family, kids like me are not allowed to go in there!" he shared what his thoughts too about how his grandmother was such a mean woman. "But how can you help? In the woods were amazing! I mean yeah I was just ten that time, and I never explore the world."

His smile was getting wider and wider as we get into the climax of the story, and his hands were taking bigger spaces to show me the things he saw in the woods. "What animals did you see? I want to see a raccoon," he laughed after hearing me say.

Then he shook his head, "Sadly I was feeling frightened at the same time in there! I mean it was so cold, and also dark—rare sounds that I never heard before, if you were me you would probably crying for help!" and then he burst a laugh; loud enough to make the people in the library to shot us death glares.

"Are you insulting?" I whispered loudly to him as I raise my book ready to hit him.

"Not really I was just stating the fact," he said with hesitant and I hit him slightly on the shoulder. He laughed more but his voice is lower than earlier—and I couldn't help but to laugh with him too. "It was like hours after that, I found this cottage that I mentioned to you; it's very breathtaking and flowers are everywhere." He continued.

"The interior designs of the cottage were also classical; it's like time travelled back to years before technology exist!" he laughed to himself, and then he pursed his lips to look at me, "To be honest...I don't know if it still exist—a year after I went there the forest was deforested by the government, which I don't know what it became." His gaze was at the window, but he was still smiling, remembering the moment; I assumed.

"Was there someone lived there?" I asked breaking his thoughts, and yet he still smiles to me. He shakes his head gently, and then he said it was an abandoned house that was years owned. "I wish I can see it..."

I want to know how it looks like, is it the same like the one Jin described? Does it look the same the one I imagined? Or does it look like the cottage from the movie Maleficent when Aurora stayed with the three dim-witted fairies?

We stayed silence for couple of minutes, and few more minutes after we talked about fairy tales—he said that he loves to teach his students with fairy tales because he gets to tell stories to them. "What princess are you?" he asked.