threat of joy | wen junhui

FOUR?

FOUR, HARD TO EXPLAIN
VITA EAST HIGH - HILLSIDE ST

EVENINGS like this were often planned by themselves because Junhui was never in control of the trajectory for the day's plan.

Short of a few pennies, Sungyeon passed him (what should've been hers) a bag of hot Cheetos and improvised with a nickel to purchase a pair of Ding Dong's. Assuming that their band director was actually serious about releasing the top students earlier than the rookies, the two, who were joined by a few others, made a casual stop at one of the vending machines as they exited the too-grand-for-its-own-good football field.

"You sure your friend's picking you up? You don't want me or anyone one of us to take you home?" Jun reiterated, emphasizing his concern but not failing to cut over and over like a broken disk of a record. Sungyeon, the youngest, merely chuckled with a mouth full, spreading crumbs with each step they took.

"Yeah, I'm all good. Rena's coming for me so no worries," she shuffled the straps of her French horn case around her thimble frame, shakily leaving the zipper of her tie dyed sweater midway of her abdomen. "However, I am in need of a ride for Monday. Could you maybe, possibly—"

Junhui nodded soundlessly, setting his trombone case down for a moment to pull her zipper up to her throat. Sungyeon said nothing but squinted with more comic than annoyance, holding her grumbling back by a hard swallow.

The two broke off from the group with much difficulty since the others were quite keen on incorporating the trombonist into their conversations for the merest things. It wouldn't have bothered him so much if they hadn't completely cut off whatever Sungyeon said but finally, he decided that these underclassmen crossed the line with their coddling.

No words were spoken as they crossed the fields between the campuses and treaded through the vacant halls. Although the ceiling lights were powering down for the night, leaving only a shadow to loom, the luminescence from the city still managed to shine.

By the time they both knew it, the sky had swallowed the clouds along with its backdrop of a sudden birth of a single star. The gradience shifted from a murky orange to a shade higher than the indigo he'd grown used to seeing. Perhaps this signified a silver lining along the way.

They both took a seat on the steps of the entrance to Vita East. The water fountains' syncopated pourings filled them with a sense of nostalgia as different sides of a single memory flipped for the both of them, like a coin.

It was after their first game; For Sungyeon, she felt her chest expanding when she'd be hoisted up on people's shoulders. For Junhui, he felt too similarly to Atlas, chest straining in a much different way.

She scratched the sole of her sneaker with a nearby twig, humming a Brenton Wood song. He pulled his hood over his head but hers, too, snickering at her glare.

He noticed that almost everything was constructed out of limecrete or something that didn't seem to ever rust or be able to weather down. If only things weren't spent on superficial things, things, things, things...

"Hey, she's here." Sungyeon jumped up to her feet after gripping his forearm, the same place that Feng would when he was either about to be scolded or when he had to run, in any case, really. The vehicle's lights flashed before he heard the gravel, contradicting the logic of a thunderstorm.

Rena's regal face shined from her seat, throwing a whistle at the younger and a dimple at the elder. Dangerously tossing her French horn and bookbag in the backseat, little Shannon buckled up and immediately changed the radio station to the surf reports.