HYYH:The Notes

Kim Seokjin

Seokjin
25 June YEAR 19

Someone had brought a flower pot and placed it on the window of the storage classroom. Who would most likely bring a flower pot among the other guys? I took out my phone. The classroom was dim and dark from the lack of electricity, green grass a stark contrast amid the weak rays of sunlight streaming through the dirty windows. The photo I took with my phone didn't come out well. It wasn't just because of the phone. I always think about this but photos cannot encapsulate entirely what the human eyes capture.

As I approached, a letter "H" showed itself under the pot. I picked it up. "Hoseok's flower pot", it said. I let out a giggle. If any of the boys was to bring a flower pot, it could only be Hoseok. I put down the pot so that the letters were entirely covered, even the "H", and looked around. The window frames were covered in doodles, which I had never noticed until now. Not just the window frames but also the walls, the ceiling, there were doodles everywhere. "Pass or die". Names of crushes. Dates, and countless of names that had now become illegible.

Perhaps this classroom wasn't originally a storage. Students would go to school, take classes and leave the classroom empty in the afternoon. And it would stay empty throughout summer vacation until school starts and the students burst into the classroom noisily. Were there students like us, late for class and get punished and skip school? Were there endless tests and homeworks, teachers who ruthlessly inflict violence on students? And were there people like me? One who told the principal on friends.

I wondered if my father's name was among here too. This was also his old school. My father was someone who believes attending the same high school and college for generations was bringing dignity to the family's tradition. As I scanned through the names, I discovered his. It was among few other names, in the middle of the left wall. Under it was written a sentence. "Everything started here."