Kihyun Imagine - El Cielo de Invierno

Silencio

Ashes flew down the street, the walls of what had once been the entrance to his family's house were now just fire-eaten wooden pegs. Kihyun couldn't open his eyes as the air was still heavy and hot, but the flames were gone, and the surviving furniture was intact in the back of the house. Neighbors helped bring everything that could be saved. The beds, the wardrobes, chairs, tables, her mother's jewelry ... the savings hidden under the floor.

Kihyun held Kiuhoon's hand.

"I want my toys," the little one complained.

"We'll buy you brand new toys," the older brother assured him.

"I want my toys! Mine!"

Kihyun picked Kiuhoon in his lap and rolled him the way he liked him to. Mom was talking to one of the neighbors, they seemed to discuss sharing lunch. "Look!" Kiuhoon pointed to the house, where the men were still taking things.

One of them managed to find Kijeon's collector's box. The boy ran out and took the box, thanking him several times before joining the other brothers on the street. That box was precious to Kijeon because the one who started the toy car collection was their father.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Kijeon screamed. "Kihyun!"

"I know, I know" the brother bent over him. "Is everything there?"

"Yes! Thank God..."

"Thanks, Mr. Goodwill" Kihyun waved for Mr. Goodwill, the neighbor.

Lunchtime came quickly, and they all had lunch in Ms. Fairwam's backyard. The savings were enough to accommodate them in a hotel for a month before it was over. As soon as they moved into their hotel room near the highway, their mother opened the Chestnut Hill newspaper and started looking for jobs. Kihyun left her and his brothers to go to work at Brown's, but his heart was worried about what his mother might suffer on her own. They fought several times until she agreed to stay home with Kiuhoon and Kijeon while he worked after school. A year ago, Kihyun was looking for a full-time job inside the city's accounting office. He hoped that after a few years of experience, he could go to college to become a professional, but by then he would have to settle for his high school diploma.

Working was the only way to get all thoughts out of his mind, so Kihyun put his apron tighter than usual, rubbed all the grimy clothes, polished the cake cutlery, and put the cups back in the cupboards. The café would receive its usual patrons just an hour after lunch when daily Chestnut Hill seniors would gather there to play cards and talk about their grandchildren. When the first of them arrived, Kihyun greeted him with his routine smile.

"I heard about what happened, son. It's unfortunate ..."

"Thank you, Mr. Smith"

Mr. Smith's neighbor also arrived.

"Ah, you're there! I'm so sorry for your family, boy!"

Everyone arriving at the cafe was aware of what had happened. It was a small town, really, and, likely, the local paper had already gone to the Yoo's house to make the photo of the destruction on the front cover. He didn't want people taking pity on him. Yes, he lost everything, yes, he had nothing. But he still had dignity!

Kihyun did all the work he had to do. Serving coffee to the old, preparing new cookie furnaces, picking up empty cups on the counter, washing them, exchanging the empty sugar jars. It was all work, empty in itself, but full to fill his mind.

After the first customers left, people stopped bringing their sympathetic feelings to him and the circulation at Brown's continued as another normal day. Kihyun liked the normalcy. He was not bored in doing the same things over and over, nor did he like it when something new came along because it meant losing control of what he had already mastered. And there was nothing he hated more than losing control.