Treasure tales

Jaehyuk #15: The past of a kind man

As a child, Jaehyuk used to play in the playground nearest to his father's workplace every single day, left alone to entertain himself when there was nobody to take care of him. It may have been a playground, but no other child would go there. Maybe that was just a relatively deserted playground, but Jaehyuk would often be left to his own devices there, all alone.

That was, until one other child appeared. This child was a girl with a very cheeky smile and distinctively attractive features.

"Hello, what is your name?" She asked on the very first day she showed up. "Let's have lots of fun playing together! I'm Lee Suhyun. Nice to meet you!"

"Yoon Jaehyuk!" Jaehyuk said excitedly, relieved to have a playmate for once. "I'm so excited! What shall we play first?"

"How about tag?" Suhyun said excitedly. "Or...or...hide and seek! I want to try all those games I read about in storybooks!"

"Storybooks?" Jaehyuk asked, confused. "Do you not play those games?"

"I hardly have time to," Suhyun admitted. "My family is in debt, so I have to work. My dream is to earn lots of money and chase all those loan sharks away."

"You work? We're still in elementary school! Is it even legal?" Jaehyuk asked incredulously. "I still watch television everyday, you know?"

"I don't have a choice," Suhyun murmured. "Big brother Chanhyuk is working very hard. He shouldn't be the only one to shoulder all the burden."

"What do you even work as?"

"Oh, my brother is running a lemonade stand," Suhyun responded cheerfully. "I help him with it. People are more willing to pay when they see a cute girl doing the advertising. But these few days he's been away, so my parents left me here to play by myself."

The two got close fast, being each other's only play buddies. It also helped that they were both young children, and young children tend to be less selective in their friendships and played with whoever was available. Jaehyuk always played there on weekdays, and so did Suhyun. They played alot, and talked alot. However, he always got the feeling that she was deliberately hiding something from him, but he pushed away the nagging feeling every single time.

One day, Suhyun did not show up for three days. On the fourth day, she came back, with her eyes red and puffy.

"Suhyun!" Jaehyuk shrieked as he rushed to her side. "What's wrong? Why haven't you come these past few days? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing," She said, putting on her best smile. "Let's play, Jaehyuk. You were going to show me a new game. I was really looking forward to it."

"Alright," Jaehyuk said uncomfortably. "If that is what you want. The game is one I made up myself, actually. It's kind of a race. So we start at that line, climb over all those structures, and finish at the line over there."

"Sounds fun!" Suhyun said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Shall we go?"

No sooner had she run a few steps did Suhyun trip and fall afterwards. She fell with a soft thud, face forward. Jaehyuk quickly ran to her side.

"Suhyun!" Jaehyuk called. "Suhyun! Are you okay?"

"I'm not," She cried, finally caving in. "Jaehyuk, what do I do? My parents divorced. They're going to separate big brother Chanhyuk and me. What do I do? He's always been with me. I don't know what to do without him...I did not want to believe it at first, but reality soon began to dawn on me. What do I do.."

"Divorced?" Jaehyuk asked, suddenly at a loss of what to do. He had heard of it, and read about it in storybooks, but it was the first time he encountered it in real life. He did not know how to console her, and how to help her in this situation. To him, such things sounded very serious. So serious that he had no idea what to do about it.

In panic, he got up and ran away, leaving Suhyun behind to cry alone. He hid somewhere for the entire day, and only came out when it was time to go home.

The next day, Suhyun came hours later than usual. Jaehyuk had already given up hope of seeing her. He felt bad for reacting the way he did the day before, and was prepared to apologize to her.

When he saw her, he ran up to her hopefully, holding a card he had spent all night preparing.

"I'm not supposed to be here, but I had to tell you," Suhyun said before he could say anything. "I'm moving house, to someplace far, far away. It was fun, Jaehyuk. Thank you for the good memories."

Then, before he could say anything, she had turned and left as quickly as she came.

"Suhyun!" Jaehyuk hollered, running after her. "Suhyun!" But she was gone. Gone forever.

He never saw her after that. Jaehyuk often wondered if, that day, had he given his hand to her and helped her, had he said some words of comfort, could things have been better? Why did he just abandon her like that when she needed him so badly? What had he left after she had chosen to confide in him?

He didn't know if he could actually have changed anything, but he could have at least been less of a coward. He could have been a friend and offered her comfort when she needed it the most.

Why didn't he?

"Look at that kid. He's always alone. I feel so bad for him," Jaehyuk overheard his friend gossiping.

"What's up with him?" Jaehyuk asked in curiousity. "Is there a reason he isolates himself like that?"

"His name is Jeongwoo. Apparently his older brother went missing a while ago, and is still a missing persons case. He was very close with his brother, I heard, so it was a big blow to him. He must be grieving alot."

Jaehyuk looked up in surprise. Somehow, it reminded him of Suhyun. Was it because both of them were separated from their beloved older brothers?

So Jaehyuk walked up to Jeongwoo. He had no idea why it suddenly became so important to him to help this junior he had never talked to before. All he knew was that in some way, he had to atone for what he couldn't do for Suhyun. And he would start with Jeongwoo.

"Hey," Jaehyuk said, taking a seat beside Jeongwoo. The younger boy turned to him in surprise. "Would you like to get some food with me after school? I'll treat you."

Jaehyuk gritted his teeth and clenched his hands. He had no idea why these memories suddenly came back to him. He shook his head, wishing to be rid of these bad memories.

He remembered Rin, who always listened to him patiently. He felt as if he had spent his entire life atoning for what he could not do that one day, but somehow with her he felt as if, for once, he was allowed to be on the receiving end.

It was the same with Treasure, even Jeongwoo. They always treated him as who he was. Yoon Jaehyuk. They never made him feel like he existed solely to help them, because they always made sure to give back the love he always showered them with.

Did he deserve it?

In fact, he had started his part time job precisely because he felt uncomfortable always feeling like he was doing nothing with his life. He wanted to earn money and be more helpful to his beloved friends.

"Whoever you are, I will come and get you," Jaehyuk said under his breath. "They all deserve the world, and I can't let you get to them. Never."