Context Clues | In Editing

Chapter Twenty-One | Devil on My Shoulder

Tae Men

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Standing in front of Kang Il's house like a creep is getting me nowhere," I sigh.

Kang Il's house was located a little ways out of the city and was fairly private without a neighbor too close by to see the embarrassing sight of me standing forlornly waiting for Kang Il to let me into his home, but shame still radiates through me as I sit on the front steps.

I look back at the front door and eye the door handle that's equipped with a keypad and decide that there's only one course of action left to be taken.

I stand and walk over to the keypad and try a few different entries of dates I know are important to Kang Il.

His birthday. Or our birthday as it was.

The date of his first professional baseball game.

His favorite number.

After round after round of 'Who Knows Kang Il the Least' I make one more attempt and type in our birthday with the year changed to the one when we were in second grade and the door chirps, unlocking the deadbolt and allowing me entry into the house.

"So sentimental, Kang Il," I murmur.

I let myself into the house and am greeted by a whine. I slide my heels off and into the shoe rack, grabbing a pair of feminine slippers from the rack, before making my way inside the house and tracking the whine to a forlorn looking Rhino who is kenneled up alone.

"Hi, Buddy, how are you?" I whisper, unlocking the gate and letting him stumble out of his cage. He licks my hand and I smile at the dog as he clumsily makes his way out of the weight room and to the living room where a ramp allows him up onto the couch.

I follow him quietly and grab a seat on the couch to wait for Kang Il's return.

"Did your master take your siblings out for a walk?" I ask as Rhino cuddles into me on the couch.

He lets out a huff that I take as acknowledgement to my question and I rub his temple with small circles.

I look around the room, eyeing the various decorative knick knacks and bits and bobs when I notice the familiar memory box that had been hanging in Kang Il's study. Next to it on the coffee table is the shoe box of memories I had passed on to Kang Il. I let out a sigh as I pull the shoe box to my lap and begin to flip through the top photos. By far the most recent memories in the box, the flyer from Kang Il's rookie season and a photo from our last birthday together are bundled together at the top, the last memories I had placed in the box when I had finally made the choice to hide away from the memories and pain. A mistake I questioned everyday.

The photo is a traditional polaroid and I smile at the bunny ears Kang Il had placed behind my head as I held the small brown animal in front of us, the cardboard creation an almost forgotten part of our story.

My eye catches on the memory box on the coffee table and my heart skips in my chest as the significance of the worn and tattered cardboard pulls on my emotions, wearing them down even more than they already had been.

"I can't believe he kept this scrap of paper all these years," I laugh.

I pop off the back of the memory box and gently pull out the old piece of cardboard. I stare at the aging paper and gently start to fold the piece of paper, my fingers stiff from the forgotten actions.

After a few attempts, I finally manage to make the paper mold to my desired shape and set the broad-chested bulldog on the coffee table, the folds of its face thick and linear.