« gin x reader »
YOU HAVE ALWAYS loved the forest. It always felt like there was a connection between you and nature. The hundreds and hundreds of trees provided you with an awesome childhood with your cousins, playing tag and hide and seek.
When you had turned twelve, your family was in serious need of money, with your father suffering from an illness and was held confined in a hospital in the urban city, leaving behind the forest and your house in the rural areas temporarily.
As far as you can remember, you never ran out of playmates in the forest. It was your little secret that you still had other options aside from your friends and cousins to play with.
As ridiculous as it may sound, there was a young lad that lived alone near a shrine deep within the trees. He hid his face using a white, worndown catlike mask.
The two of you had fun times together. You mostly saw him as a brother, due to the lack of siblings, catching fish, throwing rocks across lakes, and climbing trees. Although he reminded you often about one thing: you weren't allowed to come in contact with the lad, whom you've come to known as Gin.
He never told you why - in fact, you hardly knew anything about the boy at all! You were so busy with him, playing and sharing your stories. But you did have some times wherein the two of you would just talk, but he was mostly silent, letting you ramble on and on about yourself, with him, listening like the good friend he was.
•••
At last, the long wait was finally over. You and your family had gained enough money to sustain your every day life with the expenses, having your family disliking the idea of being frugal. Your father was released from confinement a few months after you had moved into the city.
Your parents suffered a lot. Having jobs that only paid minimum wages. The two had to work multiple times every day, tiring themselves to the bone. You had stopped studying as well, seeing that the money wasn't enough to enroll you even into the cheapest schools the city could offer.
The rural area was much better than urban. The air was fresher, cleaner, while the city's air reeked of smoke and trash.
"Ahh, it's so good to be back," your mother smiled, letting out a tired yawn. She gave you an exhausted look. "Go get some rest, dear. It's been a long trip back home."
You'd be lying if you refused your mother's offer - you would've plopped down onto the ground if you were given a chance, but you had something else planned in thr back of your mind.
"You go ahead, I'm just gonna take a little walk inside the forest." You said, gesturing them to go inside.
"Suit yourself," your mother mumbled, stepping inside the house. "Don't stay for too long." She added as you heard the front door close.
You glance at the entrance of the forest, walking towards the nearby clump of trees - it was exactly how it looked like when you left: you and your cousin's names were carved messily onto tree trunks, along with little drawings of flowers and dragons. You smile, running your fingers along the etched markings.
You take a deep breath and walk inside, hundreds and hundreds of memories flooding your mind in an instant, like how you and your cousins would play leap frog every time, and you'd always cry in the end for stubbing your toe against a rock. Or how you'd always freak out whenever your cousins would go frog hunting and scare you with the slimy amphibians they caught.
The deeper you venture across hundreds and hundreds of identical trees, the memories you had with friends and relatives slowly began to vanish. Instead, memories with Gin slowly played back in your mind like a playing cassette.
