CHAMPION | NCT

o19

C H A P T E R
N I N E T E E N

"There's a Tree party. At the woods. Midnight. Whoever comes late, will be sent at the Swan party to redeem their faults."

As a kid, it sounded ridiculous. I prefer a Swan party, if that thing even exists. The land was simply less thrilling than the seas.

"Be careful, Sooji," Grandma's voice was made of steel. "Don't climb up too high the trees. Or it'll hurt more when you fall down."

That was always the elder's warning. You shouldn't be late at a Tree party. It's also given that you should bring a gift. A pretty one. When we were kids, my cousins and I competed at whoever brings the best gift.

We offer it to nature.

The last time I went to a Tree party, I brought shiny, little bells. I've never been late to the ceremony, ever, so I don't have the slightest idea at what the Swan party looked like - or what do people do there.

However, I heard of rumors.

They said that at the Swan party, the Rulers will offer you to the ocean. In other words, they will drown you to the water until the tides suck away your life.

To be honest, the townspeople see them as a ritual. That we should be loyal to our home. That you should remember that the nature brought you life and that you should offer something in return. That's why there were gifts - minimal things of course.

It would be better if they're from the city, they said.

"Great advantage for me, then!" I used to brag to my friends.

Baba had been from the city along with my mother before they ran away. He became my source of strange and bizarre items from the city; so I was able to present better gifts than everyone else from the town.

Aside from the shiny little bells, I brought hairpins once since my Mom used to work at a tailor shop. I also brought silks and ribbons. And nature seemed to like them. The bells that I gave were put into use to read the current of the wind by the loudness of its jingles producing cute, tiny sounds like 'kling, kling..!'

Then during another party - I saw the ribbons that I gave tied neatly around the trunk of a tree to signify that it was owned by our family. Ever since then, the tree began sprouting the prettiest flowers anyone has ever seen.

They were called cherry blossoms.

Sicheng and I had visited cherry blossoms inside the city. But none of them seemed as pretty as the one we planted at home. None of them felt as enchanting.