| What Remains Of Yang Jeongin | STRAY KIDS

|ONE|

One

"There was no hard telling what was in that journal.

But my curiosity got the best of me."

Growing up, Minho's room was the one I wanted to go to the most. He seemed like the kind of person I could be friends with, even if I couldn't actually be around to see or talk to him due to the time difference. But nonetheless, from what I've heard and seen, he was a young, innocent soul.

It probably had something to do with the fact that he was 6 when he died.

I had to go through Great uncle Woojin's old room to get to Minho's room, the house is built with so many secret passages it hurt my head, but after so many years of merely looking through a peephole, I was finally able to step foot into Minho's room. It was rather... odd. I wasn't sure if it was because it felt like more of a museum than a room or knowing that Minho was dead and the room hadn't been touched since 1946.

The room was rather large, painted with pale orange that was more of a peachy color and a ufo surrounded by the planets of the solar system He had a desk by the window, and a dresser not too far away covered in an array of things, but the most noticeable of trademarks was the face of Minho painted onto a stone, Chan's signature at the bottom right corner. The dresser had a built-in snake terrarium. Chan told me Minho used to have a lot of snakes when he was growing up. Chan hated snakes.

On the desk in the corner of the room underneath the wide window, there was a notebook. I remember feeling fear when my fingers grazed upon it, realizing that this was the journal of a dead boy. That the words inside were written so long ago and hadn't been read in years. There was no hard telling what was in that journal.

But my curiosity got the best of me.

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Dear Journal,

We're going to the carnival today!

"Minho! Baby, are you dressed?"

The soft tone of a woman rang out through the house, the little boy sat on the edge of his bed snapping his head up for a moment. "Coming!" The boy finished tying his little brown boots over his gray socks before jumping down off of his bed with a toothy grin. Minho ran up to his snake terrarium, slowly placing his tiny hands and face against the glass and whispering to the copperhead snake inside. "I'm going on an adventure today, Bo! I hope momma lets me get a toy there..." He trailed off, tongue poking out through his lips cutely. His mother screamed out for him again, and Minho realized he couldn't hover there anymore. "I have to go, Bo. Be good!" Minho ran off, throwing open the door and practically stumbling down the stairs. His father was waiting at the end, snickering when Minho nearly fell face first into the floor. "Sorry, Ma." Minho trailed off shyly when his mother rounded the corner, plump cheeks a crimson and eyes shifted to the ground.