Noise Of Silence

Chapter 6

After days, she surprised me by knocking on my door to go to school together. On our way to school, I felt uncomfortable because I was not so good at consoling, I was not so good at stating my feelings, I was not so good at caressing people, and I was afraid of hurting her with my dummy words, therefore I was walking with tongue-tied. The only one who was jabbering was Soo.

At night, as I went out of the school to go back home, my sight tripped on a black car next to which Rena was standing with a young man who was wearing a casket and a black mask covering his face, which prevented me from identifying his features. Rena introduced us (me and Soo) to the young man who was her elder brother. He came to pick her up home for the first time since we got to know her. Soo bowed to the guy and I was silent. Rena suggested joining her to go back home in her brother's car. I called my mother to ask for permission and she allowed me.

Rena sat on the front seat next to her brother and we (Soo and I) sat behind them in the back seats. The atmosphere in the car was pretty annoying until Soo decided to break the silence condoling the young man for the death of his young brother but he preferred to stay silent and so did I.
I looked through the window, staring at the streetlights and the students going back home with their parents, and then I suddenly dozed off to wake up as the car parked next to our building. We stepped out of the car. Soo was talking non-stop as usual when we got to the building. The three of them headed to the elevator and I decided to take the stairs. That made my dear friend Soo ask me about the reason that made me take the stairs instead and I could not tell her that I was shy of Rena's elder brother so I moved on.

I heard her saying:" You, dummy eccentric!!!" I smiled without replying, therefore she added: "Hey, listen, tomorrow is the weekend, let's go for a picnic...the three of us."

I turned around towards her when suddenly, my glances met Rena's brother's glances, I felt that I was looking at the eyes of the prince of Goguryeo, but I quickly changed the direction of my gaze answering Soo, "I do not feel like going out. I think that I prefer to stay home; I would like to draw something."

Then I went upstairs.

"You are so boring, girl," Soo said.

I did not reply.

   Then I went upstairs.
  “You are so boring, girl,” Soo said.
   
       I did not reply.

       The eyes of that young man were still moored in my mind when my mother opened the door for me to get in, then she turned back to continue reading a book. My father was in his room, I exchanged a few words with my mother, then headed to my room immediately.

      I changed my clothes and lay down in the bed trying to sleep. Again, and as every night I  drowned in the river, nothing had changed neither the place nor the features of me reflecting my pain.  No one was there to offer a helping hand, no one rescued me, then I woke up at 2 am.

    
      A horrible sore throat
attacked me, I felt like someone had ignited a fire in my throat.  My body was burning because of the fever, and that was not uncommon.  I prepared a hot tea with lemon to calm that fire in my throat. My parents were drowning in a deep sleep. I went back to my room, covered my hair with a blue scarf, put a blanket on my body, and then went to the balcony. 

     There,  I stood observing the movement of vehicles that would never stop. I saw a man reeling in his gait holding a bottle of wine. He had just left a nightclub, I thought.

       Two half-naked girls had just joined him. Their loud laughs were filling the air with excessive noise.   I suddenly, heard a voice of a crying woman, a screaming voice of a man, and another man’s voice that was calming down the woman warmly inside Rena’s house. Then I heard a door slam. After that a shadow appeared on their balcony, I turned my sight towards the shadow which looked at me in shyness or maybe with eyes that carried a deep pain, but that did not prevent him from approaching saying, “It is life!”

    I nodded in silence.

        I put my hands around the cup whose steam was evaporating slowly.   The shadow’s glances were pointed at the cup then moved slowly to look at my face.

“Are you always silent like this? “He asked calmly.

   
“An ancient tomb,” I answered with a husky voice.

   He smiled.
“Did you recognize me? “ he asked.

     I nodded, and then  added looking at the half-naked girls in the street, “Yes, I knew it was you as we entered the building; the lights were so strong, so it was not hard for me to recognize you.”

     “But the other girl seemed not to know who I am.”

      I was about to tell him that was because she did not focus on his features as I do, but then I changed my mind.
    “So, you are the elder brother who bought  a house?” I said.

    He answered looking at the two girls with a vague look in his eyes, “The superstar…”