A short story inspired by different LINE DECO Wallpapers.
On top of every chapter, I inserted the picture which inspired the whole story. Of course, credits to the artists and the photographers for the pictures (Sorry, I only got these pictures from...
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But unbeknownst to the villagers, a young boy with the age of 10 would always climb up the hill just to sit on that tree and play his flute until dusk, with his dog as his companion.
The boy's name is Min Jun, ever since his grandfather died, he would play his flute in that tree while facing the setting sun, because he believes that the sun delivers the music to his grandfather up in the heavens. And when the moon comes up, it was a sign that his song was delivered and that it was his time to go home.
His mother and father never stopped him, because they know that this was his only way of showing his grief over the loss of his grandfather. This was Min Jun's routine everyday, after classes has ended he would rush up to the hill and play his flute, but today little did he know he's going to have a companion in his secret hiding place.
In the house at the end of the road where Min Jun lives, there were new people who just moved in. Min Jun's mother decided to give them a housewarming gift, but upon arriving at the doorstep of the house, she was met with all the yelling and shouting. And she was surprised to see someone stepping out of the house.... but unfortunately, it was just a small girl, just about the same age as her Min Jun.
The girl's name was Eun Ha. The girl was used to her parent's fighting, so she would always slip away quietly, and since this is a new village, she thought of exploring the whole village but when she opened the door, someone was already there. So she quietly closed the door and stared at the person standing in front of her.
She was sorry for her new neighbor for hearing the fight inside their home, but the person in front of her, unlike the others who ran away after giving their housewarming gift after hearing the troublesome fighting inside, talked to her and showed her around the village. After this whole move, she smiled and felt grateful for her neighbor, and even offered to tour her around the village, gratefully, she accepted that idea of tour, if it means getting away from the fighting happening inside her home.
The tour ended in the afternoon, and the woman left her in front of her house. Before she could go inside her house when all was quiet, she heard distant sounds of a flute, a beautiful melody, she thought. Truth be told, she was a little curious on who was playing the beautil melody, so she decided to follow the music.
The more she followed the music, the more she thought she was getting lost into it. And soon she came upon the oak tree on top of the hill, and as she got closer, the more the melody becomes clear. And when she finally stood in front of the tree, she saw no one so she decided to look around the tree, still there is no one playing but the music still continues. She thought that the music might be coming from inside the tree so she knocked on the bark. Once she knocked, she suddenly jumped from the barking noises. Trees weren't supposed to bark? When she looked down she finally saw where the barking was coming from, a small puppy at the side of a large tree root.
"What a cute puppy."
When she was about to take a closer look at the puppy, she suddenly heard the rustling of leaves. She suddenly turned around her, and what she saw took her breath away. The setting sun in the distance which gives pinkish colors to the skies above, blankets the whole village below them and the thick forest surrounding their village. She could look at this beautiful scenery forever, but soon a voice snapped her out of her reverie.
"What's a girly girl girl doing here?"
She was startled by the sudden voice, but she looked around her but she still saw nothing. Then, she looked up, and there she found a boy sitting in one of the tree's branches, she noticed the flute that he was holding.
"Are you the one playing the flute?", she asked.
"Why do you care?", answered the boy.
"Hmph. I was just asking, you meanie."
Min Jun ignored the girl and started to play again. But while he was playing he watched the girl closely, then stared off into the sunset once again.
Eun Ha knew she was being completely ignored, but she didn't care anymore because the boy was playing the sweet melody again, so she sat at one of the tree's large roots and listened to the flute's sweet melody. The two sat quietly, and the only sound between them was the melody being played by the flute, even Min Jun's dog is asleep in the grass next to the tree, they all stayed like this until the sky began to darken.
Once the sun was nowhere in sight, Min Jun stopped playing and slowly climbed down the tree, as soon as he touched the ground he saw the girl sleeping so he shook her awake.
"Hmm?... What? ...where am I?", she drowsily asked.
"Hey, girl. Get up. It's already dark."
"Ah! The boy with the flute!", she yelled.
"Argh! Don't yell. Come on, let's go back to the village, your parents might be worried."
"Oh, yeah.", the truth was she knew her parents won't look for her, after the fight that they had earlier that morning, they were always like this. Her father would go off to drink, while her mother would cry in her room all night, and she would always be outside and comes home when it's dark. The silence between them is deafening for her, so she decided to talk to the boy.
"Ah.", they both said at the same time.
"Ah, you go on ahead.", the boy said. She nodded in understanding.
"My name is Eun Ha. What's yours?", she asked, she turned her head slightly to look at the boy's face, but with the darkness of their surroundings and the lamp posts, and the moon as their only source of light, it was kind of hard to see what kind of face the boy was making. But before the boy could answer her question, they have arrived at her house.
"You're the new neighbor, right?", the boy asked.
"Ah. Yes, about you-", before she could finish her sentence she was cut off by the boy's words, "About earlier, don't tell anyone about what you saw earlier. And don't ever go there again.", and before she knew it, the boy was walking away without answering her question. A stubborn girl like her won't allow him to just say all those things to her and just walk away as if it was nothing, so she ran after him and pulled his arm sleeve.
"Wha-?", the boy asked startled by her sudden act. "Hey. How can you say that then walk away? And you never even told me your name.", she questioned. But when he was about to turn away, she hold him by his other arm, and glared at him.
"Hey, let go you stupid girl.", he demanded, but she was angered by his words and stepped on his foot.
"OW!", the boy fell back on his bottom while holding his foot. The girl reached out to him to help him stand back up. The boy looked at the girl and accepted her help.
"Min Jun.", he said silently.
"What?", the girl asked.
"I said, my name is Min Jun. Why did you have to go so far just for my name?", he asked.
"Because you're my first friend.", she smiled at him. He was surprised when he heard these words come out of her mouth. He was happy, but he was also scared to let someone close to him. The girl ran back home, but she remembered something and turned around, "Min Jun! See you tomorrow! Good night!", she shouted.
