time capsule.
A young woman in her mid 20s was walking slowly along the sidewalk somewhere in Seoul. Above her head, cherry blossoms started to bloom beautifully, as if announcing to everyone that spring has arrived once again. The gentle breeze blew a few strands of pink petals to her long dark silky hair but she didn’t mind. A gentle smile could be seen on her beautiful face and she seemed to enjoy the warm afternoon so much.
Slowly but sure, her slender legs gradually brought her closer to her destination. Her smile widened just by imagining the place she was heading to. Or to be precise she was more excited because of certain someone she was going to meet there.
“I wonder if he’s already there,” she glanced at her watch. It was 03.42PM and she was already a few hundred meters away from her destination. She definitely would make it on time or even earlier than it should.
She smiled. March 17th 2016, 4PM.
The date and time she had marked on her personal agenda since she was 15.
She stopped walking for a moment and held up her hand, letting a few strands of petals landed in her palm. Her lips formed a gentle smile as a certain memory flashed through her mind.
The memory of their first meeting.
***
It was a fine spring day when they first met.
Seo Joohyun was only 5 when she and her parents moved to a new neighborhood in Seoul. Being an only child with no sibling or close cousin, she grew up to be an obedient and shy little girl. She didn’t have many friends in her previous neighborhood since there were only small numbers of kid around her age who lived there. That was why her parents hoped she could get more friends in their new neighborhood.
Little Seohyun liked her new home a lot. They had a very nice house with a spacious and comfortable garden. Cherry trees lined up along the street in front of her house and they blossomed beautifully on the day she moved in with her parents. Spending her afternoon in their garden became her favorite thing ever since.
One day, she was sitting calmly on her favorite spot in the garden, playing picnic with her teddy bear. The pink petals of cherry blossoms were falling slowly around her while the spring breeze gently blew her long hair. It was a very nice and pleasurable afternoon for her, until suddenly ...
“Hey!”
Seohyun was startled. She quickly turned her head and saw a little boy - who seemed a few years older than her - staring at her from behind the hedge.
She never saw him before. The boy had a pair of small yet glistening eyes, which was now staring at her with great interest. She felt uneasy somehow, because she never made friends with a boy before and there’s something about the way he stared at her that made her feel uncomfortable. She was about to get up and leave before suddenly the boy called her again.
“Hey, are you an angel?”
Her fear instantly evaporated, hearing such peculiar - yet innocent - question came from the boy’s mouth. She frowned in confusion. “Sorry?”
“Are you an angel?” the boy leaped the hedge and kneeled before her. His eyes examined her face intently with a mixture of curiosity and adoration. “You look like one I saw in my story book.”
Seohyun giggled softly. “No, I’m not an angel. I’m Seohyun …” She then gasped and quickly covered her mouth with both hands. “Oh no! I’m not supposed to tell my name to stranger!”
The boy flashed a wide grin and held out his right hand for a handshake. “Hey, we have similar names! My name is Kyuhyun and I live across the street. Nice to meet you, Seohyun-ah!”
She took his hand and shook it carefully. Her timid gesture was contrary to his eagerness, and somehow she couldn’t help but to smile amusedly at him in the end. At that time she had not realized that it was the beginning of their beautiful friendship … or maybe more than that.
***
His name was Cho Kyuhyun, the youngest children of Cho family. He was three years older than her but most of the times he acted as if both of them were on the same age - probably because she was more calm and reserved than any other children her age. Not that she minded, though - somehow his witty side made her feel comfortable and happy to be around him regardless of their age differences.
While the other children loved to run around and screamed out loud, little Seohyun loved to read so much. Maybe that was one of so many reasons why Kyuhyun’s parents, a couple of academics, were very fond of her. She liked to spend her time by reading lots of books in Cho family’s library or borrowed some of their books and read them later in her own room or garden.
Little Kyuhyun didn’t really like reading. He preferred to use his brilliant brain to solve math problems or play games - or maybe put a prank on others. He would usually accompany Seohyun during her reading time, trying everything he could do to get her attention. But the younger girl was already accustomed to his antics and would just kept on reading without being distracted.
That was until one afternoon, when both of them were sitting peacefully on Seo family’s garden after school ended. Seohyun, as usual, was already too immersed in reading her story book, leaving an annoyed Kyuhyun rolling on the grass next to her by himself.
“Seohyun-ah,” he called her.
“Hmmm?” she muttered without removing her eyes from the page she was reading.
“Seohyun-ah!” Kyuhyun whined and sat in front of her. Without any warning, he took away the book from Seohyun’s hand, making the girl gasped in surprise.
“Oppa! What are you doing?” she exclaimed and tried to get her book back.
But Kyuhyun quickly hid the book behind his back. “Stop reading and let’s play instead! I’m bored.”
Seohyun frowned. “Give it back. It’s rude to take one’s book when she is reading it.”
“Don’t want to,” Kyuhyun stuck out his tongue and stood up. “Yah, what’s so fun about reading a book? It’s boring!”
“No it’s not,” Seohyun also stood up and tried to get her book back but to no avail. “Oppa, give it back!”
“Reading book is boooring!” Kyuhyun hummed loudly and raised his hand up high, keeping the book away from Seohyun’s reach. “Aww come on, Seohyunnie! Let’s do something more fun. Even playing picnic sounds better than reading a boring book.”
“Reading is not boring,” the 7 years old girl pouted. She leaped repeatedly to grab the book and finally succeeded at her third attempt. She then went back to her blanket and sat there to continue reading her book. Sighing in defeat, Kyuhyun laid on his stomach in front of Seohyun. He rested his chin on his palms while his eyes were staring at Seohyun’s face intently.
A few minutes later, the little girl started to feel a bit uncomfortable with the way he stared at her. “Oppa,” she finally said, “stop staring at me like that.”
“Why?” the older boy asked nonchalantly, his eyes never left hers.
“It’s kind of ... scary,” Seohyun pouted.
“So I finally get your attention now?” Kyuhyun tried to be sarcastic but he failed to hide a hint of relief on his face.
Seohyun sighed and closed her book. “Fine, what would you like to do?”
“Hmmmm,” Kyuhyun thought for a while. “Nothing.”
His reply made Seohyun’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“On the second thought, I think I like watching you reading,” Kyuhyun shrugged. “Do you know that you have this look when you’re reading?”
“What kind of look?” she leaned forward, looking curious.
Kyuhyun scratched his head. “It’s hard to explain. It’s like ... you’re in another world when you’re reading. Not in a bad way, of course,” he quickly added as he saw her expression started to change.
“I don’t get it,” she tilted her head to one side. Her lips slightly formed a cute pout and Kyuhyun felt a sudden urge to pinch her cheeks.
He rubbed the back of his head, feeling uneasy. How should he explain about the sparkle that could be seen in her eyes every time she read a book? Or how the corner of her lips would be twitched upwards whenever she read an interesting part? He was just 10 anyway, he couldn’t find the right words to explain it. “You look … interesting.”
“Interesting?” her eyes widened.
“Well, let’s just say the way you read a book is quite unique. Or should I say you have a unique face expression?” he stood up and started walking to his house, trying his best to act cool.
“Oppa, where are you going?” Seohyun called out.
“Home. I’m bored,” he lied. He kept moving forward without looking back at her - not wanting to show her his face that suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. “You can enjoy your precious moment with your book, I won’t bother.”
Seohyun was left flabbergasted. She took her book again but this time she had lost interest to read it. “Is he mad at me?” she muttered to herself. “But I already stopped ignoring him. Why is he sulking?”
***
Seohyun was standing before a tall metal gate. Far behind the gate, she could see a familiar building that she missed a lot. And when she started walking through the gate, memories of her past instantly filled her head and gently touched all of her senses. The sound of children laughing and chattering, the loud noises of their footsteps on the ground, the delicious smell of bindaeddeok and ddeokbokki from the cafeteria ... oh how she missed those old days.
She smiled and proceeded her way to the school building. Yes, she was in elementary school where she and Kyuhyun attended when they were children. And as she gradually approached the building, the memories of her childhood became more and more clear.
“Oppa, wait for me!” the 9 years old shouted.
The older boy who walked before her took a glance at her, who was squatting down to tie her shoelaces, and smirked without bothering to stop or wait for her. He kept walking forward - this time in a slower pace - until he heard the girl shouting again with a higher tone from his behind. “Oppa, wait for me!”
He stopped and turned around with a feigned annoyed expression. “Yah, why is your shoelaces so troublesome? Don’t you know how to tie it correctly?”
She looked down while her fingers were still trying to tie her shoelaces. “I ... of course I do. But I don’t know if I’m doing it correctly or not,” she replied softly. “Oppa, I’m sorry. You can go first if you want to.”
She didn’t dare to look up, afraid that she would cry to see Kyuhyun’s back walking away from her. Just when she was sure that Kyuhyun was gone, a pair of familiar hand suddenly appeared and made her startled. The owner of the hands helped her tying her shoelaces in a rapid movement and before she noticed it, her shoelaces were now neatly tied.
Kyuhyun stood up and extended his hand to the younger girl. “Come on, let’s go home or your mother will be worried.”
Seohyun happily took his hand and both of them were walking home hand in hand. It was their first time holding hands and she could tell that the boy was a bit awkward by such action. But as usual he tried to hide his nervousness by acting cool, even though she knew him too well to be deceived.
“Oppa,” she observed her shoes.
“Hmmm?” he muttered nonchalantly.
“The way you tied shoelaces ... it’s different from the way my mother taught me.”
“It’s easier this way. Besides, the knot won’t loosen easily.”
Seohyun nodded. “I’ll remember it.”
She could feel Kyuhyun slightly tightened his grip on her hand as both of them walked home, accompanied by the gentle spring breeze and warm sunshine. Her way home never felt so much enjoyable before.
***
Seohyun jerked out of her peaceful sleep. She quickly sat on her bed and looked around her room. The soft moonlight created shadows on the wall and somehow it looked a bit scary. But it wasn’t the one who woke her up. She was sure she heard something in her sleep. Is it just a dream or ...
Tok!
She nearly jumped out of the bed due to surprise. It was the same noise she heard earlier and it seemed like it wasn’t a dream. Just when she almost managed to calm her rapidly beating heart, she heard that noise again.
Tok!
This time she darted her eyes to her window, where the weird noise came from. She gulped nervously before slowly approaching it, praying that something dangerous or scary would not appear.
“Seohyun-ah!”
She gasped when she heard a muffled shout from her garden. She immediately opened her window and saw a familiar figure stood below her window. Although she couldn’t see his face clearly, she knew who it was. “Kyuhyun oppa?”
“What took you so long?” Kyuhyun replied, still with a muffled voice. “I’ve been standing here for almost 20 minutes, throwing pebbles to your window yet you didn’t show up.”
“W-what are you doing here?” she stuttered. Is this a dream? Why would Cho Kyuhyun stand below her window at 2AM?
Kyuhyun clicked his tongue impatiently. “Waiting for you of course. Come here, quickly! Before your parents wake up and think that a burglar is breaking into their yard.”
She grabbed her cardigan absentmindedly and came down to her yard without making a sound. She was still thinking that it was a dream, that Kyuhyun wasn’t actually there, waiting for her. But when she stepped into her garden and stood before him, she finally realized that it wasn’t a dream. “K-kyuhyun oppa, what are you doing here?”
Kyuhyun grabbed her hand and pulled it, making her followed him. “I’ll explain it later. Come with me.”
Without saying anything, Seohyun let herself dragged along the street for about 15 minutes before they finally arrived in front of an old warehouse on the top of a small hill near their neighborhood. Kyuhyun then took her to the back of the warehouse where there was a ladder that led directly to the roof of the warehouse. He invited the wondering Seohyun to climb the ladder first.
“What’s up there?” Seohyun eyed him suspiciously. This boy was the mischievous Cho Kyuhyun after all.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes in exasperation and started climbing the ladder. “Fine, I’ll go first. Make sure you watch your steps carefully, I don’t want you to stumble and fall.”
When Seohyun finally climbed the ladder - with Kyuhyun’s help - she actually expected that she would be greeted by some kind of trick or prank, but she only saw a thick blanket laid on the wide roof and a picnic basket on it.
She looked at him in confusion. “Oppa, what is this?”
Kyuhyun grinned and pulled her to sit on the blanket. “I brought you something,” he opened the basket. “Ta-da! Your favorite sweet potato cake.”
Seohyun’s eyes widened in excitement soon as she saw her favorite cake. “Whoa! Sweet potato cake! Oppa, thank you,” she took a paper plate from the basket and put a large piece of cake on it. Her face lit up soon after the first bite touched her tasting sense. “It’s delicious as usual!”
Kyuhyun chuckled and started to eat as well. He couldn’t stop glancing at her who was munching her cake happily - it was obvious that she really enjoyed the cake while he was more enjoying the sight of her.
“Yah, eat slowly!” he gently wiped her lips. His sudden reflex action surprised both of them. Seohyun’s face began to flush and they quickly shifted their attention back to the cake, trying to avoid the awkwardness.
After a long silence, Seohyun finally put down her plate and asked him, “Oppa, what’s going on?”
“Huh?” Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows.
“All of this,” Seohyun waved her arms around her. “This whole ... midnight picnic. Did something worth celebrating happen recently?”
Kyuhyun thought for a while. “Nothing,” he replied. “I just thought ... I just thought that you might be missing me. We haven’t seen each other for more than a week. It feels kind of weird since we used to see each other almost every day.”
Seohyun tilted her head to one side and tried to remember. He was right. She had just entered junior high school while Kyuhyun had just entered senior high school. Since the first day of the new semester, they never saw each other again due to their own activities. She was even too busy to notice this.
“You’re right,” Seohyun nodded. “So, how’s senior high school? Is it fun?”
“Not bad,” Kyuhyun shrugged. “What about your new school life? Do you enjoy it? I hope no one bothers you, especially boys.” He frowned as he remembered how annoyed he was whenever he saw boys teasing her. The most annoying thing was that he knew that those boys teased her because they liked her and wanted to get her attention.
“Don’t worry, I’m doing well,” Seohyun giggled. “What about you? Have you found yourself a girlfriend?” she added with a teasing tone.
“I’m not interested,” Kyuhyun answered shortly. He was telling the truth. Ever since junior high school - thanks to his bright brain and good looking appearance - he already had a long list of fangirls. But strangely none of them interested him, not even the prettiest one. “They are just a bunch of ...”
“Omo! Kyuhyun oppa, look!” suddenly Seohyun exclaimed and jumped up. Her finger was pointing at something in the sky. Kyuhyun followed the direction of her finger and he saw it before it disappeared into the night sky. He slowly stood up beside Seohyun, still amazed at what they just saw.
“A shooting star,” Seohyun whispered. “Too bad I didn’t manage to make a wish.”
“Then let’s just make it now,” without thinking, Kyuhyun said. He slowly closed his eyes to utter his wish inaudibly, making Seohyun looked at him in wonder. This boy had surprised her big times this night. First, the unexpected - yet enjoyable - midnight picnic and now he was wishing upon a shooting star, something he often used to laugh about. Shaking her head, she joined him closing her eyes and making a wish.
She slightly startled when she felt a warm hand touched hers in a slow movement. She opened her eyes and saw Kyuhyun’s hand gently grabbing hers, his eyes were still closed. Couldn’t help but smiling, she held his hand back before intertwining their fingers together. A warm feeling of contentment inexplicably filled her heart.
“I wish we can always be together like this,” she thought.
***
After walking around the schoolyard for some time, she finally saw her destination. Her lips curled into a wide smile soon as she saw an old big tree in the back corner of the schoolyard. It amazed her how the tree still looked the same after all these years. It looked a bit shorter than she remembered - maybe because she was still 15 the last time she went there - but the rest were pretty much the same.
She arrived under the tree. Just like when she walked through the school gate, more memories from her past burst into her mind. That feeling of reminiscing was getting stronger and stronger when she kneeled down before a familiar spot right under the tree. The spot which both of them had marked with a big triangle-shaped stone on top of it. To make the spot easier to find, Kyuhyun even carved “seokyu” on the tree trunk just above the stone.
Her fingers slowly touched the carvings. She could still remember clearly the memorable day in which he carved that word 10 years ago - exactly the same date as today’s, only with a different year.
It was the day she had been waiting for the past year. Even though she felt sad for parting with the teachers and most of her friends, she also felt excited for the upcoming days as senior high school student that already awaited her. She was busy chatting and laughing with her friends when a familiar voice called her.
“Seo Joohyun!”
She turned around and saw her Kyuhyun oppa - still clad in his school uniform - standing in front of her school gate. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hand and he flashed his signature smirk as he waved his other hand casually at her.
Seohyun smiled widely and ran to him. “Oppa, what are you doing here? I thought you’re still in your graduation ceremony?”
“Happy graduation, Seohyun-ah,” he handed her the bouquet he was holding. “I sneaked out of the ceremony so that I can come here and see you.”
“You did not!” Seohyun laughed and took the bouquet in delight. “Thank you, Oppa.”
What happened next surprised her even more. Kyuhyun gently grabbed her hand and said, “Come with me to somewhere else?”
Her friends who had been watching the whole scene started to cheer at them in a teasing tone from the schoolyard. Kyuhyun could only smirk while Seohyun’s face was blushed. She then nodded shyly and trailed after him - their fingers were still intertwining together.
After walking for some time, both of them stopped in front of ...
“Our elementary school?” Seohyun looked confused. “What are we doing here?”
Kyuhyun didn’t answer her. Instead, he pulled her hand again and led her to the big tree in one corner of the backyard where they used to play or just sit together under it when they were kids.
“This tree hasn’t changed at all,” Seohyun giggled. “I thought it’s supposed to look shorter now since we’re getting taller. Why are we here, Kyuhyun oppa?”
Again, Kyuhyun didn’t answer. He took something from behind the tree and brought it to Seohyun. It was a wooden box about the size of a thick book. He gently placed it on Seohyun’s hand and said, “Open it.”
Seohyun obeyed him and she immediately gasped as she saw the contents of the box. Her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth was hanging wide open. The box was filled with old pictures of her and Kyuhyun. When they were playing together in the garden, Seohyun’s first day of school, their picnic with their parents in the amusement park, the school festival in summer ... Seohyun couldn’t hold her smile any longer.
“I went to the shop yesterday to reprint those pictures. Don’t worry, I still have the other ones with me,” Kyuhyun explained.
“But I also have it in my house,” Seohyun frowned. “So what are these for?”
“Have you ever heard about time capsule?” asked Kyuhyun. “Let’s bury one.”
The younger girl just stared at him for a while, not knowing what or how should she replied to his last sentence. She had heard about time capsule before from movies and books she read, and the thought of making and burying one actually excited her. Yet she still didn’t understand one thing.
“Seohyun-ah? You ... don’t want to?” Kyuhyun asked again, carefully.
“N-no, of course I’d love to!” Seohyun quickly replied. “It’s just ... what is it for? I mean why do we have to bury a time capsule? People usually bury a time capsule when they are about to part, even though that’s not the main purpose of time capsule. We’re still going to see each other anytime, right?”
Suddenly Kyuhyun looked uneasy. He purposely avoided Seohyun’s eyes and she knew something was not going right. “Oppa?”
“I should have told you earlier, Seohyun-ah,” he finally answered. His eyes looked sad. “Your parents already know about this but I told them not to tell you. I said I will tell you personally.” He paused for a moment. “I ... I got the scholarship to study in the States. And ... I’m leaving the day after tomorrow.”
She fell silent. Her mind was trying to digest what she had just heard. Kyuhyun was leaving Seoul. He was leaving her. They might not be able to see each other again for a long time.
“Seohyun-ah ... are you okay?” Kyuhyun began to worry.
“I-isn’t that a good news?” she faked a smile yet she couldn’t hide her quivering lips and teary eyes. “Congratulation, Oppa! You’re right, you should have told me earlier. H-how ... how could you tell me only two days before your d-departure?”
Kyuhyun couldn’t stand it any longer. He pulled the girl into his arms and hugged her tightly, ignoring her surprise yelp. She slightly struggled for a moment but in the end she finally gave up and hugged him back. She buried her face in his chest and Kyuhyun could feel his shirt was getting wet - she was sobbing softly.
“It’s okay to cry, Seohyun-ah. It’s okay,” he whispered. His hand gently stroked her hair while his other hand was still hugging her tightly. He was actually a person who didn’t cry easily - he barely even cried - but at that time he was having a hard time in holding back his tears.
After spending a full 15 minutes in that position, Seohyun finally stopped sobbing. She pulled away from Kyuhyun’s embrace and tried to wipe away the tears on her face, looking embarrassed. “Aigoo, why am I crying like this?” she tried to laugh. “I’m okay, Oppa. I really am.”
But Kyuhyun knew she was not. And so was he.
He raised his hand to her face, wiping away the tears from her chubby cheeks. When she tried to look away, he held her face firmly and made her look at him. “Seohyun-ah.”
And when their eyes finally met again, Kyuhyun did something he had wanted to do ever since he started seeing her as more than just his childhood friend or sister. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on her lips.
The memory of her first kiss could still make her blushed even until now, 10 years after that day. She shook her head and smiled. That day, after he kissed her, she finally realized that her feeling towards him was not just kind of affection for a friend or brother. The thought of not seeing him again in a long time really broke her heart and that was how she realized that she liked him so much.
They then buried the time capsule which contains pictures of their memories together and promised each other to open it 10 years later, which was today. And Joohyun was being Joohyun, she came earlier than it should.
She glanced at her watch. Almost an hour had passed from the time of agreement and he had not showed up yet. She was getting impatient. Where is he? He was never this late in fulfilling their appointment back then when they were little.
And when another 45 minutes had passed, she started to feel worry. “Did something happen to him? Or maybe he has forgotten our promise,” she thought sadly. She deliberately never mentioned about the time capsule again in their phone or email conversation because it would be meaningless if he didn’t remember about it by himself. But it seemed like what she feared was actually happening. He forgot about their promise.
It’s been 10 years anyway. She then kneeled down and started digging the ground with a small shovel. When she finally saw the wooden box and opened it, her eyes were filled with tears. What’s the use of opening this box without him by my side?
She took a picture that lay on top of the pile and stared at it. It was the last picture they took before they bury the time capsule. In that picture, both of them held the time capsule and smiled at the polaroid camera Kyuhyun was holding - her eyes were still teary.
“You cried when we buried that box and now you are also crying when dug it up again?”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. He is here.
She quickly wiped away her tears before turned around. “You are late.”
Cho Kyuhyun pouted. “I literally ran until out of breath in the airport soon after the plane had landed. I even yelled at the taxi driver to get me here in a blink of eye only to find out that you already opened the time capsule without me.”
Seohyun couldn’t help but chuckle. “You are always full of excuses.”
Kyuhyun stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, smiling into her sweet-smelling hair. “I miss you.”
“You are not forgiven yet,” Seohyun mumbled, but she smiled and hugged him back nonetheless.
Kyuhyun chuckled and kissed her forehead tenderly. “I purposely left my business trip earlier only to be greeted by a sulking wife? It doesn’t sound fun.”
“Does sleeping in the couch tonight sound fun to you?” when she saw her husband’s face turned into horror, Seohyun finally laughed. “I’m just kidding! Come, let’s have some dinner. I’m starving already.”
Her husband heaved a sigh of relief. He then bent down to plant a kiss on her baby bump. “How is my baby?”
She smiled. “Your baby is fine, Cho Kyuhyun-ssi.”
He then stood up and kissed her lips passionately. “And how is my wife?”
She encircled her arms around his neck and kissed him back with the same eagerness. “Your wife is never been happier.”
A/N: so kyuhyun came back from his study in the states a few years before the due date of their time capsule. they got married and now seohyun was pregnant with their first child. I hope no one gets confused here.
anyway this story is inspired by a song by mocca, read here for the details.