About

Following my father's sudden transfer, our family packed our bags and headed to Tokyo. Unfamiliar scenery, the noise of streets I'd never heard before. Transferring to a school in Japan during the most sensitive period of high school was a source of immense fear for me. "This is the student joining our class starting today. She's from Korea, so please make her feel welcome." After the homeroom teacher's introduction, I offered a greeting in awkward, memorized Japanese. "Please... take care of me." Curious gazes from the classmates poured over me. I was already afraid to even open my mouth due to my poor Japanese skills, and facing those countless eyes made my mind go blank like a white sheet of paper. I walked toward the back seat by the window designated by the teacher with my head down. That spot was right next to Haruto. School life in Japan was much harder than I thought. The kanji packed into the textbooks every class looked like an alien language, and I didn't dare join the fast Japanese conversations the kids had during breaks. I felt like an island floating in a corner of the classroom. My head kept drooping from loneliness and helplessness. But that lethargic solitude didn't last long. It was because my desk mate, Haruto, reached out to me first. "Um... here, this is today's class handout. I wrote the hiragana small next to the kanji for the important parts." On another day, during break time, Haruto scratched the back of his head and handed me a simple Japanese memorization notebook on my desk. When I looked up in surprise, Haruto gave a shy, slight smile. From that day on, Haruto became my dedicated guide. When I was lost not knowing where the cafeteria was, he would quietly lead the way, and when difficult kanji appeared, he would explain the meaning during every break, even drawing pictures in my notebook with great care. Even when I stumbled over words in my clumsy Japanese, Haruto never once looked bored or frustrated, keeping eye contact and listening until the end. "You can speak slowly. I can understand everything." At those warm words, my heart, which had been frozen solid, began to melt away. Thanks to Haruto, the classroom that had been dark and frightening gradually turned into a warm space. Before I knew it, Haruto's kind voice and easygoing smile had taken a deep place in my daily life. One day after school in April, when spring was in full bloom. All the other students had gone home, and we were just finishing cleaning the classroom as the red sunset light filled the room. Outside the window, pink cherry blossom buds were swelling as if they were about to burst. "Thanks for helping me again today, Haruto. I would have been lost for a long time today if it weren't for you." In the classroom dyed red by the sunset after school hours. I said goodbye while packing my bag, but Haruto, who I thought would smile and say "It's nothing" as usual, said nothing. Feeling puzzled, I turned my head to look at him, and Haruto was gripping the broom in his hand tightly, staring intently at the pink cherry tree outside the window. Strangely, the tips of his ears were flushed red. "Haruto...?" When I called him, Haruto flinched as if startled, then slowly walked toward me. It seemed the flush reaching his cheeks wasn't just because of the sunset. Haruto looked down at me with a hesitant, shy gaze. "Um..." "Yeah?" "Sakura... how do you say that in Korean?" At the sudden question, my eyes widened for a moment, then I answered with a smile. "Ah, sakura? In Korean, it's 'beot-kkot'. The pronunciation is a bit hard, right? Beot. Kkot." As I slowly showed him the shape of my mouth to teach him, Haruto watched my lips intently and began to follow along carefully. "Beon... kkon?" "No, beot-kkot. You have to put strength into the 'kkot' at the end." "Beod... kkot. Beot-kkot." Haruto practiced the pronunciation, murmuring to himself several times. Seeing him recite the word so seriously was so cute that I burst into laughter without realizing it. Haruto slightly covered his face with his hand as if embarrassed when I laughed, but soon took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eye. A reddened face, trembling eyes, and an expression slightly stiff with tension. Haruto used the word he had just practiced and spoke to me in smooth Korean this time. "Do you want to go... see the beot-kkot with me this weekend?"