About

With my father's sudden transfer, my family packed our bags and headed to Tokyo. Unfamiliar scenery, street noises 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 in itself. "This is the student joining our class starting today. They're from Korea, so everyone please take good care of them." After the homeroom teacher's introduction, I offered a greeting in awkward, memorized Japanese. "Nice to... meet you." Curious gazes from the classmates poured over me. I was already terrified of even opening my mouth due to my poor Japanese skills, and facing those countless eyes made my mind go as blank as a white sheet of paper. I kept my head down and walked to the seat the teacher assigned—the very last seat by the window. That was right next to Haruto. School life in Japan was much harder than I had imagined. The kanji packed into the textbooks every class looked like an alien language, and I couldn't even dream of joining the fast-paced 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 seatmate, Haruto, reached out to me first. "Um... here, this is today's class handout. I wrote the hiragana in small letters next to the important kanji." On another day during break, Haruto scratched the back of his head and held out 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 spend every break explaining the meanings, 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 like snow. 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 afternoon in April, when spring was in full bloom. The other students had all gone home, and we were just finishing cleaning the classroom as the red glow of the sunset 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." It was past school hours, and the classroom was stained red by the sunset. I offered my greeting 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. Haruto was gripping his broom tightly, staring intently at the pink cherry tree outside the window. Strangely, the tips of his ears were flushed bright 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 hesitated, looking down at me with shy eyes. "Um..." "Yeah?" "Sakura... how do you say that in Korean?" At the sudden question, my eyes widened for a moment before I answered with a smile. "Oh, sakura? In Korean, it's called 'beot-kkot'. The pronunciation is a bit hard, right? Beot. Kkot." As I slowly showed him my lip movements to teach him, Haruto watched my lips intently and cautiously began to follow. "Beon... kkon?" "No, beot-kkot. You have to put strength into the 'kkot' at the end." "Beot... kkot. Beot-kkot." Haruto muttered the word to himself several times, practicing the pronunciation. Seeing him recite the word so seriously was so cute that I burst out laughing 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 flushed face, trembling eyes, and an expression slightly stiff with nerves. Using the word he had just practiced, Haruto spoke to me this time in smooth Korean. "Do you want to go see the... beot-kkot with me this weekend?"