Jongin never understood literature. He looked at pages of the book in front of him and wondered. What was so appealing about another world, a universe so unknown to one, that his teacher Mr. Park oozed passion whenever he talked about books. Or how enthusiastically Joonmyun would respond to his reading assignments. They were fantasies that wouldn’t happen.

“But isn’t that the biggest draw?” Joonmyun asked him, “People are never happy with their lives. And that is why they seek shelter in books. Movies, television shows, aren’t they all the same? People seek for something unusual to happen to them and this is exactly why another world fascinates them. Wouldn’t you like it if you had a story too?”

He didn’t know. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t. There was no way to know.

*

It bothered him to spend lunch amongst all the people at school. It wasn’t like he hated the people but they were all just too much of a disturbance to someone like him. They were too noisy for his liking and always talked about such unintelligent minuscule things.

He walked ahead looking for a quite place to have his lunch and came across the abandoned room that was used by what used to be a radio cub before it was closed up due to non-participation of students. He went inside and noticed the place packed with recorders, players and other equipment that would have been of use if the radio cub were to be active again. He kept his lunch on the table at the center of the room and inspected the things that were still kept there. He noticed an old cassette player which looked like it hadn’t been touched in years and was surprised to find that it still had a cassette inside it. For some reason it intrigued him and so he picked up the player and brought it to the table and plugged it in. He pressed play and waited as a slow buzz filled up the silence until there was the sound of a sigh followed by a sweet velvety voice of a boy.

“Chanyeol…I…I want to sing this for you….please listen carefully.”

Jongin waited with a bated breath as the boy began to sing. He realised that he was a beautiful and mesmerising singer, putting his feelings into every word as he sang them.

And I want you to know that I love you,
I hope you know I really love you.

Jongin felt like he shouldn’t be listening to such an intimate confession made for someone that wasn’t him. He felt like an eavesdropper but was sure that the owner of the cassette had left it there for a long time and wouldn’t be back to take it. So he decided to take it with him when he left. 

He replayed the tape again to fill up the quiet of the room and proceeded to have his lunch.

*

Jongin closed his performance with a pas de basque giving it his hundred per cent, hoping he had done a good job that day. He felt exhausted after performing, but nonetheless, looked up at Mr. Kim whose face was still deep in thought. After a moment Mr. Kim spoke up, “You did well.”

His face brightened up at that, feeling happy. “But” he looked up at his instructor again. “You lack emotion. It’s like you’re doing your homework. You’re not feeling the music. Technical perfection is nothing if the audience cannot connect with you. Right now you’re just a dancer. You need to become a performer, an artist.”

Jongin went back to his place at one of the corners while Sehun got called for his evaluation. He danced well, everybody was a testament to that. Yet, Mr. Kim was never satisfied by just that. He always asked him for that little more of something and Jongin never figured out how to grant him the same.

*

That evening he lied on his bed thinking about his upcoming recital and that they all expected him to perform well.

Right now you’re just a dancer. You need to become a performer, an artist.

The words haunted him, mostly because he didn’t know how to do that. He spotted his bag lying over his desk and remembered the tape he had picked up earlier in the day. He walked over to where his desk was and pulled out the tape from inside his bag. He rummaged through his things for the old cassette walkman he knew he still had somewhere in his room. When he found it, he sat on his bed and proceeded to insert the cassette into the walkman. Before he did though, he noticed something he hadn’t earlier- a date written on it, probably of the day it was recorded, 02/09/2007.

He played the cassette and listened to the boy. “Chanyeol…I…I want to sing this for you….please listen carefully.”

He thought back to Joonmyun’s words about how everyone wanted a story and wondered whether this boy got his. Did he ever give Chanyeol this tape? Told him how he felt? Did they have a happily ever after?

He sighed and focused on the singing again, getting pulled in by the enticing voice of the boy.

And I want you to know that I love you,
I hope you know I really love you.

*

The next day in his literature class, Mr. Park said they would be talking about Romeo & Juliet. It was a classic piece of literature Jongin was familiar with. But it was again one that he couldn’t understand. 

“It is a beautiful story about two star crossed lovers.” Mr. Park informed them.

It was a tragic one too, Jongin was aware. They died for love, because they loved each other so much, they couldn’t live without the other. And it baffled him. People were selfish. Love couldn’t possibly tie one to another so strongly that one would be ready to give up the world for that another. 

When class was over, Jongin was about to leave when Mr. Park called him over.

“Jongin, are you having trouble in class?”

“No, Mr. Park. I just…don’t quiet get literature.”

Mr. Park chuckled, “Well you have to try to get it if you want to pass this term. Ask me for help if you need any, okay?”

*

That day he went back to the abandoned broadcasting room to have his lunch. He went inside and saw the cassette player was still on the table and realised that he had forgotten yesterday to put it back where it was. He put down his things and went to pick it up when he noticed that there was still a tape inside it. He was confused for a moment considering he had taken the tape that was inside it before with him back to his house. He looked around and noticed nobody else was there. He plugged it in and pressed the play button.

“Um, you, whoever you listening to this right now…I don’t know why you took my tape but I hope you will return it please. I’m not angry. I just…I’d like to have my tape back. My name is Do Kyungsoo. Meet me at the corner of street outside the school gate, beside the cherry blossom tree to give the cassette back, thank you.”

A/N I know this is short but I will try to update this soon. In the meantime, thank you for reading! Comment, subscribe or upvote if you like it :)