Translated…
Dressed up, carrying my handbag, I’d rushed onto a cab. That was, the very first time I’d gone to a middle school class reunion, after I’d graduated. In the past, I’d been busy, kept planning that next time I’ll show, and, time flew right by, it’d been, seven, eight years since.
As I’d entered into the party scene, I’d, scanned around, for Ji, who’d been in the same class as I since our kindergarten years all the way to middle school, and, I’d looked around, expected that he was going to show up, I just, couldn’t find him, anywhere. So, I’d pulled on one of our classmates and inquired, “I thought this was an all-show, where’s Ji?” “What, you don’t know? It was, on the news back then!!!”, he’d pointed to an empty seat in the tables, said that they’d saved it every year, a special place for Ji.
Back then, Ji didn’t make it onboard the graduation tour tour bus, we’d all thought that he was going to give us an unexpected surprise, an “ambush”, and still, during that time, nobody had seen Ji, later on, we’d not heard of him, just heard, that due to reasons unknown, he’d chosen, to drop out of school. During the reunion, I’d learned, that that time, Ji got into drugs, and the police were chasing him down, that he’d ridden his motorcycle too fast that he’d had an accident, suffered a serious fracture, and that, was why he’d missed our graduation trip. And one evening three years ago, there were, multiple patrol cars sent out, making an arrest on Ji, who’d started using, and also, sold to the middle school students. In order to evade the police, Ji once again, got on his motorcycle, and sped out, but this time, he didn’t just have a fracture, he’d lost his life too.
And, on Ji’s special seat, there would be the photo of us in kindergarten, it was, the only one with all of us, in the futures, although we’d still sat in the same classes, but, no more photos were taken. In the picture, everybody was holding hands, smiling like there’s no worries in the world, and, Ji who’d always shaved his head was the “mind” of us all, he’d been very upbeat, mischievous as a child, also looked after us like the storybook character too. I can’t get it into my mind, how he could’ve turned into the “bad influence” that all the teachers, the parents talked about later on in life.
And, it was, as if, I could, hear Ji’s bright laughter again, and I can see, the way that Ji looked, as he’d told the rest of the boys in class, not to pick on the girls, and that kid that just held his ground, when he was sent to the disciplinary office………
This was, a meal that I couldn’t, taste anything, I can’t recall how the reunion had, ended, couldn’t recall how it was, that I’d, managed my way out of the place, just felt that my eyes were wet, with a mixture of emotions through me.
So, this, is how fast life can change, this guy who’d taken care of everybody in his class had, turned bad, and, that, would be the enigma that nobody will EVER figure out, and, everybody in his class still remembered this guy for who he was, not how he’d ended up.