I suppose I find it hard to describe my love of the night, just as I find it hard to describe how I tiptoed into my sister's room when he was asleep.
I could always walk through the hallway at night as quietly as a cat, and after all that, barefoot on the wooden floor, shedding my draggled white pajamas and pulling on one of my sister's clothes that I'd smuggled in. The moonlight trickled brightly all over the floor, and I felt my body growing inch by inch into princess-like beauty. So I stood in the middle of the room and smiled weakly in the mirror.
If mom was unfortunate enough to see her youngest daughter in this lone shadowed form, she would have exclaimed, "Geez, Lolo what are you wearing those for? You're still little and your sister's clothes don't fit at all."
It's a good thing she can't see. I thought with rolled eyes. Though, she was always much more sensitive than her sister-
"Lolo, have you been awake?" The voice always made me brush myself off and jump into bed.
I have an equally hard time describing my love of daylight. When the bell rang through the school, the seniors were hanging around not far from the window, making as much noise as if they'd poked a dozen hornets' nests. Sitting by the window, I looked up to see Han-chul's older brother. He and my sister were mixed in the middle of that mess. I looked at them, and every now and then I heard silly things like "Your sister is so pretty" from Nan Nan and the others.
One day when Nan and I were sitting on the school lawn in the sun, Han Che walked past us. He gently patted me on the head and said, "Hey, little girl!"
I looked back and opened my mouth wide at Nan, "Can you imagine? Han-chul said hi to me!"
"Maybe he'll ask your sister to the school dance in a few days." Nan said.
I looked back at Han-chul, who was already talking and laughing with my sister.
I lay down towards the back, the sky was so blue. Being covered in that color was not something I wanted to believe in that depressed me.
And yet another thing happened that frustrated me.
That day Nan and a few other girls mysteriously gathered around me between classes and whispered to me with a wink. Telling me there was a boy who was always watching me. I looked back in the direction they indicated and immediately turned red with anger: "He's crazy, don't you guys be ridiculous!"
Kobayashi, who was sitting not too far away talking to the other boys about something. Everyone thought he was a monster, but the boys obviously liked the laughs the monster brought.
Almost every group of kids had a freak like this in their midst. Kobayashi always had a shrunken head, a hunchback, and a wobbly walk. He had an awkward demeanor and would make people laugh just by making gestures. Even worse was his crazy talk, I could never figure out what he was saying.
The boys surrounding Kobayashi laughed again as one of them walked back into the classroom. Laughing as he passed us, he said, "Kobayashi was telling us how frogs grow out of flower buds!"
We laughed. I turned back to Kobayashi who, as usual, spoke to people in a ball of peace, grinning radiantly, his eyes squinting into slits from laughter.
"Maybe he thinks he's a flower too." I said.
When the girl came home that afternoon, I always felt like someone was following me. Every time I looked back, he hid from me. I kept my head down and kept walking,snapped back and finally saw the face that made me laugh. Kobayashi. I didn't make a sound and continued walking angrily.
"Charlotte." He called out softly.
I ignored it all.
"I... ... I didn't mean to sneak after you," he stood helplessly, "It's just that, actually, I... ... I... ..."
I still didn't look back.
"I think... ..."
"Go away!" I yelled back at him.
The shame of being targeted by a monster made me start to get angry at myself. I angrily moved forward, getting more and more frustrated, and finally almost on the verge of tears. But he actually followed me anyway, and even started chattering.
"Are you angry, Charlotte?"
"Don't be mad, okay? I just wanted to talk to you about the flowers... ..."
"Charolo, I've seen you watering those roses along the path near the school. You like flowers too right?" The guys laughed even harder.
It was getting dark, and in the light orange sun's rays I realized that the path I was on was empty except for me and Kobayashi.
He didn't explain much anymore, eager as if he wanted to catch me.
I got a little scared and simply pulled out and ran.
"Ah!" The corner of the road, I violently bumped into someone. I looked up and it was Han Cheol.
"What's wrong little girl?" Han Che held me up and smiled gently. I was filled with panic and before I could say anything, he had already lifted his head and saw Xiao Lin who had chased me over.
"Hi! What do you want?" Han-chul walked over to him.
"Nothing. Nothing... ..." Kobayashi shifted his body in an uneasy and squirming manner.
Han Che reached out and tugged on his collar, "No more bullying girls, you hear me!" He pushed back and Xiaolin fell heavily to the ground
He didn't utter a sound, just quietly got up from the ground and patted the dirt on his body. I saw that he had scraped the skin on his arm. Perhaps he had sprained his foot in the fall, he was limping a little as he turned away.
For the first time, I felt a boy was so fragile.
He finally walked away. I stood frozen in place, watching his hobbling back until he disappeared from my view.
When I saw Kobayashi again, he was crouching alone under a tree at school staring at something out of focus.
Sunlight flooded the trees and lawn, birds cried and insects chirped, no one remained in the school anymore, and after a moment of hesitation, I finally mustered up the courage, "You too... ... Like flowers a lot?"
He looked up in surprise, then grinned, "Of course. Not just flowers, I like all plants. Well, like her." He pointed to the small mushroom under the tree, "Look how pretty she is, she's new here today."
"New... ... Moved here?" I stared.
"Yeah, she's going to be living here for a while until she wants to move somewhere else." Kobayashi browbeats.
"It's, um, she, what kind of mushroom is she?" I crouched down to stare at the unassuming little thing.
"Her name is Nana. She just told me." Without hesitation he said, "Aren't you going to say hello to her?"
"Uh . ... Hi Nana!" I felt so stupid.
But Kobayashi smiled and seemed very happy.
"Kobayashi," I finally said, "Is your foot okay?"
"It's fine," he jumped up, "It's just a little sore from yesterday, it'll be totally fine after a nap!" He looked at me, smiled at me, and said, "It's okay."
After that, Kobayashi always walked me home after school.
He told me about various plants, "Seeds of pumpkins and cabbages can survive for four to six years, seeds of wheat and corn can live for two to three years, and seeds of oranges can only live for ten days at most... ... You can't water the flowers when it's too hot, the temperature difference kills the flowers... ..."
Of course, he still keeps saying stupid things.
"The grass on the school lawn would always sneak up and frolic around every night. When someone comes along, it slams its roots down and quiets down, and a careless person never realizes that the grasses on the lawn have switched places... ..."
What can I say, even though Kobayashi was a no-nonsense little maniac, it didn't stop him from eventually becoming my friend.
He watered the flowers and plants on the side of the road that no one cared about, gave them names, and spoke to them; he found a wildflower in the countryside, planted it in a pot and cared for it so carefully that it actually grew four little flowers of different colors and shapes on the same stem. No one in the whole town knew what that beautiful plant was. Auntie Zhang from the flower store wanted to buy it, but Xiao Lin kept refusing to agree.
Kobayashi said his favorite season was autumn. Because all the plants have finished their gestation, and although they are no longer as vigorous as they once were, it is their most golden and satisfying time.