[s e v e n t e e n]

♤Chapter 16♤

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"Okay? What's this?"

She went closer so she can clearly see the object.

"This is…." She stammered, her eyes growing wide as she realized what it was. She picked it up.

"The camera… Does this still even work?" Ji-Rae said to herself, trying to turn the thing on.

"Bingo" Ji-Rae smiled when the camera turned on. She browsed through the gallery and found pictures of mostly her brothers doing their own business, goofing around, getting caught off-guard or sleeping. There were also a few other pictures where 2 or 3 of the boys were about to start something not good.

Like the one she found where Joonsung was in the kitchen and was caught off guard while he was holding a pan, and behind him was Baekjun who was chopping onions on the board, his finger looking as if it would nearly get chopped off.

She laughed at most of the memories she found in the camera, until she found two videos.

She played it and watched it silently.

"Hi it's me, Ji-Rae. So um… I have this camera now.. This was Koma's camera, but he gave it to me." She saw a young version of herself, looking as though she had been crying. The little girl in the video was sniffling in between her sentences and wiping away her wet tears every 5 or so minutes.

"Um… I'm usually not this awkward.. But uh.. I guess it's just that I'm...." the girl sighed after a long pause.

"…..It had been a day, before Koma left. He said he was moving back to America with his family… That's okay though. I mean it is his family we're talking about… His family is more important than… me..

Oh, goodness.. I didn't think I'd cry this much over a friend… Who knew, right?..

….. I guess it's because I never really had any friends my whole life. Just him… And here I thought that he was just going to be like the other kids I've seen. They just.. talk to me for a day or two and.. leave me. Turns out he was different..

He wouldn't stop bothering me until I actually opened up to him and be friends with him. He would say that we're already friends, but I'd always say we weren't, and never will be.

But, we ended up being close…. He never fails to prove me wrong.

...

Somehow school without him would be harder than it was. I have no one to talk to or hang out with anymore. That is, aside from my brothers…

I miss him… and mom too.. But they both promised we'll meet again… So here I am, counting down the days until they come back again… Or maybe years.

I'll admit, it will be hard for me to open up to anyone again… Before Koma, I had other friends. That was before mom had left too.

Things eventually started going downhill and one day my mom left… After that day my uh.. so-called friends did… yeah I won't tell since it's kinda personal.

Ever since then I just didn't approach other people at school or befriend anyone. But then he came, a new student and.. you know the rest.. It sou-"

"Ji-Rae? Can you come down for a while?" A faint voice cut her off, sounding like it was Leeseong's voice.

"Ah- C-coming brother!! I.. need to go.. I've rambled on long enough anyway I guess.." The little girl bid farewell and the video stopped.

Ji-Rae was then left staring at the screen, not being able to recognize the feeling she felt looming over her.

She sighed and decided to play the next one. She saw another version of herself in the video, except she was looking older than the last one in the first video.

"Hi there, it's Ji-Rae. It's been about uh…. Brother what year is it again?"

"20XX" a gruff voice replied.

"Yeah, it's been 5 years ever since Koma left, and as for mom… well, I lost count. Right now, all of us are studying. I'm not though, because my brain is on vacation and my brain cells had a stroke"

"That's not a valid reason, nor does it make sense" Seongjun peeked into view of the camera and stuck his tongue out at Ji-Rae. Ji-Rae snickered and shoved away Seongjun's face.

"As of now, I don't have anything much to say. Mostly because I'm bored and don't want to study" She grinned cheekily. She was about to say something when a notebook hit her on the face, emitting a 'smack'

"Ow"

"Seongjun, what was t h a t for?" Leeseong's voice seethed.

"Whoops, my hand slipped" Seongjun muttered out.

"Nevermind, I don't care. You're being immature again and I don't have time for that" Leeseong's voice hissed.

"Just get back here Ji-Rae. You promised me you'd teach me the lesson we had in chem after I taught you about the other subjects!"

"Oh, did I say that?"

"You punk! At least help me out with a few solutions!"

"Uh.. yeah about that, I didn't really understand chem today either" Ji-Rae smiled awkwardly.

"WHAT!" Seongjun's voice yelled and the video stopped there.

Ji-Rae laughed and put the camera down.

"Wow, I didn't know I could be that annoying" She smiled. She looked around the room and realized.

"Oh right. I should focus" she patted her cheeks to pull herself out of her thoughts. She continued with her work and set the camera aside.

She rummaged through the box and found a small box. It was the same size as the camera. She opened it and found a set of pictures, along with a locket. She smiled, realizing what they were. Ji-Rae tried to wear the locket but she ended up nearly choking herself because of how small it was on her.

"Bummer I can't wear this now.. Did I just get fat or am I really that big now? I'll buy a chain for this if I get the chance" She said and kept the pictures and locket inside the box. She took the camera and placed it inside the box as well and putting it on her bed.

She looked outside the window and noticed the sun was nearly setting.

"Oh boy, time flies fast…" She then looked around her room and noticed that she only just started on the boxes under her bed.

"Yeah, I might take a while… Maybe I could ask big brother Joonsung for help"