A Promise

At a playground by the river, a young woman wearing a black suit and short gray skirt was looking at the playground from the front gate to the playground.

That woman is Park Jihye, a 23-year-old career woman.

She has a beautiful face with tawny eyes and long jet-black hair.

Her body is shaped like a Spanish violin because she often does exercises.

She used to come to this playground almost every day just to see it from the outside of the gate.

Park Jihye opened the gate to the playground and she began to recall her memories with her one and only childhood friend as she walked around the playground.

_______

This place is a playground by the river.

The place where my lonely days turn into happiness.

I look back and it's a beautiful memory.

But that only happened in my childhood.

When I was little, I always played alone in this place because the other kids didn't want to be friends with me.

The reason they don't want to be friends with me is because of my family.

However, my days in solitude ended when I met him.

When I was playing alone in the playground, suddenly a boy appeared.

He was wearing a red t-shirt and yellow shorts on that very cold day.

He asked me to play together with him with a big smile on his face.

I had to ignore him so that the other kids wouldn't stay away from him because he was playing together with me.

But he was very stubborn and kept on asking me to play together with him.

I don't know what's on this boy's mind, but I think it would be good to play together with someone so I accepted his offer.

When I accepted his offer, his smile became bigger, and looked very happy.

The first game we did was rock paper scissors with the loser having to obey the winner's words.

It was a fun game.

Unfortunately, I kept losing.

He told me various things like climbing trees, making weird faces, and so on.

Day after day we spend playing together in this playground.

Even though it's just the two of us, we feel thrilled to play together.

He always smiled and tried to look cool in front of me.

But one day he did not come to the park.

I waited for him to come while playing alone, but he never came on that day.

I'm worried if he doesn't want to play with me anymore and doesn't come to this park anymore.

But the next day he came early with a smiling face.

He apologized to me for not being able to come yesterday with a very sad expression on his face as if he was going to cry.

I accepted his apology and tried to comfort him by asking him to play together with him.

He accepted my offer, but he told me it will be the last time we played together.

I already knew that day would come, the day that boy would leave me like the others so I wasn't too surprised by that.

But then, he promised me that he would definitely come back someday to this playground to see me again.

I'm not sure if he will keep his promise, but I said yes and we do pinkie promise.

After we do the pinkie promise, we played our last game, and the game was rock paper scissors, the first game we played together.

Of course, I lost as usual.

When the sun was about to set, he said goodbye to me and walked away.

But he looked back with a big smile on his face and waved at me.

I also waved my hand at him while smiling at him.

However, he never come to this playground again, and my days of solitude returned.

I kept going back to this playground every day until I graduated from college.

But he never appeared.

And then, I'm here again on my day off.

_______

'Should I put an end to this nonsense? There's no way he'll ever come back to this place. Maybe he's even forgotten about me,' Park Jihye thought as she sit on the swing.

Park Jihye looked at the seesaw at the playground and she felt like she could see the time when she and her childhood friend played together using the seesaw.

She also looked at every part of the playground and she can still remember the beautiful memories she had with her childhood friend.

'Maybe, I really should give an end to this,' Park Jihye thought as she stood up from the swing and walked out of the playground area.

Park Jihye went to a building supply store and she bought a small wooden board, a nail, a small hammer, and a carving tool.

Park Jihye returned to the playground while carrying a cardboard bag containing a small wooden plank, a nail, a small hammer, and a carving tool.

She sat back down on the swing while taking out a wooden plank, a nail, a small hammer, and a carving tool that she had bought one by one from the cardboard bag.

Park Jihye placed the wooden plank she had bought on her lap and then she held a carving tool in her left hand and a small hammer in her right hand.

Park Jihye took a deep breath and then she began to slowly carve words on the small wooden plank.

_______

Best regards, to my childhood friend.

If you found this wooden plank and read the message I left behind, it means that you have finally come to this place.

I have been waiting for you to come to this playground again for a long time.

I came here every day with the hope you'll show up here, but you never came.

I think you've forgotten about me, or maybe you just don't want to see me anymore.

Therefore, I leave this wooden plank and this message if you ever come to this place and look for me.

I just want to tell you that you don't have to look for me anymore and live happily in your current life.

Thank you for the beautiful memories you have given.

From your childhood friend, Park Jihye.

______

After craving the message, Park Jihye placed the wooden plank on the tree she used to climb with her childhood friend, and then she nailed it there.

Park Jihye went to a house right in front of the playground to meet the person who takes care and also the owner of that playground.

The house looked so small and a bit run-down with the blue-painted wooden walls and the perforated roof tile.

The door, which is made of dark brown plywood, also has a few holes due to being eaten by termites.

"Excuse me, is there anyone inside?" Park Jihye said as she looked at the house's condition.

Not long after Park Jihye said that someone slowly opened the door from inside the house.

When the door opened, there is an old hunchbacked grandmother wearing tattered clothes that appeared from inside the house.

Her long white hair and nearsighted eyes made Park Jihye feel sorry for her.

Park Jihye approached the grandmother and then she crouched in front of her while holding her hands.

"Oh, it's you, young girl, it's been a long time," the grandmother said in a slightly hoarse voice.

"How have you been lately grandma? Has your health improved recently?" Park Jihye asked as she leads the grandmother to return to her house.

The inside of the grandmother's house looks very dusty and unkempt with some worn-out furniture.

"Well, not much has improved, I've just been feeling my back getting sore lately," the grandmother said as she was seated by Park Jihye on a wooden chair.

"See, grandma should just be hospitalized. It's better for you to be hospitalized than your condition getting worse," Park Jihye said while she got a glass of water for the grandmother.

"Well, well, I better stay here and keep taking care of my own playground," the grandmother said as she accepted the glass of water Park Jihye had given her.

Park Jihye sighed and then she said, "Gosh, you stubborn grandma," as she held her forehead.

"After all, I did this for you too, you were waiting for that boy to come back, right?" the grandmother said.

"Grandma doesn't have to do it anymore, I've given up waiting for him to come back, I've also left my last message for him there," Park Jihye said as she smiled.

The grandmother drank the water that Park Jihye gave her and then she suddenly coughed.

"Grandma?! Grandma?!" Park Jihye shouted in panic as she reached into her cell phone which was in her pocket.

Park Jihye turned on her cell phone and then she immediately called the hospital.

"Hello?! Help! It's an emergency! Quickly send an ambulance down to (...) road right now."

After that, the grandmother was taken to the hospital, but unfortunately, it was too late and the grandmother passed away.

Park Jihye took care of the grandmother's funeral, and she was also the only person who came to the grandmother's funeral.

Park Jihye had tears in her eyes non-stop because someone she knew had passed away.