49th Day

“We are contacting you as the recipient of Jiyoon Jeon's death insurance benefits.”

“Did you not bring any supplies again? Go back and raise your hand!”

As usual, a teacher scolded Jiyoon. The girl and her friends ostracized Jiyoon's bad smell and scars on face. The teacher, who found Ji-yoon moaning with the pain of her shoulders, stopped corporal punishment and allowed Ji-yoon to sit back.

“Do you all remember that today is a new seat mate day?” the teacher said.

Every odd number of months, her class chose a new pair by drawing lots. Papers were picked up in the order of numbers determined by name. As the girl's turn approached, her heart was pounding. She prayed to an unbelieving God, hoping to become a mate with Dong-wook, who was in love with me. The girl's number was '17'. When the last number 38 drew lots, the children shouted their numbers everywhere. The girl looked at Dong-wook. Dongwook was number 25. Was her prayer not earnest? Unfortunately, her prayers did not reach God. The children in turn moved their desks to their newly arranged seats. The girl also saw Jiyoon heading around No. 17 as she was about to move. The girl rubbed her eyes. No matter how much she looked at, Jiyoon's position is number 18. She couldn't believe what she saw. Yesterday evening she memorized the prayer and prayed over and over. The girl denied the reality, saying that if God really exists, there is no way to give this ordeal. The girl stopped moving her desk, plumped herself down and cried.

That late evening, the girl ran to her mother and confessed her complaints. Because Ji-yoon doesn't wash and wears the same clothes every day, the teacher and her friends all hate Jiyoon, but the girl cried, saying that she was paired with Jiyoon. The girl's mother patted her back while listening to her story and finally opened her mouth.

“Is your friend Jiyoon eating well?”

"Well… I don't know where she’s going out during lunch time.”

“Then could you do me a favor for me? Go to tap street for lunch tomorrow.”

"Why?" The girl asked her mother back.

“It’s because it reminds me of when I was young.”

"Okay."'

The next morning, the girl's mother gave the girl two lunch boxes.

“Why are two?” The girl asked her mother with a puzzled expression.

“If Jiyoon is at the tap street for lunch today, give her this one.”

The girl headed to school with a boxed lunch. At lunchtime, when all the children took out their lunch boxes, Jiyoon got up and headed somewhere. The girl followed Jiyoon. As her mother said, Jiyoon was at the tap. She seemed to fill her stomach while drinking water from the tap. The girl was not happy handing out a lunch box to Ji-yoon because the girl's family was not financially stable to care for others. However, She gave Jiyoon a lunch box while thinking about what her mother said. Looking at Jiyoon's confused expression, the girl said,

“My mom gave it to you.”

Since that day, the girl has always carried two lunch boxes. Every time I handed Jiyoon a lunchbox, the boys in her class mocked him, saying that Jiyoon was the girl's friend. Every time that happened, the girl resented her mother’s warm heart. The resentment subsided when Jiyoon started giving one or two items in return for the girl's lunch box. There was no way Jiyoon could buy these expensive items, who couldn't even bring the school supplies properly. Wherever it came from, the girl enjoyed the luxury items of her heart. Whenever Jiyoon gave an item to the girl, other friends also started talking to Ji-yoon and the girl to buy their favor.

One day, Dong-wook brought a CD to the class. It was the famous German pianist Robert Schumann’s album. He borrowed the teacher's cassette and played it to all of his classmates. A sad but romantic melody wrapped the whole class. Everyone closed their eyes to listen to the soft piano sound and imagine their own scenery. It’s Kinderszenen op. 15 no. 7. She did not know that Schumann composed this song by recalling his childhood, but she could feel the softness of the calm melody. When the girl looked around, she noticed tears in Jiyoon’s eyes. When the song was over, Jiyoon asked the girl with a determined expression.

“Do you have a cassette at your house?”

"Maybe?" She had one but gave a vague answer.

“If I give you a CD, can we listen together at your place?”

The girl wasn't very happy to invite Jiyoon to her house, but if she had the same CD as Dongwook, it would bring more conversation with him, so she accepted Jiyoon's proposal.

Jiyoon brought a CD. It was written on the cover as "a variation on the theme of Schumann - Brahms." The girl didn't know what the variation meant, but when it was written as Schumann, it looked like the same CD as Dongwook. On that day, for the first time, she walked with Jiyoon after school. While walking silently, Jiyoon handed her a small notebook covered in a black hardcover. She checked inside, but there were only soft and thick blank papers. Jiyoon rubbed her crampled t-shirt and told the girl to share her diary together. The girl nodded. The girl and Jiyoon filled the first page of the black book together while listening to Brahms. Jiyoon went home late evening right before the girl’s mother came back from work.

The next day, Jiyoon did not come to the class. The teacher asked who is Jiyoon's closest friend. Everyone in the class looked at the girl. The teacher asked her to visit Jiyoon's house and tell her what to prepare for tomorrow. Although she told Jiyoon the information, it was obvious that Jiyoon wouldn't bring anything, but she couldn't refuse the teacher's request. She headed to the address the teacher handed over. It was an alley filled with houses made of wooden planks. Because there were no windows, she could see the inside of the houses with holes. The girl checked inside of every house in order to find Jiyoon. As she went a little deeper, she heard a girl crying. A drunk man was angry and slapped Jiyoon on the cheek. Jiyoon put her hands together and prayed to a man. The man struck the small black notebook, which yesterday a girl and Jiyoon wrote together, on the floor. The girl was shocked by a violent scene that she had never seen before. She didn’t look back and run towards home.

The girl was surprised when she got the call from the insurance company as she long ago had put time with Jiyoon back in her mind. While filling out the documents to receive the insurance death payment, an insurance company employee handed Jiyoon's belongings to the girl. It was a small black notebook. When she turned over the first page that the girl and Jiyoon wrote together, there were Jiyoon’s struggles and letters written for the girl. Jiyoon spent her entire life cherishing the short but strongly shared memories with her. As she read Jiyoon’s wishing to hear Schumann's piano song, she wanted to tell Jiyoon that the CD was actually not Schumann's, but Brahms'. A few days after she finished writing the insurance claim, she had $20,000 in her account. She felt guilty and thought that she did not deserve the money for forgetting Jiyoon. She decided to run Jiyoon's forty nine day memorial rite by searching the surrounding temples.

On the 49th day after Jiyoon's death, the monk and the girl decided to burn Jiyoon's belongings in a field a little distanced from a temple. The girl carried a small black notebook, her cassette and a Brahms CD. She put the CD in the cassette and played “Kinderszenen op. 15 no. 7 träumerei.” Schumann's childhood and the sad story of Brahms' love flowed. It lit the firewood. On the beat, she threw the black notebook and the money, which left after spending forty nine memorial rite fees, on the firewood. The girl believed this fire would be a bridge to the afterlife. As the wind was getting stronger, the fire ate her memories and gradually disappeared.