The rising sun
As the morning sun peeked through the curtains, a young boy named San Yi slowly awoke from his deep
sleep. He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before remembering what day it
was.
“Shit!”
San Yi quickly jumped out of bed and rushed to get dressed, throwing on his tattered school uniform as
quickly as he could. He grabbed his bag and hurried towards the door.
Just as his hand touched the handle, he stopped.
Something was missing.
His eyes wandered towards his desk. Sitting there was a pair of headphones.
San Yi walked over and picked them up carefully. They weren’t expensive, nor were they particularly
special to anyone else. But to him, they were priceless.
They were the last gift his father had ever given him.
He looked at them for a moment before placing them back on the desk.
“I’ll take them later.”
He grabbed his bag and rushed out of the room.
San Yi collected the remaining bus money from his mother’s drawer and hurried towards the bus station,
hoping he could make it in time.
The bus was already waiting when he arrived.
“Wait!”
He ran towards it, barely making it through the doors before they closed behind him.
San Yi dropped into a seat, exhausted from the run.
It was only after the bus had started moving that he realised something was missing.
He checked his pockets.
Then his bag.
His heart sank.“My headphones...”
He immediately thought he must have left them on the bus.
For the next few hours, San Yi searched everywhere he could think of, convinced that he had somehow
dropped them. What he didn’t realise was that they were still sitting by his bedroom door.
By the time he finally reached school, the morning was almost over.
And more importantly, he had completely forgotten about the exam.
San Yi rushed towards the school entrance, only to see the staff preparing to close the doors.
“Please!”
One of the staff members stopped him.
“You’re late again, San Yi.”
“I know. I just need to get to my exam.”
The staff member shook his head.
“You know the rules.”
San Yi sighed.
“Of course I do.”
He was taken to the principal’s office.
It was his fifth late arrival that month, and this time he had missed an important exam. He sat quietly in
the chair, looking exhausted and barely able to keep his eyes open.
The principal looked over the paperwork before speaking.
“San Yi, I’m worried about you.”
San Yi looked up but didn’t respond.
The principal continued, acting as though he genuinely cared about the boy’s future. However, many
students had previously reported him for abuse and harming them, only for him to lie his way out of the
accusations.
San Yi eventually received his suspension slip and left the office.
Only his close friend, Kumi Yueng, knew how much trouble San Yi had been getting himself into. He
often stayed out late at night and had been warned several times by his mother that continuing to do so
could lead him towards the wrong people.
Later that day, San Yi arrived home with the suspension slip in his hand.His mother looked at the paper before looking at him.
She didn’t shout.
She didn’t get angry.
She simply looked disappointed.
San Yi barely noticed. His mind was still somewhere else.
His headphones.
He needed to find them.
His mother finally broke the silence.
“San Yi.”
He looked up.
She stared at him for a moment before speaking.
“Get an education. Get a job.”
She paused.
“Or we starve.”
San Yi lowered his head.
For once, he had nothing to say.
He walked back to his room in silence.
He closed the door behind him and dropped the suspension slip onto his desk.
For a moment, he just stood there.
His eyes moved around the room.
His bed.
His desk.
His school books.
Nothing.
He checked his pockets again, even though he already knew they were empty.
His headphones were still missing.San Yi sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed.
He couldn't understand where they had gone.
He had searched the bus.
The school.
The streets.
Even the places he had walked through that morning.
Nothing.
He reached for his phone and opened his messages.
There was one from Kumi.
Kumi: You home?
San Yi stared at it for a few seconds before replying.
San Yi: Yeah.
The reply came almost immediately.
Kumi: What happened?
San Yi looked at the suspension slip.
San Yi: Got suspended.
There was a pause.
Kumi: Again?
San Yi didn't respond.
He put his phone down and leaned back against the wall.
His room felt strangely empty without the headphones.
They were one of the few things he still had that reminded him of his father.
He couldn't lose them.
Not those.
San Yi suddenly stood up.
He searched under his bed.Nothing.
He opened his wardrobe and checked the pockets of his old clothes.
Nothing.
He looked through his school bag for the third time.
Still nothing.
“Where are you...”
He sat back down, frustrated.
His phone buzzed.
Kumi: I'll see you tomorrow.
San Yi frowned.
San Yi: I'm suspended.
A few seconds passed.
Kumi: I know.
Then another message appeared.
Kumi: Just meet me.
San Yi stared at the screen.
He didn't understand what Kumi wanted.
Before he could reply, another notification appeared.
A message from an unknown number.
Unknown: You looking for something?
San Yi froze.
He stared at the screen.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
He didn't reply.
Another message arrived.
Unknown: I think I found it.San Yi's heart began to beat faster.
He immediately typed:
San Yi: Found what?
The message showed as delivered.
Then read.
No reply came.
San Yi stared at the screen.
For the first time all day, he completely forgot about the suspension.
Someone had his headphones.
And he had no idea who.
