He carefully approached and sat beside the bed where Hwan was lying. Then he proceeded to intertwine his fingers in Hwan’s jet-black hair and stroke it. Feeling his touch, Hwan’s body flinched, and Huiseo finally opened his mouth to ask.
“Did you want to dye your hair that badly? Enough to be so upset you’d cry?”
Huiseo had asked so affectionately, probably to comfort him. But conversely, Hwan seemed to feel like he was being teased by that tone that treated him as if he were a kindergartener. Without even looking at Huiseo’s hand stroking his hair, he swatted it away.
Then, as if trying to pretend he hadn’t been crying, he squirmed and sneakily wiped his tears on the pillow. It was funny, but if he really laughed, Hwan would surely sulk, so Huiseo was keeping his lips tightly pressed together when—Hwan, with resentful eyes, turned his head and glared at Huiseo with just his eyes peeking out.
Then he suddenly said something incomprehensible.
“Why did I want to dye my hair…”
“Hm? Was there a specific reason?”
Huiseo immediately asked what that reason was, but even after bringing it up himself, Hwan couldn’t readily answer and just moved his lips idly. However, his gaze was honest, obediently directed at Huiseo’s hair. And Huiseo didn’t miss noticing that either.
“…Because of me?”
Asking that, Huiseo was startled and stroked his own hair.
Certainly, Huiseo’s hair caught in his fingertips was lighter in color than Hwan’s, which was like jet-black silk. It also looked light as a feather, with a slight curl to it.
He occasionally received misunderstandings that he’d dyed it separately, but that wasn’t the case—Huiseo’s innate colors were generally just pale. Fair skin, light brown hair, and eyes of an equally bright and mysterious light.
If you were to find just one exception among the colors he possessed that wasn’t pale, it would be his red lips. Through those plump lips, Huiseo’s small smile leaked out.
“You were envious of this?”
“It’s not that I was envious.”
“Not?”
“Together…”
“Hm?”
“I wanted to be like you.”
Hwan muttered so with an embarrassed look.
At the time, Huiseo couldn’t easily understand how that was different from being envious. In any case, since the reason for all this chaos was none other than himself, Huiseo thought he should comfort Hwan.
“But I like you just as you are?”
It was said with the intention of not wanting him to feel more upset over something impossible anyway, but that didn’t mean it was lip service or a lie. Hwan’s distinctly contrasting colors—opposite to Huiseo’s—and his flashy, prominent features suited him very well.
“You’re pretty. Black hair.”
It was the truth.
When he said that, Hwan’s face looking up at Huiseo had turned bright red before he knew it. As if flustered, he kept blinking his eyes, and his lips moved as if he would say something or not. Was he newly embarrassed? Huiseo watched Hwan wavering like that for a moment, then clapped his hands as if a good idea had come to mind.
“Right. If you want the same color, should I dye my hair instead?”
“What?”
What was he talking about? He meant that since he could dye his hair, he would dye it black—Hwan’s hair color. That way, they would be alike as Hwan wished. Huiseo was proud, thinking he’d found quite a good solution. He thought Hwan would surely like it too.
But somehow, contrary to expectations, Hwan raised both hands and blocked him, saying it absolutely couldn’t happen.
“That won’t do!”
“Why?”
“Because other, other people would like it too much!”
“Other people? Who?”
Huiseo, unable to easily understand what Hwan was saying, tilted his head.
Meanwhile, Hwan looked at Huiseo intently once more.
Of course he unbearably loved the soft and warm atmosphere created by the pale colors now, but since the topic had come up, he imagined what Huiseo would look like if he dyed his hair black. If Huiseo’s hair became black?
It would probably contrast distinctly with his fair skin, his lips would look even redder, and his atmosphere would seem calmer and sharper…
‘That’s dangerous?’
As Hwan imagined Huiseo with black hair, he had a premonition that if he carelessly did that, things would soon become troublesome. Huiseo was someone he wanted to show off proudly anywhere, anytime, in any form, but somehow that made his heart pound so much that he felt the unsettling desire to hide him away tightly and keep him to himself alone.
“No, there’s no need to go that far. Dyeing, you know, how much it damages your hair and all.”
“Really? I don’t really mind.”
“No. That’s not true. I like you just as you are too.”
“It seems like it would be fun though.”
“That! Hair dye is bad for your eyes and all that, right? If your eyes get damaged, how inconvenient would it be when you’re reading books?”
So now, conversely, he was breaking out in a cold sweat trying to stop Huiseo from dyeing his hair.
“How bad could it get from doing it once?”
“It could! It really could!”
After bickering like that for a while, apparently unable to help it, Hwan arbitrarily recited “No! I said no! Where does a student dare try to dye their hair!” exactly what he himself had been scolded about. At that desperate appearance, Huiseo, who had been looking at him questioningly, finally saw Hwan huffing and puffing and burst out laughing, “Ahaha, what are you doing?”
That appearance was so pretty that his heart melted smoothly.
It seemed like that laughter still lingered in his ears, but when Hwan opened his eyes, all he saw was himself lying alone in the quiet room. Huiseo, who had been by his side, was nowhere to be seen. Ah, right. After slowly blinking his eyes, Hwan started another day with that realization once again.
‘Huiseo left the palace.’
It seemed like it was about time to accept it, yet every morning without fail, he was truly making a fuss.
‘But today I had a good dream…’
He had a very nostalgic dream. However, the only thing dream-like was the tear stains on his pillow. Back then, looking at those tear and snot stains, they had giggled together for a long time, finding it funny. Now there was no Huiseo by his side to tease him about this.
Then and now were so different.
Suddenly feeling achingly sorrowful about it, Hwan burst into tears again from the early morning breeze.
***
“We will now begin the nth emergency strategy meeting of HwanHui’s Garden. Does anyone have any new information?”
We can’t live like this—it felt like it was just a while ago that they impulsively started the regular meeting, but they’d already reached the nth one. The member ‘HwanhuiObseoye,’ who had consistently led the atmosphere of the gathering, naturally volunteered as moderator and asked, but seeing the quiet atmosphere with no response, it seemed there was no new information this time either.
“The kids even started their break…”
That was right. To make matters worse, the break had started, so even though they’d mobilized every connection they had, it was difficult to get news about the two.
Huiseo apparently had things completely settled toward early graduation, so he seemed to be frantically busy studying, and Hwan, according to a palace staff member who occasionally shared stories, seemed to be holed up in his quarters and not going out at all. So it was natural that there was really no way to hear news of the two.
They were hiding so tightly that not even a strand of hair could be seen.
That meant the people of HwanHui’s Garden were drying up like parched earth.
Of course, the truth was that their outward appearances were getting plumper by the day as they continued to meet under this pretext, eating this and that to relieve stress. But what good did it do for their outward appearances to gain weight! Their hearts were cracking apart like a desert, becoming desolate!
They were worried about what their kids were doing, whether they were sleeping well, whether they were eating properly.
Juyoung, the ‘Golden Apple,’ was also among that group.
She was just as anxious about the current situation as the other members. No, in Juyoung’s case, there was even a special circumstance, so it was more if anything. From that day when she shared a secret with Hwan, this had become neither fiction nor a simple hobby for Juyoung.
These guys are real, they’re for real.
“Our Hwan hasn’t posted on SNS in ages. Isn’t he practically half-dead?”
The words someone threw out like a sigh didn’t sound like a joke.
Juyoung thought it might really be so. As a fellow earth-bound spirit, Hwan wasn’t coming often to HwanHui’s Garden, which he used to frequent constantly, so she was worried and anxious. She wanted to ask if he was okay. But thinking that if he wasn’t okay, constantly asking if he was okay would be draining and bothersome, she couldn’t carelessly speak up.
‘I want to comfort him…’
I want to help him like last time. Since she didn’t know the exact circumstances, there was nothing she could do.
So Juyoung sent completely different messages to Hwan’s message window.
This weekend, at what time and where, the people of HwanHui’s Garden were modestly meeting. Meeting and worrying about you and cheering for you. Hang in there. She wanted to convey such content. It would be good even if he just read it. If it gave him even a little strength that way, she vaguely hoped he might make a request for help like last time.
‘Advice or something.’
She was full of thoughts to help in whatever way.
But she didn’t know.
That one day, a large man heavily armed with a black mask and hat, his eyes swollen and puffy, would suddenly appear at their regular meeting.
