[✔] Unroyal || Taejun

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royal

/ˈrɔɪəl/

1. adjective
having the status of a king or queen or a member of their family.

2. noun
a member of the royal family.

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The soft music echoed throughout the café. The pink haired man quickly wiped down the last of the tables before his shift ended.

Greeting his colleagues, he finally left the place.

Deciding to just have his dinner at the nearby park instead of walking home since the café was busy that day, he just plopped down on one of the benches and let the cool breeze calm his senses down.

All his worries vanished as he took the first bite of the burger, well, at least for that moment. But who would disagree? He was a broke university student who lived on cup noodles and soda. And if lucky, the leftovers from the café would be his dinner a few times in a week.

He wasn’t really miserable as it would seem, there wasn’t really much he wanted. Being able to taste different food once in a while was enough to energize his resolve. He was grateful for this kind manager. He considered himself lucky.

But there was a certain thing he wished — the warmth of feeling home.

“Yeonjun—ah, you know I would love to come to you but your father needs me here.” his mother consoled him over the phone. He would mask his loneliness in front of her but he knew his dad worked too hard even in his age to keep his family going. His mom would help him through it most of the time. More of the reason why he didn’t like asking his parents money for his university expenses.

Maybe it was a little too much but one can dream, right?

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have much time to flirt around. Sometimes during the weekends, his best friend, Beomgyu would invite him over to his house for a few games or to some party. But those places were just filled with people looking for flings and that was not something he was interested in. He had enough responsibilities already and he didn’t want to add drunk driving or a random fight to the list.

‘ You need to cool off sometimes, ’ the boy would say. And it was true — Yeonjun spent too much time trying to keep his grades up and work at the same time. He got into a prestigious university — but it didn’t really help him financially. The tuition was expensive and he needed to keep his scholarship until the end or at least till he landed in a stable job.

Some would say he had Beomgyu by his side — they aren’t wrong but it wouldn’t feel that way. Beomgyu would be there when he needed him the most. They would fool around skipping classes sometimes but that was about it. The rush of thoughts in Yeonjun’s mind didn’t really let him enjoy himself to the fullest — he despised that about himself the most.

He’d met the black haired boy only during their first year — he was so quiet on the first day of their class. And then boom! The following day, he never shut his mouth, but that was his charming point. He’d instantly make everyone happy just by his presence. He’d noticed how Yeonjun felt lonely — new to the city and away from his family. They became close over the two years yet there was a void in the elder’s heart that he couldn’t just fill.

He looked around the park; it was a chilly night in the month of December — no one was around. And then his eyes landed on a small water fountain at the corner of the area. Quickly finishing the remaining burger and coke, curiosity dragged him towards it.

The water glimmered under the moonlight, the reflection of the full moon was picture perfect. Even in dim lights, one could see the numerous scattered coins in the shallow water; some rusty and some new.

He’d heard about the rumors from the customers that came to the café, especially the ones who came with their kids. It was said that if one wished for something they truly desired under the light of the full moon, it would come true.

It wouldn’t hurt to try, right?

And so he did. He clasped the coin in his palm, prayed for a quick minute and threw it into the fountain with a flick of his fingers.

When will I feel home?

It was stupid and he knew it. It wasn’t worth wasting a penny on it anyways. Maybe a homeless man would come and steal the money from here — he hoped so — at least the money would be of some use.

With a lonely heart, he walked back home. Somewhere in the air remained a lingering hope that maybe, he wouldn’t feel so lonely anymore.

Little did he know what future had in store for him.