Inside | HENDERY WAYV/NCT

43

And if he could walk a thousand miles more, he would. But his legs weren't made for walking. He dropped onto the sand and slowly writhed in pain as his legs merged into one and scales emerged from beneath his skin. Slowly golden pink scales filled itself, blood gushing through as they cut through. Jaehyun knew his time was up. The tide was coming and he shall go back to the ocean.

*********************

Hendery broke the grip and skated away leaving Luna alone in the dark. "Hendery I can't see!"

Luna slowly tried to back up and searched for something to held on when suddenly the lights flickered back on and a familiar song echoed through the venue.

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow
I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called Yellow
So, then I took my turn
What a thing to've done
And it was all yellow
Your skin
Oh yeah, your skin and bones
Turn in to something beautiful
Do you know
You know I love you so
You know I love you so

She froze on the spot. Luna could hear her own heartbeat in her ears. She saw Hendery heading towards her, smiling. He stopped before her and handed her a bouquet of 5 yellow roses with red tips.

"What is this?" Luna clenched her fists. She didn't accept the bouquet. He smiled. "I just want to tell you. I like you."

"Is this some kind of an elaborated joke?" Luna asked slowly. Her gaze was locked onto the ice beneath her skates. Hendery shook his head. He inched forward and crouched down so their eyes met.

"Absolutely not. Nobody in their right mind would rent a whole venue for a prank without audience. Trust me. I would know," he smiled and softly pinched her cheek.

"DO YOU HENDERY WONG TAKE LUNA TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND?!!!" Luna was taken aback when she heard someone said that through the sound system. Worse, it was Hala's voice. Hendery chuckled and nodded.

"Yes!"

"HUA DELUNA DO YOU TAKE HENDERY TO BE YOUR BOYFRIEND? THE ANSWER IS YES!!!" Hala screamed into the sound system again which made both Luna and Hendery laughed. However Luna didn't respond right away.

Hendery realised she was hesitant. "Hendery, is this a joke?" Again she asked the same question.

"No. It's not."
"Why would you want to like me?"
"What's there not to like?"

************************

Hala shook her head when Hendery told her his ideas.
"Are you proposing for a marriage?" She scoffed. Hala turned to Lucas who shrugged.

"Well, what if I die before I get to even do a marriage proposal? At least I did it and Luna also experienced and elaborated proposal," he defended his idea. Hala picked some peanut shells and threw it at him.

"You're not dying anytime soon. Don't you dare die yet!"

Lucas laughed. He was so used to that situation. A pessimistic soul and an optimistic one. He wondered how do they even became friends in the first place.

"Okay enough bickering. I support his elaborated idea. Go and book that ice rink. But if she says no, you just wasted shit tonne of money," Lucas reminded Hendery of the bitter truth. Hendery shrugged. Money wasn't a big deal for him. Never was.

Both Hala and Lucas listened to Hendery as he explained how he'd want to tell Luna he likes her.

"I wish Lucas proposed like this. No, he proposed to me over some beer and fried chicken," Hala pinched Lucas's arm. "WE WERE DRUNK!"

"I want an elaborated proposal!"
"I'll propose in the labour room! Is that cool?" Lucas negotiated.

Just like that, he felt as if they were high schoolers again.

********************

"What's there not to like?" He held the flowers to her face.

"Hendery, look at me. Properly," Luna pulled his face close. "I am. You look beautiful."

"Hendery, look at me. And tell me, why would you like me? I'm not even half as pretty as anyone."

"Yes. You aren't half as pretty because you're beautiful as a whole."

"No... . This is absurd. Why would a good looking person like you, like me. It doesn't make sense. It's absolutely preposterous. You can't like me back. Because if it's just me who likes you, I'm the only one hurting myself. But if you like me back, then it's not just me, its you too," she broke the eye contact. Luna tried to walk away but she couldn't as she was on ice.

Hendery held her wrist and placed the flowers in her palm.

"Yellow roses with red tips bear the meaning of falling in love. 5 rose signifies love to a special someone. I am not asking you to say yes to all of these. I just want to show you how much I like and appreciate you. I don't know how much the world has hurt you, but I want to be that one reason, you're smiling. And it's okay if you don't see it the same way," he released his grip on her wrist. Hendery wanted to skate away but she held onto his wrist.

"Don't leave me here. I cannot skate like you," he laughed and nodded. Hendery held her and they skated across the ice.

**********************

Hala leaned on the sofa and stared straight into Hendery's eyes. "She'll say no. I'm one hundred percent sure."

"I know she will. But it's okay," he smiled. Lucas face palmed himself and sighed heavily.

"Why are you setting the bar so high? Now Hala will ask for unrealistic shit from me."
"So you're saying you don't love me?"
"I didn't say that. Of course I love you. See, Hendery????"

Hendery just laughed it off.

*************************

Luna placed the bouquet of flowers on the bench. She sat down and loosened up. Hendery was still on the ice.

"HENDERY!!" Luna shouted from her seat. He stopped skating and turned to her. "Wanna come over here??" He made his way to her. Luna nodded and held her hands out. He pulled her slowly to the centre of the rink again. This time, leaving her frozen on the ice as he ran around her.

Again, the same song continued echoing through the sound system

I swam across
I jumped across for you
What a thing to do
'Cause you were all yellow
I drew a line
I drew a line for you
What a thing to do
And it was all yellow

"Luna, I think you're my yellow," he whispered in her ears as he skated away.

"But I don't want to be your yellow."