on pieces of dyed rays | woosan

Chapter Nine

Wooyoung confirms that the expensive looking outfits San wears are in fact expensive, when he steps into his apartment. His naked feet touch the squeaky clean surface of the marble floor, and he awkwardly feels like he should've worn a pair of socks as he thinks his feet lingers on the floor a little too longer than they should. He reconsiders his choice of not wearing slippers when San offered him, thinking he would dirty those too, and also feeling too fancy for his liking.

Through a short hallway, the floor widens out to a wide space, a living room and an open kitchen, huge TV screen set up against the wide window boasting a night view of Seoul, from ten storeys high. The room doesn't own much, except for scribbled papers mindlessly thrown on the short living room table and a couch.

"You draw?" Wooyoung approaches and picks up one, a doodle that looks like a human drawn on it.

"Yeah, I make money by drawing doodles on magazines and stuff," San says, walking over to the kitchen. "Want something to drink?"

"Just water."

Wooyoung can easily guess doodling won't be enough to afford this apartment but he doesn't mention. He knows where San lives. He knows he's rich. He doesn't have to know why and other excessive information about his hookup. Looking around, there is a magazine rack near his sofa facing the huge TV, holding male fashion magazines and some architecture magazines that he probably draws for. On the wall, there are framed paintings hung up, and the way they are more precise and clean compared to what's flying on the floor makes them look more expensive and attractive.

Also, colours. More colours should be more expensive than monotone, right?

Something brushes past Wooyoung's leg, and he jolts at the sudden unexpected feeling. It's a white cat with a black face and black tail wearing black socks, hopping on the kitchen counter where San turns and gives it a smile as it purrs. He cradles it in his arms as he walks towards Wooyoung, another hand occupied with two bottles of water.

"Is that your cat?" Wooyoung asks dumbly.

"Yes, her name is Byeol," San smiles as he hands one bottle to Wooyoung. Receiving, he stares at the two—a human and a cat—both matching in their beauty, Byeol with her pretty icy blue eyes, and San with his warm dark brown eyes, that slowly grows worrisome. "Oh, um, you aren't allergic to cats, are you?"

Wooyoung blinks and shakes his head. He's never owned one, isn't even planning to because he can't be responsible for another life while he's already a handful, but he's never had trouble being around cats, dogs, rats, and whatever animals he came across. San smiles in relief, and when he turns to Byeol and attempts to kiss her, he gets a punch on his face as the cat slips from his hold. San sighs dejectedly sporting a pout that makes him look like an upset kid, and the fact that the owner got rejected by his own cat is so silly that Wooyoung gives out a genuine laugh.

San stares at him, long enough that his laugh subsides into a confused frown.

"What?"

San smiles then, softly. "You have a pretty smile, Wooyoung."

And Wooyoung doesn't know what to say to that. So he clears his throat and takes a sip from the bottle, turning his head around to look interested in the paintings that surround him.

"You painted these too?" Wooyoung asks San, who hums as a response while he takes a sip himself. "You paint humans blue?"

The paintings consisted of different objects, abstract, but something even an art dimwit Wooyoung could make out as people, buildings, trees and other landscapes. What they have in common are that the objects don't necessarily attain the usual colours. Wooyoung recalls a drawing he was forced to draw once upon a time in the orphanage; yellow sun, white house with red roof, green trees and pink flowers. Typical colours for typical drawings of an ideal 'home'.