Colors ♡ Kim Hongjoong

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 2

The door opened downstairs and I jumped off of my bed, running down the steps. It was Saturday and Yeosang was finally back from helping Wooyoung's family. Yeosang was my cousin but we were so much alike that we might as well be twins. Both of his parents were workaholics so he decided to move in with me and my parents a few years ago.

I ran to greet him, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him tightly, "Oh my gosh, Yeo, you're back. Finally."

Yeosang laughed and ruffled hair. He pulled away and grinned, "Miss me that much?"

"You have no idea. I had to hang out with Hongjoong for the past three days."

My cousin clutched his chest in mock surprise and pity, "Oh no, I'm sure that was terrible."

I frowned, "It was! Don't make fun of me!"

Walking into the living room, he set down his bags and shrugged, "I don't get why you hate them all so much. Sure, they're the subject nerds but we're the tech geeks."

This was true, Yeosang and I were complete tech geeks. We coded, built small machines (mostly just robot-type things), and Yeosang even built a drone once. We've won every single tech competition for our school, and in the city. We were even on the news a few times and in the newspapers--but so was Hongjoong and his nerds for receiving the top grades.

It was like a battle of intelligence. They were good at keeping it in their brains and reciting things as Yeosang and I were better with our hands (and whatever we had learned to create these things).

"Fine, I won't rant about them to you anymore," I huffed, shoving my phone and wallet in my pocket, "I'm going to the bookstore."

Yeosang peered over his shoulder, "I thought you were so excited to have me back home?"

Being the rebellious person I am, I gave him the finger on my way out. That little turd. I put my earbuds in and hit shuffle on my chill playlist. Slowly walking down the street, I felt at ease and calm. This was nice. There was just a slightly chilly breeze as it was the end of October.

I made it to the bookstore and entered, hearing the bell above the door ring. It always had such a sweet ring to it, like a melody of spring flowers and hot chocolate in the middle of winter. I was greeted by the worker at the desk and I gave a slight smile. I roamed the romance section for a while before selecting "Pride and Prejudice" and heading to the counter to pay. I had read it before but had never bought it to add to my large collection of books in my room.

After paying, I bid the cashier farewell and continued on my walk. My next stop was the coffee shop a few buildings down the street. I entered and heard the bell above the door ring. This bell was different from the one in the bookstore—it was like vinyl records and old movie cassettes. I've always been very specific with my descriptions of things. I walked straight to the cashier and ordered my coffee.

"For here or to go?" the woman asked.

Without looking up from my new book, I replied, "To go."

What I didn't notice though was that Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and Yunho were sitting on the other side of the room. Yunho was the first one to notice me, leaning over and whispering to the others.

"Isn't that Yeona?" he murmured.

Hongjoong glanced up, settling his gaze on me who was still oblivious to their presence. Smiling softly, he looked back down at his book, "Funny, we're reading the same book."

"And she's getting her coffee to go," added Seonghwa, watching me carefully.

After a few minutes, the cashier handed me my coffee and I turned to leave. I still had not taken notice of the three males sitting at a table nearby. I paused though, noticing the dark clouds in the sky and the soft rain that started to drizzle. Normally I would have no problem with going out in a rain like this, but I had a book in my hands and feared it would get destroyed or harmed.

I sighed, closing my book and taking a sip of my coffee. It was nice, the feeling of having a book in my hands and a cup of coffee. I could be satisfied to continue to live in this black and white world of mine. I didn't mind if I never found my soulmate, but that was always a curiosity. I was always curious about what it would be like to find him, what it would be like to see color.

Letting out a second sigh, I sat down in a nearby chair, pulling my knees up to my chest. This was nice. Not a spectacular or extravagant feeling or moment. Not one I'd remember for the rest of my life. It was just nice. A small memory to fit in between the most important ones of my life. A moment that helped pass the time. It was nice.

Unknowingly my lips formed into a soft smile.

I sat at my desk, working on an essay for my Literature class at school. I was assigned to form a written opinion on a piece of literature I favored so I chose to do it on "Pride and Prejudice". I doubted anyone else in my class would write about the same book as me.

My opinion was that Elizabeth was not in the wrong for making conclusions about Mr. Darcy. In the end, he was found to be kind, but before he had let his pride get in the way and his negative characteristics shown through. According to the teacher, there was no wrong answer, we were all encouraged to form our own thoughts and opinions and submit them.

It took me about an hour or so to have the whole essay completely written and edited. I even ran it by my father who was a journalist and he said it was well written. I slipped it into my folder and then into my backpack so it would be ready for class the next morning. Wooyoung came over for dinner that evening and I was glad to see him after several days of missing him. The topic of our birthdays came up at the table.

"I think we should have a big birthday for the two of you to share," suggested my mother, "Can you imagine how fun that would be? We could invite all of your friends over and have a big cake!" She went on, making me smile at her enthusiasm.

Wooyoung has always been like a son to her, even if he did just live across the street from us. She truly loved kids, whether it be a toddler or a teenager, she saw no difference in the need to spoil them.

"Your birthdays fall on the weekend—Wooyoung's on the twenty-sixth and on a Friday and yours on the twenty-seventh the day after. We could have it Friday night and—" my mother continued but was cut off by Wooyoung.

"Mrs. Kang, of course, we're going to have a big party here! There's no question about it!" he spoke cheerfully. Wooyoung was well aware that my parents loved being around the younger generation. They loved to have fun and spend time with them; it made them feel a tad bit younger.

I cleared my throat, "I agree. I think it would be a splendid idea to share a party for the two of us here!"