on pieces of dyed rays | woosan

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Do you mind looking after Byeol for me?"

Wooyoung blinks his eyes to San, who's holding a mug of coffee, standing against the morning rays, looking down at Wooyoung crouching and petting his cat, with soft eyes. The smell of morning coffee, the sight of San in messy bed hair and the soft furry touch of Byeol on his fingers are something Wooyoung has grown familiar with, but not the suggestion.

"What?" Wooyoung asks, and he doesn't know why he sounds hostile. "I thought you'd rather die than give up Byeol to someone else."

"You got that right." San chuckles. "It's just for a few days. I have to go back to my hometown to attend my parent's wedding anniversary party, and I can't take her with me because my mother is allergic. I usually take her to pet hotels but she seems to hate it, coming back stressed, so I prefer not."

"You celebrate their wedding anniversary?" Wooyoung gawks. A party at that.

"I don't," San says flatly. "They do."

For the rareness of it, Wooyoung catches San's cold tone. San sips on his coffee, a gesture clear that he isn't going to elaborate on it further.

It's funny how Wooyoung can probably draw the shape of San's cock on a blank page impromptu but doesn't even know his hometown. He's mentioned his parents before, when he gave him the kaleidoscope, and from what he can gather then and now, is that San doesn't have a great relationship with his parents.

San must be from a rich family, because who throws a party for something so personal? Which explains this stupidly expensive apartment he's living in and God knows how many zeros worth branded clothes he wears that can't be afforded by a mere drawing job, as far as Wooyoung can tell. There's an itch in Wooyoung, the one that tells him to prod further, which is unlike him because he never considered someone else's business his.

He wants to know how San was brought up; his school life, his childhood dreams, his reasons for moving to Seoul, his clashes with his parents—he wants to know how he can be so upset having both parents alive, how he can be so upset when he's rich as fuck, while Wooyoung had a fucked up upbringing with no father and just that woman—and he refuses to ask. He doesn't want to risk San asking about his childhood, which he had to struggle for to not haunt him any chance they got.

Glancing down, Byeol is purring at him as he scratches her chin.

"She's hardly ever friendly like this with others, so I thought if you could look after her while I'm away...this house will be free of use, you can order whatever food under my name-" San trails off, noticing Wooyoung isn't reacting.

"What if I abduct your precious daughter?"

"Then I'd know where to look, don't I?" San chuckles. "But, um, you don't have to though. I guess I was being too greedy." San waves his hand, an act giving away a little embarrassment.

Wooyoung responds, "I will."

"You will?" San asks back with his eyes wide open, as if he unexpectedly nailed a shot he had aimed for the moon.

Admittedly, it wasn't a thought out answer. But he's certain that his answer would be the same even if he gave it a night to sleep on, and he doesn't regret it one bit when he sees San's face beam in delight.

"Goodness, you have no idea how relieved I feel...is there anything I could return you as a favour?"

Wooyoung ponders for a moment, while Byeol slips into his arms further, as if she's pleased of the choice he made. He glances up at San, smiling softly, then tilts his head until he's viewing the spotless ceiling of San's apartment. In reality, San has offered him too much stuff that he doesn't need to repay, but Wooyoung finds one thing he wants from him.

"Anything?" Wooyoung asks, his head still tilted backwards.

"Anything," San replies with a promise.

"Then, when you come back, I want you to dye my sky."