on pieces of dyed rays | woosan

Chapter Twenty Eight

Having another living thing to care for is an anomaly to Wooyoung's life. The closest he had to cater to another life was when his boss bought a fish tank with exotic coloured fishes swimming in it, saying their office looked too dull for his liking-although he hardly ever stayed there. As it is, the one who decided on a whim never bothered to look after, and all the handling was to be done by the workers, namely Jongho. Wooyoung would, at necessary times like midnight, if pestered by Jongho when the boy was fast asleep in his home. Jasmine was delighted when she counted seven fishes, naming each of them after her favourite boy band, looking at them adoringly, until one day she fed them her drugs, and they all ended up floating on water. Wooyoung and Jongho had to listen to her wailing over the loss of her worldstar fishes. They secretly disposed of the tank, but the boss never even noticed its absence.

With this mission, Wooyoung doesn't have Jongho to rely on. San said Byeol isn't much of a trouble, and left a small note on the fridge telling him how to look after her. The list is shorter than Wooyoung had imagined it to be, but that doesn't ease the pressure of looking after another life, when it's an area he used to avoid stepping in. He does his work like normal, albeit quickly, but doesn't indulge in extra activities. He practically hurries back to San's apartment, using a taxi which he usually doesn't, and he can only sigh in relief when Byeol greets him with a purr at the entrance. Wooyoung wonders why he agreed to all this.

But watching Byeol eat her late night snack in the middle of a huge living room, somehow works as a meditation, and when she nuzzles her nose into Wooyoung's palm in what looks like a gratitude after, he feels like everything is worth it. Wooyoung is sure San feels the same way.

It's no surprise when his camera roll in his phone starts filling with Byeol, past the Jongho centric series once ago. It's because San asks him for his daughter's update everyday, Wooyoung reasons, as he annoys Wooyoung with notifications until he sends him a photo and a video of Byeol.

Wooyoung is scrolling through his glorious collection in a cafe late afternoon, when a vaguely familiar voice calls him.

"Wooyoung?"

There's a tall figure standing next to him, an iced americano in his hand, and Wooyoung doesn't take long to recall since he doesn't have many tall people in his life.

"Yunho, hi."

"Hey, it's been some time," Yunho says with a friendly smile on full display. He asks if he can take a seat opposite him, and Wooyoung doesn't have a reason to reject.

"You live around here?" Yunho asks, as he settles on the chair in front of him.

"Not really." The cafe is closer to San's place than his own, and he's just dropped by for a brief caffeine shot before he tunes in to his job. "You?"

"Yeah. A quick breather. Feeling stuffed at home all day."

"Piled up chores?"

"Nah, just entertaining Mingi playing games...but we've been running for five hours! I thought we'd take a break but his ass seems to be stuck in front of the screen so I left him home." Yunho huffs annoyedly, and Wooyoung can imagine how often that happens. "He should learn to take his defeat."

"You guys live together?"

It was supposed to be a casual question, because young people sharing a room in Seoul isn't uncommon, but Yunho's cheeks flush slightly before he awkwardly answers, "Yeah, it's not exactly cheap around here."

With how Wooyoung has been observing people closely, he guesses as much, also because Yunho isn't really being subtle about it. But he isn't interested in other people's love lives, so he changes the topic.