Night Sky Bloom

6- Sunflower

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Every year during their village's Harvest Festival, several competitions and challenges were held to make things fun and exciting for all of the families. It was a time-honored tradition, steeped in history and cherished by villagers of all ages.

Except Jisung and, by proxy, Minho.

The first year that Jisung had to go alone was in fifth grade. He'd recently turned eleven, as had Seungmin and their newer acquaintance, Felix. After the incident the year prior, Jisung and Seungmin had become slightly more comfortable with Felix's presence. The three of them weren't close, per say, but they weren't distant, either.

On occasion, Felix would sit with them at lunch, study with them, or join them for a walk after school. It was a rare occurrence in the beginning, but became just slightly more common as time went on. It was hard to hate him. He was literal sunshine- a sunflower.

And on days like this Harvest Festival in particular, it was good to have him around.

Jisung's mother wasn't able to come, growing weaker and weaker as time went on. Jisung had offered to stay with her, but she insisted that he go and spend time with his friends, begging him to bring back some fresh fruits for her- a treat.

So he was grateful for Seungmin and Felix's presence among the crowd of people he typically hated being around.

When they arrived, the air was thick with anticipation and excitement. The scent of autumnal spices and warmth enveloped the town square as colorful leaves crunched under their feet. The market was full of freshly baked goods and produce, laughter and chatter echoing from all corners. The three of them wandered through the stalls, picking up apples and pears, debating which ones were juiciest, comparing prices and textures.

Seungmin, of course, bounced some of them up and down in his palm to assess their weight with a, "What? I need to have legal weapons available for when someone makes fun of Ji."

"Wow, Minnie." Felix shook his head, clicking his tongue as he failed to hide his smile from dimpling his freckled cheeks. "What do you mean when someone makes fun of Ji?"

"Have you seen him?" Seungmin pointed towards Jisung, whose mouth was agape in faux offense. "He's a little nerd. My little nerd, but a nerd noneless."

"Nonetheless." Jisung corrected with narrowed eyes as he shook his head and tried to suppress laughter.

"Proving my point." Seungmin said, nodding towards Jisung as he tossed a pear in the air again before setting it down.

"Whatever, can you weirdos hurry up? I don't wanna miss the pumpkin carving contest." Felix prompted, jumping up and down slightly enough to convey his eagerness.

Let it be known that Jisung did not want to carve pumpkins. He didn't think it sounded fun- being surrounded by a bunch of people watching you, judging you. Or worse, not watching you because whatever art was being created wasn't deemed good enough- interesting enough.

Either way, it sounded like an anxiety attack waiting to happen. But he didn't want to tell Felix no, nor did he want to be left out from an activity Seungmin and Felix did together.

As they neared the competition area, excitement buzzed through the air like a whispering wind. Pumpkins of all shapes and sizes adorned the tables, waiting to be transformed into works of art for the annual pumpkin carving contest.

Felix's eyes sparkled with anticipation as he surveyed the colorful array of pumpkins, already chatting about the intricate designs he could carve into their flesh. Beside him, Seungmin stood with a guarded expression, his eyes immediately settling on Lee Minho sitting in a chair, staring at the table with utter disinterest. Jisung followed Seungmin's eyes, curious about the face he was making, his hatred for Minho palpable even in the festive atmosphere.