Wonpil smiled at the couple he bumped on his way to the celebrant's house. They seem to know him as they requested for a picture with him. "We really admire your songs! Keep up the good work! Fighting!" The girl said. Wonpil thanked them for her kind words and promised they will work harder.
On his way to the celebrant's house, he saw Youngk talking with one of the caterers. "Is it really alright to go in the kitchen and try some of the food?" He overheard Youngk asked the caterer. They seemed to be close, he thought. "Ya! Brian! We're friends! Of course! And besides, I'm the manager in charge so it's alright."
He hid behind a group of friends talking as Youngk and his friend passed by him. A boy with a purple hair noticed him and freaked out because he's a DAY6 fan. He nonchalantly checked if Youngk heard the boy's amazement. He was relieved when he didn't see Youngk near him and continued entertaining the myday who turned out to be the celebrant's boyfriend too.
"It was nice seeing you but I gotta go now," Wonpil said. He was getting impatient. He needed to complete his goal tonight before he runs out of time.
He searched for the celebrant's room, frustration was all he could feel at all the wrong rooms he checked... until he saw a purple painted door.
How did he forget that her favorite color is purple?
Before he could even knock on the door, it opened. "Ah! Wonpil! It's really you?!" Ivy greeted him. All he could do was smile as she dragged him inside her room.
Wonpil was disgusted when he saw her room. All of her room had purple things in it which reminded him of the past.
It reminded him of an insensitive girl who was his seatmate in Geometry back then.
For Wonpil, Ivy Leung is a heartless girl. Someone who lacks empathy and compassion. She was a self-absorbed little brat when she was still in high school. She never cared about anyone or anything. Well, except, maybe her reputation. When the purple-haired boy said how much he loves Ivy and her kindness, Wonpil wanted to protest.
Kindness? Since when?
'Wonpil your glasses are so thick'
'Wonpil your hair is so wild'
'Aish, the geometry problem is so easy! Why are you so dumb, Wonpil?'
'Wonpil-ah... you look like a....'
For fourteen-year-old Wonpil who was having difficulties in making friends, those words lingered on.
"Is everything alright?" Ivy was holding a photo album. She opened it and smiled. "Look, here's us! You look adorable with the glasses and curly hair!"
"I'm sorry what?" He raised his voice. "I look adorable? After all the hurtful words you said to me? Do you know how hard I tried shrugging it off? Wow. You forgot how horrible you are as a person huh. Your vicious words hurt like a bullet and it left a scar too deep for it to heal."
She placed the album on her tabletop. She thought that Wonpil was being sarcastic. "I'm sorry. Yeah, I was mean back then... but you did really look like-"
"Enough!" His hands were trembling out of anger. All of the hurtful words came rushing back to him.
What did he do to deserve those?
He grabbed something in his backpack. "I baked something special for your birthday. Surprise!" He handed the box full of brownies to her.
"That's so sweet of you." Ivy opened the box and took a brownie.
"It took some time to perfect them." He smiled and remembered when their manager asked why there are several bloated canned goods stored in his room. He read somewhere that botulinum toxin can kill someone in an instant.* It was easy for him to cover up: "oh I didn't know! Thank you! Will throw them out." And just like that, an evidence is gone.
Ivy took a big bite of the brownie. "It tastes-" before she could finish what she was saying, she fell down on the floor.
As he placed the gloves and the box full of brownies in his backpack, he saw Jae outside the window from Ivy's room. He was talking to someone on the phone as he wiped his tears. This gave Wonpil an idea. He quickly left her room, making sure that no one was around.
"Wonpil! Ya!" Wonpil jumped in shock. Youngk came out of nowhere.
"Brian, hyung... where have you been?? We've been looking for you!" Wonpil replied, hoping Youngk did not see him leave Ivy's room.
"Oh... I was in the kitchen. So this is so crazy but one of my friend back in high school is the manager in charge of the catering at this party! He let me try their dishes... I got carried away. Sorry."
"It's alright, hyung. You can go ahead first. I still need to find Jae."
After seeing Youngk walked out the door, he went to where Jae was.
"Hyung? Is everything alright?" He interrupted Jae.
"I-I'll call you back." He tried his hardest to compose himself without Wonpil noticing. "I'm fine."
"No. You're not. Wanna talk about it for a while before we head back to where the rest of the band are right now?"
Jae confessed to Wonpil that being in this party reminded him of the time where he invited his classmates and friends but no one showed up. He felt devastated because his mom prepared so much. It made him feel all the pain again. He doesn't know if he could perform well tonight because of that. "I know I shouldn't-"
"I understand you, hyung. We're here for you. We have your back if you screw some lyrics tonight." Wonpil smiled. "If anything happens to us, please remember all the good things that happened only. Know that I really treat you as one of my best friends."
Wonpil and Jae heard Sungjin scolding Youngk as they rejoined their band. "Amazing! He didn't even think of us while he was eating all those delicious food!" Sungjin glared at Youngk who was only laughing at him. "Dowoon and I have been working hard here while you were taste testing some food!"
"I'm sorry!" He continued laughing. "But hyung if you were in my situation, you'd forget too! Don't deny!"
Dowoon glanced at Jae and Wonpil who just arrived. "Ya! These hyungs escaped all the responsibilities too! Poor maknae.. always stuck wi- Jae, hyung... your eyes-"
"Something got in my eyes..." He rubbed his eyes. Dowoon noticed his trembling hand. He wanted to ask another question but Wonpil gave him a don't-ask-any-further-question look. That gave him an idea of what might have happened.
"Tonight will be a great night." Sungjin declared, trying to lift up the atmosphere.
But after saying those words, they heard someone scream inside the house. The guy with the purple hair that Wonpil met earlier ran outside of the house. "Someone call the police! Hurry! Hurry! Call an ambulance too! It's Ivy! Something happened to her!" He cried. "She's not breathing!"
