Colours [MASHIKYU]

4 - Orange

The next day when Diana asks me if I slept well, I say yes. Not one nightmare, not one interruption, nothing.

Later, Junkyu comes back just like he said he would. He wears different shades of non-white, colours, to yesterday.

"If you say you're living here, how come I don't see you in the cafeteria?" I ask when we get to the Tiny Room.

"They make me eat separately, I don't know why." Junkyu shrugs it off. "Okay, ready for orange?"

"I only know orange the fruit." I imagine the non-white orange in my head. "Is the colour of the fruit also called orange?"

Junkyu smiles at me as he opens the door next to the one we went through yesterday. "You're getting so good at this."

This colour, orange, is warm. Warmth is the sense I feel as soon as I step through the door and into orange, despite the cool breeze, creating a loud rustling noise due to the trees and fallen leaves everywhere. A boy comes up to us, as orange as Doyoung was red.

"Junkyu!" He gives Junkyu a big hug. "And who's this?" he says before wrapping me up in an embrace as well.

"That's Mashiho," Junkyu says.

The boy pulls away from me and I give him what I hope is a friendly smile. "Hi."

"Hi Mashiho, I'm Jaehyuk." He winks at me. "Are you cold? You look cold."

I'm about to tell him that no, I'm feeling very warm, because orange is warm, but I look down and notice goosebumps have covered my skin. I'm also aware that my clothes are the only white thing here, so I gratefully accept when Jaehyuk pulls off his orange scarf and wraps it around me.

"Welcome to orange. You came at the best time, the sun'll set soon. Sunset orange is the best orange, hands down. You'll love it, promise. You can have fun in all these leaves while you wait."

Jaehyuk takes off running and throws himself into a huge pile of leaves, scattering them everywhere. "Try it!"

I look up at Junkyu, feeling awkward. He gives me a quick, reassuring smile before sprinting over to a pile next to Jaehyuk and jumping onto it, laughing delightedly, then he jumps back up and jogs over to me, eyes twinkling. "Come on, Mashiho, it's fun!"

He grabs my hand (I notice he has done this several times now) and pulls me in the direction of another leaf pile. As we run, I hear myself laugh.

I can't remember the last time I laughed.

Junkyu laughs as well and I squeal when we jump together onto the crunchy leaves. We lie there, a giggling heap, and an unfamiliar but pleasant sensation floods my entire body.

"Are you happy?" Junkyu asks after our laughter dies down a bit.

Happiness. That's what the sensation is. "I am."

He sits up and I follow, picking leaves out of my scarf from Jaehyuk, who must have left because I can't see him anywhere.

Junkyu picks up one leaf at a time, which are all different kinds of orange, and tells me their colours. Ginger, amber, bronze, honey. Some are red, or have hints of red, and Junkyu grins from ear to ear when I recognise that.

"Look, the sun's setting," Junkyu says after he shows me a very light orange leaf. Through the trees I can see that the sky is more orange than it was before. "Let's get a better view."

He leads me past the trees and it's only when we reach the edge that I realise we're on a cliff. We sit down side by side and look out at the sky. The orange is rich and bright.

"It's so lovely, isn't it?" Junkyu sighs.

"It is."

We sit in peaceful silence, watching as the circle of orange dips down, melting the whole sky into it.

"Hey, random question, but does anyone call you Mashi? Like, that's an adorable nickname."

"Yeah, my friend Yoshinori does. You can too, if you want."

"Are you telling me that you have a friend called Yoshinori, who calls you Mashi, and you don't call him Yoshi?"

I laugh, again, at how outraged Junkyu sounds by this. "I didn't know it was that big a deal?"

"Mashi, Mashi, Mashi... I'm so disappointed." Junkyu shakes his head, but he's smiling. "Mashi and Yoshi. Oh my God, that's so cute."

"You really like names, don't you? You said Mashiho was cute too." 

Junkyu chuckles. "I guess so. I wanna meet Yoshi now, see the other intellectual who calls you Mashi."

"Really? I was going to ask you if you wanted to meet my friends. I was telling them about you yesterday, but..." I trail off.

"But?"

"I don't think they believed me."

I turn my gaze to the ground, fiddling with a leaf. When I raise my head up again, Junkyu is smiling calmly. His face is tinted orange by the sunset.

"It's okay, they'll believe you when they meet me, won't they?"

Junkyu leaves me again when we get back to my room, but says to trust him. Once I'm in Yoshinori's room, there's a knock on the door and he walks in.

"Hello again." He grins at me.

I grin back, then look at Yoshinori. "Yoshinori, this is Junkyu."

Yoshinori doesn't look at Junkyu, he keeps looking at me with that same pained expression as yesterday. What is going on with him?

"Are... are you going to say hello?" I ask, gesturing pointedly at Junkyu.

He clears his throat. "Uh, yeah, sure..." he slowly shifts his eyes over to where Junkyu stands. "Hi, Junkyu."

"Hi Yoshi," Junkyu says with a wave.

"Um, so, Junkyu knows all about colours," I say, trying to fix the uncomfortable air that fills the room. "Yesterday he introduced me to red, and today orange. It's so much cooler than just white!"

Yoshinori smiles sadly. Seriously, what is up with him? "That's great, Mashi."

"Yeah. And Junkyu, Yoshinori's really cool too. Me and the others don't usually talk that much, but he always keeps up the conversation, and he's been here for a really long time too."

"Thank you Junkyu, he's said more in the last two days than he has in years," Yoshinori says. "But you used to be really talkative, Mashi."

I shake my head at Junkyu, because Yoshinori's lying.

Yoshinori sighs deeply. "You don't remember?"

I shrug. "I wasn't talkative. Ever."

He sighs again. "Okay. Anyway, nice to meet you Junkyu."

I wonder if I'm imagining the glisten in Yoshinori's eyes, because I really don't see anything to cry about.