summer lovers | seonghwa.

四つ - four.

the books that san's grandma gave to me earlier were all stacked up as one creating a height full of leather covered mountain, a mountain where the insides where full of fairytales that every kid wanted to be true. fairytales that people created with happy endings and sugar coated lies. sweet but bitter, once you realise, life isn't all about happy endings. bitter just like the truth.

a loud thump echoed throughout the room i was now staying in as i settled the stack of books down on the white varnished wooden study table. the bedroom i stayed in now wasn't that much in size but it was acceptable. just like the living room, all of the furniture and overall aesthetics in the room were all old and victorian-liked. a canopy bed on the right side, placed in the middle and in between two nightstands. a wardrobe along with a vanity on the left and a carpet in the middle of it all. beside the bed was the study table that i mentioned and infront of it had a window.

however, the essence of the white bedroom was the balcony. once upon opening the door, the first thing that caught my eye were those two glass sliding doors which leads you to the balcony. the curtains that covered it was sheer, translucent, white colored, exactly the opposite of the window's blinds which was beside it. yet the moon's subtle light escaped through both of them, making the dark room glimmered with moving light. as if it was waves and i was dancing in the darkness of the waters.

somehow, i couldn't sleep at all that night and it was obviously late hence the clock's arms pointed outwards to 2:00 am. i admit, i blamed myself since i slept on the way here which i heavily regretted but hey, i couldn't help it. i was tired. bringing my heels closer to the wall beside me, i lightly knocked on it hoping the person in the other room would hear.

silence.

i knocked for the second time but this time i called out his name along with it. my heart jumped once i heard a stern muffled 'what is it' from the other side.

"san...i can't sleep" i breathed out, looking at the wall in front of me as if i was looking at the boy's eyes. he scoffed before replying back, "do you want me to sleep with you?"

my cheeks reddened and i mentally shrieked, whisper-shouting an immediate 'no'. i could've sworn i heard a light giggle from the boy in the next room."its not like we haven't slept together in the same bed aera, so why the flustered no?" he said very clearly. i coughed before slapping the wall. "you idiot! that was when we were kids, you're making it sound like as if we did it!"

"yeah kids whatever, dont forget about that time when we were 17."

"you slept on the floor so that doesn't count!" i retorted and he scoffed for the second time."did i? or did i moved to your bed when you were sound asleep? under. the. same. covers. with. you."

"thats it! go to sleep!" i shouted which instantly made me covered my mouth. if san's grandma heard it, i would be in so much in trouble. im not taking that risk. i just moved in with them and i just caused some commotion. great start aera.

after the bickering i was afraid san would just barge into my room. in short, i locked my bedroom door, just in case he wouldn't come in the middle of the night. that would definitely be a bonus if san's grandma knew we were sleeping in the same bed. first the screams... secondly, seeing us sleeping together.... ARGH! okay okay, i should stop! aera stop!

thinking about all of these nonsense made my cheeks heat up so hard causing my ears to reddened as well. without thinking, i tied the robe onto my waist tightly and got out from my bedroom, entering the balcony as a sweep of cool, breezy air swooshed across my heated body. i closed the sliding glass doors and dugged my hand into my robe's pocket, taking out a pack of cigarettes.

flipping the carton, i took a stick out and placed it in between my lips before lighting it with a lighter with my hand curved in front of it, making sure the gust of wind wouldn't blow it off. as it was a success, i stucked the two objects into the robe's pocket leaving me inhaling the drug lastly pulling the stick out as i blew the smoke out. it was colder than i expected.

good thing the warmth from the flustered incident, the robe and the cigarette made me feel a bit warm. when suddenly i noticed something in my peripheral vision. i took out the cigarette from my lips and looked to the side where my eyes landed onto a boy.

the boy whom i saw earlier, next door.

his balcony was next to mine but somewhat further a bit giving a large gap in between as i could still see the wooden fence from below that separated his house and san's grandma. his balcony was decorated with two bean bags side by side, a carpet which above it had a small coffee table in the middle, an easel in the far corner teamed up with a stool and lastly fairy lights, hung up. twinkling in the dark night.

the boy was sitting down on the stool, sketching something on the easel when i could see his hand gripped onto a pencil as his hand swayed across the paper. his eyes were full of concentration, drawing something that i was unsure of.

out of all time, why would he even draw in the freezing cold in this time of the day?

the boy was still wearing the same clothes, the white t-shirt and sweatpants but his hair was in a mess judging from his side profile. i raised a brow, inhaling the cigarette again and exhaling the smoke of addiction.

"arent you cold?" i blurted out.

in an instant, i could feel the atmosphere around me felt heavy as if time stopped. my eyes widened, brows raised, confused yet amazed. filled with wonders and shock. admiration and a bolt of surprise strucked in me. he turned, to face me, finally showing his full facial features.

he was beautiful when his eyes met mine.

but the side of his face was decorated with blue and darkish mulberry wine colored flowers that wasn't supposed to be there. the corner of his lips had an ornament of a withered dried melted red rose-like mark. eyes dull. colder than the night.

he was bruised.