A Beautiful Butterfly

Chapter 4

After finishing the lunch, instead of heading for the class, Jinyoung made his way to the bench on the campus he was so familiar with. He did not wish to skip the class but he had to now when he had fallen asleep halfway through while studying for the Ancient Art Studies test last night.

On this whole campus, the bench under a ginkgo tree, which he was now going to, was the only comfort place for him. The bench faced the outside but with other trees nearby, no one there could see the street outside.

In autumn, how beautiful and bright yellow that place would be! Even now he could imagine himself seated on the bench with the yellow leaves and seeds around and starting at them stirred by the breeze.

The campus was all quiet since the lunch break was over and this was the very atmosphere he needed to study for his test, which he would have to take in the next class after his currently skipped one.

To his relief, the bench was unoccupied and no other students were in sight. He sat down at his leisure and took out the book, flipping through the pages till he found the marked passages in question.

It was a little cold but thankfully, he could snuggle in his own long-sleeved flannel shirt. There was not much left to study and after about twenty minutes or so, he was near the end.

"Hey!" Jinyoung flinched at the sudden voice and was shocked, when he saw Mark flop down beside him. "What're you doing? Studying?"

Mark leaned in to look at the page and Jinyoung was frozen by this sudden closeness. Mark's body scent rushed into his nostrils and flipped his heart violently in the process.

"For... for the test."

"Ahh, the test," Mark withdrew himself and leaned back against the back of the bench.

"How did you find me?" Jinyoung asked. Could it be that Mark had been searching for him? Jinyoung smiled at his own thought.

"I was just roaming around and saw you here."

"Don't you have any classes?" Jinyoung asked.

"I could ask you the same," Mark laughed. "Am I disturbing you? Maybe I should leave."

Jinyoung took a grip on Mark's hoodie in a hurry as Mark was about to get up. Then, realising what he was doing, he quickly let go of the fabric. "N-No. You can stay. I'm about to finish."

"If you want me to. But wait here. I'll come back. Within a few minutes." With that, Mark got up and walked away, in hurried steps.

Jinyoung continued his study and finished it even before he saw Mark again. As Mark had said, Jinyoung did not leave the bench and waited for him.

"Sorry, I took more than just a few minutes." Mark appeared again with two ice-creams in his hands. The sight warmed Jinyoung's heart; why did it have to look like they had been on a date here? Mark gave him the untouched one and Jinyoung took it with a "Thank you".

The ice-creams were already melting and Jinyoung and Mark finished them fast, feeling thirsty afterwards.

"Was it good?" Mark asked.

Jinyoung nodded with energy, "Yes. Thank you."

Mark smiled and then silence fell, both not knowing what to say. Jinyoung felt it was a perfect sort of silence when he could feel Mark's presence and no one was there to interrupt them. He hummed a tune under his breath when the wind passed by.

"Can you sing?" Mark asked, with his attention on Jinyoung again. Jinyoung raked his fingers through his hair on his neck shyly, looking at the ground.

"Only a little. But I know only folk songs my grandparents often listened to."

Mark looked impressed nonetheless and requested, "Sing a song please? A folk song or whatever. I'll be your little fan."

"I think you'll be bored. I'm not good," Jinyoung said, though starting to think it was a great idea to sing for Mark. "Can I sing a children song? It's just a lullaby my grandma used to sing to me."

Mark gave an enthusiastic nod, "Please do. Anything's fine."

Jinyoung cleared his throat and looked around for a moment in case there was anyone nearby. He had ever only sung when he had been at home or alone. Mark was, with anticipation, waiting for him and Jinyoung cleared his throat again.

'Butterfly, butterfly, come fly, fly

Yellow butterfly, white butterfly

Come here while dancing

Petals dance in the breeze too

Smiling, smiling and laughing

The sparrows tweet, tweet, tweet, singing while dancing'

The moment the song came to its end, a clap boomed out. Only now Jinyoung could look at Mark; he had kept his eyes closed throughout the song. The warmth in Mark's eyes went deep into Jinyoung's own. He smiled both nervously and with satisfaction.

"And you said you weren't good. It was so soothing to hear. Can I hear it once more?" Mark said, shifting a little closer to Jinyoung, with the expectant eyes.

Jinyoung wished he could sing again but now that he was calmed down, his heart was tightened by a string of memories that rushed in. He could have shed a tear or two if Mark had not been here. As if Mark could see that, he said, "It's okay. I won't force you. But it was really good."

Jinyoung nodded, saying, "Thank you." Silence ensued but this time, it was because Mark was letting him collect his thoughts.

"I think I know a little more about you now. But I've never talked about myself. Do you want to hear?" Mark offered.

Of course! But Jinyoung only said, "If you want to tell me."

"Well, there's nothing much special though. I live here, in Seoul, obviously. My father's a businessman and my mother used to be a journalist. But she quitted her job to focus on our family. My father wants me to do business but guess what, I want to work in a museum. My uncle's a conservator in the National Museum of Korea and I found my passion while helping him there during my highschool years."

"That's why you chose History?" Jinyoung asked.

"Absolutely. What about you? Why did you choose it?"

"Actually, I never wanted to come here. I thought if I had to, I'd study something I could teach children back at my hometown."

"Oh, you want to be a teacher? Then you don't have any plans to remain here after graduation?"

Jinyoung shook his head; he felt a little less certain now but he was not going to change his mind. He did not think there would be anything to keep him here. He had always wished to go back home and spend his life in the familiar neighbourhood.

"I wish you'd," Mark said, a little more quietly than usual. "I guess you can't consider this city your new home."

"I'm afraid I can't. I always miss my grandparents and the warmth of the home," Jinyoung said, sounding so faraway.

"I understand," Mark said, "Shall we go now? We'll have to hurry."

Only then, Jinyoung remembered the class and got up to leave with Mark, the comfort of the bench. The campus was still all quiet.