A Beautiful Butterfly

Chapter 9

"What about this one?"

Wonpil held up a red flannel shirt which he had pulled out from Jinyoung's wardrobe. All the rejected clothes were in a messy heap on Jinyoung's bed.

"Umm...," Jinyoung scratched his head. He, who had rarely bothered about what clothes he wore, was sweating over what to wear for the outing today. "It's too bright. Something else."

Wonpil tossed the shirt onto the bed and drew out another flannel shirt in gray this time, from the wardrobe. "This one?"

"It looks... too gloomy."

"You aren't gonna like anything and this will never end," Wonpil said, throwing the shirt onto the bed, "Just go and take a shower. Leave this to me."

Jinyoung did as he was told, because there was not much time left. He was praying Mark would not arrive too early, as he hurried. When he came out of the bathroom, Wonpil had already chosen a blue sweater with the sleeves not too long and was now putting the clothes back into the wardrobe.

"Finished? Didn't wash the hair?" Wonpil said like someone who was responsible for how Jinyoung looked.

"No time."

Jinyoung dressed and let Wonpil put some cream, which was Wonpil's, on his face and comb his long hair, which made little difference, however, as the long, uneven bangs still stubbornly gave him a messy look.

Only when Jinyoung was all ready, Wonpil could finally leave the room for breakfast downstairs. Jinyoung could not follow him in case Mark came while he was out of the room and missed him. He had to satisfy himself with two bananas and cheese bread, which had been kept in his snack bag.

Mark arrived soon after Jinyoung had finished eating. Mark informed him that they were going to Lotte World and they left at once, because the sooner, the better, as Mark said.

"What're we going to do there?" Jinyoung asked, sounding so oblivious that Mark laughed. They were in Mark's car, with Mark driving so attractively in Jinyoung's eyes.

"There's a lot to do. Believe me, we'll have fun there for sure. By the way, we're in the matching colours. Blue day!"

Jinyoung blushed; he had noticed that but thought Mark would not. Mark was not exactly in blue but his denim jacket was pale blue.

"Traffic is not so bad today," Mark commented. Jinyoung looked at the road ahead but when it came to which street they were in, he was clueless. Seoul was still like a foreign city to him.

For the rest of the day, he was under Mark's lead. When they arrived at Lotte World and got the tickets, the first place Mark took him to was Folk Museum.

There were displays of Korean history such as miniature traditional houses and small villages of different eras. Jinyoung remembered Mark liked museum things and it was obvious that Mark had already seen most of the things there because he knew where which stuff could be found and led Jinyoung along.

After they had left the museum, the next place they went to was something totally unexpected to Jinyoung. Mark told him that they were going to ride a roller coaster and convinced him that he would like it. But Jinyoung, with his nervous heartbeats, looked at the people being moved so rapidly and screaming at the top of their lungs. He doubted he would enjoy it.

And he did not. It was too scary for a first-timer like him. Once the cars went up so high, Jinyoung shut his eyes tight and screamed and when they went down, he was clutching Mark's hand so tight Mark must have been hurt. But Jinyoung could not help it. On the other hand, Mark was having so much fun and yelling out some comforting words at Jinyoung when the ride was not too rough.

Jinyoung's head was spinning when the ride came to its end and Mark had to help him out, which laughing all along. It took Jinyoung several minutes to collect himself.

Mark said a drink would do Jinyoung good and they made their way to a restaurant, for lunch as well. Once they got a table, Jinyoung's head was on it, with so little energy left in him.

"I don't think I can continue," he mumbled. Mark squeezed his shoulder and patted his back soothingly.

"It was too much? I promise there'll be no more rides like that. Let's rest here a little longer."

Jinyoung felt a little better after taking a few sips of the lime juice and was ready to explore again after lunch. Only then he could laugh at the past experience with Mark.

The indoor ice rink was the next place they were in. Here as well, Jinyoung was so clueless. He had never skated in his life and was sure he was going to embarrass himself here. Thankfully, Mark had not expected him to know how to and since the start, he had held Jinyoung's hand and led him all along.

Mark's hand was so delicate and everything felt so romantic that Jinyoung did not want to at all leave the place. But after about an hour, they were out of there.

To Jinyoung's pleasure, the next activity they were doing was even more romantic. It was a swan boat ride and there would be only two of them on the boat! And most of those who were on such boats were couples.

"Let's take a selfie," Mark took out his phone. They were pedaling on the boat, which was moving ever so slowly. Mark leaned towards Jinyoung and took a picture of themselves, him with a wide smile and Jinyoung looking flustered.

After one whole hour, as the boat had been rented for an hour, they were back on the shore. Mark suggested they had a stroll around the lake, since there was a path. They did and at some point, Mark even lay down on the grass that was on the side of the path.

Jinyoung did not know what to do at first but at last, chose to lie down as well, next to Mark. It did relieve some of their exhaustion.

Jinyoung found his heart beating faster just because he was looking at Mark's side profile, which seemed so near to him. Mark was staring at the tree that towered over them with a content look. Then as if he could feel Jinyoung's gaze, he tilted his head and smiled.

"It feels so good."

And Jinyoung couldn't agree with him more.