Garden|Yeonbin

Venticinque

The question came out as stoic and monotone, pressing the intention to keep this cold façade to the people he barely know and see. There were still crowded noises from the street entering the house, bustling and tossing as to drown the misery in the village. They were drowning the painful noise that is the silence the masked man was caressed with.

The woman stood silent as she joined the deafening tension roaming inside the listening house. She held her hands, stunned that the man didn't know. She has never heard of the masked man dwelling alone, assuming that he was one of the civilians simply wearing a mask.

Soobin frowned when he didn't receive a verbal answer. He really needed an answer, for he did all he could to help the unknown peasant obtain money through legal means. The flowers on the lonely basket soothed him, afraid of what was about to come. Did the man create them just for them to be eaten in this atmosphere?

"Do you know the boy who sells flowers in front of this house, ma'am?" he asked as his lower eyelids twitched. The deep concern began wrapping itself around his confused and curious psyche, caressing his unprepared spine. "He's still a young man who needs help. If you know something, please tell me."

That stare concluded something much more surprising than he thought. It was so unexpected, so absurd and sudden. He didn't know it would grasp him.

But it did. It prosperously chased after him with faster speed and caught him before he could do anything to escape. It lovingly touched him before he could touch it back, not with love but with doubt.

The elderly woman opened her mouth, delivering what Soobin wanted.

An answer. That's all he wanted.

However it's an answer he didn't want to hear, an answer that urged him to wish for anything but its existence.

"He departed from this world."

She said.

"The people in this village were surprised to see the poor boy lying on his own bed with closed eyes and silent pleas. It seemed like he has no relatives who are willing to claim him after his parents also succumbed to torment."

That left the masked man standing there, as if his feet were stuck on the sinking ground. He felt some emotions running here and there because he didn't know how to feel. Like the world was spinning really quick around him, he couldn't distinguish if it's truly reality he's awake in.

Soobin felt like his coat was stripped off from him, exposing his bare body. The cape clearly didn't do anything to him now, since he heard the words uttered by the woman.

He couldn't do anything.

"Where is he now?"

"He was buried a few days ago."

He couldn't do anything to help Yeonjun anymore.

The flowers lost their roles as Soobin felt them wither in a slow manner under his gentle touch. Soobin's blood went cold, trying its best to circulate despite the sudden news. The realization caused his pupils to dilate before doing what he did impulsively.

"Wait! Young man!"

The masked man ran away from the house that was haunting him. He bumped onto some busy people and heard repulsive chatters, but they served as dead silence to him.

They didn't matter to him anymore.

They're all useless.

The basket tried its best to hold on, but its master's speed made it quite impossible. Some flowers stuck to his heavy chest, weeping to themselves because of their loss.

Soobin hastily pushed the door with his shoulder to guard the plants looking after the tainted weapon behind him. He closed them with brute force that the bang echoes around the cold castle.

But it still went in.

The arrow of distraught entered through the massive obstruction and pierced him from the back,

Leaving him defenseless.

The basket fell from his arms and dropped on the floor, along with the flowers it started to cherish. Soobin wasn't protected by his own home anymore, for he knows that it reached his heart already.

He was struck with a bleeding sensation that couldn't drift away.

The drops went to his stomach that churned, carrying the boat of uneasiness throughout his stiff body. He felt like his skeleton wouldn't allow him to move. He was still shaking from the ungraspable truth.

It hurts.

It hurts so much.

The man clutched on the mask before taking it off, revealing his bare face to no one. The walls plainly watched him looking at the accessory hiding his true identity.

It was hiding the image he disliked the most.

He hid his monstrous appearance so Yeonjun wouldn't run away from him with a face filled of pure dread.

He considered himself as a hideous monster.

He needed to hide forever, hoping that he wouldn't be hurt.

But it led him to such immeasurable pain.

He threw the foolish mask aside before looking at the vulnerable flowers in the basket. They were so beautiful, splashed with blue, white and pink.

He lamented his actions greatly, making unwanted liquid burn his hopeless irises. The flowers in the garden had no idea what was happening, they were still waiting for their master to tell them the unfortunate news.

He speechlessly stared at the ground holding his legs. What will happen if he had confronted the stranger back then?

He could've helped him in more ways.

What will happen if he wasn't ashamed of his face, a part of his own skin?

What will happen if he didn't let his insecurities stop him from helping the latter much more?

He could express his growing love to Yeonjun.

They could possibly obtain a happy ending.

Loudly, he cried under his breath as his tears dropped, holding his anguish. The castle already hugged him, but it didn't stop his pleading wails. He realized that the shelter was only temporary in the world's eyes.

He realized he couldn't hide forever because the castle will just crumble away as time passes.

Soobin was given a chance to be happy.

But his own fear threw it away from his hands.

Could he still save Yeonjun if he got over his overwhelming insecurities, the rocks that block his unknown way to eternal happiness?

Yes, if only he overcame them. If only he jumped over the disturbances, Yeonjun would still roam in the village. He would still have his feet on Earth's surface.

But Soobin was too late.

His sincerity couldn't be delivered.

It couldn't be grasped anymore.

It lost its will.

The role that enlightened him appeared so unexpectedly,

And it ended in the same way.

The beautiful flowers soon learned to live up to the rocks they carry, the grief coming from the masked man.

Fine