A festival, cotton candy, a colored sky and the two of us on a day when the images from the past are clear again.

TB

Skate wheels drag along the gray road near the white line that leaves space for bicycles. Hongjoong grabbed the pole of the green street sign on the corner with his hand and flung himself onto the sidewalk. Because I saw another person walking with an extremely upset expression.

“How many times have I told you not to play on that street? It's dangerous.”

I expected that I would definitely get scolded. He only smiled dryly in response. Seonghwa held out his hand for him to grab and gently drag him towards the bench in front of the ice cream shop. Hongjoong took off his yellow skates and took the sneakers from the other party and put them on instead. They do this regularly. Hongjoong would leave the house by skating and meet at this intersection at Seonghwa's favorite ice cream shop.

After giving him a pair of sneakers to change into, Seonghwa would get up and order ice cream like he was doing now. If I'm in a good mood on a day, I'll order coffee for Hongjoong. But today, don't get your hopes up.

The doorbell rang as he walked through the door.

“There is no coffee.”

“Um, I know.”

“What flavor? It looks delicious.” Seonghwa turned away and crossed the road on the crosswalk to the opposite side. Leaving Hongjoong to chase after him, he also had to carry his skates himself even though Seonghwa was usually willing to do it all the time. The strange behavior that happened because he made Hongjoong happy. The feeling of your own influence on the other person is something that cannot be described.

When he was able to catch up with the other party, he took the opportunity to grab his hand and pull with force. Seonghwa ran lightly against the force of the tug, not resisting. The scene ahead was filled with colorful signs with large messages in the middle explaining the fun of attending the town festival a few blocks away.

Marvelous

Splendid

Fabulous

Happy

These signs were placed on shops, light poles, fences, and any vacant lot available to promote the festival. What was the reason the two met? The work starts at noon, but the time that is suitable for this work must be in the evening, close to dusk. and walked on the job until late at night Even though Hongjoong was a little upset that the entire morning had gone by without seeing Seonghwa.

From Hongjoong running ahead all the way. When the Ferris wheel ahead began to appear clearly Seonghwa's excitement was evident as well. Instead, he took off running and got ahead of Hongjoong.

The golden coin shone in the sunlight before disappearing into the ticket seller's pocket. Seonghwa ignored the brown basket and when the pink color reached his eyes glowed. The two stepped up. As soon as it started to spin, a light breeze blew past, causing Seonghwa's hair to fall back and forth. Hongjoong wanted to touch his hand but didn't know if he should or not.

But before he could make up his mind, Seonghwa turned to face him. That thought was dismissed as his head was now blank because of the black eyes of the person in front of him.

“Make a face like you're thinking about something.”

Hongjoong shook his head. Then he pointed to the sun that was setting over the horizon. Seonghwa turned his eyes to the scene in front of him and smiled softly. Orange sunlight smeared across the empty space. Some of the clouds were swallowed up. The shadows of the trees in the distance rose sporadically to black. Everything was perfect but when he moved his eyes away from the picture and looked at Seonghwa who was also absorbed in its beauty.

The scene he just saw couldn't compete with this person. Not even a little bit.

“Do you remember that time? The first day you moved in3 Last year and you were playing on the field by yourself. A while ago, some seniors were teasing you?” Seonghwa asked sharply.

“Alright, then when they started to gather in large numbers. You shouted from the opposite side until they were embarrassed and ran away.”

“Really, I can't remember why I did that.”

“This is normal for you. No matter who was bullied that day, you were already helping him.”

Seonghwa smiled with pride. Before closing his eyes, he searched deeper into his memories before slowly opening his mouth to let out the words of yesterday.

“From that day on, you were always attached to me. You skate after me. Eating the same flavor of ice cream And he always walked me home after getting off the bus even though his house arrived before mine. And when did you change?”

“When you were so upset that I was a better skater that you quit and got mad at me for ordering ice cream after you. Until today I had to drink coffee. And when we were a year or two older, everyone started making fun of me for walking you around all the time until you had to ask me to stop.”

“And you negotiated by standing at that intersection and walking back to your own house instead.”

Seonghwa opened his eyes and laughed at the other person with a satisfied expression. He pretended to ask about these reasons to see if the other party remembered them. As it turned out, it was he who had forgotten those little details. Meanwhile, Hongjoong continued to explain everything so clearly that it was as if to him those moments had never passed.

The wheel stopped and a man in brown opened the door and invited the two of them to come down. Before Hongjoong could ask where he should go next, Seonghwa ran towards the dessert booth. He ordered pink cotton candy as usual. Hongjoong paid the money without any protest from the other party.

Seonghwa used his fingertips to wipe off the fluffy cotton candy and handed it to Hongjoong. The touch of the wet tip of his tongue made them both shiver softly, but Hongjoong was satisfied that Seonghwa didn't pull his fingers back immediately.

Since moving here, Hongjoong could feel a change in himself. There is no doubt from whom these strong influences came. The person in front of him now looked fragile, but in reality, Seonghwa was strong and always protected others. Even if he had to take care of 10 more people like Hongjoong, it would still be okay.

The feelings that have changed since the first day we met have continued to develop without stopping and show no signs of stopping in the near future. Seonghwa had changed him in a different way, every action, every smile, every word and even a tear shed all made Hongjoong a better person, or at least he tried to be.

The sweetness of the dessert almost melted away in your mouth. When some thoughts arise It was the same sweetness he had felt two years ago. Seonghwa suddenly ran up to him in the backyard without warning. Beads of sweat glistened and glistened in the sunlight.

He walked towards it before realizing that it was a teardrop. Seonghwa didn't say anything but hugged her. They cried for a long time until they both lost their strength and sat down among the brown summer grass. That moment when Seonghwa's forehead touched his lips. For a split second, even Seonghwa didn't even care to feel anything, but to Hongjoong, that sweet taste was etched in his heart for a long time.

Until that feeling disappeared And stopped by to make him think again just because of the last split second before the sugar crystals melted.

“What are you thinking?”

Hongjoong shakes his head, both rejecting Seonghwa and trying to shake his thoughts away. But Seonghwa had a knowing expression on his face. Hongjoong felt his face heat up, so he hurriedly walked to get away from the other party's sight. How would Seonghwa know what he was thinking about that day? But that didn't matter as maybe Seonghwa knew that Hongjoong was thinking of him.

This awkwardness has been building up for many years, waiting for someone to realize it, and then it stops working because at that point, the one who was aware first will take over the task. In this case, Hongjoong did a better job than expected.

Since when did it change?

Even though he tried to live in the present as much as possible, the questions in his head didn't let him take a break.

After Seonghwa cried with him A year later, Seonghwa finally convinced him to talk about it.

“Everyone wonders why I like being with you. If they knew that my house isn't what everyone sees. Their doubts will instantly disappear.”

“Perhaps it is not their fault for making such observations. I mean, you and I are very different friends.”

“It's good, isn't it? Because you are the boss and I am me. That's why we've been together for this long.”

“True, but if I were an outsider. I might as well wonder what someone as perfect as Park Seonghwa is doing on my roof at midnight like this.”

Seonghwa smiled, “I will answer those who ask because my home is hell. And what kind of heaven is this?”

“I don't bother them like that at all. Who will know about my family? And you don't know any more than anyone else, so from tonight onwards I promise to tell you everything. If there was one person that I would choose to really know the real me for, it would be you, Hongjoong. Definitely you.”

Silence reigned until you could do nothing but look up at the few stars in the sky. But Hongjoong had to pretend to be amazed. Until the first raindrops fell like God knew his heart. He woke Seonghwa, who had fallen asleep at some point, into the bedroom through the window.

Seonghwa crawled onto the bed as if unconscious. A blanket was pulled to cover the person below. Hongjoong lay down on the purple carpet next to the bed. As the sunlight shone through the thin curtains, Hongjoong opened his eyes and lived a morning that would never be the same again.

At the festival, Seonghwa jumped from here to there until Hongjoong was tired of following. And when he couldn't keep up, he decided to sit and wait at the event door. After only a few minutes, Seonghwa walked back with his hands full of things.

“It's time to turn back. If I come back later than this, Mom and Dad will definitely have to deal with me.”

Hongjoong took some of the things from him and handed the other person his skates instead. It was like a custom between the two of them. Whenever Hongjoong wore canvas shoes, Seonghwa would always carry his skates for him.

The two walked out of the event past a store that had signs with the same colorful messages as before.

Happy

Marvelous

Splendid

Fabulous

These words began to have more meaning for him. It describes the feelings he currently feels towards the other party. If it were as simple as pointing at those messages and Seonghwa would understand, that would be great. But here, Seonghwa walked past those signs without looking. What is he going to know? That guy never knew anything.

The sound of shoes hitting the road passed through a zebra crossing and he jumped onto the sidewalk in front of the ice cream shop where they met. The items in his hand were handed to Seonghwa while Hongjoong took the skates and put them on. In Seonghwa's hands he now held his sneakers.

Tomorrow will be like this Make an appointment to meet here. Traveling together like we have for the past 3 years was happy, but deep inside, Hongjoong couldn't deny that he wanted more. Before my imagination takes me too far back He shook his head lightly and said goodbye to the other party.

“See you tomorrow, Seonghwa.”

“Um, good night, Kim Hongjoong.”

Hongjoong got up and soared onto his trusted skates.

“Be careful. Don't go down the road,” the person behind shouted loudly, Hongjoong smiled.

On the way home, Seonghwa smiled as well. Those signs on the way to the festival. It is truly enviable. If he could just say those words out loud, it would be good. But if he could, Hongjoong wouldn't understand anyway. I never understood anything.

The colors in the work still play in my head like a video game. Over and over like a story from the past that once happened. Often we travel back to the past. Go to old stories that are still fresh in your memory. But there are days when we are in that image longer and more often than usual and today was no different for both of them.