The room was filled with loud music, raucous laughter, and the smell of cigarettes. Yoon-sung, who'd been talking with the crowd at the party, picked up his coat and stood up. As he stood up, everyone in the room looked at him.
Yoon-sung was clearly used to all the attention, as he smiled at everyone. Just as he was about to leave, the party host hurried over, looking concerned, and asked if he was leaving already. Yoon-sung replied,
"Someone's coming home today."
"Is anyone here? Who?"
"I'm not sure."
"Anyway, you've got something to do, right? That's too bad. I was just about to do something really fun."
People are always anxious because they couldn't get along with Yoon-sung. He was born into a very wealthy family and is extremely attractive.
"I'm out. See you later."
When Yoon-sung went outside, a few friends followed him. Yoon-sung gave them a quick hello, then hopped on a fancy motorcycle that was way out of their price range.
Yoon-sung started the motorcycle and looked straight ahead. The cityscape, painted in black, white, and lots of greys, came into view.
There are three types of people: ordinary folks, the colorless, and the colorful.
Yoon-sung is 'the colorless' who sees everything in black and white from birth. People who don't have much color in their lives can only see color when they meet their own 'color.' People who don't have much color in their lives are called 'colourful' people.
With so many people in the world, how could one possibly find their one and only color? Yoon-sung walked down the seemingly boring road towards his home. Someone was supposed to visit him today.
Yoon-sung currently lives alone after moving out on his own. His dad, who made him move out, had taken in the housekeeper and her son, and they all lived together like they were one big family.
But about a month ago, the housekeeper died in a sudden traffic accident. Yoon-Sung's dad wanted to take responsibility for the housekeeper's son, but it seemed like too much of a hassle to raise him himself, so he sent him to Yoon-Sung's house, saying that they were the same age.
"I hate having anyone at home."
Yoon-sung parked his bike in the garage, feeling a bit uneasy, opened the front gate, and went into the neatly trimmed lawn.
When he opened the front door and went into the living room like he always did, Yoon-sung was surprised to see someone asleep on the sofa. He wasn't easily startled, wherever he was and whatever he saw, but this time was different.
His hair was soft and looked great, skin was flawless, eyelashes were long, nose was high and straight, lips were slightly parted, and his teeth were neatly aligned.
Yoon-sung instinctively covered his mouth with his hand. If he hadn't, he would have shouted out loud.
'How can someone be so beautiful?'
The boy, with his impossibly good looks, had been crying until just a moment ago and had fallen asleep without realizing, as there were dried tears around his eyes. His long, straight neck was visible above his buttoned-up shirt, which looked a bit suffocating. His collarbone, which was barely visible, moved a bit with every breath he took, catching Yoon-sung's attention.
Yoon-sung was curious about the unknown boy sleeping on his sofa.
'It'd be better if he could get some sleep in his room.'
Yoon-sung thought for a second, then carefully placed his hand on the sleeping boy's shoulder. The boy opened his eyes the moment Yoon-sung touched him, and Yoon-sung's vision turned completely pink.
"Oh no, what is this...!"
After a moment where he felt a bit suffocated, as if trapped in a pink veil, the world that came back into Yoon-sung's eyes was different from before. Everything he saw was colored.
"Huh?"
The boy looked confused when he woke up and started looking around quickly. Yoon-sung looked into his eyes. A light blue ring appeared above his black pupils.
There's a ring mark above the pupils. It was proof that he was 'colorful.'
Yoon-sung picked up the hand mirror on the living room table, keeping his fingers crossed. He gave himself a quick once-over in the mirror. Above his pupils, which had always been blank, a light pink ring had appeared.
"Wow."
Yoon-sung put down the mirror and called out to the person in front of him. As soon as he heard the call, he instinctively narrowed his eyes and went on alert.
"What's up? I think I'm your 'color'."
"What...?"
"Never mind, what's your name?"
"Shi-heum."
A small voice said, "Hyun Shi-heum." Yoon-sung nodded when he heard the name, then put his hand on Shi-heum's shoulder and said something.
"Hey, if you're feeling really down and tired, maybe it'd be better to head to your room and rest instead of staying here, you know?"
When Yoon-sung said something, Shi-heum realized that he'd seen him crying. He grabbed his suitcase and took off somewhere. It was a room in the opposite direction of Shi-heum's room.
"Where are you headed? You should at least know my name."
Yoon-sung shouted, looking at Shi-heum's small back.
"I know."
Shi-heum gave a quick response and went into Yoon-sung's room. He had no idea where he was supposed to go, so he just went into any room.
"What's wrong with him?"
Yoon-sung was a bit surprised by the loud noise of the door slamming shut.
As soon as he left Yoon-sung's room, Shi-heum realized he'd gone into the wrong room. The walls were covered in metal band posters, and the floor was littered with all kinds of clothes.
This was Yoon-sung's room. Shi-heum tried to make a quick getaway, but Yoon-sung burst into the room right before he could.
He looked exactly like the young Chairman Chae he'd seen in a photo, but he had a bit of a rebellious vibe going on. Without thinking, Shi-heum took a few steps back from Yoon-sung.
"Why did you barged into my room and start looking at me like I'm a criminal?"
Yoon-sung stood a bit askew and asked Shi-heum.
"You even had me engraved as your 'color.'"
Yoon-sung pointed to his eyes, like he was saying, "Check out this ring mark," showing Shi-heum the mark that had never been there before, barely visible in his eyes.
"You're the one who came to me without asking. Don't make it seem like it's all my fault."
Shi-heum spoke carefully, and Yoon-sung took a few steps back from him.
"So, does this distance make you feel better?"
"I, I'm off now."
As soon as Shi-heum stammered, he immediately fell into despair. He was surprised that he'd shown such a flustered expression to the other person. It was only a matter of time before he was seen as the odd one out here.
"You're going solo, but I won't stop you."
Yoon-sung tried to calm him down, but Shi-heum pushed him away and stormed out. Then he hurried into his room, crouched down in front of the door, and cried quietly.
Shi-heum's mom had passed away. He couldn't live in Chairman Chae's house anymore. His roommate, who he'd only met for the first time that day, was clearly uncomfortable, but he'd still made an impression on him. But he didn't even bring his suitcase from his roommate's room.
All of that made Shi-heum feel pretty down in the dumps.
As Shi-heum wiped away his tears with both hands, Yoon-sung looked at the suitcase he'd left behind in his room. He paused for a moment, then grabbed the suitcase and went into Shi-heum's room.
"Hey, just a heads-up, you left your suitcase... What's going on? Are you crying?"
"Don't worry about it."
Shi-heum replied in a cold tone and took out two photo frames from the suitcase Yoon-sung had brought. One was a photo of Shi-heum with his mom, and the other was a photo of him with Chairman Chae. The front of the photo had the date and location written on it.
"The other photos are fine, but don't take out this one."
Yoon-sung said in a slightly harsh voice as Shi-heum picked up the frame with the photo of him and Chairman Chae in it.
"Whatever, it's not like it's your business."
"Just don't take it out. Seeing that guy's face really throws my mood."
Yoon-sung said pretty uncomfortable attitude, and Shi-heum was glaring at him with teary eyes.