Work Text:
Greys took over Jihoon’s world like the colour progression of a person’s hair over time.
The first time he noticed it was with the azure sky. It was a pure colour, stitched with patches of clouds and seemed to further illuminate the already bright summer day. His lie was a simple answer to a simple question.
”Jihoon-hyung, what did you get on your test?” Chan had asked, tugging eagerly on the older’s paper. Jihoon quickly flattened the sheet on his desk, stopping the curious boy from snatching his test.
“80 out of 100.”
“Oh, nice hyung! Don’t worry, you’ll do better next time.” Chan had said with a smile. He knew how much Jihoon cared about his test scores even when the younger’s personal highest barely surpassed his hyung’s lowest.
Jihoon flipped the paper over, eyes lingering too long on the bright red 100 on the top. He never liked bragging about his tests, and tried to keep as low key as possible whenever his friends asked about his grades.
He sighed quietly, eyes wandering from his paper to the summer sky outside.
But it was no longer a summer sky; instead it was an endless expanse of grey, devoid of the blueness it once held.
Jihoon’s eyes widened. He could still feel the sun’s warmth, see its golden light travelling though the classroom blinds and illuminate the desks under the window. It was still a bright white against the now-grey sky.
Where was the blue?
”Chan, does the sky look normal to you? Like, does it look blue?”
Chan clearly thought that Jihoon was joking, for he gave his hyung a weird look and snorted.
”No, it looks a little orange to me. Hyung, are you okay?”
”Yeah. . .it was just a joke.”
For the first of many times, Lee Jihoon went home under a grey sky.
「 색깔 」
Many times, Jihoon tried to figure out the cause of his ash-grey sky. Every day the sky looked as if the clouds were filled with water, ready to burst and shower the ground below.
Only when he told another lie was when he figured it out.
This time it was the succulent he kept in his room. It was a slightly pale green, a speck of colour against the blank canvas of his minimalist room.
He was exhausted after a day of studying. Seungcheol, the loving friend he was, had called Jihoon to ask him if he needed anything.
”Actually, hyung, I’m kind of craving ramen.” Jihoon confessed.
”Okay, I’m at the convenience store near your house right now. I’ll be there in a few, okay?” Seungcheol had said.
A few minutes later, the older boy had appeared at the door, his grinning face greeting Jihoon. The older boy had been his saviour the past few days, calling him often and saying goodbye when he noticed the tinge of tiredness in Jihoon’s voice.
Sometimes Jihoon swore that he saw a glimpse of that summer sky when he was with him.
”Thank you, Seungcheol-hyung. Really.”
His hyung smiled wider, extending the paper bag to the tired boy.
“Let’s eat.”
「 색깔 」
After two bowls of ramen each, the pair chatted about school while lying in Jihoon’s bed.
Seungcheol leaned forward as if preparing to share a secret. He locked eyes with Jihoon and whispered, even though they were the only ones in the apartment, “There’s going to be a new boy joining our study group tomorrow. From what I’ve heard from the others, he sounds really cute.”
Jihoon’s eyes widened in curiosity like the day he saw the blue sky disappear.
”What’s his name?” He whispered.
”Soonyoung. Why, are you interested?” Seungcheol’s trademark goofy smile made its reappearance.
”No.”
The only colour in Jihoon’s room was suffocated by grey.
「 색깔 」
Of course this was the power he would’ve gotten: his world was filled with people with amazing and common powers like telekinesis and photography memory, he felt unlucky that he ended up with this one. Slowly, he was becoming colourblind.
It felt like a punishment. No, scratch that, it was a punishment.
Until he saw the sky turn blue again.
It all started with Soonyoung. The older boy was wearing the familiar shade of sky blue on the day he met Jihoon. He didn’t really know how his power—or rather, his curse—worked, but he knew that if he lied, the colour of one object would be erased. He could still see the hue, but not on that particular object.
Soonyoung was a bright boy that shone almost as much as the sun. He was made up of smiles, shy bows and the oversized sky blue sweater covering not only his upper body but his hands.
After Hansol introduced him to the rest of their study group, the newbie sat down in the only free chair, in between Jihoon and Seungkwan.
After a few minutes of catching up and icebreakers, the boys started their studying. Soonyoung was a diligent boy like the rest of them, but Jihoon noticed that the older boy murmured the problems under his breath while he was working on them.
It was a cute habit, and Jihoon loved the way he pouted slightly when he made a mistake. He found himself staring at him for too long sometimes, but brushed it off as mere curiosity.
From the other side of the table, Seungcheol winked at him. Jihoon gave him one of his signature glares.
“Jihoon. . .how do you do this question? I’m sorry. . .I sound kinda dumb. . .” Soonyoung whispered to him.
”You’re not dumb. Here. . .” Jihoon explained the problem slowly until understanding dawned on the older boy’s face.
”Thank you!” Soonyoung’s face creased into an adorable eye smile.
Jihoon smiled back, nearly cooing at the adorableness of the newbie.
Wonwoo broke the silence that ensued. “Mingyu! Can you open the window please? I’m getting sweaty and it looked like it stopped raining.
Mingyu immediately obeyed, pulling back the blinds and sliding open the window with the help of Jeonghan. Jihoon threw his head down, not looking forward to seeing another gloomy sky. Next to him, Soonyoung gasped.
”The sky’s really pretty today.” He said quietly.
Minghao looked up from his textbook and fake-squinted. “Looks normal to me.” Junhui smacked him while Seokmin and Jisoo laughed.
Unable to help himself, Jihoon lifted his head and his hand to shield the golden sun. Soonyoung was right, the sky was an expanse of serenity, the evening slowly streaking the sky with rose quartz.
Jihoon gasped like Soonyoung did a few moments earlier.
After that day, Jihoon held this in his heart: the arrival of the boy with the sunny disposition had beckoned the sapphire sky back again with his sparkling smile.
Soonyoung had painted Jihoon’s world again, and now, the colours were more vivid.