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Living in a world of black and white, seven-year-old Minhyuk learns that every lollipop he eats is actually of the same taste even if his school teachers taught them that the world was once full of color and vibrance and lollipops had different colors as well.
"Noona, what color is my lollipop now?" Minhyuk shows his older sister of twelve years, Minjae, the piece of candy he got from the jar of lollipops his family had stored inside the kitchen cabinet.
"It's of the color violet, Mung. Much like the color of my teddy bear upstairs, do you remember that?"
"Ah!" Little Minhyuk holds up his lollipop, "the one you always let me borrow whenever I can't fall asleep?"
Minjae nods, pecking his little brother's cheek. Minhyuk smiles with the affectionate gesture, feeling lucky he had his sister feeding his curiosity whenever he asked about the colors of everything around him. Even if he hasn't seen any color other than black and white, he's trying to keep every information he has about the colors so that when he gets the chance to see the vibrance of the world, he'd be able to easily remember them.
"Noona, I'm glad you have Jaesung-hyung. He helped you see the world in colors, right?"
Minjae wants to laugh at her brother's bluntness but what can she do, he was a kid at an age of curiosity and maybe, all she really wants deep inside is for him to also see the world differently. "Yes, little pup. He's the reason I'm seeing your shirt as blue, or that vase we have as white."
Minhyuk licks the violet lollipop, staring at it as if he's trying to make it burst in color. "When will I be able to see everything like how you do?"
"Someday, Min." She ruffles his hair playfully as she leaves him alone in the middle of the living room. "Someday."
"How was school, Min?" His mother asks him as soon as he enters their house. Minhyuk slowly removes his school shoes, placing it on the shoe rack before tiptoeing in his socks to the kitchen where his mother is cooking.
"It was great," he replies, grabbing a lollipop from the jar atop the kitchen counter, "although my teacher told me we would have a new classmate next week. I wonder who he is."
His mother's ears perk up with the statement, obviously expecting it with the amount of trucks she saw earlier outside the house beside theirs. She remembers smiling at their new neighbors when she went outside to pick up the mail and that's when she saw a kid clinging onto his mother's leg while the mother was busy directing the movers on where to put the appliances.
"I think he's the son of our new neighbors, Min. Why don't you drop by their house and offer him one of your extra lollipops?"
Minhyuk smiles with this, happy he gets the opportunity to have a new friend. Even with the monochromatic color of the lollipops, he picks the most appealing one for him before hopping off the chair and bidding goodbye to his mother.
He wears his usual flip-flops, remembering how Minjae told him it was color pink. Minhyuk opens their front door and he immediately heads towards their new neighbors' lawn, preparing himself for the introductions he'll say to the new kid. He wishes he would be interested in video games as well, just like how Minhyuk's immensely obsessed with them so that he's sure they can have something to enjoy everyday. Or maybe he's playing basketball like him too, so they could play around the open space behind Minhyuk's house.
Minhyuk knocks three times on the wooden door, shuffling the balls of his feet while patiently waiting for someone to open the door. He hears footsteps padding on the other side, probably heading towards him and the moment the door opens, revealing a tiny boy holding a book between his hands, Minhyuk takes a step back.
The other boy stares at him, mouth agape as the book falls to the ground. Minhyuk is taken aback with the sudden... vibrance.
The boy's shirt isn't black anymore. The shirt he's wearing does not look white anymore. It had a color in it and even if he doesn't know what it is, he's still surprised over the fact that his world is not in black and white anymore and his sister is right, the world with color is much better than the monochromatic one.
"You have color!" Little Minhyuk exclaims, pointing at the boy's nose to make sure he's real. The other boy tilts his head to the side, eyes staring back at Minhyuk with confusion.
"T-this is the first time everything's not black and white. How did this happen?" The boy asks, eyes wandering around before it lands on Minhyuk's hands which were fidgeting with delight.
"I can't believe it! I'm seeing colors! Wait," he makes a stop sign, "I need to tell my sister and my mother first! Wait for me here again!" Minhyuk exclaims, leaving the dumbfounded boy staring at his retreating back. The boy looks around his surroundings, taking in the vibrant colors around him. The tree and their family car wasn't in the same color anymore, their front door wasn't white and even his skin had its own color. It amazes him and he runs towards his mother in the living room, exclaiming how he can already see colors.
Minhyuk, on the other hand, happily ran towards his mom who was surprised with his sudden appearance. "Ma! Ma! I can see colors now! Everything's not black and white anymore!"
His mother is in shock, surprised with how young Minhyuk is, yet he already sees the world in colors. "Are you sure, Min? Do you see the color of this pan?"
Minhyuk nods feverishly, pointing at the pan and then at the oven they had, which both had red as their color. "That pan and our oven are of the same color, am I right?"
Minhyuk's mother goes to his side, kneeling so they could be in eye level. "Little pup, what happened?"
"Um well, remember when you told me to visit the boy next door? I did! But the moment he opened the door, the world suddenly shifted from black and white to all these different vibrant colors and I was so surprised because Minjae-unnie was right, the world is better this way!"
Minhyuk spends his whole afternoon with the boy; apparently his name is Hyunwoo, he's six years old, and he is a transferree from a western province. His whole family had to stay here because this was where his dad was staying and he's definitely the new transferee to his section. He liked reading books and dancing, and when Minhyuk asked him what sport does he play, he answers 'swimming' with a small smile on his face.
"Don't you play basketball?" Minhyuk asks, holding the soccer ball he brought from his home to Hyunwoo's lawn. "Basketball is fun, promise!"
"But," Hyunwoo sighs, "it's tiring!"
"So is swimming!"
Hyunwoo rolls his eyes at this, "Basketball and swimming are two completely different things and for me, basketball's tiring while swimming isn't."
Minhyuk throws the ball high up in the air before catching it before it hits them. "Oh, I kind of expected you to play with me, though..."
Hyunwoo nudges Minhyuk's shoulder with his own, staring at the boy with a smile on his face. "We could always play, if you want. I just need to learn how to play basketball actually."
Minhyuk visibly beams at this, letting Hyunwoo hold the ball as he leaves him in the front porch. "Well, I'll just be setting up my basket net behind our house and we could start your training!"
Hyunwoo nods and minutes later, Minhyuk's jogging towards him again, waving his hand. "Let's go! It's done already. I could teach you how to play soccer now!"
Minhyuk teachers Hyunwoo the basics first: how to kick a ball flawlessly, how to dribble the ball with his knees, how to defend from the opponent and how to aim for the perfect shot at the net. Hyunwoo's already exhausted but Minhyuk doesn't seem to be fazed after hours of playing under the sun and Minhyuk's mother invites them over for some snacks inside their household.
"So, you're Son Hyunwoo, right? The son of our new neighbors?" Minhyuk's mother asks while offering Hyunwoo the cookies she baked earlier. Hyunwoo nods, happily accepting the baked treat. Minhyuk was busy munching on his own piece to listen to his mother asking Hyunwoo multiple questions.
"Where exactly did you come from?"
"Western part of Busan!"
"Ah, the city of a quiet life. I went there once, you know. I love how the lights at night seem to shine even brighter than the stars above." She says, ruffling Hyunwoo's hair from the other side of the table. "I'm glad you can see colors now like our little Minhyuk here."
"Hmm," Hyunwoo replies, "what color is this cookie?"
She takes one cookie from the plate, showing it in front of Hyunwoo and Minhyuk's faces. "The main cookie is of the color brown," then she points at the small specks of chocolate around it, "and the chocolate bits are dark brown. Much like the brown of the cookie, but much darker."
"And this," Hyunwoo points at the plate, "what color is this?"
"Violet."
Minhyuk stares at the violet plate before remembering something. "Violet! One time, I asked Minjae-unnie what was the color of the lollipop I was eating and she said violet! She also told me it was the color of her favorite teddy- wait, I'll just get it."
Minhyuk's little feet run upstairs, retrieving the teddy bear from her sister's empty bed before running back towards his mother and Hyunwoo who were patiently waiting for his return.
"This is violet?" He holds the teddy bear high up, clutching it with all his might as his mother nods, smiling.
"Yes, Min. That's violet."
Minhyuk beams at this, walking towards Hyunwoo's side to offer him the teddy bear. "Hey, Hyunwoo! This is my favorite teddy bear; it's my sister's bear but she lets me play with it once in a while so I learned to love it anyway."
Hyunwoo takes the bear with his hands, smoothing the fur on its head. "It's really fluffy, you know."
Minhyuk giggles. "Yes, I know! It's really cute too, isn't it?"
This time Hyunwoo's the one who giggles, hugging the bear tightly. "Yup, it's fluffy and cuddly and cute!"
"Just like you, Hyunwoo!" Minhyuk exclaims as he reaches for another cookie and Minhyuk's mother smiles at them, happy that as young as Minhyuk's age, he could already experience the color of the world and the happiness it brings to everyone who sees it. She just hopes nothing would take the happiness from the two boys away because seeing them in glee around each other, laughing and joking with each other, not even knowing they're the soulmates of each other they have been looking for, is probably one of the greatest things she has seen in her life.
"Doctor Jooheon!" Little Minhyuk exclaims, happily running towards his doctor who always checks up on him once a month. The doctor laughs at the overly-excited Minhyuk before opening his arms to welcome the little boy.
"Minhyuk, my favorite patient." He says, pinching the bridge of Minhyuk's nose with his fingers. "How are you? Anything new?"
"I can see colors now! Your coat is white, am I right?" His small hand reaches for Jooheon's collar, twirling it between his fingers. Jooheon looks upset with the news but he doesn't show it to the kid, instead he smiles at him, feeling glad Minhyuk's already found his soulmate with his young age.
"Yes, little pup, it's white." He replies, acknowledging Minhyuk's mother with a smile as he brings Minhyuk inside his room. "Now, let's get started on your check-up, okay?"
Minhyuk behaves like the nice kid he is, letting Jooheon hover around him so he could check the kid's body for any abnormalities. He uses the stethoscope around his neck to check on Minhyuk's breathing and heartbeat and when he shows Minhyuk a thumbs up, the kid smiles at him, excited over the lollipop his doctor always gives him after his monthly check-up.
"Someone's excited over the lollipop I'll be giving, hmm." He teases the kid, reaching for a monochromatic lollipop inside his own jar of treats for his little patients. Minhyuk shrieks when he sees it, his little hands getting excited to hold the candy and eat it.
"It's red, Doctor Jooheon! The lollipop is red this time!"
Jooheon doesn't let his sadness show as he gives the lollipop to the kid before he leaves the room. He stares at Minhyuk happily skipping beside his mother, wondering when he'll have his own chance to see the world just like how Minhyuk does.
"Catch, Hyunwoo-hyung!" Minhyuk throws the ball up in the air, playing catch with his new found friend. Hyunwoo doesn't hear him over the sound of his heart palpitating due to tiredness. He's been up and going as soon as he woke up and all he wants is to just sit and rest but Minhyuk doesn't want to stay in one place and he's the usual over-active kid that he is. Hyunwoo is using his knees as his support as he bends down, catching his breath. Minhyuk runs up to his side moments later, looking worried.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Hyunwoo wants to say no, he's not okay, he's feeling all sorts of weird just like the first time he was driven to the hospital. But Minhyuk looked like he was enjoying playing with him so he puts up a smile on his face, waving a hand.
"Yep, I'm okay. Just need to catch my breath, that's all." Hyunwoo answers, standing upright to look at Minhyuk's frowning face.
"But you don't look okay," Minhyuk says, frowning a bit more. "Let me get you some water from inside. Wait here."
Minhyuk runs off to retrieve a glass of water for his friend and when he comes back minutes later, he sees Hyunwoo sitting on the grass, playing with the soccer ball in his hand.
"White and black, right?" Hyunwoo asks him and Minhyuk nods.
"Yes, that's why Minjae told me when I asked her about it."
"Far different than the old black and white I saw weeks ago for almost seven years." Hyunwoo replies, throwing the ball up in the air only for him to catch it again. "Thanks for the water." He reaches for the glass Minhyuk was holding and the latter smiles down at him.
"No problem." Minhyuk sits beside him and together, they watch as the world is silently vibrant around them. "Are you excited for school?"
Hyunwoo hums as an answer, gulping down huge amounts of the water. Minhyuk laughs when he spills a bit onto his own t-shirt. "I'm pretty excited to meet new people here."
"Why? Are you already tired of seeing my face?" Minhyuk pouts.
"No! Not that!" Hyunwoo quickly defends himself, "I'm just excited to be able to have more friends. Back in Busan, I didn't have much friends because I was always in the hospital. But then I'm better now than before and my mom told me I could have more friends this time."
Minhyuk doesn't ask him why he was in a hospital often since kids don't usually prod into deep things like that. He decides to just ask Hyunwoo about his previous life in Busan and Hyunwoo willingly tells him stories of himself and the hometown he grew up in. The sun is up in the clouds, burning brightly above but no one dared to move between them, too immersed in getting to know each other. Minhyuk tells Hyunwoo stories of his own experiences, like the one time he accidentally bumped into a lamppost while heading home from the store downtown just because he wasn't looking in front of him. Hyunwoo laughs loudly, slapping his knee in amusement as Minhyuk continues on telling him various stories of his failure-of-a childhood and in turn, Hyunwoo tells Minhyuk of the amazing sceneries in Busan and the people who always took care of him whenever his parents were at work.
"Then there's Wook-hyung who always looked after me whenever I went to my dancing classes in the afternoon." Hyunwoo exclaims, tracing the rim of the glass.
"Woah, you dance?"
"Well, used to." The kid sadly replies, "when I was younger I used to dance everyday because my mom told me I could already follow the beat of songs ever since I was a baby. She enrolled me to a dance school, that's when I met Taemin-hyung, the best dancer I have ever seen!"
"Who's Taemin?" Minhyuk asks him.
"Oh, he's the awesome dance teacher from my section. I remember how he keeps on praising me for my dance that time but then I had to stop because we had to migrate here. I'd never forget him, though. He always told me he'd wait for me to grow up and be a big boy so he could watch me dance even better than I already did." Hyunwoo sadly smiles, "but now I won't be able to see him anymore because we already left Busan."
Minhyuk wraps an arm around his friend, offering a smile to make him feel better. "Then let's both grow up to become big boys and I'll come with you to visit him back to Busan. We'll have great jobs and be rich so we could ride a taxi to go there, right?"
Hyunwoo nods at him, smiling meekly. "That's a great idea, Minhyuk. I'm excited to grow up with you now!"
Minhyuk's mother calls the both of them for their usual snacks and Hyunwoo bids goodbye to Minhyuk when he hears his mother calling his name from their lawn. Minhyuk is excited for the first day of school with Hyunwoo the day after and so he sleeps soundly, dreaming of his future with Hyunwoo and the endless possibilites with him.
Minhyuk turns his alarm off, blearily opening his eyes to get ready for his morning. It goes on as usual; he fixes his own bed just like how his mother taught him, he takes a bath afterwards, brushing his teeth while letting the cold shower hit his body. He dries his hair with the small fan he has inside his room, idly buttoning up his polo before grabbing his bag and going downstairs to take his breakfast.
Minjae greets him with a smile, offering him a plate of french toast. He grabs two pieces, munching on the bread with a big grin on his face because it's the first day of school with Hyunwoo and he can't wait to introduce Hyunwoo to all of his friends so he'll have more friends as well, just as he hoped.
"Someone's happy today, Min." Minjae remarks, eyeing Minhyuk's plastered smile. "What's up?"
"First day of school with Hyunwoo!" He exclaims, gulping down a glass of orange juice to drown down the toast in his mouth. He says goodbye to his sister later on, kissing her on the cheek as he waves while leaving the room with his mother. She drives him to school, like she always does everyday and she doesn't forget to remind Minhyuk to eat his meals.
"Share your sandwiches with Hyunwoo, okay?" She tells him and Minhyuk smiles.
"Gladly."
The kids at school love Hyunwoo. Even the teachers adore his small stature. Minhyuk stays beside him, keeping him company throughout the day while he's taking his time to get to know everyone.
Jihyun, the girl who sits beside Minhyuk during their Math class, asks Hyunwoo and Minhyuk to play with them outside along with their classmates. Hyunwoo tries to politely decline, remembering his mother's words that he shouldn't overwork himself so he won't go through labored breathing again but Minhyuk insists for him to join everyone and he had no choice because everyone was silently looking at him, as if they're all asking him to join them. He says yes in the end, grinning when Minhyuk cheers.
"Come on, we don't want to miss all the fun!" Minhyuk gleefully exclaims, pulling Hyunwoo up from his chair so the both of them could follow Jihyun outside where all of the kids were playing tag. Minhyuk volunteers to be the new 'it', letting go of Hyunwoo's hand so he could run with the others. Hyunwoo tags side by side with his new found friends as they find a place where they could hide while Minhyuk was counting down with his eyes closed. Minhyuk counts up to number one and he opens his eyes, scanning the environment. He sees Jihyun first, hiding silently behind the tree near him and he slowly tiptoes next to her, tapping her shoulder to surprise her. She takes a leap back, holding her chest from fright and they run together around, looking for their other classmates.
After tagging three more of his friends, he sees Hyunwoo trying to run towards the classroom, probably to hide from him, so Minhyuk runs after him and when Hyunwoo hears footsteps behind him, he jogs right away, looking behind to see Minhyuk running after him.
"You can't run that far away, Hyunwoo!" Minhyuk says, stretching his hand towards Hyunwoo to try and reach him. Hyunwoo runs even faster, avoiding Minhyuk at all costs. He sees Jihyun and Seokwon closing in front of him to catch him before he could run away and he tries to swerve to his side, twisting his body so he could head to the direction where no one is about to chase him but-
He doesn't hear Minhyuk's screams nor his classmates' fast footsteps towards him. Hyunwoo is down on the ground, breathing heavily while crutching his chest and Minhyuk shakes his shoulder around to make sure he was okay but before he could answer his friend, his world turns black.
"Little pup, wake up. It's time to head for school." Minjae nudges his shoulder, making sure he was already awake before leaving him inside his room. His eyes felt tired and lumpy because he cried for the whole afternoon the day before, holding Hyunwoo's hand as he got wheeled inside an ambulance. He didn't let go of Hyunwoo's hand until the doctors pried him away from the boy to take him to the emergency room and he faintly remembers banging his little hands on the door of the room, asking the doctors to let him in.
He feels drained, his body is fatigued and all he wants is to stay at home and curl under his blankets until he was sure Hyunwoo was okay. He regrets saying yes to his mother in bringing him home last night; he could've stayed longer at Hyunwoo's bedside, holding his lifeless little hand with his trembling ones. His mother pulls him up, carrying him across her shoulder so she could bring him home. He remembers saying goodbye to Hyunwoo's parents and asking them to call him as soon as he wakes up so they could talk again and have fun like the past few days.
He slings his legs to the side of his bed, eyes adjusting to the light brightly shining from the windowpane. Minhyuk heads downstairs, mouth forming a little 'o' when he sees his mom wearing a white shirt.
"Mom, why did the world turn black and white again?"