Garden|Yeonbin

Quattordici

Soobin's curiosity was creeping to him, gouging his eyeballs out and piercing his abdomen to squeeze his swelling intestines.

He didn't know what to do, what to say,

What to feel.

He needed to know what the peasant does with the flowers. He needed to know what were his true intentions. Building up inside him, his mind scattered to different scenarios, discarding one after another.

He hasn't think that much before.

But it couldn't just wonder in the chamber that bound him with chains on every limb, moving lifelessly in the same room until it collapsed and ceased the will to further long for an extended life.

Taking a deep breath, Soobin was extremely determined to secretly take a glance of the person's face, his life.

Putting the mask on his face, it desired to harden, as though it was one with him. It banned people from taking a glance of his face, hiding his true individuality. They only mock him because he covers it, avoiding to show it to anyone else.

Soobin realized they were really intrigued by him, the man who was living in a castle. Destiny weakly told him to accept his fate, choking him with its breath lingering in his ears. It told him he could not run away from it anymore,

Even if he tries to change it.

He would be left alone for all of his days, dully sitting in the middle of the sand castle without anything to do. His motivation drained out, not even lifting a finger to merely change.

The stranger came again, aware that the castle dweller was 'sleeping' peacefully. Those mumbles came back again, supposedly haunting him.

Yeonjun was finally done. Clutching on the flowers' stalks, he thought he had escaped from the suspicious gaze of the masked man. Soobin grabbed a cloak from the cold castle, wearing it before going with the tracks of the young man trampled by his feet.

He was being followed.

Good thing it was nighttime, for the people in the village were going inside their houses for protection. The cold cobblestone was stepped on, but it didn't protest. It can't protest.

Soobin fulfilled his goal as he saw the peasant.

Yeonjun was seen under the thatched roof, laying out the flowers before encouraging some people to buy his flowers. He looked so weak, doing his best to stand up and help his family. He still had a smile on his face, as if he didn't do anything contradicting someone.

His eyes were glistening.

Glistening with a reflection of what he truly felt.

It was a mix of regret and helplessness, reaching out to someone who could drag him from his misery. But he realized that he shouldn't just be a burden to people's lives. He couldn't be dependent, for that would just lead to his downfall as a citizen.