CG | Chapter 1.7

Curious gazes turned toward Lane. The kids, who had already bonded in first grade, eagerly made room for him and bombarded him with questions, but Lane sat at his desk, seemingly oblivious to the attention and the chatter directed at him, completely absorbed in a thick picture book. A child who only looked at books filled with drawings of insects, flowers, and trees was quickly forgotten by the group.

Still, a few kids continued to hover around Lane. Take Sean Delight, for example. Acting on his ambitious parents’ instructions to somehow befriend the Surf family’s child, Sean was one of those who persistently approached Lane, no matter how coldly he was treated. Back then, it was the only topic that could reliably catch his mother and father’s attention.

What were the names of his competitors again? Actually, they were more like comrades. Sean was already friends with everyone, so a few like-minded kids would gather and try to talk to Lane. But Lane, as if sealed off from the outside world, didn’t respond to any of their words—no matter how interesting the conversation was.

There’s one incident that still stands out in Sean’s memory. One day, a kid, no longer able to hold back, lifted the bangs covering Lane’s face.

“What makes you so great that you ignore us? You’re hiding your face because you’re actually ugly, right?”

With a hand full of resentment from being ignored, the child grabbed Lane’s bangs. Thanks to that, all the kids in the class saw Lane’s face. The first thing revealed was his bright blue eyes.

Sean vividly remembered how blue those eyes were in that moment. The blue eyes, strikingly set in his pale face, had a captivating power that drew everyone’s gaze.

Even the boy who had angrily grabbed Lane’s hair was momentarily startled and paused. The revealed face looked like a creature that couldn’t be sculpted by human hands.

But the surprise at his appearance was short-lived, as Lane’s subsequent actions turned the classroom into chaos. Lane, who had been unresponsive to external stimuli like an inanimate object, began to scream.

A shrill scream filled the classroom. The startled teacher rushed over to calm Lane, but he continued to scream like a broken alarm clock. His small, white teeth and pink palate were visible as he screamed.

The boy who had touched Lane, experiencing such a reaction for the first time, ran away, and the other kids watched Lane with eyes that saw something strange and frightening. The teacher quickly ran to the principal’s office to call the Surf couple. Lane was left behind.

In fact, Sean had always thought that he had seized an “opportunity” well at this moment. His parents used this expression when they praised him for what happened that day.

But today, as he unexpectedly recalled the past, Sean thought that he would have comforted Lane even without his parents’ orders. Because.

Lane was really scared.

Sean himself was only in second grade, but somehow he could sense it. Probably because he had taken care of his younger siblings early on. When his young siblings were scared, they would cry out just like that. Lane wasn’t crying, but Sean instinctively knew that such screams didn’t come out for ordinary reasons.

Sean moved his frozen feet and approached Lane, who was screaming. Instead of looking at him, he began to read the open book. From his observations, the only thing Lane was interested in was this book.

“The quince is a small, twisted tree native to the Caucasus Mountains and Iran, requiring temperatures below 7 degrees Celsius for more than two weeks each year to bloom. The quince fruit is larger and bumpier than its close relatives, apples and pears. All three fruits are pomes, with the flesh we eat being the expanded base of the flower after the petals have fallen off long ago. The gray, downy yellow quince is astringent and hard when eaten raw.”

Lane, who continued to scream regardless of whether Sean was reading or not, gradually began to listen to the sentences Sean read. As the screams subsided, Lane quietly watched Sean with his blue eyes, revealed beneath the forcibly lifted hair.

It was the first time Lane, who had transferred a few weeks ago, looked at someone.

Honestly, Sean wasn’t sure if this was the right approach, and he was losing confidence, but Lane’s reaction encouraged him. Then, worried that Lane might scream again, he read the book once more.

“The quince is a true food of love. In Greek mythology, the golden apple Paris gave to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was a quince.”

Just as he read this part, the teacher, having finished the call with the Surf couple, rushed into the classroom and saw the scene. Still looking surprised, the teacher cautiously asked Sean if he could continue doing what he was doing next to Lane. So Sean read the book until the Surf couple arrived. The class ended there that day.

That day was when Sean was introduced to the Surf family. It was a warm lunchtime in September when the new school year had just started, and the autumn leaves were in full bloom.

Fortunately, contrary to the rumors that came with their immense wealth, the Surf couple were not arrogant or cold people. They comforted the child who caused the commotion that day by asking him to take care of Lane, then approached Sean and kindly expressed their gratitude. From then on, the couple took a liking to Sean.

After that, it was…

A time of waiting, boring but steady, seemed to follow. It wasn’t until the following year that Sean and Lane properly spoke to each other. Until then, Sean quietly stayed by Lane’s side, wanting to be acknowledged by his parents and the Surf couple, and intervened whenever Lane received unwanted attention.

Fortunately, Sean’s presence alone was enough to disperse the attention, allowing Lane to be alone, like a sort of guardian. It was a year spent in a symbiotic relationship, but not quite one you could call friendship.

Then came the day they first spoke.

That day, he saw a butterfly.

A small butterfly hiding a deep blue color, just like Lane’s eyes. The brilliant color, which couldn’t be seen from the outside, only revealed its blue inside when it sat on a flower and enjoyed peace.

.☘︎ ݁˖.☘︎ ݁˖.☘︎ ݁˖

Following the jumbled memories, Sean was in a light sleep when he felt a hand touching his hair. Leaning into the pleasant sensation of having his hair stroked, he shook his head as if in a playful complaint. The place where his cheek rested was firm, and the temperature was comfortably warm. As he indulged in the gentle breeze and all the pleasant sensations, Sean was awakened by a clattering noise from beyond the hallway.

His green eyes, heavy with sleep, slowly emerged from beneath his eyelids. As he lazily lifted his eyelashes, the first thing he saw upon waking was a sharp nose and a smooth jawline. Watching the black hair fluttering, Sean eventually met the blue eyes slowly looking down at him.

“…Lane?”

Lane nodded in response to his call. Sean blinked, unable to believe it even after saying it himself.

“Why are you here?”

Lane’s delicate brow furrowed slightly, as if something displeased him. Because Sean was lying down and looking up, Lane’s face was clearer than usual.

Wow, it’s been a while.

I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve seen his face so clearly. Unless he was lucky enough to catch him while washing up, Lane always kept his hair down, as if it wasn’t bothersome. Even yesterday, when he slightly lifted it, was a rare occurrence.

Even on hot days, he kept it that way, so Sean couldn’t bring himself to say, “Lift your hair a bit,” just to satisfy his own desires. Sean always tried not to burden Lane. Like a dandelion seed floating lightly around, he didn’t want Lane to feel weighed down and hide away. Perhaps because the incident from their childhood was ingrained in him, he was even more so.

Taking this opportunity to quietly admire his face, Lane’s neatly closed lips parted. In a voice tinged with slight dissatisfaction, Lane whispered softly. He still looked boyishly young and cute.

“It’s Sunday today.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“We’re supposed to meet by 11 in the morning.”

After exploring the small forests and parks nearby, Lane liked to visit the open areas near the Babcock Preserve, so since they became high school students, they started driving out to explore the area every Sunday. Thanks to Lane’s mother, a renowned ecologist, they often got to see areas not open to the public under the supervision of a manager.

Anyway.

They usually went there every Sunday, and Lane was referring to that.

“Sorry. I forgot because I was out of it yesterday.”

“We’ve been doing this for years.”

Sean was about to apologize, but suddenly remembered yesterday’s events and felt a bit mischievous. Half-jokingly, he teased Lane a little.

“But isn’t this something you can do with your future boyfriend? It’d be more fun with someone new than with me, whom you’ve known forever. He’d probably enjoy it since you share similar hobbies and interests.”

Unlike Sean, who wanted to hike if they went to the forest, Lane preferred to slowly look around. Of course, if it was about exploring the habitat of a desired plant or creature, he would climb mountains without hesitation, but it was usually a purposeful hike. On the other hand, Sean simply enjoyed moving his body.

Honestly, having been with Lane for so long, he was used to it, but who would find this fun? Especially young people at the age to party and have fun.

Well…, since the other person is similar, they’ll probably get along well.

As Sean said this with a calm expression, Lane squinted his eyes. His lips moved slightly as he quietly pushed Sean’s head away and got up from the bed. Now that he looked, he had been resting his head on Lane’s thigh.

“Don’t say things like that.”

For some reason, he seemed a bit sulky. Surprised, Sean looked at Lane’s face again and saw his lips slightly pouting. It wasn’t a mistake; he was genuinely feeling hurt.

Wow.

It felt like a change was happening in their usually calm routine, and Sean found it fascinating. It was probably because of that Dion kid, but for now, he didn’t mind the change. Lane sulking was as unimaginable as a legendary Pokémon….

He’s really cute. This is crazy.

“Are you sulking?”

Taking this opportunity, Sean quickly probed him. Lane, offended by the suggestion that he was sulking, retorted.

“Do you think I’m a kid?”

Saying something like that definitely meant he was sulking. Sean secretly savored the thought of how cute he was and decided to take action to soothe Lane. He wanted to observe him a bit longer, but he felt that if he let it go, Lane might really sulk, and he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“It’s okay to feel hurt. It’s an important routine for us.”

Saying that, Sean suddenly got up and hugged Lane’s waist. Instead of pushing Sean away, Lane looked at him with a slightly annoyed expression.

“Don’t sulk, okay? I was wrong. Like you said, it’s something we’ve been doing for years, and I stupidly forgot.”

“No. I’m not sulking. That’s something for minors.”

“There’s no such thing. People feel various emotions.”