Different | ROHWI

Chapter Two: Eventful

He longed so bad for a friend—someone who would actually make him feel safe and secure. A person who would make him forget his worries, his thoughts.

Hwiyoung sighed, collapsing to the ground as his makeshift chair had broken down beneath him and cluttered down on the dirt-stained porch. The 21-year-old had been trying all morning to fix his chair. He had no one to help him; his father had bailed on him, leaving to a new town. His mother had been killed three years ago when the gang of another town came during the night and raided everything. He was alone.

All day, he would work on fixing the house, selling wood at the market to make some profit, and gather wood for the fireplace, too. It was the same routine, along with the addition of people coming to ask him to see how alive they are.

Hwiyoung left his home, picking up the axe that stuck to the trunk near his porch - making his way to the forest, ramming the axe against the bark once he was near a tree.

Soon, he heard the crunching of leaves from a short distance as he was chopping trees down with his axe; he glanced over, seeing his former best friend - someone whom he always regarded dear to him until that day. He was about to look away, yet Taeyang had turned to face him, locking eyes.

Taeyang opened his mouth to say something, but he narrowed his eyes and glanced away.

Hwiyoung simply looked away as well, feeling his heartstrings tug at him fiercely. He missed the friendship he had with Taeyang. He'd known the boy for as long as he could remember; he'd made so many unforgettable memories with him, so it hurt him to think he couldn't make more memories. It was upsetting.

He gathered up the wood after chopping down the tree, having chopped bits and more bits - having tied them together with rope to carry them to his backyard.

"That's a handful you have." He heard Taeyang finally speak.

He stayed quiet, holding the group of wood in his arms although it was getting tiring, "What about it?" He said, looking back to glance at the older boy, "Are you that lazy to get your own wood, Yoo?"

"Tch." Taeyang rolled his eyes. "Look, Kim, I don't give a shit about your low quality wood, and I'm not lazy." He grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes coldly at Hwiyoung. "I don't know why I bothered to try to make small talk. You're not worth my time." He said with no hesitation.

Hwiyoung's heart clenched tightly, feeling it ache immensely at the boy's words. He said nothing, and he simply turned away - walking home.

Taeyang bit his lip, having thought that Hwiyoung would speak. He relinquished his mind, letting it say whatever he pleased, "Maybe it was for the better for me to stop talking to you." Taeyang noticed Hwiyoung had stopped in his tracks, yet he kept looking the opposite direction. "You're abnormal. I don't know why people haven't told you off to the conservatives. Why would anyone want you around? You're nothing."

Hwiyoung's hands began to tremble slightly, seemingly forgetting how to breathe as he continued to endure Taeyang's remarks. His own mind began to ponder if he had ever meant something to Taeyang, but that thought was quickly washed away by a swarm of unwanted doubts - his mind shouting at him that he was a nobody, a mistake: someone who should've never existed.

His feet began to walk forward, clutching onto the logs in his arms tightly as he sped up his pace. He couldn't take it anymore; he felt as if his head was being pushed down into water ruthlessly, not allowing him to catch any sort of air. He felt suffocated, feeling his throat close up as it forbade him to breath. His bottom lip was trembling slightly, but he simply bit down on it harshly - making it stop, yet he drew blood.

He kept walking, having walked past his simple home and down to the merchant area to sell his logs to the timber salesman. Having been lost in his thoughts, he crashed against someone else, and he fell to the ground - the logs rolling away since the rope's knot wasn't tight enough. He panicked, trying to gather them all before someone took them. He suddenly could breathe again without a worry.

"Here." He looked up, locking eyes with an acquaintance of his - noticing he had tied his hair back into a bun.

"Thanks...Zuho." Hwiyoung murmured quietly, grabbing the logs the older had grabbed. He tied them together with the other ones, and he got up from his knees. "...Where have you been? I haven't seen you since last month." Hwiyoung said.

"Ah," Zuho scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly, "I was just here and there. Here and there. Don't worry about it." He simply smiled coyly, noticing the blood upon Hwiyoung's lip. He gulped dryly, casting his gaze elsewhere, "I have somewhere to be. Watch where you're walking." He walked away.

Hwiyoung raised his brow quizzically, but he paid no mind to it. He proceeded to the shack of the salesman, and he handed him all the logs once he entered, "I'll bring more later." He said.

He extended his hand, receiving five silver coins.

"Any is good. Any is good. At least you're the only one who brings me any to sell, and you're not even my employee!" The man snarled, emitting a low chortle, waving him off.

Hwiyoung nodded, turned away, and he remembered he left his axe near the woods. He jogged there, hoping it was still there. He really didn't want to lose another axe; he only had one spare left, and he didn't want to spend his money on more. (He could already imagine the scoldings from the blacksmith if he did go.)

He made it to the forest, and he saw his axe there - lonely upon the grass. He walked towards it, noting Taeyang had gone. He picked it up, hearing rustling in the forest, but he ignored it. I wonder how Taeyang's mother is...He walked back home, feeling goosebumps on his arms as he could feel eyes on his back.