The morning light entered the room, and Moon was already awake and dressed. He stood like a quiet shadow with a heavy sadness in his heart from the night before.
Just then, Sun opened his eyes. He stretched nicely in bed and said with a sleepy smile, "Good morning."
Without even looking at him, Moon replied with just one word: "Good morning." His voice was so low and lifeless. Sun immediately felt the coldness. He sat up in bed and asked with worry "Is something wrong?"
Moon slowly turned around. He looked straight into Sun's eyes, as if saying, "Are you that stupid? Do you really not understand anything?"
He just stared for a moment, then took a deep, sad breath. His voice was completely flat and cold: "No."
He didn't want to stay there anymore like a loser. "I'm going down for breakfast." he said.
Before Sun could say a word, he walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving Sun alone in the quiet room.
~~~
Sun got out of bed, his mind completely tangled. He had controlled himself all night just to protect Moon's feelings, to not force him during such a fragile time; but the cold treatment he received this morning really hurt.
Wanting to quiet the endless questions in his head, he went into the bathroom. He stood under the warm shower for minutes trying to clear his mind, but the uneasiness inside him didn't leave even after he got out and dressed. With heavy steps, he walked toward the restaurant for breakfast.
The moment he stepped into the restaurant, cheerful laughter from their table reached his ears. Moon was sitting next to Ten and Mint, talking happily while playing with his food.
It was as if the heartbroken boy with tearful eyes from last night didn't even exist; he was smiling with pure joy. But as Sun approached the table and his shadow fell over them, Moon's eyes drifted to him for a brief second.
In that exact instant, the warm, lively smile on Moon's face froze. His expression turned completely serious, the cheerful light in his eyes vanished, and he immediately looked away, turning back to his plate.
With a heavy ache squeezing his chest, Sun sat down in the empty chair next to First. First had immediately caught Moon's sudden, drastic shift in mood and the completely lost look on Sun's face.
While the others at the table were deep in their own conversation, First leaned in slightly toward Sun and asked in a sharp, low whisper that only he could hear:
"What the hell did you do now bro?"
Sun turned to First, looking helpless and completely clueless. His voice was barely a murmur. "I don't even know..." he whispered, truly unable to figure out what he had done wrong.
First rolled his eyes at the answer and continued to whisper reproachfully through his teeth.
"We just talked about this yesterday, man. You said 'the right time,' you said you wouldn't be selfish. How did you ruin things so fast?"
Sun felt wrongfully accused by First's sharp whisper. He quickly glanced at Moon at the other end of the table, then leaned even closer to First, dropping his voice to a bare murmur.
"That's exactly it, I was trying not to be selfish." Sun whispered, shaking his head helplessly.
"Last night... Look, I'm going to tell you something right now, but don't get all freaked out, and keep your voice down so Moon doesn't realize we are talking about him."
First grew even more curious seeing Sun so tense and mysterious. To avoid ruining the cheerful mood at the table, he kept his voice low, narrowing his eyes as he looked straight at Sun.
"Tell me, okay. I won't lose my mind." First said, giving in to his curiosity.
Sun took a deep breath, swallowing hard like a kid caught doing something wrong, and confessed the big truth:
"Moon and I were forced to move into a room with only a single double bed because of the room shortage at the hotel. There was absolutely no other choice, no rooms left. That's why we couldn't tell you guys, we just didn't want to cause a big mess for no reason and have everyone misunderstand."
At that exact moment, First, who was taking a big gulp of water, completely froze in shock at what he just heard. He suddenly sprayed all the water out across the table.
The water went down the wrong pipe, and he turned bright red, coughing violently while hitting his chest as if he couldn't breathe.
Everyone at the table instantly went quiet, and all eyes turned to him. Ten asked in a panic, "First! Are you okay, man? What happened?" While Bee quickly handed him a napkin, everyone leaned in with worry.
Meanwhile, First held his throat with one hand, coughing, while staring straight into Sun's face with wide, bulging eyes that were practically popping out from shock.
His gaze clearly screamed "What the hell are you saying?" Forcing his cough to stop, he instantly wiped the look of terror from his face and turned back to the table, speaking in a completely flat, lifeless, and cold voice:
"I'm fine... It's nothing, just went down the wrong pipe. You guys continue your conversation."
Once the noise and cheerful air at the table slowly returned to normal and everyone focused back on their own topics, First leaned back into Sun without waiting.
This time, sparks were practically flying from his eyes. He started scolding Sun through his teeth, looking as if he wanted to tear him apart:
"Are you an idiot, man? Look at me, I am not talking about you staying in the same room or sleeping in the same bed with my brother! That doesn't interest me at all, that's your business from now on.
What makes me mad is, how do you keep this from me? Aren't we close with each other now, bro? You are the one who runs to me the moment anything happens between you two, and you come here and don't tell me this! You are truly a complete idiot!"
Sun felt very guilty. His shoulders dropped as he looked down at the table. He raised his hands slightly, wanting to calm First down, and spoke in a low, worried whisper.
"Okay, you are right. I am really, really sorry." Sun said, hiding his face like a child who did something wrong.
"But I swear, I didn't mean to keep secrets or exclude you. Moon specifically asked me not to tell anyone. He didn't want anyone to talk about it or misunderstand things at the table. I just didn't want to upset him because he is already going through such a hard time."
Hearing Sun's worried and protective words, the angry look on First's face softened a little. However, the deep curiosity inside him was still very alive. He leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes, looking closely at Sun's face.
"Anyway, what's done is done…" First whispered very quietly, creating a silent moment before the storm.
"But what happened last night to make you two look so frozen and cold to each other this morning? Don't tell me... that happened..." He stared with a poker face, trying to corner Sun.
Sun's cheeks burned hot immediately, and he felt his ears turn bright red from embarrassment. Not knowing what to do with his hands, he rubbed the back of his neck, scratched his head, and whispered quickly:
"No, no! Don't be crazy, nothing like that happened! The situation is exactly this... We were lying in bed, and we had a very close moment, and..."
First leaned forward quickly, full of excitement and impatience. He cut Sun off like a knife. "And...? And what? Don't keep me waiting, man, tell me!"
Sun took a deep breath and swallowed hard. Remembering that moment made his heart beat fast against his chest all over again.
"We were already very close, and suddenly Moon moved his face toward me like that... I could feel his warm breath on my skin, and our noses even brushed against each other. But right at that second, I remembered what I told you at the pub yesterday.
I thought about how he needs to recover and how I shouldn't selfishly force him. So... I pulled my face back quickly, said good night, turned my back, and went to sleep."
First rolled his eyes, looking up at the ceiling as if he couldn't believe how stupid Sun was. Annoyed and unable to control himself, he reached out and gave Sun a light slap on the back of his head, as if saying, 'You are a total idiot.'
Then, so the others wouldn't notice anything, he quickly put a fake, relaxed smile on his face and stood up. While adjusting his chair, he leaned down toward Sun and whispered in a clear, low voice:
"I'm going to the restroom. Follow me, but don't make it obvious."
Sun quickly made up an excuse to follow First. He slowly stood up from his chair, patted his pockets as if searching for something, and turned to the table.
"Guys, I think I forgot my phone in the room. I'll go up and grab it quickly." he said.
While the others nodded, Moon shot him another cold and hurt look. Carrying that ache in his chest, Sun left the table and walked toward the restroom, pretending to go to his room.
When he arrived at the restroom entrance, he saw First leaning against the wall, waiting for him. First stood with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. The moment he saw Sun, he rolled his eyes and asked with a mix of seriousness and teasing:
"Are you bipolar or something? Why on earth are you rejecting a kid who actually made a move on you?!"
Sun didn't know what to do in the face of this sharp question. He opened his hands wide in helplessness, a deep guilt and confusion filling his eyes.
Lowering his voice, he whispered back, "Okay, but I promised! I couldn't force him into something when his wound is still so fresh, First. I was just terrified of hurting him."
First grew frustrated at Sun's overly thoughtful yet twisted logic. He quickly ran his hand through his hair and took a deep, tired sigh. Taking a step closer to Sun, he looked straight into his eyes with heavy reproach and said:
"If he moved closer to you, what exactly are you forcing? On the top of it, he made a move, and you rejected him sharply!
You keep saying his wound is fresh, but maybe because of this behavior of yours, you just added another heartbreak to his heart, you little shit..."
Just as Sun opened his lips to say something to defend himself, First raised his hand and cut him off like a knife once again.
He wrinkled his face and narrowed his eyes, taking a deep breath as if he already regretted what he was about to say.
"And maybe at that moment... God, I really can't believe I'm about to say this about my own cousin, but..." he said and paused. There was a look of both seriousness and disgust on his face.
Poking Sun's chest gently with his finger, he continued, "He just wanted to find a place for himself in your warmth."
As soon as he said this cheesy and romantic sentence, he acted as if his stomach had completely turned over from what he just uttered.
He suddenly bent over, put his hand over his mouth, and made an obvious gagging motion, making a sound as if he was about to throw up any second.
Sun rolled his eyes at First's dramatic behavior, but the warmth on his cheeks hadn't faded yet. First's words, though said half-jokingly, had actually hit him right in the center of his chest.
"Stop it.." Sun said in a low voice, giving First's shoulder a light tap.
"I'm already losing my mind here. Did I really... did I really break his heart? I was just so afraid of being selfish, of rushing him into things."
Seeing the genuine pain and helplessness in Sun's eyes, First immediately dropped his playful act. His face turned serious, and taking a deep breath, he placed a friendly hand on Sun's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Look man; when a kid like Moon,who is already so fragile and whose life is in pieces, gets that close to you… and you turn your back as if escaping... it must have made him feel worthless," First said, his voice very gentle this time.
"He doesn't need your logical protection right now; he needs that warmth by your side. Go and fix this. Don't push him away just because you're trying too hard to protect him."
Seeing the honesty in First's eyes, the heavy lump inside Sun's throat melted a little. The hesitation in his eyes vanished, replaced by a strong sense of determination.
"You're right. I will talk to him." he said, taking a deep breath.
Together, they left the restroom and walked back to the restaurant table. As Sun sat down in his chair, his eyes immediately found Moon at the other end.
Moon was laughing and talking with Ten at that moment, but the second he noticed Sun sitting down, his face was clouded with that same icy distance, and he instantly looked away. Moon had built his unbreakable walls up again; but this time, Sun was determined to tear them down, no matter what it took.
~~~
-Sun's POV-
As we walked along the path, my mind was a complete mess. What First had told me in the restroom, the reality of how I had unknowingly broken Moon's heart, felt like an arrow pierced straight through my chest.
My eyes kept drifting toward Moon, who was walking ahead of us, but his back was turned to me, acting as if I didn't even exist in this world.
While I was drowning in these thoughts, Wee suddenly slowed down his steps, stopped right in the middle of the group and turned around.
Looking directly at me and First, who was walking right beside me, he asked in a playful yet curious voice that everyone could hear:
"So, what were you and First talking about in the restroom anyway?"
At that exact moment, First and I froze right where we stood. My heart skipped a beat, and not knowing what to do, I started looking around nervously, as if searching for a place to escape. First tried to collect himself quickly, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking away.
"Nothing, really! What would we talk about? We just ran into each other, just small talk." we denied immediately. We were trying hard to hide how much our voices shook.
But Ten caught Wee's question in the air and supported him right away. He stepped forward with a huge, knowing smile on his face: "Come on, don't deny it! Moon saw you guys whispering in front of the restroom when he went to get us drinks! What were you up to over there, let's see!!!"
Wee laughed with delight at Ten's great support and threw his arm around Ten's shoulder, shaking him slightly as if saying, 'That's my boy!' Even though Ten rolled his eyes, a bit annoyed by Wee's sudden closeness, he kept that questioning smirk on his face.
Right then, First and I turned our heads in terror and just stared at each other at the same time. As the wave of panic inside me grew, I fearfully turned my gaze toward Moon.
Moon was standing right across from us. There wasn't a single hint of emotion on his face, but his eyes... I met a pair of eyes that were staring at us in a deadly, icy and demanding way.
At that second, First and I swallowed hard at the exact same time; a heavy lump sat in our throats. Moon was probably overthinking everything and the situation was much worse than I thought.
Watching this tense yet funny moment from the back of the group, Bee slowly approached Mint. Taking a deep breath, she whispered,
"Will we ever have a calm day, P'Mint…"
Mint giggled sweetly at his question. She gently rested her head on Bee's shoulder, keeping her eyes on our panicked faces, and replied with a smile:
"I don't know, but I think I'm getting used to this chaos now..."
Moon rolled his eyes and stepped in to clear the tense, suspicious air, but mostly to corner us. "I told you guys, I just heard them talking." he said with a casual shrug. But the snipped spark in his eyes whispered that we were in big trouble.
Bank immediately turned to him and pushed with curiosity "But you didn't tell us what happened!"
At that moment, Moon slowly shifted his gaze to First and me. There was such a threatening, dangerous smile on his face that I could feel First sweating with anxiety and holding his breath right next to me.
Moon dragged his words on purpose, playing with us like a puppet master and hitting us right where it hurt: "They... were talking about..."
While my heart was pounding like crazy, feeling like it would burst through my chest, Moon dropped the big lie:
"If we win today's tournament, they are going to give us a big surprise when we go back and buy everyone drinks at the bar with the prize money. I didn't want to say it so the surprise wouldn't be ruined, but you guys forced it out of me."
First and I stood there, completely shocked by what we heard. Of course we never talked about such a thing! The bar and the surprise were completely a huge lie made up by Moon just to mess with us at that moment.
He had trapped us so badly in front of everyone. Now, a terrible worry started eating us alive: Did Moon hear everything about last night and the restroom conversation word for word?
If he did, did he make up this lie just to play a cat and mouse game with us and punish us? On top of that, even if we won the tournament now, a ton of money was going to come out of our pockets!
However, the rest of the group went completely crazy with joy upon hearing this made up news. Everyone suddenly started jumping and laughing happily.
Bee ran over with great excitement and threw her arms around First's neck, turning the moment into a mini celebration. Only Bank narrowed his eyes, sensing something strange about the whole thing.
He looked at Moon's fake, victorious smile and then at our messy, terrified faces. He knew very well that something was going on, but he chose to stay quiet so he wouldn't ruin the happy mood, continuing to watch us silently.
~~~
-Author's POV-
The group walked toward the wide activity area, which was shining under the sun and cooled by a gentle sea breeze. Colorful flags were placed around, and large sheets of paper were spread on the ground. The Professor at the head of the group blew his whistle to get everyone's attention and stepped forward to explain today's game.
"Alright everybody, today's game is one of our most popular traditional entertainments, 'Nangsuephim' also known as the Newspaper Balance Game!" the Professor said with a smile.
"The rules are very simple yet challenging. Everyone will pair up in twos. At first, two people will stand on these large sheets of paper. Every time the whistle blows, we will fold the papers in half. As the space gets smaller, staying balanced will get harder. Any couple whose foot touches the ground or steps outside the paper is eliminated. So, the smaller it gets, the tighter you will have to hold onto your partner!"
With this explanation, a sweet rush and pairing chaos began in the area. Bee and Mint, with relaxed smiles on their faces, immediately started walking toward each other to become partners.
Just then, Ten began running toward Bee in a panic, as if a monster were chasing him. His goal was to escape from Wee, who had been driving him crazy since early morning.
However, Wee smirked mischievously like a predator spotting its prey; just as Ten was about to reach Bee, Wee blocked his path, threw his arm around Ten's shoulder, and trapped him tightly.
He paired up with Ten as if saying "You can't run away, you're with me." While Ten rolled his eyes in annoyance, Mint and Bee ended up staying together because of this chase, smiling at each other as partners in crime.
On the other side of the area, a total cold war was taking place. Moon was incredibly angry at both Sun and First because of the secret they keep from this morning and the restroom situation. Not wanting to stay near them any longer, he attempted to walk with sharp steps toward Bank, whom he saw as a safe harbor.
However, the moment Sun realized Moon was running away from him, he moved with fear in his heart. With a sudden and strong reflex, he caught Moon's arm.
There was a deep regret and a helpless determination in his eyes. Not letting Moon go, he said "There are things I need to talk to you about." his voice raspy and deadly serious. He was forcing himself to be partners with Moon.
Moon initially flinched at Sun's sudden touch, glaring at him angrily while trying to pull his arm away. He tried to move toward Bank again to reject Sun. Just as he was about to say "Bank, let's..." Bank stepped in.
Bank had already made his own plan to solve the strange vibe from this morning and find out what First was hiding. Looking at Moon, he smiled sadly and said "I also have things to ask to First, sorry Moon."
Standing a bit behind them, First swallowed hard at Bank's loaded and questioning words. Trying to hide the lump in his throat, he nervously ran his hand through his hair messing it up completely. He knew very well that he was caught.
Moon looked around; Ten was with Wee even though he was sulking, Bee was with Mint with pure joy and Bank had paired up with First to talk things out. He had nowhere left to run, no excuse left to hide behind.
As his chest rose and fell with anger and annoysnce, he looked coldly into Sun's eyes. In the end, he was forced to accept pairing up with Sun, standing side by side with him on that tiny piece of paper.
~~~
The game officially started with the sharp sound of the Professor's whistle. In the first round, the papers were quite large, so everyone stood side-by-side easily.
But with every whistle, the papers were folded in half, the space went smaller, and a real battle for balance began.
At one side of the area, Ten and Wee were acting like a comedy movie. As the paper shrank, Wee took it as a chance to wrap his arms tightly around Ten's waist with a big smirk.
Even though Ten whispered "Stay away from me, don't make me mad!" and tried to push him off, he had to hold onto Wee's shoulders to keep from falling. Wee was laughing with pure joy, feeling like a victorious captain.
Right next to them, Mint and Bee looked like the most peaceful duo in the world. To keep her balance, Mint wrapped her arms around Bee's waist and rested her head against her chest. Bee held her tightly with a big, gentle smile, standing on her tiptoes so they wouldn't step off the paper.
If everyone didn't know that they were close friends, they would probably think they are a lovey dovey couple on a holiday.
On First and Bank's side, things were very complicated. When the paper was folded for the fourth time, Bank stood directly in front of First. With zero space between them, Bank looked straight into First's eyes and whispered.
"Alright First, tell me now. What were you and Sun hiding in the restroom?" First was sweating, trying to balance on one foot while escaping Bank's sharp questions.
"I swear it's nothing, Bank, we just..." he started, but when Bank pulled him even closer, First completely lost his balance.
Then, the final whistle blew. The papers were now just a tiny square, barely big enough for two pairs of feet to stand on it.
Moon was trying to stand on the very edge of the paper, almost floating in the air, just to avoid touching Sun. His sadness and anger were so big that even feeling Sun's warmth hurt him right now.
But the paper was too small. With a gentle blow of the wind, Moon lost his balance. Just as he was about to fall backward, Sun moved forward with great speed.
Sun wrapped his strong arms around Moon's waist and pulled him hard against his own chest.
At that moment, time stopped.
Moon's back was pressed completely against Sun's warm, wide chest. Sun held Moon so tightly to keep him from falling that their heartbeats echoed against each other.
Moon held his breath at this sudden closeness. Sun leaned his head down toward Moon's shoulder. As his warm breath touched Moon's neck, he whispered in a rough, deep, and completely honest voice:
"I didn't want to force you, Moon. Last night, I was so afraid of selfishly hurting you... But if I broke your heart, I swear I would rather walk on fire. Please don't turn your back on me."
When Moon felt Sun's heart beating like crazy against his back, he felt the grudge inside him start to sweep away a little. His anger was slowly turning into a deep, soft sigh.
End of Chapter 14.