[Discontinued?] Emotionless Colors | Kim Chaewon X Male Reader Chapter 22

It has been long.
______________

“And she rushed to me yelling ‘You, the duck!’ and I yelled back at her ‘Ya! Who are you calling a duck?!'” Yena exclaimed, pointing to a random place re-enacting the scene.

The family was having a good time listening to Yena’s silly stories along with her imitations and various expressions, especially for Jeongin who has almost never stopped laughing the whole dinner. All except for someone didn’t seem to be enjoying the moment like the rest.

“Chaewon-ssi, is there something wrong with my dinner?” Y/N’s mother asked. She was apparently lost in her thoughts and got startled because of the question.

“The food was delicious, Mrs. Lim. I was just thinking about a class project. Sorry.” She bowed, afraid that she might’ve acted rude.

“Don’t worry honey. I’m going off topic here, but It’s hard to know when Y/N is having a hard time in school since he always acts so calm about everything, so I’m glad he has such a diligent student as a friend. Please, make yourself feel comfortable, okay? Don’t think about it too much and just enjoy the dinner I’ve made.”

Chaewon felt flattered because of the compliment, but the word “friend” made her feel rather restless. Many things happened during the day, and that word somehow reminded her of it.

Unlike Y/N, Chaewon expressions were relatively easy to read. For example, if she were to smile when she doesn’t feel like it, her eyes wouldn’t follow along. Just like how she’s smiling right now. She might not know, but his mother had noticed her fake smile, despite the fact that it was their first meeting.

“Here.” The woman proceeded to put some meat over her plate. Chaewon felt reluctant in receiving more, and said.

“Mrs. Lim, you don’t have to-“

“It’s fine. You’re still a student, so you need to be well fed to do well at school.” Chaewon knew that she would’ve insisted until she eventually gave up, so she accepted her kindness in order to prevent prolonging it. Y/N’s mother then stood up and went to the kitchen.

“I didn’t notice that you were worried about classes, Chaewon-ah.” Y/N said, having overheard her conversation with his mother. She didn’t know what to give as an answer since she only blurted it out in order to avoid speaking the truth, so she came up with some other stuff to explain.

“It’s fine, Y/N. I just get stressed out when the deadline is approaching, and-” She suddenly stopped when she felt him placing a hand on her head.

“Ya! Don’t do that here!” She whispered loudly to him. Her eyes darted everywhere, wondering if someone had noticed what he just did. Luckily for her, both Y/N’s father and brother were still focused on Yena’s storytelling, which made her feel relieved.

“You can’t do that when your family is around, okay?” Chaewon knew Y/N would be confused about what she could’ve meant. “I’ll tell you why.” She added with a smile.

“Here. Eat as much as you want today. It’s been a while since it’s been this lively at home, so don’t be shy and just eat, okay?” The mother interrupted, as she grinned whilst switching her glances between the two. It seems that she had caught what Y/N had done, but chose to keep it to herself in order to avoid any awkward situations between her son and her friend.

Looks like today is a feast day for the family because she just brought over a grill pot filled with pieces of grilled meat to the table, as well as uncooked ones.

Chaewon attempted to let all her thoughts aside and try to enjoy the moment, but it just wasn’t easy. Jeongin, who was next to her, put the pot on their side of the table. Y/N took the lid off and served some food onto her plate. It took her by surprise, she didn’t know how to feel and just accepted the kindness that was being given to her.

Eventually every plate went empty and the chit-chat slowly started to die down as they silently enjoyed the feast that was in front of them. Jeongin turned the TV on and started to talk with both Yena and his father about the show that was being aired at the moment.

Y/N and Chaewon remained silent most of the time, not even letting a single comment out. Suddenly, Y/N felt a soft hit on his leg.

“Thank you for not insisting on patting my head.” She took the chance now that everyone was focused on the show, and told him. He gave her a light nod, as she returned it with a smile.

After a few minutes, his mother stood up and went back to the dining room. Both Chaewon and Y/N stood almost at the same time and followed her. Yena herself did the same when she noticed both of them doing it.

“Four people might be a bit much, don’t you think? Since Chaewon was the first one to stand, why don’t the both of us be the one doing the dishes? You don’t mind, do you? Chaewon-ssi?”

“Sure, Mrs. Lim.”  The two brought the dishes to the kitchen, conveniently near the living room. Once they arrived Chaewon could hardly hide a sigh she had been holding.

The mother chuckled a little when she noticed, as she received the dishes and slowly placed them inside the dishwasher. The beeping sound of the machine initiating brought Chaewon back to reality.

“Chaewon-ssi?” She called. “I would like to thank you for wanting to be his friend. I know it can be difficult to deal with Y/N at times, considering his condition. He can be really slow to understand how other people are feeling and even slower to express his own, but he’s a good boy, so be patient with him, please? I never expected him to ever bring friends over and even less someone so smart and beautiful as you. So, feel free to come anytime you want, Y/N’s friends are our family’s friends too.” Chaewon never expected those words to come out of her, as she felt that she hadn’t done enough for her to show her gratitude for her.

“Thank you Mrs. Lim, but I don’t think you should thank me when I haven’t even done anything major for him. Y/N is an important person for me- I mean he’s a good friend for all of us. You don’t need to worry much, because we’ll always take care of him.”

“That’s good to hear. Sorry if I caught you off guard by saying all of this.” She chuckled. “Now let’s get back to the living room or someone might start to worry. That is, If he even knows how it feels.”

The woman started walking to the other room followed by Chaewon who didn’t get what she meant with that last comment. Well, she knew the person whom she was referencing, but couldn’t understand the meaning behind her words.

Y/N had been looking in their direction for a while without Chaewon noticing, but his mom sure did. Tonight was full of surprises for the woman who had never seen her child react in such a way and not only did it give her hope about his condition, but also made her happy to know he could be having his first love.

Soon after they were done, Both Chaewon and Y/N’s mother joined the others in the living room. The show was about to finish and only then they realized how late it was getting. Y/N’s father had already gone to his room, after calling it a day a few minutes prior.

Not much later, Chaewon got a call from her mom, who seemed to not be quite happy that she was out until late. Y/N’s mother asked her to give her the phone, and after much talking between the mothers, she calmed down which was a relief for Chaewon.

“Your mother told you to come home as soon as possible, honey.” She said, after ending the call. “Let me tell my husband to drive you home. If he’s still up, that is. Or maybe you would prefer if I called a cab for you instead?” She asked.

“You don’t have to do that, Mrs. Lim. I appreciate your offer, but my house is actually quite close to where we are.” Chaewon bowed to the woman and then looked at her friend.

“Let’s go unnie.” She said as she offered her hand. The elder shook her head before answering.

“I think I’ll be staying here for a little while longer, Chaewon-ah. I left my keys at home, and my parents aren’t home yet.”  Yena said, excusing herself.

“Really? but it’s already late as it is. Are you sure they’re not at home yet?” Chaewon asked, feeling skeptical with her friend’s answer and finding it weird.

“Totally sure! They just left me a message a minute ago saying they were still having a family reunion party and that they were staying for a while longer.”

Chaewon found it weird that Yena’s parents went to a family reunion and didn’t bring her with them, as if Yena wasn’t a part of their family. On the other hand, Yena felt tense as she prepared herself for every possible question that might be thrown at her.

“Really…?” She asked one last time, still skeptical of her friend’s answer.  Yena nodded aggressively, hoping Chaewon would finally believe her. Without a second thought, Chaewon decided to believe her friend and leave her doubts aside.

“Aight. I’mma head out.” She was about to leave, when Y/N stopped her whilst grabbing her by the hand. On his other hand was a piece of coat which is supposed to be Chaewon’s.

“I’ll be walking her home, Mom. I’ll be back in no time.”

“Oh. That sounds good. I was worried since it’s already late, and I would hate for anything to happen to Chaewon. Please take good care of her, Y/N.” Chaewon slightly blushed, as her mother’s words could be misinterpreted if it were to have no context whatsoever.

“I’ll be back soon, Yena-ya.” He said, before walking Chaewon out of the door.

Yena replied in hum, before she averted her gaze back to the show which has now turned into another one. No words were exchanged as they walked out from his apartment, until the moment they went out of the building. It took a few steps for Y/N before thinking that he should strike a conversation with his friend.

“Did you enjoy your time while being at my place? Because I felt… I felt something building up within me. In a good way. It’s not something like the other day, when a guy was messing with you.”  He asked, finally breaking the dead silence between them.

“I did, thank you for asking. And also, perhaps you can call it joy? At least, that’s how I’d feel if I were you. Just remember to take notes of it, like what was going on at the time you felt it coming.” He nodded, as they came out of the building, and into the cold windy night.

Chaewon couldn’t help but still feel skeptical of his relationship with her friend, which she found to be suspicious that they met up at night. The fact that Yena is still at his apartment, waiting for him to come back just raises her suspicions even more.

In the end, she couldn’t help and decided to ask out of curiosity. Will curiosity kill the cat? Only one way to find out.

“So… Y/N. What do you think of Yena-unnie?”

“What do I… what do you mean?”

“Like, what do you think of her as a person?”

“Well, she’s cheerful I suppose. I don’t know how she has that much energy for an entire day. Usually people would feel tired when the night clouds over the sky, but that was never the case for her.”

She chuckled at his explanation, knowing that everyone in their circle would relate to it, even the person herself.

“She is. But is that all? Do you perhaps have any other thoughts of her? Maybe… love?”

It took her a moment to realize what question she had blurted out, making her almost froze in place due to how blunt and bold she was being. Fortunately for her, he did not think much of her question and gave her his honest answer.

“Mm~ I don’t think so. I’ve read multiple explanations as to how falling in love feels, and those feelings were not it.”

“I see.” She felt satisfied with his answer, as there were no signs of him possibly lying to her regarding his feelings. For reasons unknown, she felt relieved.