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The waters were unusually still today. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Joonghyuk-ah,” Kim Dokja called out, “is this your fault?”
The lilypad in front of him moved, swaying slightly in the wind. It was a surprisingly beautiful lilypad. Anyone who wasn’t entranced by the sight of such a lilypad must be out of their minds.
For most of the mundane days that he had, Kim Dokja couldn’t keep his eyes off of Yoo Joonghyuk. Of course, how could he ignore the beautiful specimen in front of him? He looked as though he descended from a long line of lilypad nobles, with how the flower on top of his head bloomed beautifully.
His color was a healthy green. The flower on top of his head was a healthy pink. Those two colors combined to make something impossibly entrancing. A sight that Kim Dokja couldn’t keep his damn lilypad eyes off of, even if he wanted to.
He would even go as far as to say that there was no sight in the world more beautiful than Yoo Joonghyuk.
To be fair, he didn’t want to take his eyes off of Yoo Joonghyuk, so that wasn’t a problem for him. The problem was the still waters that they had to deal with on this damn pond. Or lake. Whatever body of water they sat on top of.
“Don’t blame me for random things,” Yoo Joonghyuk grunted. Since lilypads didn’t have eyes, Kim Dokja couldn’t tell whether or not Yoo Joonghyuk was glaring at him, but from the tone of his voice, it was obvious.
Wait, if lilypads didn’t have eyes, how was he perceiving the world around him right now? He didn’t know, frankly. Maybe he didn’t want to know, either. This was probably one of the mysteries of the world that would be better kept hidden.
“If it’s not you, then who else could it be?”
“It’s a calm day, Kim Dokja. Nobody is causing this. It’s just a calm day.”
A calm day? Really? That never happened on this pond and Yoo Joonghyuk knew it.
Just a day ago, they were uprooted by some fish poking at them. Well, uprooted wouldn’t be the right word. It was more like they were almost flipped over.
For the two hours that Kim Dokja had endured that torture, Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to hold no sympathy for him. He kept telling him to shut up, to be quiet. He caught Yoo Joonghyuk saying something along the lines of disturbing the peace and quiet of this lake.
Yoo Joonghyuk was truly blind. A blind lilypad. That made sense. From what Kim Dokja could see, he had no eyes. As stated prior.
But, he could surely hear the ruckus caused by the birds landing on them, right? Kim Dokja had even witnessed it firsthand—Yoo Joonghyuk grumbling about the ducks that would move him out of the way. Or the geese that sometimes landed in their pond, splashing water on top of his head.
“Are you sure, Joonghyuk-ah? You know that saying something like that probably set off a flag, right?”
“Shut up, Kim Dokja.” Yoo Joonghyuk turned away from him, somehow. He drifted slowly along the lazy waves of the lake, further away from Kim Dokja.
How was he moving? Kim Dokja didn’t know. The mysteries of the world were truly amazing to witness. This might even be more amazing than the sight of a seagull pooping on Yoo Joonghyuk’s head—and his subsequent grumbling for the next five sunsets.
No, actually… Nothing would top that sight. Even this—the sight of Yoo Joonghyuk somehow drifting away from him.
“Wait, I’ll shut up, okay? Come back…” If he had any limbs, he’d be waving them at Yoo Joonghyuk right now. Like some sort of bird mating dance. Except, instead of trying to reproduce, he simply wanted a companion by his side. Was that too much to ask for?
Apparently, it was. Yoo Joonghyuk drifted further and further away. Kim Dokja could see his flower slowly growing smaller in the distance while he moved towards the horizon.
Actually no, he didn’t move that fast. Of course not. Yoo Joonghyuk was a damn lilypad. If he could move that fast, he probably would be a world champion lilypad in… something. Swimming? Running? Whatever he was doing, it was supernatural.
He continued to drift slowly across the lake as if he didn’t hear Kim Dokja. The sight was something Kim Dokja would notice in birds or ducks that landed in their lake. Sometimes, the ducks would swim away from other annoying, loud ducks. They’d fly away, leaving their former companions stranded at this lake. Sometimes, the ducks that were left behind would wait. They’d stay still in the lake, waiting for the day that their companion would come back. But it would never come. After all, they had been abandoned.
If Kim Dokja really thought about it, Yoo Joonghyuk was doing exactly that! Was he really going to leave his companion behind? Was he really going to leave Kim Dokja all alone in this harsh environment—in this lake where nothing was ever calm and quiet?
Other than now, it had never been calm here. Yoo Joonghyuk surely wasn’t leaving him behind in such a treacherous place… right?
No, he was definitely the type of bastard to do so!
“Joonghyuk-ah, wait! Wait, wait for me! I swear, I’ll shut up for the next five days. Just wait up!”
He didn’t know if Yoo Joonghyuk could hear him. He might’ve been already too far gone, far enough that he couldn’t catch Kim Dokja’s meek lilypad voice. But, he suddenly stopped.
Then, just as if nothing had happened before, he started drifting slowly across the surface of the lake again. The flower on top of Yoo Joonghyuk’s head bobbed slightly as he moved, as if it were teasing him.
“Joonghyuk-ah, you heard me, didn’t you? Stop! Wait up, please! I’ll do anything if you let me come with you…”
To say he was growing desperate would be an understatement. He really didn’t want to be alone! It was cold and lonely here, and birds would often poop on top of his head. Who else would laugh alongside him when such things happened? Nobody, nobody! There was nobody else, other than Yoo Joonghyuk!
“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk finally spoke. “I don’t know how to stop.”
Shit! Yoo Joonghyuk was being willed away by the world… Across this monstrous lake… to a place that even Kim Dokja didn’t know of. A potential mysterious land, filled with dangers?
Maybe Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk were never meant to be…