Wonho.

She definitely remembered his name this time.

“I…” Wonho began and trailed off, but ruffled his hair and tried again. “Are you okay?”

Haru watched as the gold flecks on his hands mixed in with dark amber.

Was he nervous?

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. Are y-”

“Haru, you crazy ! Where are you!?”

Chanyeol.

Why was he being so persistent? It’s not like they ever actually meant anything to each other. The way he treated her was more than enough evidence of that.

“.” Haru breathed out as she went to pick up her camera, crouching as to not be seen. Her lens sat completely shattered a few feet away, but she thought maybe she could still save her camera by taking it to a shop.

“I’m so sorry for bumping into you,” She mumbled out, remembering that she hadn’t knocked into just anyone.

“Or more like I tackled you to the ground.” She took her gaze up to look at Wonho, the corners of his mouth slightly pointing upward into a soft smile as he sat there, his hands behind his back to prop himself up. Surprisingly, she felt  mirror his.

“It’s okay, I think my guitar case got most of the hit anyway,” He radiantly chuckled out, as if the current situation didn’t bother him in the least. Haru gave in and briefly laughed at his light-hearted attempt to make her feel better about it, but Chanyeol’s fussing became even louder; the reality of the situation hitting her once again.

“Where the hell did she go?!” She heard Chanyeol shout and felt herself physically cringe.

“I can’t catch a break with this guy,” Haru hissed aloud as she fumbled with her camera and scooped it up, making a run for it down the sidewalk once more, completely forgetting about Wonho and her lens in the process.

After all, Haru thought, it wasn’t the first time she ran away from Wonho.

But this time it wasn’t his fault.

At least, not entirely.

She still felt a bit of uneasiness at the fact that she could see his colors. It felt like an invasion of privacy and it made her want to stay away from him that much more.

She was constantly being reminded though, that some things just couldn’t be prevented.

After running for a few blocks, Haru leaned against a convenience store's wall to catch her breath, her hands on her knees.

She wasn’t in the best shape.

Her lungs felt as if they were burning, ready to collapse and punish her for even thinking about running in the first place. “,” She breathed out as she stood up with her back now against the wall, attempting to breathe in lungfuls of air, but barely succeeding.

As Haru attempted to breathe in for the hundredth time, gold flecks buried in light grey rushed past her vision and she choked midway, doubling over in a coughing fit. With her hands on her knees again, she felt her stomach twist into a knot. Haru knew without a doubt who it had been.

At least this time, he ran right past her and she hopefully wouldn’t have to see him again.

Haru heard footsteps approaching the convenience store and decided to move more to the side, to the edge of the wall so she wouldn't be in anyone’s way. She leaned her head back against the wall, this time with her eyes closed and her breathing more even now.

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes in hopes of having a relaxing gaze at the stars to further calm herself down, but instead felt a presence next to her on the wall that hadn't been there before.

“The moon’s really bright tonight,” He said in the most relaxed tone and posture, leaning a few inches away from Haru against the wall, his guitar case beside him. She looked at his hands and watched as the light gray swirling around his hands betrayed him. Light gray from what she knew meant that he must be worried about something, what though, she couldn’t really say.

Haru silently stared at the ground, not daring to look up at him.

Wonho really needed to stop popping up out of nowhere. He was making her choice to stay away from him extremely difficult.

“Here, you forgot this, you know,” He lightly said, gently moving a broken lens into her line of vision. “I really thought it was a shame, because I heard from my good friend how expensive they can be,” He rambled on as she took the lens, trying her best not to touch him even though it was inevitable. Her fingers brushed against his open palm, the flecks of gold around it glowing a little brighter.

Well, that’s strange.

“I knew I couldn’t let you just leave without it. So, I ran after you, but man, can you run fast!” Wonho giggled out. An amber hue once again appeared on his hands, slowly mixing in with the grey.

“I had honestly given up looking for you and came to get some ramen when I saw you hacking up your lungs.” He eyed her up and down, examining her current state. “I hope you’re alright, by the way.”

Haru was stunned into silence, speechless, not knowing what to say to him at first. All she could do was continue to stare at his hands as one thing registered in her mind.

“Ramen?” She faintly laughed as she looked up at him with her brows raised, curiosity getting the best of her.

He stared at her with slightly wide eyes and parted lips, seemingly dazed by something. “Thank you for your concern and for working so hard to get my lens back to me. It means a lot,” She continued with a genuine smile and pushed herself off the wall.

“You’re welcome. Although, shouldn’t you treat that? You have dry blood all over your elbow,” Wonho said as he cocked his head to the side, studying the wound from afar.

“Agh, crap,” Haru mumbled out as she inspected her chewed up elbow, dry blood spread out around it like an exploding firework.

“Why don’t we go inside?” He pointed to the convenience store behind him with his thumb, “I’m sure we can find something to clean it up with,” Wonho chuckled, no doubt at her choice of words, but she couldn’t help it.

Wait, we?

I don’t think so, her brain screamed, not with him included.

She tried her best to hide her reluctance to accept his offer, but her hands quickly turned into an amber hue, matching Wonho’s current color perfectly. “I…” She trailed off with an obvious look of discomfort plastered across her face, looking down at her lens as she tightened her grip on it.

Although Haru had seen Wonho a handful of times, she didn’t really know anything about him or what he was like. She didn’t want to know either.

“Or, I just…” Wonho glanced at the ground, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off creepy or anything.” He ran his hand through his blonde locks, blue tips fraying out into a little spiral as he let go. Haru barely realized that his hair color had changed since the last time she had seen him.

It suits him, she thought, but quickly reeled her thoughts back in.

“Well,” He huffed out cheerfully with his hands up in surrender, “The offer still stands, but I’m gonna go inside now. I’m kind of starving.” He grabbed his guitar case and turned around; going into the convenience store and heading straight for where the ramen should be.

She had noticed right before he turned away from her how his hands had turned a pale blue, the gold flecks floating around his hands almost sorrowfully. But why would he be sad or disappointed over the fact that she had rejected his offer?

As Haru’s mind raced and her confusion grew, so did her grip on her broken camera lens; until she clutched it with so much force her left thumb suddenly seared with pain.

“What the hell?” She murmured as she walked closer to the convenience store windows, holding out her left hand in the light to see a long gash running down her thumb. Her eyes switched rapidly from the lens to her thumb, unbelieving that she had just cut herself with it.

Haru felt something drip down her arm and saw the gash in her thumb now rapidly pumping out blood; her hands swiftly turning to a charcoal black in panic. “Oh, what the ! Are you serious right now?!”

Without much thought, she pushed her way into the convenience store, grabbing the attention of the girl at the register. She quickly walked over and whispered in urgency, “If I get stuff to stop the bleeding now, can I pay for it later? Please?!” Haru lifted her thumb higher for the girl, whose name tag read Saera, to see. Saera nodded in astonishment and Haru immediately rushed through the aisles while pressing her bleeding hand into her shirt, trying her best not to get blood everywhere.

After she struggled to gather everything she could with one hand, she made her way over to the only table in the corner of the store, dropping all the items down on top of it in a messy heap. She wasn't quite aware of her surroundings as she peeled away her hand from her oversized band shirt and saw the blood still flowing out of the cut, only a tad bit slower now.

“Woah! What happened in the five minutes I was gone?!” Wonho half screamed out with chopsticks in hand, microwaved ramen hanging from them. He was eyeing her cut, mouth agape in astonishment.

In utter shock at the sight of him, Haru froze what she was doing as her hands went a complete pitch black. She was only reminded of the fact that she was bleeding by the wet feeling that traveled down her forearm yet again. Instead of replying she grabbed the hydrogen peroxide and cotton balls, ready to clean up her thumb when she heard, “May I?”

She looked up at Wonho who was holding out a hand, an apprehensive smile on his face, already next to her and ready to help.

How could she refuse him twice, when all she could sense was his kindness and sincerity? Would it be so bad if she let him do this one thing?

Haru gave in and nodded, placing the cotton ball in his hand and watching how his colors flowed back to a wonderful gold. She felt herself get into the fascinatingly beautiful color as he carefully wiped away the blood from her thumb. “Do you mind sitting? It’ll be easier for the both of us.” Wonho lowered her hand and let go of it, already grabbing another cotton ball to soak.

Haru slowly plopped herself down onto the seat across from where his ramen was, unattended. “If you’re still super hungry, I can do it myself. I’ll feel horrible if you’re starving yourself. You should eat,” She nervously muttered out.

Wonho sat down across from her, a small confident smile playing upon his lips as he shoved the ramen to the side. He placed his hand on the table, palm facing up, silently asking for her hand again and Haru complied, her nerves twisting her stomach into a tighter knot at his every touch.

“It’s alright, really. I was already eating my second one,” He stated proudly as he finished cleaning the wound on her thumb, moving to clean the blood on her palm and arm.

“Woah, you must really love ramen…” Haru said in awe, realizing that the first cup of ramen he had ate was stacked under the current one. His smile grew as he replied, “It’s my favorite thing to eat,” His eyes almost becoming crescents. He leaned in closer for precision and applied a large band-aid over her thumb.

“There,” he said smugly as he leaned back, “The antibacterial ointment should help heal it fast.”

“It didn’t even hurt when you were cleaning it,” Haru said, pleasantly surprised. “Thank you for being so gentle with my clumsy ,” Haru blurted out before she could really think it over and heard Wonho burst out into laughter.

“Wow, you really know how to curse!” He said loudly as he shook his head, reaching out for his abandoned ramen, giggles rippling from him still. “I call it an art,” Haru whispered, giggling a bit herself.

“I must say,” Wonho said more quietly as he leaned in again, “That it does feel effortless.” He pouted and nodded his head in agreement. “It rolls off your tongue like poetry. That takes skill.” He pointed his chopsticks in her direction, his eyebrows raised to show her he meant it. “Why, thank you,” She satisfactorily gave a small bow from her seat, silently cackling at the strange compliment.

And then it hit her. She was going with the flow of things. The knot in her stomach had disappeared and her hands had become a pretty orange hue. What had triggered her sudden relaxation around him?

“Hey, I really am sorry for knocking you over,” Haru said seriously as she took a glance over at his guitar case propped up against the wall. Wonho looked at her from under his lashes, in the middle of taking a bite of his food. “If your guitar case or anything is damaged, I’ll pay for it.”

Wonho looked over at his guitar case, squinting at it as he finished chewing his ramen. “It’s really alright,” He stated and Haru relaxed more into her seat.

“But you owe me one hundred and sixty.”

Haru instantly shot up in her seat and leaned in, whispering in a shaking voice, “P-Pardon? One hundred and sixty…?” She didn’t want to believe that a guitar case could cost that much money.

“Yeah. One hundred and sixty.” He looked her dead in the eyes and she continued to stare back in trepidation. She couldn’t afford to give him any of that. Why had she even brought the subject up?!

Stupid, stupid, stupid as always Haru.

She was still locked in a staring contest with Wonho, wondering if he would accept monthly payments when he suddenly bursts into laughter, leaving her beyond confused. What was so funny about her owing him that much money?!

“I’m kidding!” Wonho cried out as he bit his lip to prevent himself from laughing, hardly succeeding as he saw the realization wash over Haru’s face like a bucket of ice water.

“It wasn’t your fault and nothing happened to me or my things, but if you keep apologizing I might just have to start charging for that.” He grabbed his chopsticks again, swirling them around in the ramen, “For every sorry, I’ll charge you a fact about yourself.”

“Wow. We just met, but the urge to kick you in the shin is very strong,” Haru said with a murderous gaze. She only felt this way toward the boys whenever they messed around with her, like the trolls they often were.

Wonho laughed into his ramen at the remark, composing himself enough to mutter out, “Why, thank you.” His face turned a brighter shade of red as he went on. “I’m flattered,” He said, bowing his head down a bit and putting a hand to his chest.

Haru didn’t really understand why, but they both lost it. They laughed so hard she had to dive right into her folded arms on the table to muffle her giggles that wouldn’t cease. They were easily making a scene in the small convenience store with all their laughter.

After a minute of nonstop giggling, Wonho eventually calmed down first, breathing in deeply and taking a bite of his ramen contentedly.

As Haru calmed down herself, watching him eat the rest of his ramen with a smile still slapped upon her face, she realized how relaxed and content she felt. Of all people for her to feel this way around, why was it Wonho? Of course, she felt that way with her friends and Jungkook, but the type of serenity she was experiencing unnerved her. It was as if with him, her colors didn’t matter and she could just be herself.

But that was wishful thinking.

“W-Well, I should pay for all of this and go home.” Haru abruptly got up, “From the bottom of my heart, honestly, thank you for everything. Enjoy the rest of your meal.” She gave him one last small smile as she turned around to walk toward the register.

“Everything okay?” Saera asked Haru as she rung up the total for her. “Yeah, all better now,” Haru said as she showed Saera her bandaged thumb.

Just as Haru was ready to push open the door to leave, she heard Won