KIM SUNGGYU

Sunggyu was certain that this was the first time he had seen Nam Woohyun out in the open. All this time Sunggyu had only seen Nam Woohyun inside his house, sitting in the study room with a private tutor next to him, or reading one of the thick books that lined the towering bookcases which filled the walls, or in his bedroom, again with a book in his hands. More than once Sunggyu saw Nam Woohyun through the window, and watched him read books with different covers every week. His face was so full of concentration, sometimes his brows knitted and his lips moved, muttering the words he was reading. On rare occasions Nam Woohyun would smile and his eyes would twinkle as he read. No, Sunggyu was not a peeping Tom or a busy body; it wasn't his fault the windows in the study room had no curtains, or that Woohyun always left his bedroom windows open.

Sunggyu had never seen Nam Woohyun set foot outside his house before and somehow it made Sunggyu a little nervous. Moreover, it was obvious that Nam Woohyun was trying to be stealthy about it. He glanced left and right, his eyes alert and searching, before taking a few tentative steps forward. Their eyes met and suddenly Nam Woohyun quickened his pace, almost breaking into a run, before stopping in front of Sunggyu. Sunggyu hastily threw his watering can to the ground and bowed his head.

"Young Master Nam."

Instead of greeting him back, Nam Woohyun seized Sunggyu's hand. "Follow me," he said, pulling Sunggyu away. Hurriedly following his young master, Sunggyu allowed Nam Woohyun to drag him to the backyard.

"Do you know any quiet places?" asked Nam Woohyun. Unlike the side garden where Sunggyu was watering the plants just now, the backyard was deserted and few people passed by it, but Nam Woohyun still looked worried. It was evident that he was confused on where they should go.

Sunggyu was increasingly nervous, not understanding what was happening. In the end he pointed at an old warehouse in the corner of the yard. "That warehouse isn't used anymore, no one goes there now," he said.

Nam Woohyun nodded, guiding them to the old warehouse. Sunggyu helped Nam Woohyun push open the wooden door, since its hinges had rusted and with a screech the door opened.

The air was a bit stuffy and moldy, and when Nam Woohyun closed the door again, the room was poorly lit, with little sunlight breaching through the gaps in the wooden walls and dust-covered windows.

"You are… Sunggyu, right?" asked Nam Woohyun.

Sunggyu was surprised. There were so many workers in the Nams' manor, and Sunggyu only occasionally helped his father who worked as a gardener there. He had no idea Nam Woohyun would know his name, but he quickly nodded.

"So I heard a few days ago that our sunflower garden was attacked by pests and none of the flowers survived. I also heard that nowadays sunflowers are very rare and your father couldn't find new seeds to revive the old garden. Is that right?" inquired Nam Woohyun, investigating.

Once again Sunggyu nodded.

A few weeks ago almost all the plants throughout the Yackel District were attacked by pests. The pests killed the buds, dried out the leaves, and stopped the flowers from blooming. According to Sunggyu's father, this pest attack had been five years in the making. Once every five years, out of nowhere the pests would come and attack the plants and after a few weeks they would suddenly disappear all by themselves. One of the unlucky gardens was Mrs. Nam's sunflowers, along with some other flowerbeds. However, the seeds of the other flowers were easy to obtain. Not so for the sunflowers'. Mrs. Nam was the only one who still had a sunflower garden in the district. Sunggyu remembered at dinner time last night his dad complained about it to his mom, saying that even the seeds he kept in the storehouse were eaten by the pests so Mrs. Nam's sunflowers' flowerbed couldn't be restored.

"Are there really no other seeds?" Nam Woohyun asked.

Sunggyu shook his head. "Usually flowers' seeds are sent from the district inside the Rose Wall, but it's been a long time since sunflower seeds were sent."

"Why?" urged Nam Woohyun.

"I don't know, but I do know that there's a big garden of wild sunflowers between Wall Rose and Wall Maria. If we walk south until we see a small river, we only have to follow the stream east and we'll soon see a very big sunflower garden. But those flowers could have also been attacked by the pests and not exist anymore."

"So you know the place…" Nam Woohyun murmured softly.

For a few minutes there was only silence between them. Sunggyu gnawed at his lower lip, watching how a ray of golden sunlight fell right on top of Nam Wohyun's head, making his dark hair shine, while Nam Woohyun was lost in thought.

"Take me there," Nam Woohyun suddenly demanded.

Sunggyu jolted, refusing frantically, "But I don't know the place, I've never been there."

"No, you do know. You just said where the garden is! You have to take me there," Nam Woohyun commanded. His voice was firm and his jaw hardened, he couldn't be denied.

Sunggyu gaped at the young master in front of him. How could he take Nam Woohyun beyond the Yarckel District? There was a vast distance between them and Wall Rose, it would be an arduous journey for two kids who were only eleven and ten.

Sunggyu tried to bring the topic of sunflowers up again at dinner that night. His dad was used to telling Sunggyu about his job and the flowers in the Nam's residence, so Sunggyu wouldn't raise any suspicion. "Are there really no other seeds? Dad, aren't you a great gardener, you certainly know what to do, don't you?" Sunggyu started.

His dad sighed. "Too bad, there's really none. I already went to every florist in this district, but none of them had sunflower seeds. I also tried to tend the damaged flowers, but the attack was too severe, the flowers won't last long."

"What a pity. Sunflowers are Mrs. Nam's favorite…," Sunggyu’s mom said, cutting into the conversation, "Mrs. Nam must devastated."

His dad soon supported his mom's thoughts. "Every morning and afternoon Mrs. Nam would visit her sunflower garden. Even when she was very busy and had no time to see her other flowers, she would make time to pay a visit to her sunflowers."

Sunggyu was starting to understand why Nam Woohyun really wanted to revive the sunflower garden: it was his mother’s favorite. It was natural for Nam Woohyun to want the garden to be filled with blooming sunflowers once again. It made Sunggyu want to help him.

"Dad, what about the wild sunflower garden that you used to tell me about? The one that grows between the Wall Rose and Wall Maria? Do you think the flowers there were also attacked by the pests?" Sunggyu asked.

"Hmm… I don't think so. These pests were brought by the dry wind from the west, while the wild garden is far in the southeast, so I think the flowers in the wild garden are still fine," Dad answered while munching on his meal.

"Then, why does no one take some sunflowers from there? Haven’t the seeds been coming from there this whole time?" pushed Sunggyu.

Sunggyu’s dad stopped his spoon midway to his mouth, taking a short glance towards Sunggyu’s mom. "Because no one goes out past Wall Rose anymore," he answered after a pause.

"Why?" Sunggyu challenged, raising his eyebrows.

"Because it’s forbidden to go beyond Wall Rose now," Sunggyu’s dad replied

This was the first Sunggyu was hearing of such a ban. All this time he thought everyone was free to pass the border walls, except Wall Maria. But, no one wanted to go beyond Wall Maria anyway.

"Why? Why is it prohibited? There didn’t used to be a ban" insisted Sunggyu stubbornly. The sunflowers were outside Wall Rose and Nam Woohyun wanted to go there, why was there a ban to go beyond the wall now?

"But now there is," said Sunggyu’s dad shortly.

"Sunggyu," scolded his mom softly, "just eat your food. Look, you haven't eaten half of your meal. Eat, and then go rest in your room. You've promised your father to help him tomorrow morning in Mrs. Nam's garden again, right?"

Sunggyu really wanted his question to be answered, but his dad's eyes were nailed to his plate; he didn't spare a glance toward Sunggyu anymore. Pouting, Sunggyu had no other option than to continue eating his meal in silence.

The next day, just like his promised Nam Woohyun the day before, after helping his dad in the garden, Sunggyu snuck away to the old warehouse in the corner of the deserted backyard. Nam Woohyun was already waiting for him there. His neat and stiff iron-pressed shirt contrasted greatly with the dusty furniture inside the old warehouse.

"Took you long enough!" Nam Woohyun snarled. "I can't stay here for long, what if someone looks for me in my room and finds out that I'm not there?"

Sunggyu pouted. "It’s not my fault, the garden in this house is too big. Look my hands are hurt after lifting the heavy watering can for too long," he whined, stretching out both of his arms. His palms were a bit red from tightly gripping the watering can.

But Nam Woohyun didn't pay any attention to his hands. "So? Is that garden of the wild sunflowers still there?" he pushed.

"Maybe. My dad said the garden is possibly still there," replied Sunggyu while massaging his stiff arms. "But people aren’t allowed to travel past Wall Rose now, so I'm afraid we can't go there."

Nam Woohyun furrowed his brows. "Why?"

"I don't know. My dad didn't tell me the reason," Sunggyu shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, we don't have any was to get there, do we?"

Nam Woohyun stared at him in disappointed. "Then, think of a way for us to get to Wall Rose and beyond," Nam Woohyun answered roughly.

Sunggyu jutted out his bottom lip, pouting sullenly. His Young master was really annoying. Nam Woohyun wanted to go but refused to help Sunggyu prepare or plan anything, forcing all the responsibility onto Sunggyu.

"I don't know," said Sunggyu slowly, restraining himself from replying in the same rough manner. "Let's just talk about it tomorrow…"

"Alright. But you better have an idea by tomorrow," said Nam Woohyun. "Now, go and check the situation outside, I have to go back to the house."

Sunggyu complied silently. Just like the day before, he checked whether or not it was safe for Young Master Nam Woohyun to go back inside the house unseen. He let out a short whistle to inform Nam Woohyun that it was safe and to hurry up and cross the backyard and enter the house from the side door.

"Tomorrow don't be late, I might be sick if I have to wait too long in that dusty place," Nam Woohyun told Sunggyu before he disappeared inside the house.

"Tomorrow don't be late. Tomorrow you better already have an idea," Sunggyu mimicked Nam Woohyun's words mockingly. Of course, he only dared to do so because Nam Woohyun was not in sight anymore. "Huh, no wonder Young Master Nam always stay inside the house, must be because he has no friends. He has such a bad personality, of course no one would willingly befriend with him, no one would be able to stand him. That's why he's always alone."

Along his travel back home, Sunggyu continued sulking, yapping about the troublesome Young Master Nam. The distance between his house and the Nams' manor felt increasingly long because he was so upset. The bright and hot afternoon sun was not helping in cooling his burnt heart. But his anger was soon vanished when from afar he saw someone who he knew well.

"Jang Dongwoo! Yah, Jang Dongwoo," called Sunggyu.

Jang Dongwoo stopped and yelled back, waving his hands. Sunggyu fastened his steps and in the blink of an eye he was already in front of Dongwoo, his friend since childhood.

"Where are you going?" Sunggyu inquired.

"To the river, Myungsoo said he has something interesting and promised to show it to me there," Dongwoo answered, smiling widely.

Sunggyu smiled too. The river that Dongwoo mentioned ran close to the rear gate, not too far from their houses. The water was clear, and they could usually see the fish swimming in it. Right next to the river there was an open field of green grass, where they liked to hang out. Sunggyu used to play there with his friends when he wasn't helping his dad. "Let me join you," Sunggyu said enthusiastically. It had been a long time since he had visited the river.

"Let's go," said Dongwoo, laughing. "But we need to stop by Sungjong's house first, he might want to join us."

Sunggyu nodded happily, allowing Dongwoo to take his hand and swing it in rhyme with their steps. Soon both of them turned to the alleyway that lead to the house of their playmate.

Unfortunately, Sungjong refused to go to the river. "Tonight my father and my older brother are going to visit our sick Granny in the Trost District. Right now I have to help them pack everything they want to bring since they'll depart immediately after dinner."

"Oh, alright then. I hope your Granny gets better soon," Dongwoo comments sympathetically. Sunggyu mutters the same words. Sungjong smiles and thanks them before turning and helping his brother put some goods in their cart. Two horses were already fastened, ready to pull the cart that was covered with a sheet.

During the rest of their journey to the river, Sunggyu couldn't stop thinking about the big cart he saw in front of Sungjong's house. He paid no attention to Dongwoo's babble and one step before the last turn that would bring them to the river, Sunggyu finalized his plan. He stopped, forcing Dongwoo to halt mid-step.

"Dongwoo," Sunggyu began, "I don’t think I’ll go to the river with you."

Dongwoo eyes widened, his smile erased. "But we're already this close, and Myungsoo has been waiting."

"Yes, I know. But there's something very important that I have to do now. Please pass my greetings to Myungsoo." Sunggyu explained as he turned and ran toward the street he was coming from. Before he had gotten too for he turned back around, shouting to Dongwoo who still had confusion written all over his face, "Tomorrow if my parents are looking for me, please say something to them. Tell them anything, but don't say I'm gone."

"Gone? Where are you going, Sunggyu?" Dongwoo questioned, completely confused.

However, Sunggyu had already run too far and didn’t hear Dongwoo’s question. He trusted Dongwoo to help him lie about his whereabouts, since he knows Dongwoo is a good person.

beta by: Minsoph74

I won't update this story until I got at least 5 upvote!!

Nah, nope, lol, just kidding guys, I won't do such a thing, this story will be updated as soon as I have time to translate the next chapter (it might be a slow update, I'm still a bit busy), but some comments would be nice, fufufu... :3 Thanks for reading~