Gray: the color of compromise. Unemotional, indecisive, detached.

Sunggyu was typing another report, that was almost the same as the one he had finished an hour ago, and disturbingly similar to the one he had handed in the day before. Yes, his work was quite repetitive. However, that never bothered him. He liked repetitive. Nothing unexpected, nothing unwanted could happen. That was how he had been living all his life and it was working perfectly so far. The black letters quickly appearing on the white page on his screen represented perfectly the peaceful routine of his life and were strangely soothing.

“Do you intend to work all night?” Sunggyu jumped a little at the sound of his friend’s voice next to his ear.

“Yah, Lee Sungyeol! Stop scaring me like that!”

The culprit just laughed – Sunggyu was so easy to scare and his reactions were too funny to watch. “But Sunggyu, you know it’s already half past six?”

The elder raised his brows. No, he didn’t know. He was supposed to finish work at six, and here he was, writing a report that could definitely wait until the next Monday. This tended to happen a lot: he lost track of time. It wasn’t like he had to hurry to go home though, since no one was waiting for him anyway. But he wasn’t sad or lonely, he liked being alone. Being alone was peaceful. He had all the time and the silence he wanted at home to read a book, watch a movie or think. He saved his report and closed it anyway, because he wasn’t going to work extra hours without getting paid for it – again. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was definitely not Sungyeol’s style to still be at work at this hour.

“Why are you still here anyway?” Sunggyu asked, raising an eyebrow. When he saw the tall man shift from one leg to another in embarrassment, he understood immediately. Of course, he should have thought of that. Sungyeol was waiting for his boyfriend to finish his work. Unfortunately, his boyfriend was their superior and he had a lot of work these days, resulting in him having to work more. Unlike his employees, he could not just leave some of his paperwork for the next day. Actually, he was so busy that Sunggyu hadn’t even seen him today.

“Well, say hi to Myungsoo for me. And stop blushing like that, it’s really unmanly and it makes you look like a high school girl in love.” Even though his words were harsh, he still had a small smile on his lips and his friend knew better than to be offended by that.

“God, how do you even know I’m blushing when you can’t see colors?!” Sungyeol retorted just to try to hide his embarrassment.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. They already had that conversation before. “I told you, your cheeks become a darker tone of gray.” He put on his coat and took his bag. “Well, if you don’t have any more stupid questions, I’m going. See you on Monday.” He didn’t get a clear answer from the younger, which was too busy grumbling about how he was neither stupid nor a high school girl. He smiled at how easy it was to mess with Sungyeol.

He made his way to the elevator, looking at the posters of gray sceneries covering the hallways of the company. He walked passed a woman, wearing all gray clothes. When he pressed the button of the elevator, it lit up a lighter tone of gray. Gray. It was the only color Sunggyu had even known. He wouldn’t even have been able to put a name on the color if the doctor hadn’t done it for him. Since he never knew what seeing colors was like, he couldn’t say he missed it, but he sometimes wondered what it would be like. He dismissed the thought. He didn’t need colors. Who needed colors anyway? He had a stable life, an honorable job and a few friends, and he never needed any other colors than his usual gray to get them.

As he came out of the elevator, his phone rang, indicating a text. He took it from his pocket and looked at the message. It was Dongwoo, asking him if he wanted to go and have a drink tonight with him and Hoya. Sunggyu sighed. He knew his friend was only trying to get him out of his apartment a little because he ‘didn’t have any social life’, but he was positive he didn’t need his help.  Moreover, he didn’t see how drinking alcohol in a crowded room with music so loud you couldn’t even hear yourself thinking could be seen as socializing. He locked his screen and passed the front door of the company’s building. Dongwoo could probably wait for an answer. He turned to the left to go in the direction of the bus stop when he bumped into someone, or more like crashed into someone. He almost fell on the floor, but somehow managed to regain his balance. However, his phone slipped from his hand and fell on the hard ground, along with another one. He cursed under his breath and picked both of the phones up.

“Woah! I’m sorry!” Sunggyu looked up at the face of the person who had spoken just now and instantly forgot to be angry. That man was kind of hot. He had jet black hair covering his forehead, beautiful dark gray eyes, a sharp jaw line… Seeing how Sunggyu didn’t have any reaction and was just standing in front of him with both phones in his hands, he repeated his apology. “Sorry, I’m kind of busy and I wasn’t looking…”

Sunggyu shook his head. “It’s okay, I wasn’t looking either.” A second of silence followed before the other man carefully took his phone from Sunggyu’s hand, said goodbye, bowed and went away. Sunggyu wondered if the blush he was feeling on his cheeks was due to his lack of interactions with people. Maybe he needed to socialize more.

* * *

Sunggyu entered his apartment, threw his keys and his bag on the table and plopped on the couch. He was considering eating instant noodles tonight because he really didn’t want to cook and then finishing the book he had started two days before. That sounded like a plan. However, he jumped in surprise when he heard a ringtone which wasn’t his. He took his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. “My Bum” Now, that was definitely not his phone. He picked it up anyway.

“… Hello?”

“My Hyun! What’s up? I didn’t think you’d actually pick up, aren’t you working? You know that guy from the other day? Well he called me and-“

“Hum, sorry but… I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

Silence. “I’m… pretty sure this is the right number though. Who are you?”

Sunggyu explained how that Hyun – whose complete name was apparently Woohyun – and he must have confused their phones. He spent a couple of minutes on the phone with that – weird – person, and assured him he would give the phone back to his owner. Thus, after he hung up, he called his own phone. After a few seconds, someone answered.

“Hello? You’re the guy from earlier, right?” Sunggyu found it odd how he instantly recognized the voice of someone he had talked to only once in his life. Well, he knew sometimes his senses were more accurate than other people, maybe to make up for the fact that his vision was… incomplete.

“Yeah. My name is Kim Sunggyu. Sorry about that… Can we maybe meet somewhere to exchange our phones?” He waited a few seconds for the answer, but the other end of the line was silent. Well, silent wasn’t really the word, since that Woohyun guy seemed to be in a very noisy environment. He heard him talk to someone else and felt really annoyed for a moment. He just wanted to spend his evening quietly reading a book, not chasing after some stupid guy who had mixed their phones up. He was about to retort something, when Woohyun finally spoke.

“Sorry! I’m working right now, so I’m kind of busy… I can’t really go out right now, but maybe you can come? I’m working in a bar.”

Sunggyu sighed. A bar. With music and people. Great. So much for his quiet evening. However, if he wanted to get his phone back, he didn’t really have a choice. That’s why he asked for the address, put his jacket back on and went out of the door for the second time that day.

* * *

Sunggyu entered the bar. There were indeed quite a lot of people, but not as much as he thought there would be, considering that it was Friday night. A pop-rock band was playing on the little scene at the back of the room and Sunggyu would probably have enjoyed it if he was listening to it alone, in the safety of his own home. The overall atmosphere of the bar wasn’t that bad though, he had to admit. People were sitting around small round tables, chatting, drinking or just watching the band in silence, with a smile on their faces. However, Sunggyu wasn’t there to listen to a rock band, so he went directly to the bar, where he spotted the – hot – guy from earlier. Hopefully, Woohyun seemed to recognize him too, because he smiled at him and blinked his way before finishing serving his customer. Then, he took something under the counter and went to Sunggyu.

“Sorry, again”, he said with a smile. “It seems that I just keep on apologizing today.” He put Sunggyu’s phone on the counter, and the latter did the same with his. Somehow, Sunggyu really wanted to be mad at this man, but it seemed like he couldn’t hold grudges against someone with such a cute smile. He sighed.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

Woohyun looked down at their phones and took his – the right one this time. “It’s weird though. Even though our phones are the same model, yours is black and mine is red… I mean, I was so busy that I didn’t really pay attention. Plus, until not long ago I had a black phone too. But how come you didn’t notice when I took it earlier?” He had an amused smile on his face and Sunggyu thought that this man was already asking too many questions about things he didn’t necessarily want to talk about with a total stranger.

But he looked at him and he was really handsome.

“I’m colorblind, so I couldn’t see the difference.” Why was he even explaining that to him? “Anyway, I’ll be going now.” He turned around to leave, but Woohyun’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait, wait!” He looked at him again. “You’re… what?”

Sunggyu mentally facepalmed himself. Was that person stupid? “Colorblind. That means I can’t see colors. Well, some people can see colors but mix them up. I can’t see colors, I just see in different tones of gray.”

By the time he finished his explanation, Woohyun was looking at him with his mouth wide open, like he had seen a flying panda or something. Sunggyu wasn’t sure how he was supposed to take this: was this insulting or just weird? Given the lack of reaction from barman, he thought he should really just leave, but the other man probably read his mind, because he quickly said.

“Sorry, I had just never heard of it before. Yeah, I’m kind of stupid sometimes I guess!” He genuinely laughed at himself and Sunggyu couldn’t help but find him cute once again. “Anyway, since you came all the way here to bring me my phone back, let me at least make you a drink!” Sunggyu seemed to hesitate and Woohyun added: “Come on, not to brag, but I make the best cocktails! Just sit down, I’ll be back in a minute!”

Sunggyu sat down at the counter and turned his head in direction of the rock band that was still playing. He nervously started to tap his fingers on the wooden surface. He wasn’t really used to being in this kind of place without his friends. He suddenly missed Dongwoo. However, all thoughts about his stupid friend disappeared when the barman came back with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face. He put the drink down in front of Sunggyu.

“I hope you like it.” Sunggyu eyed the drink suspiciously and asked: “What is it?” The other man laughed.

“You look like you think I’m trying to poison you or something! You know I’m a barman, right? It’s my job to make cocktails, so don’t worry! Anyway, it doesn’t have a name yet, I improvised it just now.”

Sunggyu wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a good thing, but that handsome smile almost convinced him it was. He carefully took the glass filled with a light-gray liquid and took a small sip. His eyes opened wide and he looked at the barman with a slightly shocked look on his face. For a fraction of second, Woohyun’s smile almost disappeared.

“You… don’t like it?”

Sunggyu quickly shook his head. “No no, I like it, it’s just… it’s really good.” The other man’s face beamed again after that. And it was true: Sunggyu never really liked alcohol. He drank it because everyone did, and after some time he got kind of used to it, but he still couldn’t say that he really liked it. However, he was almost certain this cocktail was the best thing he had ever tasted. It was sweet, but not too much, with a bitter aftertaste that left him wanting more. The taste was light and energizing yet invasive and compelling. He took another sip, then another… He soon found his glass empty and couldn’t stop a pout when he looked at the barman that was looking at him in awe.

“Are you okay?” He had an amused look on his face. “People usually say that the drinks I make are quite good, but not to the point of looking that desperate!”

Sunggyu felt his cheek burning at the realization of how stupid he must have looked right now. “S-sorry. I don’t usually drink a lot, but it was really good.” Before his brain could fully process it, he spoke again. “Can I have another one, please?” He almost facepalmed himself in front of that y stranger, who chuckled again. What was wrong with him today?!

“Sure. I’ll be right back.”

This time, Sunggyu concentrated on the barman. He looked at the way he took the different bottles, all filled with a different sort of gray liquid, he analyzed the proportions, the movements. When the man came back with the drink in his hand after a short time – that was still too long for Sunggyu’s taste – the latter couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks.”

To his surprise, the barman didn’t leave him and at some point, he even came to his side of the bar and sat on the stool next to him. Time was passing quickly as they were talking about their lives. Sunggyu didn’t mind the crowd anymore and he thought that rock band was definitely really good. Sometimes, the two other barmen threw a death glare at Woohyun, who was obviously slacking off, and Sunggyu would tell him. Woohyun would then go serve in the bar a little, then come back to his seat next to him. He also kept making that heavenly drink for Sunggyu, who was too happy about it to process that his mind was beginning to get really blurry. Sunggyu learned that this bar was actually Woohyun’s bar, which explained why he didn’t get in trouble for slacking off, since he was basically the boss. At some point, Woohyun brought up Sunggyu’s color blindness again.

“It’s not that bad.” Sunggyu heard his lisp come back, probably because of the alcohol, but his confused mind told him not to care. “I mean, I never needed colors to get to where I am now. It seems everyone likes colors, but you don’t need it.”

There it was. Woohyun’s shocked expression again. “What do you mean, we don’t need colors?! Of course, we need it! It’s like… like emotions! Could you live without emotions?”

Sunggyu looked at him, tried to think about that question, found it too difficult for his messed up brain and just shrugged. Woohyun rolled his eyes at the absence of reaction.

“Gray is just… depressing. I don’t know how you can live in a gray world. It must be so… boring.”

Sunggyu shrugged again. “I’ve never known any other colors, so I don’t mind it.”

The barman slowly shook his head. “I just can’t understand that. I can’t live without colors. And in my job, I actually need them. I mean, nobody would like to drink a brown cocktail, you know?” He paused “Well, no, you obviously don’t.” He sighed. Then all of a sudden, his expression lit up again. “I know! If you can’t see colors, I’m going to make you taste them!”

Sunggyu looked at him with a confused – and probably stupid – look on his face. The barman laughed at the sight. “It’s my job, right? Make colorful drinks that people like. Each colorful drink has its own taste… Will you let me do that?” His eyes were shining like those of a child who would see a Christmas tree for the first time. It was Sunggyu’s turn to laugh. He heard the other man mumbling something about yellow, vodka and strawberries, then decided he had to go to the toilet. However, as soon as he stood up from his stool, he stumbled as he felt the room around him spin. He would have probably ended up on the floor if Woohyun hadn’t grabbed him by the shoulders. In his eyes was a mixture of worry and amusement.

“Are you okay Sunggyu?” Said man smiled. He decided he liked the way his name sounded when pronounced by Woohyun. He nodded, but that gesture must have been really funny, because it only made Woohyun’s laugh echo in his ears once more.

“Okay, let’s do this another time. Now I should probably get you home. You really don’t drink often, do you?”

Sunggyu mumbled something about alcohol, crowds and stupid friends and Woohyun laughed again.

* * *

Sunggyu woke up to the sound of a text message, which was weird because he always turned his phone off at night. He tried to move to the side, but felt a huge pain in his head.

What the hell?

Then he remembered. He remembered how he had inadvertently switched phones with a – handsome – stranger, how he had gone to his bar to meet him, the drinks, the music, the atmosphere, the chatter. He grumbled at the memory of him being almost dragged in a taxi, then of how Woohyun had opened the door of his apartment for him because he was unable to put a key in a lock. He remembered how Woohyun dropped him on his bed, put the covers on him as if he were a small child and how he smiled at him and said ‘See you next Friday’ before leaving.

Sunggyu was now blushing really hard at the embarrassing thoughts. What the hell had happened to him?! Why had he gone to drink with a stranger? And why had he humiliated himself in front of that same handsome stranger? He thought of the book he was supposed to read the day before and swore to himself he would stick to his book next time.

He suddenly remembered the sound that had awaken him and he took his phone on the nightstand. He almost had a heart attack.

From: Woohyun

Good morning! Are you okay? You probably don’t remember everything, but I hope you still remember my plan to make you drinks of different colors! I can’t wait until next Friday!

That was the first chapter! :D I hope you like it! Please leave comments below to tell me what you think! :3

Oh and if you find any errors/typos, feel free to tell me, I'll correct them ;)

I'll post chapter 2 on Saturday! :)