It was gray; the skies were raining down gloom through the thick atmosphere. Gray drops of water fell on gray pavements and roads, sliding down the sleek sides of cars. But with his nose pressed against the shutter, Ravi felt far from gray. A small smile crept up his face, knowing that this was the last he would see of the dull city of Seoul. Starting tomorrow, his life would begin anew in the country side that did not know the color gray.

About that, he was wrong though- It was as if the rain cloud followed their packed car out of the city and tailed them all the way to Busan, the old vehicle leaving a trail of wetness much like snails do. 
Ravi huddled back into the warmth of the claustrophobic space, wishing their new neighborhood wouldn't be as gloomy as the last: he had counted on this. So many nights with his fingers crossed... to think it had finally paid off, he could hardly believe it! He dared not believe it too soon.

But the boy couldn't keep the happiness from bursting through as he leapt from the car, full of energy, and dashed through the light patter of rain, stomping impatiently around the veranda till his mom finally fished out the keys and opened the door. He ran in ahead of the others, up the stairs, and then back down again coz he realised he didn't know which room was his. Predictably, the excitement didn't die down till long after the lights had been put out, every moment shining brightly and as precious as a star in his eyes. Finally, the slowly ceasing rain lulled him to sleep, and in his hardly furnished new room, Ravi slept like a comatose.

*

It was strange seeing lights on in the house he had known to be "for sale" for almost all his life. The tiny car that he had heard arriving last night was stuffed -its baggage still leaking out- in the garage to the side. Life bustled within the house, making Hyuk feel an undeniable sense of unease rise within him. It felt wrong that this perfect little family of three should suddenly appear out of nowhere (on a rainy night- and it was never that rainy here!) and just occupy the house of... He shook his head. It was not a thought he wished to ponder on so early in the morning.

Pulling away from the curtains, Hyuk made his way down to the inviting smell of waffles his mother had whipped up. 

"They seem some nice people," she was saying as she laid a steaming hot plate on the table, "The boy's about your age," she nodded towards Hyuk as he walked in, "You should go say hi."

Hyuk grunted in response, hand naturally reaching out to the bowl of biscuits. 

"Will you?" his mother asked, a hint of 'you-better-do-this-and-for-once-not-disappoint-me' in her voice. She flicked Hyuk's hands off the snacks to get his attention, and looked pointedly at the waffles. 

"Yeah, yeah," mumbled the boy, sitting before the plate and pouring way too much chocolate sauce on it.

Halfway through the meal the doorbell rang; with his mouth stuffed, Hyuk looked up with bright eyes. Well, this was one good thing about new neighbors!

"Hello, I'm Ravi," he heard the voice from the doorway when his dad checked the door. He leant all the way back so he could catch a glimpse of the rice cakes, and maybe who was holding them too- and nearly fell back when he saw that the low voice belonged to the boy and not his father behind him, now shaking his dad's hand.

"What have I told you about rocking your chair?" his mom hissed, "You'll kill yourself one day!"

Hyuk just grinned, pushed back from the table, and not bothering to wash up, walked straight to the front door and picked the pack of rice cakes from the other boy's hands. ("Oh, how rude!" his poor mother gasped in the background.)

The rice-cake-grabber's dad put a hand on said boy's shoulder and introduced him: "And this is Hyuk-"
Hyuk shrugged the hand off, pulling the box closer to him. "I can introduce myself myself!" he said, "but yeah," he looked at ...Ravi, he said his name was? "I'm Hyuk. How old are you?"

His mother, hands cleaned and wiped dry on apron now, gave up at this point and just smiled apologetically at Ravi's parents behind him.

"I'm ten, almost 'leven," he answered, "You?"

"Oh, you're old!" (In Hyuk's defense, he meant Ravi was older than he'd first thought him to be.) "I'm seven, going on twelve." He smiled proudly.

"Darling, you're eight," his mother corrected. Instantly, Hyuk's face went bright vermillion, and embarrassment made him take his leave (with the rice cakes, of course).

*

The two year didn't hinder their soon to form friendship in the least. Busan was not a bit like Seoul, with all the structured society where you had to be friends with only those your age, respecting elders and ignoring hoobaes; or strict social circles that you either had to be a part of, or suffer the rest of your days in school. Busan was far more liberal, and everyday Ravi seemed to come home with a bounce in his step, no matter how much the muddy games of Korean volleyball afterschool wore him out.

"We're gonna go fishing tomorrow!" he announced on Friday the moment he barged in through the front door, kicking off his muddy shoes.

"My, is this boy settling in..." his father's voice floated out of the kitchen, "Don't you think it's a bit too soon?" His head popped around the door so he wouldn't miss his son's reaction.

"Of COURSE not!" Ravi's voice was loud with passion, "I couldn't go last weekend coz we had just moved in. Besides, they always barbecue whatever they catch afterwards, and it's at Hyuk's house, so y'all can come too!"

"Haha, so he did invite us to embarrass him~" The man nudged his working wife, and threw a wink Ravi's way, to which Ravi just groaned. Typical of his parents, really.

"Oh, leave the boy alone, Yeobeo," his mom hushed her husband with a smile, "I'm sure your friends will be more than glad to meet us." It was her winking his way now; Ravi just said, "Come... don't come- I dunno. Well, I'm just gonna go upstairs now."

Fishing turned out to be more or less a disaster, but of the memorable kind. It was then that Ravi got the title of: "breeder of chaos" - not only did he manage to fall into the waterbody they were fishing in, somehow entangled by the make-shift fishing line he was wielding; but he successfully burnt all the fish at the barbecue to a crisp black, leaving the starving boys ....well, starving, until Hyuk's mom offered them proper meat -and this time, Ravi was allowed nowhere near the fire!

It was late when Ravi headed back home; just him and Hyuk remained, the two of them entertaining themselves with an awesome action-figure of a dragon the younger had named Jiyong. When the parents downstairs finally  wrapped up the gossip, they came up to get Ravi just when Hyuk was about to show its secret move: actual fire breathing!

"Come, let's head home," Ravi's mom entered, interrupting the moment of suspense. Instantly, Hyuk hid the toy behind his back. 
"It's a secret!" Hyuk whispered desperately, "You mustn't let anyone know."

Ravi flashed him a questioning look, as Hyuk shooed him out of his room. "None of the guys even know of its existence," was Hyuk's only explanation, along with a pat on Ravi's shoulder. 

It was a good enough reply for the boy, though. With a sparkling eyes and a knowing smile, Ravi left without a complaint, and that night he slept with a growing glow within him: that to someone, he was more important than the other guys. 

That was all it took to seal the friendship.

***

Snow flakes fall on street outside, muffling all noise, as if someone has thrown a blanket over the world and is trying to suffocate it. Ravi's breaths are deep and rugged, each one a struggling effort. He ha been crying -tear streaks marr his face, and his throat feels raw- but why, he cannot remember. There is a reason. I am hurting. But why....? He can't remember: It's like he'd forgotten something that he shouldn't have, something he couldn't possibly forget. And everything but the leering sense of unease that refuses to fade seemed to be disappearing, leaving Ravi stranded alone in a world of gray.

***

A/N:

So... has this been a total disappointment yet? If not, I can only thank my wonderful Eomonie for actually sitting beside me and running through the entire (well, almost entire-) chapter, and making it what it is now. GOMAWO, EOMMA! SARANGHAEYO! 

And also, a shout out to my first subscriber: hanuel1296 It's her birthday!! (And chanyeol's tooo!!! Yehet!) 생일 춬하해~ I hope you like your unexpected birthday gift <3 (and sorry if it's so short- I try my best to do it on time~) To all my subscribers (Haneul, Kennocha, emtaehyung and xeaveslee) love you guys; and to anyone who bothered reading: I love you too, but I wish I could talk to you, maybe...?

Okay now that the shoutouts have been shouted out, you can either leave and ignore me :'( or complain that this is more rant than story :'( -which is true, but I just wanted to say: I'm so happy yesterday at work they desided to waste our time by juggling with tables that didnt fit through doors (redecorating, a sane person would call it) -and thus I who was unable to "work", managed to write way more than I'd hoped to in such short a time. Let's hope more craziness happens next week too, and I get to write more ;D

Till then~ <3