he finds himself staring at the camera for a bit. he hasn’t clicked the record button yet and before he does, he makes sure to turn to the mirror before quickly fixing his hair. when he thinks he looks presentable enough he hits record and smiles.
“hello everybody!” he waves to the camera, smile bright. “i’m joo haknyeon! today, i’m doing the camera relay! jjak jjak jjak!” he adds his own little sound effects as he uses his free hand to ‘clap’ the air.
“believe it or not, i’m the leader for this week! so i’ll be showing all of you the responsibilities of a leader! firstly!” he walks to the water dispenser and picks up a cup before he fills it with water. walking towards sana, he passes the older girl a cup of water before he says aloud, “be sure to stay hydrated sana-ssi!”
he turns the camera back to himself and smiles, “actually, i know a lot of you were worried about me because of my ... incidents... during practice! but let me assure you that i’m completely fine! actually...” he turns the camera and presents a box of tangerines. “tadah! my mum got so worried that she sent over a box of tangerines to me from jeju! i had to carry these all the way to the royal building! can you believe that?” picking up a tangerine, he brings it close to the camera. “look at it... it looks so fresh. fresh tangerines from jeju!” he turns the camera to himself and then places the tangerine beside him. “don’t you think the tangerine and i kind of look alike?” he makes a bright expression before he bursts into laughter. “just kidding! i gave them to the team members just now so i hope they liked it...”
haknyeon then makes his way towards hyunjin, who’s busy practicing. “hyunjin!” he beams happily. he stands beside hyunjin and rests his head against the boy’s shoulder. “everyone. hyunjin and i are actually the best of friends now. did you know that we’re the same age? we became friends in an instant!” momentarily he lets himself look at hyunjin lovingly before he pokes his friend’s cheek.
“now, as leader! i need to make sure that my members have enough vitamins in their body! so let me peel the tangerine for you hyunjin ah.” and he’s done this before quite a bit back in jeju, so with skilful hands, he peels the tangerine for hyunjin. “as leader and as your new best friend, i’ll feed you too. hyunjin say ah!”
and he feeds the other boy, letting out a bright laugh as he does so. “isn’t it tasty? it’s tasty right?” he leans his head against hyunjin’s shoulder once more and for a good few seconds just films himself looking at hyunjin eat the tangerine. “hyunjin... he said he wanted me to teach him chinese, so i did. now he can call me handsome in chinese. but do you know what hyunjin is? hyunjin is kě ài,” he pulls away from hyunjin and then uses his camera to zoom into hyunjin’s face. “kě ài, kě ài. really cute!” he says as the camera focuses on hyunjin.
it’s then when he notices that his two minutes are almost up and he lets out an ‘oh!’. he turns the camera back to face him and waves, “looks like i’m running out of time! for now it’s been juhak’s two minute camera relay! everyone! remember to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated!”
No matter how I told him how little I thought of his choice in books, his smile simply continued growing – slowly – and he nodded.
“Valid points, lady Jibril”, he would say.
“Really? Because you said this philosopher had good points, that he was worth reading and you like reading him!”, I frowned
“Told you to keep an open mind, too, didn’t I?”, he looked almost apologetic.
“You did”, I frowned, “And I got confronted with ‘sickness is a weakness that only befalls the weak. This weakness needs to be overcome’, and good lord, a superhuman? Just… what did you make me read?!”
He did not seem phased much by this, relaxed as he was when he said: “It really is notfor everyone, then”
“Especially not for women. ‘Husbands always need a concubine, a woman can’t handle work and sex, they aren’t built for this!’, what was this person even thinking?!”
He made a bit of a face: “Really? He got this obvious this time around?”, he made a hurt noise, “May I invite you properly to lunch, then? To make up for it?”, he tilted his head.
And I let a puff of air out: “I already came, didn’t I?”
“Truuue, but you did not actually agree to me paying for your meal and… it’s the least I can do, isn’t it?”, he looked properly apologetic.
“It is”, I had wasted time on this!
“A done deal, it is”, he nodded, “And I vow to recommend better books in the future”
“Mh”, I raised a brow.
His slow smile was back: “You will look out for asshole writers a little more now, won’t you?”
“I found one first try, did I not?”, seriously.
“Touché”, he chuckled again.
And then continued to eat his goulash.
He was such a strange man. And had bought the complete set of barrels of books again. I thought about how Matia actually had talked with him. And seemed quite happy.
“… I suppose you could still come and sort out the books at my place again”, I huffed, blowing over my own portion.
He lit up, his grin turning into a lot less sleazy, actually sitting up properly: “That is a very generous offer, thank you very much!”
For the rest of the day, he was my Carrier of Groceries.
And bought absolutely everything that he was remotely interested in.
Even honey.
And cinnamon.
Asked questions the whole time.
When he got his hands on rice he bought ten kilograms.
I didn’t even really know what to do with all these grains!
But fine, fine.
In the end, we were done and drove home.
Matia had a raccoon on her lap and read for him. She had really improved in the last four weeks.
This time, I could show Mr. Ruthven around myself. He was impressed by the pigeons, petted a chicken – and got pecked for his efforts.
He just laughed it off, scratching the back of his head.
Dinner was spend with a begging raccoon – who brought Matia to bed on his own and curled up next to her.
Mazin just shook his head: “I didn’t expect the critter to actually stay”
“Well, you did wash it”, I said while washing some dishes myself.
He grabbed a towel and started drying them: “That I did…”
And now, Matia and critter were gone. And we weren’t too tired (even if the carriage ride was still used for a nap). I supposed some questioning of my guest was in order.
For the first time in my entire career as his PA, he was awake before me.
And he cuddled me. From behind. And kissed the back of my neck to wake me up.
…
I elbowed him in the chest this instant, turning and backing away as far as I could without falling from the bed.
It's not like I had known what was happening.
As soon as I realised, I... felt guilty: “Allan, I'm sorry, I didn't...”
He groaned a little bit before slightly croaking: “It's... it's fine... you... have surprisingly... sharp elbows, 's all,” he coughed. Seemed like I irritated his lung? Something?
He was okay enough with being hugged: “I... didn't expect that”
“Didn't do it before... 's fine... I... was... a bit sleepy last night. Very sleepy. Are you okay? I mean... I slept in again and... you told me you... grow wings on New Moon and you were worried about it... so... are you... okay?,” he was adorably guilty looking.
“... you slept next to me. And you slept like a baby, so... I don't think you are... afraid of me being a... mutant?”
There was a conflicted expression on Allan's face: “Eh... I... uh, don't get me wrong, I am completely fine with you growing wings, but... ah... you see... we... have slept for every single day together for a few months. I... didn't ever see them?”
“... it only happened once now, last month,” now that I said it, it sounds... silly to me, too.
“... well, then we'll see for now. Maybe it was... a one time only thing,” he stared off into the distance a little. Apparently, he was not entirely convinced it had actually happened, bad boyfriend. But understandable. He continued: “When is the next New Moon anyway?”
“Well... at least we don't have to wait long... it's... today?”
“Mh, mh,” he nodded and made more humming noises until he started frowning: “You... waited a whole month to tell me?”
I shrugged. And it was my turn to look away.
He shook his head and shrugged: “Well, then... today's the day. Do you... want to do anything?”
“I... would like you to... cuff me? I mean... last time I was completely aware, but I don't know about this time? And... uh... I don't want you to see... how I... grow... them”
Allan shrugged: “That is... fine with me, there are even handcuffs on set right now, I'm sure I can borrow them until tomorrow”
I nodded. And snuggled up to his chest, now-again painfree: “Thank you...”
The day went on like a normal day from then on. I just felt a little less... tensed now.
And grabbed a blindfold. That was unusual as well. Found one that was completely opaque.
In the evening, I got the handcuffs from him and used one of the bed's struts as the immovable object. We knew it was... rather sturdy.
Then I blindfolded Allan – after he had set up his music playlist on his phone. And clicked the cuffs shut.
He sat on the chair, I sat on the bed, waiting.
The sun was almost down.
“Have you still got your blindfold on?,” I was a little too preoccupied to stare out of the window.
“Yes,” he said over Peter Gabriel's voice.
“Promise me you wont take it off,” it really was almost down. And when 'the Blood of Eden' tapered out, it was down.
“Have you still got your blindfold on?” “Yes.” “Promise me you wont take it off.”
She was a wisp of a child with grubby knees, and the garden was her playground. Other children played tag and went on adventures - but Shara played with the flowers. They were, to her, even at the age of nine, the embodiment of the purest kind of beauty. Untarnished and peaceful. She could identify a dozen kinds on sight, and she learned about new flowers all the time.
There was a dog in the lilac patch. A puppy. She didn’t notice it for a long time, and it made little difference once she did. It had a pure white coat, soft and fluffy. It’s ears were floppy. It seemed like an odd kind of sheep when you first looked at it. It stood out against the lilac patch like a white sheep among black.
Shara was making daisy chains. Weaving them together one by one. On a sudden impulse, she plucked one of her creations from the flower bed and rested it gently over the puppy’s ears. Her cheeks tinged with a sudden enthusiasm. “You look like a flower princess!”
The puppy brushed the chain from its ears and whined.
Shara had always wanted a puppy, but her mother had disapproved. This one had walked right into their garden, so it must be meant for her! That was that. She was duty-bound to take care of this puppy.
“Lilac,” she whispered to herself. “There. That’s a nice name for you.”
Shara picked herself up and bent in front of “Lilac”. “Okay, let’s go to my house! It’s right there!” She pointed to the near left. “See, it’s not very far.”
The puppy didn’t want to move.
With a sigh of impatience, Shara reached into the pocket on her dress and pulled out a strip of dried meat. She had no idea what it was, but her mother had given it to her for a snack. Perhaps Lilac would like it.
The moment she held out the food, Lilac’s ears perked up, and the puppy lifted its nose to the sky, got up swiftly, and went for the prize.
In this manner Shara lured Lilac to her front door, where her mother sat reading a book. “Mommy! Mommy! I found a puppy!”
Her mother peered over the top of her book, and her eyes narrowed. “What on earth is this?”
“The Princess of the Lilacs!” Shara announced. She zoomed quickly to replace the daisy chain on the puppy’s head for added effect.
Shara mother seemed to be somewhat skeptical, but not in a way that Shara could perceive. “I…see. That’s lovely, sweetie. How long will she be staying?”
“Forever!”
“Will she be staying in the garden?”
“No,” Shara replied like it was obvious. “With us.” She observed the look on her mother’s face. “Please? She’s all alone, and she was sitting in the lilacs right next to me!”
“In the lilacs?” Her mother started to sound concerned. “Did she crush any?”
“Mommy! Can she stay?”
Her mother seemed to deflate. “It’s a lot of work, caring for dogs. Especially puppies. I wouldn’t be doing any of the work for you.”
“That’s okay.”
Her mother mumbled something about talking to her father, which seemed to Shara as good as saying, “Okay then, and bring her into the house too!”
Lilac stayed with the family, but was re-christened once Shara’s mother pointed out the puppy was, in fact, male. Shara was only slightly put out. The puppy could still be Prince of the Lilacs, after all.
