Webtoon: Refund High School
Requested by: @LuminousWicca

(Y/n)'s POV

If only the beautiful hues of the rainbow and every colour in between existed, how nice that would be. If only emotions could be bought and traded, how convenient for me. If only...

My past life, forgotten and unwanted. My years at Refund High, just an obstacle for me to overcome. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was exciting nor optimistic in this monochromatic world.

Students rushed to their classes as the bell rang, signifying the start of the day. I had been a second late but that hardly made a difference, seeing as how our homeroom teacher was always running late.

"Morning," Mook greeted as I took a seat beside him.

I dipped my head as a reply. He handed me a small candy, which I took with confusion clouding my mind. I fiddled with it in my hand, having no appetite for such an insignificant thing.

"It's (f/f)," he said.

I ripped it out of the colourless packaging and plopped the candy in my mouth. It was indeed (f/f). For a moment, a hallucination took over my vision. For a moment, I thought I saw colour on Mook's features.

"...thank you."

I strained to force myself to forget the glimpse of colour that was now gone. It had been so quick that I hadn't had the time to memorise the colours on Mook.

What was the colour of his hair? What about his horns? Or his eyes? *sigh* There was no point being so curious if I was never going to see any of it again.

I turned with a bored look to stare at the teacher. The content in these classes just came naturally to me like breathing or walking. I never saw the need to fake interest or engagement.

Suddenly, Mook slid a note onto my desk. It read: He's gonna notice your attitude. I wrote back a reply saying, 'I'm pretty sure he has because I've been like this in every single class but he hasn't done anything about it'.

Mook: What do you like doing then?
Me: ...I want to see the world coated in colours
Mook: What can I do to help?
Me: Nothing
Mook: Just let me try
Me: Why?
Mook: Because you deserve it

I thought I almost felt a light ignited within my heart. When he noticed that I hadn't bothered to reply, he hurriedly wrote something and handed it to me.

Mook: I'm sorry if I upset you

Without a second thought, I stood up, making everyone look at me.

"(Y/n), is something wrong?" the teacher asked.
"I need some time alone."

Without waiting for his permission, I was out the door. Taking deep breaths to calm my confused thoughts and overwhelmingly strong yet clashing feelings, I headed to the rooftop.

Mook's POV

~After class~

Worry gripped my heart in a wrenchingly tight grasp. I hadn't meant to upset (Y/n), it had never occurred to me that my words would have so much of an impact on her.

She has never reacted to anything else I've done before so why now? Was I bothering her too much? Did I cross the line? I had to find her and apologise.

"Hey Mook," Aru greeted with a cheerful smile.
"Have you seen (Y/n) anywhere?"
"No, I haven't. Why? Do you need her for something?"
"Yeah."
"Sua, you haven't seen her, right?"

The girl simply shook her head. Where would (Y/n) usually go? The rooftop! I rushed past the two girls and headed straight to the stairs. Hoping desperately that she hadn't gone anywhere else, I opened the door.

She sat by the fence, with her arms around her knees and her emotionless gaze on the floor. I hesitantly walked up to her and knelt down but she didn't bother to look at me.

The only indication I had was her subtle shift of breathing. She knew that I was here yet chose not to react. I cut to the chase, not wanting to waste anymore time.

"Did I say something that I shouldn't have?"
"No," was her only reply.
"Then were you surprised?"
"Somewhat."
"How are you feeling now?"
"Confused."

I reached my hand out to pull her into a hug. She immediately tensed under my arm but I didn't let go for fear that she might disappear if there was nothing to hold her in place.

Once I heard thunder in the distance, I jumped at the sudden noise. It was going to rain and I couldn't afford to let her know my secret. I didn't know how she would react and that scared me.

"Are you...scared of thunder?" she asked, completely oblivious.
"No."

Little drops of rain soaked the floor.

"Oh no..."
"You're scared of rain?"

No one's POV

Mook felt himself turning into a sea serpent before he could escape from the rooftop. To his surprise, instead of staring at him in utter fear and disgust, (Y/n) burst into laughter.

The sound of her cheerful voice resonated through the loud rain. In her eyes, she had seen him act clumsy and it was adorable. Colour had begun seeping into her vision little by little.

She had finally calmed down but a large smile was still plastered on her face. Mook, on the other hand, was staring at her in shock. The girl he had tried so hard to help looked so surprisingly beautiful when she was full of emotion.

"You...laughed," he exclaimed.
"Mook, I can see it! The colours! Everything's so colourful! It's wonderful!"
"You're not scared of me..."
"Of course not. Seeing you act so clumsy, it made me laugh. Thank you, thank you so much."
"You're...welcome."

~A few days later~

Mook had asked (Y/n) to meet him after class on the rooftop, where she had begun seeing the life in both herself and everything around her. He was fidgeting with his sleeve when she had arrived.

"Be my girlfriend," he exclaimed, a blush on his cheeks and his gaze averted.

Seeing as how she wasn't answering, he took the courage to look up and noticed that she had tears pooling up in her eyes.

"Did I upset you again? Why? Tell me what's wrong," he said worriedly.
"Omg, yes Mook! I'd love to!"
"Are you serious?"
"How could I not be serious? I fell for you the moment you brought colour into my life."
"*blush* Geez, how can you say that without blushing?"
"Then would like you me to blush while saying it? I guess I'm still trying to cope with having these emotions."
"N-no, do whatever you want."

He blinked once, then twice. She had placed a soft kiss on his lips but it was so quick that he could barely feel her. He immediately pulled her in for another one, leaning in deeper.

"You're blushing now," he commented.
"S-shut up."