A Mistake

Hyacinth's grandfather took his support stick that was leaning on the side table of the bed and stomped it on William's foot angrily.

"Young brat! When did you learn to lie to me?"

"Ouch! When did I lie to you, Master!?"

"You said Ren has forgiven me! You even said he brought flowers for me because I was sick!" His master said with tears and irritation in his eyes like a child.

"I did not lie, Master. The young master did bring flowers but I have no idea why he behaved that way. He didn't even give you those red tulips."

"Red tulips?", his master asked with astonishment.

"Yes! He was smiling the whole way while holding it." He said while proving his innocence.

"Hmm….", his master grinned, "if he is my grandchild then I, too, am his grandfather. I will make him forgive me."

"Yes…?" William slightly tilted his head to show his cluelessness.

"William, my child! Go and find out who gave him those red tulips. If my hunch is correct, then everything is going to be okay soon."

"Yes, Master."

Canary was working with her father in his flower shop. While she was making a bouquet and selling it to the customers, her father curiously asked her something.

"Here is your bouquet of fresh flowers, ma'am. Have a good day. Please come again next time."

"Canary, my child, may I ask you something?"

"Yes, Papa!"

"Child, do you like the boy who came here today?"

"No, Papa!" said Canary with a blushed face, "Why do you think so? He is just a friend like Daisy."

"Is that so…? I asked because you gave him red tulips. You know the meaning behind it, right?"

"Yes. But I only gave him those because he said those flowers were pretty. He came to our shop for the first time so I made him a bouquet as a welcome, just as I had given red roses to Daisy because she said those were pretty when she first came to our shop." Canary said sincerely.

"Okay. But be careful, my innocent daughter. Someone might misunderstand you due to your innocence. When you leave small misunderstandings unsolved, those lead to big misunderstandings. Enough to destroy your happiness."

"Okay, Papa! I will keep it in mind."

It was almost time for Canary's library job so she departed from the flower shop.

While she was on her way, her bike struck something sharp and the front tyre had gone flat. She became worried as she was running late for her job. She started walking with her bike. As she walked a certain distance, she accidentally saw three people bleeding in the dead end. No one was present in the street for the time being. One of them was a boy, standing silently and watching the other two lying men on the floor. He was bleeding in the head and his knuckles were all wet in the blood dripping from his injured arm. His clothes were also ruined by blood. The back of the boy, unfortunately, looked very familiar. The other two men on the floor looked like middle-aged thugs. They were bleeding profusely, one in the stomach and the other on the thigh with no strength to stand up. Canary was shaking while beholding such a sight. Her hands went numb and her bike fell to the ground with a sharp sound in the silence. The boy immediately looked at Canary with dead cold eyes. As Canary confirmed the face of the boy, her legs lost strength and she fell kneeling on the road. Her heart was pumping so violently that it was about to come out through her mouth. 

"H…Hya…Hyacinth….?" She uttered.

Hyacinth advanced toward her. With every step that Hyacinth took near her, she felt he was completely another person. Hyacinth grabbed her throat and looked her straight in the eyes. Those eyes of Canary contained fear and disgust. Hyacinth's head went numb and sharp pain grasped his brain. He closed his eyes and started screaming with both of his hands on his head like he was stung by thousands of poisonous wasps. Canary was so horrified at the whole spectacle that her mind went numb and she passed out. Hyacinth's pain slowly started to go away. He steadily opened his eyes cluelessly. He came back to his senses. When he saw Canary in front of him passed out and the blood all over the area, he was dumbfounded.

"What?...No!...No, No!... It's not me!" said Hyacinth with a painful expression with tears rolling down his eyes, "How could it be! How would I face Canary now?" He said to himself while shaking. 

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his heart along with a stinging sound in his ears. After some time, he opened his eyes calmly with a grin.

"Looks like that coward couldn't take the shock again and left this mess for me to take care of. Well… It's not bad either. After all, he is nothing without me."