Ji Changan always thought that he was just not popular.
No one in the classroom called his name. The crowd automatically parted from both sides of him when school was over. Even when she was buying flowers on the street corner, the flower seller didn't even bother to look up at him. He was used to it - used to being ignored, used to being that "obstacle that didn't need to be noticed."
Until that night, he dreamed of a colorful city.
Outside the city lies a black and white wilderness. Every stone on the city wall is glowing. The night watchman said that he had no color and could not enter the city. He met a girl at the base of the city wall - she was squatting among the blue snowflakes. There was mud between her fingernails and her shoelaces had been broken for a long time. The entire face is black and white, except for a small patch of blue that does not belong to this world deep in the eyes.
"People in the city don't need flowers," she said.
Her name is Leola. She grows flowers outside the city in a way that makes them grow without forgetting anything. In this world, some people exchange memories for colors, and some people directly plunder other people's colors - those plunderers are called faders, and they are causing the city to collapse day by day.
Leola's eyes grew lighter day by day during the battle. From twilight blue, to light sky blue, to almost transparent white.
"What's your color?" He asked.
"It's used for protection."
Ji Changan discovered for the first time that "being seen" was not the most luxurious thing. The most luxurious thing is that some people are willing to consume their own colors just to keep you the last trace of blue in this black and white world.
The name in his heart that had never been spoken finally came up from his throat.
Ian.
Meaning - I'm still here.
And you are the light.
Intent: In a world where forgetting is the norm, "remembering" itself is a kind of protection. The moment of being "seen" is enough to illuminate the long gray daily life.