3 Paths to Love

Chapter 9

Seunghyeon crossed his arms, tilting his head as he stared at the painting on the wall. The abstract elements and mediocre subject gave a discount Picasso vibe. If Seunghyeon was a professor, he'd take marks off for that.

"What do you think?" Yoonah asked quietly, sipping lukewarm coffee from a paper cup. "I think it really captures the mundanity of everyday life."

Seunghyeon cracked a smile. "Nice way of saying it's boring." Picasso could make boring interesting with brushstrokes and colour. But this painting thought the messy room was definitely the highlight.

Yoonah bit back her smirk. "Critiques are supposed to be positive," she said as they headed to the next painting.

The fourth-year students displayed their projects after each major assignment in the smallest gallery on campus. Students wandered in groups, basically taking the chance to catch up with their friends and occasionally talk about their work. Seunghyeon made small talk with people, but he was mainly stuck by Yoonah as she cheerfully greeted everyone.

Across the gallery, Seunghyeon watched their two professors for the class assess a painting, scribbling on their clipboards and asking the artist questions. Seunghyeon shook his head and sighed in relief. Thankfully, he'd just finished his assessment. And after Yoonah got hers done, they could finally go eat something. Hopefully, it'd be something spicy.

Nodding his head at some passing classmates, Yoonah and he discussed a few more paintings. They turned around when they heard Yoonah's name, spotting the professors at her painting.

"Good luck," Seunghyeon said, patting her shoulder as she went. Sighing, Seunghyeon stopped at the next piece and pursed his lips, stepping in front of his painting.

He wasn't one for self-portraits, but thankfully he shrouded himself in shadows, a reflection of the real sense of lost time during a heat. His other paintings about being an omega used bold reds and deep blacks to grab passersby's attention to make them feel just how scary a heat can be.

But this one took a different approach. The greys and blues with him just in bed, the tail-end of his heat, staring at the snow outside. Seunghyeon sighed and crossed his arms. If he had the strength that day, he would have burst open that window and stuck his head out until a small mound of soft, fluffy snow piled on his head.

The winter had been so busy, he didn't even have a chance to appreciate the snow. And before he knew it, it was already spring.

"Hey kitten, what're you doing?" Kwangsun swung his arm around his shoulder.

Seunghyeon jumped and ducked out of his grip, scowling at Kwangsun's obnoxious smile. He turned away. "Nothing."

Kwangsun didn't seem bothered and tucked his hands into his pockets. "Really? I'd say you're looking at a painting. This one's yours, right," he said, leaning in to read the label.

"Why do you ask stupid questions," Seunghyeon sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "So what if I'm looking at my painting? You have a problem with that?"

"Nope," he said and stood beside him, stroking his chin as he looked.

With his eyebrow twitching, Seunghyeon forced himself to stare at his work. He wasn't even looking at it anymore; he just pointed his eyes forward. As the tension boiled over, Seunghyeon groaned. "Can you just-" Seunghyeon broke off. No one was there.

Seunghyeon looked over his shoulder, spinning around before spotting Kwangsun at the next painting over. He frowned and stomped over to him. Why couldn't he be around when he needed him?