Sideline | RENJUN

Chapter 17

"Here." Renjun said, passing a Jieun a paper cup as she settled beside him in the art studio. "Ginger lemon green tea, hopefully it'll help you feel better."

Jieun smiled, grateful for Renjun's kind gesture. She leaned forward, surprising the male with a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you so much. This is exactly what I needed." Jieun said as Renjun's head whipped towards her. Seeing how happy she was must have put him as ease as he seemed to have relaxed, turning back to his painting.

That's when Jieun realized that the other students in the room must have seen the little interaction, the girl hearing Ayeon chuckle from her station. Jieun decided to focus on Renjun, the male already hard at work on his painting.

"Can I talk or will you lose your focus?" Jieun asked, not wanting to be a distraction for Renjun.

"With that voice of yours, you'll only be inspiration." Renjun said before giggling to himself. "That was cheesy wasn't it?"

"A little." Jieun said, leaning closer to him. "But I don't mind."

Renjun's smile grew before it faded as he motioned to his painting. "We normally get a theme or a perspective that we have to interpret and express."

"Whats this one then?" Ayeon asked, glancing at Renjun's canvas, which had a lone tree on the top of a hill. It had no leaves and the colours were dark and gloomy.

"Mm, this is a little embarassing." Renjun admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But we had to express our feelings using nature."

"That seems pretty straight forward." Jieun said but couldn't help but feel sad as she stared at Renjun's canvas. It seemed as though Renjun had been holding his inner thoughts and feelings to himself, thoughts and feelings that weren't as happy as she thought they were. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine." Renjun said, a grin creeping up on his face. "I'm not done yet, but I'll explain as I paint."

"Alright." Jieun said, getting comfortable as Renjun moved closer to the canvas so he could work properly.

"This is kind of deep so I understand if you zone out." Renjun said, continuing to paint the branches on the tree, adding shadows. "But basically, I've been feeling pretty lonely lately."

Jieun stayed quiet, carefully listening as Renjun explained himself.

"It wasn't always like this. I used to spend a lot of time with my friends, you could never find us apart." Renjun let out a deep sigh, glancing at Ayeon, who was focused on her own painting, before continuing.

"But after they started dating and all, we spent less and less time together." Jieun looked up as she felt Renjun's eyes on her. "Now don't get me wrong, their girlfriends are all amazing..."

"But it's not the same." Jieun said, finishing for Renjun. Renjun nodded his head.

"Exactly."

Jieun couldn't help but pity Renjun, reaching out and giving his shoulder a light squeeze. She felt Renjun tense up, taking a deep breath before continuing his painting.

"It's hard, I felt like I was constantly being pushed to the sideline, being everyone's second choice." Renjun said, putting his paintbrush down. Jieun watched as he reached out, grabbing a tube of pink paint before turning, giving Jieun a smile. "At least that's how I felt, until I met you."

"Me?" Jieun asked, shocked. Renjun only smiled as he put some pink paint onto his palette.

"Mhmm. I went to Doyoung's diner when I felt lonely, and that's where I met you." Renjun told her as he started painting again. Unfortunately though, Renjun was working on a small part, using a very thin brush, so his body was blocking Jieun's view of what he was working on. "And once I started talking to you, I knew there was something special between us."