The Painting

One:

Han Jisung awoke at 6:30 in the morning to the absolute most horrid noise he had ever heard. The noise echoed throughout his room and the entire house, causing Jisung to get out of bed and run downstairs to the source. Following the sound, Jisung found the fire alarm going off, while the contents of a frying pan were engulfed in flames. His best friend of 18 years stood next to the stove, screaming and trying to blow it out, occasionally throwing a cup of water onto the fire. Jisung went over and irritably turned the stove off, collecting a big cup of water and pouring it into the pan, after removing it from the burner.

"Lee Felix, you'd better have a really gosh darned good reason for this!" Jisung screamed as he climbed onto a stool to turn off the alarm. Once it was silenced, he sighed in relief and shot daggers at the younger boy in his kitchen.

"Good Morning!" Felix said, smiling innocently.

"What the hell, Felix!" Jisung asked, returning to the stove to look at the pan.

"Well, as it's the first day of school, I figured I would cook breakfast, and I got distracted and accidentally set the pancake on fire." Felix explained, causing Jisung to sigh.

"Why did you wake up so early to do it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the younger.

"First day jitters..." Felix sighed. Jisung laughed.

"Nervous to see your crush for the first time since the beginning of summer?" He teased

"Shut up." Felix responded shortly, turning to the counter. "There are some already made, and a bunch of batter I can't use anymore, so eat up."

"Thanks, Lix." Jisung said, hugging his friend. He sat at the counter, nibbling on the pancakes. "Not poisoned." He commented, earning a smack on the arm as the boys continued to eat. After he finished, Jisung went upstairs to change for school, wearing his uniform and fixing his hair. He then went to brush his teeth and put on a tiny bit of concealer which hid the bags under his eyes.

"Looking good, Ji." Felix commented as the older descended the stairs, backpack in hand.

"Let's get this over with." Jisung responded as the two left Jisung's house to walk to the bus stop. Passing Felix's house, 3 houses down from Jisung's, they crossed the street, waiting with a few other kids from their neighbourhood as the bus arrived. Jisung and Felix entered first, walking to claim the back seat. Felix claimed the seat by the aisle and they chatted about classes until the bus came to a final halt at the school.

"Ji! Lix!" Came a voice behind them as they exited the bus and walked towards the building. They stopped in time to recieve impact from behind as Seungmin jumped at them.

"MINNIE!" They both yelled at the same time, turning to hug the third boy.

"I'm so glad we have the same class this year." Seungmin said, walking forward. They walked together to their classrooms, taking their seats next to eachother. As they compared schedules, they realised they have all the same classes except for one period, where Jisung has a different class than them. Where Felix and Seungmin are taking a pottery class to fit in an art credit, Jisung had gone with 2D art, which would consist of drawing and painting.

"At least it's right before lunch, so we can talk about it." Says Felix happily. They chat until the teacher enters the room, at which point the boys take notice of everyone who has entered the room. The teacher welcomes them to another year and starts talking about the class when Seungmin whispers to Jisung.

"I'll bet you $20 that Felix won't have the guts to talk to Changbin again this year." Jisung snickers.

"Have some faith in him. I'll raise you to $40 that he will talk to Changbin."

"You're on." Felix looks questioningly at the two and Jisung shrugs back. The teacher, Ms. Kim, is emphasizing the importance of taking notes and, to make sure everyone understands, makes the class copy the list of due dates, for the projects, onto lined paper. As soon as the bell rings, the teacher reminds them that the bell doesn't dismiss them, she does, but lets them go to find their classes. The three boys walk together to the second floor, quickly finding their maths class and finding their assigned seats. After 15 minutes, Jisung was already bored and decided to doodle, since he had finished the "get to know you" assignment that the teacher had put in front of them at the beginning of class. By the end of the period, the back of Jisung's worksheet is covered in sunflowers and small doodles.

The rest of the classes go smoothly until the boys have to separate. Jisung waves to his friends, walking into Mr. Park's 2D art class. As he walks in, Mr. Park points to a seat, showing students their arranged seats. As Jisung is getting settled in, a tall and handsome boy with brown hair enters the room, being instructed to sit next to Jisung. Jisung almost chokes on air as he realises who Mr. Park has assigned to be his partner for the year. The boy sits and rolls his eyes as the teacher starts his introductory lesson. Jisung tries to not look at the boy sitting to his left, failing miserably as Mr. Park is standing towards the left side of the room. The boy next to him notices and glares at him

"What're you looking at?"

"Uh... the... uh. Mr. Park." Jisung whispers, losing his words as the cold boy next to him rolls his eyes once more.

There must have been a mistake. There's no way Mr. Park would partner them together. Not when they're total opposites. Not when Jisung has spent his whole school career getting good grades while his partner got into fights.

Jisung couldn't believe he had to spend the entire year with this stone wall of a man. This, beautiful, yet harsh person.

Lee Minho.