3 Paths to Love

Chapter 31

Seunghyeon pulled his paintbrush back and rubbed his temples. His nose burned from the paint fumes and his eyes stung from staring at the canvas. He had been painting Kwangsun's hair for hours now, working on one of the dreadlocks settled on Kwangsun's chest.

Pinned pictures and printouts of hair references surrounded his canvas. He studied them for hours and filled numerous pages of his sketchbook practicing the way the hair twisted and tucked and reflected light. And while on paper it looked okay, he moved at a sluggish pace with the paint. He wanted to get it right, but he didn't even know what was right when he'd never seen it in real life.

He glanced over at the real Kwangsun beside him, their shoulders almost brushing. He hummed, tracing over Kwangsun's short hair with its tight coils. The fade on the sides perfectly trimmed and framed his face. Seunghyeon would have a much easier time painting his current hair. Although...

Seunghyeon studied his painting and turned back to Kwangsun. He bit back a smirk. Long hair had its charm.

Shaking his head, Seunghyeon cleared his throat. Not that it'd work on him. After countless hours working on these paintings, Seunghyeon was desensitized to Kwangsun's body.

"Hey," Seunghyeon said and stood up. "I'm going to take a break," he said when Kwangsun looked up. 

With a curt nod, Kwangsun continued to paint. "I'll be a few minutes," he said. Seunghyeon hummed. His stamina was one thing to admire.

Setting his paints aside, Seunghyeon flopped onto the couch and leaned back. He pulled out his phone and grimaced at the time. He shot Taeyong a quick message saying he'd be late.

Seunghyeon yawned as he scrolled through social media as Kwangsun got up, stretching his arms with a satisfying pop. A moment later, Kwangsun settled on the couch and dropped his head on Seunghyeon's lap.

"Eh!" Seunghyeon knee jerked up and he furrowed his brows at Kwangsun. "What are you doing?"

Kwangsun kept his eyes closed and groaned. "Come on. If I go any lower, I'll fall off," he said, wiggling his feet that hung off the couch. "Just fifteen minutes."

Seunghyeon pursed his lips. If it wasn't for the mind-numbing hours they put in today, Seunghyeon would have kicked him off. Instead, he sighed and dropped his head back, closing his eyes. He was too drained to make a fuss. At least he wasn't heavy.

After several minutes of peace, Seunghyeon's phone buzzed in his hand. Cracking one eye open, Seunghyeon read the message on his home screen. "Urgh, why are people so weird," he whispered.

"What's weird?" Kwangsun asked, his eyes still closed.

Seunghyeon took in a deep breath and read aloud. "Hey, Seunghyeon. You look so sexy in your latest post. Wanna grab coffee?" Seunghyeon scrunched up his nose. The last thing he posted was a quick selfie in the sun. Not something that screamed 'sexy.'

Kwangsun chuckled. "Who sent that?"

"An ex," Seunghyeon scoffed and tossed his phone aside.

"The same one from that time?" Kwangsun asked, cracking his eyes open.

Seunghyeon pressed his lips into a tight line. "No. This is someone else." He sighed and shook his head. "He's not really an ex. He's just– someone," he said, backtracking. It was one thing to go on dates with lots of people and was another to have been exclusive then break up with too many. Even the most adventurous people judged others for that.

"You know"–Kwangsun looked up at him– "It's okay to have lots of exes. I don't care."

Seunghyeon placed his elbow on the backrest and cradled his cheek in his hand, squinting at Kwangsun. "You don't?"

Kwangsun nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I've dated quite a few people. Though, most of them were short-lived."

"Really?" Seunghyeon raised his eyebrow. He heard about Kwangsun dating here and there over the years. But considering Kwangsun was one of the best in their program, popular, friendly, and objectively handsome, Seunghyeon didn't know why they'd be short-lived.

Unless Kwangsun and Seunghyeon were more similar than he thought and Kwangsun ran before things got too serious. "How come they were short?"

"Reasons," Kwangsun shrugged. "Some just fizzled out. Some just wanted to date a black guy–"

"I'm sorry, what?" Seunghyeon sat up, blinking at him. "Are you serious?"

Kwangsun stared at him for a moment, as if assessing him; Seunghyeon gulped. Kwangsun looked away and sighed dramatically, restarting time. "Yup. It sucks. Especially cause I find out later. Sometimes from someone else."

Seunghyeon settled back into his hand and frowned. "I'm sorry," he said, quietly.

"It's not your fault," Kwangsun said. "I've learned my lesson. Some people just can't realize I can be Korean and Nigerian."

What lesson could that be? Seunghyeon scowled. "It's other people who are stupid. I mean–" Seunghyeon ran his fingers through his hair. "You've literally served in the military. You can't get more Korean than that."

Kwangsun snickered and reached up, poking the tip of Seunghyeon's scrunched-up nose. "Why do you think I'm always telling people I was in the navy." Kwangsun dropped his hand and sighed, staring off. "It's like a golden ticket. Once I mention it, most people don't question me. It's weird, you know?" Kwangsun gave him a sombre smile. "I had to almost die for my country just for people to acknowledge me."

Seunghyeon's heart ached. Kwangsun went through two years of intense labour and pain to achieve something Seunghyeon took for granted. Reaching out, Seunghyeon brushed his fingers against Kwangsun's cheek. "I'm really sorry," he whispered, his scent wafting with comforting sweetness.

They stared at each other and Kwangsun subtly smiled. "That's why I painted my sisters in hanboks with bright colours," he said, mentioning the painting displayed a while back. "I just want to focus on the beautiful things in life."

Seunghyeon nodded with a hum before cracking a meek smile. "Well, sorry you got stuck painting me for your final then."

"Don't be," Kwangsun said and placed his hand over Seunghyeon's. "You're a beautiful thing."

Seunghyeon's heart skipped. And with Kwangsun's deep eyes watching him as if he could read his mind, Seunghyeon gulped.

Kwangsun broke the silence with a chuckle. "When you're not being a grumpy kitty, that is." Seunghyeon blinked before scowling. He pinched Kwangsun's cheek as Kwangsun rolled off onto his feet, laughing

"You're such a jerk," Seunghyeon scolded and crossed his arms, drawing up his legs.

Chuckling, Kwangsun patted Seunghyeon's head. "Want to get some snacks before we get back to work?

Seunghyeon puffed out his cheeks and squinted at him. "Fine," he mumbled and got up. With another chuckle, Kwangsun stretched his arms and grabbed his wallet. "Let's go."

Nodding, Seunghyeon followed him out the room, his cheeks burned as he eyed Kwangsun from the side, their shoulders brushing. Looks like he wasn't immune to all of Kwangsun after all.