𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐧 • 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

4; language of colors

"hey!"

the door to seungcheol's office was slammed open, revealing the two artists he never wanted to see today. these two were worse to deal with rather than taxes. they're like twin devils.

"what now?!" seungcheol sighed, looking up from his workload to see the annoying expressions on the artists' faces. "if you bother me again and i mess up the taxes, you're going to lose your jobs!"

"it's okay though, we're not only good at painting. it's not like we're not talented, right, shua?" the one in the beret, yoon jeonghan, nudges the other—who was joshua hong. the latter then giggled as he nods.

"'course we are talented. if jeonghan was not talented like me, i would've hated him with every fiber of my being." joshua half joked, which only made himself laugh. "anyways, mr. choi,"

"what?!" the president clicks his tongue, and glares at the two spawns of the devil. they laugh in unison. huh, his irritability is funny now, huh? they just wait. one day, seungcheol will give them no commissions and fire them together.

"miss rielle and mingyu are the only ones working as of now. can we three go to dinner?" jeonghan hopefully asked. "i will pay this time!"

"you always say that, but you purposefully leave early and not pay for the meal at all."

"well tie me down this time and i definitely won't escape!" shrugged jeonghan, chuckling at a short-fused seungcheol. "oh! by the way, we heard something from mingyu. did you kidnap someone and keep them in the next room?"

seungcheol was surprised, but he shook his head nonetheless. "what?! i don't kidnap anyone!"

"oh well—is it a lover then?"

"no!"

"a client?"

"nope. get out of my office."

"well then who is it!?" classic nosey jeonghan persists, while joshua occasionally adds fuel to the fire. "if you're not telling us, we're going to go check ourselves. have fun eating dinner alone tonight, mr. choi—!"

"wait! wait, no," seungcheol stood up from his seat, stretching out an open hand to the two. the artists then shared a look, which meant that they were up to no good. "i'm your boss and you technically shouldn't be this casual to me, but fine. i'll take you two out to dinner and pay for it. just don't barge in the other room."

joshua puffs out air, shrugging. "seems like a good deal to me, mr. choi. we'll be waiting downstairs later, so see you!"

the two then made their exit together, walking towards the other room where seungcheol 'kept his hostage' and broke the deal with him by knocking on the door.

no answer. huh. jeonghan and joshua share a look, before knocking again.

"what if that filthy junior of ours was lying?" jeonghan whisper-yelled at joshua, who nonchalantly shrugged. "it's not locked anyway, so let's barge in."

"we knocked and they didn't answer," joshua reasoned, which made jeonghan chuckle mischievously. he was being a bad influence to the latter. "3, 2, 1."

jeonghan then opens the door, and creaks: "hello?"

the two were surprised to see an unexpected scene.

there was a broken easel on the floor, and a blank canvas with nothing but a bold, stroke of red paint on it. there was an old palette on the floor, along with a set of tube paint that the two recognized was from last year. moreover, there was a young man sitting on the bed with his clothes messily worn, trying to supress an emotion so visibly.

jeonghan, with his caring nature, was the first one to approach the young man. joshua then proceeded to fix the canvas and easel as jeonghan conversed with the stranger.

"hello. are you seungcheol's secret love child, or something?" jeonghan innocently asked—which got him a kick on the bum from joshua. "oh, it could be possible. but i'm sorry, i was joking. who are you? why are you all alone here?"

the stranger lifts his head up, curiosity painted all over his face. he gets tense. a little defensive, maybe. "... i wasn't aware that that was a joke. but, i'm not his child. i'm xu minghao. he claimed me from prison."

joshua, at that, got more interested. he leaves the easel and canvas to stand beside jeonghan, and talk to the stranger. "prison? what did you do?"

"the government of miyuni owned me, and used me for the war. i was captured by zuivet and i was only released earlier today. now, i am in sir choi seungcheol's ownership." minghao replies—which made the artists' eyebrows knit, as they shared a confused glance.

why would seungcheol want to have a young miyuni soldier in his office?!

"huh... weird. were you trying to paint?" joshua inquired, pointing to the canvas. "you were using old acrylic paint. was it too dry for you to use? i can help you paint with oil—"

"no," minghao strongly replied, looking away. both of them noticed a long scar from his left ear to his nape—which made them realize that he was a lucky one for surviving the war. "i don't want to try painting anymore. it's not for me."

"you started off with a bold color, too." jeonghan glanced at the canvas. "is red a color you like? personally, i like it. it reminds me of roses. rose is my favorite flower."

minghao look enlightened, and then confused. he hums, standing up. "flower... i did not know there were red flowers."

"of course there are! oh my, have you never seen a rose?" jeonghan asked, seemingly shocked. "i'll get you a rose tomorrow."

"for me, red is too much of a bold color." joshua inputs, crossing his arms. "i only use it when i want to show something strong, like love or wrath." he says, giving minghao a small smile.

"i don't understand. how can colors.... have meanings?" minghao confusedly inquired, frowning deeply. he didn't even know who these people were. "is that something an artist is only entitled to know?"

both jeonghan and joshua laughed endearingly, looking at each other for a moment. jeonghan playfully slaps joshua—and minghao gets on high alert.

"woah, woah, calm down." joshua says, placing a hand on minghao's shoulder to soothe him. the latter just stared at joshua's hand on his shoulder—until joshua retracts his hand. "it's not exactly like that, but i guess artists do have a different way of viewing things."

"actually, if you look at colors, you will know what they mean. deep inside, you will understand and feel what those colors are trying to tell you." jeonghan states with a smile, his eyes shining a different way. "colors are beautiful, and they hold a lot of meaning."

"why don't you... try to paint again, and see what you come up with? see what the colors are telling you. see what you feel, see what colors match with how you feel." joshua suggests, picking up the paintbrush from the floor to hand it to minghao.

"can artists truly paint what they want to paint? i was informed that artists only paint what they're told to paint to make others happy to see an image they want to see." minghao asked, staring at the paintbrush on joshua's hand.

"artists are also people who want to feel happy, and artists are people who are lucky to have the talent to convey what they feel through a paintbrush and a canvas." jeonghan states, grabbing joshua's hand. "so you try it."

minghao reluctantly takes the paintbrush on joshua's hand, and looks at the two artists in front of him. "i'm lost."

"you're found, kid," joshua states in a polite tone, tugging onto jeonghan's hand. "you're in good hands with seungcheol."

"we will go now for free dinner, so we'll see you later!"