Paint Me | Kang Taehyun

12. YOUR STORY

After returning everyone took a shower and gathered in the living room to chat. They were too tired to cook so they ordered some pizzas and some snacks for dinner and watched a movie.

Hayun was again tossing and turning on the bed because something kept bothering her. Taehyun was unable to sleep as well knowing that Hayun was worried about something, probably because of the boy they met earlier. "I can't sleep... let's go to the rooftop to get some fresh air." Taehyun suggested.

They sat on the chairs and looked at the moon for sometime.

"I know something is bothering you, if you want to talk then I'm all ears." Taehyun said giving a small smile. "The boy we met earlier, he is my ex-boyfriend from high school." she began.

"Back in the childhood and my early teens, I was an outgoing and confident person even though my taste was somewhat different from other kids around me. Well, I was a tomboy. My mom used to buy me a lot of dresses but most of the time I wore my brother's clothes. I didn't mind being around boys because I grew up with three brothers. One being my sibling and the other two Yeonjun and Beomgyu. I never had a crush on any boy but things changed in the tenth grade.

Lee Suho, the boy we met earlier, he began to pay a lot of attention to me. He often found reasons to talk to me and then one day he confessed his feelings to me then we started dating. I won't say that he was my first love but I began to like him, as a boy. After a few months of dating, he suddenly broke up with me saying he was bored and never really loved me. He just dated me because I was single. He said that he was embarrassed to call me his girlfriend because I didn't act like other girls. It was heartbreaking for me. When I told my brothers about this they didn't hesitate to skip their school the next day just so that they could break Suho's nose. He even apologized to me for playing with my feelings. After the incident, I began to dress up more like girls, not because I wanted to be like others but just for a little change and I thought that I looked better in these clothes. That's how my love for dressing up began and I slowly gained back all the confidence that was lost. I still wear my brother's clothes sometimes." Hayun laughed even though a tear fell from her eyes.

"Thank you Taehyun, I really wanted to let out my feelings. I was already over this a long time ago but now that I met him today, those memories flooded again and I felt suffocated." she smiled looking into his eyes.

"I'm glad that it helped." he said mirroring her smile. "Taehyun...I was curious about something. Uh, never mind." she hesitated. "It's okay, ask me anything." he assured her.

"It's totally okay if you don't want to talk about this but since I am a bit curious, I'll ask. I heard that you were a great painter but you stopped it completely. Tell me if you are comfortable, I won't force" Hayun said trying her best to not make him uncomfortable.

"Since you shared your story with me, it's fair that I answer your question too. Two years ago I got into an accident which left a severe injury to my left hand. Being a left-handed person, it affected my life in many ways. After lots of treatment and therapies, I began to write but never felt confident while painting or drawing. I tried but always messed up. My hands begin to shake whenever I hold a brush. Sometimes I even have nightmares about that day. I was at the edge of falling into depression because of being unable to do what I was best at until... never mind. I think I'm mentally alright now but I don't know how long this will continue. I miss those days so badly when I used to play with colors on the white canvas board" he explained.

Hayun could completely empathise with what he told. Being someone who shared the same passion, she could feel how hard it must have been for him. She held his left hand in her hands and looked into his eyes. Never in her life had she imagined herself to act so bold but something in her urged to do so. ''let me help you Taehyun. I want to see you painting while making confident brush strokes on a canvas." she replied. "But how are you going to do that?" He asked. "Leave it to me. After the wedding let's work on this...together."

They sat in the silence while looking at the moon for sometime. Hayun fell asleep so he carried her to their room and tucked her in bed. "What did I do to meet someone so warm like you?" He said in a low voice while looking at her face and soon drifted to sleep.

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