You Can Paint Me

Chapter 26

"So... Wasn't the point of this whole fiasco, with the broken flower pots and giving Mia fractured ribs, for us not to be seen by Changbin, who is right across the flower shop?", I clicked my tongue and eyed them all.

"Yeah, kind of.", Felix nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders.

I cleared my throat and let out a breath, while walking casually on the pavement. "Okay, then...why is Changbin inside a ... music store?", I arched a brow in pure curiosity.

"Yes, it's quite weird, isn't it?", Minho's eyes narrowed in confusion, while looking with anticipation the music store in the distance.
Changbin wasn't there anymore, but he was spotted by Jisung a while ago, so that's how the boys got to know that he entered there.
It really took them by surprise when Jisung told them what he saw and at first, they didn't believe him, but eventually,they saw him with their own eyes, as well. That's the reason they panicked and rushed into the flower shop to hide behind those poor plants.

Needless to say, that we have been pacing back and forth in the crowded streets for a while now, not knowing where to go. We try to keep a low profile, since we hide from both Changbin and Ava and we don't want to get caught from either of them.

The scorching heat that the sun radiates above us, does not help the situation either. On the contrary, it drains all of our energy and it makes us look like dehydrated zombies. I'm really getting tired of this and it appears that, I'm not the only one here, since Jeongin and Mia haven't stopped groaning from the excruciating heat .
"Guys... I'm hot and thirsty. Since Changbin is nowhere to be seen, how about we go grab some ice cream?", the youngest of us all whined, like the kid he is.

Chris stretched his arm and beckon Jeongin to come closer to him. "Come here, child.", he dug his hand inside his back pocket and took some cash out, handing it over to the younger boy. "Go grab something to eat and we'll catch up at the park, okay?", he patted his head, like an affectionate father would do.

It was odd watching this interaction because all along I thought that this affectionate side of him didn't even exist.

Anyways... It was, surprisingly, pleasant.

Jeongin's face instantly brightened and he smiled widely, his eyes cutely disappearing while doing so. "Thank you, Chan hyung!", he slightly jumped up and down from happiness and after waving us a 'goodbye', he dashed away like a cheetah.

This kid is the cutest little bean I've ever seen.

I'm not going to question what was the 'hyung' word that he said perviously, but I'm assuming it was something in Korean. Either way, I'm not familiar with Korean, so I wouldn't understand even if I asked. So, I just shrugged it off.

All the while, I was feeling Mia's fingers pinching my arm vigorously, as if she had something to tell me. But, I was brushing her off, because I was too focused on watching Chris being a good dad to Jeong-

Wait, what?

Scratch that, I don't know why I brushed her off.

But minutes later, Mia grew impatient and sneakily dragged me in a near corner to talk to me, without saying a word to the rest of the group.

"What happened?", I titled my head worriedly.

She let go of my arm, wearing a more than a serious look, as she looked deep into my eyes
"You know what's going on here, right?", she grabbed both of my shoulders and brought me closer to her.

"Uh...what?", I bended my head to keep some distance between my face and the sober pink fluff .

"Changbin? In a music store?", she gripped on my shoulders tighter, emphasising the last words and my brows raised in realisation.