The Artist Behind |Seongjoong|

3

A couple of days passed since I started reading his diary. With every page, I got to know him more and more. And it hurt me a lot to know what he went through all alone. But I could do nothing now because that was written back in 1995. Ah, I wish I was there for him, so he wouldn't be lonely.

"Seonghwa?" the call of my mom brought me back to reality. "Pick up your phone, it's ringing for a while now," she told me while dropping the fresh laundry in my wardrobe.

I checked my phone and saw 3 missed calls from San and a bunch of messages. I read all of them and replied instantly. He was asking me to hang out with him and Woo at his place. He read my response and gave me the address, just in case I don't remember it. It was nice of him.

"Joongie-ah, I'll go out, hope you don't mind it," I told the painting, for the time we spent together I got used to him as if he was there. Well, almost. When I had to change clothes like now, he was just a lifeless object.

...

"Hyung, you're finally here!" I overheard Woo's loud voice from the other room. He came to the door and gave me a big hug before biting my shoulder. I swear something was wrong with that kid.

To the sight of us, San giggled then pulled his boyfriend by the arm and guide us to his room. There we sat on the floor and decided to choose a game for his PS4. It wasn't easy, mainly because Woo and I were arguing between Fifa and Mario. Mario, our final pick after voting. thanks to it, Woo was sulking like a child, seems like he preferred to play football. Anyways, we played for a while before San leaned on me triggering my 6th sense, something off was about to happen.

"So, hyung, are you seeing anyone?" San asked me including that curious grin on his face. So it was that, just great.

"No, I'm single," I answered his question, he hummed giving a suspicious look to Wooyoung. They indeed were planning something.

"Well, my bestie is free too," Woo began, which gave me shivers down the spine. "Wanna go on a blind date with him?"

"Umm, I'm not too sure about it," I responded attempting to avoid that topic, it was no use, Woo wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pocking me with his finger.

These two squeezed me in the middle like a sandwich. I felt cold sweat on me. I had no intentions to go on a blind date, I wasn't ready for dating now. Possibly at some point later, just not now.

"Is it because our hyung has a crush on someone?" they both tease me, I stayed quiet. It was more complex than just a regular crush. I had no idea how to explain it nor wanted to. It just felt too intimate, it didn't feel right to share.

"Crush it is!" they proudly declared. "So who is it? How do they look? Guy or girl?" they fired the questions at me.

I remained silent. How could I put it, I felt some uncertain emotions towards a man who I've never faced, only knew about thanks to a portrait and a diary from the 90s. It was messed up even for me. And also, if he was still alive now I wouldn't know nor wherever he is, not to mention he could be the age of my parents. My mind was burning, I grabbed my head and groaned. The two on my sides shared a concerned look.

"Hyung, if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay. We were curious, sorry." San spoke using a softer tone. Both of them had that dumb guilty for no reason looks. I couldn't blame them for their curiosity. Raised hands and ruffled their hair.

"It's alright, let's simply not talk about it," I told them, they nodded and we returned to our game.

We spent a couple of hours playing and goofing around. I heard more about my new buddies and they learned some about me. At some point, I asked if they remembered the former owners of my home and the artist. They didn't recall much, yet San said his mother probably knew. He even offered to question her once she gets back home. I was indecisive about it but my desire to find out won.

When Mrs. Choi came back from work she greeted us warmly, also gave us baked goods from the bakery. After, we rested down with her in the living room for a chat and tea. She was sitting on the chair in front of me, their cat was laying on her lap and both gave me that knowing look.

"Mom, do you know the old owner of their house?" San asked his mom and she hummed.

"Hmm, you mean the Kim family, yes I knew them," she responded. "They were a rather ordinary people, well almost, their son was a bit unusual compared to the rest, though I didn't see anything bad about it." she made a pause after mentioning the son. "It's a shame that tragedy happened to him..." she bit her lips as if preventing herself from spoiling some top secret.

I stared at her wide-eyed. What tragedy she was talking about? What happened to my beloved Hongjoong?! On the last page of the diary I had, was mentioned nothing that could lead to suspicions for tragedy. So what could it be?!

"What tragedy?" I asked nearly choking on the words. She looked at me hesitantly and sipped her tea. Maybe at first, she wanted to remain silent however eventually gave up.

"You see, one day he just vanished, no trace was left. I think it happened on his birthday, 1996" she told me in a low grim voice, my blood ran cold.

How could he go missing just like that? Did he run away? Did he go somewhere to kill himself like those sections in the diary were suggesting? Or was it something else like abduction? I felt myself panicking so I went home.

...

I was searching the atelier for the past half an hour. There must be any clues to what happened, right? In the end, the only place I didn't search was the locked drawer of the desk. So perhaps there was something valuable. And maybe I could open it as the door. Or so I thought but this time the letter cutter didn't do. This failure frustrated me to the point I kicked the drawer. And the magic click followed.

Once open I took a look inside. There was another diary. It had the same leather cover as the previous one. Another. I thought and grabbed it rushing back to my room and his portrait, desperate to read it and check if there were any hints of what happened.