𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢 🖌 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘨

16

First it started with a day. Then it was a week. Then it became a month. Jisung wondered how it had already been five months since he became an art student in Australia. Time passed way too quickly. Usually it went slower and it was a lot more repetative. Minho had disrupted that schedule of just painting every second he could. He didn't hate it. Not at all. Instead it was a refreshing change.
Jisung stared at a few of his pieces which hung on the wall in an art gallery. His teachers had asked him if they could submit his projects for the freshmen exhibit. He told them to do what they liked and so there they were on the wall. There were a few more that belonged to his classmates but he didn't recognize any of their names.
"Never thought I'd see my work in an art gallery," Jisung heard a man say beside him. When Jisung gave him his gaze he recognized his face. A classmate, obviously, as his painting was displayed. He didn't know his name but he was popular with the girls.
"You didn't start art with a goal in mind?" Jisung asked.
"Nope. Never really thought my style of art was art gallery approved."
"Which ones yours?"
The black-haired boy pointed to a picture made out of sand. Jisung liked it a lot. He'd seen that style around online but never in person. His eyes moved toward the name at the bottom. Choi Yeonjun.
"And yours?"
"Oh, Han Jisung. I have three up."
Yeonjun made an amused sound and looked around for Jisung's paintings. "They're amazing. How the heck did you pull that off?" he chuckled.
Jisung shrugged. "Practice. Lots of it."
Yeonjun's chuckle turned into a laugh. Jisung stood confused. "With that talent I bet you've never done anything else other than art."
Jisung nodded his heas in reply. He hadn't. At least, not before Australia. Yeonjun gave a hum before dismissing himself. He was meeting up with two friends on the other side of the gallery. Jisung said goodbye quietly as he continued to stare off at his pieces. He stayed there for houre, immursed in the stories they told. The first was a mixture of reds, pinks, and purples. It was a blossoming flower with a tiny fairy-like person hiding behind one of the petals. She had blonde hair and a green eyes, which sparkled from the droplets of water rolling down some of the other petals. He'd added some gold flakes to capture the fantasy as well as some black and white to create shadows.
The second picture was a smaller piece he'd made. A replica of his and Minho's tattoo's merged together. He'd made them more realistic so they looked more like the animals they were supposed to be, but they kept their shape and colors. A blue squirrel and a red cat. Jisung particularly liked the eyes of the cat. Dark brown just like Minho's.
The last one wasn't his favorite in the least. He didn't know why his teacher wanted to show everyone a painting of two boys walking down an empty street in the middle of the night. It had been done a million times before so why put his up? He'd simply doodled it thinking of Minho and the night he took him and Hyunjin out to eat.
"Beomgyu and Jeongin kept telling me you are a good artist but I wasn't expecting you to be this good for a freshmen."
Jisung smiled and greeted Taehyun. "It's got a lot of improvement ahead of it. Thank you though."
Taehyun crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head. He looked at the paintings in silence for three minutes-Jisung counted. "Are you sure you don't want to do a collab? We could do a collage even. Beomgyu is good at making those. I'm sure Jeongin would like to show us some backgrounds to paint. We could to an interpretation of seasons."
Jisung's eyes sparkled just like the fairy he'd drawn. "That sounds awesome."
Taehyun gave a cheeky grin. "Right?" he said, pulling out his phone. He opened it and handed it to Jisung. "I tried getting your number but Jeongin is stubborn. He didn't want to give it out without permission."
Jisung's smile grew and he quickly typed in his number. Taehyun thanked him when he handed it back, then slid his finger across the screen and held it up to his ear. "Gyu?"
Jisung assumed it was his boyfriend and went back to looking at his art. Having Taehyun compliment it was the best thing ever for his art career. Well, that and Minho. Minho was now officially his artistic muse. He'd be painting a lot of things dedicated to him from now on.
"I gotta go, Jisung. It was nice seeing you though. I'll text you later about the collaberation. That or we could catch lunch sometime."
Jisung nodded ecstatically. After watching him leave, he pulled out his own phone and looked at his messages. Minho had texted him, asking him to come over. He excepted the invite and headed out of the museum, taking a taxi to his boyfriend's apartment. When he arrived he let himself in instead of knocking and immediately collapsed onto Minho's couch, which the keeper just so happened to already be sitting on.
"How was class?"
"Different than usual," Jisung sighed out.
"How so?" Minho asked, instinctively brushing Jisung's hair out of his eyes.
"They set up some of my pictures in an art gallery so I was given the day to go look around. I met Taehyun and he gave me his phone number."
"Taehyun?" Minho questioned, brow raised.
"Beomgyu's boyfriend."
Minho hummed. He'd heard about Beomgyu plenty the past two months. Mostly because Jisung was somewhat jealous of how close he'd gotten to Jeongin. "He didn't do anything else?"
"He said we should get lunch and do a collab."
Minho pursed his lips. "If you do go out to eat I'm coming to eat with you," he stated.
Jisung glared childishly. "Why?"
"Cause what if he tries to woo you? I can't let that happen."
"He's not the type of guy to do that."
"Look at you, already defending him," Minho said, moving his hands to the sides of Jisung's stomach. He tickled him, causing the younger to squirm with a few peeps. Minho only stopped when Jisung smacked him in the chest.
They cuddled for the next few hours. Jisung was happy to just be with Minho. Cedar too was offering him some attention, but only so much before running back to play in her cat house.
"Jisung. Don't get mad. I have something to tell you." Jisung hummed. He didn't think he could ever be upset with Minho. "I asked Jeongin for your moms number."
Jisung's eyed widened. His mom? Why did Jeongin still have her number. Better yet, why did Minho need it? "Did you call her?" the artist asked, turning to look Minho in the eyes.
"Yeah."
"Why? I mean, why would you do something that you knew would upset me?" Jisung persisted. He could feel the fear welling up in his chest. If his mom came back into his life Jiseok would follow. Jisung shook his head. He didn't want that.
Minho grabbed his hands gently. "I had to ask her a few things."
Jisung deep down was curious how she was doing. He'd abandoned her because he couldn't take it anymore. Most children would have felt guilt, but Jisung didn't. Or maybe he did and he just never realized it until that very second.
Tears rolled down his face as he let it sink in that his mother had been suffering alone for years. "What'd she say?"
Minho wiped Jisung's tears away. "A lot. She asked about you mostly. Didn't say much about herself."
"What did you ask her?"
Minho released a breath. "Just, a few things. About you. Like, how you grew up. I've been noticing things that others may not take a big notice of. I think its because I observe animals so much that its just a habit to observe everyone else along with them. Like, I know your weird habits. You scratch your wrists, blink a lot, bite your lip, and you clench your hands together when you are anxious. You also nod instead of giving direct answers. Not to mention the whole color thing that you were learning. You know, how to feel emotion through colors. I think that was your way of teaching yourself stronger emotions. Not that you don't feel them but instead that you didn't feel them heavily before."
Minho paused and looked into Jisung's eyes. He was nervous to continue but he knew it needed to be said. "And your obsessions. Tigers, grilled cheese, art. You only ever talk about those things. Sure theres some small talk but its mostly focused on things you find extremely interesting-"
"What are you getting at Minho?" Jisung interrupted.
Minho swallowed a lump in his throat. "I asked your mom if you had any disorders diagnosed as a kid. She said you have high functioning Autism. It's not anything extreme. It's just an explanation for some of the things I find difficult to understand about you. And I think knowing about it will help you too."
Jisung had heard about it but he'd never actually researched it. Autism. If his mom had known his entire life, why didn't she tell him about it? You'd think at nineteen-years of age he'd know that about himself. It didn't make sense. It explained a lot though. Why he never understood other children and kept himself locked away. It wasn't that he didn't like socializing. It was just that people hated socializing with him. He knew that now because he liked talking to Hyunjin and Felix. Yeonjun or Taehyun, even Beomgyu, if any of them came up to him he'd be happy to talk to them. But perhaps it was hard to talk to Jisung.
"It's just a communication and emotional barrier. We can work on it together. Anyway the point is I needed to talk to her to find out how to support you better. I don't know if saying I want to understand you is offensive, but its like that."
Jisung let his head crash into Minho's chest. "You still love me?" Those intrusive thoughts were seeping back in. Who could love someone so different?
Minho wrapped his arms around Jisung. "Why would I stop loving you for that? You're not a villain for having Autism. You're just like everyone else, with a bit more anxiety and a more unique thought process. If anything I love you more for it. I told you I like complicated. It's like a puzzle I can unravel for the rest of my life. I've been researching about it. Apparently animals help with copying and therapy. I was thinking of asking Hyunjin to design a petting zoo area in the zoo for those with disabilities. That way it won't stress them out to be in crowded places with tons of noise."
Jisung started crying. At first it was soft sniffles and then it became loud sobs. He felt broken but at the same time whole. Minho was holding him together. Maybe his mom knew he wouldn't be able to handle it and that was why she hid it.
Minho held tears back himself, quitely shushing the boy to try and comfort him. It hurt, but he couldn't keep that from Jisung. He didn't want to.