𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐞𝐡 || 𝐍𝐨𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐜𝐤

Chapter 6 : Another Idiot

The brunette applied his wet brush against the watercolor pan set, tainting the brown bristles of it a blue then swishing it around in a jar of water. He outlined the houses, adding falling leaves to the portrait along with trees. The theme was multiple houses in the winter, everything looks blue, white, and gold. The gold coming from the inside of the houses of warmth, to show families are warming up near the fire. Hot coco in their cold hands, the tips of their fingers and palms a shade of pink from the cold, along with the end of their noses. Their skin as pale as the snow. The fire a bright mixture of warm red, orange, and yellow. As he stared at the woman near the fire, a thick blanket covering her back and a little boy next to her warming his hands by the fire. His eyes were drawn to the dark figure in the corner, a shade of gray representing his eyes and light black as his body figure, he doubt anyone would be able to notice unless they looked very closely. Renjun's focus was on the shadowy figure who seemed mischievous.

“Sit down, baby.”

A mother called for her son, who walked over to her with his tiny feet hitting the floor with each step until he carefully sat down next to her.

“It’s very cold, so you should warm your hands by the fire, yeah?”

The young boy nodded, lifting his arms and holding his hands out towards the fire, warmth invading his finger tips. She gently placed the hot coco down, sliding off the blanket and standing up while her son, Renjun, remained busy. Renjun noticed his mother stand, and tried to be subtle when he turned his head only slightly to see where she had gone. There he saw his father in the dark corner of the room, who was previously watching them until his mother walked to him.

“You have to support this family too. It shouldn’t be one-sided, I’m the one making the money and helping our son get an education but you’re never here. A son needs his father just as much as he needs me. I never receive any money from you, or you never do anything with him, I have to do everything by myself. Why do I have to be the one taking care of a child I never wanted?”

Renjun looked forward and stared at the fire. He was young, but he could understand his mother’s words. Had he angered her? He thought he was doing well, helping her and letting her have some time of the day to herself. She always complimented him, he never cried when he made a mistake, never complained, he didn’t understand. Did Momma simply not want him? Renjun's thoughts wandered, he didn’t notice he was too close to the fire until he heard his mother scream. He looked up immediately.

“Mom–”

“Junnie your arm!!”

He looked back down, he saw his long sleeved shirt had caught while he was distracted. She grabbed a towel and began to hit his arm, trying to get rid of the fire.

“Junnie!!”

Renjun pulled down his sleeve, to where he stared at the long scar on his wrist. She was so angry at him that day, he was crying at the hospital not because it hurt, but because of the thought of how his mother would think. Once they arrived home, she threw a burnt piece of wood at his face which earned a cut on his cheek. He had to aid it himself in the bathroom. He finally took a look at the painting as a whole.

“Tch.”

He grabbed it off canvas and walked towards the window, pulling it open and throwing yet another mistake out into the streets. He shut the window and turned around to attempt to find more motivation by staring at the wall but heard a thump. He spun his body back around and saw a bloody hand print on his window, them banging on his door. He hesitantly placed his hand on the doorknob, and the moment he opened the door it was pushed open harshly and a body entered. Renjun shut the door and stared at the panting woman with her hand clutching her shoulder.