Opposites Attract | Taejin

Chapter Five

TW: Mention of abortion 

Jimin tilted his head as he got his brush closer to the big canvas in front of him, however, he instantly stopped, feeling clueless about what he wanted to paint. He enjoyed painting and drawing and when it was plastic arts' day, Jimin was particularly happier, even when he used to be all alone, he could resort to colouring pencils and paints to express himself and his feelings. The small brunette tried to recollect some memories he had of his mommy when she painted, he remembered some paintings of her, she used pretty colours, like the ones on Taehyung's hair, Jimin wanted to use pretty colours as well on his drawing and showed it to his friends.

Jimin glanced at the window, next to his seat, he saw the playground – the swings, the slide, the seesaw –, he noticed the bared trees shaking with the wind, the skies were slightly covered with grey clouds and the sun was peeking out every once in a while. The view was the perfect representation of winter and Jimin liked winter, it was his mommy's favourite season like it was his.

"Jiminie, you didn't paint yet?"

Jimin averted his attention to Hoseok, who was staring at him curiously. "I didn't know what to paint, but now I know..."

"What are you going to paint, Jiminie?" Byeongkwan asked absentmindedly as he cleaned his brush on the water to paint with another colour "I'm painting my dog"

Jimin saw the animal Byeongkwan was painting and he smiled when he noticed how big the dog was. "I like it, Byeongkwan, it's a cute dog"

"Jiminie, do you like mine?" Changsub stopped painting for a second to let Jimin admire his drawing "I'm trying to paint my family..."

"Your painting sucks, Channie"

"Language, Eunkwang!"

"Sorry, Teacher Kim" Eunkwang mumbled as he turned around and bowed to his teacher as a sign of regret for his "explicit" language. "Teacher Kim, do you like my painting?"

"It's really nice, Eunkwang, very good" Myungsoo gave a gentle smile to Eunkwang and ruffled his hair a bit while he observed the young boy's colourful canvas. The teacher then turned his attention to Jimin "Jimin, having trouble finding what to paint?"

"No, teacher Kim, I already have an idea" Jimin answered gaily, dipping his brush in the colour red, the same colour as the slide "I'm going to paint the playground..."

Myungsoo noticed the happy tone in the brunette's voice, feeling a change in his mood, usually, Jimin was very reserved and quiet, he didn't talk or play much. Myungsoo had a clue that Mr Kim was a very tough and strict father who barely gave Jimin the freedom to live a normal life, like any other kid. However, as an educator and a professional, he couldn't bring that problem up unless the young boy's grades were affected or there was evidence of neglect, which wasn't the case so, Myungsoo couldn't do anything, his hands were tied. 

After Hoseok and his friends approached Jimin, Myungsoo saw how the brunette boy was a lot happier and excited, although Hoseok and the rest of the gang still were little devils, Jimin remained attentive during classes and he still had exemplary behaviour.

"I can't wait to see your beautiful painting, Jimin" Myungsoo uttered softly, watching the younger focusing on his painting. The older male also took notice of Jimin's art skills, he was still very young, but he already had shown how dexterous he was, every month since the beginning of the school year, Jimin's paintings had been chosen to be on display for a week, it was the school's way to incentive the children to pursue arts and help developed their creative side "I think your painting is going to be chosen again, Jimin, does your father paint?"

Jimin shook his head as he carefully finished painting the red slide. "Mommy painted pretty paintings with pretty colours, I want to be like my mommy when I grow up"