oneshots for seventeen!! started: march 4th, 2023. finished: january 14th, 2024.. includes: fluff, angst, all sfw!! member x reader. proper spelling & grammar. [this is pure fiction and does not represent the real members or their personalities] 🤎
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╔══════════════════╗ LEE SEOKMIN ✎ xi. muse ╚══════════════════╝
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"Stay still or I won't be able to capture you just right." You urged, your pencil running over the canvas in quick strokes, placing down the foundation for the painting - the shapes of his figure, the facial features that were most prominent, and the way his clothes hung over his body.
"I'm trying, love." He giggled, and you scolded him again for moving his face. He assumed his stoic pose again, and you smiled, continuing your sketch.
"I'm almost done with the sketch." You murmured, tongue poking out slightly from your mouth from your concentration. This was the last painting you planned to do of him, and possibly the most important.
You had gotten the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to present a portfolio piece to the princess along with other artists. If she took a fancy to any of them, you might get a good pay worth out of it for once, and maybe even some commissions.
Surely, these types of paintings would appeal to her highness?
You tried your best to make the pose and the colours romantic and eye-catching. And, with Seokmin as your muse, you didn't have to try too hard. He was already alluring himself.
As long as the public didn't find out that it was you, Lim Y/n, who painted these, but "Park Woosung", all should go as planned. Taking on a masculine name was common amongst female painters. It put them on almost the same playing field, and you had seen your friends get successful because of it.
Women weren't expected to create as sophisticated an art piece as men, and because of that, the art was looked down on and considered "worse" from the very start. An intricate portrait, like you were doing of Seokmin, would sell for less than half the price of a sloppy painting that a man created.
You looked through your box of paints for the neutral beiges you were looking for to start on the skin. Taking your brush, you painted the first stroke of the oil on the canvas- the colour already bursting out in contrast to the darkness of the background.
"You can relax, but try to keep the pose if you can, love." You instructed him, peeking out from behind your canvas to give him a smile before turning back to your paint. He hummed softly as you painted away, fiddling with the grapes that he was supposed to be holding as a prop. You forbid him from eating any of them, but he might have snuck one or two of them into his mouth while you were focused on your canvas.
⎯⎯ ୨୧ ⎯⎯
You felt like you might throw up your breakfast on the way to the outside grounds where the art display was taking place. You had never been this nervous in your entire life, and a little part of you knew that your future could depend on the events in the next few hours.
Seokmin was right by your side, holding your hand in the carriage for as much comfort as he could give you. All the paintings you had created were perfect in his eyes, and he couldn't see any way you wouldn't blow the minds of all the people there to see them.
As you set up the paintings in the display, you caught sight of the princess laughing and talking with some of the gentlemen in the corner of the courtyard. You could tell by her face that she would be judging harshly, but the way she was talking to everybody here put you at ease slightly. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as you thought.
You held your breath as the princess made her way towards your display, looking over the artwork with a critical eye. Her eyebrows furrowed and then lifted as her lips pursed - making way for a final smile to grace her lips. She barely spared you a glance before looking up, and you watched as her eyes widened enormously. You followed her line of sight nervously. She was looking at Seokmin.
It was like a bunch of alarms went off in your head and you wished you had pulled Seokmin away from her poisonous gaze while you still had the chance.
But you stood frozen as the princess blabbered on about the paintings looking like nothing compared to the subject, and if she was going to display them she would become a laughing subject. And then she exchanged some secret signal with her guards, and a second later Seokmin was being taken away with them.
You tried to protest and grab onto his arm as he struggled in the arms of guards who were at least a head taller than him. He tried to reach his arm back to you while you ran as fast as you could to keep up, but you barely managed to brush your fingers with his before he was out of sight.
//
You marked that day as the end to your paradise. You never realised how good your life was before. Even if you struggled to earn money, or were ridiculed in the streets, or couldn't sell a single painting, at least you had Seokmin. And now, you weren't even allowed that much.
It took you days to process the event. One moment he was with you, the next he was gone. You didn't hear a single thing regarding him after that. It was quite like he had disappeared from off the planet without a word.
You could only guess that he had been taken to the castle with the princess, but the security for it was unbelievable. There was no way you could get in without a formal invitation, and how would a broke painter like you possibly receive such a thing?
And so, weeks turned into months turned into years and you lived with the loss of Seokmin. A few weeks after the art show, you got a formal invitation to become a painter for the town square, which moved you out of your life of poverty quicker than you could imagine. You could finally be considered a successful painter. Your younger self would've been ecstatic, but you barely celebrated the success. It didn't feel the same without him.
You wondered what his life was like inside the palace, as you were often stationed just outside it to paint the nobles who walked by. It seemed as if you were so close to Seokmin, yet miles away. You just hoped he was being treated well, though you knew the palace could never give him the happiness that living with you did, and it made your heart ache.
You were sitting on your stool, easel propped upright in front of you like always. You had already finished a few commissions for the day, and were thinking about taking a break for lunch soon. You heard someone approach your spot and sit down on the chair across from you.
"You take commissions, right?" A sweet honey-like voice asked, and you looked up.
"I do. Would you like to be painted, sir?" You answered, eyes pricking with tears. You weren't quite sure if you were seeing things correctly, or if he was actually sitting in front of you. He nodded, face breaking out in a smile. A tear slipped out, and rolled slowly down your cheek- your vision blurring from the warm tears.
Seokmin panicked and reached forward, wiping away your tears as if it was second nature. He crouched in front of you, clasping your hands in his and rubbing his thumbs over your knuckles slowly.
"Just take a few deep breaths for me." He instructed softly and you tried to follow them, breathing in shakily and exhaling as another sob escaped you.
Seokmin's brow furrowed and he looked around until he found your glass of water, giving it to you quickly. You drank it and wiped away the rest of your tears, holding onto his hand tighter as if he would leave if you let go.
He pulled you closer until your cheek rested against his chest and his arms hugged you tightly. You were able to smile once you focused on the way his heart was beating in his chest. It was racing just like yours.
"You came back." You whispered.
He nodded, pressing chaste kisses to your forehead and temple and smoothening back your hair.
