[SKZ Hyunsung] ENDlife

CHAPTER SEVEN

Two in the morning.

Jisung scribbled in his notebooks where he usually keeps his lyrics and other writings. But nothing really came to mind except for the painting Hyunjin painted. This time, he didn't get caught taking a peek so he took a closer look. He ingrained every detail in his mind, so clear that even when he got home, he could envision it.

It was only a painting of a surreal landscape, in grey neutral tones, which should be nothing too mind blowing but for some reason, Jisung found himself aching from just his own imaginations. The image was chaotic, sad, and unsettling. He couldn't picture that this was something Hwang Hyunjin had painted. He expected something more grand, dramatic, attention-seeking just like the 'princely' image he always had to describe Hyunjin. However, from a single painting, Jisung realized that Hyunjin probably had more of a solemn side to him.

Just like me...

No.

Not like me.

At least, he's more honest.

That night, Jisung wrote lyrics describing those feelings he had, mixed and abstract, into his notebook. When the next day came, he gave those sample lyrics to Chan to see what the older thought.

"..." Chan was a little quiet as he read the lyrics.

He glanced at Jisung for a moment, then back down at the lyrics.

"Hmm..."

The suspense was killing Jisung. He gulped nervously.

"Well?" Jisung was impatient.

"Are you perhaps... in a slump?" Chan asked.

"Huh? What? Why would you think so?" He snatched the lyrics out of the order's hands to read it through again even after multiple times the night before.

"You don't notice anything?" Chan asked.

Jisung read it from top to bottom, and tilted his head in confusion.

"I don't understand," Jisung told him.

"I have never heard you use these kinds of words in your writing before and also, using metaphors like art. I didn't think you were an art type of guy," Chan mentioned. "Also, you've never written a love song before."

"L-love song? How does this look like a love song to you?!" Jisung blushed.

"You weren't planning on writing a love song? Because it sure sounds like one. It's a little sad and lonely but it sure sounds like you're trying to comfort someone you love, who's lost in the dark."

Jisung tried to read his lyrics over and over again, only feeling more embarrassed as he read it. Just like Chan said, anyone else reading this would have mistaken this for a love song because of how affectionate the words all sounded. As if he was longing for someone.

Jisung gulped nervously, "I-I'm trying something new!"

Jisung did his best to play it off and Chan was not buying it. He was suspicious and Jisung couldn't blame him. Jisung reread his lyrics, he was embarrassed for sure, but for some reason he didn't hate this kind of feeling.

And it was all thanks to Hwang Hyunjin.

But there was no way Jisung would let anyone know this.

As the quarter exams were nearing, Jisung felt more nervous than ever, especially with his English tests. Although he spent several years in Malaysia for home schooling, he never really had to pay too much attention to English or use English much. Most of his friends there were good at understanding his broken English, so he never took the subject seriously. He wanted to ask Felix for help but his classmate was struggling with the Korean language himself. There was no way Jisung could bother Felix.