Finally, after the pandemic made it impossible, Mina had tickets to Seoul. 2025 was her year. 24 years old and solo, she was ready to walk Korean soil. The discoveries would be endless, the expected and the happily unexpected.
Mina's POV I needed more black paint. I had to sharpen that mastoid.. That right molar needed a bit more reshaping too. I drew anatomy, A LOT, yet I rarely painted bones. Contrary to popular belief, bones weren't white. They were of different shades of cream. Intercellular fluid was translucent, yes, but also yellow tinted which helped in giving bones their characteristic colour. Bones aren't smooth either. They are full of texture. They're porous and have protrusions where muscles were once attached. These bumps were bigger in more active people, fun fact. Bones are as dynamic as we are, which makes them even more fascinating, if you ask me. You can tell the life story of someone by their skeleton.. Every fracture, broken bone, protrusion, indent.. they all had a reason, an action behind them.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and a kiss on the top of my head. "What have you been up to in here?" Another triad of pecks down my neck. "I didn't hear you get up this morning."
I put my brush water and turned around. "Isn't it the point of sneaking out of bed?" I joked. "Besides, you sounded exhausted. It's the first time I hear you snore."
He frowned, surprised. "I did? I thought my surgery I had years ago fixed that."
I left a quick kiss on his lips. "I don't need nose surgery and I know I snore like a baby hedgehog sometimes."
He chuckled, pulling me closer. "So you know you're snoring in my ears? I'll remember that."
"And I did suggest we sleep separately after big events."
A kiss. "How could I agree to that?" Another. "It's a time we're so close, yet aren't together per say. Of course, I'd want to cuddle in my sleep."
How sweet? "You mean to have ME cuddle YOU." I laughed. "Remember that next time I channel my inner hedgehog."
Namjoon's POV I rarely noticed if she did snore often. "Noted, Foxy." However, I wanted an answer to my first question. I pointed to the painting. "Who's skull is that?"
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She looked back at her artwork, arms crossed. "No one's in particular. An anatomy book one. I took some artistic liberties, but I still feel like the mastoid is off.."
"The masto-what?" How did she know that word in Hangul and not use the simpler word? "In baby anthropology terms, please?"
She smiled at my comment. "The jaw bone, I feel it looks too round and child-like.. even if the bottom angle is accurate to an adult's."
I studied physics, not biology. I couldn't tell the difference. "Does it matter? You did say you took artistic liberties. It's beautiful if you ask me."
She closed her tubes of paint. "I think I'll let it dry before I mess with it more."
Good idea! "Since you're getting off that.. How was your meeting with SHINee's maknae?"
She raised a brow. I could hear the intrigue in her voice. "Very well.. What do you want to know?"
"Is it for work here? Did you say yes?" How exciting!
