Painted Love | Hwang Hyunjin

2

I quickly cleaned my hands on my pants as my phone rang. I was currently painting in the little studio I rented because my apartment was way too small for all my supplies. I also had customers who came to request paintings, and I hated inviting them inside, so I found this place and loved it. I quickly grabbed my phone and smiled as I saw Hyunjin's name on the screen.

"Hello?" I said as I picked it up, smiling at myself and how silly it was that I was so happy about a call from a boy who was practically a stranger to me.

"Hi, Mui. What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

I looked at the canvas in front of me, where Hyunjin's face was staring back at me. "Oh... just painting, you know," I said, grabbing my brush with my free hand and continuing on the details. I just couldn't get his eyes right... The color was impossible to mix, and they just did not look as beautiful on the canvas as in real life.

"I'm free today, so I thought we could maybe hang out?" he asked, sounding kind of nervous.

I looked at another blank canvas next to me. One man at the exhibition had paid me in advance to paint a picture of his daughter, and he would come pick it up in a few days. I hadn't even started yet. I wanted to, but Hyunjin's beautiful face wouldn't leave my mind, so I had to finish his portrait first.

"I would love to, but I really have to do a custom painting..." I answered sadly.

"Oh, okay," Hyunjin said, "Sorry for bothering you then..." He sounded crushed, and my heart shattered at this sound.

"You didn't bother me at all!" I quickly said, then thought a little. "Maybe you could come by... but I guess it's boring to just watch me paint," I suggested.

"I would love to!" he said, sounding much happier. "I also have more empty canvases, so you could paint something if it gets too boring in the end," I said.

He laughed. "Will you text me the address?" he asked.

"Yes," I mumbled, "See you in a bit."

Not even half an hour later, the door opened and Hyunjin came in. I had quickly covered the painting of him as best as I could with a sheet. It was way too embarrassing that I had painted him on a massive canvas; he didn't need to know.

"Hey," I smiled at him. He was also wearing clothes full of paint, just like mine, and pulled me in for a hug. I was surprised but hugged him back, a warm feeling spreading in my chest.

"This place is seriously so cute!" he finally said and started to walk around the room, looking at the paintings that stood around everywhere.

I giggled. "My apartment was too small for all of this," I explained, following him with my gaze, a little embarrassed as he stared at one of my self-portraits for too long.

"Do you sell those pictures here?" he asked after a while of just looking.

"Well, many of them are custom works, but the ones over there I painted just for fun. The manager of the gallery we met at buys some of them occasionally," I explained, "if he isn't requesting paintings towards a certain theme."

"Can I buy this?" he asked, pointing at the portrait he had just looked at for so long.

I blushed. "I hate that painting," I mumbled, "and it feels wrong giving it away for money."

"But I love it. It looks so beautiful," he said, looking back at it. "I mean, you look even more beautiful in person, but it captures you pretty well..."

I blushed even harder but relaxed a little as I saw that he was also blushing a lot. "I won't sell it to you. You can have it for free," I finally said.

He turned towards me and smiled. "But I want to pay you," he said.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Either you accept my present, or you don't get my pretty face for your wall," I answered, feeling a little proud of the confidence in my sentence.

"Fine," he said and smiled, continuing to roam through the room. I just started painting the picture I had to work on.

"What's under there?" Hyunjin suddenly asked.

"Oh, Hyunjin, don't—" I started, but he had already pulled the sheet off and was looking at himself. I blushed even more as he turned around, smirking at me.

"Well, that's a surprise," he said.

"I can explain," I quickly said, but honestly, I didn't know how to.

Hyunjin laughed. "It's fine... actually, it's kind of flattering," he said, walking towards me.

"I just... I can't get you out of my head," I whispered, a little embarrassed.

He blushed and smiled. "I painted you as well," he confessed, "but it's not as good as yours."