Seventeen Imagines

Minghao - Art Museum

I casually made my way around the new art exhibit at the museum. I didn't have too much knowledge on the artists or styles of paintings, but it peaked my interest enough to come and check it out.

I looked at the various paintings lining the walls, amazed at the intricate details and techniques that someone could include into one piece. 

I continued my walk through the various rooms they had set up, until I arrived at a large room with a singular painting. There was only one other man standing in front of the large canvas hung on the wall. I walked up to it and stood next to him, keeping my distance to not disturb him. 

I noticed he was staring at it very intently, probably trying to examine all the details he could. I looked at it as well, taking in all the beauty. 

I read the plaque on the wall that had all of the artists information and the backstory of the painting. I realized I hadn't heard of the artist before, so I took out my phone to do some research. 

I was about half way done reading the article I had chosen when I heard someone shuffling around. I looked to my right and saw the man had now moved a little closer to me. He turned and made eye contact.

"You don't know much about art do you?" He asked while raising his eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?" I asked with equal sass in my voice.

"Just a feeling." He shrugged his shoulders and turned back towards the painting.

I turned away also, trying to ignore his comments. He doesn't even know me, what could possibly make him think he can read me like that. 

"She was one of the first female artists to make it big in the industry. At first it was heavily male dominated, but after her debut, it was hard for people to ignore her art. She soon became one of the best artists of her time." He said while still staring forward.

I looked back at him, shocked that he knew so much information. He turned back towards me.

"This painting was inspired by her first love. It's said that their love was forbidden. Because of her career path and trying to upstage the males in her field, she wasn't the most liked person. In fact, people tried to shun her out for a while until she made it big. But because of this, her first love was forced to stop seeing her."

I looked at the painting, finally noticing the dark and sad emotions it was portraying. I would've never noticed this if he hadn't explained the story to me.

"Wait!" I tried to softly call out to him once I saw he had walked away. He stopped and turned to me with a questioning look. He tilted his head before speaking.

"Walk with me." He simply said, turning to continue through the exhibit.

I smiled a bit to myself but then hurried to catch up with him.

"I'm Y/N by the way." I said once I finally fell into step matching his pace. 

"Nice to meet you." He replied while giving me a small smile.

We continued walking through the different rooms, occasionally stopping at the ones that caught our eyes the most. 

He would tell me the backstories of them and point out the small features that any regular person would miss. I could tell that he was extremely into art, he had so much information to share. 

"Are you an artist yourself?" I questioned while we were walking through a blank hallway.

"I do art here and there, but it's nothing compared to what we're seeing in this museum. I do enjoy doing research on them however. That's how I know so many details that others might not." He explained.

About an hour later, we had finished walking through the entire exhibit. 

"Thank you for today. I don't think I would've had as much of a fun experience if it weren't for you and the insane amount of knowledge you have." I smiled at him.

"Well, you made it fun for me too. I actually enjoyed walking around with you. I usually come alone, but this made me realize that coming with someone else is pretty nice also." He smiled back at me. 

"Then hopefully we can do this some other time." I said, slightly hinting and hoping he'd agree and ask to meet again in the future.

"Mhm, I guess that means I'll see you around Y/N." He smiled one more time before turning to walk out the main doors. 

I wordlessly nodded my head at him and watched him walk away. Wait a second...

"Hey!" I called out to him, I realized he had never told me his name. He stopped walking and turned his head to look at me over his shoulder.

"It's Minghao." He said with a mysterious glint in his eyes. 

He turned to finish making his way out of the building, leaving me standing there smiling to myself like an idiot.

Till next time, Minghao. 

This might be one of my shorter ones I've written for this book, but it was cute :)