Belonging Season

2: Colours and Canvas

Jeon Jeongguk is a talented student-nearly perfect in everything he does, be it studies, sports, painting, or singing. He was born with talent, charm, and good looks. As the only child of wealthy parents who love him dearly, he is also kind, sweet, respectful, and considerate of others' feelings. He never takes anyone's emotions for granted and is beautiful both inside and out but maybe sometimes a little mischief like today.
|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

Jeongguk got a little scolding for not completing his homework and daydreaming, but since he was a good and talented student, his teacher just warned him to not repeat it again.

Seeing his friends trying to stifle their laughter made him want to punch those idiots for not warning him about the teacher's arrival-or for not reminding him about yesterday's homework.

Could this get any easier, God?!

Sighing to himself, he apologized to the teacher and returned to his seat, glaring at those dumb friends of his. As the class began with instructions to open their literature books, Jeongguk's mood soured. Literature wasn't exactly his favourite subject. He couldn't understand why poets had to write such complicated poems, full of hidden meanings, personification, and hyperboles. Why couldn't they just say what they meant? Why describe fog as a cat, for example?

Fog is fog, isn't it?

He let the thought go, deciding it was better to think about painting instead. Yes, just painting. It wasn't about words-it was about colors, filling a blank canvas with millions of shades, telling stories without a single sentence. Paintings were wonderful, not like literature or poems, which were hard to grasp. Paintings could express entire stories, secrets, mysteries, and love with just a few colors. Colors were love, and the canvas? The canvas was someone he would paint with that love.

Jerking up from his thoughts, Jeongguk realized the class was already over and it was break time. A voice called out from the left: "Let's go, or there won't be any seats left in the cafeteria!" Mingyu shouted in a not-so-loud voice, pulling on his arm.

"I'm not in the mood to eat. You both go. I just want to relax for a while, okay?"

Mingyu and Yugyeom exchanged glances before nodding and sprinting off toward the cafeteria. Shaking his head at their childishness, Jeongguk grabbed his small sketchbook and a pencil and made his way to the playground.

The playground was almost silent, with only a few students walking, talking, or napping. Finding a spot at the corner under a tree, he sat down, observing the beauty of nature, the happiness, and the colors around him. All of this made him happy. He liked the silence and peaceful surroundings, but not always-just sometimes. Because, at his core, he was chaos-a serene chaos.

Placing the sketchbook and pencil beside him, Jeongguk stared at the sky, blue and beautiful. The sky was something he wanted to paint, but not in an ordinary way-more like a devotee painting his deity. The sky cleared his mind, freed his soul, and made him want to swim in its vastness, not like a bird but like the clouds-silent, serene, and slow. Just peaceful.

Closing his eyes, he let his ears and mind absorb the silence they had craved for countless nights. He wanted to go home, but he also didn't mind those sleepless nights if they made him feel more at home. The undefined chaos he faced at night brought him a sense of tranquillity he couldn't describe. Maybe he was afraid that if he spoke about it, someone would take that calmness away from him and pull him back into the deep cyclones of mayhem.