strangers

여덟

"shit, shit, shit."
felix cursed under his breath.

the thing that should remove the black lines helped a bit, but it also took off some of the original color.
felix was disappointed, because that meant more work.

"it could be worse tho."
felix shrugged.

"felix?"

felix turned around, seeing hyunjin standing behind him.
"well hello there."

"you ready to go? the gallery is closed."
hyunjin said, walking closer.

felix sighed.
"I can't yet. just go, I will take a bus or something."

"stupid of you to think I'm letting you ride a bus."
hyunjin said, sitting down on a chair next to felix.
"can I help you with something? to make the process faster?"

felix shook his head.
"no, I gotta do this myself."

"okay then, I will wait for you."
hyunjin said, getting more comfortable in the chair.

"hyunjin, it's okay, I will get to your house somehow, just go. this will take me at least an hour. minimum."

"then why don't you wait for tomorrow?"

"because I need to finish this until this product dries. if it dries and I'm not done, that means more work for me, cuz I will have to get rid of all the white spots this product makes when it's not fully wiped off. and I still gotta do some things before I can do that."
felix said.

"I'm waiting here for you, you won't convince me."
hyunjin said, leaning on the chair.

Felix sighed, before turning to look at the painting.
it was a renesanse painting, probably old.
there was a lot of detail, and a lot of emotions.
"it's beautiful. the painting."

hyunjin smiled a little.
"it is, isn't it?"

"I get why you want to save it, throwing away a piece this beautiful would be a crime."

"yeah."
hyunjin sighed.
"I love this painting. I am still mad that this was the one getting destroyed."

felix frowned.
"I never understood why people ruin art. especially this beautiful. if it were a fucking squares on a canvas, I would even be glad, but a painting like this?"
he sighed.
"that's a huge shame."

"it's an original. Giulio Romano. 1524."
hyunjin said, looking at the ruined painting.

"jisung said you fought like a dog to get it."
felix chuckled, before taking his brush and started doing his job.

hyunjin smiled, remembering.
"yeah. it was always a favorite of mine."

"oh my god, didn't you mention this painting when we were at this gallery in...Vatican?"
felix said, looking at hyunjin.

hyunjins eyes widened, before nodding.

"I remember that. I think we were even looking at this painting together."

"you remember?"

felix didn't say anything, and just looked back at the painting.
"of course I remember. we spend two years together."

"technically five."
hyunjin said.

"we weren't official back then, don't come at me with those technical shit."
felix rolled his eyes.

hyunjin chuckled.
"okay, okay."
he said, before getting serious.
"what did you do in those three years?"

Felix's hand stopped moving, the brush staying in once positioned, before Felix shook his head, and continued fixing the painting.
"you know, the usual. I moved to my parents house and completed my studies. it was hard and exhausting, but...I had a dream."
he said with a small smile.

"did you...date anyone?"
hyunjin asked.

Felix looked at him.
"no, I didn't have the time. and even if I did, it's none of your concerns. we broke up."

"I know, I know."
hyunjin put his hands up in defense.
"I was just...curious."

"no, I didn't have time for it."
felix said, before giving all of his attention to the painting again.
"did you?" 

"no."
hyunjin shook his head.
"getting broken up with a note without any notice after two years and getting blocked everywhere just leaves a little scar in you, you know?"

Felix stopped moving, and just stared in
front of him.

hyunjin sighed.
"sorry."

"hyunjin."
felix said, before looking at hyunjin.
"you don't know anything. I had a fucking important reason why I did what I did. I would do it all over again if I had to. It wasn't an easy decision, but I did what was best for me, and you. so stop bringing it up, because by doing that, you're hurting both of us."

hyunjin was a little shocked.
but...he saw something in Felix's eyes.
pain, and suffering.
maybe he really didn't know the full story.

•~•

Felix sighed and leaned back with a groan.
it's been like hour and a half, and he was exhausted.
he just wanted to lay in bed and sleep.

he looked on his left, seeing a sleeping hyunjin.
his head was laying on his arms, which were laying on the table.
he looked peaceful.

felix smiled a little.
hyunjin was still beautiful.
maybe he was even more beautiful now, with more mature features, and brown hair.
he loved blonde longer hair on him, but brown shorter hair definitely brought more attention to his face.

he started thinking.
what did even hyunjin do in these three years?
even tho they have been far away for so long, he still cared about him deep down.

he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before shaking hyunjin, waking him up.
he looked around, still sleepy and confused.

"I'm done, we can go."