MUSE, yoonkook

twenty-two

Taehyung sighed as he stared up at the painting, already missing the times when Hoseok would paint him. It hadn't even been a full day and he already was. Taehyung scolded himself for being over dramatic.

Namjoon had been doing his usual rounds, wandering around the art gallery to make sure no one was doing something they shouldn't be doing, when he saw him. He froze, recognising him instantly. But it wasn't that hard to, given he was standing right in front of a painting of himself.

Be cool, Namjoon. Don't do anything that might―

"I really like you." Namjoon blurted out, instantly cursing his mouth. Why did he have to make such a fool of himself? He tried to cover up his accidental confession. "You― You in the paintings. You, uh, they look nice."

The boy looked up at Namjoon, his face blank and showing no sign he'd even heard Namjoon. He then looked back at the painting and sighed.

"Hoseok's good at painting." Namjoon hesitantly moved closer to the boy to stare up at the painting. It was one of Hoseok's older ones, when the boy still looked happy and Hoseok still enjoyed painting as much as he had. "Shame it's all over now."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Namjoon asked as he looked back at the boy.

"Hoseok's quit. He's going to get a normal job and take up dancing as a hobby instead. Didn't he tell you?" The boy looked up at Namjoon and he frowned. Namjoon returned his gaze for a few seconds before he quickly looked away. "You're Yoongi's friend, aren't you? The one who ran away?"

"Uh, yeah..." Taehyung forced a small, fake smile as he held out his hand.

"I'm Kim Taehyung, it would be great if you could control your sugar baby or whatever they're called." Namjoon chuckled awkwardly but shook Taehyung's hand. Taehyung's hand was soft, not hardened from work or anything. Inwardly, Namjoon marvelled at the softness of his skin, but outwardly he tried to maintain his cool.

"I would if I could." was all Namjoon said before he looked back up at the painting. He heard Taehyung sigh and then his soft footsteps as he moved away. Namjoon glanced at him from the corner of his eye, wondering how weird it would be if he followed him. He then decided to ignore that and chased after Taehyung. "Hey, Taehyung!"

"Yeah?" Taehyung said as he looked at Namjoon. He looked confused, and Namjoon didn't blame him.

"You, um... I'm not sure if it was Hoseok projecting his feelings on to his paintings or you as well, but in Hoseok's last couple of paintings you seemed kind of... sad." Namjoon said, staring at his hands. "And I know you probably don't want to talk about those sort of things with someone you barely even know, but I was wondering if you'd at least like to eat pizza sometime... I've heard it's good for when you're feeling down."

"If you're paying, I'm not going to say no to pizza." Namjoon smiled, and chuckled as relief washed over him. He looked up at Taehyung. "Did you have a particular date in mind, because I'm available whenever."

"I can call the pizza guy now, his number's on speed dial and they know me well so the pizza could be here in... ten minutes max."

"Sounds like a plan then."

―

Taehyung and Namjoon sat in the back room of the art gallery, using boxes that contained old paintings as tables as they ate their pizza. While the floor wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, neither paid much attention to it.

"So is this all you do? Run an art gallery?" Taehyung asked as he bit into the pizza. It was rather hot so he instantly began fanning his mouth as the pizza filled his mouth. Namjoon shook his head, swallowing the pizza in his mouth before responding.

"I'm also majoring in Literature." Namjoon shrugged. "What do you do?"

"Well, I was a muse... Now I'm nothing." Taehyung sighed. "No matter how hard I try, I can never find something that interests me enough to continue it."

"I think you've just got to keep looking. You've just got to keep experimenting until you find something that makes you go wow, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life." Namjoon bit into his pizza. "Lots of people spend years searching for their purpose, so it's not like you're alone."

"Feels like I am." Taehyung muttered.

"Well you're not. Even if you feel like you are, you've got plenty of friends around you." Taehyung looked up at Namjoon. "And besides, if you really need to, I'm always here with pizza on speed dial." This made Taehyung chuckle. "No, but seriously, my home is the upstairs part to this building. I am literally always here."

"I'll have to keep that in mind." Namjoon nodded, smiling. He still couldn't quite believe the boy from the paintings was right across from him, sharing a pizza with him. But it was happening, and that made Namjoon happy.

―
I just want pizza... And waffles