Uninspired!

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

- Oscar Wilde

Blue, cerulean, azure, turquoise, cobalt, navy, sapphire, and indigo; shades of blue, colors of paint spattered on a myriad of surfaces throughout the tiny studio apartment. Thick globs of oil paints hung to large canvases. Acrylics dotted walls. Water colors ran thinly down papers. The room smelled heavily of paint solvent, pet hair, and cigarette smoke. Large paned windows overlooked the bright city outside, the lights of passing cars and twinkling signs dancing through the darkness and reflecting on the face of a melancholy filled man seated in front of his empty white canvas.

Eunhyuk stared intently at the blank surface in front of him, completely uninspired and full of gloom. A pencil hung limply in his hand and his tubes of blue oil pants sat unused in their box next to him. It was well past midnight and he'd been staring at his canvas since before dinner. Not a single idea for a new painting would form in the young artist's mind. He could feel the urge to create something bubbling inside him, yet he could not think of what he should create.

Taking a deep breath, Eunhyuk placed his pencil on the easel in front of him and hopped off his stool. A few feet away his only companion and best friend, Choco, stared at him from her dog bed with a happy panting expression. Eunhyuk rolled his eyes at his cheery Pomeranian and shuffled into the kitchen in search of a strong cup of coffee. Choco hopped from her bed and followed her master into the kitchen, taking up residence on his blue slipper covered foot as he stared blankly at the coffee pot.

"I already fed you," Eunhyuk informed his pet, his eyes never moving from the dark liquid bubbling in front of him.

There was an aching inside Eunhyuk's chest as he watched his coffee brew. He was lonely, depressed, and utterly uninspired. The gallery was begging him to finish his collection, the deadline for his show inching closer each day, yet all he could do was stare at his coffeepot and pout. All he needed was one more painting, one more piece to complete the assemblage of blue covered canvases he'd created thus far. He needed that one perfect piece to draw the collection together and end the story he'd created in his head.

"I need an idea, Choco." Eunhyuk told his pet, needing to speak his mind to someone, even if it was just a dog. "I feel so lost."

Choco responding by yapping happily at him and dashing off into his jungle of easels. Pouring himself some coffee, Eunhyuk shrugged his shoulders and followed his pet back into the studio. He found Choco seated in front of a medium sized canvas with a man's image painted on it. Eunhyuk frowned at the painting, his eyes studying the blue waves at the bottom and moving up to the dark innocent eyes of the man in the center. Choco yapped at the painting and looked up at him like she had just found the answer to his problem. What she had really found was a painful memory.

"I can't use him," Eunhyuk whispered, "I won't paint him again, Choco. I just can't..,"

The fluffy tan Pomeranian looked up at him curiously and yapped once more, as if he hadn't understood her point at all. Eunhyuk looked down at his pet and studied her happy expression for a small moment before getting an idea of his own.

"You're right, I need a model." Eunhyuk concluded, "Maybe if I have someone sit for me, I'll get an idea?"

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Eunhyuk noted that it was two in the morning. The modeling agency was closed and he didn't have any friends he could call at such a late hour. Waiting till morning wouldn't do either, he'd promised the gallery he'd send pictures of his newest work. Spinning on his heels, Eunhyuk moved back into the kitchen and began digging through his junk drawer for a stack of business cards he kept hidden under a box of rubber bands.

Shuffling through the cards, Eunhyuk glanced about nervously, as if he were afraid someone were watching him. It had been months since he'd touched these cards. They were his only vise and the one thing in his life he was a little bit ashamed of. He'd collected them from seedy bars and clubs, some were even handed to him on the streets. They had pictures of scantily clad men and women on them, along with various phone numbers. There was nothing else written on them, only a number to call and an image of what you could find there.

"Don't look at me like that. This was your idea." Eunhyuk told his dog as she appeared next to his foot. "I need a model and its 2am. I'm just going to ask them to pose for me."

Choco gave him a skeptical head turn, before trotting off. Picking a card at random, Eunhyuk swiped his phone off the counter and dialed the number on it. He was a bit nervous about calling. The last time he'd used one of these cards, he'd regretted the experience. Tonight, he wasn't after sex, only a model, so he concluded it would be alright. After a few rings, a man answered the phone and asked him for his address. Eunhyuk gave it to him and flinched when the man hung up on him.

Looking down at the card in his hands, all Eunhyuk observed on the black shiny rectangle was a phone number written in white and the silhouette of a cat. It was a simple and elegant card that gave nothing away about the business it belonged to, or what kind of escorts it had. Placing the card on the counter, Eunhyuk glanced down at his pajamas and frowned.

"We're going to have a guest, Choco-ah. I guess I need to change." Eunhyuk mussed as he moved out of the kitchen area and through his painting space.

Eunhyuk's apartment consisted of one large open room with a wall of wood paned windows and a tiny curtained area that hid the bathroom. His painting space was located in the center of the room, across from his sofa and next to the television. The kitchen overlooked the painting / living area and the sleeping space was tucked in the corner near the windows. Soft blue Christmas lights hung over his white iron bed, lighting the tiny corner in an aqua glow and giving it a very intimate feeling.

A rack of clothing sat next to the bed and contained the bulk of Eunhyuk's wardrobe. A lot of his clothing consisted of sweats and old pairs of jeans. Being a painter, it wasn't smart to wear anything too nice on a daily basis. Thumbing through the rack, Eunhyuk chose a black lace shirt and a pair of tight black slacks. It wasn't his normal painting attire, but he wanted to look nice for his model.

Having guests over was a very rare event in Eunhyuk's life. He spent most days locked in his apartment with a paintbrush, or at the gallery. It had been months since he'd spoken to anyone he used to consider a friend, other than Choco, and even longer since he'd been on any dates. Life had gotten in the way, tragedies had occurred, and his work had consumed him. After running a brush through his dark brown hair and spraying on some cologne, Eunhyuk tidied up a bit and dug a bottle of wine out of the cabinet.

By the time he'd finished dressing and clearing away the clutter, a knock sounded at his door. Choco hopped up on the lumpy blue sofa and watched her master closely as he moved over to the sliding piece of iron that acted as their front door. Eunhyuk took a deep breath and checked his cloths for wrinkles before sliding the lock on the front door and pushing it aside.

Eunhyuk's breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat as he observed the person standing in front of him. It was a man with long black hair and large dark eyes. He was wearing a black fedora and a black and white checked trench coat. His features were delicate and refined, slightly on the feminine side, yet still very masculine at the same time. Dark eye liner brought out his large cat like eyes and a simple pink gloss accented his plush lips. Long slender fingers held tightly to a black leather bag and the clear polish on his manicured nails reflected the hall lights. The beautiful man before him was exquisite and unlike anyone Eunhyuk had ever seen or met. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to paint.