petrichor ¦ hwang hyunjin

page 10

"Is he like, a visual prodigy?"

I pressed my lips together, emitting an exasperating sigh while pushing his face further away from mine. Minho had been rambling on and on about Hyunjin the moment we got on the bus, and I didn't exactly have the answers to his questions.

It made me realized how I need to know more about him. Hwang Hyunjin, what kind of person is he? Were being handsome and kind described all of him?

The road to the coffee shop was dampened and there was a high chance that it was because of the heavy rain last night. I clutched onto the hem of Minho's sleeve, taking careful steps and avoiding puddles.

"Hey, don't you think the smell of rain is very calming?" I lifted the corners of my lips, looking up at Minho who was around 5cm taller than me, the last time I checked.

Minho made a low hum noise, "But I don't smell anything?"

I rolled my eyes, softly punching his side.

"I heard it's called petrichor. It kind of gives out a nostalgic feeling, you know?"

Minho nodded his head vaguely, which immediately made me lost interest in trying to bring my interest to him.

"Oh? Yuna!" A voice joined the conversation. We were already in front of the coffee shop without myself knowing.

Hyunjin was there, in front of the coffee shop again, waving delightfully. Hyunjin's gaze quickly landed my hand, making him raised a brow. I followed his gaze, and I noticed how my hand was still tightly gripping on Minho's shirt.

"Ah," I tried to wipe it off coolly as my hand quickly let go off him, "This is Minho, my friend."

"Close friend, specifically." Minho reached his hand out, his eyes still fixed on Hyunjin.

I nudged his side, trying to get his attention off Hyunjin. His scrutiny on Hyunjin made me gulped out of agitation.

Hyunjin nodded upon his statement, accepting Minho's handshake offer. I felt the sudden tense as I shifted on my spot uncomfortably, what the hell was going on?

"B-By the way, what are you doing out here? The cold weather is not very good, you know... Haha..."

If I could give myself a smack on the face for being awkward, hell yes I would.

"Ah, it's a little bit weird but, the smell after a heavy rain is quite refreshing for me." Hyunjin touched his nape uncomfortably, a sheepish giggle escaped his mouth.

God, he was too cute to be true.

My arms flailed at his utterance, quickly waving my hand to show my obvious disagreement.

"No, it's not weird at all! I like it...too."

My voice trailed off at the end. Hyunjin opened his mouth to say something, but was interfered in the conversation.

"What's the occasion? Why is everyone gathered outside?"Changbin peeked his head between the opened door.

We exchanged greetings for awhile before Minho explained our purpose visiting the shop today. I coughed unnecessary loud, covering my reddened cheeks when Minho mentioned how I have chosen the shop as my favorite place.

"Thank you," I heard Hyunjin said, I looked up and met his eyes. His eyes, they showed how genuine his two words were.

"That explains this bunch of things right here," Changbin pointed out at the things which had been pushed aside onto the empty table.

"We were asked to paint it on a canvas, I hope it's not taking up a lot of space in here."

Hyunjin shook his head softly, "Don't worry about it, we don't really have much customers visiting anyway."

He said it with a smile, but I could sensed something else in his voice. I shook his off, it was probably me overthinking again.

With Minho's help to assemble the easel, I slowly rested a clean piece of canvas on the easel.

"Go on with your work, I'll be having a talk with Hyunjin." Minho signalled me to mind my own business.

What was he going to talk about with Hyunjin anyway?

"Woah, this is quite cool." Changbin carefully touched the side of the canvas with his finger before quickly pulling away.

"Can I sit here and watch?" Changbin asked, hinting a small admiration in his voice.

Heat immediately rushed up my cheeks for the second time today, him sitting behind me made me feel as if I had to do better than I usually did. Either way, I didn't want to be rude and agreed to his small favor.

"Did you open this shop all by yourself?"

I unintentionally heard their conversation.

"No, my mom started this business." Hyunjin replied.

"Hey, how is it possible to draw such a straight line without a ruler?" Changbin asked right beside my ear out of the blue, making me flinched out of surprise.

"B-By practice, I guess?" I gave a nervous laugh.

Changbin mouthed an 'O', sitting down on his chair once again to observe my process.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ask that." Minho's voice made me took my attention off the canvas, stealing a quick glance at them.

I furrowed my brows, it was rare to hear Minho sounded this flustered. I gave my cheeks a light pat, not wanting to lose focus over a discussion I wasn't a part of.

The sky turned from light to dark blue when I was drawn into the canvas. You know that feeling, getting too into something you love doing that you didn't know how much time has passed.

"Thank you for letting me sketch here, really." I bowed gratefully.

"No worries, you did a wonderful job." Hyunjin smiled, running his hair through his silky hair.

"Come again, even if it's not for an assignment. We can sit down and talk about things, can we?" Hyunjin glanced at me, waiting for an answer.

I nodded enthusiastically, promising Hyunjin that I would visit the shop to have a light conversation with him, just him.

Minho gradually became quiet on the way to the bus stop. I felt his gloominess propelled out of his usual, sassy yet bright self. I cleared my throat as I couldn't hold myself back from questioning what happened between the two of them back in the coffee shop.

"What is it?" I started, trying to lure the words out of him. "You said something stupid again, didn't you?"

Minho let out a remorse groan, "A very stupid question, this time. I asked about his mom."

I gulped, getting an idea of where this conversation was heading to. My hand clasped on the straps of my bag, finally spitting out the question.

"What happened to his mom?"

Minho sighed, his eyes meeting mine, "She left the world, a year ago."