┊𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐘𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒

I. COWARD

Jeongguk starred in pure awe.

There stood him in almighty shining light, Kim Taehyung; His delicate fingers deliberately made unnerving brush strokes against his current art piece, that in which embodied a renaissance. Looking down at his own, Jeongguk became discouraged at the assortment of splattered colors: Crimson, silk blue, tattered greys. It looked like a kindergartener produced it, which wasn't his intent. He raised his head to gaze back upon Taehyung's evening work, envying how his work flowed beneath his touch. How captivating his work truly was.

The only sound that could be heard was the sound of elegant brush strummings and soft music echoing from the local art speakers. A few afternoon students lay scattered across the room, each pertaining to their own trekkings, yet even then, Jeongguk couldn't hear a chatter. His knowledge of any background noise grew mute, as he could only awe at the blue colored turtleneck boy, whisking away at his paint.

"Shit!"

Jeongguk flinched as Taehyung muttered inheritable words beneath his breath as he accidentally smeared paint against the canvas, profusely gathering materials to clean the mistake. Taehyung was such a perfectionist, it was quite intimidating; If one detail even so minor grimaced his view, he would throw a fit.

Yet with art, he was unusually calm. That's what eventually led to Jeongguk to be drawn to the boy; The way he was so tender when it came to the subject, eager to create and study anything pertaining. He yearned for the boy's attention; He wished Taehyung would look at him with such adoration, but he would never be structured as a painting. Not in a million years.

Tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, Taehyung huffed in frustration as he looked down at his palette; He had run out of clean white. Narrowing his brows, Taehyung turned on his heels to retrieve more, which Jeongguk miraculously had the last bottle of it on his table. It was nearly full, barely even grazed the thing, he was too distracted by the blonde-tinted boy. In a frenzy of realization, Jeongguk began to panic as he tried to focus back on his child-like scribbles, but couldn't bring his mind to.

Kim Taehyung is walking over here. Pull it together.

The raven-haired boy held his breath as the older ambled over, his heart in jolts. Jeongguk picked up his coated paintbrush and began rubbing hard on the canvas, nearly bursting a hole in the thing. He could feel the other staring at him as he approached, but that only drew him to rub harder. He was so nervous, he couldn't even hear the sound of the bristles against the surface.

"Excuse me," Taehyung croaked cautiously, "may I use the white oil paint?"

Snap. Jeongguk's canvas welcomed a stab wound, ultimately snapping him out of his trance. He lay wide-eyed at his actions, eyes gliding up to meet a surprised Taehyung. His lips were parted in a small oval as his fingers gently coated the cap of the paint, cradling it in his chest.

"Are you okay?" Taehyung asked, genuinely concerned for the shaking boy before him.

Jeongguk's throat ran dry; He couldn't form any words, he was too embarrassed he might fuck up even more. Eyes earning a rainy cast, he nodded slowly as his bottom lip quivered.

God, Jeon. Why do you have to be such a coward?

Taehyung waited patiently in response, but instead of an answer, Jeongguk stood up abruptly and ran out of the room. Taehyung stood, dumbfounded and struck with shock.

What just happened?