As the sun of the noon had travelled down and the weather got cooler, Jinyoung gathered his painting items and put them inside his backpack. Swinging the backpack over his shoulder and holding the easel in one hand and the unfinished painting in another, he walked out of his small room.
Outside, in the living-room, his mother was staring out of the window and seemed lost in her own thoughts.
Jinyoung headed for her and stopped behind the wheelchair.
"Omma, do you want to be outside and see the flowers?"
"Are you going out again?" asked she, without turning to him.
Jinyoung moved and crouched in front of her; when he met his mother's eyes, he smiled, "I won't be long. Hyerin Ajumma will accompany you, till I come back. I hope."
"It's not about me," she said, "Just be careful. I'm always worried about you when you're out. If something happens to you, I can't come running to you."
He was already an adult and how could his mother still see him like a baby?
"I'll be at the usual place. I need to continue my painting. If something happens, make someone go get me at that place."
"Take me outside, then. I'm tired of being inside the house all day."
Jinyoung walked back to the back of the wheelchair and directed it towards the entrance of the house and then outside. When they were in front of a row of roses and orchids, Jinyoung stopped and looked at the neighbour's house in hope of seeing Hyerin Ajumma.
"Just go. She said she'd be back home a bit late."
"Will you be okay alone, Omma?"
"Aigoo, I'm not that of a patient, am I?"
Jinyoung laughed, "Then I'll get going. I'll come back home early."
Jinyoung waved at his mother and started out to the far end of the village. They had been here, in this village, only for one month but had already got used to it. This was so different from Seoul and he could understand why his mother wanted to be here.
"Jinyoung oppa!"
Jinyoung smiled at the familiar voice and turned to a girl of nine years in her muddy dress. She ran to him and tugged at his trousers, her usual way of getting attention.
"Where were you playing, Eunhwa? Don't go near the river."
"No, we were just at the back of the house. Oppa, are you going there? Bring me back flowers."
"Alright. But you need to look all clean and beautiful when I come back, okay?"
Eunhwa nodded in enthusiasm and gave his hand, which held the easel, a swift kiss, before running back to her house.
Jinyoung set the canvas up on the easel and prepared his painting brush and the colours, before finally sitting down on the stone before the canvas. Before him was the distant sight of a range of mountains, which were covered in mist. Half of this sight was already on his canvas and the rest could be finished today or at least, the next day.
Mixing the colours to get the colour of the mountains in the mist, he started his painting process and devoted all the time he had got into it.
After about an hour, the painting had become more in shape and the view on the canvas had become clearer. Jinyoung stopped for a while and judged his own painting to search for anything amiss.
"Excuse me, Mr. Painter."
That voice; that familiar voice called his attention, causing his heart to skip a beat. But it could not be possible.
