Work of Art || Luwoo

21

||Lucas||

Lucas continued to shuffle through the party space. He kept looking for his friend but he couldn't seem to find Yuta. Lucas started to second-guess his plan. Without Yuta, there would be no way for Lucas to build up enough courage to face Jungwoo. Lucas kept glancing around the room to look for anybody he knew. His eyes kept falling on Jungwoo and the two would meet each other's stares. Lucas felt extremely awkward, he didn't know what he was doing. Before coming to the runway show, he had felt confident in himself. Maybe it was because he was too focused on the show that he wasn't given much time to think about his planned confrontation, but he could feel his heart beginning to sink. Lucas was avoiding Jungwoo, but it seemed like the blue haired photographer was doing the same. Whenever Lucas decided to shuffle to a new spot in the room, he could notice Jungwoo move in the opposite direction. Lucas tried to tell himself that he was just being paranoid, but he couldn't help feel like he was the cause of the other's actions.

More people approached Lucas and asked him questions. He made small talk with viewers of the show and joined groups of models who walked around in small crowds. Although the event felt more stressful than usual, Lucas tried to enjoy himself and laugh with his fellow models. He began to turn away from the close group of models and began to walk around once more. He looked toward the door and noticed dark red velvet and familiar brown hair. Lucas took a closer look, squinting his eyes in an attempt to focus better. A heavy weight seemed to lift when Lucas realized who had entered the after party. He started walking toward his friend, trying not to look like he was running. Yuta smiled up at the model. His boxy grin and shaggy hair never seemed like such a relief. The two friends always had each other's backs, which Lucas was grateful for, and that night solidified their loyalty even more.

"Took you long enough." Lucas commented. Yuta smiled more and shook his head.

"It's not my fault you and your posh job require such fancy outfits." Yuta gestured around at the crowd of bodies. Every person in the room had some sort of fancy clothes. Many pieces had glittering diamonds or looked slick and hugged their bodies well. Yuta's outfit was no different.

"You look nice, by the way. I like the suit." Yuta was fairly tall and his suit exaggerated his height even more. His jacket and dress pants were a dark red shade that mimicked the colour of wine. The crushed velvet caught the dim lights and created different tones of red across the material. The jacket had glittering accents and stood out against his black button-up. The outfit was one of the more simple looks of the night, but it still looked just as elegant, not to mention Yuta's shining black dress-shoes and slicked back hair.

"You know who else looks nice?" Yuta lifted an eyebrow suggestively. He giggled and glanced around the room, trying to find who he was talking about. His eyes settled on a spot and Lucas followed his gaze. Jungwoo stood in front of another model. He was holding a paper and wrote down small notes as he spoke. An interview, Lucas assumed. Yuta noticed when Lucas' eyebrows raised in shock. He must have finally figured out what he was hinting at.

"Yuta, I can't. I don't know why, I just can't do it." Lucas began to panic when he thought of having a conversation with Jungwoo. He didn't know how he would even start a conversation.

"Suck it up and go, Lucas. He looks upset." Yuta pushed Lucas' shoulder so that the photographer was in Lucas' line of sight. Jungwoo had left the model he was talking to and shuffled around. He seemed upset about something and it made Lucas feel like his heart had stopped working for a moment. He didn't even know the boy, but he wanted to help him and see him smile again.

Lucas looked back at his friend one more time before leaving for the blue hair that was headed toward the door. The space for the after party was fairly large, but the crowds of people were still thick and it made moving around difficult. Lucas tried his best to push through the groups of faces. Again, he was trying to rush through the area without outright running. He was supposed to be making a good image for the company.

Jungwoo was much shorter than Lucas and his head was easily lost in the moving crowd of bodies. The photographer began moving quicker and Lucas noticed the photographer sniffling. Jungwoo reached the large glass doors that led to the front of the building. He pushed his way through the doors and began jogging toward the parking lot. It was clear that the photographer didn't want to be there anymore. Once Lucas left the building, he broke into a run, following the other boy. Lucas panicked. He didn't know what he was going to say or do once Jungwoo noticed him. He put his hand on Jungwoo's shoulder, stopping him from stepping down from the curb and going to the parked cars. Jungwoo spun around, clearly surprised.

"Please stay. Nobody should go home looking so upset."