King of hearts • d.sc

4

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"...I just hate how subjective art is. And I no longer find joy in doing it. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've wanted to drop out." Haneul's roommate cried as she lays face up on the couch, treating it like a therapy session. Haneul nodded along, listening to her friend.

"Hmm, what made you like art in the first place?" Haneul asked, looking up from the notebook she was writing in, more specifically doodling.

"Well I'm good at it. And I used to get a lot of compliments and I guess I liked them." Sara explained. Haneul put the book down aggressively, causing Sara to jump up slightly.

"There's a difference between liking something and being good at it. For example, I didn't like cooking but I was good at it. It's the same for you. You won't find joy out of doing something simply by being good at it. You need passion." Haneul advised. "Find things you really want to draw, or paint. Put the things you like into art. I mean you might actually enjoy that more than forcing yourself to make amazing pieces for school."

"What made you like cooking?" Sara asked. Haneul smiled, glad she asked.

"It was actually when I cooked for you for the first time. I was expecting a compliment, but when you started tearing up and told me it was the first home-cooked meal you had in months I realised there was more to cooking than just making you full." Haneul explained.

"Wait..like actually? Because of me?!" Sara gasped, touched by Haneul's story.

"Don't read into it that much, I just felt bad for you okay." She warned.

"Aww you love me." Sara teased, before pulling Haneul into a tight hug, swaying her from side to side.

"Pfft...sure."

The sound of someone entering the flat interrupted their moment. Yoonbin stepped into their living room, a plastic bag in his hand, looking like it was filled with snacks.

"Sara move aside, it's my turn to talk." He announced before making his way to the couch, sitting down beside Sara.

"You talked to your parents?" Haneul asked before digging into the plastic bag, pulling out some chips and helping herself to them. Yoonbin had a smile on his face, something Haneul had never seen after he talked to his parents.

"Yeah I did, and I started off by apologizing first, as always. But they said it was okay, and that their happy if I'm happy." He explained. "We had a heart to heart convo about the shop."

"Wait seriously!?" Sara exclaimed as she hugged him aggressively.

"Yep." Yoonbin nodded proudly. "But I still have to pay them back for using the uni money for the shop."

"That's fair." Haneul said as she munched on the chips, passing the bag over to him. "I'm happy for you man, now you don't need to worry so much "

"It's so relieving." He said with a sigh, leaning back into the couch. Haneul was really happy for him. Yoonbin had a tough relationship with his parents, they had forced him to go to university to study something he obviously had no interest in, his real dream was to open a shop. A place where people could meet, a place that would bring people together, a place where he could make fantastic drinks that people enjoy. That was what Yoonbin had told her when they first met, when she was a freshmen and in need for a job, stumbling into an empty bubble tea shop run by a shy guy around her age. He had told her his dream and it was almost as if she was the one employing him instead of the other way around, he was trying to get her to accept the job. "Anyways, how was work last night?"