Chapter 4
I will draw 1000 paintings with your face
8 PM. Home.
"Hyunjin…" Felix whispered quietly as he walked into the living room.
The entire room was covered in paintings.
162 paintings — and each one featured only him.
"If you stand there in wet clothes like that, you’ll get sick for sure. You can’t," Hyunjin said, pretending not to notice Felix’s shock.
"And you think you can?" Felix asked. "You stood in the rain the entire press conference."
"That… doesn’t matter," Hyunjin murmured shyly. "Maybe a warm bath?"
"With you?"
"With… me?" Hyunjin said slowly, blushing.
Felix rose on tiptoes and hugged Hyunjin again.
"I’m so cold, but at the same time so warm — so incredibly warm, you can’t imagine," Felix whispered, staying still.
ــــــــــــــــﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ
"You have such a silly habit — taking your clothes off only after you’re already in the water," Felix said, sitting at one end of the bathtub.
"Stop teasing me," Hyunjin replied shyly.
Felix laughed and buried his face in his knees, hugging them.
Hyunjin sank into the warm water.
They sat facing each other, looking into each other’s eyes.
"You’ll probably have problems with your agency," Hyunjin said.
"It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters right now."
"I… I missed you so much, Felix."
"Me too."
Silence.
"Those paintings," Felix started.
"Yes. I painted them all," Hyunjin sighed. "It’s probably wrong, right? You probably think I’ve gone insane."
"No! Not at all!"
A splash of water.
"It’s… it’s so… beautiful. It means so much to me," Felix said.
"Every week, after work ended, on Saturday and Sunday, I painted a new picture. I thought if I drew 1,000, my wish would come true…"
"Like the paper cranes?"
"Yeah," Hyunjin continued. "I missed you. I wanted you near me. Painting you, thinking of you, was the only thing I could do."
"I also… I also thought of you," Felix whispered. "Every song, every word in my albums — it’s all dedicated to you."
"It all sounds so naive, right?" Hyunjin smiled. "So foolish."
"Even if it is, it doesn’t matter," Felix smiled back.
A pause.
"Hey, Felix. Come here," Hyunjin said, waving him over.
Felix slowly stood up from his spot — but hit his head on the shelf above.
The shelf opened, and something plopped into the water.
The water began to hiss and bubble.
"Aaah, what is that, Hyunjin?" Felix asked in fear.
Hyunjin peered into the water and noticed it starting to sparkle.
"Oh, it’s a bath bomb," he smiled. "Remember the red one I bought once?"
"How pretttyyyy," Felix answered happily, watching the glittering water.
Feeling calmer, he turned his back to Hyunjin and sat between his legs.
Hyunjin wrapped his arms around Felix’s delicate skin, hugging him tightly.
Warmth.
Felix sighed and closed his eyes, his long lashes trembling.
"You’ve lost weight, Felix," Hyunjin said.
"I just… didn’t want to eat without you."
"But you have to eat properly."
"I don’t want anything. I didn’t want anything. I was so… so lonely without you. I wanted to die. But not live without you. I couldn’t handle how far apart we were. How we broke up like that."
"Promise me you’ll eat."
"You want me to leave," Felix said, turning sad eyes toward Hyunjin.
Hyunjin hesitated.
"I… I…" A lump in his throat prevented him from speaking.
"I want you never to leave me again," he cried with a trembling voice, hugging Felix tighter to his chest. "Never! Never leave me!"
Felix couldn’t bear it.
He began crying again, gripping Hyunjin’s hands.
He turned toward him and started wiping Hyunjin’s tears as his own fell uncontrollably across his freckles.
"It’s okay, Felix, it’s okay," Hyunjin gasped. "I’ll wait as long as it takes, as long as you’re happy. I’ll paint a thousand pictures and then we’ll always be together."
"Hyunjin!" Felix sobbed. "Hyunjin! Please, Hyunjin!"
"Don’t cry, my little sunbeam, don’t cry, please… I can’t take it."
Felix fell onto Hyunjin’s chest, wrapping his arms around his neck.