two || a troubled artist

ʚ♡ɞ

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Taehyun sighed in frustration as he tapped the pencil on his desk softly, echoing out a soft tap each time in his quiet room. glancing over at the clock he watched as the time switched right to 5 am sharp before flickering back over towards the paper that was a disgusting blank in his eyes. For hours he's been up just staring at this piece of paper, waiting for something, an inspiration to come through him, sending down signals towards his hand and create something beautiful!

Yet nothing was in his mind.

He wanted to sketch, paint, draw, just anything to get his artist block out of the way! But it's been constant nights and weeks of where he would just sit here at his lonely desk in the middle of the night and blankly stare at the paper until his body ached from sitting up for so long, forcing him to go back to sleep with disappointment.

Staring at the disgusting blank paper in front of him he forced himself to finally turn away from the sight and over towards the window where it was still dark, only a heavy shade of blue slowly started to peek in signaling that sunrise would emerge soon. He considered going back to sleep but just one hour of sleep...? Yeah, he was going to pass on being drowsy, even though he would regret it later on.

Mother is still asleep, there's no reason to wake her up this early. I'll just wait. Taehyun thought as he picked up some pencils that rolled around his desk and some that rolled onto the floor, neatly placing them back into the small case he neatly sorted them in.

Once he was done with that he began to flick small crumbled up balls of papers off of his desk so he could at least see the surface more. It was a bother, really. Having spent so many hours awake trying to think of something to sketch or even paint but he couldn't come up with anything!

He even dyed his hair pink to at least get some inspiration.

"What is wrong with me?" Taehyun muttered to himself, gently tapping his head in an effort to at least get it working or something. It wasn't usually like this for him? spending long nights all alone in his room staring at blank canvas's, when he felt like painting he would always have an
electrifying rush go through him and with a flick of a wrist he'd have something down straight away.

Crossing his arms on the desk in front of him he gently laid his head down and stared at the blank wall, he did have two hours before he would have to get ready for the new school day. His eyes began to flutter close as that hazy wave of exhaustion rushed through him.

I'll get something, next time. He thought to himself, brushing his disappointment away as his eyes finally closed, giving into the temptation to finally sleep.

ʚ♡ɞ

SLAM!

Taehyun gasped out loudly has his eyes shot open, quickly sitting up he looked around everywhere in his room after being startled by the loud slam of a door. Frowning slightly when he didn't see anything he rubbed his eyes and yawned softly, his eyes glancing over at the clock near the corner of his desk, it was one minute before seven. What a bummer, he lost one more minute of sleep.

"What's with all of this junk? Taehyun! Get up!"

Huening Kai? Taehyun thought suddenly hearing a voice that sounded a lot like his best friends, slowly rubbing his eyes he turned his head towards the door and saw the familiar ravenette standing there with his arms crossed, he didn't even hear any footsteps!

"Why do you look so shocked? I texted you I'd be coming over soon." Huening Kai said walking over towards the male, gently placing a hand on Taehyun's back he looked down at his best friend with a frown. "You fell asleep on your desk again? You know that isn't good for your back!"

"You texted me?" Taehyun said, his tone was filled with shocked. Quickly glancing over at his phone he tapped the screen twice and saw a shit load of messages fly through the screen, many from Huening Kai and some from his cousin. "I left it on silence."

Huening Kai sighed as his eyes roamed around on the males desk, gently picking up a crumbled piece of paper he opened it up seeing all the lines and scribbles on it. "You were sketching something?"

"I wouldn't say sketching, I couldn't think of anything again." Taehyun muttered under his breath, slowly lifting himself up from his chair a soft groan left his lips as he bend back, loud cracks popping out as he tried to ease the pain from being slouched all night.

"Well, maybe you'll get some inspiration later today!" Huening Kai said enthusiastically, placing down the paper and walking over to his friend, landing a harsh loud smack on the males back earning a scowl from him. "What? Don't give me that look Taehyun! Not after I magically managed to buy us time to go to that art store you've been wanting to go to for the past month!"

Taehyun paused his movements and slowly turned his head towards Huening Kai with wide eyes, did he hear the male correctly? He had somehow managed to buy them time to visit this new art store that he had been wishing to visit for weeks now?

"Are you serious?!" Taehyun gasped rushing towards Huening Kai, grabbing the males arms, holding on just a bit too tightly.

Huening Kai gave the male a cheeky smile as his answer, which was enough to make Taehyun's once dull eyes brighten up just a little bit. "How'd you do it? That place is always packed and busy- It always closes when we leave school too!"

"I have my ways," Huening Kai said proudly, smiling widely as if there was a beam of light surrounded around his head like a halo. "Why don't you get ready though? The sooner you leave the better chance we have of not being late to school if you know what I mean."

Taehyun nodded and let go of the male, excitement flowed through his veins as he hurriedly got ready for the school day he had dreaded about, even though he still didn't want to go to school it was worth it if he got to visit the art store and buy some new paint for the art club.

After around twenty to thirty-ish minutes the male finally walked out of his room and down the stairs, prepared and ready for the day, walking over to the kitchen he saw his father and Huening Kai talking together about some random topic before noticing him walk into the room.

"Taehyun, good morning!" His father greeted him with a happy smile, waving a...Spatula? The males eyes roamed over to the pan and saw some pancakes being made and a plate full of fresh ones. "You're up pretty early, are you that excited for school?"

Taehyun sighed and shook his head, "Not really, I'm only up because Hyuka said he'll take me to the art store," He replied and walked over to the counter, grabbing a plate of fluffy pancakes that were just perfect for his morning hunger. "It's just another year, no difference than last year."

"You have to make the best of it, buddy." His father said enthusiastically, which was no surprise. His father was someone who exceeded the limit of happiness everyday, just a pure radiation of joy that manages to make anyone smile and also attempts to make others smile! "High school is a highlight of life, don't you go saying it's the same every year."

"Yeah yeah I know," Taehyun muttered watching his father scoop up the last pancake and placing it onto Huening Kai's plate. "I'm just tired of it...By the way, where's mom?"

"Your mother went to work early! So she wanted me to prepare breakfast for the both of you, she knew Huening Kai was coming over so she wanted to make sure both of you were well fed before leaving," His father said placing the pan in the sink along with the spatula.

Taehyun nodded and glanced down at his plate, poking at the pancakes for a second he glanced over at Huening Kai who was absolutely stuffing his face.

"Taehyun, come on, eat up! I want you guys to make it to your little store on time, don't be late now."

The pinkette sighed and nodded, it didn't take long until the both of them finished eating with their stomach full and content of the delicious food his father made them. Taehyun walked around the living room and grabbed his bag, quickly putting on his shoes he walked towards the door where Huening Kai stood patiently waiting for his best friend to gather his things.

"Hey Taehyun," The male heard his dad call out, making him turn his head towards him. Watching his father walk closer the male felt two fingers pinching at his cheek as he hissed in pain. "Have a good day, okay? Remember, even if it's uneventful every second counts!"

"Yeah yeah, thanks dad." Taehyun said swatting his hand away from his cheek that was probably red from how hard he had pinched it. Watching his father step back, giving him a warm smile, Taehyun turned around and followed Huening Kai outside and in the direction where the art store was located.

"Your father really knows how to make the best pancakes, Tyun!" Huening Kai said happily, rubbing his stomach that felt satisfied with the good food he ate. "One of the few reasons I come over early, just to get a bit of your dads amazing food!"

"Using me only for my parents cooking, I see how it is." Taehyun teased the latter, making the male next to him whine loudly that he didn't mean it like that, with a warm smile the male looked away and muffled out Huening Kai's little blabble session.

The blossoming trees that had once been bare with nothing were now covered with blooming pink or white flowers that swayed with the wind brightly, little petals coming off as it soared through the sky like a free bird. The grass that was once dull and gray was now painted with the beautiful green hue and the fresh smell of soil and nature invaded his sense as he walked by.

It was springtime.

Taehyun's least favorite season.

Don't get him wrong though, he doesn't HATE spring! It's just not his favorite season, he prefers autumn or even winter where the season was just comfortable for him, but during that season he is able to get the littlest bit of inspiration, he was that type of person who needed something to be able to sketch or paint something new, yet for some reason in the past months he had no idea or barely any ideas for any new little projects. It frustrated him so much.

It didn't take long for the two to arrive at the art store Taehyun longed to visit, he didn't even realize they had arrived there until Huening Kai had tapped his shoulder telling him that they had arrived, not realizing he was in his own daydream world the whole walk.

Thanking the male softly for holding the door open Taehyun walked inside of the building and was greeted with the scent of fresh pencils, paint, and other things that he was so familiar with. Looking around he noticed how aesthetically pleasing the interior was. Against both walls were large white wooden shelves displaying buckets of different colored paints, sizing from large to small. The middle had two small white tables with rows and rows full of different colored pencils. On the ceiling there were a few hanging pots matching the white tables and shelves, and the lighting was dim yet enough to showcase all of the different sections for painting, paper needs, just a paradise for an artist.

"You look like you've just hit the jackpot," Huening Kai spoke up teasing the male, but Taehyun didn't mind at all, he was so happy his best friend had managed to buy time for the two of them to visit this art store Taehyun had longed wanted to visit. "Are you that excited, maybe you'll get inspiration!"

"I hope so, hey, how much money did your mom give you?"

Huening Kai hummed and patted his pants down before pulling out his dandy molang wallet that he managed to get on sale just a couple months ago for only one dollar! "She gave me enough for lunch for the week, why?"

"What a shame, I was planning to spend all your money on these paint buckets." Taehyun sighed, he was just teasing the latter but the way the ravenettes face dropped in horror...It just made him giggle evilly inside.

"We can't eat paint Taehyun!"

"I was joking, my father left me money so I managed to save up for a couple weeks, now stop acting like you're about to cry and help me carry some things."

Huening Kai let out a small breath of relief before following Taehyun, making sure to carry one of the baskets that the art store had to offer and happily carrying everything the male had placed inside of it.

It just felt right.

ʚ♡ɞ

"Why did you have to get so many!? One or two would've been enough!"

"Most of it isn't even for me, Hyuka. Some of it is for the art club room." Taehyun sighed, quite tired of Huening Kai whining for the tenth time in just the span of one hour.

It took a while for the male to finally leave the art store, buying almost fifty dollar worth of art supplies for his own needs and for the club he was apart of needs. He didn't regret it one bit though, something about being in an art store for so long made his tiredness fade away into something fuzzy. It made him happy, but now here he was with a basket full of small paint cans in his hands, the downside of it was that he had to walk up a bunch of fucking stairs to visit his new classroom.

"Will you be okay?" Huening Kai suddenly asked, catching Taehyun a little bit off guard.

"What makes you ask that?" The pinkette sighed, he knew that the latter would eventually ask him that question, it was no surprise when he would ask every year.

"I'm just worried, aren't you bothered by the amount of people who-"

"Let them think what they think about me, they don't really know me and decides to judge me off of my looks and what others say. Do I care? Not anymore," Taehyun interrupted him before the male could worry more.

It was enough to calm Huening Kai down.

Taehyun huffed loudly as they turned the hallway where some students hung out and class was about to soon start, but it was enough time for the two to manage to go over to the art room and place all the paint cans away, he would be pretty annoyed if he had to carry a basket of paint all day.

"Hey Taehyun!"

"Hmm?" He hummed when Huening Kai called out for him again, turning his head towards the male, barely paying attention to what was in front of him.

"Do you think you'll finally-"

BAM!

"Oh fuck! Taehyun are you okay?!"

In a blink of an eye, Taehyun found himself now facing away from Huening Kai as the loud sound of the tin paint cans clattered onto the ground before rolling around everywhere, he suddenly felt himself being flung onto the ground, with a low groan he pushed himself up onto his knee so he was somewhat kneeling down.

Rolling his shoulder, pain suddenly spiked up instantly making him rub his shoulder to ease down the tension. Damn, just as I thought this morning was uneventful. He thought while placing the basket upwards, grabbing any near by paint cans and placing them back in the basket.

"Taehyun!" Huening Kai called out worriedly and instantly kneeled down next to the male while placing some paint cans back in the basket. "Are you okay? You're not hurt right? Do we need to go to the nurse? Oh god! We need to take you to the hospital!"

Such a drama head. Taehyun thought while rolling his eyes, he didn't care at all that he had somehow manage to fall flat on his ass. "Huening Kai stop over-"

"Are you okay?"

The male paused as he slowly turned his head around and looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with a pretty brunette who seemed very worried, it looked like he was even going to come over and help if it weren't for the angry friend behind him holding onto his wrist and sending glares towards his way. Sighing softly he deadpanned his face as he looked back at the paint cans that were still lose.

"It's fine, don't worry. They weren't even mine." Taehyun said putting the last small paint can into the basket and stood up along with Huening Kai who was silently panicking and nearby looking like he was about to cry because of the small collision, sending a small reassuring towards his direction.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up—"

"Beomgyu! Come on! He's lame as fuck for bumping into you, let's go to the snack bar leave these idiots alone!" The brunettes loud angry friend said as he wrapped an arm around his arm and began pulling him away.

Idiots? How nice, you were the one who bumped into me first though. Taehyun thought, slightly irritated from how rude the pretty brunettes friend was.

The pinkette watched the pretty brunette be dragged away from his face, he could tell he was slightly panicked still. "Taehyun, come on let's go to the art room." Huening Kai called out, he was surprised his best friend didn't make such a big deal out of it.

Taehyun nodded, yet his eyes never left the brunette that was getting further away, and in just a second that eye contact was made once again when the pretty boy decided to turn his head. A scared expression flashing through his face making Taehyun frown slightly, with a sigh he turned away and picked up the basket on the floor before following Huening Kai who was patiently waiting for him as they walked down the hallway.

"Are you okay Taehyun?"

"I'm fine, I don't really care." He said honestly, it was just another minor inconvenience with immature people. "It didn't really hurt, it just caught me off guard."

Huening Kai sighed and nodded, "I just never expected Choi Beomgyu to bump into you, at least he was nice about it! Unlike his scary friend..."

Taehyun's ears perked up hearing the name of the brunette. Choi Beomgyu, it was a nice name not going to lie but it also helped him remember to not crash into the male again if he ever saw him in the hallway.

"Well, let's not worry too much about that. We still have to set up the art club for the showcase okay?" Taehyun said stopping in front of the door to give Huening Kai a small pat on the shoulder.

Yet for some reason, a sudden weird urge bloomed inside of Taehyun's stomach.

ʚ♡ɞ

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Taehyun groaned lowly listening to the sound of his clock ticking away, it's been hours now since he arrived home and talked to his parents about what he did, also sorting out the new paint supplies he got.

He tried sleeping, yet for some reason his mind was running a thousand miles which made his head hurt like fucking hell.

Slowly sitting up on his bed he turned his head towards the desk where empty papers lay, just ready to be filled with colors and artwork, and in an instant Taehyun had found himself walking towards the desk and sitting down, picking up a pencil he looked down at the paper before sketching away.

During that whole process his mind was filled with the faint figure of a familiar brunette.

It didn't take long for Taehyun to finish, and once he did he leaned back and dropped his pencil in horror, his mouth gaped open from what he had just drawn.

It wasn't anything too big, but he managed to sketch out two cherry blossom trees that had petals falling down around it, and in the middle was a figure, standing there perfectly as it's hand reached out into the air in an attempt to grab a falling petal.

Did...Taehyun just get inspiration?

And was it because of the weird brunette from earlier?

Quickly disregarding the paper he stood up and immediately walked over to his bed, falling down on it and covering himself with the blanket, refusing to look back at the paper.

He just needed sleep.

Yet painting and having a spark of energy like that again never felt so good.

It's okay, Taehyun. It's not like you'll ever talk to that person again.

It'll be fine.

ʚ♡ɞ

a/n : there are a few things that will be different and won't really exactly be like the "bomi's flower" plot line but i assure you guys it'll be very similar to it soon!