⊱ Petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid ⊰

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"Jungkook?"

The ebony haired boy looked up from his palette and widened his eyes as I sheepishly waved at him beside his easel with a surprised smile.

"Oh?" His mouth formed an 'o' shape before he broke into a small grin. "We're in the same class again?"

"It seems so," I chuckled, taking a seat near him, and dropped my bag on the floor beside my chair. "We have three classes together, huh? That's a first. I never met someone this often in my classes before."

Yep, I was blatantly lying.

Hearing some murmurs, I looked around the room to see other students whispering among themselves and glancing at us every now and then. It was weird how the girls weren't approaching him like me when they kept staring at the boy. The seats around us were left empty.

Because he was taken?

"Same here," he whispered softly, playing with his nails with his eyes fixed on them. He was awfully timid.

I eyed the way his adam's apple kept bobbing up and down as he kept swallowing and nibbling on his lower lip. The trace of his soft lips caressing mine was suddenly woken. That incident from yesterday was still clear in my mind as if it happened just a second ago.

"I dreamt about you yesterday," I tried baiting him with a sultry tone and shifted closer with my gaze on his parted lips. "It felt so real. You looked just the same in it."

He shuddered with his body turned to me, moving not more than an inch away, and visibly swallowed. "I-I see."

Smirking unnoticeably, I traced my finger down his shirt sleeve and tilted my head, lowering my gaze to his neck. "If you dreamt about me... would I look just the same, too?"

When I brought my eyes up to his, he stammered, "Yes, you did."

"Hm?" I goggled at him.

Blinking twice, he lowered his gaze before licking his lips. "I actually dreamed about you... I think?"

A hint of blush could be spotted on his cheeks and I became sure of it.

Sitting straight, I flashed him a gentle smile. "You never noticed me during the past year and you dreamed about me? Wow, I'm flattered. That's a huge development, my friend."

His eyebrows jumped. "Friend?"

"Yeah, friend. At least I hope so?" I chuckled before fumbling with my bag to take out my art supplies. Being friends seemed good enough. It's the first step to any relationship. If I had to take it slow, I had to take it slow.

"Okay, pipe down, you non-artists! Teacher incoming," a familiar voice shouted and in came the pink haired man in all his glory. "Lesson is about to start, neanderthals."

"Wait, are you teaching this class, too?!"

Gluttony's eyes found me and he cackled as if what I said was the dumbest thing he ever heard... As usual.

"Do you want me to, sweetheart?" His eyebrows furrowed in his signature cocky way and his small smirk just made it all the more extra. "If you wanted more of my handsomeness to smear your life, you could have just asked, Eunsook."

I rolled my eyes. "No, thank you. You have the type of face anyone would get bored of. Too much of something is never good actually. Ever heard of overdose?"

"Overdosing on my handsomeness sounds like something anyone would want." He flipped his bangs sideways, dismissing me. "Unfortunately, I'm not the teacher. Mr. Kim wanted me to tell you non-artists that he was going to be late so-"

"I'm here!"

The hazelnut haired man galloped through the door, slamming it into the wall, almost breaking the wood. He was clad in his usual black suit and tie, his hair pushed back elegantly, looking like he was attending a wedding ceremony.

Great, now Pride is here, too.

He slammed his briefcase on the front table and grinned wide, showing his dimples. "Nice to meet you boys and girls! I'm Pri- Kim Namjoon! Your new teacher for Figure Painting."

Gluttony gestured us to clap with a threatening grin and everyone clapped with both confusion and fright. Pride's smile grew wider and his eyes disappeared into gleeful thin lines. Shying away from the cheers, he turned to Gluttony and exchanged a few words before the pink haired man walked out the door, waving like a president.

"Now, let's begin our class. I'll be conducting this class the same way your old teacher would." Pride started writing on the board and explained the course descriptions and such before his eyes glinted with mischief. "The goal of this course is to feel extremely proud of your exceptional talents, everyone. No other artist's half-baked 'art' pieces should compare to yours."

"So you're here to make students sin?"

His eyes darted to mine and he smirked slightly. "You know it, Lust."

"Really? Is that really it?"

"Well, I'm here to help you, too. Gluttony asked me."

Gluttony did?

"Now, for the first eight weeks, you all will be painting the same person and the next, you choose your own model, preferably from this class." Pride clapped his hands and eyed everyone. "Anyone who wants to volunteer?"

"Mr. Kim, how about you?" A girl cheered and the other girls joined her, asking him to be the model.

He stood there, dumbfounded for a moment before shaking his head and hands, blabbering. "Ah, no no. I can't. I'm not fit to be a model. And I'm too shy. I'm not confident."

"You're perfect, Mr. Kim," I joined and he widened his eyes at me. "Don't be ashamed of your striking looks and model for us."

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips but he was quick to brush it off. "Actually, I have someone else in mind-"

"I'll do it!"

There he was again, shamelessly bursting in through the door with his shoulders high up in the sky. Shameless but amusing.

"Yeah, Professor Seokjin," Pride chuckled as he watched the man take his seat in the center and gracefully brush his pink hair. "Your first model, class. Now I'm sure you all know your techniques, so just start painting."

Wow... What a good teacher we have...

It was obvious that they never had experience teaching before, but I could care less.

Everyone slowly grabbed their palettes and watched Gluttony pose for the umpteenth time in exasperation until Jungkook suddenly exclaimed, "Professor, just sit like the Thinker, please." The man flinched and wordlessly did as told, earning satisfied sighs from the students. Soon enough, the room was silent, only the shuffling sounds of Pride's shoes resounded against the tiled floor.

Clearing my throat, I grabbed a pencil and started sketching his figure on my canvas, just the way I saw him. Leaving small strokes, repeating them over and over again until his figure became apparent.

When I stole a glance at Jungkook's canvas, I couldn't hold back the gasp that left my mouth. He instantly turned to me with his doe eyes enlarged.

"Hm?"

I blinked a few times with my mouth agape. "I, uh... You, um... Wow..."

He raised his eyebrows before following my eyes and looking at his drawing. "Oh, this?" He smiled sheepishly, brushing his hair over his ears. "I, um, this isn't good."

"Well, that's an insult to me." I frowned at my own work.

"What? It's good, what are you saying?!" He scooted closer with his chair and observed my crappy drawing before scratching his nape. "Not that I'm saying it's not good, but I think you should... practice? Maybe I can help you a little."

My heart skipped a beat when I became aware of how close we were as he turned to look at me, our faces inches away. I looked away, holding my breath and cursed internally when the memories flashed again.

"Or... not."

"No! Teach me," I unintentionally yelled and seized his hand. Realizing what I did, I cleared my throat and forced a smile. "If... you want to, of course."

Jungkook blinked twice and chuckled, nodding. "Friends help each other, so of course I would do that. Here." He came closer and started instructing me on how I could improve my drawing, watching me move my pencil with great attention.

I fixed Gluttony's facial features and nervously turned to him for approval, and delight blossomed in my chest when he grinned contently, his black eyes glimmering with joy.

"Wow, yes! See how it turned more realistic when you take the dimensions and shadowing into account? You're really great."

I bit the insides of my cheeks, trying to suppress the growing smile. "No, it's all you. Your technique is great."

We exchanged bashful smiles and gazed into each other's eyes longer than we probably should until he broke the silence, continuing to teach me. I listened intently, liking the way my drawing was improving.

"I've always loved drawing but I never could draw as well as this before," I blurted before I could think. I was completely immersed.

"Really? We should unlock your talents then," he said, admiring my work. "You have it in you, Eunsook."

A small smile formed on my lips. "Thank you, Kookie." I pursed my lips as soon as I said the last word.

"Kookie?" He giggled, his crescent eyes smiling at me. "Then I'll call you Sookie. Kookie and Sookie."

My goofy smile widened but my eyebrows furrowed. "Lame~"

"Am I getting paid for this? Because my back's starting to kill me," Gluttony suddenly groaned and Pride shook his head with an apologetic smile. "I've made stupid decisions before but this is the dumbest one ever..."

Jungkook and I giggled between ourselves, whispering about the pink haired teacher.

And for once...

I felt normal.

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Everyone, stay healthy and safe! xx