Title: Coffee Beans
Word count: 1,404


 

A blank canvas is placed in front of the student who looks down at it with no expression in his eyes. A black sketching pencil is resting on the side waiting to be picked up by a skilled hand; waiting to create a masterpiece. A soft sigh leaves his parted mouth as he listens to the professor drone on about certain instructions that the male student pays no attention to. There is a small, moldable gray eraser sitting in a tin case filled with thin pieces of charcoal.

"I would like for you all to imagine a person and draw them. They can have purple eyes and white hair if you will. Anything you want can be placed on their features," Professor Perez says, motioning with his hands as if directing an entire orchestra.

Everyone sitting in their respective chairs furrows their eyebrows in deep thought. Some tap the tip of their pencils against the blank canvas as if thinking someone will appear out of nowhere.

"Do you know who you're going to draw?" A boy named Minseok, asks with a friendly smile. He seems rather excited to start. 

The male student smiles back, then turns his head to face the blank canvas. "Kind of," he replies.

"Yeah, but you're always drawing, so this should be easy for you," Minseok says while rolling his eyes and then adds, "right?"

The male student laughs as he picks up the pencil he uses to sketch. "Well, no because I draw people that I know in real life but Professor Perez said to make up someone."

"Isn't it the same, though? You're the best artist in the class! Totally beating Mr. Perez as well!"

The male student blushes at the compliments. "Hah, thanks."

It's quiet after that between the two boys as they each focus on their own tasks. 

Minseok has been humming to himself while the other student continues to stare at the table, black pencil in his hand, breathing slowly and blinking every few seconds. 

The student thinks that drawing freely would be best so that is what he does.

He begins by sketching the eyes.

Shaped like almonds, delicately drawn eyelashes, the student continues. Coloring in the iris to a shade so dark that it begins to come to life. The student then grabs the eraser to make it seem as if there is light reflecting off of those eyes. There are shadows underneath the bottom lashes, circling up so that it hovers right above the eyes. This adds more depth and makes the drawing seem more realistic. Next are the eyebrows.

How should I draw them? He thinks to himself, biting his bottom lip. Thick. I'll make them thick and dark.

That is where he sets off. Strand by strand, drawn one by one, slowly with perfect precision. Beautiful, he thinks, a smile forming on his lips.

"Wow, who is that?" Asks Professor Perez, clearly amazed at what he is seeing. "Did you really just make that up?"

Minseok leans in to take a look. "He's right. That looks really good!"

The male student chuckles shyly, "This is the first time I am imagining these eyes. I don't know anyone who looks like this," he explains, lifting his eyes to smile at his professor.

"Excellent as usual," Mr. Perez praises as he walks away. "Alright class, it’s time to pack up because the last bell of the day is going to ring in a few seconds. You can all take your work with you and try to complete it over the weekend. If you're still struggling then don't worry about it. There's still time."

With that, the last bell rings and everyone trickle out with their canvas's in their hands.

"I'll see you on Monday!" Minseok yells at the student who nods his head silently and disappears into the crowded hallway.

Monday... If I even make it to one more day, he thinks solemnly to himself as he boards the bus to head straight home.

-

Back home where the atmosphere is filled with silence, the male student sighs quietly, shutting the door behind him so that he is trapped within the confines of his bedroom. No one is home today and the young male is glad because he wants to be alone right now. 

Exhaling heavily, he pushes forward, heading to the desk situated in the corner of his room to place his canvas on the brown table, staring at the eyes he drew back in Mr. Perez’s classroom and tilts his head to the side to absorb the melancholy look in that dark gaze. He wonders why they look so sad. 

He wonders and worries so much about someone that doesn’t exist until he is sitting hunched over his desk shading and sketching and erasing, creating a masterpiece like he wanted to. 

Five words come to mind when he sees the finished piece: Don’t be lonely anymore. 

The male on the canvas is in shades of dark gray and black but the student has never seen anyone so ethereal. He likes colorless drawings but this portrait deserves life. 

He turns to his right, opening the drawer to take out a tin filled with pretty color pencils of all shades. He starts with the male’s skin and thinks it should be shades of coffee.  His lips are colored, the shade of dying roses. 

The male student smiled at how soft and yet sharp the features on the drawing had become almost as if the make-believe person was real and able to be touched. 

The clothes were next. A simple coffee-colored turtleneck and a caramel-colored coat. 

Did he forget to draw the hair? He did not. 

The male student chuckles, finally putting down his utensils to look at the finished piece. He has spent the entire afternoon working on this canvas non-stop and it’s finally finished. “If I make a wish to the moon tonight for you to come to life, would you?” He asks the drawing, smiling sadly when he gets no response. “And if I tell you I’ve fallen in love with you, will I wake up with you in my arms?” 

Again, there is no answer. 

A white round moon sits outside surrounded by twinkling children but the boy pays no attention to the beautiful scenery and instead, caresses the male drawn on the canvas, wondering how did his hand draw this? It looks so perfect and so realistic that he is in awe of his own work. 

“You need a name,” the male student mumbles as he brushes away little tan-colored dust left behind by one of the few color pencils he used and then smiled sweetly, almost tenderly and whispers a name, “Kyungsoo. I’ll call you Kyungsoo.”

When the student goes to sleep that night on an empty stomach, the light of the moon rains down on the drawing and the male on the canvas begins to breathe, blinking brown eyes to see that he is in an unfamiliar room filled with different-shaped canvas's and that it faintly smells like coffee beans.

Kyungsoo turns his eyes to the left where the light of the moon is reflecting from the window and smiles, thanking the universe for bringing him to life and also thanking the sleeping student for drawing him.  

He asks the heavens above for some help on getting out from the canvas and the next time he blinks, he finds himself sitting on the comfortable desk chair, wide eyes wandering around taking in his surroundings. "Woah," he mumbles quietly to himself, grinning from ear to ear when he picks up a black pencil. "So light and smooth," he coos, turning it over his fingers and then bringing it down to the canvas that is now blank. 

But instead of drawing, all Kyungsoo does is swipe his hand over the canvas and what the student had drawn hours ago now appears again.

Kyungsoo gets up from the chair to test his legs. They seem to be working fine so he makes his way to the sleeping student who has an arm out as if awaiting his arrival. Kyungsoo gets into bed, pulling the covers over him and snuggles close to the sleeping boy and then whispers, "If you tell me you've fallen in love with me, then I'll tell you I've fallen in love with you, too."

What happens? 

Jongin gets his wish.