☂

At first, you only saw his long legs and beautiful, copper hair. His wide back and the way he held the paintbrush, so gently and certainly. The gold beams of sun were making his contours gleam. His skin, his hair and his cheeks were gleaming with that gold. He looked so peaceful when you looked at him.

But the thing he was painting wasn’t peaceful; dozens of colours and their shades were mixing, a few black contours designated that he really wanted to paint something. His hands were stained with blue, green, purple and red.

You made a step forward, going into the classroom. It was swimming in the evening, orange sun. Your foot made a cracking sound. You saw the boy fidgeting and turning his head slightly. You could see his profile. His nose and lips. And closed eyes.

“Who’s there?” He asked silently. His voice was deep, deeper than you thought it would be. You felt wrong for creeping behind him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb,” you said, trying to look him in the eyes. But he didn’t even glance at you. His eyes were fixed on the floor. He smiled slightly, though, making your heart jump all of a sudden. You clenched your fists.

“What are you painting?” You asked quietly. The boy looked at his creation and thought for a few seconds.

“And what can you see?” He asked, chuckling slightly. His voice was really beautiful. You wanted to hear it more. You glanced at the work and frowned.

“It’s… hard to say,” you answered. The boy chuckled again and scratched his neck.

“Come closer and tell me what you see,” he said, nodding at you slightly. But still, you couldn’t see his face. You realized what was he talking about after five seconds and slowly made a step forward. You went to him and stood by his side, looking at the paint. You followed the black contours and frowned again.

“What was that supposed to be?” You asked.

“It’s up to you,” the boy said, nodding to himself. “Tell me what you see. How do the colours look like?” You frowned, dumbfounded. You glanced at his back. After a few seconds, you understood that he was serious. You looked at the paint and let your imagination flow.

“Somehow… it looks like a cupcake,” you said. You felt a smile creep on your face. “It does look like a cupcake. Here’s that paper part, and a big muffin here…” You said, pointing at these parts. “Why did you paint the cupcake with blue though?”

“Maybe it’s a blueberry cupcake,” the boy said, chuckling.

“With hints of red and pink?” You laughed.

“Oh. The paper was supposed to be red and pink.”

Something didn’t feel right at this point. You glanced at the boy, who wasn’t even moving. You swallowed and leaned down. You slowly took a step forward. He felt your hair on his shoulder and looked up at you.

You felt your throat clench. You let out a soft, quiet gasp and took a step back again. The boy was looking at something beside you. He looked sort of funny at first; his ears were big, the same as his nose and lips. But there was beauty in that. There was something about him that made you wish to hug him.

But it wasn’t that fact that made you hold your breath.

His eyes were completely grey; no pupils were visible. His stare was directed somewhere behind you. He couldn’t look at you.

He was blind.

“How do the colours looks like?” He asked, smiling slightly. His smile was beautiful. 

You felt your throat clench again and blinked a few times, feeling a tear in your eyes. You glanced at his creation.

“There’s… White and yellow paint in the background and some on the muffin. The down is dark. It’s… black and blue… the dark shade of blue. The muffin is mixed, with blue, green, some pink, and brown too. The paper is pretty, it didn’t mix. It looks like it’s stained with white, pink and red,” you said, swallowing. The boy smiled and you could almost say that he smiled straight at you. Then, he chuckled and you felt your stomach flipping.

~*~

“I want to paint a teddy bear,” he said, looking at you. You put your bag on the table and glanced at the white and empty sheet. No ‘hello’, no ‘how are you’. Just this one sentence – ‘I want to paint a teddy bear’.

You took a few steps forward and he could clearly hear them. He smiled at you with a paintbrush in his hand and stretched it towards the paints. He knew very well where the every colour was. He chose the brown one and mixed it with black, making it darker. You took a chair and placed it beside him. He heard a noise and fidgeted, but soon continued to paint. He started with gently moves and this way, a big circle appeared on the white paper. He took more black on his paintbrush and painted a dot. Then, another one. The first one was on its place, but the other was on the forehead. You gasped and wanted to say something, but shut your mouth; he heard it and chuckled.

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be pretty,” he said softly. He closed his eyes when he started painting the head of that teddy bear. He was mixing the colours and crossing the contours, but it made it even more real. You could imagine the plush of the bear and smiled. He smiled too and opened his eyes. You wondered how would it be, to open your eyes and see the darkness. See completely nothing.

You glanced at him and stared at his focused face for a long time. Actually, you stared for a long time. Half an hour went by, when you tried to remember his features clearly and couldn't get enough of his face.

“How is it?” He asked. You looked at the paper and raised your brows. He was able to paint very well even though he didn’t see what was he painting.

“It’s pretty,” you whispered.

“Yeah?” he asked, laughing. “Are there any empty places?”

“A few.”

“Show me,” he nodded at you. You stared at him with shock, but understood finally. You grabbed his hand gently and took some paint.

“Here…” You said, showing him the place. He touched the paper gently and started moving it. The white dot disappeared.

“How is it now?” He asked, smiling.
“Even prettier,” you answered.

~*~

“Hi,” you said, entering the classroom. He turned his head and smiled.

“Hi,” he answered. “How was your day?”

You went to put your bag on the table and to get a chair. You sat beside him and stared at his hand, which was painting something without a shape. You wondered what it was.

“Fine,” you said. “Yours?”

“Great."

“You are going to my school… right? You wouldn’t be allowed to be here if you…” You started, feeling like an idiot. But how come that you have never see him before?

“Yup,” he answered simply, stopping painting. He turned to ‘look’ at you and smiled. “I don’t like crowds, so I’m usually spending the breaks outside or somewhere quieter with my friends. Maybe that’s why you have never seen me.”

“Oh,” you simply said. You glanced at the sheet and frowned. This time, you really had no idea what was that. A big stain of mixed colours was covering it.

“What… What is that?” You asked. “Your painting.”

“It’s nothing in particular,” he answered, turning to his creation again.

“Then why…” you started, but stopped. You bit your lip.

“I can imagine the colours that way,” he said. “Thousands of shades and tones… they are all really beautiful."

He smiled with sadness, making your heart clench. You wanted to say something, but didn’t know what. In the end, he was the one who started talking.

“You are probably wondering what’s the point of me painting if I can’t even see the results. But for me, painting is everything. It’s the only thing I can really create with my imagination, in my head, and move it to a real world. I can feel the paper under my brush and I know how hard I can press it. In my head, I see thousands of colours and I’m happy that I created something. I can imagine that the paint is as beautiful as the one in my head,” he looked at you with his blind eyes and smiled slightly. “Isn’t that the beauty of imagination?”

~*~

It was raining again. You were staring at the water dripping from sky and listening to the beautiful sound they made. You could also hear a rustle from time to time, when the blind boy touched the canvas with his paintbrush.

A thunder echoed in the sky and you jumped at that sudden, loud sound. You didn’t like it even one bit. You went to sit beside the boy, who glanced at you.

“You are scared of thunders?” He asked.

“Yeah,” you answered, getting even closer. Another thunder lightened up the classroom and you fidgeted. The boy laughed.

“Why are you so scared? There’s nothing to be scared of,” he said and stretched out his hand. He slowly put it on your shoulder and when he knew exactly where you were, he pulled you into a hug and ruffled your hair. Your eyes widened, but you got calmer and hugged him back. You two were sitting like this for a long time, which seemed like hours to you.

~*~

“Can you tell me your name?” you asked a week after the day of thunder. The boy frowned.

“I didn’t tell you?” He asked, really surprised. You shook your head, but reminded yourself of his blindness and denied it with a ‘no’.

“My name is Chanyeol," he said and smiled. You felt your heart melt and smiled widely. You chuckled and buried your head in your knees. Chanyeol frowned and laughed.

“Why are you giggling?” He asked.

“I like your name,” you said honesty.

“And you? What’s your name?” Chanyeol asked.

“I’m Raejin,” you answered.

“Nice to meet you Raejin,” Chanyeol said and you both laughed. After five minutes of silence, when he was slowly creating something new on the canvas and you were observing him, you really wanted to know more about him.

“When did you become blind, Chanyeol?” You asked straightforwardly. Chanyeol was thinking for a few seconds, humming.

“When I was twelve I think,” he answered. “I loved to paint at that time already. I almost gave up on living, but my mom and my best friend helped me out a lot,” he nodded. He froze for a second and suddenly put his paintbrush down. He turned to face you. His eyes were always freaking you out a bit, but only in the beginning. Then, you thought that they were calm and beautiful, even though they couldn’t see.

“I don’t know if I would be able to… you know. I would probably give up,” you whispered. You were sitting on a table and he was on a chair. You could touch him easily if you would only stretch out your hand. You really wanted to touch him right now.

“You would never give up,” Chanyeol said.

“How do you know?”

“You are similar to me, so you wouldn’t.”

You felt your heart clench.

“And you really believe it?” you asked.

“Of course” Chanyeol answered, laughing. “You are strong, Raejin-ah.”

You smiled with a tear in your eye. You laid your head on your knee and stared at Chanyeol for a few seconds. He really was beautiful in every aspect.

“You would be there for me if something would happen?” yYu whispered. Chanyeol fixed his blind stare on you.

“Of course,” he answered.

~*~

“What do you do beside painting?” you asked, munching on your bun. Chanyeol gulped down his own sandwich. You were sitting beside each other on the table and eating.

“I’m listening,” he answered.

“To the music? What kind do you like?”

“Not only music. I’m listening to everything what’s around me,” Chanyeol answered with a smile.

“Like?”

“I like to listen to the bird’s singing. And to the footsteps. I like the sounds wind makes. And I like to listen to your voice as well.”

You almost choked on your bun, but stopped yourself from doing so.

“What?” You asked, chuckling.

“Yeah, your voice is beautiful. Do you sing?” He asked.

You froze. You forgot about the food and about anything else. You fixed his stare on him, when he continued to munch his sandwich. After five seconds, you shook your head.

“Um, yes. A bit,” you answered. Chanyeol raised his head and turned to you.

“Really?” He asked with real happiness. “Amazing! Sing something for me.”

“No!” you said, laughing. Chanyeol made a face.

“Why not?” He asked.

“I never sang to anyone, not even my best friend!” You answered. “I won’t sing.”

“Please?” Chanyeol leaned closer and smiled widely. “Just once,” he said with his finger up. You shook your head.

“No, it’s embarrassing.”

He pouted and bite his sandwich with a sad face. You laughed. Two minutes passed.

“But if you want, I will perform for you. I will play the guitar and sing,” you whispered. Chanyeol turned his head to you.

“Really?” he asked.
“Yeah.”

“Where?”

“In my music school. I wasn’t planning this, but I will sing if you promise me that you will come,” you said, smiling. Chanyeol nodded energetically.

“I will! I will invite my friend too, is it okay?” He asked.

“Of course,” you answered quietly, blushing.

“Yeah!” Chanyeol bumped his fist in the air. A crumb fell on the corner of his lips, but he was still unconsciously eating the bun. You on your teeth.

“You have something on your face,” you said. Chanyeol raised his brows and wiped his lips, but in a wrong place. You laughed. “At the other side” you said, but he missed it again.

“Aish. Come here,” you said and stretched out your hand. You touched his lip and got rid of the crumb with a smile. “Done,” you said and grabbed your bun again. After a few seconds of silence, you looked at him. He was smiling at you with his eyes almost looking through you. Your heart speed up and some butterflies suddenly tickled your stomach.
 

~*~

As always, everyone was glancing at you from time to time when you were sitting in the school cafeteria. You became anxious already, but finally saw a familiar face at the end of the room and exhaled deeply.

“Sorry, I had to talk with a teacher!” Ji Eun said and sat beside you, looking at you apologetically. “What’s up?” she asked, smiling brightly. She was always happy and very enthusiastic. It was one of the qualities you loved so much in her.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” you said with sudden, hyper feeling. Ji Eun frowned and leaned closer to you with wide eyes.

“I know this tone and this look. What happened?” She asked. You cleared your throat and looked around.

“Um… I think that… I may be in love,” you whispered. Ji Eun blinked a few times with totally calm expression. She straightened up her back and looked at the table, thinking. Suddenly, she shot up from the table with a wide smile and jumped on you, wrapping her hands around your neck. You almost choked on your own saliva.

“Oh gosh Raejin! I can’t believe that it's actually happening!” She finally pulled away and grabbed your hands up. “I’m so happy for you! We have to celebrate it and you have to tell me everything with details, do you understand? We are going right now!” She said and pulled you towards the exit. Your eyes became wide as saucers.

“Wait, what? Ji Eun, classes…”

“Screw them, my best friend fell in love!” Ji Eun chimed, hugging you tightly.
 

~*~
 

“I’m wondering if it all would go differently if he wouldn’t be blind,” Ji Eun said, sipping on her shake. You were drinking hot chocolate with wiped cream. You shared a cake with strawberries between each other.

“I don’t know,” you admit.

“I didn’t even know that there’s someone blind in our school,” Ji Eun said, tilting her head. “Did you?”

“No, I had to idea either. He said that he’s sitting in places where not a lot of people is hanging out,” you answered with a hint of sadness. “And I never met him in our school. I started wondering if he didn’t lie to me.”

“Let’s search for him later. Maybe he’s always outside or in the right outbuilding?” Ji Eun said. There was a pause and a silence filled your ears. Finally, Ji Eun finished her shake and took a bite of cake.

“Why do you like him anyway?” She asked. “Is it because of his looks?”
“At first I only saw his looks, yes. I really think that he’s handsome. He’s… beautiful, to be honest,” you said, blushing. Ji Eun squealed like a crazy fangirl and you snorted. You straightened your back and became serious again. “But then, I realized how strong and amazing he is. I love his smile and his voice. I love his enthusiasm and the way he acts. He’s amazing. I never felt anything like that towards anyone, really.”

“How do you exactly feel when you are with him?” Ji Eun asked, leaning her head on her clenched fist.

You stared out of the window and didn’t answer for a long time.

“He’s like the sun. He’s lighting up my world. He makes my heart race. He makes me forget about all of my pain and everything bad. When I’m with him, I just want to hug him. I would like to make him happy. I want to be for him someone like he’s for me."
 

~*~
 

“Hey,” you said, entering the classroom. Chanyeol turned his head and waved at you with a smile. You felt your heart jump out of your chest and smiled under your nose. You thought how lucky you are to be able to meet with him.

“I brought some chocolate,” you said and stood beside him. He was painting a bouquet of flowers, but looked up at the word ‘chocolate’.

“Chincha?” he asked, opening his mouth widely. You laughed and nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. You sat beside him and unpacked the chocolate. You stretched out your hand with it and he slowly grabbed the chocolate. You were staring at his slow and unsure moves and felt bad for some reason. You got used to the thought that he’s blind, but seeing him unable to do something was really hurtful. It reminded you about his sorrow and difficulty.

“Is it with strawberries?” He asked, frowning and eating the chocolate.

“Yeah.”

“You really like strawberries, don’t you?” He asked and chuckled. He took another piece and threw it to his mouth. You frowned.

“Yeah. How do you know?”

“You once said that you are always eating strawberry cake when you are with your friend, right? And you are often eating strawberry bars” he answered, munching the chocolate.

“How do you know it’s strawberry?”

“I can scent it of course,” Chanyeol said, patting his nose with his fingers and smiling.

"Right..." You said, embarrassed. “I have a toffee one too,” you added, unpacking another chocolate as well.

“You will make me fat,” he pouted. You laughed and jumped off the table to stand beside him. You leaned closer and peeked behind his shoulder to see his painting clearly. He raised his head and you felt his nose touching your cheek. You shot back as a lightning hit you. Chanyeol frowned.

“What?” He asked. “Is it that bad?”
You shook your head. “No, no. I just… I had to scratch my neck,” you said, laughing nervously. You took a deep breath and looked at the painting again.

Chanyeol grabbed another piece of chocolate and you did the same.

“You should add more light pink,” you said.

“You think?” Chanyeol asked and grabbed his paintbrush. He somehow found paints on the table and dripped the paintbrush with black paint. He made a few dots on the bouquet and looked up at you. “Better?”

“It’s perfect now,” you said, smiling.
 

~*~
 

“Do you like rain?” Chanyeol asked.

“Why?”

“I love rain.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I like the sound of drops falling,” Chanyeol answered. “I always wanted to learn how to paint water or rain, but it was too hard for me at that time.”

“I like rain too,” you said. “It’s like a soothing music.”

“Exactly,” Chanyeol chuckled.

“But I don’t know how to paint rain too. Dots and lines should be enough, right?”

“Yes, but you have to use every colour that exists, don’t you think? And make is a bit silver.”

“I want to try to paint rain,” you said suddenly. Chanyeol raised his brow.

“Come here then,” he said after a few seconds. He chose a fresh paintbrush and smiled at you. You took a chair and sat beside him. Your shoulders touched and you felt electrify running down your spine.

“Help me choose the colours,” he said, and you grabbed his hand slowly, gently. You felt its warmth and thought that no one beside Chanyeol could have such a warm hand. You choose a light blue paint at the beginning.

“What colour is it?” Chanyeol asked, frowning.

“What do you think it is?”

“Blue?”

“Yeah,” you chuckled. At first you wanted to say ‘yes’ to any colour he would say, but he guessed right and you felt good. You touched the canvas with the paintbrush and made a single line. Chanyeol made another one in a different place. Your hands were working together, but sometimes one of them was leading. It wasn’t a fight though.

After blue, you chose green, pink, white, and a hint of grey. The canvas was now full of mixed colours and it really started to look like a rain. A very beautiful rain.

“Let’s add more colours into it,” Chanyeol said, smiling. You dripped the paintbrush with yellow and continued to work. Then you used red, pink, orange and a bit of beige. You mixed turquoise with white and made a new, blue shade.

“We should make some shadows around the drops. And colour the background lightly.”

“Let’s make it grey with a hint of blue,” you whispered, completely occupied with your work. Chanyeol only nodded and closed his eyes at your touch. He only focused at the sounds of paintbrush touching the canvas, when you finished the work. You pulled your hand away and Chanyeol opened his eyes right away. He smiled at the sight.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. Your eyes widened and you look at him with a flash of hope and shock. But Chanyeol only looked at you, with his empty, white eyes and your face fell. You felt a sudden urge to cry and a tear rolled down your cheek. You fell on the chair almost lifeless and stopped yourself from sniffing. Suddenly, you felt a touch and shot up your head. You saw Chanyeol looking at you and stretching his hand to you.

You stared at him with restless eyes and he moved his hand again. He touched your cheek gently and smiled, it lovably. His touch was making your cheek hot, your heart was beating rapidly and your stomach tangled together with your heart. It all felt amazingly pleasant. His touch was soothing. You touched his hand and it as well. Another tear ran down your cheek and he wiped it away with another hand. He started roaming through your face with his fingers. He touched your nose, forehead and eyes, which you closed when he did so. He touched your cheeks and finally, your lips. He stopped at your chin and closed his eyes. He smiled widely and nodded. He opened his eyes again.

“You really are beautiful,” he said honesty. You felt your heart being ripped with happiness. You forgot how to breathe and coughed lightly. You grabbed his hand and clenched your fingers around it. Chanyeol was still looking at you lovingly, when you were his hand.

“You too,” you said without thinking. Chanyeol raised his brows and laughed out loud. You looked at him and started laughing as well. You both laughed for a long time.
 

~*~
 

You were laying on a sofa in the living room. TV was on and the voices of people were echoing through your house. The emptiness of it was making your heart ache. The dinner you made was getting cold already. You forgot how many hours passed from the time you cooked it. You were staring at your fingers and thinking about loneliness.

You would do anything to see your mom right now. You didn’t really see her for two weeks. You could only hear her voice through the phone and make sure that she was home for a few minutes just because of the notes she was leaving for you on the kitchen table.

Your phone started buzzing. You already knew that there were two options: your mom is coming home and will be here for 10 minutes, or she can’t make it today. You slowly took your cell and saw her number on the screen. You were scared that another weekend will be lonely for you again.

“Hello?” You whispered.

“Raejin…” Your mom whispered back. You already knew this tone. You smiled through your tears.

“It’s okay mom. You should go back to work. I will be okay,” you said quickly, stopping yourself from crying.

“I’m so sorry darling…”

“I have to go, work hard. ‘Night,” you said and disconnected. You had an urge to throw your phone on the floor, but stopped yourself and slowly put it on the table. You laid on the sofa again and let your tears flow freely.
 

~*~
 

You always thought that school was closed on Saturdays. And still, you came and stood in front of it with hope to discover that the doors were opened and you could easily enter it. You went up to the art classroom and saw Chanyeol standing in front of the window, with hands in his pockets. It was a rare sight – Chanyeol standing. You just realized how tall he was and it made you even more attracted to him. You were observing his wide back for a minute and finally took a step forward.

“Morning,” you said. Chanyeol turned his head and raised his brows.

“Raejin? What are you doing here today?” He asked, but smiled after a second, with his honest, bright smile. You felt your heart melt and smiled back. He made his way to you, which wasn’t hard because no obstacles were on his way.

“Ahh, I just wanted to see you,” you said, looking up at him. He really was tall. Chanyeol stretched out his hand and patted your head.

“Ah, Shortie!” He said, laughing. You opened your mouth, shocked.

“I’m not short! You are the one who’s really tall!” You said with a chuckle. Chanyeol bend down suddenly and you were looking at him from up.

“What happened?” He asked with a very serious face. You opened your eyes widely.

“Wha…” You started and laughed nervously. “What do you mean?”

“You sound weird,” he said, scratching his neck. He tilted his head, trying very hard to ‘look’ at you, which made you even sadder.

You were always mad at people who were judging you by your look. But right now you really wanted Chanyeol to look at you, with his own eyes. You know it was impossible, but you still hoped so.

“I don’t,” you answered, stepping back. He grabbed your hand suddenly. You had no idea how did he know where it was.

“I can hear that something is wrong, Raejin,” he said, slowly standing up and taking a step closer to you. Your heart was already beating crazily. You had a feeling that it will fell from your chest in a second. Your legs became numb, he was so close.

“Nothing’s wrong,” you said.

“Tell me. You know that you can trust me. You know that, right?” he asked. You nodded energetically and he smiled. Like he could feel it or hear it. “Then?”

“Nothing, really,” you said. He made a face, but you continued. “To be honest, I’m already used to being alone. I’m very used to it. I like the silence. I really do. But all of a sudden, I feel more lonely that I ever felt. And this loneliness is just so awful.”

“But you are not alone,” Chanyeol said, pulling you even closer. Your chests were touching. Your heart was beating crazily, but you realized that his heart was beating even louder and faster. “You have me, remember?” He whispered to your ear, wrapping his arms around you. You couldn’t really stop yourself from crying, you just let the tears roll down your cheeks. But this time, you were in Chanyeol’s arms. You could feel his warmth and softness. His gentle touch. His fingers tangled with yours. You felt complete. You wanted to be even closer to him. You squeezed him even harder, and he did the same. You two couldn’t be closer anymore, but as for now, it was enough. You felt secure, you felt good, you felt relaxed. Your heartbeats started beating in the same rhythm.

At the day when the sun was unbelievably bright, a hint of orange and yellow flew into the classroom, making everything look like it was painted with gold. And you realized that you loved Chanyeol more than you ever loved anyone.

He was just blinding.

_________________________________

And with this, this story could end. But I decided to continue it. 
Thanks to everyone who decided to read it. I hope that it won't disappoint you.
Another update will show up in a week if everything will go fine. 

Enjoy.