When Kyungsoo woke the next morning his neck was stiff. Peering around the familiar room he remembered how he'd slept at Baekhyun's last night. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched his body, feeling tired after not getting much sleep.

"You're finally awake then" Baekhyun spoke as his head popped round the corner. Kyungsoo let out a groan in response.

"Haha hey, I'm nearly finished making breakfast" he said, disappearing into the kitchen. The doe eyed male propped himself up on the couch, feeling stressed when he realised he still had to finish the rest of his paintings for the exhibition. He completely forgot about them in favour of focusing on Jongin.

Baekhyun called him into the kitchen and placed a plate full of pancakes in front of Kyungsoo, taking a seat opposite. The two ate in a comfortable silence until Baekhyun spoke up.

"So I'm going to the exhibition hall today, wanna come with?" He asked. Kyungsoo thought about it for a moment. It would be a good idea to look at the layout of the upcoming event, and he needed to tell the other male where he wants what piece; after all, the way the art is presented is just as important as the art itself.

"Yeah, alright. Just let me go home and get changed, I'll meet you there?" Baekhyun nodded and began clearing up the empty plates. He bid Kyungsoo a quick farewell, the latter just wanting to get home and freshen up. He walked past his studio and glanced at the canvas decorated with his 'secret garden'. The space he'd left for Jongin stood out completely from the rest of the scenery, waiting to be filled with the image of the tanned male. What was holding him back? 

Shaking himself out of his thoughts that so often contained Jongin, he stepped into the bathroom to shower, imagining his troubles being washed away by the water cascading down his body. 

He drove to his destination with a clear head, determined not to let Jongin enter his mind unless completely necessary. He pushed open the door revealing a large area broken up by a few stand alone walls. He spotted Baekhyun chatting to a tall male, who promptly dashed off when he caught sight of Kyungsoo walking towards them. Strange. 

"Hey Baek, who was that?" He said, gesturing to the male who ran off. Baekhyuns smile seemed to falter slightly.

"That was..Chanyeol" he said quietly, hoping the other didnt hear him. Of course, luck was never on his side and he ended up cowering in the glare of Kyungsoo. So that's why he ran off. He thought bitterly. He wouldn't even be in this predicament with Jongin if it wasn't for that giant idiot!

Dammit, he was thinking about him again.

He cleared his throat when he noticed that he had just been standing there, glaring at the air left behind after that guy. "Right. So...do you want to show me where you think everything will go?" He asked, voice straining as he briefly relived the memory of being told his perfect painting had been destroyed. 

"Sure!" Baekhyun replied a little too happily. He showed the young artist around, pointing out where he thought his paintings should hang.

"And this.." He said, pointing to a stretch of white wall in the centre of the hall "..is where your centre piece is going! If that's okay with you" he added. Kyungsoo studied the unoccupied space and doubts began to creep into his mind.

What if my painting isn't good enough?

What if Jongin doesn't like it?

What if I never finish painting him in time?!

Kyungsoo clenched his jaw; doubting his work was something he never did, because he always made sure it was perfect.

What if perfect isn't good enough?

"Yah! Don't do stuff like that, it creeps me out!" Baekhyun huffed, breaking Kyungsoo away from his thoughts. He smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry Baek, just thinking" he said. Baekhyun eyes him with curiosity, but didnt push him to say anything.

"So, it's okay?" He asked. It took Kyungsoo a couple of seconds to realise what he was talking about before he nodded. 

"Great! Well, we've got most of your pieces stashed away in the basement, we're just waiting on the few you've got left. I have to say, I'm rather excited about your centre piece, I can tell its going to be great!" He squealed. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, I hope it will turn out well.." He muttered. He hated the uncertainty so blatantly obvious in his voice. When the hell had all of this insecurity started playing up?!

When Jongin happened, obviously. A voice that sounded too much like his own hissed at him.

He slapped his head in his hands for thinking about the male, temporarily forgetting his friend was still in the room with him.

"Er, you okay?" He asked. Kyungsoo hummed in response and excused himself, he wanted to go home. 

ºººººº

He spent the rest of his afternoon completing the few other pieces for his exhibition he had left, avoiding the one he needed to pay most attention to. It did occur to Kyungsoo at one point that he was avoiding a painting, which was kind of stupid since he had to finish it anyway.

He really thought hard about painting him, but everytime he tried to fill the gap on the canvas he stopped himself because he doesn't want to get it wrong. He doesn't want to disappoint, he realised. 

He let his head fall to the desk with a loud thud, he could almost cry at the stupidity of his situation right now; he was scared to paint Jongin because he doesn't want to disappoint him. He doesnt want to disappoint the guy in his dreams. The guy that's not real and yet has managed worm his way into Kyungsoo's perfect life with a few sentences and perfect smiles.

Kyungsoo whipped out his phone from his pocket to check the time. 20:04pm. He shoved the device back in his pocket and let his head thud to the desk once more, wincing at the impact.

He sighed heavily. This was going to be a long night.