The evening sun had begun to set when Luhan returned to his and Minseok's shared apartment. Coffee in hand and his backpack slung over his shoulder, he felt at ease knowing that he had the weekend to look forward to after a week of stressful classes and deadlines. And Minseok had promised him to let Jongdae handle the coffee-shop this weekend as well! Could life get any better? 

"Minseok! I'm home!" He called out as he slipped his jacket off and let it fall to the floor, knowing that he'd pick it up later before Minseok could spot it and scold him for being messy. His sneakers soon followed as he heard Minseok's noise of confirmation, as usual coming from the smallest room in the apartment which had become Minseok's art room.  

Luhan made his way towards the room with quick steps, a bright smile on his face as he spot his boyfriend sitting in front of the canvas he had been painting on for days. The painting, a picture of winter turning into spring, had been Minseok's baby for weeks, and Luhan could tell that Minseok really put his heart and soul into making the painting perfect. "Minseokkie~ How was work today? Did you miss me?" Luhan gently threw his arms around Minseok from behind, not wishing to cause Minseok to make any mistakes while painting.  

A snort could be heard from Minseok as he shrugged Luhan's arms off from him, going back to painting shadows around the trees in the painting. "Hardly. Now scram, I need to get this done soon and you're only distracting me." 

Luhan pouted but nodded, his arms retreating from Minseok's stiff form. Minseok had been in quite a bad mood during the last couple of days, as he always became when a painting was almost done. Still, Luhan always felt like it was unfair that Minseok seemed to have the right to be pissy at him when he felt like it, but Luhan always had to be a ball of ing sunshine even when he was stressed from schoolwork and deadlines. Just because he was still in school and Minseok was the one working didn't make him any less worthy right? He had the right to feel stressed and anxious too. 

Only minutes later did he realize that Minseok probably hadn't eaten anything since coming home and that they on top of that barely had any food in the fridge. "Minseok!" Luhan rushed back to his boyfriend. "Is there anything special you want form the sto-". 

Disaster struck. Luhan stumbled on a paint-brush on the floor and dropped to his knees, the coffee slipping out of his grip and splashing all over Minseok's painting. The painting he had been working on and treated like his one and only love for weeks. Luhan gasped and froze in place where he sat on the floor, before he got to his senses and got back up on wobbly legs. "Oh my god Minseok, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry Minseok, I should've been more careful. I should've-" 

"Just shut up Luhan. Just shut up!" Luhan froze in place when he heard his boyfriend's cold voice. He understood that Minseok was angry, but it wasn't often that Minseok would talk to him like that. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Minseok stood up from his seat and turned to glare at Luhan, eyes filled with rage directed only at Luhan. Luhan felt small under Minseok's angry gaze. 

"I'm sorry Minseok. It was a mistake, I would never-" Luhan stumbled, but Minseok wasn't done.  

"Everything is a joke to you isn't it?! Everything can be fixed as long as it was a mistake right? Well, reality-check Luhan, that's not how it works!" Minseok looked back at his ruined painting and felt his rage double when he looked at the splattered colors and brown splotches of coffee. "If everything you do are mistakes, then that makes you one huge mistake Luhan. You can't do anthing right, you know that? You're messy, you act like a child most of the time and you always get in the way. You never give me room to breathe and you never think of anybody but yourself, don't you? You cling on me like there's no tomorrow, but do you ever stop to wonder if it's bothering me? Do you ever-" 

"Well if I'm such a bother why did you even ask me to be your boyfriend? Why did you ask me to move in with you and tell me that you wanted to spend forever with me if I bother you that much?! Yes, I know I'm ed up and I know I cling a lot, but have you ever thought about that there might be a reason why I am like that? Have you ever bothered to ask me why I behave the way I do before you jump to conclusions about me, huh?!" Luhan cried, tears tumbling down his cheeks as he felt all the will to fight leave him. He didn't want to fight with Minseok, he hated fighting. He just felt so wronged and sad. 

Minseok sighed deeply and shook his head as if in disbelief. "I can't deal with you right now Luhan. I just can't. All you ever do in situations like this is cry as if it will solve anything." With that he stormed out the room to the hall, putting on his shoes and reached for the door-handle when a small voice reached his ears. "Don't leave. Please don't leave." He turned his head to see Luhan still standing in the entrance to the art-room, still crying. "Please, don't leave me too." 

He didn't think more of Luhan's words and in the blink of an eye, he was out the door. Luhan entered the art-room, stared at Minseok's ruined painting and felt his knees give out. Crawling into the closest corner, he drew his knees to his chest and cried. 

A 7-year old Luhan was happily skipping along the hallways of his home, making his way towards his father's room. A carton of juice was held firmly in his hands, a toy-plane in the other. He could hear his nanny calling for him, but he showed her no interest. How could he when his father was finally home from his trip to Japan?  

"Father! You're home!" Luhan exclaimed as he opened the door to the room he hadn't been in for months while his father was gone. His voice was laced with joy and delight to see his father once again.  

"Oh son, you're here. Have you been well?" His father didn't look away from the canvas he was focused on, brush working paint onto it with gentle . Luhan nodded anyway.  

"I've been well. I missed you and mother though. When do you think she'll be home from Singapore?" Luhan went closer to his father, watching as the elder man focused on his work. When his father tensed up and didn't answer, Luhan decided to not bother his father and tell him something nice instead. "But I did well alone too, so don't worry! I drew some pictures of our backyard with the pencils you bought me from your trip to America. And I learned to ride the bike you sent for my birthday! I'm really good at it!" 

In his excitement, Luhan waved his arms a little too wildly, small splatters of juice making it's way onto the canvas his father was working on. Luhan immediately tensed up, expecting to be scolded, but his father only told him not to do it again and then left Luhan alone in the room. Luhan cried. 

The following morning, the room had been emptied of all of Luhan's father's painting and belongings. Luhan's father never came home to paint anymore. Luhan cried even more. 

"No!" A 15-year old Luhan pleaded. "I don't want to go to South-Korea! Please, please don't make me go." Luhan almost felt like crying, but that would only anger his parents.  

"There's no use in fighting Luhan." His father's voice told him, void of all emotion. "You're going an that's final. You'll be able to go to a much better school there than the ones you would've been able to go to here. You're leaving tomorrow, so you better go pack. Now Luhan!" 

Luhan cried silently as the plane lifted off the ground. Not because of his fear of heights, but because he knew that his father had been lying to him. To his famous and busy parents, he was nothing but a bother, an useless son who was unable to become the artist that his parents had hoped for him to become. And so, Luhan cried. 

Minseok felt like utter . There was no other way to put it.  

Once the rage had left Minseok's body, and he had come to the realization of what he had actually said to Luhan back at their apartment, the guilt had immediately begun to eat away at him. How had it been possible for him to value a painting over his own boyfriend? He shook his head. No, none of those things he had said had been anywhere close to the truth. How could he have stooped so low? 

He opened the door to the apartment with an audible click and stepped inside. He kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket. He sighed. Luhan had probably left to stay at Yixing's house, or gone to sleep. But could he blame him? Of course not. 

He opened the refrigerator and peered inside, remembering how Luhan had talked about groceries right before the whole situation had happened. He was about to grab a bottle of water when the sound of a small sniffle caught his attention. He turned towards the direction of his art room. There was no way... right? 

He shut the refrigerator and walked, slowly, towards the art room, blinking as the last rays of the evening sun shone in through the big window overlooking the city. He shifted his attention towards the side and swallowed thickly when he spot Luhan curled up in the corner. Had he been sitting there for all these hours, crying alone? The guilt he had been feeling doubled instantly, drowning Minseok as he stepped towards his fallen boyfriend.  

"Luhan." Minseok kneeled down by his boyfriend who peered at him over his own knees with red and puffy eyes, silent tears still trickling down his cheeks. He made no sound though, only watched as Minseok closed in on him, looking almost fearful as he followed his boyfriend's every move. He definetely didn't expect the hand that Minseok put on Luhan's temple. "God Luhan, I'm so sorry. Words can't explain how sorry I am. You know I didn't mean any of the words I said to you, right? You know that right?" 

Luhan sniffled and leaned into Minseok's hand, causing the latter to let out a smill sigh in relief. He began to silently pet Luhan's hair, trying to show how sorry he was without using words. It was luhan who broke the silence with a small whisper, "I'm sorry about you painting Minseok. I'm really sorry." 

"No, no, no." Minseok kept on his slow petting. "Forget about the painting. You're worth so much more than that god-forsaken painting Luhan. So much more. You're my most treasured piece of art Luhan, you've always been. I love everything about you, all your clinginess and affection. Your childish behavior is what makes you so adorable and you're nowhere near selfish. You give and give without asking for anything in return, how could I possibly have the right to complain about you being a bit messy and tired sometimes? You, Luhan, are a piece of art, that painting be damned." 

Luhan gulped and let yet another silent tear fall from his eyelashes, landing on Minseok's hand which had found his cheek. He uncurled and let himself fall forwards, Minseok catching him with ease. Minseok held Luhan close, letting the other lean fully on him, Luhan's head right by his heart. He kept on petting Luhan's hair as they just stayed there in silence. The sun set behind them, but they stayed there in the darkness, the lights from the city outside working as their only source of light.  

"I was supposed to become an artist." Luhan suddenly said. Minseok looked down at his lover with wide eyes. He had not expected that. "My mother was a well-know writer, traveling far and wide to promote her books. I basically grew up with my nannies, all 13 of them. Nobody stayed around long enough for me to grow attached to them. My father was a painter, a really talented one. I can count the times we ate dinner together on my two hands. He was even busier than my mother, but he still came home every once in a while to paint in the comfort of his own home. He stpped coming when I was seven though." 

"Why?" Minseok couldn't help but ask. Luhan knew almost everything there was to know about Minseok's childhood, but he himself knew barely nothing about Luhan's life before they met. He didn't know what kind of person Luhan had been at school, didn't know when the other had even moved to South-Korea or what Luhan had dreamed of his future as a child. So many questions were suddenly answered, and it was almost overwhelming for Minseok. 

"I..." Luhan stopped to collect himself for a moment, the memory still all too fresh in his mind. "I went to visit him in his art room after he had gotten home from a business trip to Japan. I accidentaly spilled some juice on the painting he was working on. He moved all his stuff to his office the following day." 

Minseok tensed up instantly and Luhan could feel it. The resemblance between the situation in Luhan's past and the one which had occurred on that very day was way too clear to go unnoticed. Minseok felt tears spring to his own eyes. The words Luhan had uttered right before Minseok had left the apartment now made perfect sense to him, and it hurt to realize just how much unnecessary pain he had put Luhan through.  

He kissed the top of Luhan's head, his hand  Luhan's hair in a tight grip. "I'm not going to leave you Luhan. Never. I'm not like your father." 

He could feel Luhan nod against his chest, but the story wasn't over just yet. "They sent me here you know? I was supposed to be an artist like my father, and I was pretty good at it, but I wanted other things. They decided I wasn't worth the trouble, so they sent me here the day after my 15th birthday." 

Minseok let one lonlely tear make it's way down his cheek, saddened by the story of his boyfriend's tragic childhood. How neglected and lonely mustn't Luhan have felt growing up, believing that he wasn't worth anybody's time? Because if his own parents didn't think he was worth it, then who would? Minseok gulped down some air and squeezed Luhan just a bit tighter. "Is that why you're so touchy and clingy all the time? Because you think I'll leave you one day? Send you off and abandon you lie our parents did?" 

Luhan shrugged in his hold. "I guess that's part of the reason. It's just the kind of person I am, but I can't deny that the fear of you growing tired of me one day is there deep inside of me. I love you so much, and it makes me all the more afraid to lose you. Your words today really scared me, you know? I thought I had really driven you away when you left even though I begged you to stay." 

"I'm sorry." Minseok reached his hand up to take Luhan's chin between his fingers, staring deep into his lover's eyes. He leaned forwards, whispering against Luhan's lips before closing the distance into a sweet kiss. "I'm so sorry. I'll never leave you, I promise." 

"So, you were supposed to paint pretty landscapes like your father?" Minseok murmured as he watched the pictures scroll by on his laptop. Luhan had searched up his father's works online, wishing to show Minseok the artwork he had admired growing up. Now that Minseok knew everything, there was no use in hiding anything anymore.  

Luhan shook his head with a small nostalgic smile, causing Minseok to smile right back at him with curious eyes. "No, I was okay with the paint and the brush, but it wasn't my main area." 

Minseom then watched in bewilderment as his boyfriend jumped off their bed, opening the closet and pulling a mysterious envelop out from one of the boxes stacked in the back. Luhan then snatched the notebook laying by Minseok's feet along with the pencil, and sat himself down by their desk. Minseok giggled at Luhan's serious expression, causing Luhan to giggle as well.  

"What are you doing? Are you seriously going to take notes right now?" Luhan shushed him and threw the envelope at him before going back to nursing the notebook in his hands. Minseok, curious as ever, opened the envelope at lightning speed and gasped when a bundle of pencil drawings tumbled out. The pictures were all dated at the back, ranging from Luhan's childhood years all the way to the previous year. Minseok was blown away by the raw beauty of the pictures. How was it possible for him to have been living with an amazing artist for over a year without him noticing? Now he almost felt self-conscious for all the amateurish paintings Luhan had seen since they had met. "Wow Luhan... These are amazing. You have to teach me how to- Luhan what are you doing?" 

Luhan just smiled as he threw the notepad he had held hostage at Minseok, giggling loudly when it accidentally smacked Minseok in the face. Minseok grumbled but he instantly fell silent as he looked down at the notepad, pressure building rapidly behind his eyelids. "Luhan... t-this is..." 

Luhan smiled softly as he sat down by Minseok's side, looking down at the smiling Minseok staring back at him from the notepad. It was a little rough around the edges, but it clearly pleased Minseok, and that was all Luhan had hoped for.  

Strong arms enveloped Luhan in a warm embrace, and Minseok let himself fall backwards onto the bed, Luhan falling on top of his chest with a squeak. He kissed Luhan deeply, causing the latter to moan in surprise. When they finally broke apart, Luhan felt shy under Minseok's gaze, which held nothing but love and affection all directed at him.  

"Don't ever change Luhan. God I love you so much just like you are. but you really do need to show me how to draw like that though!" 

They both laughed and kissed again, falling silent as the basked in their own happiness. Luhan snuggled closer to Minseok's chest, and thought to himself that if there was anything he could thank his parents for, it would be sending him to the love of his life.