The blinds being open (no thanks to Sehun) awoke a sleepy Minseok abruptly in the morning.

"Hyung, today's the day. We have a lot to do before the contest!"

Grumbling and rolling over, Minseok replied: "Like what?"

"Well, the cafe in the dining hall has a bunch of French food I've never even heard of! Like what is a 'croque monsieur'?"

"No one's stopping you from eating, Sehun. It's only 8:30. The contest isn't until 2:00." Minseok said, shoving his face back into his pillow.

"Suit yourself." Sehun said as he zipped his jacket up before leaving the hotel room and shutting the door behind him.

Minseok wondered if he was going to regret not going. He did have a while until the contest, and he knew Sehun and food were basically a couple. But, Minseok and sleep were also a couple. So, he decided to go back to sleep.

The next time Minseok awoke wasn't until about two hours til he had to leave for the contest. With a stretch and a yawn, Minseok sat up from his bed and then made it. He made Sehun's bed as well. While getting ready to shower, Minseok noticed Sehun was still out. He wondered if he was still eating or maybe got distracted, or lost even. I'll call him after my shower.

After a long, warm shower it was time to start actually getting ready. Minseok made sure all of his art was in order and in his portfolio, and that he looked presentable. Minseok found looking presentable difficult without his fashionista of a best friend. He decided to call him.

After about 30,000 rings, Sehun hadn't responded. Minseok was starting to worry, so he headed down to the lobby. No sign of Sehun there. Then he remembered what Sehun said about the dining hall, and sprinted to the elevator in the lobby. He leaned against the wall of the elevator on his way up to the dining hall, feeling tired and out of breath. I should really work out more huh..

The elevator dinged, and Minseok twitched at the loud noise. When the doors opened, his eyes were glued onto the boy who stepped inside. He was taller than Minseok, and had beautifully soft looking golden locks of hair. His eyes were brown and reminiscent of a deer, and his lips were perfectly pink. Minseok instantly felt his insides vibrating, and he honestly felt something along the lines of car sick and feverish. 

The boy seemed to notice Minseok as well, and gave a small nod in his direction as he stood next to him.

The ride was quiet, too quiet. Minseok almost wanted to get off at the floor that wasn't his just so he could dismiss the awkward tension between them.

"Going somewhere important?" The silence broke with that simple question, from the doe eyed boy himself.

"Uh yeah...actually...I have this thing...art thing and I'm going to meet my friend." Minseok said, mentally patting himself on the back for getting all the words out without stuttering TOO much. The boy smiled in response.

"Me too. I entered myself into an art competition last week. I never have been confident in my work, but I thought I might as well try."

"I'm sure you'll do great. I think we'll both do our very best." Minseok said, turning his face from the boy to scold himself internally for sounding like a moron.

"Anyways, this is my floor, good luck with your art thing." The boy said with a smile and a wave as he practically glided past the doors of the elevator. Minseok let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"Hyung! There you are!" A running Sehun said as he noticed Minseok in the elevator, noticing his flustered appearance instantly.

"Was he cute?"

"Very."

The ride to the building where the contest was being held was a 45 minute drive, and Sehun talked Minseok's ear off about this boy he met at the dining hall. Apparently, his name was Baekhyun and he was also attending the contest. Sehun went on and on about how his drawings of abandoned buildings and dead birds he saw on the ground were haunting and dark and it made Minseok feel nervous. His drawings weren't dark or haunting. They were very basic things: An old coffee cup his grandma had given to his mother when she was in her 20's, a probably redundant-in-art drawing of Seoul at night time, and a carousel (among other truly tragic pieces). Minseok definitely regretted not drawing things out of his comfort zone, to be unique and original. He was just Kim Minseok, an average artist who drew things without meaning.

"I can tell your nervous you know. If you want to win, you can't let nerves show." Sehun said, putting his hand on Minseok's, and tightening his grip to make his friend feel more at ease.

"Plus your drawing is incredible, if you I wouldn't of signed you up for this contest."

"Even if it meant not going to Paris?" Minseok said, eyes still looking directly in front of him.

"Even if it meant not going to Paris."

The contest itself was actually being held in another hotel, much to Sehun's excitement. He made his way to the cafeteria while Minseok stood still in the lobby, portfolio in hand. Everything seemed so surreal, all of the paintings and drawings by the 100 contestants. Minseok found himself lost in one picture in particular, a drawing that had Minseok questioning what he was even looking at. After a few minutes however, Minseok realized what he was looking at was a painting derived from Animism. A beautiful and original piece that some might enjoy and others might be confused by. But for some reason, Minseok felt blissful looking at it. He noticed the portfolio placed on the table in front of the painting, and flipped through it. There were beautiful paintings from things as simple as the ocean, but in each were what seemed almost like a message, a distortion in the paintings that really made you ponder the artist's mindset while creating such work. He closed the portfolio to reveal the name of it's creator: Luhan.

Minseok was interuppted in deep thought when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"That one's about being lost at sea, and surviving for a long time without food and clean water. The sky is blurry and almost nonexistent because of the toll being stranded has on you. It was my first painting, and I drew it while struggling with an eating disorder. My therapist told me: 'Just draw what you feel.' and I did. I felt lost at sea without resources to save me."

Minseok felt his eyes tearing up, but shook the feeling away when he realized the creator, Luhan, was the boy from the elevator. And suddenly they were critiquing each other's work and laughing about how nervous they were to even show up at the contest in the first place. Minseok felt like it was like a re-introduction to eachother's lives, through art, and after talking to Luhan, looking at Luhan, and getting to know the real Luhan, Minseok wasn't nervous anymore.

A/n: Holy hell this fic has a mind of it's own. I honestly was gonna try my best to end it with a two shot, but it looks like we're heading into a third! I haven't gotten much feedback on any of my stuff yet, so if you could please leave a comment I'd be forever grateful!

-Connor

p.s: The painting used for Luhan is a piece by Mark Henson.