It had happened a week after.

It happened on the same day Yixing had finally obtained the finest paint from India and the best paint brushes from France, in which Kris finally agreed that it was time for Luhan and Sehun's portraits to be painted.

It had happened so quickly yet so slowly that Luhan himself was confused.

It was a Wednesday when Halmeoni called for the two boys back to the painting hall where Kris had Yixing set up an arranged background for them to stand in. It was your typical royalty theme with velvet red curtains draped down slightly covering a large window. The elegance of the scene 'only seemed fitting for the handsome young prince with Luhan's flawless face' (according to Kris' artistic judgment).

At the sight of it, Luhan thought of the first day he saw the royal family's portraits hung up in one of the grand rooms on the first floor. He still remembered the shocking moment when he saw Halmeoni's painting.

"We have to stand here for 8 hours?!" Luhan's eyes widened and Sehun glared at Kris as if he was to blame.

"No- well, the total time will calculate to be around 8 hours but we'll just be doing an thirty minutes to forty five minutes each day. As you can see, it'll take quite a while." Kris explains, setting up the blank, crisp canvas on a stand.

Sehun groans in annoyance. "This is exactly why I did not want my portrait done. A good artist would be able to do this in an hour!"

Luhan laughed nervously, "So, we have to stand here for however many minutes everyday until you complete that enormous painting?"

Kris nodded simply. "It may take more than 2 weeks. We also have to take the weather into consideration. The sunlight streaming in from the window is a key factor to the colors and shadows so we can only do this on sunny days."

Sehun ran his hand through his hair before he stared down at Yixing. "And what are you going to be doing? Artist assistants don't even do anything, really..-"

Yixing laughed when Luhan elbowed him for being rude, taking no offense in the younger's comment. "He's quite right. I don't really do anything but if there is anything Kris needs help with, like getting more paint or adjusting the background, that's my job."

"Oh, I see! You're not completely useless!" Sehun says sarcastically and crosses his arms.

"Sehun!" Luhan scolds, knowing that Sehun was just being immature. Yixing and Sehun hadn't gotten any closer within the past week but he hadn't been acting up much unless Yixing was around. Which was most of the time.

Kris had flown back to Japan to finish up a project there so Yixing remained in Korea, spending his free afternoons with Luhan and Sehun. Even though Luhan always invited him to hang with them, Yixing eventually began to decline his offers. At first, having nothing to do in such a large palace on his own, Yixing agreed to walk with Sehun and Luhan in the rose garden in the morning and read Korean books in the library after breakfast but after 3 days, he politely refused Luhan with an apology. He had gotten more than enough glares, death stares, and insulting rude comments from Sehun to realize that he was unwelcomed by the young prince. Not that Yixing worried too much about it.

In fact, he only laughed every time Sehun showed any signs of annoyance or hatred towards him. Yixing knew that those feelings weren't purposely directed at him, but only to conceal his emotions for a certain someone.

"Shall we start?" Kris asks and Luhan nods while Sehun rolls his eyes.

"Where should we stand?" Luhan mumbles awkardly as his feet shuffled next to the large window. Sehun followed behind him, hands in his pocket.

"Hm..." Kris looked at the couple. "Position yourself however you feel would be comfortable for now. I just want to get a good image of your features in the light, I'll adjust you two in a second."

Luhan blinked, trying to comprehend Kris' words. Comfortably?

Not knowing what to do, Luhan straightened his back and stood straight, directly facing Kris and Yixing.

"It's not a school photo Luhan. Something more casual." Yixing comments, hoping to spark some inspiration.

"C-Casual? Uh.." Luhan was stumped. What was considered casual?!

"Like this, stupid." Sehun says, half insultingly. Before Luhan could turn to face the taller male, Sehun pushed him closer to the window and turned his head to face the world outside. Suddenly, the warm embrace of an arm around his torso and the heat of another body on his back caught him by surprise.

"Seh-"

"Don't move." Sehun tells him and leans closer, using his arms as a support on the wall beside them so that it wasn't visible from Kris' view.

Luhan froze, body completely stiff. The skin ship was proving to be too much for him and his ears immediately turned red. His cheeks were puffing with a pink blush and his mind was going in circles.

"Is this good enough?" Sehun, turning his head to Kris with an annoyed expression. As always.

"Perfect! You've got some sense, Sehun." Kris smirks before clapping his hands and moving over to his easel.

Yixing watched Luhan's eyes wander, not knowing if he should look back, turn his head, or just keep still.

"Luhan, are you alright?"

Luhan doesn't dare to turn his head and looks over by straining his eyes to the left where Yixing would come to his vision.

"Y-Yeah,..I-I'm fine." He stutters. The warmth radiating from Sehun was comforting yet startling and different. The youngers arm around his waist was just barely touching him but it still burned where it did. His heart was beating so fast and his legs felt like spaghetti.

"Why are you so stiff?" Sehun ask with not much emotion in his voice. "Relax a bit."

Luhan released a breath he didn't even know he had been holding in.

"We'll just be doing sketches today so I know what position you two are in. I might adjust you two if the perspective isn't clear enough." Kris explains and the rough sound of the pencil swiftly scratching on the canvas filled the silent room.

Luhan could feel, or at least he thought he could, Sehun's heart beating ever so slightly along with his.

What is Sehun thinking of right now?

How does he feel to be in this position with me?

Is he uncomfortable? Do I smell weird? I can't tell a single thing!

Luhan didn't know how they looked from afar. Did they look awkward? Did they look like a real couple?

His eyes slowly drifted to Yixing again who smiled at him with a thumbs up. Luhan could only nervously smile back and at that, he heard Sehun scoff, almost like a growl.

Luhan thought to himself, not knowing if he should start a conversation. The silence was starting to get to him and he felt as though he needed to talk with someone.

Luhan waited a while but decided not to talk to Sehun, despite how closer their bodies were.

Instead, Luhan called to Yixing.

"Y-Yixing..uh..what time is it?"

Yixing check a grandfather clock on the far corner of the room. "11:37."

"And how long do we have to be in this position?" It wasn't that Luhan disliked the fact that he and Sehun were together like this, but rather that he feared Sehun was uncomfortable and angry about being so close to him.

Yixing looked at Kris' sketches, who hadn't said a word since they started.

"Looking at his draft, I'd say maybe...15 more minutes? It's the painting that makes the actual process so long. Today is a bit easier so don't worry."

Luhan slowly nodded his head, trying to not move too much. "O-Okay."

He had no idea where or how Sehun was positioned behind him, only knowing that Sehun's chest was pressed to his back and that his arm was around his waist.

After another 2 minutes of silence, Luhan spoke up again. "Aren't you bored, Yixing? Just standing there and watching us?"

At that, the said male laughed, bringing some sort of noise to the quiet room. "I should be, shouldn't I? But there's a reason why I'm an assistant and that this is my job...I like watching people, and helping them. I also like to watch Kris make a masterpiece out of a blank canvas. So to answer your question, not at all."

"You must have a lot of patience." Luhan commented in amazement and Yixing nodded.

"I just practice." His eyes drifted to Kris, almost longingly, and Luhan felt as if he had missed something.

"Okay..Sehun, move your head a bit closer to the window. Not enough light is balancing out your facial features." Kris tells them, sticking his head from behind the easel to watch his movement.

Sehun obediently did so and Luhan could feel him press closer to him.

"Yeah, that's good. Yixing, go adjust the curtain a bit..get it so that it'll show the contrast to their faces but don't block all the light." Kris orders and Yixing immediately moves to his command. Kris seemed a lot more demanding and in control while in 'artist-mode', unlike how laid back and chill he was when he's off work.

"A little more..just a bit- perfect! Good, good. Sehun, instead of resting on the wall, use your hand and hold the curtain to the side...great." Kris went back to his drawing and said no more. Luhan look at Sehun's hand holding back the thick velvet curtains. His eyes traced his apparent veins under his pale skin. He could almost feel the texture of Sehun's smooth hands and fought the urge to touch his arm.

After what felt like a long time, Kris stood up and stretched, going back from a serious artist to his regular, confident self, with a nod to Yixing.

"Okay, that's good for today." Yixing tells them and Sehun immediately drops the curtain and removes his arm from Luhan's waist in the speed of light. The warmth of Sehun's body on his left Luhan so quickly that he didn't realize how relaxing it felt until it was gone. By the time he turned around, Sehun had already walked to the door and was on his way out. Probably back to their bedroom.

Luhan sighed, relief and disappointment slipping out.

"How do you feel? Stiff anywhere?" Yixing asks, concerned, but Luhan shakes it off.

"Oh, no, I'm completely fine! Just tired, that's all!" He smiles at him, hoping that Yixing wouldn't notice.

"Are you sure? Is the position too awkward for you two?"

"Not at all..about the clothes.." Luhan drifted off, looking at his casual attire.

"The queen is getting the clothes done by a top designer from England so it may take a few days to arrive. Don't worry about it for now." Yixing tells him and Luhan nods.

"So, when can we see the final product?" Luhan asks and Kris walks over to the two of them, towering over.

"On your wedding day." Kris says simply, twisting his waist to the side and getting a good stretch.

Luhan's eyes widened slightly, not expecting that response. "W-Wha..That's like in a month and a half!"

"I know. It takes a while to get it done. The drying takes especially long. Since I'm using oil paint, which is quite bothersome, especially when I need to paint of certain details. Just the drying could total up to two weeks."

Luhan pouted. "I can't see it anytime sooner?"

"You could," Kris says with a smirk. "but I'd rather not show you."

--

Luhan returned to the room after the short conversation with Yixing and Kris.

"Sehun-ah...it's 12 now...what should we-" Luhan was cut of by the sight of Sehun coming out of the bathroom with a towel on his head. He had changed his clothes and begun drying his hair. When he noticed Luhan, they made eye contact before he walked over to his bed side.

"You're finally back." Sehun comments and Luhan didn't know how to take it. Was he saying it as if that was a bad thing?

"Y-Yeah..I was just asking Kris and Yixing a few things." Luhan clears his throat.

He watched at Sehun rubbed the white towel over his head repeatedly. "Why.."

Luhan barely heard Sehun. "Huh?"

"Why..didn't you talk to me instead?" Sehun spoke a bit louder. He didn't stop ruffling his hair.

"W-What do you mean?" Luhan shifts his weight, still standing by the door.

"Why did you talk to Yixing when I was right next to you?" Sehun looks to Luhan from the corner of his eye.

Caught by surprise from the sudden question, Luhan looks everywhere but Sehun.

"Oh! Uh- I mean, I didn't want to bother you and I didn't know if you wanted to talk to me. I mean, I did consider talking to you but I just thought you'd be uncomfortable and annoyed with my questions. I thought you would just ignore me and block out my rambling, since you were already stuck in an awkward position with m-"

"It," Sehun stopped drying his air for a moment. "..wasn't awkward."

Luhan looked over at Sehun who sat on the bed with a towel draped on his head.

"It...wasn't?"

Sehun shook his head with the towel sitting like a veil over his short, wet hair.

"You'd want to listen to my annoying comments?" Luhan asked, surprised.

Sehun didn't move from his position.

"I always listen, even when you're not talking to me."

At those words, Luhan lifted his hand to his chest, feeling the pounding of blood inside.

He couldn't hear Luhan's breathing quicken, nor could he see Luhan attempt to stop his heart from beating so fast, but he was just glad that the towel hid Luhan from noticing how red his cheeks were.

As promised, another chapter is up! ^o^

If you guys read the note, you guys will know that due to certain circumstances, I had to make this a Subscribers-Only story and generally, I don't like to do this because it seems as if I'm forcing you guys to subscribe >-<" I apologize for that and thank you all so much for cooperating! I have so much in mind for this story and I can't wait to share it with you all!

Leave a comment! Is Sehun already in love with Luhan?! Anyone notice anything between Kris and Yixing? ;)

Thank you guys for being patient and supporting this story! As always, your comments are the BEST! Jjang! :D

Saranghaeyo! <3 <3 <3