I am trying not to stare at Ms Pink’s eyes when she speaks, “Kim Taeyeon. What a surprise.”

That makes two of us. “Ms Pink, how may I help you?” I ask. It is an automated response to any customer who steps in here and I thank it for saving me from looking like an idiot again.

She steps forward and I catch a whiff of her fragrance. It is fragrant. Veryfragrant. And seductive. I’ve never smelt anything like it. “I would like to purchase some body paint supplies.”

“Brushes? Paints?”

“Brushes. Body brushes.”

“This way,” I say and turn to head down the aisle. I wonder why a person like her would need to drive an hour to an art supply shop to get some brushes. Can’t she simply purchase them online or have an assistant buy it for her? “Over here. We have filbert brushes, round brushes, flat brushes, liner brushes…”

Ms Pink steps forward and I step back to make room for her to browse. Her eyes wander over the array of brushes and weigh in the appearance of each brush. She stops in front of the flat brushes and something about the way she runs her thumb across the tip of the bristles makes my hairs stand. The hairs on my arms I mean. She runs her thumb across another tip and I almost gasp. It’s almost as though she’s touching them in slow motion, the way her thumb barely brushes the very tip, slowly…deliberately…

I can’t breathe and I can’t stop staring. Help.

“I’ll take two of this,” Ms Pink says, pointing at the ¾” square flat brush with yellow-brown bristles and a black handle. I take two of them and follow her down the aisle to the rack of kabuki brushes. She’s in pants today which means her calves are hidden from me but my eyes find another part of her to admire—her . It’s art in motion, the way her hips sway from side to side as she walks. It’s hypnotic, almost.

“Our kabuki brushes have synthetic bristles,” I say as soon as she reaches for one of the short, thick brushes. Ms Pink turns to me and gives me a look that says she knows. Opps. I take a step back for a reason I do not know and she repeats her ritual of brushing her thumb over the bristles.

“You have good brushes. They feel great on bare skin.”

I simply nod, not knowing what I can say in reply. It’s odd and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. What have brushes got to do with bare skin?

“I’ll take two of the pink ones. The biggest size.”

I pick them up and look at her expectantly. Where does she want to go next?

“That’s all,” she says, catching me unawares. Four brushes? She came all the way here from Mona Avenue just for four brushes?

“Right, this way, please.” I lead her back to the cash register and ring up her purchases. I am scanning the kabuki brush barcode when someone calls me.

“Taeyeon!”

I look up and a familiar face greets me. “Max! You’re back!”

“I’m back and I’m here to stay.”

Long arms stretch around me and hold me tight. I stiffen in the hug. Ms Pink’s eyes are burning into mine and I am consumed by the need to extract myself from Max’s arms. “I’m glad you’re back,” I say while pulling away from Max and put on a smile. I hope it doesn’t look too forced.

“This is Max, my friend from school.”

Ms Pink’s stance doesn’t change and she looks just as intimidating, if not more, than before. “Max.” She extends her hand to him and he grins as he takes it but it soon disappears when they shake hands.

“Max, are you okay?” I ask.

His face is slightly contorted but he nods. “I’m fine. Anyway, I should get going. I’ll see you in school.” He seems relieved to be done with the handshake and unusually eager to leave for some reason but I decide not to ask why. It might have something to do with Ms Pink although I can’t, for the life of me, figure out how or why. Nevertheless, I complete Ms Pink’s purchase and bag the brushes. She takes the bag from me and our fingers brush past like the fleeting wind but that is all it takes to make all my hairs stand again. Why does she have such an effect on me? What kind of magic does she possess?

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