“Good morning, hyung!”

“Morning, Sehun.”

“How’s our genius doing today?”

The addressed chuckled, “I’m doing fine, and I’m not a genius.”

Sehun huffed, “You are, you’ll see, everyone will love your work!”

“If they do, then I’m happy. I have put in a lot of work for this, to be honest.”

“And I might have snuck a look at them while they were being imported to the gallery yesterday,” Sehun said, touching the peak of his index fingers to each other in a guilty manner, peeking through his bangs to see if his hyung is upset, to his relief, he didn’t look like he was.

“It’s okay Sehun, you just spoiled it for yourself so don’t feel guilty for me.”

“Well now that you put it that way, I feel even worse!” Sehun bit his lips, wishing he could unsee everything but knowing it’s far too late. The paintings he peeked at the previous night were already etched to his brain. “I’ve got to say, though, Hyung, you have outdone yourself!” Sehun changed the subject quickly, his companion just smiled cheerfully. “have you recently acquired a new muse?”

“Possibly.” He shrugged.

Sehun gasped stopping mid-walk to look at him incredulously. “How can you not tell me?” He pouted.

“Don’t pout, it doesn’t look good on you.” His companion pinched his cheeks, cooing softly at the face he made.

“Tell me!” Sehun urged.

The other just shrugged, smiling again, “I don’t want to. I want to keep it to myself for as long as I can.”

“Chanyeol hyung!” Sehun poked his shoulder. “At least tell me if you started dating, I’ll be happy for you!”

“I’m not dating.” Chanyeol replied.

“Then what is it?” Sehun insisted.

“I’ll tell you when the time is right, I promise you, Sehun.” Chanyeol patted his shoulders endearingly.

“Fine, as long as you’re happy and whatever it is, inspires you to make such masterpieces, I’m happy to stay in the dark.”

“That’s the spirit!” Chanyeol called, patting Sehun’s shoulders again.

By then, they’d arrived at the building where Chanyeol will be holding his first gallery in Seoul. Up to that point, his galleries had been in his hometown in Daegu, his cousin slash manager, Sehun, managed to book him this place after several hours on the phone with various people, begging and crying and doing whatever is possible to snag this gig for him.

They went ahead with their day, Chanyeol giving instructions on what to put where, and a few hours later, he was already too exhausted to keep his eyes open.

The cousins decide to grab a quick bite before calling it a night. Despite snagging a good spot for his gallery, Sehun couldn’t do the same when it came to where they’ll be staying, so he rented a room in a hotel while Chanyeol opted for a rather expensive apartment near the place holding his gallery.

He’d initially expected Chanyeol to rent a room at the same hotel but the other insisted on renting an apartment so he can get his painting tools just in case inspiration hits. Chanyeol tended to make a small mess whenever he painted, for some unknown reason.

Chanyeol flicked the lights on, taking his shoes off, and before he even did the same with his jacket, he went straight to a table in the corner, grabbing a colorful box on his way. He stood in front of a rather impressive cage, containing several birds of varying colors and sizes. He sprinkled the bird food on the floor of the cage and in several other spots beside the food bowl.

In the far corner of the cage, he spied the small, unique bluebird he’d stumbled upon a month prior. This bird was the source of his inspiration. And despite it being so, he never dared even once to include it in his paintings.

As soon as he and Sehun had settled in Seoul, Chanyeol had decided to take a small tour around the boisterous city, ending it in a park where he sat down and did nothing but eat ice cream and watch people milling about. A few hours later he had decided to call it a night but before he got anywhere, he had heard a very interesting sound, he couldn’t fathom what it was so he just followed it until he found the source hidden in the leaves of a big tree, in the far edge of the park, and even though walking on the grass of this area was supposedly prohibited, he couldn’t help it. He was like an enchanted man.

He kept looking for the source of the