When one of his teachers announced that they will have to do a pair work Ren figured out that for him it would be another of these pair works in which he does all the work on his own.

 

Not that he really cared as he didn't really liked to be around people.

 

Not that said people would like to be around him even if he wanted them to anyways.

 

So, as the class ended, the teacher being done explaining the task, the students started to team up, except for Ren as he didn't really know anyone, especially because that was only an option class. He guessed someone would probably ask him to be partners when there wouldn't be anyone else available so he decided to wait and see, opening a book and allowing himself to get immerged into the story he had to leave approximatively fifty minutes ago.

 

He hadn't planned though that he wouldn't even have the time to read a full page as he felt a presence in front of him and had to reluctantly withdraw his eyes from the printed words.

 

There was a boy, rather well-built, contrasting with his own thin and delicate figure. He was looking down at him with a sheepish smile on his face and scratching the back of his head, looking nervous and Ren wondered why.

 

"Hey." he said akwardly and Ren quickly answered, as he always did, the way he had to make conversations end faster.

 

"Hi."

 

There was a silence afterwards as the other guy didn't seem in a hurry to say what he had to say, still smiling akwardly and Ren started to feel really unconfortable.

 

"What is it about ?" he said rather rudely and the other one seemed a bit surprised at his tone of voice. His facial expression was probably not helping either. As time passed by, he had came to believe that people were bad. So he constantly had a mask-like expression on his face, to protect himself. Like this, people would simply ignore him. It was simplier like that. He had went weary about everything, about the simple fact of living, his life being like a colors-deprived scenery.

 

"I... Do you already have a partner ?" the other finally spoke and Ren raised an eyebrow at his words because the answer seemed obvious to him.

 

"I don't."

 

The other boy seemed extremely happy, the smile he had on his face streching into a bigger one, his eyes almost disappearing into thin lines.

 

"Then... should we team up ? I don't have one neither." he spoke again and Ren nodded. "Cool." He beamed, "Can we exchange our phone numbers so we can discuss about it later ? I actually have another class that's about to begin." and they did.

 

 

 

Ren really thought that the guy who had asked him to partner and whose name he had learned to be Baekho would be like all his others pair works partners, someone being there to decide the plan but then always too 'busy' to actually help. But to his surprise Baekho was really involved and serious. In the two weeks they had to work, he would always show up and accepted to see Ren even when the timing wasn't really convenient to him.

 

 

 

Ren was surprised that Baekho kept in touch with him after they were done with their task. He wondered why as he had learned to be someone strange and boring. But Baekho didn't seem to think so as he was always nice and always smiling aroung him, the opposite of Ren who was quiet and unexpressive, but they surprisingly get along.

 

Ren wasn't used to get close to people. He didn't want to. He was afraid of getting attached to someone and then getting abandoned suddenly. Why would someone stick with him anyways ? But he liked to spend time with Baekho. He liked that he was always in a good mood and he liked his eyes smiles.

 

 

 

One day Baekho was telling him childhood stories and he asked Ren about his own childhood and the latter hesitated to answer.

 

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." he said after a moment but Ren finally decided to speak.

 

"I... have been kinda bullied because of the way I look like." he started calmly. "The others children said I looked like a girl and didn't want to play with me, stuff like that. That's why I'm so quiet and not really good with socializing... I don't have confidence in myself." he ended, a feeling of vulnerability taking possession of him, wondering why he would tell the other all that.

 

"You shouldn't care about what they said," Baeko said after a moment, "I... like the way you look." he said and when Ren looked up he noticed the other's cheeks were flushed and he didn't understand why since he perfectly knew Baekho was only saying that to be nice.

 

"Thank you." he simply answered as he wanted them to move on another topic.

 

 

 

Baekho insisted for Ren to come to his place on the 25^th of December and Ren can't believe his ears when the other tells him he has got a present for him. He had always only received presents from his parents and family members and it never crossed his mind that Baekho had wanted to see him to give him something.

 

"I don't have one for you." he said, embarassed, but Baekho answered with a smile, gesturing him to sit down on his bed.

 

"It's okay, you came today, let's say it's your present to me."

 

"...Okay."

 

Ren noticed Baekho had placed his music keyboard in front of his bed. He had already seen it and he had learned that Baekho loved music and singing but he had never dared to ask the other if he could listen. So when he silently sat in front of the keyboard, giving him one last smile, Ren felt his interest grow. He felt like he was about to discover another part of Baekho and he didn't know why but he was impatient to do so.

 

"It's a song I've been writing for a few months and I wanted you to be the first one to ear it." he said after breathing out a long sigh and before starting to play.

 

« You came down from a rainbow
I wanna sing you a song
My heart wants to draw you, who is like the sunlight
I wanna go to you like sweet rain and enter you

Brighter than any other color, strangely dazzling
You’re so clear, I wanna wrap around you
With a color I’ve never seen before
You pull me into you »

 

Ren found both Baekho's voice and the melody of the song beautiful so that he ended trapped into the beauty of the moment, unable to take his eyes away from the other, mesmerized.

Why was his heart beating so fast ?

 

After a few days, Ren finally realized what he had been trying to hide all this time, even only to himself : he liked Baekho. More than just like a friend. He was nice. He was always positive. He was always smiling beautifully. Ren simply liked to have him around.

 

That's why he decided that he had to cease all links with him. He never wanted to feel like that. He shouldn't feel like that. He had no right to feel this way about someone like Baekho. He would probably laugh at him if he knew.

 

 

"Ren, wait." He heard that sweet voice he had missed so much during the past days and although his head was telling him to keep going, his body told him otherwise and he stopped himself.

 

"Ren, what's going on ?" Baekho quickly caught up with him and gently grabbed his arm to make their gazes connect. "Did I do something wrong ?"

 

Ren felt terrible for making Baekho think he could have done something to upset him when he was actually the one who had brought some happiness to him, little by little, like how a painter would add color to his black and white skecth, touch by touch.

 

He nodded 'no' and Baekho went on. "What is it then..? Is it because you noticed ?"

 

A shiver went through Ren's body at the other's words, yet he felt hot at the same time, the heat taking possession of his face and his heart going crazy. Did Baekho know all this time ? He didn't dare to look up as he slowly nodded.

 

"Ok, I..." the other started, "I know you're scared of getting abandoned and all but I... I really like you, so please, don't be like that." he let his hand slide through the arm he hadn't released yet, linking their hands instead.

 

Ren finally looked up, face blushed, confused and blinkling uncontrollably. "You... like me ?"

 

"Yeah ?" he smiled sheepishly, his face probably as red as the other's. "You said you knew ?"

 

"No, I... I was actually talking about me..."

 

"You ?"

 

"I think I like you too."

 

Baekho went closer to bring him into a hug and let a heavy sigh against his skin.

 

"Thanks, God." he said.

 

 

 

Despite having Baekho confessing to him and despite all the sweet attentions he was giving him, never failling to show how much he cared, Ren still found himself unable to totally believe him.

 

He couldn't understand how could someone like him when he was sure he was totally unworthy. Everything about him had always been described as weird, from his appearance to his personality and all he could do was agree with it, despite how often Baekho would tell him it wasn't true.

 

He hated himself for being so complicated. He was supposed to be happy, not to spend his time making the other worry about him. He was suppose to believe him. Baekho had no reason to lie to him. He had to trust him and he somehow did. But it was just too hard for him to accept the self he had learned to hate.

 

 

 

Baekho never complained everytime Ren would tell him he was a fool for liking him, sometimes even breaking into tears, completely confused. He would only take the other in his embrace, or gently his cheeks to take the tears away, waiting for him to calm down.

 

Baekho could understand. Of course, being rejected all his life, Ren would have become like that, totally unsecured. There was no way for him to blame the other about that. All he wanted was to be there for him until he would learn to love himself. And he wanted to do his best to help.

 

That's why, on one day that he had brought Ren home after school, Baekho decided to let him see what he looked like in his eyes. He stood up from the edge of his bed where they were sitting, the other following him by the eyes, and took something in a drawer of his desk. He hesitated a bit but he finally reached it out for Ren to take it.

 

"What is it ?" Ren asked quietly as he took the object from the other's hands.

 

"My sketchbook."

 

"Oh." Ren looked down at it. It wasn't the first time Baekho would show him some drawings or paintings, Ren always finding it impressive, but he had never had a whole sketchbook before his eyes.

 

"Come on, take a look." Baekho told him with an amused but somehow nervous smile and Ren did.

 

As he was going through the pages, his eyes always more amazed by the other's skills, Ren suddenly stopped at one of the paintings, his eyes widened.

 

It was representing a boy from side view, looking through a window absent-mindlessly. He had a small figure and rather feminine traits. He looked kinda sad but there was somehow something beautiful about the whole image.

 

"Is- is that me ?" he looked up, confused.

 

"Yeah, I," Baekho started, his hand nerviously scratching the back of his head, "I kinda liked you before we even did that pair work together. I saw you one day as I had stayed late at school. I saw you, like this," he gestured to the skecthbook, "and I thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen and I ended staring for minutes but thankfully you didn't seem to notice my presence. And then I drew the image I had in my head because I didn't want to forget it..." he ended his speech, drying the tears that had slowly fell onto the other's cheeks as he had spoke.

 

"Thank you..." Ren said after a while, and this time he really meant it because Baekho had successfully conveyed his silent message : « You're beautiful, Ren. Really. I just want you to realize it. » And when Baekho tenderly smiled to him before gently kissing him on the lips, Ren felt his once black-and-white-scenery-like world getting filled with colors again.

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ok so in this, the verses of 'Love Paint' represent Baekho's point of view, always thinking Ren is beautiful and all. The chorus obviously being Ren's idea on his relashionship with Baekho ^^

So I hope I didn't mess too much with this beautiful song I'm listening 24H a day, sorry for any typos/weird sentence construction and thank you so much for reading! Until next time~ ^^

(Credits to popgasa for the english translation)