Jongin sighed, placing two fingers on each side of his head as he massaged thoroughly. He had the worst migraine anyone could even think of having, and it didn't help to take a look at the portrait that had just been drawn. It was absolutely stunning, as the tactics that had been used to complete it were so thought out. It almost seemed as if Sehun poured his entire soul into the portrait, and he bit his lip as his eyes met with the signature that was written directly under Jongin's ear; his scripted name and the date the piece of artwork had been made.

His heart broke at the thought of all of this being forced, and the amount of guilt that threw weight onto his shoulders was overly tiresome. All Jongin wanted to do was go back to his friends and show off his new drawing, though he rolled his eyes as his next destination was whatever class he had at this time on his schedule.

In hopes of not being too late, his converse squeaked against the waxed floor as he sprinted across the wing to reach the classroom. His breaths became shorter and shorter as a result of the distance he ran, eventually meeting up with the classroom door as his fist shakily knocked.

"Kim Jongin," Professor Lim raised an eyebrow at the breathless boy. "Can you explain yourself or will I have to mark you tardy?"

"I'm late, I'm late. Please, I need to sit down." Jongin choked out his words, letting his left arm dangle aimlessly with the piece of paper trapped between his fingers as his right arm rested against his bent knees.

The elder woman scoffed at the sight of the crippling student, her eyes meeting with the portrait. "What's that in your hand?"

"Ah, it's nothing-"

"My goodness, this is beautiful!" She beamed at the artwork, snatching it from the boy's hand to hold the paper at the same level as her eyes, her arms completely outstretched in front of her face. "Did you draw this?!"

"No, a friend did-"

"Oh... Sehun..." She dragged her words as she read the penciled signature.

Jongin huffed as a wave of murmurs and whispers overtook the quiet classroom, his body standing upright after he had finally regained his strength. His eyes met with a familiar face, Tao, and his expression lit up as he finally found someone trustworthy he could talk to.

Tao was a chinese exchange student that was distinctively a social butterfly, and it took a lot to make him concerned for you or unhappy. However, He was harshly glaring in Jongin's direction and his arms were crossed over his chest, gesturing the breathless boy with his eyes to sit in the empty seat next to him.

"What on earth were you thinking?" The younger snapped. "Christ, Jongin, I never would've expected this from you."

Jongin placed two fingers at the bridge of his nose, exhaling with utter annoyance. "It's not my fault. Junmyeon told me to do it."

"It's always Junmyeon. Junmyeon this, Junmyeon that. When are you gonna learn to own up and cut him off?" He lectured.

"And since when have you gotten so feisty?" Jongin chuckled, slightly shaking his head. "I don't need to own up to anything. I'm just waiting for the day he learns to become a better person-"

"You need to stop being so optimistic. That won't happen, you know how things have been since Yifan left." Tao tersely cut off the younger. "And besides, he doesn't own you. You can make decisions for yourself, you know."

"I know, I know. And I absolutely would've turned down his command but I just...couldn't." Jongin stared blankly at his hands while speaking, his toes tapping nervously on the carpeted flooring.

The younger boy huffed, laying a hand on Jongin's back in a comforting manner. "You need to talk to me. This isn't like you, especially the fact that you agreed to have a portrait of you drawn by the one and only Sehun. That boy... He probably would've killed you if he knew he wasn't going to lose his spot in the university."

"And this is exactly the problem with everyone. All we do is judge, and for your information, that poor kid is just as scared as us. He's in a whole lot of pain if you were to ask me." The brunette frowned and Tao rolled his eyes.

"Oh look, now he's getting into your head." He mocked, earning a frown in return. "What even gave you the motivation to say all of this?"

Jongin glanced at his drawing one last time, picking it up from the table he was currently sitting at and slipping it into the small bag he strapped over his shoulders. "My only motivation is the amount of ignorance everyone seems to have. I'd bet you one billion won you've never even talked to Sehun. You just like to go around and listen to what other ignorant people have to say about him and you go with it because that's the kind of person you are. That's the kind of person everyone is."

Tao was speechless at the amount of heat that had been released from Jongin's mouth, and kept himself silent for a few moments as he waited to reply to such a comment. But soon enough, his lips parted and his face grew stern. "Why did Junmyeon hyung even ask you specifically to be Sehun's muse?"

The older thought for a moment, biting his lip as he couldn't think of what to say in return. He didn't know how to answer the question, let alone even knowing the answer.

"I-I don't know, I don't think he chose me for any specific reason. He probably did it because he wanted to make me dread something, since he seems to love taking his anger out on me and the rest of our group." Jongin spoke, in which he was gradually becoming more confident in his answer.

It had to be true, since Junmyeon has been in such a bad state since the incident. There's no other logical reason on why the cold leader would ask such a weird and unwilling request, and Jongin knew that.

His teeth gritted as he turned away from Tao, facing the brightly lit projector in an attempt of avoiding his friend's smart remark.

"All I want to know is why you would even agree to something like that-"

"Because I had to!" Jongin spoke loudly as heads turned to face the direction of the two boys, his jaw clenching at the sudden amounts of attention. "I just had to."

"Jongin and Zitao, do you need a moment in the hallway?" Professor Lim cleared as she paused her lesson.

"He doesn't, but I do." The youngest swallowed, looking at Tao and back at the teacher in a distressful manner. "Can I be excused?"

The elder woman nodded slowly and Jongin took a breath of relief, the paper still tightly grasped between his fingers and his body swiftly rising from the chair he felt trapped in. He diligently exited the room, and he began a slight jogging motion once he had entered the familiarly empty hallway.

His hand reached into the back pocket of his jeans as he was in search for his cellphone, his body completely firming up at the sudden attack of his friend's presence.

"Jongin, did you get the drawing?" Junmyeon joyfully asked and Jongin placed his right hand over his heart out of fear.

"Jesus, you scared me." He gasped. "And yes, it's right here. I was just about to text you."

The older boy seemed abnormally happy as he retrieved the drawing from Jongin's hand, his jaw dangling lowly in utter shock. "I-It looks just like the other ones. This is crazy, they're so good."

"What do you mean 'other ones'?" The younger tilted his head in a puzzled manner, his hand reaching forward to grab the piece from Junmyeon's hand.

"This isn't the first time Sehun has drawn you, idiot." He chuckled. "He had whole page of portraits drawn of you. I signaled Chanyeol to take pictures while I was flipping through the book, especially of ones like these."

Junmyeon carefully handed the drawing back to the rightful owner as Jongin was speechless, watching the elder open his phone to reveal a photo of the portraits. The younger gulped at the sight of the incredibly skillful drawings, and a sudden wave of longing overtook him as all he wanted to do was talk it out with Sehun. He wanted to make things right, and he wanted to know the reasoning behind this awkward yet mesmerizing art.