Track 11. AFRAID OF THE DARK by EZI | ♩ 

November 29, Monday evening.

Rara squeezed her knees as she breathed deeply. She just got off from her first morning shift—it was unusual, not being surrounded by Aejung and Vee, or seeing the clouds and the sun, the traffic, instead of the familiar city lights and star-studded, evening night sky. 

But the most noteworthy of all was here she was, in her art studio, sitting in a stool, right beside the Other Baekhyun. She’s been here a million times, utilized this room a million times more but it feels like she’s using it for the first time. Instead of the familiar surge of relief, because she was in her own Wonderland, she felt like she fell into the wrong rabbit hole. What used to be her sanctuary now loomed with a bit of fear instead of safeguard. Only a bit of fear, because Rara had the upper hand when it came to art. She was just mostly afraid of which cards the Other Baekhyun was going to pull on her instead of her screwing up her own deck. Art was her forte. She’ll be damned if the Other Baekhyun played it better than her.

In front of them were two easels, one blank canvas each. She changed into comfortable clothes—a white v-neck and shorts—before she appeared before her student. He got home first, since his work finished at 5 pm; another hour, and that was Rara’s time-out.

“You sure this is what you want in exchange?” Rara tipped her feet underneath the stool’s platform.

“Still want me to take you up on the offer to have a little me or little you?” The Other Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at her, his expression stoic and undaunted. Rara shook her head slowly, as if telling him ‘Don’t start’ and he chuckled lightly. “Yeah, thought so. Well, are you sure you’re up for painting lessons?” He asked cynically. “I could just work from home.” 

“No, I’m good.” Rara said swiftly. No more work from home for you, you imbecile. “Uh, honestly, I don’t know where to begin.” She confessed. “Nobody ever taught me how to paint, and I’ve never taught anyone how to paint, so…” She picked up the glass jar containing paintbrushes from the floor and took one. “...you’ll have to bear with me.” She gripped the paintbrush around her fist. 

The Other Baekhyun stretched his arms and yawned. “I’m sure I can keep up.” 

“I hope.” Rara said. “What is it exactly you wanna paint? Is it an obj—”

“A person.” 

Portraits. Rara closed her eyes briefly. Definitely not my strongest suit. “Okay.” She took her phone from her pocket and said, “Let’s try and paint a portrait of, um…” Her finger swiped through her photo gallery as she searched for someone she could paint until her eyes landed on a celebrity. “Um, how about, Ariana Grande?” 

“Whatever you want.” The Other Baekhyun said gruffly.

“How do you wanna go about this?” Rara asked. “Do you want me to demonstrate everything first, or do you want to paint with me?”

“I’ll paint with you.” 

“Okay, then.”

Rara sent him the photo of Ariana Grande that they were going to paint. She took a piece of charcoal stick, broke it in half, and gave the other piece to the Other Baekhyun. 

“I usually start by making an outline of the person.” Without further ado, Rara began to draw Ariana’s head. “It doesn’t have to be that detailed with shadows and highlights, but the placement of the eyes, nose, and etcetera has to be exact.” 

The Other Baekhyun looked at her sketch intently, and all the while he inspected, Rara was observing him and she took notice of one thing: he was serious. There was an alien glint in his eyes that told her he didn’t want to screw with her at the moment, that he actually wanted to pay attention. It made Rara feel pleasant inside; it was nice not to be anxious about the next arrow he was gonna shoot towards her direction. 

“How’d you place it right in the middle?” 

“It’s all about perspective.” Rara responded. “Look at your canvas and imagine Ariana’s face, then you’d know where to start.” 

Seeing that her apprentice was unsure of what to do, Rara got up and stood behind him. She was in Picasso mode now, and whatever ill she thought of this entity, she set it aside. 

She placed one hand on his shoulder and leaned on one side of his face. “I said look at your canvas and think of that photo of Ariana Grande.” She clasped her hand around his arm, the one holding the charcoal stick, and lifted it to let him see the center of his canvas. “See, right there, that’s the middle.” When he didn’t reply, Rara felt a little uneasy, so she turned in his direction, only to find th