Summer can be absolutely frustrating, even more so when you are the only one without a tent in the whole market. The scorching heat steams out everyone's sweat and patience even when they have something over their heads; it is that time of the year where all cooling tools don't seem to work, and one can just sweat without doing anything.

 

Chaeyoung sits among a land of artists, stuffed in a corner where she is covered by rows of paintings and people. People can barely notice her from the entrance, but she supposed it is one bad thing for having free space to earn some allowance. She is sitting beside one of the largest stalls here, a corner on the side when the stall takes almost the full width of the market. Her upper body is hardly shaded when the left side is completely exposed to the sun along with her paintings. And the worst thing? There hasn't been a customer coming. She will not earn a penny at this rate; not when most people would walk to the larger stalls with more paintings to display. But before that, she is going to be tanned like she wore a one-shoulder piece without sunblock.

 

She leans forward and adjusts the paintings while sticking her head out from the shade, eyes squinting as the sunlight shines directly onto her eyelids. Even the frames have been heated up that scorches her fingertips when grabbing them. A thin layer of sweat doused on her skin while the heat continues to roast, making her sigh in relief once she leans back to have her face shaded under the excess roof of the stall beside her.

 

The heat also brings out the drowsiness, more than usual when she didn't have much sleep yesterday. Hell, she didn't even remember what class she had today! Her eyelids are threatening to drop the longer she sits, so she finally decides to take a rest since no customer would come over, leaning over to the bare wall behind her hoping to rest her nerves for a bit.

 

The cacophony of conversations and footsteps is the norm in this marketplace, so it doesn't seem too hard for Chaeyoung to just close her eyes and enjoy the busy peace, until she heard some footsteps getting closer to her side. She didn't pay much attention to it though, thinking those are probably customers heading to the stall beside her.

 

"Hey young lady, you got a customer." The ahjussi calls out to her, but it sounds like the most impossible thing he could say. Still, she opens her eyes just in case she really had someone stopping by.

 

And turns out he was right.

 

A lady is standing in front of her little nook, eyes scanning through the different paintings she had just adjusted a while ago. When Chaeyoung decided to start gaining experience in a local marketplace nearby, she made sure she has paintings of different categories, such as scenery, abstract, portraits, sketches, just so to show her customers her ability with handling each. Abstract paintings are her favourite, and what she is good at, for it has no defined object like any other categories, and it is the only kind where she could do it however she wants with colours and shapes. This is the only time where she could feel 'flowing creativity' when she is just using colours that came up in her mind and grabbing whatever tool she has with her.

 

However, her other types of paintings are not as good. For the opposite reason, her creativity would be limited to some extent when she is asked to draw a certain view or a person with normal colours and defined lines. Perhaps that is also why her classmates call her PicaChaeng, a combination of Picasso and her name.

 

So when the lady's gaze drifts from the first row to the second row, where she has carefully hidden some of the portraits she did in school, she is almost freaking out.

 

Seems like she has done her decision, their eyes meet as Chaeyoung waits for the lady to speak up. "Can you draw a portrait for me?" The lady asks, pointing at the exact portrait she was just staring at. Chaeyoung gulps at the request, what she had worried about the most eventually happened. Is it too late to tell her that she is not that good at doing portraits? But at the same time, she doesn't want to chase off the only customer after all this waiting for the past few days; Well, didn't she try to put out portraits as well just to attract more customers? And according to her observation, many visitors are here mainly to get their portraits drawn. So if she doesn't try to put out some portraits, she might not get any customers at all, not even this one.

 

So she decides to give a shot and grab her only customer who is kindly blessing her business with her presence. "Yes, please have a seat." Even with that said, Chaeyoung feels a bit embarrassed as her stall has the most exposure to the sun, and the lady is sitting down under the sun, without any complaints. She already feels bad to have her first customer suffering in the heat as she did.

 

While she is still thinking, she heard a noise and the sun is now blocked away from their heads as she watches the tent above their heads, where the ahjussi in the stall beside her has just extended the roof to her side. "Draw well kiddo, this is your first customer." He chuckles with a kind smile. Chaeyoung is surprised but mostly touched by the gesture, to be taken care of as a student, as an amateur by someone in the industry. She quickly sets up her canvas and looks at the lady who has just taken off her hat. The moment she gets a closer look at her, Chaeyoung is stunned by her beauty.

 

Her dark hair accentuates her fair skin, exquisite features putting together a small elegant face that grabs everyone's attention with one look. Chaeyoung almost wants to say that she is the art itself, and her amateur doesn't do her justice for that beauty.

 

Noticing Chaeyoung's gaze, the lady merely looks at her with a smile, although the smile didn't go up to her eyes. Instead, there is a sense of sorrow hidden in the eyes that Chaeyoung could vaguely see. Still, she grabs her pencil and takes a deep breath, carefully landing one followed by another, outlining the lady's contour on her canvas. In between those are short glances across the canvas, each time in awe of the lady's beauty.

 

She even thinks that she wouldn't be able to nail this portrait, for her dumb hands can never imitate something that is out of this world.

 

She didn't even notice that she has paused after the first few , her tiny head going through countless doubts if she could do this. "Is everything alright?" A soft voice comes from behind the canvas, snapping her out of reality. And is that a little Japanese accent that she heard?

 

"YES-! Please do not worry about it," Flustered by the sudden question, the young artist obviously seems too new for everything. New to drawing professionally, new to facing beautiful customers. As much as she doesn't want to show that, she already did and- well, she is embarrassed. Even words sound so awkward at the tip of her tongue, what is wrong with her? She looks like an absolute newbie (which she hopes the lady would not mind and kindly ignore).

 

Then she heard a soft chuckle.

 

She wonders if she is laughing because of her. Looking across the canvas again, their eyes met as expected. But Chaeyoung feels the heat crawling up her cheeks, is it because of the weather? Hm, must be it. "Is...everything okay?"

 

"Oh yes-" The lady stops chuckling but Chaeyoung could hear the smile in her words. "It is just my first time laughing today, in a long time."

 

First time today? In a long time? Chaeyoung can't explain the odd feeling after hearing that, but she feels bad somehow. Is the lady having it rough lately? She purses her lips, decided that if that is going to make the lady feel better, she would't mind (and her smile is cute). "I am glad I made you laugh then."

 

"I am not laughing at you, it's just that...you are cute." The lady adds on, making the artist blush without warning, hiding behind her canvas to calm down.

 

Noticing the other is not reacting, the lady tries to take a peek as she tilts her head. "Are you upset?"

 

"OH NO NO NO-" Chaeyoung quickly shakes her head, surprised by the lady suddenly looking at her like that. "I was just trying to draw you."

 

"I see," The young lady turns around when she heard some loud noise, who turns out to be the manager of the market reminding everyone that they are closing in half an hour. "Oh- are they closing soon?"

 

Chaeyoung nods quietly, being put on a race with time when she obviously cannot finish the portrait by today. The lady had come in a later timing, and this thought makes her even more nervous when she has only done the sketches of the contour and the shape of her eyes. She already had no time, and now she has been distracted severely here and there. "They are...but I-" She doesn't know if it is even appropriate to ask the other to come tomorrow.

 

"Do you mind coming to people's house and draw? We can continue if you are not done yet." The lady notices the hesitation and suggests.

 

Chaeyoung blinks at the idea mentioned. "I don't mind, but I probably can't make it today..." She still has to go home and have dinner with her mother. "Are you available tomorrow? You can just send me the address and I will be there."

 

"Tomorrow is fine with me." She nods while taking out her phone. "Do you mind if I get your number then?"

 

"Of course not," Chaeyoung recites the number to her before looking at her, finally getting to ask the beautiful lady's name that she has curious for a while. "How should I address you?"

 

"I am Myoui Mina," She smiles at Chaeyoung. "But you can call me Mina for short."

 

Chaeyoung nods to herself, her previous thought proven to be true when she guessed her nationality.

 

"What's your name then?" The lady asks in return.

 

"I am Chaeyoung, Son Chaeyoung."

 

"Nice to meet you, Chaeyoung." Another smile, Chaeyoung thinks her face must have been all red.

 

"Nice to meet you too, Mina."

 

***

 

The next day is Saturday. After Chaeyoung notified her mom that she will be heading out to draw for her only customer, she sets off to the address that Mina sent her last night. She thought it would be quite a distance, but turns out that she is only living a few blocks away as Chaeyoung follows the GPS, arriving at what it seems like a small townhouse building with four storeys.

 

Walking up to the third floor, Chaeyoung knocks on the door after confirming the unit number on her phone. "Mina-ssi? This is Chaeyoung."

 

She heard a few clinks and clanks inside the house after she knocks, then the door clicks open a few minutes later. The same face peeks out from the door but without any makeup this time. "Oh?"

 

She looks pure and innocent with her bare face, a side that Chaeyoung finds different and attractive as well.

 

"I didn't expect you to come so fast, I was going to put on some makeup." Mina purses her lips. Chaeyoung then realizes that her lips are a bit pale, and there seems to be some sweat on her forehead, probably due to her rushing around to open the door.

 

"It's okay, I just headed out earlier because I didn't know the way- but it seems like we live quite close," Chaeyoung points outside as she gesticulates, drawing out the streets that she came with in mid-air. "Just a few blocks away."

 

"Really?" Mina hums in amusement before stepping aside for the artist. "Please come in, you can wait for me while drinking some tea."

 

And so Chaeyoung steps in, curious eyes darting around different corners. The main tone of the house is beige, followed by brown as the decorating colour, shown in bits everywhere in the furniture and fixtures. The wallpaper is of vintage cottage vibes, with sunlight drawing long leafy shadows into the house which immediately reminds her of a cosy cabin in the suburbs. Somehow it fits Mina's image, simple, elegant, and warm.

 

"How old are you?" Mina heads to the kitchen after signalling Chaeyoung to sit on the couch. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

 

"I am 22," Chaeyoung looks towards Mina as she is pouring tea into two cups, suddenly curious about her age now she mentioned. "How about you?"

 

"I am 24 this year," Mina hums as she walks to Chaeyoung and hands one of the cups to her. "22 years old...So I supposed you are studying?"

 

"Third year in university." Chaeyoung answers while taking over the cup to her hands. "I am almost graduating, that's why I wanted to start gaining experience by drawing for people."

 

"That's something to be proud of," Mina smiles and puts down her cup on the table. "Give me a minute, I will be back soon."

 

"Thank you- and take your time." The young artist blushes at Mina's words and starts to look around the house again, this time paying more attention to the details.

 

The first thing she notices is the balcony leading out from the living room, and a set of table and chairs placed in the balcony. There are a few books piled up on the small table, looking like a reading nook with a view of the whole city. Mina definitely looks like someone who likes to read, which is exactly her opposite; she would always fall asleep while reading and she could probably count all the books she had read from start to finish with one hand (And half of them are probably art related).

 

When looking into the living room from the balcony, there is a wall of various decorations. The decorations are mainly mini dollhouses, with some books at the bottom as well. Then on the side is a small cupboard made of bamboo, painted in the same shade of wooden colour as that of the couch handle and the rest of the wooden furniture. On top of it are some trinkets, the most interesting one is a doll with a huge head compared to its body that shakes all the time.

 

Chaeyoung chuckles as she stares at the doll, imitating its action as she shakes her head, having fun by herself.

 

"I am done-" Mina walks out from her room to see the sight of the girl shaking her head while standing in the middle of the living room. "What are you doing?" She chuckles as she walks up to Chaeyoung, finding her actions too cute, watching the girl as she looks at her flustered and surprised.

 

"Just...thought the doll was interesting." Chaeyoung is even more embarrassed to have herself caught by Mina at this exact moment, clearing afterwards to realize Mina is in a different outfit as well.  A purple dress with V-neckline and bubble sleeves, floral embroidery extending from the waistline to the hem.

 

"I thought I could have myself drawn in my favourite colour," Mina bites on her lower lip as she looks up at Chaeyoung. "I hope it's okay?"

 

"It's fine! Since I haven't drawn the outfit yet," Chaeyoung nods, recalling the beige dress she was wearing yesterday. She can't help but compare, somehow Mina looks prettier in purple, perhaps it is her favourite colour for a reason? But then she is quite sure Mina would have looked pretty no matter how she dresses. "You look pretty."

 

"Thank you," Mina smiles shyly at the compliment and points to the back. "Shall we get our tea into the room then?"

 

"Oh?" Chaeyoung realizes a few seconds later before grabbing her stuff and follows Mina to a room down the corridor. They come to a room filled with painting materials, some finished paintings leaning against the wall, mainly painted in purple. With one glance, she could see purple skies, purple flowers, even purple mountains.

 

"You draw too?" Chaeyoung turns to Mina with wide eyes, responded by a soft chuckle of the other. Obviously she has just expected the older to be a bookworm, but not a painter.

 

"Just sometimes, I prefer reading."

 

"I did notice the books you have in your reading nook."

 

"I can borrow you some if you want," Mina pulls out two chairs before gesturing Chaeyoung to sit. "I can even give you some if you like them."

 

"I would love to, but I always fall asleep on books." Chaeyoung shrugs while sitting down.

 

Then Chaeyoung saw a cute frown on Mina. "What a pity, books are great."

 

"You can recommend me some books if you want, but it has to be really really good." Chaeyoung can't exactly describe it, but she feels comfortable around Mina, perhaps because of the way she speaks, the calm vibes that she gives- even Chaeyoung is surprised when she's not the type of person to open up to people fast.

 

"Sounds like a challenge I would take, I should probably go through some books for you." The two of them sit down across each other and Chaeyoung sets her canvas on Mina's easel (and yes, she forgot to bring it). Thank god Mina has one, although it wouldn't be that bad for her to go home and get hers, since they live merely a few blocks away.

 

With everything set up, Chaeyoung takes a deep breath and starts to pick up from where she left off yesterday.

 

She is more confident than yesterday, where her hand naturally guides the pencil to draw each on the canvas, feeling more used to it today. Or maybe it is because of Mina, who has made her feel comfortable and friendly despite this being their second meeting only, the artist lands her every with ease.

 

Mina is sitting still across her, the purple dress falling from her crossed legs, just a few centimeters away from the ground. Chaeyoung knows she is looking towards her direction, but somehow she doesn't dare to look into it, worried that she would be flustered by her beauty like yesterday. Yet her next step is to work on sketching out her eyes, making her pause in the track. 

 

She tries to sketch Mina's eyes without looking at it, but it looks nothing like Mina. Suddenly she is reminded of the difficult portraits she did in school, when she can never seem to nail the details. Maybe this is why she didn't like portraits. In the end, she quietly erases off the eyes and decides to start on the nose. Her pencil pauses against the canvas again as she takes a peek of Mina's nose, then the canvas again, the nose. But even when she had seen it in her head, her eyes and hand are not working together to visualize it out.

 

"It is okay, you can take your time." The voice is still soft and quiet, giving her a sense of security.

 

"I am sorry," Chaeyoung doesn't want to disappoint the lady, but she starts to feel bad when Mina is being so kind to her. "I am actually not that goo-"

 

"I believe in you, Chaeyoung. But you don't have to force yourself to do this, it is not...that urgent." Mina bites her lip, this should be half urgent maybe.

 

"I..." Chaeyoung sighs, deciding that she should let Mina know the truth even though she is the only customer she has.

 

"I can do this, but I have to tell you this. I am actually not confident with the portraits I draw-"

 

Mina hums quietly. "Will you be surprised if I say I can tell?" Chaeyoung's eyes widened as she looks at Mina.

 

"When I saw your paintings yesterday, you put all your portraits at the back even when you decide to display them." She explains calmly, stating her observation yesterday. "It was just a guess. Because when most stalls put out portraits, you put out other paintings instead. I just thought you wanted to be special or something."

 

Chaeyoung feels her cheeks warming up. "I didn't know you noticed that-."

 

"I just love to observe things." Mina chuckles. "You can let me know if you are not comfortable with it though. I totally understand."

 

"Can I...try? I just don't know how it would look like." Chaeyoung is thankful for Mina's understanding, feeling motivated by her actions that she want to return the trust.

 

"Of course you can." Mina smiles at her, the same smile that makes Chaeyoung feel safe.

 

For the next two hours, it is basically just the repeating process of Chaeyoung sketching and erasing, and Mina just patiently waiting for her as she stays still. It starts to get hotter into the day, and the sunlight is shining fully into the room onto the floor and Mina, but Chaeyoung's attention is only on the drawing.

 

The whole room is quiet until an unknown growling breaks the silence.

 

Chaeyoung froze when she heard her stomach growling. She clears , slightly embarrassed. "Are you perhaps...hungry?"

 

"Just a bit," Mina looks at her and stands up. "Should I cook something for you?"

 

"You don't have to-" Chaeyoung gets up as well while rubbing her nape. "I can cook myself."

 

“But I only have ramyeon here,” Mina tilts her head. "If you don't mind?"

 

"Ramyeon?" Chaeyoung almost shakes her head at the unhealthy choice, suddenly recalls a few quick and easy recipes that her classmates had told her about. "Are there any grocery stores around? I can probably get a few stuff and cook for us."

 

"I think there is a mini-mart down there." Mina blinks. "Do you know how to cook?" She sounds surprised at the younger one who knows more about cooking than her.

 

"Not a chef but, enough to survive." Chaeyoung chuckles and grabs her bag. "I will be back soon!"

 

And in thirty minutes, she heads down to the mini-mart that Mina mentioned and got some eggs, vegetables and sausages before returning to Mina's place.

 

While Chaeyoung is working on her tiny hands in preparing the ingredients, Mina watches her from the side and walks up to her.

 

"Is there anything I can help with?"

 

"Oh! Can you slice the sausages into bite-sized?" Chaeyoung looks at Mina before pointing at the sausages.

 

Then there goes Mina carefully taking the knife and slicing the sausage into round pieces, but in a very wiggly and slow motion.

 

Chaeyoung chuckles as she watches Mina after preparing all other ingredients. "The sausage won't move around or bite you, unnie."

 

"It's oily and slippery-" Mina pouts in her defence, eyes shooting deadly glares at the sausage that doesn't seem to stay still in her hands.

 

"Let me show you," Chaeyoung carefully holds her hand from the right, but because of the distance (and her short arms), she struggles to grab Mina's left hand with her left, so she grabs her hand from the back instead, leaving one head peeking over her shoulder.

 

"First, you must hold the sausage properly," Chaeyoung holds onto Mina's left hand that is holding the sausage. "If you don't hold it in place, it will be slippery like you mentioned."

 

Mina bites on her lip as she realizes how close they are, trying to shake off the thought and focus on the sausage cutting tutorial.

 

"Then when you slice it, your knife has to apply pressure downwards. Imagine if you didn't apply the pressure equally, the knife would not cut the sausage prettily. Since you have the cutting board at the bottom, you can just cut downwards like so."

 

"My knife isn't sharp-" Mina tries to defend herself.

 

"Your knife is very sharp, unnie." Chaeyoung hums.

 

"How do you know?" Mina purses her lips as she could Chaeyoung's breath against her shoulder.

 

"Because it seems like you rarely cook," Chaeyoung looks at Mina who turns to look at her. "And knives only get blunt when you use them often."

 

Mina chokes slightly in embarrassment, leaving Chaeyoung chuckling as she returns to the cutting.

 

"You just have to follow this a few times and practice, it will get better in time." Chaeyoung patiently guides Mina's hands as she helps in cutting more slices, almost two-thirds of the sausage.

 

"You seem to know a lot in cooking," Mina looks at Chaeyoung before returning to cutting the rest of the sausage. "Did you learn it yourself?"

 

"Mostly from my mom," Chaeyoung hums. "And only from my mom."

 

"Your dad doesn't cook?"

 

"He left us when I was still a baby. With another woman."

 

"Oh shoot...I am sorry." Mina stares at Chaeyoung with an apologetic look. She didn't expect that answer at all, although giving a bit more insight about Chaeyoung.

 

"It's fine, not that I remember him anyway. To be honest it doesn't seem too hurtful for me to mention about him when I never even seen him in person." Chaeyoung answers in a calm manner, nonchalant to the topic as they speak.

 

"At least you still have your mom. You two would probably...be very close." Mina tries to be careful, hopefully not stepping into another landmine.

 

"We are close, yeah," Chaeyoung's smile gets wider, but turns a bit sad later on. "She took good care of me, so I wanted to achieve something out of what I love, to make money as soon as possible."

 

"Is that why you went to the marketplace to set up your store?"

 

"Hm mm," Chaeyoung notices Mina is done with the sausage and starts to work her cooking magic while keeping the conversation going. "But there hasn't been much progress. My friend suggested I could lower my price to the lowest among everyone, but you are still my first customer."

 

"Really?" Mina looks at the short girl who is currently cooking noodles on one stove and stir-frying the ingredients on the other. "I feel bad but at the same time,  I am honoured."

 

"Honoured to be my first portrait?" Chaeyoung chuckles and checks the noodles before adding them to the other pan, stir-frying everything at once. "I told you I am not good at it though." Now Mina only realizes Chaeyoung is making some stir-fried ramyeon, which she has never seen done this way.

 

"I have faith in you-" Mina chuckles before feeling pain shooting up her head, frowning while pressing her fingers against her temples.

 

"Are you alright?" Chaeyoung turns off the fire and looks at Mina worriedly.

 

"I am...fine." Mina sighs quietly, biting back the pain while comforting the younger. "Just a headache."

 

"Do you have painkillers?" Chaeyoung watches Mina as sweat starts to form on her forehead, the beautiful face starts to distort. It looks worse than a normal headache, and Chaeyoung is starting to worry.

 

"In- the bedroom-" The pain only hits stronger and she falls sitting onto the ground, pointing to the corridor.

 

"I will be back soon!" Chaeyoung frowns and rushes out, heading to find Mina's bedroom while searching for anything that would look like a painkiller. Luckily there are a few pill bottles on the nightstand, and Chaeyoung grabs them immediately before rushing back to the kitchen.

 

"Which one is it?" Chaeyoung drops all the bottles onto the ground while kneeling beside Mina, watching Mina grabbing a bottle before getting some water for her.

 

Mina swallows the pill, the pulsing nerves are not resting yet but it will soon after the pill takes effect. Just that Chaeyoung has seen this...she doesn't like the fact that anyone else is seeing her in pain.

 

"You look horrible," Chaeyoung has never seen a headache this serious, although that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. "Do you normally have headaches like this?"

 

Mina doesn't know how to answer her, not expecting Chaeyoung to ask about it. "It happened...just recently."

 

"Hm, was it because of the weather? It was quite hot yesterday." Chaeyoung analyzes herself, helping Mina to get up slowly before carrying her to sit by the dining table. "Anyway, we should eat since it is not good to eat medicine with an empty stomach."

 

Mina doesn't answer her, but Chaeyoung provided her with an excuse to use regarding the weather. "Maybe."

 

Chaeyoung swiftly serves the noodles into two plates before taking them to the dining table. "Tadah, Chaeyoung and her friend's stir-fried ramyeon."

 

Mina chuckles quietly at the name, despite feeling her temples still throbbing. How can she be so effortlessly cute? "Did the two of you invent this?"

 

"Sort of? Since we didn't have money but still want to eat better and healthier, we tried to create ways to eat ramyeon healthily."

 

"That's nice," Mina hums. Her memories about university were way longer ago, but nothing really stood out to her as fun or memorable. "Are you having fun then?"

 

"I do!" The two of them starts to dig in while Chaeyoung continues to answer. "It's actually the best schooling life to me."

 

"Why?"

 

"Because firstly, we don't have to wear uniforms anymore. Secondly, everyone is minding their business and cool."

 

"The minding their business part sounds a bit lonely though, no?" She remembers the time when she was still studying in Japan; when everyone would distant from her because they were jealous of her looks and grades.

 

"At least they won't laugh at what I draw, or laugh about my height." Chaeyoung's gaze falls onto the food, murmuring in a lower tone as her thoughts fly back to the time when her high school classmates couldn't understand the abstract she drew and laughed at her poor portrait skills. Even if Chaeyoung told herself that she was cool about it, it hurt her feelings as her younger self.

 

Mina blinks, sensing something and decides not to ask further since it might make Chaeyoung uncomfortable. "Do you love drawing ever since young?"

 

"I think so, my mom said I used to draw on the bare walls with my crayon when I could grab crayons. And she had a hard time cleaning all my drawings because before she could clean all the older drawings, I would have drawn new ones on the walls." Chaeyoung's words made them chuckle together, but Mina's lips drop when she thinks of herself.

 

How nice if she could get a mom herself?

 

"Can I ask you a question though?" Chaeyoung suddenly looks up, cutting her train of thoughts.

 

"Sure, ask away."

 

"Is there any specific reason that made you come to my stall yesterday?"

 

"Huh?" Mina blinks at the question, definitely something she didn't expect Chaeyoung to ask.

 

"Because you are my first customer...I would like to check out what can probably attract customers in the future." Like a market research? Then she could see what can be done to have people come to her stall more often.

 

"Honestly...I was just looking around, didn't quite remember but I thought everyone would be able to draw a portrait and...the price you offer is more affordable to me." Mina answers after thinking, there isn't too much of a difference other than the price offered if assuming they can all draw portraits for her.

 

Hah, so the price technique did work, Chaeyoung thinks to herself. "I see."

 

"But you said I am your first customer, so that made it feel more special compared to others," Mina adds on.

 

"Do you think so?" Chaeyoung looks up into Mina's eyes, the two of them chuckle the moment their eyes meet.

 

"It feels like we are meant to be friends." Mina hums, feeling her headache gone by now, her smile coming out naturally.

 

"I can't agree more." Chaeyoung chuckles and looks at Mina as she smiles. "Are you feeling better now?"

 

Mina nods, the pill has taken effect and thankfully, if not she might not be able to enjoy her meal. "I am, thank you."

 

And so the two continues to talk and eat, just like they have been friends for a long time, before continuing the portrait session until evening.

 

"I have to go now," Chaeyoung looks at the unfinished portrait, satisfied with the progress so far before turning to Mina. "I can come by next week if you are available."

 

"I am not working so I am free most of the time." Mina smiles and gets up from her seat. "You can actually leave this here," She points to the painting. "It might be inconvenient for you to take around."

 

"Can I?" Chaeyoung grins and rubs her nape shyly. "But that means you will get to see the portrait before it finishes."

 

"Well if you want to keep it a surprise, I promise to cover it up and not to peek." Mina hums before grabbing a cloth from aside and covers the canvas

 

"Please do. I love surprises." Chaeyoung looks at Mina, still feeling a bit unreal at how the two of them hit it off quickly when they literally just met yesterday.

 

Then she heads home.

 

Mina is back to being alone after Chaeyoung left and changes into her comfortable clothes before preparing to get some rest.

 

Suddenly she rushes to the bathroom, blood dripping into the sink when she stands in front of it. She looks into the mirror, a stream of blood dripping down from her nostril. She sighs, seeming to remember about something. How long can she take it?

 

Without a word, she washes up and went to rest.

 

***

 

"Good morning Chaeyoung!" A blonde girl waves at the girl with a wide grin as she enters the classroom, eyes drifting between her and the whole class. "Has Tzuyu come yet?"

 

Chaeyoung stares at the girl, a recent follower who started appearing around Tzuyu before shaking her head. "Not yet, Sana-ssi."

 

"I will wait for her then!" With her bright and bubbly voice, she slips into the seat beside Chaeyoung, who is practising sketching Mina on her sketchbook. Yesterday she asked for a photo from Mina, just so she could practise and be more confident in sketching her features when she goes to her house next time.

 

"What are you doing?" Sana looks at the sketchbook curiously, while Chaeyoung covers the sketch with a small cough, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the passionate girl who is not really her friend. Tzuyu has a lot of followers, but that doesn't mean they would be friends with Chaeyoung to get close to her. Especially when Chaeyoung can see their true motives, it is even harder.

 

"Just practising." Chaeyoung answers briefly, not really wanting to engage in the conversation too much with Sana. At the same time, she can't help but think how would Tzuyu deal with her, who seems like the boldest person she has ever seen. They are like people from two different worlds.

 

"Ooh- she looks kinda familiar though." Sana caught a quick look but didn't say much when Chaeyoung covered most of it. Stil