“Due to many invasions over the course of Korea's history, many Korean painters' names have been forgotten.”

The Canvas

Sei was drunk, she was lonely, and most importantly she was heartbroken.

How did she end up like this, crying on the banks of the Han River, over a bowl of soggy ramen nonetheless? Well, it all began earlier this evening…

Flashback*

First, her night had started off with her being harassed on her way downtown. A pair of guys had catcalled her, which she ignored, only for them to walk towards her and block her path.

She had finally mustered the bravado to go through with getting a tattoo and she wasn’t going to let two idiots ruin her plans.

“Come get a drink with us.”

“No. Please move.”

“Babe, where are you going in such a rush? Just hang with us for a bit.”

“I said move.”

“Aw, dude I think you’re scaring her.”

“She looks even cuter now.” They keep moving towards her.

She tries to move back, but she feels someone behind her. An arm comes to softly rest on her shoulder.

“Here you are, sunshine. Sorry for making you wait. I was looking everywhere for you.” When she looks up, the man beside her is rearranging his mask so she sadly doesn't get to see his face. He maneuvers her away from the guys and then walks beside her along the street.

“I was on my way to my shop and noticed what was happening.” He says after a short while, stopping in front of what she assumes is his shop.

“This is your shop? I actually want to get a tattoo, please.” She says. She had passed by a few times before, lingering outside, too nervous to ever actually go in.

“You’re in luck. This is the best tattoo shop in town. Do you have something in mind or any references?” He asks. He motions for her to come inside. Under the light, his deep red hair glows like a ruby.

“Will you disappear again?” He asks, his voice low. She didn’t realize he was still holding the door open. She’s sure he’s teasing her. She can see how his eyes have turned into crescents. She finally steps inside and heads toward an empty seat. She’s sure the guy must’ve caught a glimpse of her loitering before and secretly thought she was a weirdo, oh gosh.

She’s glad she put her mask on after coming inside or he’d see her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

She pulls a small piece of paper out and hands it over. He nods. She watches in curiosity as he sets his tools up. He reaches over and holds her hand, flipping it over so her palm is facing up.

“I’ll put on some numbing cream, so don’t worry about any pain.” He gently assures her after feeling her hand shaking slightly. He scoops some out of a jar with a small spatula and spreads it on her wrist, massaging it lightly with his gloved fingers.

Every so often, he pauses and glances at her, his warm eyes peeking over the rim of his round glasses.

When he’s done, he draws on her wrist with a marker that leaves a faint stain, akin to watercolor.

“Don’t tattoo artists usually use a transfer paper or something?” She mumbles. She had been binge-watching tattoo videos in preparation. He glances at her again, before focusing on his drawing.

“Mm. Most do, I guess. I prefer free-hand.” He traces along the curvature of her wrist with his thumb. “It helps me create a design that suits the natural flow and curves of the client’s body. What do you think?” He holds her wrist up.

She has to agree. It looks great, almost like calligraphy.

“You might feel pressure at first or like a pen is scratching you. Let me know if it gets unbearable.” His eyes turn into crescents again.

Sei is so focused on watching him working- the way his brows furrow, his fingers dancing along her wrist, the small bird tattooed under his ear that catches the light every time he moves his head- that she doesn’t register the uncomfortable feeling from the machine. She’s snapped out of her daze when he tells her he’s finished. He talks to her about aftercare, but she’s not really listening. Something feels strange when he looks into her eyes. Like deja vu.

She pays him at the counter and leaves extra as a tip for the job well done.

“Actually-” He starts but is interrupted when a blaring ringtone is heard. It snaps her out of her reverie.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I have to go! I’ll definitely call if I need anything. Thank you!” She runs out.

She was on her way to meet Sehun and Kai, her best friends since childhood, for dinner. Sehun had just scored a job at the art museum’s library, so they wanted to celebrate. Everything was going so great for her friends and she was proud of them.

But no matter what she did or achieved, nothing seemed to feel good enough. There was an emptiness in her that she couldn’t explain. It wasn’t loneliness. Her parents had long since passed away, but she had Sehun and Kai who were like brothers to her. And she had Juyeon, her boyfriend of three years. They had met at college when she was a freshman. He worked as an intern at a law firm now, and she was now in her final year. Things were looking up. Maybe that inner sorrow would finally go away. With this happy thought, Sei walked along towards the restaurant.

Life is all about timing and its clock has a funny way of winding.

As she rounded the corner of a popular open-air nightclub, she saw Juyeon-but no, that can’t be him. He’s supposed to be overseas on a business trip all week. That’s what he had said on the phone, just this morning when she had asked if he wanted to join her for breakfast.

Instead, he was here, tongue shoved inside a random girl, feeling her up in the booth.

“Business trips have really evolved, huh, Juyeon?” She calls out, holding back a sob.

“Sei…” He begins.

The girl turns her head and scans her up and down. Sei recognizes her as one of the assistants at the firm.

She doesn’t wait to hear any excuses. Instead, she turns and walks away, ignoring everything, including his shouts of her name.

*

And so, that is how she ended up here, at the Han River, drunkenly singing along to 11:11, and slurping noodles. She doesn’t know if she’s hallucinating or it’s the tequila she just downed, but bursts of yellow light start twinkling along the river bank. She walks closer and closer, chasing the enchanting light, without realizing she is on the rocks bordering the water. In her drunken state, she wobbles along, chasing the happiness those little lights are granting her.

A particularly pretty light twinkles like a golden jewel and as she reaches towards it, she slips on the rocks and goes spiraling towards the deep water.

Like a quick kiss of death, the last thing Sei sees before she blacks out is a swirl of blues and yellows.

II. The Artist

Baekhyun had been born to a rather wealthy and influential family. With the future retirement of his father pending, he was expected to overtake the family affairs. But, his heart had never laid in the world of court matters or scholarly things, rather it was colored crimson in passion for the arts. So he distanced himself from his family and moved to a neighboring town to work as an art dealer. This didn’t quite work out for him as he often got into heated debates with potential clients over the art he was supposed to be selling. Needless to say, he was let go.

That is how he found himself in the countryside, essentially penniless with only his art materials to his name. His younger brother supported him in his efforts and even sent him funds frequently, but he hated to inconvenience him. He did not want to be a burden. Especially since his brother was considering marriage soon.

Though he painted frequently to hone his skill and produced vast, quality works, he was not in the slightest bit popular. His brother would try to sell his work in the city when he didn’t have work of his own to attend to, but he had yet to have any luck.

Baekhyun lived his life in quiet despair. He wasn’t sure why there was a deep sadness within him that kept growing or why the villagers scoffed at him in disdain, often calling him a madman. He did his best to ignore them. He strived with all his heart not to give in to despair. Painting was the only time he felt alive.

All he knew was art. It was his happiness.

In the dirtiest corners, in the poorest cottages, he saw masterpieces.

He packed up his belongings. Often, he chose to just be. He would find a spot far away from the town and embrace nature in its purest form. He had been sitting alongside the river and the day was about to break. He could already see the faint light from the sun. But as he stood up, he could hear splashing. The river was usually calm. Has someone fallen in?

He ran towards the edge, careful not to fall himself. There was a slight yellow glow coming from the surface of the water. How he would love to paint it. Strands of hair floating to the surface of the water broke him out of his musings and pushed him into action. He took off his jacket and jumped in. He swam quickly and was able to reach the person. After getting a good grip on their body, he pulled them towards the riverbank. He hopped out, drenched and tired.

A girl? He gently pats her cheeks.

“Miss…please wake up.” He silently apologized before opening her lips and meeting them with his own. He puffed air in small bits then pushed on her chest a few times. He had heard this was the standard procedure for drowning victims.

It was the standard for a reason. Shortly after his last puff of air, she sat up and coughed out excess water. He patted her back.

“Miss, are you alright? You must have fallen in the water.” It was strange, though. There had been no one around him earlier.

Sei opened her eyes. Where was she?

“Where am I?” She looks over at him.

“Oh well, we are sitting along the riverbank currently. What brings you here, miss?” He asks. She had the most beautiful eyes, like the green seafoam of the ocean.

“I can’t really remember.” She answers, honestly. The last thing she remembers is eating ramen by the Han River.

“Can’t? I have not heard your dialect before. We are in New Silla. Perhaps you are visiting from Chang’an or Balhae, though both are quite far in terms of travel.” Sei looks at him strangely. She wasn’t the best when it came to dates and time periods. She remembered Silla mostly because of a historical drama she had watched about a queen from that period. But, she hadn’t heard of New Silla.

She couldn’t have been from here, he finally surmises. He would have remembered someone as lovely as her around this mundane town.

“Well, no matter. I can help you around town if you would like. Do you remember where your living quarters are?” He asks. But she can’t answer him because this is definitely not how she remembers the Han River looking, granted that this is the Han River and she didn’t get washed up somewhere else.

She shakes her head sadly.

“If you do not mind it too much, you may rest in my room at the inn. Hopefully, you will recover your memory soon.” He gives her his elbow so she might get up and walk alongside him.

“I am Baekhyun. What might I address you by, miss?” Such sad eyes.

“How insensitive of me. Did you forget your name? Hmm…may I call you…Saeyang? Sae for new and Yang for sunshine. When the sun was rising anew, I found you. There was a beautiful yellow glow on the water. It must have been reflecting off of you.” Baekhyun suggests. Sei nods. The name sounds nice.

“You may stay for as long as you need. The bed is all yours. I will rest on the veranda outside when night falls. For now, we should find you a set of dry clothes. I will return shortly. There is a bath area inside that room.” He leaves and Sei finds herself missing his company.

She’s wearing a skirt the color of dandelions. It comes up to her chest and is held in place by light blue ribbons tied around her chest. Similarly colored sleeves billow on her arms. This fashion was different. It’s definitely not what she was wearing before, but she thought no more of it and started her odd bath. There was no use becoming frantic without knowing exactly what was going on, she reasoned with herself. Baekhyun returned sometime later after having visited the flower house, where he was familiar with the flower girls, especially with one girl. She would let him paint her portrait occasionally, but once, she was sick and did not receive customers for a while. Gossip spread that he had given her an ‘illness’ (which was not true) and he decided to distance himself so as not to harm her reputation at the flower house. This was the first time he had visited her in months. Thankfully, unlike others in the town, she bore him no ill-will.

“Miss Saeyang, I have returned with some clothing. I will leave it on the bed-” He trails off at the sight of her on the bed, braiding her hair. A damp towel is the only thing protecting her modesty. He averts his eyes and strides towards the veranda.

Sei was so used to living alone, she went through with her usual bath routine. She grabs the clothes and runs into the bath area to change.

Baekhyun breathes deeply. Something is stirring. Like fireworks bursting in his head, an explosion of inspiration. Her smooth skin, her nimble fingers working quickly to tie her silky, black hair. A sight to behold.

“They fit. Thank you.” The clothes are in a similar fashion to the ones from before, but a bit tighter around the chest. Thankfully, he passed her a light top jacket from his little wardrobe.

Is this what it is like to have a muse? Just standing there, adjusting her clothes, he wants to paint her in a multitude of ways.

“I don’t have money with me right now, but I promise to repay you for all your help!” She says sincerely. The gears in his mind turn even quicker.

“There is a way you can help me if I might be so bold as to request it of you.” He starts.

“Sure. What do you need help with?”

“Would you be opposed to me painting you? While you stay here, at least.” His eyes bore deeply into hers, pleadingly. How could she say no?

“I don’t mind. I might not be the best model, though. I’ve never had a painting of me done before.”

“Surely, you jest.” How could someone not have had the urge to paint such an ethereal person? He quickly set up his work area.

Without meaning to, Baekhyun had found his first and only muse.

Saeyang was his fifth subject. He had painted himself, his brother, his brother’s friend, and the merchant who delivered his letters to his brother. Before, he had just wanted to practice and provide them with a memento. With her, it is vastly different. He wants to capture her in every moment, preserve her so she might withstand against time, never fading or wilting away. He wants to show her how she looks from his point of view, the beauty that he can see clearly.

*

They have spent quite some time together. She has yet to mention regaining her memories and he is thankful although guilty for feeling so. They live in a harmonious union. Sei has decided to stop questioning her surroundings and instead, allow herself to flow along in this surreal dream.

For the most part, Baekhyun keeps his inner turmoil to himself. His brother had put some of his work on display in the city, but he had not heard anything positive back. His brother insisted he was a great painter, but what did it mean to him as an artist to not touch someone with his art? His brother was his family; he was compelled to say something pleasant about his work. His brother still insisted, but he just could not believe it.

“That is perfect.” He says. Every time she asked him how she should pose, he would tell her, “I want you to be just as you are, however that may be. I will never get bored of whatever you imagine.”

Sei is splayed on the bed, resting her head on her hand. Her other hand holds a fan open against her knee. She admires the sunflowers he painted on her arm. He used ink, which she helped grind. Starting from her wrist, a sunflower bloomed, petals scattered to the top left as if flowing in the wind. The stem traveled down her arm blanching out into writing she could not read. More sunflowers decorated her neck.

She flushes remembering his close proximity to her while working on those.

“I still do not know you very well. Yet, I want to know all of you, even that of which I have yet to see.” He mumbles without thinking. His brushstrokes are quick and sure. He once mentioned how his favorite artists all paint in neat, confident . She wanted to tell him that his works aren’t like that. They are thick and different from the style of this time period. They are filled with deep ardor.

Sei gets up and approaches him. He mumbles sometimes, mostly to himself. He’s eccentric and not what she would’ve imagined someone of his time to be like. He’s passionate and raw and filled with a deep sadness that permeates from his being. She doesn’t know how long she’ll be here, or why she’s even here in the first place, but she wants to get to know Baekhyun better while she's here.

“Baekhyun, let’s go to the river and have a picnic!” She taps on his shoulder. He looks up at her.

“We can take some rice and a blanket and it’ll be so nice. You need to get out more…you won’t find inspiration if you just stay cooped up in here all day.”

He wants to tell her she is wrong. He can look at anything and feel he is seeing it for the first time, in a different way each time. A pair of shoes, a fallen leaf, just looking at her he has produced 50 paintings already, either of her or inspired by her. But, he does agree that nature is the best form of beauty.

“Why do you paint, Baekhyun?” Sei asks, settling comfortably on the blanket they’ve brought.

Baekhyun stops mid-bite. “I suppose the obvious answer would be because I love it. I have to paint. Painting is all I have. It is all I am. But painting also allows me an escape away from this world, too. It also helps me to share what I see with others who cannot see what I can. Painting is a gift. I want to share it with others. I especially want to console those who have been broken by life.” He puts his food down and lays back.

“You know, I feel like a great fire burns within me but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passersby only see a wisp of smoke. It is not like I would have chosen to be ‘mad’, but once something like this takes a hold of you, it is hard to get out of its grasp.” He turns to her.

“I wish they would just take me as I am.” He lays his head back and closes his eyes.

Sei lays down next to him. Loneliness and sorrow, she supposes, are felt the same in any time period.

“I can’t speak for others, but I can feel your warmth. Because of you, I find myself paying closer attention to the colors around me. Everything is clearer and brighter. Vivid. Like the colors embroidered on your palette.” Sei whispers. She doesn’t expect him to intertwine their hands lightly. His fingers feel so delicate.

I will fill this void with your endless colors. I will color the entire world with you.

“Baekhyun?”

“Would you allow me to pretend you do not have a suitor, Saeyang?” He asks, their hands now clasped at his chest.

“You don’t need to pretend. You’re the only one who’s interested in me currently.” She smiles, teasing him.

“Without you, I am but a colorless drawing. You, who resembles a painting from a museum, shine as brightly as the cosmos.” You, the new despair that could ruin me.

“Was that your attempt at a pick-up line?” Sei laughs.

“Pick up what? What line has fallen? You and your foreign dialect.” He smiles, a wide rectangular smile that for once, reaches his eyes.

*

“Just stay like that for a moment.” Baekhyun puts