The sky was decorated in a pink hue from the fluttering cherry blossom petals that were in bloom, they drifted in the wind as if they were searching for somewhere to belong.

 

In a large art gallery there stood a boy - he was quite tall, he had long shoulder length hair - he was standing in front of the paintings, absentmindedly observing the painting in front of him, his eyes flickering towards the description before moving back to the painting, the confusion was still evident on his face.

 

'Maybe I should've taken art instead of business' he thought to himself - he couldn't understand what the painting was supposed to represent or what it was supposed to make him feel.

 

"Insoo?" a sweet voice called out. The boy suddenly spun around and smiled softly, - "What are you thinking about so much honey?" the owner of the voice asked.

 

"Hmm, nothing much mom, I just don't understand art at all… what does this mean? What should I feel when looking at it?" the boy said with a slightly exasperated tone, his mom smiled a little.

 

"Ah… I felt that before" she said, wrapping an arm around her son to comfort him.

 

"Really?" he asked and she nodded a little.

 

"Just before your grandmother handed this place over to me, I knew nothing about art, originally your uncle was going to take over this place, but he decided to change courses in life and I ended up with it, so I was very lost… to the point where I ran away from home… I went to a town in the mountains where a friend of mine lived and I met your father who was teaching little kids how to draw and he started teaching me, and here we are" she said with a big grin.

 

Insoo smiled a bit, he always loved hearing how his parents met, he thought it was as if destiny took his mother to meet his father.

 

"I see… but I can't just run away and suddenly learn about art, we're having an open house again in a few months mom… I need to find a newbie artist but nothing in the portfolios are speaking to me, none of the art in here really draws my attention either… maybe i shouldn't be taking over the gallery's management" Insoo said a little hopelessly.

 

He was being crushed by the pressure to uphold the name of their gallery, it had been in the family for more and a 4 generations already and he didn't want to ruin all the hard work that had been put into building it to be what it was.

 

"How about going on a trip for a bit? We have a small apartment in a small coastal town, why not take some time off, I will manage with planning the event we have enough time for you to take a month to rest and relax a bit" his mother told him with a small smile - Insoo wanted to reject it and his mother could tell so she gave him a serious look and he gave in.

 

"Okay…" Insoo said with a small smile.

 

"Great, I will arrange everything, go home and pack your things, I will book your train ticket and bus ticket and send you everything" His mom said with a warm smile as she shoo-ed Insoo out of the gallery.

 

Insoo spent the rest of the day slowly packing some of his things - he had only once before visited the specific area his mom mentioned, but he was really young back then and he got sick halfway through the trip so he didn't get to experience much while there - it made him a little excited knowing there are a few things he has never experienced there.

 

Before he fell asleep that night he went over his mothers message which detailed his tickets for the trip. He was set to leave the next morning around 10 am, so he set his alarm for earlier so he could prepare for the trip.

 

****

 

Insoo woke up to his alarm going off, he hurriedly got out of bed and quickly took a shower, once done with that he packed the last few things he left out and then hurriedly left towards the subway. On his way to the subway he made a quick stop at a convenience store to grab a few things for the long trip he would be on.

 

When he got on the train he took his seat and got comfortable, it was going to be a long trip so he packed a few things to keep him occupied, he played some animal crossing for a good majority of the trip, he slept a bit in between and eventually it was time for him to get off the train and move over to the bus that would take him to the little town he was visiting.

 

The bus trip was only a few minutes. Insoo couldn't help but stare outside the window from his seat and take in all the scenery, a small smile played on his lips, maybe the trip would do him good, working next to the beach and getting fresh air in a relaxing environment.

 

As Insoo got off the bus the smell of salt in the air was evident, he smiled a little as he looked around the town, it was bustling with people, there were children running around and the whole feeling of the town made him feel all the stress slowly melt away.

 

Once he collected all his thoughts he proceeded to open up his navigation app and entered the address of the apartment and started walking in it's direction, he couldn't help but take everything in as he walked, there was so much to see he couldn't wait to explore everything.

 

As he got closer to the apartment he noticed something on the map that was guiding him.

 

Illusion Art Studio

 

He couldn't help but feel curious about it, so he made a mental note to himself to take some time to take a look at the studio, maybe even do some research once he got to the apartment.

 

It only took a few minutes until he finally got to the building, he searched around for the apartment number - he finally found it on the top floor, he knocked knowing his mother had arranged for someone to come and clean it weekly so they had a key.

 

It only took a few seconds before the door was opened, and an older lady greeted Insoo with a warm smile and welcomed him in.

 

"You must be Insoo right? Welcome honey, I hope you will have a lot of fun on your trip. I left my number on the fridge in case you need me. I also did a bit of grocery shopping for you" she said as she guided Insoo to the living room.

 

"Thank you very much Miss…?" Insoo trailed off a little, the lady smiled a little.

 

"Oh I completely forgot to introduce myself, I'm Taeri Kim, I'm an old friend of your mothers!" she said with a sweet smile which Insoo happily returned.

 

"It's really nice to meet you Mrs.Kim, thank you for preparing all this for me" Insoo said with a  big smile, he still felt a little curious about the studio.

 

"Uhm Mrs.Kim, on my way here I passed an art studio, is it open to the public?" he asked curiously, he knew if anyone knew anything about places in the town it would be a local.

 

"Oh the studio? Hmm it's open to the public, they also have a small gallery that displays the art work which gets made in the studio, if you ever need any help to explore it, my son work at the studio" She said warmly, Insoo felt a little excited but then again he wanted to hide his identity as much as possible while exploring.

 

"Ah that would be nice but I really wanted to hide who I am, everywhere I go most people know my family, especially in the art world… they seem to treat me completely different" Insoo explained, and she smiled a bit.

 

"That makes sense honey, hmm… have you thought about maybe working part time while you're here?" She asked curiously, Insoo thought about it a bit, he hadn't thought about that before but maybe it would be a good thing, he could probably only explore so much of such a small town and he would be here for quite a bit.

 

"I would be interested…" he said with a smile.

 

"Well they are actually looking for a part timer at the moment, they need someone to clean up the place as well as someone to welcome guests and students. A few more things but you will be able to get more information from them" she said with a wink.

 

"Hmm but will they accept me? I am new in town and they know nothing about me… plus I won't be here forever so it will only be temporary" he was a little hesitant.

 

"Oh no honey there is no need to worry about that, I'll take you and talk to my son, he doesn't need to know who exactly you are, I'll just tell him that you are someone who is renting an apartment that I manage, and I'll call you Soo instead of Insoo~" she said excitedly.

 

Insoo was a little surprised with how far she was willing to go to help him out even if it meant that she had to lie to her son about him.

 

"Are you sure?" Insoo felt a bit bad but the lady in front of him instantly smiled as those words left his mouth, she nodded. 

 

"Yeah, you probably know more about art than most people in this town, if anyone will be any proper help to him it would be you" she explained, Insoo nodded a bit. 

 

"Then I would like to do it" he said, he was still feeling a little hesitant. He never really worked part time before, sure he helped at the gallery but the most he did was check over artist portfolios to help his mother. 

 

"Good, I'll come get you in an hour, so relax a little bit and maybe have something to eat" She told him and he nodded a bit.

 

Mrs. Kim left right after Insoo proceeded to take his luggage to his bedroom. He decided he would unpack once he got back, so instead he went to the fridge, took a bottle of water and laid down on the sofa while waiting for Mrs. Kim to return.

 

****

 

Once Mrs. Kim came to pick up Insoo the two headed over to the art studio, Insoo felt a little anxious but once they arrived and headed into the studio Insoo couldn't help but feel awe as he was surrounded by multiple high quality art pieces, from paintings to pottery pieces.

 

"Mom?!" an excited voice called, causing Insoo to return his attention back to the world around him, he spotted a boy on the shorter side rushing towards them, he wore big round glasses and had fluffy black hair - he wore a white long sleeved shirt that had the sleeves rolled up, also wore a pair of ripped blue jeans along with a pair of black boots.

 

"Joong-ah, mom brought a friend who is looking for a part time job" she said pulling Insoo closer by the arm, the boy looked from his mother and then towards the boy next to her.

 

"Ah hello, sorry I didn't even notice you" the boy said awkwardly, "I'm Kim Hongjoong, I'm the manager and teacher at this studio" the boy said introducing himself.

 

"I'm Hwang Soo, I am visiting for a month and wanted to get a part time job to cover some expenses while visiting" Insoo said with a small smile, while glancing a bit at Mrs. Kim.

 

"Soo here is renting on of the units I manage, I told him you're looking for someone to help out with cleaning and arranging art pieces" Mrs. Kim explained, Hongjoong scanned over Insoo, he was curious who exactly the boy was and why his mother seemed so keen on him working there… but he also knew that his mother wouldn't bring someone who's clueless to the studio, she knew exactly how much the studio meant to him.

 

"Hmm, well if you're willing to work some unsteady hours I wouldn't mind the help, there is a lot of work that needs to be done here" Hongjoong told Insoo who instantly started smiling.

 

"I don't mind at all, I don't exactly have a schedule for my time here, so I'm sure I will have a lot of freetime"  Insoo said happily agreeing to the job, Hongjoong couldn't help but feel excited to have some proper help around the studio, sure his friends came around and pitched in to help clean up but he was majority on his own with all the work.

 

"Great, you boys, sort out the rest of the details, I'm going to head to the market~" Mrs. Kim said sweetly before spinning on her heels and heading out the door with a wave.

 

"Uhm do you have anything planned right now?" Hongjoong asked and Insoo shook his head as a no.

 

"Good, if you want I'll show you around a little, I have a class to teach in about an hour but there should be enough time~" Hongjoong told Insoo, Insoo could tell that Hongjoong was really excited about the whole things so he couldn't be happier that he didn't have plans, he enjoyed seeing other people happy.

 

Hongjoong happily led the way and explained everything, he showed Insoo where he could find cleaning supplies and he gave him all the details on what exactly it would be that Insoo would be handling at the studio - Insoo followed along making sure to memorise everything that was mentioned as he didn't want to mess up or cause Hongjoong any inconvenience.

 

"Then that's all for today, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning" Hongjoong said to Insoo before heading to teach his class.

 

When Insoo left the studio he couldn't help but smile, he wasn't sure why exactly, was it because he had the opportunity to see others make art first hand? Or was it the manager of the studio who was quite enthusiastic about his work, though he couldn't really tell he somehow felt that it was quite possible because of the latter.