As it got closer to 4pm, Hongjoong and Insoo closed up the studio after cleaning up. The two walked down to the beach, they made small talk as they walked. Hongjoong pointed out the now closed bakery where Wooyoung worked and when the two got to the beach Insoo was quite in awe of the landscape in front of him.

 

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?" Hongjoong said with a smile when he saw Insoo's reaction.

 

"It really is~ I've never seen anything like this" he said, not being able to tear his eyes away from the ocean, Hongjoong could only smile and shake his head a little, Insoo always seemed quite far away as if he could never be reached fully or that he was keeping himself at a distance, but in that moment seeing him just mindlessly amazed by something as simple as the ocean made it seem whatever wall kept everyone at a distance suddenly disappeared.

 

"Hongjoongie hyung!!" A voice called out breaking the two from their moment, Hongjoong spun around and to see who was calling out to him, he smiled a little when he saw a familiar face, turning to Insoo with a smile.

 

"We should go in now, it seems like everyone's waiting for us" Hongjoong said and Insoo nodded.

 

The two started walking towards the restaurant, but Insoo couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at the scene he was leaving behind.

 

Once they entered the restaurant Insoo was a little taken aback, it was empty aside from a table with 7 boys waiting for them, and they were all smiling warmly when they saw him and Hongjoong enter.

 

When they got to the table everyone got up.

 

"Soo these are my friends, you already met Wooyoung and Seonghwa earlier today so here are the remaining five~" Hongjoong said smiling.

 

"On your right we have Yunho, Mingi and Yeosang and here on the left is San and Jongho, you will probably see them around town as they work around town" Hongjoong introduced his friends in Insoo, they all gave him warm hello's in return.

 

"And guys this is my new helper, he will be joining us for only a month here but let's make him feel welcome, this is Soo" Hongjoong finally introduced Insoo to everyone.

 

Soon after everyone started eating, Insoo was having so much fun he forgot about everything that had been on his mind for the past month, slowly but surely he just switched off from his reality as Hwan Insoo and fully took on Soo the part timer who came to the little town on vacation.

 

****

 

Once they were done with dinner the sun was setting already, so they all made their way over to the beach and took a seat enjoying the view while chatting with one another. They were all a little curious about Insoo so they asked him anything that came to mind.

 

"Soo hyung, what made you come here? Our town is quite small so we don't have a lot of people coming or going quite often, especially this time of year" San asked curiously, Insoo thought for a little, he didn't want to lie to them but telling the truth would also probably make it awkward if Hongjoong found out since their mothers are friends.

 

"Hmm… I was working on a big project back home and things just got really stressful, the project can ruin my mom's reputation if it goes wrong and i'm quite clueless about everything surrounding it… so my mother told me about this place, she visits here when he feels overwhelmed and told me to come and relax while she took on the bulk of the project" Insoo tried to explain without giving away to much, he also didn't want to come off as a rich kid who throws his parents money around… he just wanted people to see him as who he truly was.

 

"The wonderful pressure of work" Yunho chimed, "Especially when you work with your parents because you don't want to disappoint them" Yunho said with a small smile, it was almost in a knowing tone which made Insoo quite curious about the boy's background.

 

Once the sun had set the boys started splitting up, Seonghwa and Yeosang went back to the restaurant to clean up and close, Wooyoung, San and Jongho went back to their apartment since they had to be up early for the bakery, Yunho and Mingi decided to stay a little longer and Hongjoong offered to walk Insoo back to the apartment.

 

The two walked under the moonlight, neither said much, just enjoying their silence as the cool spring breeze engulfed them.

 

"So you came here to get away from work?" Hongjoong asked curiously.

 

"Yeah… as I mentioned before I work around art for a living with my mom but I took business at school and I know absolutely nothing about art so I was quite lost and stressed out so my mom told me to take a break and get out of town for a bit" Insoo explained a little, "So when your mom mentioned that you needed someone at the studio I thought maybe it would help you know? Being around art and someone who teaches art could help maybe" Insoo said looking up to the moon, he felt a little ashamed maybe he took too much advantage of the opportunity.

 

Hongjoong said nothing as Insoo spoke, he only listened, he could hear that Insoo was quite hesitant as he spoke. 

 

"Hmm I see, sometimes a change of scenery can help a lot~" Hongjoong said with a small smile. "You know, I finished school and I was lost, I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I wanted to be… My mom's friend - the real owner of Illusion, saw my art work when she came to visit once and decided that I would do well in something with art, after many arrangements she established Illusion… and handed it to me to grow and teach others… I often worry that I would disappoint her and my mother but they also continuously support my work" 

 

"Really? Hmm she has a good eye then, though I haven't had a chance to see your art I have seen you teaching others and it's amazing honestly" Insoo said with a smile.

 

"Maybe I will show you someday~" Hongjoong teased, the two laughed a bit before letting the silence take over again. Both's hearts felt a lot lighter after finally opening up a little to one another.

 

When they got to the apartment building the two stood there a little.

 

"Thank you for walking me back… and thank you for the welcoming party, as well as listening to me. '' Insoo said with a small smile, Hongjoong mirrored Insoo's smile and shook his head a little.

 

"You let me get a few things off my chest as well~ sleep well Soo, I'll see you in the morning" Hongjoong said before he spun on his heels and walked away, Insoo stood there a little watching as the boys figure disappeared into the darkness and then he went up to his room.

 

After washing up Insoo went to lay down on his bed, he felt sleepy but he couldn't find himself falling asleep at all, one hour became two and before he knew it, it was already 4am and he had to get up for work soon, so he forced himself to sleep and woke up again around 7am for work.

 

When Insoo woke up for work he took a shower hoping it would wake him up a little but it didn't, he felt drowsy and a little dizzy from not properly sleeping - he decided to let it be and proceeded to work.

 

When he arrived Hongjoong was already there, he went into the studio trying to hide his tiredness behind a smile. Insoo headed to the break room after not seeing Hongjoong around, he found Hongjoong making some coffee - and for some reason he felt the drowsy feeling slowly melting away.

 

"Good morning Boss~" Insoo greeted - scaring Hongjoong a little - Hongjoong spun around and let out a laugh.

 

"Good morning - If I wasn't awake before, I would be now~" Hongjoong said shaking his head a little, Insoo smiled a bit and placed his things down, Hongjoong observed him for a bit and frowned a little, 'He seems tired' Hongjoong thought to himself.

 

"Today I don't have any classes~ so how about having a bit of a painting session?" Hongjoong suggested, Insoo couldn't help but nod excitedly but he quickly stopped when his head started pounding.

 

The two locked the door in the reception and went up to the second floor, Insoo awkwardly stood as Hongjoong excitedly started organising everything, he brought out an easel and placed some paint on a little cart along with a glass he filled with water as well as some paintbrushes.

 

"Let's start shall we~"  Hongjoong said with a big grin as he pushed Insoo towards the stool in front of the easel.

 

Hongjoong started to explain what he wanted Insoo to do and as time passed Insoo followed Hongjoong's instructions, he was hesitant at first but the more he painted the more fun he had and before he knew two hours had already passed and he was finished with the painting, sure he was covered in paint and he looked a little bit like a disaster.

 

"Here~ clean up, I'll go pick up lunch" Hongjoong said to Insoo as he handed him a wet cloth.

 

"Thanks" Insoo said as he took the cloth, "I'll start cleaning up here" Hongjoong nodded a little and headed out to go pick up lunch for them.

 

Insoo smiled  a little as he saw Hongjoong head out the door, he turned to his painting and laughed. It seemed like a child got into some paint but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, it was actually quite fun, so much so that he didn't even feel tired anymore.

 

Maybe Hongjoong was a good person to be around.