"You still haven't returned home? Insoo I told you, you better return home and help mother with the gallery or I will make sure you regret running away" a voice blared through the phone, the owner of the phone - Insoo - just stared blankly in front of him as he listened to the person on the other side of the line.

 

He felt sick, he wanted to throw up, he couldn't breathe properly as he listened - was it really that bad for him to be here? To be away from the gallery? Even when his mother was the one who sent him here? Was he really a horrible son for not insisting on staying by her side?

 

"I will be returning to Seoul in a week! You better be there when I get there, you hear me?" the words weren't fully absorbed by Insoo, they sounded distant almost as if he was trapped inside a bubble.

 

The line went dead and Insoo was left sitting on the couch with a blank expression, it was still early the sun was peeking through the clouds and Insoo couldn't process anything.

`

He let out a small sigh and pushed himself off the couch, he was sure he felt more exhausted than he was 10 minutes ago but he decided to just shrug it off, he took a shower and got dressed, before leaving he washed his face and brushed his teeth, he stared at himself for a few seconds in the mirror, smiling at himself to see if he could hide what he was feeling, he didn't want anyone asking him any questions.

 

When Insoo left his apartment he was still forcing himself to smile, pushing the conversation he had with his brother to the back of his mind.

 

By the time Insoo arrived at the studio, Hongjoong was waiting outside for him, the owner seemed to be in high spirits which caused Insoo to hide his exhaustion and sadness even more.

 

"Mornin' boss" Insoo greeted with a big smile, Hongjoong furrowed his brows for a second, 'something felt off'

 

"Morning Soo, did you sleep well?" Hongjoong asked curiously as he opened the door to the studio.

 

"Yeah~ though I woke up really early" Insoo told him, Hongjoong nodded a little, 'I guess that's why he seems out of energy' Hongjoong thought to himself.

 

"Shall we go setup for the pottery class?" Hongjoong asked and Insoo nodded excitedly, he found pottery interesting, though he still felt lifeless.

 

The two started setting up for class, and eventually when everyone arrived for class Hongjoong dragged Insoo to join the class.

 

He struggled at first and felt frustrated but once he got the hang of the basics Insoo completely let go of his worries for a little bit.

 

The class eventually came to an end and Insoo was back to reality he felt suffocated and knew there wasn't anymore work to do aside from cleaning up - Hongjoong knew that something was wrong but he also knew that he couldn't really pry into Insoo's personal life when it was clear that he had a wall up and didn't want others prying into his life.

 

"Hey Soo, could you maybe go pick up some lunch for us? I'll clean up everything here" Hongjoong asked, Insoo only nodded a little.

 

"Sure, just send me what you want," Insoo said and left the studio.

 

Hongjoong sighed a little, just a few days ago he and Insoo got somewhere with their friendship, Soo let him in and it felt really nice, but then today was another day and it was clear that Soo was someone who was far from his reach. 

 

"I wonder… Did he have another fight with his brother?" Hongjoong mumbled to himself as he cleaned up, but he decided to push it to the back of his mind and continue cleaning.

 

Once Insoo returned with their food, they quietly ate in the breakroom, and not long after sitting for a bit Insoo fell asleep, Hongjoong decided to leave him be since they didn't have much else to do for the day, instead he took Insoo's phone with him and took his notebook and went to the front of the studio, he started working on a lesson plan for his next class.

 

Time passed slowly without having someone to talk to but Hongjoong was also set on letting Insoo rest, well that was until Insoo's phone rang - Hongjoong had a moment where he really wanted to wake up Insoo so he could answer but when he peeked into the breakroom the boy seemed so peaceful he just couldn't get  himself to wake him, so instead of waking Soo, Hongjoong decided to answer the call.

 

"Hello?" Hongjoong said as he answered.

 

"Hello? Insoo-ya?" The voice sounded familiar to Hongjoong but he couldn't quite place it.

 

"Ah sorry, Insoo? Do you mean Soo? He is currently asleep in the breakroom" Hongjoong told the lady on the other line, he was still trying to figure out who it was on the other side of the line.

 

"Breakroom? I sent him there to rest" the lady said, a little surprised.

 

"Ah, are you perhaps Soo's mother?" Hongjoong asked curiously.

 

"Yes… and you sound familiar, who are you?" She asked.

 

"Oh, Sorry my name's Kim Hongjoong, I manage Illusion studio" Hongjoong told her and as soon as he finished speaking he heard a small gasp.

 

"Joong-ah? Is that you?" she asked, and it clicked Mrs. Hwan… the owner of the studio…

 

"Mrs. Hwan?" he asked, a little confused and she hummed.

 

"Your Soo's mother? But he said his last name was Hwang…" Hongjoong said he felt confused and a little betrayed.

 

"Hmm Insoo is my youngest son~ I sent him take a break because he was overwhelmed with work" She told Hongjoong, but he still couldn't fully process that Hwang Soo was actually Hwan Insoo, the heir to the biggest gallery he always dreamt of showing his art at.

 

"Hmm I see, my mom introduced us to one another, apparently Soo - I mean Insoo was really interested in the studio when he arrived, I was looking for a part timer to help me clean after I finished up classes and Soo offered to help out" Hongjoong explained to her.

 

"Hmm I see, well if it's something he wanted to do I guess I can't be upset" she said with a sigh, "How's Insoo doing?" she asked, her son hadn't been replying to her, his father or his sisters messages for the past week and she felt really worried, worrying that he could have gotten sick or into an accident.

 

"Hmm… If I am honest Mrs. Hwan, he was really cheerful when he first got here and even a few days ago when I took him to explore the town he was really happy when I took him home but lately something seems off, when we explored the town he told me that apparently he had a fight with his older brother, and today he came to work smiling but something was off, his eyes seemed kind of empty, and once we finished having lunch he fell asleep which is pretty unusual" Hongjoong told her, he felt a little bad, maybe Insoo wouldn't want to tell his mom this but Hongjoong couldn't just ignore seeing his friend struggling quietly. 

 

"What? Seriously? That kid" she said with a sigh, "please keep an eye on Soo for me, whenever he fought with his brother before he tends to shut himself in, his brother is pretty selfish and thinks everything in the world belongs to him, I will talk to him" She said, Hongjoong could tell that she was really angry about the situation, it made Hongjoong realise the situation was maybe a lot more serious than he thought. 

 

"Hmm I will" Hongjoong said, they hung up the call after that.

 

Hongjoong just stood there for a second, he tried to process all the information, Insoo was probably acting weird because there was something deeper with his fights with his brother which he didn't want to tell him, but also learning that the Soo he thought he knew was a facade was quite shocking, he didn't know how exactly to feel about it, he felt a little angry he understood why Soo would lie at first… he was someone from a well known family, he probably just wanted to rest and not care about others.

 

But then they got closer and he really thought they were friends, he felt betrayed that Soo didn't even attempt to tell him about his true identity.

 

He decided to it up for now, maybe Soo would still tell him, there is still a bit more than a week left before Soo had to head back to Seoul, so Hongjoong wanted to give him a chance and be hopeful that what he felt was real, that the friendship and feelings he held for Soo wasn't for nothing, that Soo won't just disappear in a week and that he would be forgotten.