Kray; The Painter’s Shell 2/?

“Chanyeol, be my boyfriend?”

The model spluttered, spraying coffee all over the table. As usual, his manager looked at him disapprovingly. Surely, he would hear talks of how he should mind his manners when in public, but never mind that. What’s important though, was what Kris had said to him.

“W-what?”

Kris rolled his eyes when Chanyeol’s cheeks turned crimson, making him look like a drunken seal. “Not like that, you ,”

Chanyeol breathed out in relief, but it soon turned into curiosity. “Like what, then?” He asked, eyes narrowing in question.

The blonde wasn’t sure how to explain. Chanyeol would surely laugh at him if he ever told him about his mother, but he didn’t know how to make up a story either. It seemed unlikely for someone like Kris to have traditional parents. At last, he just settled on telling the truth, consequences be damned.

“My mom wanted me to marry,”

And he spilled it all out. Chanyeol listened through it with something akin to sympathy in his eyes, patting Kris’s hand comfortingly when he felt like the other needed it. He didn’t, though. The only thing that he needed right now was a pretend boyfriend, and he didn’t have much time to find one.

He’s well moving onto the fourth day of the final week now, the other days had passed by without him even realising it, with his and Chanyeol’s schedules combined making him pay little attention to the time and his task. By now, he found himself getting desperate, judging from the way his mind kept finding a way to trick himself to think that everyone else around him was cute.

Unfortunately, Chanyeol noticed when he started staring at a girl right across from him, over the redhead’s shoulder.

“You can’t do this, you know.” Chanyeol started, all traces of the childish person he knew gone. His eyes were stern, almost reprimanding as he stared directly into Kris’s brown ones. “I mean, you can’t just choose someone and go off to domestic land, thinking you could get that happily-ever-after thing. No life is that perfect, Kris,”

“I know,” He sighed in frustration. Blame my mother, he wanted to say, but decided against it. “This isn’t a game, but it had sounded so easy to do when she said it.”

“And don’t think I haven’t noticed all your relentless flirting since days ago. Stop. Please.”

Kris almost wanted to rip his hair out in frustration. “What can I do then, Yeol? There’s no way out of this, and I don’t want a stupid arranged marriage so don’t you even suggest me to just give in,”

Then Chanyeol looked thoughtful for a moment. He could practically hear the rusty gears turning in Chanyeol’s head.

“But maybe you should,”

Kris restrained himself from slamming his head onto the table. “Don’t start.”

“No, hear me out, seriously. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as you thought. Your mom won’t pick someone downright dumb for you, will she? No mom would ever do that. Besides, what have you got to lose, besides your bachelor status?” Then, Chanyeol leaned forward as mischief crept into his eyes. “And who knows, maybe getting laid won’t make you so uptight,”

Kris scowled at him in annoyance as the other laughed. “Shut up,”

Undeniably though, Chanyeol’s words had managed to knock some sense into him. True enough, it could be better than living with a complete stranger that even his mother didn’t know of. But then again, it also could take a turn for the worst.

It was starting to give him a massive headache, so he decided to just let it lie for a moment.

--

Apparently, a moment turned to a few days so quickly Kris couldn’t wrap his mind around it. The past days had come as busy as always, filled with photoshoots and job interviews for Chanyeol. He didn’t know where they came from, heck he didn’t even remember scheduling them. And then suddenly, he was back in his mother’s house, sitting across a pair of a pleasant-looking golden couple.

The Zhangs.

He looked at them with a forced smile, then regarding little of them as he watched his mother who was struggling with a tray of hot tea and cups. Kris got up immediately, as if by instinct when his mother nearly crashed the whole thing to the floor, except that he had deft hands that caught them quickly.

His mother then turned to the couple with a sheepish smile on his face, letting Kris handle the tray. “Oh my, I guess old age caught up with me,”

Kris poured tea for all of them, making sure to not make eye contact with any of them, including his mother as he was sure that they’d fire questions so fast he’d have no chance to blink an eye. But apparently, they were kinder than the image his imagination provided.

They only gave him a soft smile when he looked up, his mother motioning for him to sit, so he did. And then the inevitable started.

“I guess we all know why we’re here?” Mrs Zhang said, looking at Kris before giving him a smile as he nodded. “Then I’m assuming you just can’t wait to see my son,”

And all Kris could do then was nod, enthusiastically.

--

The house surprised him. No, not a house. It’s more like a small castle by the sea, obscured from view by the dense forestry that was scattered all around. Okay, it’s the size of a normal house, but the architecture was so intricate it managed to leave him breathless for a while.

He went there alone, as the Zhangs had conveniently told him to go by himself after handing him a piece of yellowed paper with an address scribbled across it, leaving him immediately after.

“W-we have something to do,”

Yeah right, he snorted. They were definitely trying to escape from being dragged down to their son’s house. Some kind of dysfunctional family then. Good job, mom.

When they told him that it was a son and not a daughter, Kris had immediately imagined big and burly, buffed body with enough hair under his armpits to rival the ones he had on his head. For a while, he let his imagination amuse him, letting it come up with various images that managed to tickle his humour. At least it got rid of the nervousness a bit.

Wasting no more time, he skipped over the pebbled path leading to the door. Before he could even hesitate, his fingers pressed onto the doorbell twice, all the while thinking of how he was supposed to speak out his intention.

“Hello, I’m your future husband.”

That sounded too straightforward.

“Hi, I uh- I was supposed to marry you?”

Awkward as hell.

“Hey, my mother forced me to come down here and seduce you so yeah, would you please be so kind as to just say yes to my proposal?”

Hell no.

The creak of a door broke his reverie, and he quickly looked up. His practiced smile quickly turned into surprise because he clearly didn’t expect to see this.

“Baekhyun?”

The other’s expression mirrored his own, his eyes widening and jaw dropping before he finally caught himself.

“What- Kris? What are you doing here?” Baekhyun asked, his hands still gripping the door tightly.

“I-uh I think I’m at the wrong place?” He said, his hand flying to the back of his neck in uncertainty before he turned around to leave. “Sorry. See you around.”

“Wait!”

The blonde had already started his walk back to his car when the other called him back, making him halt in his steps. Turning around cautiously, he glanced down at the address, and then at Baekhyun. Nope, he wasn’t at the wrong house, so why was he here?

“Are you- by any chance,” Baekhyun hesitated, his fingers dancing unsurely on the wooden surface of the door before continuing. “Supposed to meet my brother?”

Ah. He knew, then.

“Yes. I think. Zhang Yixing?”

At the mention of the name, Baekhyun lit up and invited him inside, quickly going into the kitchen to prepare tea for both of them. Kris scoffed. He knew that tea was used as a calming draught, but he didn’t know people still serve it to prepare them for the bad news.

“So, have you seen him yet?” Baekhyun’s face appeared in his peripheral vision, looking all excited and buzzed.

He shook his head slowly in response, making Baekhyun’s jaw drop once again. “Oh my god, you haven’t?” At this, he looked a bit uneasy, but the other pretended not to notice. This only strengthened Big and Burly’s image in his mind. “So you don’t know what he’s like yet? Mom and dad didn’t say anything to you?”

Again, Kris shook his head. Baekhyun sighed. “Always making me do all the hard work.”

When Kris stayed silent, his steaming tea still untouched, Baekhyun cleared his throat awkwardly. “Um, he’s upstairs if you want to see him.”

Sensing the awkwardness, Kris shook his head abruptly, forcing himself to smile despite the confusion he felt.

“One thing, though. Isn’t he Chinese, and you’re... Korean?” Kris asked cautiously, unsure if he was treading on dangerous waters. “I mean, I’m sorry but your name sounded Korean and all and I thought-“

“It’s okay.” Baekhyun laughed, leaving a flustered Kris struggle for his breath. “I am Korean.”

Seeing that Kris obviously wanted him to explain more, Baekhyun lowered his gaze and sighed. “I’ll tell you sometime later.” When he levelled his gaze with Kris’s again, the blonde was startled at the hardness of it. “Now I think you should go and see him.”

Kris knew a dismissive tone when he heard it, and right now, Baekhyun’s tone of voice was nothing but. Taking the hint, Kris stood up immediately, having not even a sip of the tea before heading upstairs. The stairs were long and winding, made of marble and white stone.

Having reached the second storey, Kris gulped at the hallway. Multiple doors decorated its walls, giving a glimpse as to how big the house actually was. Maybe this is a castle after all, he thought. At the end of the hall, a similar door to all the others was open, giving Kris a peek into it. All he could see was the sea.

Walking towards it, he mused about how Big and Burly wouldn’t have such an open room, preferring instead a closed, isolated room. Then he pushed the thoughts away. Baekhyun’s brother wouldn’t be Big and Burly, the diva would never let him be.

He stepped slowly towards the room, taking care so as not to make any sound. When he reached the door, he peeked in cautiously. What he saw burned his thoughts of Big and Burly to ashes, for what he saw was nothing, completely nothing like his imagination.

There sitting in front of an easel was a man a couple years younger than him, dressed in a cashmere long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. His black hair was tied to the back in a ponytail, giving Kris a view of his pale nape. Against the white walls and floor and everything else in the room, he looked like the epitome of loneliness.

A brush was held between long fingers as it left of blue against yellow on the canvas, blending the colour but not really letting it turn green just yet. A dash of white on the blue acted as the focal point, and a dab of black on the edges brought it out more. Then the brush was moved downwards and further, until it was finally put back onto the palette.

“How may I help you?” A soft voice reached his ears, breaking his reverie. It was void of emotions, hollow and empty with a beauty that seemed shallow.

Kris wanted to hide. He didn’t realise that he had been staring, and what’s more embarrassing was that he had been caught at it. Brown eyes locked onto his own unblinkingly, questioning his motives.

“Are you Zhang Yixing?” Kris asked, still a bit shaken about letting his guard down. The other nodded emotionlessly, heightening Kris’s nervousness and rendering him incapable of proper speech.

“I- we um,”

He stopped and opened his mouth to try again, but the soft voice interjected.

“You’re the one who’s going to marry me?”

Kris stared, dumbstruck. Who would’ve thought he’d be so straightforward?

“Since you put it so bluntly, yeah. I guess so,”

The other turned back towards the painting, nodding all the while before adding. “Make yourself at home.”

“What?”

“You’ll be living here anyway so might as well get used to it,”

With that, he picked up the brush again and started adding a clear light blue and Kris thinks that he might as well be damned.

Well, great. This guy didn’t even bother to give an introduction, much less bother to act all friendly and nice to him.

This is going to be tough.

--

Kris watched his mother arrange white flowers in a glass vase, plucking the leaves near the bottom of the stem before soaking them in the vase. He bit his lower lip hesitantly, contemplating on whether he should voice out his opinion or not. At last, he decided that an angry mother was better than having to marry a complete .

“Mom, can I not marry him just yet?”

His mother turned to him dramatically, eyes wide and mouth slightly open with a questioning gaze in her eyes. The vase she was holding clinked against the steel surface of the coffee table as she put it down, turning her full attention to her only son.

“Why?”

Kris was glad for the worry in her voice though, or otherwise he would’ve thought that his mother didn’t want to care about him anymore.

“It’s just, maybe I need time to think about this.” At the sight of his mother’s horrified expression, Kris rolled his eyes and quickly added. “Okay maybe not time, but I think it’s better if we live together for a while first to try and see if we fit together. Only then, after we’re both sure will we marry.”

Kris watched, feeling helpless as his mother scrutinized him deeply, wondering if there were any sincerity in his words at all or if he was only trying to escape this marriage. Once his mother nodded, he had to literally bite the inside of his cheeks to keep himself from sighing in relief.

“I’ll try talk to them tomorrow,”

--

The second time Kris went to Yixing’s house, it was cold outside, the breeze threatening to freeze his bones if only he wasn’t huddled against his coat. When the door finally opened, he had looked up in surprise, fully expecting to be greeted by a mess of short brown hair and a wide smile, but what he got instead was an unsmiling face, framed by long, loose black hair and a raised eyebrow.

“Left anything here?” The voice was still soft, but cold.

“No.”

The shorter stared at him for a bit more before nodding and vacating the doorway, letting Kris in.

“By the way, that’s really not any way to greet your future husband.” Kris said as his hands moved to his coat.

“What do you want then, tea? Or a kiss?” Yixing answered calmly, face indifferent as if what he said was a normal thing between strangers. A strangled sound rose from Kris’s throat as he tried to comprehend what Yixing said as the other turned to look at him. Seeing the expression on the other’s face, he held both his hands up in panic. “You know what, don’t even answer that,”

“Tea.” Kris managed finally as he shrugged off his coat, which the other took and hung on the rack. This small gesture made Kris raise his eyebrows at him, which was pointedly ignored as he made himself busy with locking the door.

“The kitchen’s straight at the back. Tea’s in the upper cabinet.”

Kris’s jaw dropped. “You’re not going to make it for me?”

“No,” He scoffed. “It’s technically your house as well, so I have no obligations.”

Before Kris could say anything else, Yixing was already halfway up the stairs, looking eager to go back to whatever he was doing before Kris’s arrival. He watched the brunette’s retreating back with annoyance, both at him for showing his bad side this early and his mom for making him live with this guy’s attitude.

Deciding to just skip the tea part, he skipped up the stairs towards Yixing’s room. The brunette was laying out his brushes when he walked into the door, a fresh white canvas replacing the one he had seen the other day. The curtains were closed.

“Painting again?” Despite the obvious, he decided to just ask. “Where’s the other one?”

“Done,” He answered simply before seating himself.

Silence settled over them, not exactly comfortable but not really awkward either. It was one Kris usually expected in the early stages of a normal relationship, a silence that usually meant that one was assessing the other in his head, trying to draw out qualities from observations. Except this time, Kris wasn’t really paying attention to Yixing tying his hair or rolling up the sleeves of his black shirt, but to the white canvas.

It started with a yellow crescent painted horizontally on the center, its edges to the bottom. The same yellow was then applied to the upper corners of the canvas, smudged towards the centre for a fading effect. Unconsciously, he had stepped closer to the other to get a better view, peering over his shoulder to try and guess what the other was painting.

He could feel Yixing stiffen for a moment before he dipped his brush into a dark green, tracing the upper outline of the crescent before adding a few layers of a lighter green outwards. Then he added a horizontal blue line beneath the crescent yellow, contrasting deeply against the bright yellow. When he was finished with the base colours, the painting had taken form of a green and blue sunset, though the colour of the sun was still the majestic yellow.

“Maybe you should dab a little red here,” He said, pointing to the centre of the crescent. “Let me do it,”

It was then that he noticed that red was not on the palette, or among the colour tubes or anywhere.

“You don’t have red?”

Instead of replying, Yixing gathered his brushes and the palette, ignoring Kris entirely as he walked into the bathroom with the tools in hand. Kris followed him quietly, trying to guess why Yixing had that sudden change. He wasn’t even finished with the painting yet.

“Are you okay?” He asked from his place at the door, watching Yixing as he cleaned the brushes and palette under the tap.

“You should leave,” Was Yixing’s answer, his attention not even diverting from the cleaning.

“It’s technically my house, so I can do whatever I want,” He said, giving a slight laugh to ease the tension, but the joke was clearly not appreciated when Yixing suddenly turned around and faced him, looking angry. It wasn’t the first expression he expected to see on such a calm face, so he must’ve hit a button somewhere just now.

“Whatever, but get out of my room.” The brunette said curtly, pushing Kris lightly to guide him to the door. The blonde knew better than to resist, for the hand pushing against his back was not fragile and can definitely inflict some damage if he ever needed to. The door did not quite slam when he was out, making the fact that Yixing had just chased him out less offensive.

He decided then that Yixing was more complicated than he looked.

And he promptly dialled Baekhyun.

--

The brunette was fortunately more cheery than he had been at his house when they met up at the cafe that day, though he suspected that was because of Chanyeol’s presence there right beside him. The model on the other hand looked ready to murder him though, the glare was enough to say everything.

He could almost picture Chanyeol interrogating him with that twitchy face and glare. ‘Why did you ask him out without telling me? Were you planning on taking him away from me?’ At the thought, Kris let a smile take over his face while looking at Chanyeol, and his lover who watched chuckled slightly in amusement.

“So, get along with him yet?” Baekhyun asked with his usual wide smile.

Kris gave a small laugh and shook his head. “That’s why we’re here,”

“Why? What happened?” The shorter looked almost horrified.

“Is there anything you’re not telling me about him?” Kris asked, probing.

He didn’t need to be told, for the look on Baekhyun’s face was enough of a giveaway.

--

A/N; Okay, 2 chapters into this story and soooo little progress. But don’t worry, I promise lots of it in the next chappie ;D And this is soo late L I’m sorry. Exam’s are coming to an end :D two papers left and then I’m free until next year! Which means no two-week-delays anymore :D

So, enjoy? And comment pls bb :D