Author's Note: I love you people! Just wanted to get it out there. As for the Yi Jeong short shot, there were typos. I just haven't fixed it yet. I wrote it in first person so don't be confused. So here is yet another story in the same series.
And on a side note, I just had the realization that more than likely by the end of the year all of JYJ and Eunhyuk and Dongahae from Super Junior will be in the army. What am I going to do for two years while I wait?! I love me some Eunhyuk from Super Junior, and JaeJoong and Junsu from JYJ!
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Min Ho wasn't sure if he should be embarrassed or shocked or a mixture of both. He wasn't quite sure what he was seeing as he stood in the doorway of the studio. Usually he could hear music and the spinning wheel going when he hit the door. The two always working together shut everyone out when they were busy being dumb or just bored of the world. It seemed they were always of one mind, making it nearly impossible for anyone to get in.
Yi Jeong and Eri were half dressed lying across one of the tables. It was an intimate moment between two people who weren't even married. A large clay pot sat atop the spinning wheel. They were talking about something while balancing cups of coffee on their stomachs.
This was normal. One day he came in to find them in jumpsuits throwing darts at balloons. From what he heard, Eri had opened Yi Jeong's mind to new things in the art world. He had let her set up her own little corner to do whatever she wanted. He helped her when she needed it but otherwise left her alone.
Yi Jeong flipped over the edge of the table and landed easily on his feet. He went back to the wheel and began shaping the edges of the bowl. Min Ho watched Eri watch him. Three months later and her hair was finally long enough for her to pull it back. If they looked closely they could see layers upon layers of scars due to surgeries. She never complained about them.
Seeing them like this was something completely new. He'd heard what Woo Bin and Ga Eul said about their spouses that they worked hard at the studio and shop. He had never seen it because he had classes during the days, but now that it was summer break he'd been seeing way to many things like this. But today's was the worst. Why didn't he ever turn on the air conditioner?
"Quit lurking in the door." Yi Jeong's voice caught him off guard. He looked up to see the man expertly moving his hands while looking up.
"Don't you think it's too hot in here?" he asked as he moved into the room.
"We don't mind breaking out a sweat."
Eri rolled off the table and he couldn't tell if she was shocked to see him or not. She waved then walked over to the corner and sat in the floor. Barefoot with her shoulders exposed and dirty from head to toe, she looked to be a child instead of in her thirties. She looked like a kid instead of an adult.
"When does she get her hearing aids back?" he asked.
"In a couple of months if she passes the hearing test. We haven't really talked about it," Yi Jeong replied.
"Does she ever speak about anything she feels?" It was supposed to be muttered but he must have said it out loud.
"Hey, you know the reason. Don't get cocky simply because you have access as her personal assistant. It's unbecoming to run your mouth."
"Why would I do that? All of you have helped me so much."
Yi Jeong stared at him for a long time, so long that it made him feel uncomfortable. He had never once thought to run his mouth about Eri. He had too much respect for her and he was certain she would find some way to get back at him. She had a violent temper when roused and he'd heard way too much about it.
Luckily he had never been on the receiving end. Even when he had accidently hurt her son when trying to keep him from getting hurt, she hadn't been angry with him. But she had exchanged words with Yi Jeong's father days before his wedding which resulted in Hyun Sub not being invited. They called her a rock for a reason.
Min Ho had been put in a position to take care of her right after her surgery. They had argued, fussed and fought over the smallest things but in the end it just brought them closer. He was able to feel when she needed something while they were at the shop or studio. He spent plenty of time at their house so he knew her schedule. She didn't seem like she needed help, but anyone with eyes could tell she needed help even though she was so strong.
"Jag-eob nampyeon." (This may be wrong)
Yi Jeong turned to look at her as Min Ho looked at him. He pointed at her when the potter caught his eyes. "Did she just call you work husband?"
"Shut up." Yi Jeong stood up and walked over to her. It was then Min Ho noticed that he was barefoot as well. "What is it?"
"I need to make a sphere but I can't get this sit right. Plus I need to be able to put a light in here," she said. She never looked at him.
Once again Min Ho wasn't sure how to feel as Yi Jeong squatted behind Eri and pressed his front to her back as he showed her how to work the clay. They didn't say anything as they worked, making it feel even more intimate and secluded.
Yi Jeong was one of the only two men allowed to do that, the other being Woo Bin. Ji Hoo wasn't even allowed to come up behind her like that and he had known her the longest. Nowadays he was too busy with his wife and new baby to spend a whole lot of time with them so it really didn't matter.
Min Ho knew there was a thing known as soul mates, but could a person really have two? Both of them were married to the people who completed them, and happily so. How could they be so comfortable to hold each other like that when they slept with their spouses?
"Why do you love art?" He looked up at Yi Jeong. The man was sitting on his haunches. He was watching him with an elbow propped on his knee and a hand covering his mouth.
He had to think. "Because it gives me release. It allows me to feel the emotions of other artists and I hope people feel what I was feeling at the time I made something. Sometimes I'm not able to say how I feel…"
He realized a little too late that that's what Eri was doing when she worked with Yi Jeong. He gave her the means to express what she otherwise couldn't say out loud. He knew that she had those issues but he didn't realize how deeply those affected her. Yi Jeong had always been beside her, giving her the things she needed to release those pent up emotions. Woo Bin was the one that took care of the mental and physical needs, but it was always the potter's hand that sculpted the emotional ones.
Suddenly, Eri turned and smeared clay all over Yi Jeong's face. He didn't seem surprised, unlike Min Ho who stood there looking like a fish. She stood and walked back to the table to grab her cup. Min Ho suddenly remembered why he had come in the first place.
"You've been commissioned," he said as he made sure he faced her so she could read his lips. He handed her a packet then. "Someone by the name Ha Jae Kyung wants you to do a piece of work for her. The requirements are here. Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" He was looking at Yi Jeong.
"That woman you just mentioned is nuts. She was former President Kang's attack on Jun Pyo and Jan Di's relationship when we were in school. Woo Bin and I tried to break them up, but that woman is fearless. Eri is a lot like her," he said as he wiped his face with a wet rag.
"I can't imagine anyone being like Eri."
"Well, no one is like Eri, but Jae Kyung is like that. She's more outspoken though, saying she's hurt when she is. She doesn't internalize much. Unlike someone else we know."
Eri wasn't paying a lick of attention to them. She was reading through the art requirements carefully, making mental notes and finally physical ones as she stole Min Ho's pen from his pocket. She scribbled something in French, her native language, and headed for the store room. Both men watched as she pulled item after item out and set them on the table.
"Does she always do this?" Min Ho wondered as the table became structurally cluttered.
"She has free reign of anything I have here. All she has to do is tell me when she orders something so I can put it on the tax report list. I've come in late at night and it has been so much worse than this. Be glad you can walk around."
He snagged the requirements from her and read over them. "You know if she takes this on, you're going to be working extra hours. I'll have to be at the shop while she works on this and she can't be alone in here without being able to hear. That's the only thing I made a rule about. You'll have to be here no matter what time it is."
Min Ho never thought about it. He was teaching some classes at the local youth center for those who loved art as much as he did. He knew Eri worked around the clock like a mad woman so it made it hard to schedule around her. Now that she was taking on commissioned work, he was going to have to plan everything wisely.
"We'll have to figure out a resting time. I have the classes at the youth center that I'm paid to teach. Those are about two hours twice a week. I have to pay tuition next semester since my father cut me off," he explained.
"I'll pay your tuition, but we'll figure out the schedule that matches yours," Yi Jeong offered.
"No, you can't pay my tuition. I won't let you."
"Call it an early employment benefit. I plan to hire you at the gallery when you graduate."
"Now you tell me," he grumbled, "but all I ask is that you take into consideration everything else I do during the day."
"All right. I'll make it as fair and balanced as I can, but don't complain if there are certain days where you don't have a choice but to give up some days."
Min Ho couldn't argue if Yi Jeong was going to do his best to work around his schedule. Even though it was summer break, he still had work he had to do. It was mandatory for art students to do community service, and he had gotten the job at the youth center after much stress. He actually enjoyed and didn't want to anything to mess with it. When he worked part time, those days he worked during the morning so he could teach in the afternoon.
He cast Eri one more glance before he left the studio. He was going to have to reevaluate his life before he did anything. This was going to rub him raw. Eri wasn't going to listen to him on some days. There was going to be fights every day as he made sure she ate and did the basic necessities. Was he really ready for this even with the promise of a job?