94. Crybaby
Somin and Teho
Softly sobbing in the back of the room was Somin curled in a ball, crying.
Her weekend was rough. Teho thought emphatically.
Hysteria was gone. Now unadulterated sadness settled in. The Brush she held in her injured hand was heavy with paint and the big canvas stood in front of her.
"Tap"
"Tap"
Wet colors dripped from it onto the floor which was covered by old newspaper to prevent damage. The other drawing studios were occupied so Somin snuck here to create after she saw the schedule was free for the rest of the day.
"Tap"
"Tap"
Silently, the nosy boy crept closer. Paint splatters were all over her clothes even decorating her hair too. Clearly, she was painting driven by strong emotions. He had never seen someone this vulnerable other than her, practically wearing their heart on their sleeves. As for himself, he perceived this kind of creation as the most intimate. To see another person in this state of mind was very rare and highly intimate. Teho would never show this side to anyone.
Yes, he'd seen her being emotional before, but now with the new context, it hit differently. They were here alone and foremost he was feeling something else.
I'll be gentle, on my best behavior. He promised himself.
"Somin-ssi?" he gently whispered, crouched beside her, "did you eat?" The pretty boy tried to break the ice with the sweetest tone he could muster. The troubled girl glanced at him without saying anything.
Tears flowed from the corner of her eyes like a flooded stream after rain. It hurt him to see her like that. She denied it, shaking her head.
"You didn't eat the whole day?" He tapped her lightly on the shoulder, keeping his distance. The interaction was filled with compassion.
"I'm sorry about what happened with... Ehm... him," he tried some more stepping into uncharted territory by acknowledging Cholsu.
"What bullshit is that?" she barked uncontrollably.
"Ya, can you turn the bitch off just for one second?" he snapped.
Can we simply talk for Christ's sake? Teho questioned.
She smirked, trying to wipe the tears off, but managing only to smear more color across her face.
"I'm sorry," she let out. "I'm just confused and exhausted."
"Please, drink this, it'll make you feel better. Eat, here you go." Teho handed her his snack and cocoa, looking directly into her eyes with concern.
"I'll be here bothering you until you eat it, should I make myself comfortable, huh?"
Somin accepted the food because her stomach contracted from hunger.
She looks beautiful with the paint all over.
Should I push it? Is this the right time to confess? To ask?
No.
Yes.
I ddn't know.
He gently touched her cheek without covering the gesture with other actions and Somin stopped eating. Startled by the clear message of this gesture, she panicked.
Is he mad?
After the weekend she was more sensitive. If she caressed him back, what would that make her?
A fucking lying bitch to my friend.
"What the fuck was that Teho-ah?" she attacked him.
"Uhm, nothing. You... Ehm... you are..." He looked at the red paint on his finger. "... a dirty girl." The stupid joke fell out of him.
Fuck, Teho what the fuck was that? He pestered himself.
She has to say something, right?
He waited, scolding himself.
Nothing.
"I don't have enough energy to be doing this—" She lightly pushed his hand away, touching it even though she forbade it. "—with you."
"Thank you for the meal though." Somin brushed her hair, knowing this was a very dangerous edge she was threading.
For a whole minute, they stared into each other's eyes. Observing each other's details even in the shadows of a dark classroom.
"It's not right," she whispered to the quietness.
Their faces lit only with the mellow yellow stream of light from the outside lamps. In his eyes, blooming love could be seen, in her heartbreak and sorrow.
"Let me in," he whispered back, pleading for a deeper connection.
Her heart almost stopped.
No, no, no. How can I look Mia in the eyes back home?
"Can you leave me alone, please? I need to finish this," a shaking finger pointed at a red abstract painting.
Where hard strokes, frantic with emotions, and thick layers of paint created a landscape of agony. Different shades of red eat up at each other. Dirt, she brought up from the weekend, was put into the colors making it all rough and uneven mirroring her emotional state and confusion.
"It looks done to me," he proclaimed and Somin glanced at him tiredly wanting nothing more than to collapse into his lap and letting him caress her hair.
"It could have been if I hadn't had to paint with my left hand." She lifted her injured hand, still covered by a normal bandage, again soaked through.
"You haven't gone to the doctor yet?" he asked surprised.
"Turned out I was afraid and had to work anyway," she whispered.
"It'll be a bigger problem if you keep postponing it, it could get infected and you lose your right hand," he said seriously.
"Don't be so dramatic."
"Don't be so dismissive." He gently grabbed her hand.
"Let me take you there now," he pleaded.
"Not now." Somin started to panic again.
"Tomorrow then?" he asked and she nodded.
"Alright, for once I can give you a break, but starting tomorrow I'm up your ass again," he said gently, letting her injured wrist go.
"I just pity myself for today and I'll be giving you shit tomorrow too, deal?" the distraught girl mustered a smile, catching his nervousness.
That was the clumsiest flirting I had ever been able to have. Teho remarked.
"Deal," Teho pushed it a little bit.
I can't resist.
He reached and ever so slightly traced the curve of her lips with his thumb, saying nothing, feeling her tears stopping on his finger. Somin didn't even blink from the shock.
Waiting, like in the bathroom the last time, the tension was so dense it could be cut in the air. Teho slowly withdrew and left.
She let me do it.
In the dark, he touched his own lips, closed his eyes, and felt it. Scorching hot desire burning him alive.
Somin, still stunned, touched her lip mildly, her heart pounded, the light fun crush turning to something more serious day by day.
Deeper.
Heavier.
Maybe I lov...
...
On the way home, she stopped again by the pictures in the foyer. Quickly glanced around, grabbing Teho's haunting photograph and putting it in her folder, swallowing empty.
Well, that's that.
...
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😢 Do you cry in front of others or just in privacy? 😢
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🎨Illustrations of each chapter are available on my Wattpad acc, AO3 acc -klubickoArt🎨
