3 Paths to Love

Chapter 55

If Kwangsun thought an omega and beta was impossible, then why did he agree to this painting? Why did he tell Seunghyeon to wait for him to come back and then act like he was never interested in the first place? Why would Kwangsun pour his heart into the painting if he didn't think anything of it?

Seunghyeon blinked back his tears and stared at the ornate details that surrounded him. Even the tips of incense sticks glowed with gentle embers. Wait.

Seunghyeon took a step back. They weren't glowing.

The paint was wet.

Seunghyeon froze as he watched over his shoulder as the door swung open, holding his breath.

Kwangsun glanced up and yelped, fumbling his coffee in his hand, his face no different than a gaping fish.

Seunghyeon bit his lip, even with his heavy body, he managed to crack a smile.

"Fuck, I didn't know anyone was here," Kwangsun sighed out, pressing his hand to his chest. When he checked no coffee had spilled on his hoodie, he looked up. His dopey smile fell into a nauseatingly polite one. Seunghyeon wrapped his arms around himself and turned back to the paintings, ignoring the way Kwangsun studied him top to bottom.

"I might be sleep-deprived, so I don't know if you're actually here or if you jumped out of the painting," Kwangsun said and padded over, stopping at an unreasonable distance away.

Seunghyeon took a deep breath through his nose, turning back to the paintings. "It's me," he muttered, staring at his idealized self. "Just me."

"Right," Kwangsun said and nodded slowly. "I haven't seen you here in a few days," he added and cracked a smirk. "I guess you got some good inspiration if you're here in your house slippers."

Seunghyeon blinked and looked down at himself. Sure enough, he was in his house slippers. He tried wiggling his toes, the icy numbness pricking his skin. If he hadn't been so stupid, he would have at least changed. At least then his toes wouldn't be blue. He scrunched up his nose and threw his head back, pressed his wet eyes shut, ignoring the way his heart squeezed. He was so stupid.

Kwangsun stepped beside him and asked softly, "What happened?"

Sniffling, Seunghyeon rubbed his hand over his face and sucked in his breath. Seunghyeon glanced over and bit his lip at Kwangsun's furrowed brow and gentle eyes. How unfair. Seunghyeon should yell and hiss and snap at him. But he couldn't. Would it be okay if he could pretend everything was normal? Even for a moment?

Seunghyeon shifted to face him and dropped his head onto Kwangsun's shoulder. Thankfully Kwangsun didn't move, but he did tense up. Seunghyeon let out a heavy sigh, ignoring it.

"I had a fight with Myungsuk and Taeyong-hyung," he whispered, staring at their feet. His slippers dwarfed compared to Kwangsun's sneakers.

"Oh." Kwangsun shifted and hesitantly placed his hand on Seunghyeon's head, his fingers brushing against his hair. "What happened?" he whispered, his words threading cautiously.

Seunghyeon's breath shook. He balled his hands into fists and pressed them to his chest, instead of reaching out to cling to Kwangsun. There was no point holding on when Kwangsun was going to recoil from him once he knew how despicable they were.

"We told Insoo to break up with Myungsuk."

He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed his body. A moment passed. And then another. And Kwangsun still didn't move. Nor did he say anything. Instead, Kwangsun merely hummed with a nod, his fingers still running through Seunghyeon's hair.