Hangang In The Autumn | Taekook

16. Scenery

"Because eyes never get tired while looking at the moon and..."

"And, the moon looks lonely on dark nights even with stars around?"

There was an irresistible tug in his heart, the pull of strings that he felt when Jooan completed for him. Taehyung clutched the edge of his canvas. He would be lying if he said he didn't think of a certain someone as he picked that name for his first painting after a long time. Thankfully, Jooan didn't ask further and Taehyung changed the topic. 

"Now, your turn."

"Okay, here we go..."

A glint lingered on her chocolate brown orbs as the little girl turned the canvas towards Taehyung, her lips tightly pressed, nose scrunched up, eyebrows furrowed, yet Taehyung knew Jooan was confident. Unlike him, who is a certified coward at times, Jooan was brave enough to show him her painting without hesitation. 

Well, if art is in your blood, then everything you see around is a scenery and everywhere your touch lingers is a masterpiece. Taehyung never doubted Jooan and her talent. But once his eyes landed on the canvas, his breath hitched. 

The canvas was adorned with beautiful strokes of paint and Taehyung doubts may be beautiful is a small word to describe Jooan's artwork. She had painted the whole galaxy on that canvas, shining bright in purple. The blue, pink, and purple shades she used to color the cosmos are breathtakingly blending with the black and white stars, the moon nowhere to be seen, yet the night looked captivating. 

There was a figure Jooan managed to draw who was sitting at a shore, looking up at the purple sky. He didn't ask anything. In fact, he couldn't fetch words. The sparkle that lit up the canvas matched the glint hidden in Jooan's eyes. She holds the whole galaxy for him and Taehyung felt the familiar sting of tears. 

"The Enigma Of Purple"

Jooan whispered against the wind, making Taehyung blink at her flabbergasted. 

"I was always curious about the sky, the stars and you know... how they exist and how big they're..."

She paused before taking into the expression on Taehyung, but after seeing the elder so attentive to her little talk, she felt relieved. To say Taehyung was shaken by her words would be a major understatement. He was drawn towards her, her wide eyes and fascination towards the little thing she likes. Jooan was taking him to unknown places and Taehyung couldn't help but drown in that feeling. 

"It's so beautiful, baby..."

Finally, he managed to say for which the little girl glanced at him rather stunned at the words. Taehyung kept his soft smile and honest expression because Jooan deserved to know that she was really talented and should always feel proud of herself. Because indeed no one was reaching her level. 

Taehyung wanted to voice out everything pent up in his head but he kept it to himself, did not want to overwhelm Jooan with his confessions. 

"You're an amazing artist. Who taught you to paint this beautifully, princess?"

"Appa."

Taehyung wanted to touch the painting and through that, he wanted to reach her heart. He wanted to feel the admiration she had for her appa as she took the man's name with so much pride. 

"My Appa... was really an amazing artist. He used to help me learn painting"

"Oh, I--- never..."

"Hmmhmm... We used to have a play session where we both compete against each other. Like this..."

The twisting in his heart, the churning in his stomach, the overwhelming emotion everything made him curl into a ball, bringing his knees to his chest. Jooan was opening up with him but that's not the thing.