Beyond Dreams and Brushes (MASHIKYU)

Chapter II: The Bus Ride

With his paint materials and canvas, Kim Junkyu gets on the bus heading to Mie Prefecture. He has been staying in Japan for quite some time since he started exploring the country months ago. He came to Japan for work, to paint great sceneries in the country, exhibit them in his parents' Art Gallery and to enjoy his vacation by hopping from one prefecture to another.

Months ago, the young Kim finished his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts and his father asked him to work for his portfolio before enrolling for a Master's Degree. He was also asked to choose a country where he wants to gather his subjects and he gladly selected Japan, the country that he misses a lot. That way, he can also enjoy working, not bad for a graduation gift, indeed.

Japan has been his family's vacation spot. They have spent the season vacay there, exploring almost anything anywhere, mostly in Tokyo. But when he started studying at the university, he could not join his family's visit to Japan. But now, he will make sure to enjoy his stay there as much as he wants.

However it's not his main reason for choosing Japan. Yes, he wants to unwind and to work but he is also planning to find someone, some guy who has been boggling his mind lately. There is this small guy he always finds himself drawing in his sketchbook, faceless. It is unconventional on how he usually works as an artist because he used to draw faces of people he meets. But what makes it different is that this guy hasn't seen him nor knew. He just draws him vividly without the face features. He does not really have any idea what has gotten him but he can put that guy's physique into art form. face. He can remember how expensive the guy looks every moment he sees him in his sudden reverie excluding any emotion nor expression. Strangely, he feels something in him whenever he sees that guy, unexplainable and vague. And it is the mystery that he wants to find out when he decides to travel around the cities in Japan, hoping that one day he will find that guy.

He can't really remember when it started no matter how much he traces back his memories. Was it when he visited his grandparents' old house on their death anniversary or when he found an old picture of them in the attic of their house? He can't really remember. No matter how hard he recalls, he cannot really see his face, thus awakening his curiosity in finding a guy similar to whom he usually sees in spur. But what's for sure is that he has been doing those sketches for quite long now. He almost completed a whole sketchbook for the faceless guy, well, just a few pages left.

For the last two weeks, he has been enjoying trips around Nara. He visited the famous Nara Park, Tōdai-ji Temple and Isuien Garden. But where did he enjoy the most? The Nara National Museum. Being an appreciator and worker of art, museums and galleries are his haven. It has a rich exhibit of art works dated in the eighth century. There are periodic temporary displays of exhibits selected from the museum's large reserves, its permanent collection includes a number of galleries dedicated to archaeological finds, as well as fine displays of sculpture, paintings, and calligraphy. He was feeding his curiosity and appreciation to these artworks in front of him when he suddenly saw another spur of a scene. This time, he can feel himself immersed in the moment. Both of them are there. He is holding the small guy's hand fondly while looking at something, some kind of a portrait. He tries hard to focus on the portrait and see who they are looking at when that guy turns his head on him and he turns his head to him, as well, at least to catch a glimpse of his face. "This is it," his mind exclaims thinking that he will be able to see the guy's face finally. But the scene stopped playing, like a pirated compact disk that halts everything from showing.

"What the..." he almost shouted, that brought him back from sudden reverie. "I should loosen up a bit."

Loosening up for him means he has to vent out his emotions through art. He recalls any quiet place where he can sit, relax and paint. He remembers how his family loves visiting Manyo Botanical Garden, Thus, following where his feet bring him.

Just a few lines, strokes and shades and he's done. Looking at his sketch, he's not satisfied. Not because he drew not so well but because it is incomplete. His subject still has no face and it frustrates him even more, aching his head and heart for exhausting him with all of his travels for months but still cannot find any clear trace of who this guy he is starting to admire.

IG Day: Still searching...
Replies to Junkyu
Jihoon: 아직 못 찾았다고요? (Haven't found him yet?)
Junkyu: 아니에요. (not yet)
Jaehyuk: 몇 달이나 지났는데, 그를 찾느라 피곤하지 않아? (It's been months, aren't you tired searching for him?)
Junkyu: 저는 . 하지만 난 여전히 그러고 싶어. (I am but I still want to.)
Doyoung: 그는 사랑에 빠졌다. (Smitten in love)

He smiles at the thought of him being smitten by that mysterious guy. Too early for that. How can he fall for someone he never sees? He even does not know if that guy really exists nor where he can find him. Spending months trying to find him feels so exhausting and frustrating every day. Why does he have to do that, though? That's the question he has wanted to answer since then. Is this only his curiosity working or there's something else?

Nothing yet is for sure but in his last month of stay in Japan, he will still search for answers, even if chances are too little, he will still cling onto the slightest.

Boarded in a bus to Mie, he can feel the exhaustion from his escapade in Osaka and Nara that day and his last stop is Mie before he heads back to Tokyo next month. He plans to spend at least two weeks in Mie, hoping that his search for his mysterious subject will be successful.

He was peacefully sitting in his chosen bus spot when a guy approached him asking if he could exchange his seat with him and his pregnant wife. He bod politely and shifted to the seat they were referring to. There he finds a sleeping guy with airpods on his ears, eyes closed and breathing deeply. He unconsciously got lost staring at that guy with a cute round face, milky white skin, long eyelashes and pointed nose. He pulled back from his reveries when the bus brakes, letting his hand grab the top part of the seat where the cute guy's head is resting. Nervous, thinking that he might wake the guy up, he slowly makes his way to sit beside him. Good thing the guy did not wake up, instead, he rested his head on Junkyu's shoulders.

Cold shivers and slight sparks from his shoulder make his heart thump fast like a horse running in a race track back and forth.

"Be still, my heart. This is wrong," his mind reminds him that he's still in search of his subject but there he is appreciating a masterpiece of art in human form. He must stay loyal to his subject and surrender only when he finds him.

But his conviction crumbles down when he suddenly feels arms fondly snaking on his waist, hugging him. He can't stay still, it's uncomfortable being hugged by a stranger but why can't he move and remove the arms snuggling him? It's wrong but he's loving the warmth and he can't just ignore it. Thus, he lets himself succumb in the darkness as he slowly closes his eyes to sleep with a stranger beside him.