darling » baekhyun ✓

08. Artistic expression

All the pieces in the collection reflected a certain aspect of peace and calmness, whether it was through the sculpture of a woman that was sleeping on a bed of flowers, more sculptures of doves, hanging from the ceilings and suspended in the air above us, a painting of the sun setting in to the blue sea or someone twirling on the edge of a rainbow. I almost felt bad, because the reason why the boss sent me to the showcase, was to ask the owner if he wanted to tell me the story about his wife and the events that lead to her brutal murder. She was one of the most popular actresses in South Korea before someone purposely crashed their car against hers. Collecting art was the idol's way of dealing with the grief and I was about to ruin the safe heaven that he created in this place.

Sooyoung sighed and shook her head. '' I'd take any excuse for a day trip out of the office, but I'm also suffering from writers' block at the moment. I was hoping that doing an article about the art showcase, would help me get back on track, but I feel even less inspired than before. For the past week, I've l been feeling self-conscious about my writing and now, thanks to this gorgeous art, I'm also sad because I realised that I'll never be as talented as the people who made it. ''

My lips curved in to a faint smile at the sound of her response. " Well... At least you're sad and uninspired somewhere out of the office, right? "

" That's true, but then again, I am stuck here with you, so am I really winning? " Sooyoung asked and flashed me an amused smile. She grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and started telling me about a time when she visited an art collection where the paintings would talk to her and listen to her problems.

I was only half listening to her until all of a sudden, I heard something that made my heart skip a beat. I held my breath and my eyes slowly grew wide with surprise when someone called out: '' Baekhyun! ''

He's here?

I had no idea how I managed to not notice his bright orange hair, but when I turned around - he was there. Standing in the crowd, right on a spot that was empty just a few moments ago and looking at one of the waitresses, who were circling around the villa and offering the guests champagne. For a moment, he seemed just as startled to see her as I was to see him, then he managed to bring himself to smile.

As I watched his odd reaction, I remembered how while I was doing research about him, before I visited him for the interview, I didn't find any information about his friends or family. Almost as if they didn't exist. Or they simply disappeared. That seemed to happen to all the people that he got the slightest bit acquainted with. It was one of the main things that we talked about during the interview, how misfortune found every single one of them, one way or another. 

Baekhyun shook the hand of the waitress, who kept talking about how much he changed from middle school. They used to be classmates until he transferred to somewhere else. She was just in the middle of explaining how she barely recognised him when she first saw him singing and dancing on stage, then she suddenly noticed something that made her stop in the middle of her sentence and frown in confusion. She narrowed her eyes, tightened her grip on Baekhyun's hand and tried to get a better look at it. '' How strange... Did you burn yourself again? I still remember how much you cried when you hurt hand during science class, but now it looks like you have the exact same scar on your other hand too! So clumsy! You never learn, do you? ''

A chill ran down my spine when I heard Baekhyun laugh in amusement and respond: '' No, I guess I don't. ''

Baekhyun was in the garden outside the villa when I found him again. He was laying on a bench, his arms were folded behind his head and his eyes were closed. White flower petals were falling from a nearby tree and cascading down on him, but he didn't seem to mind. He looked almost ethereal, basking in the sunlight and when I stepped a little closer, I heard that he was humming to himself, a sweet melody that perfectly matched the chirping of birds on the nearby trees.