A/N:

I wanted to put this at the beginning so I'm sure everyone would see it.

Firstly, if you remember a chapter or two back I said that I had the second in this art series in the works.

Painting Pictures is now officially up. Please check it out if you want to see the second on this series.

Secondly, HOLY WOW. Over 100 subs!? Thank you guys so much, I never thought Picturesque would get this far. It may seem like very little but to me it really means a lot...! You guys keep me going strong with this story!

Thank you for enjoying it so far and I'm sorry for my long absence. Hopefully I can start updating more often...

shad·ow [/ˈSHadō/]
noun:
1.the dark area—as opposed to the highlight—of a subject or scene
verb:
1. Follow and observe (someone) closely and typically secretly

How many days has it been? One, two… Three? Three sounded about right. Wait… Three days? He hadn’t said anything to her for three days? Oh my god… What if too much time had gone by? What if she had decided to brush him off in that much time? How could three days have passed without him even realizing? What has he done!?

“What am I going to do!?” Hoseok wailed, falling to his side on the bench. He kicked his legs about lightly in frustration and pretending to sob. Kids on the play ground started staring at the strange man making a fool of himself, “Hae Ri jagi, what did I do!?”

“Yah, isn’t it a little weird to being calling her jagi? She barely knows who you are.” A tall man stood over him, his foot came up and knocked Hoseok’s off the bench so that he’d sit up, “Stop that, people are starting to stare!” Seokjin hissed as he handed Hoseok a small paper cup of steaming coffee.

“You don’t understand hyung!” Hoseok whined and cried, kicking his feet around again like a child. Parents were starting to stare at them as well, and the senior’s cheeks started getting redder and redder. Patience was already running low for poor Seokjin…

“I got two years on you, what are you talking about? ‘I don’t understand’ whatever...” Seokjin huffed at took a seat, “Anyways why don’t we…” Hoseok had already started ignoring his senior the moment he arrived; this was a serious problem and why was that so hard for people to understand? Even if he told YoonGi he could bet his life that he’d just tell Hoseok to walk up to her and say sorry… Like the world was that simple… What a joke! Why couldn’t it be that easy…? Damn YoonGi, he had it made for him, he had girls chasing him at every corner, he could be blunt and not care about their reactions, and things were so easy for him in general. What an …

“Are you coming or not? I’ll just leave you here!” When he looked up Seokjin had already made it out of the park and onto the sidewalk. A part of Hoseok wanted to be left there, wanted to be alone for a while… Maybe it would help him sort out his thoughts. Being alone was even scarier than standing on top of the tallest cliff and looking over the edge…

“You sure are acting weird lately. I have never seen you down like this.” Seokjin commented once Hoseok caught up to him. It was true, his usual bubbly and positive attitude had went on vacation or something… It was almost uncomfortable to see him this way. “Don’t worry about your little crush too much. But it’s your fault you’re feeling this way. You’re making this harder than it needs to be!”

“Aish… I have a headache, can we just go to the bookstore in silence?” Hoseok complained, what was Seokjin? His mother? He needed to stop lecturing people all the time… But surprisingly he granted Hoseok his wish because not another word was spoken until they arrived at the doors of the bookstore.

“What’s this?” Seokjin asked as soon as they reached the store. In the window hung beautiful photographs taken at all different sizes and different subjects. Hoseok let out a tired sigh in response but it seemed his senior was waiting for more when he didn’t move from his spot.

“I don’t know, some person sells those here I think. Probably for pocket money or something.” They were beautiful pictures, but staring at the black and white photographs made him even more upset… It reminded him of Hae Ri and the situation he spiraled into. Why was he acting like he had been rejected? This situation was annoying and he knew Seokjin was right, he really was blowing things way out of proportion but there was nothing that could be done about it until he got the courage to confront her. Being shy never was considered an admirable trait by anyone he knew…

“Anyways, you’re here for some music, yeah? Find your stuff, I’ll be looking at some books or something.” Seokjin shrugged and entered the store. Hoseok meant to follow but he still stared at the photographs absent-mindedly, there was something weird about them. He’s seen some of these before… Hasn’t he? That picture of the red haired boy with headphones definitely looked familiar… After all, who dyed their hair that shade of red? And how many times could it be captured…? No more thinking, it’ll only make his headache worse.

“My prediction was right, since the first day I met you, you captivated my heart, which no one was able to have.” Hoseok sang along quietly, shaking his head side to side as he listened to the music through large headphones. He couldn’t help but dance a little, making sure to hold the CD’s he collected in his hands tightly. At least 2ne1 took his mind of things, “No one can understand but I want to ask you, D.O.Y.O.U.L.O.V.E. do you? Do you love me?” He sang along softly but aggressively. People were starting to stare at him again… Sometimes people just had to let loose when bad things happen, it wasn’t healthy to be in constant worry. Maybe people didn’t let loose the way Hoseok did… But didn’t they know staring was rude!? For a moment he pulled the headphones off his ears and let them hang around his neck before scanning a different CD to preview it.

“Ah, it’s been a while since you’ve been here!” He heard the clerk gasp, “Are you here to pick up your money?” How was he going to afford all these CD’s? YoonGi is going to throw a fit when he gets home because it’s less money that Hoseok will have to spend on him and his eating habits… Can’t he find his own job? Selling his songs online for twelve won wasn’t getting him anywhere, and his gigs weren’t raking in the dough like YoonGi had hoped.

“Y-Yes…” A weak voice responded. Seriously, it’s always Hoseok that’s buying things for his roommate… Who’s older than him! Shouldn’t the older be taking care of the younger? Just what did YoonGi’s parents raise…? That man sure wasn’t human; he had no feelings for anyone but himself! And maybe Stephanie… But Hoseok doubted that sometimes by how grumpy YoonGi got after Stephanie would leave.

“You’re lucky you have such a talent Hwang Hae Ri, you actually made quite a lot!” Just then Hoseok nearly choked on his own saliva, his thoughts went off course and crashed into a wall as soon as he heard that name. It’s like his nerve system went offline for a moment because next thing he knew was the sound of his small stack of CD’s crashing onto the floor.

“I take it these ones are meant to be put on sale?” The clerked asked Hae Ri. Hoseok didn’t even bother picking up the CD’s as he poked his head from the isle of music and spotted the familiar olive green army jacket and long wavy brown hair pooling in the fur trimmed hood. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Hae Ri, but that only made an uncomfortable nausea brew in his stomach. Speak of the fricken devil! She was right in front of him…!

“Yes…” Hae Ri responded softly. The clerk handed her a white envelope and she bowed quickly before she turned around and began walking in his direction. This is it! This was his chance to finally say something to her!

It was the first time he saw her in three days… Why did it feel like eternity? She was so pretty with her washed out skin tone and slim nose, the country was full of brown eyed girls but no brown eyes could compare to Hae Ri’s. The way her hips swayed when she walked was like a model on the runway, he couldn’t help but let his eyes trail down her thin legs. Butterflies bounced off the walls of his stomach as she got closer. She was getting closer. Hoseok quickly fell to the floor and hung his head low as he scooped up the CD’s, she can’t see him! What would he even say to her!? A hiss left his lips, Seokjin was completely and one hundred percent right! He was making this harder than it should be! Coward…!

“H-Hae Ri…!” He looked up but she had already passed by? Screw the CD’s! Leaving them as a small pile on the floor he scrambled to his feet and out into the main isle. He had to catch up to her, this was his chance! His eyes found her figure just as the entrance door swung shut. “Why is this so hard!?” He groaned as he quickly rushed to catch her before she disappeared.

“Oh, have you found what you were looking fo-“ Seokjin met him in the isle but Hoseok rushed by him without a single glance or word spoken. There was no way he’d let such a perfect opportunity slip through his fingers!

Cold air hit him as he burst through the door to the sidewalk, which way did she go? There was no way she could have gotten that far already, right? His head snapped from side to side as he looked up and down the streets until he could see her small figure a block ahead already. Trying to catch a beauty was a lot more work than he bargained for…!  Immediately he took off running in her direction, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to catch up with her!

It seemed all day he had become the spectacle that everyone stared at. First at the playground, then in the bookstore, and now as he chased a girl down the street like it was something normal people did. Hae Ri made him into a bumbling idiot that couldn’t even speak a sentence properly. Hae Ri made him into a fool who was on display for everyone to point and laugh at. But… Why didn’t he mind? Up ahead a cross walk turned red, and Hae Ri stood at the corner digging in her purse for something. Finally, he’d get his chance to finally make sure she forgave him for whatever he did…

“All she did was scrape up her forehead and I looked like I committed a murder or something! I had to go back to my dorm and change my clothes it was that bad…” Namjoon explained as he leaned back in his chair.

“Mm.” YoonGi replied, truthfully he wasn’t paying much attention. His eyes scanned the computer screen in front of him, occasionally switching between his project and open mic nights at various venues in town. “Wanna check out this place in a few weeks?”

“I could have went to jail for taking a girl to the nurse! Are you even listening hyung?” Namjoon complained, rocking back and forth in his swivel chair dramatically.

“Yeah yeah, scatter brain tripped over her own two feet, scraped up forehead, blood, nurses office. Cool. Don’t you have homework to do or something? Rather than bothering me?” Why was it then whenever he multi-tasked, people thought he wasn’t listening? But repeating it sounded like severe déjà vu in a way, “Sounds familiar.” He mumbled as he clicked around with the audio samples on his program.

“I don’t have the power of procrastination like you do.” Namjoon scoffed, pressing further into his chair, “What? How can you know about the girl when I didn’t even tell you about her?”

“Not the girl, the situation.” YoonGi sighed, exiting out of the multiple venue sites he was surfing.  Or maybe it was the girl…? Someone tripping over nothing reminded him of someone... Slowly and painfully, his stomach growled loudly, was class almost over so he could leave?  “Is class almost over with?” He grumbled and grabbed his phone from the messy work desk. What was Hoseok doing right now…?

“It just started… Why didn’t you eat breakfast if you were just going to get hungry during your second class?” Namjoon scolded, what was with all the grouchy juniors he hung around lately? He already has mommy bird Hoseok squawking at him first thing in the morning, he doesn’t need another one throughout the day.

“’Why didn’t you eat breakfast?’” YoonGi mocked like a child and dialed the first number he could think of. It rang and rang and rang… Finally a strained voice picked up the other end.

“Y-Yebosayo!?” Hoseok answered, why was he so breathless?

“Yah, I’m hungry. Buy me something.” YoonGi demanded, he didn’t care to ask just what was wrong with him. In the middle of his conversation Namjoon quickly excused himself and left the room, he was smarter than that to think sticking around would be a good idea when YoonGi demanded food from Hoseok…

“Wh-What!? Hyung, I’m busy! I’m in the practice room!” He huffed over the speaker. Any other day this would have been believable… No, actually it wouldn’t have been. YoonGi could clearly hear the sound of cars rushing and honking their horns at ty drivers. Hell, event he wind began whipping against the speaker so loud he could habv gone deaf from a single phone call!

“I didn’t know traffic went through the dance studios on the second floor, dip.” YoonGi ground his teeth, did everyone think he was an idiot? Namjoon, Hoseok… Even Stephanie thinks she can fool him too? “I’m hungry, can you please bring me something? Now? I even said please.”

“I said I’m busy!” Hoseok’s voice was getting harder and harder to understand as wind hit the speaker making things break constantly.

“You’re in town slacking off, I’m not an idiot so get just do it!” Just then he heard the sound groaning and whining on the other end from Hoseok.

“Hyung! Do you want to see me bleed?!” What the hell was this kid talking about? Someone must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed… “I don’t have time for you…!”

“Well aren’t you rude? Bring me food or I’ll lock you out of the dorm before you get back, you left your key at the dorm. Tootles.” Before he even heard a single sound from Hoseok’s end, he already tapped the end call key. Well, Namjoon left… He swung back and forth slowly in his swivel chair. Class wasn’t over for another thirty minutes, what was there to do…?

Ten minutes went by of him shooting rubber bands at a handcrafted target on the wall. He hit the center nearly every time; maybe he should get into some kind of sports club at school. Was there even sports clubs at an arts school…? Probably not. Was class over yet? No…

Another five went by as he tried to remember how to make an origami crane… It didn’t turn out how he planned... How do people do this stuff anyways!? Quickly he crumpled the poor excuse into an origami snowball. Was class over yet…? Barely any time passed at all!?

A long groan came from his throat as he rested his head on the desk, flicking crumpled up stick notes around the desk… Was class… over yet…? His eyes peered up at the clock on the wall, ten more minutes? Oh hell no, he’d spent enough time here already! Quickly he jumped out of the chair and threw on his coat, no one would notice he left early anyways…

“Class isn’t my thing.” He mumbled as he walked down the hall. Hoseok should be back any minute now… Better make it back to the dorm; the poor kid was locked out after all.

“Yah, Min YoonGi! Where do you think you’re running off to in the middle of class!?” YoonGi froze mid-step, So much for teachers not noticing… What was he going to say now…?

“Ah, Seonsang… I have to take a piss.” He managed to lie smoothly with a confident grin on his face. The teacher eyed him up and down suspiciously… Clearly upset by the rude language he was using towards him.

“With your jacket on…? You aren’t fooling me Min, get back in the studio. You’ve been skipping class a lot lately.” The teacher sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

“It’s getting colder out and the school hasn’t the heaters yet, I’m cold! And shivering isn’t helping my bladder any. Otherwise I would have waited till class was over.”

“…Fine, but if you’re not back before class ends I’m giving you a zero for your project whether you turn it in or not.” He scoffed and let YoonGi go. To the back of his head he quickly flipped him off before rushing off to hopefully meet Hoseok. Stupid idiot wouldn’t even remember he left once he made his rounds with the other students in the studios… ‘I’ll give you a zero’… Who did he think he was kidding?

Outside the wind hit him harder than it did a few hours ago, did it already drop a few degrees? Winter really was on its way… Yuck. It was such a depressing month, with the cabin fever and all it really made everyone feel like crap, especially him. Hopefully there would be lots of gigs him and his friends could attend to keep his spirits up… Well he had Stephanie, so maybe Christmas would be a little less lonely since he couldn’t be with his parents for it… Just thinking about it made the corners of his mouth tug into a smile… Up ahead he heard someone cough and sniffle, looking up he saw a small girl in an army jacket…

“Hae Ri…” He mumbled to himself, he didn’t think he’d see her around so soon. Without warning his body suddenly felt a little too warm in his thick jacket… Was he blushing?! That’s right… That night happened… Ugh, why is it that every time he saw her face it always looked sad? Living with Stephanie wasn’t any easy task he guessed. Should he… Say something to her? Ah, it why not?

“Yo, Hae Ri!” He called over to her. Her head snapped up immediately, eyes wide with shock. “What’s up?” He smiled and quickly rushed over to her, did she get his note maybe? She had to have; she always has her camera on her right?

“I-I was… In town…” She mumbled, avoiding looking him in the eyes. She clutched a small envelope close to her chest.

“Really? So was Hoseok, did you happen to see him around? He’s bringing me food.” At the mention of his name she seemed to get smaller, if that was even possible. So had Hoseok finally gotten her attention or something?

“N-No… I didn’t see him… I’m sorry…” She mumbled, biting her bottom lip softly.

“Sorry, for what? I only asked if you saw him!” YoonGi chuckled. He could see the nervousness she felt; he could see the tension in her shoulders. This was certainly awkward, he tried to look her in the eyes to officially tell her what he wrote in the note when he noticed a small white patch taped to her forehead.

“Yah… What’s that?” He pointed to it, it was a little rude, but who cares?

“O-Oh, uh… I fell the other day…” Her fingers lightly touched the bandage, so that’s why she was avoiding his eyes maybe? Did she think he wouldn’t notice something bright white against her skin, no matter how pale she was… Hae Ri fell the other day… All she did was scrape her forehead and it looked like I committed a murder or something! No way… Was Hae Ri the girl Namjoon found the other day!? He knew it sounded familiar…

“I’m sorry for running away the other night and ignoring you… I-I didn’t mean to make you mad…” She muttered when he was taking to long to say anything. YoonGi’s cheeks flared bright red, so she did get his note maybe…? This made everything even more awkward than it already was. “I… I have a lot of problems. You were right, I’m stupid and I’m weird. And my parents… They didn’t raise me with manners.” Her eyes fell down to her feet, oh no… Was she going to cry again because of him? Couldn’t she just forget what he said?

“N-No, I didn’t mean what I said that night…! I was just worried about Hoseok, so I wasn’t in my right mind…” He started rambling quickly, throwing words at her at Namjoon speed, “Did… Did you get my note? I’m sorry I couldn’t do it in person… I was embarrassed an’ … I’ve never had to say sorry for something… Well it’s not that I’ve never had to say sorry, it’s just I never really took the time to.” He managed a shy smile and scratched the back of his neck. 

“Sunbae… Could you do me a favor?” Hae Ri asked, “Could you… Tell Hoseok I’m sorry too…?” She smiled slightly. Why did his heart suddenly hurt a little? Yah, he was talking about himself and she just brings Hoseok into this without a problem…? After all he just said all she could think was to ask him to tell Hoseok she’s sorry?

“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” He blurted before he could formulate a polite sentence. She didn’t even look the least bit shocked, not even hurt that he accidently raised his voice…

“Mmm… I-I guess you’re right…” She sighed, “I’m sorry for troubling you with that… I need to get back to my dorm, I have class soon…”

Crap! Did he just make her run away again? Was he seriously no better than Stephanie? “I-I’ll tell… I’ll tell him…” YoonGi let out a defeated sigh,  there was no way he’d let himself have the same attitude towards Hae Ri. Certainly she didn’t deserve it. Up ahead another person entered campus carrying a plastic bag, and stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the two of them speaking to each other.

“Ah, Hoseok’s here with lunch. Don’t worry, I’ll tell him okay?” YoonGi smiled brightly, even placed a hand on top of her head and ruffled her wavy brown locks. The entire time Hae Ri’s eyes were wide and she held her breath. What a weird girl… But thinking of it only made him laugh quietly to himself, “I’ll see you around.” He waved and left her behind.

He didn’t even notice Hae Ri watching him run off with a bright red blush tinting her cheeks.