The sound of the juicer was loud, too loud in the tense silence. Aera was biting her lip, not courageous enough to take a peak at the two men sitting in her drawing room.
When she was satisfied with the consistency of the juice, sure that there would be no big chunks of watermelon in it, she put an end to the churning sound. Even as she put ice cubes in the glass, followed by the watermelon juice and some soda, she couldn't deny that this was something she was expecting to happen sooner or later.
She was afraid to catch feelings but not completely blind to see other people's feelings. Taehyung's eyes never lied and that just made the situation worse.
The men were caught in some sort of glaring fight. Their introductions had been tense, the handshake lasting a little too long. And now, Aera could feel the line of high tension wire that was created by their eye contact.
Aera finally looked at the men still in the same position she left them in and the cat, that had settled on Taehyung's lap. Mel looked quite peaceful as Taehyung scratched her behind her ear.
"Here," Aera said, pushing the tall glass in Taehyung's line of vision, breaking the intense stare down. He looked up, his hard face instantly morphing into a more relaxed one, a small smile on his lips.
"Thank you, Aera," he said, taking the glass from the woman's hand, making her blush as he let his fingers touch her's delicately. It gave the singer satisfaction while the police officer rolled his eyes and his cocky smirk.
Aera smartly chose to sit on the single chair in her drawing room instead of the couches the men had occupied. Better to keep that jealousy out of the way, she thought.
"What's with the sudden visit, Tae?" Aera asked, trying to dissipate the awkward air. "I just came to see if you've gotten any inspiration and painted something new."
Aera's mouth formed an 'O', truly not expecting that answer. It wasn't everyday people asked her about her projects, much less push her to do better like Taehyung did. She realised, it felt really good to have a genuine supporter.
"She was going to," Doyun replied instead, scowling at the 'intruder' subtly. "She was going to paint me before you came and now here we are."
Okay, that wasn't the best answer and Aera cringed internally. This is exactly what happens when the person you are dating and the person crushing on you come together. They try bringing each other down without knowing what their love interest would feel like.
And Aera felt like banging her head against the wall at the moment.
She watched, quite mortified, as Taehyung's eyebrows drew close, forming a deep frown. "Oh, well apologies for my interruption but I don't think I saw her painting anything when I came in."
Aera opened her mouth to talk but Doyun beat her to it. "She was going to paint, Taehyung-shi. She was just taking a break to feed that bloody cat," he said, pointing his finger accusingly at the cat.
"She's not a bloody cat!" Aera and Taehyung let out, firm and loud. They looked at each other with wide eyes, surprised that they said the exact same thing together. Finding their grey ground yet again.
Aera couldn't deny it anymore. No matter how much she was attracted to Doyun, she had an equally big crush on Taehyung.
This sucks big time, she thought to herself.
Doyun scoffed, his heart squeezing painfully as he saw the way they looked at each other. He couldn't take it as gracefully as he'd have wished to and got up.
"Well, I wouldn't want to impose on your guest, Aera. It's best I leave," he said, not really looking at the woman. "No, Doyun, please stay," she was quick to reply as she stood up as well, following behind him.
"Some other time, Aera. My shift's going to start in a few hours anyway," he said, giving her a tight smile. "Please let me know when you finish the painting," he continued as he went to the front door, slipping on his shoes.
Aera quietly nodded, not really knowing how to handle this situation. She didn't want Doyun to feel bad but at the same time, it'd be uncomfortable too. She didn't want Taehyung to feel pressured either, especially after knowing this might be the last time she met him before he got busier.
So, she just bid Doyun goodbye, kissing his cheek like she usually did, the man returning her gesture. When she turned around, she saw Taehyung looking out of her window, his back facing her. He was probably avoiding seeing their affectionate gestures a second time. Jealousy was indeed a bitch.
But it was also a great inspiration.
Aera instantly saw horns coming out of the man's head, white smoke leaving his ears. Her imagination was running wild as she finally figured out what story she'd like to tell through her paintings.
"Taehyung," she called out softly, making the said man turn around to see her brilliant smile, her eyes almost sparkling, as if screaming, 'Eureka!'
"I love you!" she exclaimed, running away downstairs quickly to get her idea on the paper, unaware at the moment what she actually said. Unaware, what the words did to the men standing on either side of the front door.
~~~~
A/N:
Took me long enough to write. I had a lot of ideas for this particular chapter and it was hard to write any one. So, Imma just put them out slowly in the upcoming chapters 😉
I'm kind of excited to know what you think of this chapter cuz you know, Aera confessed to having a crush on Tae. Finally!!!
Anygays, I hope you like this chapter and
Thank you for reading 💞💞
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Brush Strokes ✓
Fanfiction"It's tea. I didn't add poison to it. If that's what you are thinking." ⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅ Lee Aera has never had it easy in life. Struggling in the cut-throat industry of art where you either get noticed or...
