Aera twirled infront of her mirror. She smiled in satisfaction as the skirt of her emerald green dress spinned around her legs. The top fit her snuggly, accentuating her curves and the cinching at her waist perfectly.
"Unnie!! This dress is amazing," she squealed in excitement, turning around to Sehee who had gifted her the dress. "I'm glad you like it. I had to take a little help to get the perfect dress," Sehee said with a smile, watching Aera put on the matching accessories.
"Well, I like it either way. Say thank you to Seokjin for me," she replied, not really paying attention to the way Sehee's brows scrunched. She kept her attention solely on drawing the perfect winged eyeliner.
"It wasn't Seok-"
"How do I look?" Aera interrupted the elder girl as she turned around again to get approval. Sehee's eyes widened. "Wow, this might be the most beautiful you've ever looked," she said, quickly opening her phone. "Pose for me."
Aera promptly posed as Sehee took her pictures in quick succession. She really was as professional as any other model, her photogenic face looking good in every angle.
"I swear, Aera, if we keep an exhibition of these photos, you'd be rich." The said girl couldn't help but laugh, feeling her cheeks warm at the compliment.
"I guess, but for now, let's just get to this exhibition. It might not be big but I'm still presenting."
Sehee squeezed the girl's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't think like that. No matter how big or small this exhibition might be, you are still getting a chance. Even if your progress is slow, you'll get there soon. I trust you to get there."
Unexpected tears pricked Aera's eyes as she quickly hugged her sister. "Thank you, unnie. Thank you so much for supporting me. You, Hwayoung and Taehyung are the only people who encourage me like this."
Pulling back, the elder sister only gave her warm smile, leaving the apartment. Aera stopped on the last step, however, as she saw Sehee open the door to the sleek sports car. "When did you buy this car?"
Sehee chuckled. "I didn't buy it. I borrowed it from Seokjin for today. He told me to use it since he doesn't need it today, considering he's in Japan." Aera nodded meekly, still awed at the expensive car. It really was a beautiful car and she made a mental note to thanks Seokjin for it when he came back.
The gallery was bustling with people. Aera gulped nervously, seeing the amount of people attending the exhibition. She also knew, that they weren't here for her. They were at the exhibition for another artist whose center attraction was a really beautiful oil painting of a couple. Aera couldn't even feel jealous of the other artist, since he was really amazing.
With a heavy heart, a fake smile and feeling quite overdressed, she ventured in, Sehee beside her. Honestly, Sehee was the only person anchoring her right now, preventing her from running away and avoiding the empty room her paintings were being displayed in.
Sehee sensed Aera's nervousness and held her hand as they studied the paintings on their way to the other room. Aera caught sight of the middle aged man who was surrounded by reporters and art critics questioning him. He looked quite peaceful as he answered the questions, as if he had been waiting for this moment forever. Aera wondered if she'd look the same if and when her time came.
Unsurprisingly, the room holding her nine paintings in the shades of blue and red was empty except for two people. Their lips were pulled into bright smiles, the woman quickly skipping towards her friend and hugging her.
"Your paintings look amazing!" Hwayoung said, pulling back and pointing towards the painting of the red rose. "I'm buying that one," she said, "and you better sell it to me."
It made the short haired woman giggle. "Alright, I'll sell it to you."
"And I'd like to buy a little time of yours if you don't mind," Doyun said butting in and not subtly elbowing Hwayoung away. It made the woman in glasses scowl but she didn't say anything.
"I don't think you can buy time, Doyun," Aera said with a smirk, accepting the bouquet from the man. He hummed, stepping closer as he wrapped his arms around her. "I feel like if I don't buy your time, I'll never get to spend time with you."
She frowned at his statement. She found it really weird and his demeanor was very stiff too. She wondered what had happened. As far as she knew, everything was going good between them.
She wanted to question him further but Hwayoung and Sehee's chatter reminded her that it wasn't the place for this particular conversation. She looked around herself and saw two people entering the room, a notepad in their hands.
She felt her stomach drop and heart beat pick up as they studied her paintings. "It's the critics," she whispered, her clammy hands tightening around the bouquet.
Doyun looked in the direction Aera was looking at and sighed. "It's alright, Aera. They aren't going to eat you."
Aera shook her head. "You don't understand. If they don't like what they see, they won't write good reviews. And no good reviews mean no commission."
He was quick to rub her arm gently, reassuringly. "Don't worry too much. You are going to be okay."
No, she thought, you are supposed to say I believe in you. Aera's hands clenched around the bouquet even more, wanting someone to say those words. She wished, Taehyung was here to say that to her. He always knew what to say...
She was brought out of her thoughts quite abruptly as she felt Hwayoung shaking her. "Woman! Give that bouquet to me and go talk to them."
Gulping hard, Aera gathered her courage and walked towards the woman wearing a black pant suit. She looked like an important person, her features sharp as her hair were pulled back into a tight bun. Important and intimidating.
"Hello, I'm Lee Aera. Do you like these paintings?" she asked cautiously. She didn't quite know how to approach people in this situation but her tone was friendly enough.
The woman looked at her, her face devoid of any emotion. Aera felt her heart beating at an abnormal rate as she waited for the woman to speak up but then, it stopped as she heard the single word.
"No."
~~~~
A/N:
I'm so, so, so sorry for taking so much time to update. I just had too much work and too many ideas, too many distractions and these are not very valid reasons but still.
I promise I'll update more frequently.
I hope you like this chapter and
Thank you for reading 💖💖💖
YOU ARE READING
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...
