METANOIA // hyunlix

chapter 2

＊°*•̩̩͙•̩̩͙*˚༶•┈┈ ❊ ┈┈•༶˚*•̩̩͙•̩̩͙*°＊

Hyunjin took off the grey work gloves he'd been wearing for the past few hours and wiped sweat off his damp forehead that his hair was sticking to.

Most of his furniture was now in place, the moving truck had left, and cardboard boxes were stacked up in every corner of the house.

In front of the huge living room window sat five of those boxes, full of paint tubes and cans, paint thinner and mediums, brushes and canvases.
The wooden canvas holder was already set up right where Hyunjin wanted it; Only thin glass would separate him from his garden the next time he would decide to sit down to paint.

He grabbed a glass from one of the boxes in the kitchen and filled it with water from the old silver tap. When he lifted it to his lips, he could immediately taste the signature taste of iron. After the initial disgust, he came to the conclusion that it was just because of the old water pipes and he wouldn't die of poisoning quite yet.

Sipping on the odd tasting water, he observed the view from the kitchen window, that too giving in to the forest.
He squinted trying to look past the first row of trees.

Something moved, slipped right between two old, thick trees. Hyunjin flinched.

He would have some getting used to the wild animals that he would for sure encounter quite often from now on.

Ah, that reminded him. That forest was just as much a reason he'd moved here as the house.

He rushed to grab his grey hoodie and throw his bag across his body, and with the house keys in the side pocket of his jeans, he left the house and took in a breath of the slightly cooler, late afternoon air.

He took the little stone path though the overgrown garden - his garden, he thought and suppressed a small smile.
He had always dreamed of one, longing for some green in his old, cramped city apartment. He had grown some flowers on his small balcony, but that was as close as he'd gotten.

The stones ended suddenly, the soft forest floor replacing the hard feel under his shoes with thick moss. There was somewhat of a path there, or at least there probably used to be, but it was mostly taken back over by the green now.

Hyunjin took it anyway, and within the first few steps he took, the surrounding forest had swallowed him whole.

It was darker almost immediately as the roof of foliage over his head covered the sky, further giving in to the feeling of having entered another world.

The air was humid and heavy with a strange but somehow inviting smell of everything around him. There was a tinge of sweetness to it, but Hyunjin couldn't tell where it originated from.

The trees were old, immensely tall and wide. When Hyunjin, mesmerized, reached to touch one of the thick and coily branches that hung a little lower, it felt rough and partly damp where there was moss. He kept feeling it, dragging his fingers across the curves of it.

Hyunjin closed his eyes for a second and noticed everything was weirdly quiet. There was no wind, no birds singing the way they did when he walked on the side of the road when he first arrived.

Something pinched Hyunjin.
He pulled his hand away startled.

The tree.
This tree, it definitely did something. He had felt it for sure.

It had-

It was like, it had touched him back-

Hyunjin shook his head at his own imagination, but couldn't help rubbing the tips of his fingers. It was like he still felt it right there.