love againㅡ仁俊

keep it on the low

"give it up or don't give it up."

it's been a year since renjun left korea to study in europe. in the middle of the year, minji and he slowly stopped talking. their everyday conversation became once a week to twice a month. they couldn't handle their long distance relationship well mainly because they are both very busy in their studies and the seven-hour time difference between them made it worse.

"you're still keeping your ex girlfriend's photo in your wallet?" one of his classmate asked him when he was caught looking at the polaroid photo of minji he took years ago. she's still my girlfriend, he wanted to snap at his classmate but he chose not to since it will be a lengthy conversation with him who believes that long distance relationships don't work. yes, they do not always communicate but they still love each other... right?

his classmate felt renjun's glare on his phone so he couldn't help but to ask, "your phone was confiscated again?"

renjun only nodded as he played with his wallet, flapping it while he secretly take glances at minji's photo. it was the fourth time that his phone was confiscated because he was caught using it during classes to talk to minji. due to their timezone difference, renjun only could talk to her during the time of his class when they're both awake. he also bought a second phone but it was also confiscated and to be returned to him by next week.

i miss my family, mark, jeno, donghyuck, jaemin, yangyang, chenle, jisung... and minji, he took a deep breath before he played with his wallet again. his frown was noticed by his classmate, "ya, cheer up. you'll see them soon, okay? let's just focus on our covention today."

he looked around to see visitors looking around the convention and sighed. minutes passed and someone from their school asked them to gather in the museum's lobby so he quickly fixed his padding coat as they rushed towards it.

"so as i've told you last week, we will introduce to you the new batch of scholars from south korea that will be added to our art team. the new batch consists of visual arts and performing arts students and few of them are personally picked by our university director just like mr. huang renjun, our ace," one of the university staff pointed at him, making renjun awkwardly bow to the new scholars of their university.

the staff introduced them one by one until they reached the who they call aces of the batch. the aces consists of one boy and a girl and they're both from visual arts. when they thought that the introduction was over, one of the staffs roamed her eyes around the lobby. "where is the ace from performing arts?" she whispered to her co-worker who widened his eyes when he also realized that one of the students is missing.

suddenly, a short haired girl with a padding jacket covered with snow ran towards them, panting as she placed her hands on her knees. "i'm sorry, i saw a kitten outside that was covered in a pile of snow and took it to a shelter," she was breathing heavily as one of her classmates gave her a water bottle. she drank it quickly and cleared her throat to prepare for an introduction. "i'm sorry for being late. hello, i'm na minji from performing arts. please take care of us well!"

renjun obviously stiffened on his spot, making his classmates check up on him but when they looked at where he was staring at, they joined him from being frozen as they realized that the ace of the perfoming arts is renjun's muse in his paintings. they noticed how the side of his lips curled up to form a smile before the university staffs called for their attention once again.

the university head appointed the older batch to tour the newbies around the museum to see the convention they're currently holding. as soon as the staffs left them, murmurs were heard from the new batch, swooning over renjun and some of his classmates but he didn't care one bit and walked towards minji to brush off the snow on the hood of her jacket. "dummy, you're the one who's covered in snow."

minji bit her lip to supress a smile when she felt renjun's eyes on her for a long time. "missed me?"

renjun didn't answer her question but he held her hand to lead her in his area in the museum. he mumbled a quick i'm going to be her tour guide! to his classmates before they completely vanished from their sight.

"are you really going to study here with me?" he asked her, still can't believe that he's holding minji's hand at this very moment.

minji swayed their entwined hands as she hummed in confirmation. "let's be the greatest artists of our generation," she told him with confidence, making renjun place a quick peck on her lips then smiled at her.

"i love you, na minji. i
missed you so much, baby."

"i love you too, huang renjun.
i'm now here with you."

na minji awed as she looked around the area and she could tell that renjun really did improved a lot. his paintings are more emotional now and his style changed a bit compared from before. as he led her to his final masterpiece, minji squeezed his hand in delight.

"how did you do this?" minji couldn't believe that renjun painted the scene where they were kissing in front of the portrait of hers that he painted for his first convention.

renjun only shrugged and smirked at her, "maybe by replaying that scene in my mind countless of times?"

minji chuckled because of his answer, making her boyfriend kiss her hand. "and i'm tired of just imagining it," he puckered his lips, asking for a kiss.

"here? someone might see us-"

he didn't let her finish her statement as he let go of her hand to wrap his hand around her waist and the other one cupped her cheek. renjun couldn't care less if they'll be caught kissing when he was supposed to tour her around because what matters the most is that they're together again. the cherry taste of the chapstick used by minji lingered on renjun's tongue, still his type. minji couldn't help but to giggle when she felt renjun smiled between their kisses.

when they pulled away, renjun rested his forehead against minji's as he told her a clear answer to her question a year ago, "minji-ah, this is not the last time." he wrapped her arms around her for an embrace, "there won't be a last time."

꒰ end ꒱