Chapter 7

"First you somehow end up at Taemin's house, now you're here? Are you sure you're not an obsessive fan?" Onew said with one of his million dollar smiles, showing he was joking.

Tang laughed, although his smile had a clear effect on her. Tang wiped her hands with her tartan cloth and put it back on her over-cluttered table.

“Haha, no. These,” She motioned to the hanging drawings above her head, “are mine.”

His mouth was agape, surprise was written all over his face. She had seen that look before on other people, so she wasn’t too worried about it. In fact, whenever somebody had that look on their face, she would have this wave of pride wash through her whole body causing a happy grin to break out onto her face. She couldn’t stop it, no matter how hard she tried.

Onew had turned his back on her to admire her paintings, his yellow hood laying still on his back. Tang turned around,  gasping a little when she saw how messy her side table was. There were paint splodges on the table, some paint leaking from her recently used paint brushes to the concrete ground below. There were art pencils scattered across the table; most of them were blunt from her using them too much. She had started to clear the table when she heard Onew make a panicked gasp.

She turned around a little too quickly, making her neck click uncomfortably. One of Tang’s old portraits were hanging  near the entrance with Onew standing in front of it. The painting was a quick self-potrait that she had drawn when she had first discovered her love for art. Tang didn’t actually like the portrait at all, to be honest, she just couldn’t be bothered to throw it away.

Onew was bending down to read a magazine on the end table that Tang had put there to distract her customers of the long waiting time.

“What happened?” Her voice was full of concern but alarmed Onew nevertheless.

“AARGH!” Onew jumped nearly a feet in the air, making his head collide with her painting. Her painting then fell from the wall and crashed onto his head, instantly ruining the portrait.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry! Honestly I didn’t mean-” Onew started to apologize, but she stopped him with her hand.

She stifled a giggle, bringing her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide her smile. Her eyes twinkled in delight at the sight in front of her; tiny pieces of paper were fluttered all around his body.  She coughed, trying to contain her giggle before speaking, “It’s okay, honestly. I didn’t like that drawing anyway, I’ve been meaning to throw it away for a while now but never had a reason.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, glad he hadn’t ruined a drawing that was special to her. “Well, I’m really sorry anyway. If there’s anything I can do…”

She waved him off, “Well there is something. You could tell me why you’re here.”

He straightened himself, wiping the stray pieces of paper from his body. He explained, “Well, I heard about this amazing new artist from a mutual friend who did extra-ordinary portraits and we need a painting of us.”

Pride bubbled through her veins, somehow causing her to grin happily. SHINee wanted her to paint a portrait of them! “I hope that’s not too much trouble…” He continued, waiting for her reaction.

Tang had to stop herself from jumping and attacking him in a hug, so she just clapped rapidly. “Oh no problem at all! When do you want me to do this painting?”

He looked up, his expression thoughtful. “Well, you could come tomorrow at Taemin’s house. I’m sure you know the way.”

She nodded her head in response, happiness filling up her body. “Sure. Tomorrow’s perfect!"