the city of yangcheon was quite big, and it took eunho a while to discover all of the new and secret places, in which he probably still hasn’t. but with his late night escapade walks having had become more often and often, he had unintentionally found something that was rather eye catching, something that made him freeze in his steps and look at said thing in awe. eunho had never really been artistic, the most he could do was a fancy stickman with really bad clothes, but this.. this piece of at was something else, and he couldn’t take his eyes off it. it was quite honestly, absolutely amazing and beautiful.
he was taking a shortcut back to his apartment when he had found it, and on that particular night, he was so glad he did. he wasn’t all that interested in art in all honesty, but he did appreciate the sight of this art. there was just something about it that made him awestruck. eunho remembers seeing it for the first time, remembers how he stood there for ages to stare, and then ended up spending another fifteen to twenty minutes taking pictures of it. the colours, the uniqueness, the message that he personally received from it - he would frame it up in his apartment if he could (in which, he actually does end up doing sometime down the line).
and then he saw another recognisable piece not long after that, and he could tell it was by the same artist because of the signature and the style. thus, he took more pictures, from different angles and spent a good fifteen minutes standing there taking in the masterpiece before he had realised the time, and then he was off. that particular spark eunho was slowly seeing less and less of in his life was becoming more and more obvious, and for a split mo ment, this artist had managed to pull a bit of it back with their art. it was amazing.
it’s another night escapade walk, this night he had decided he wasn’t going to find himself shoved deep in a crowd in the middle of a club and instead, taking one of his regular night walks. dressed in his casual clothes (it was night, so he was wearing a random shirt, a hoodie that was namhyuk’s and some tracksuit bottoms that he only really wore when he was in his apartment) and feeling way more relaxed and at ease than he usually does, eunho’s just strolling, taking in the peaceful night when he finds himself heading to the location of where he found the latest piece of art. there, he finds somebody else, a taller male, looking at the piece of art. wow, someone else found it, too. “it’s a really nice piece, isn’t it?”
even though it’s definitely a bad idea, there are times where hanbin returns to his work to check on it, to see if it’s standing through the test of time, and if many people had a chance to see it before it’s no doubt power washed down, or painted over. it’s a self indulgent thing, his pride getting the best of him. a trait he inherited from his parents. sometimes, you just need that confidence boost to know you’re putting your time and effort into something worthwhile. as much as art is for yourself and no one else, it’s still a comfort to know that there are others who appreciate what you do.
as if all the instagram accounts dedicated to documenting his work weren’t enough.
sighing out of his nose into the cool night hair, hands in his pockets, there was a smugness to the man with the fact that his painting had managed to stay up for almost a week now. perhaps no one who really cared had managed to find it yet. good.
what he hadn’t been expecting was there to be someone else not only looking at it at the same time as the eldest shin, but wanting to talk to him about it. apparently there are others who enjoy talking night walks at stupid o’clock in the middle of seoul’s city streets, who knew ?
with the question that was presented to him, hanbin couldn’t help the way he chuckled. if only this guy knew the affinity he had towards the piece.
“ yeah, i guess i like it. ” his voice was quiet as he spoke, and really, he was answering honestly. with everything he did, the artist was never one hundred percent and completely satisfied. it was a good thing he supposed, as it always pushed him to continue to learn and keep doing better in the future. “ have you seen many of these around ? ” a follow up question asked that was mostly to satisfy his own curiosity. did this person just happen across his art during a late night stroll, or was he one of those who actively go out of their way to seek his art out and capture it themselves ?