The Picasso Trance

White and faded light blue were the only shades Min-a had made peace with, these two colors always looked fire on him.

He looked at himself in the mirror, satisfied with his beach turquoise palm tree pattern shorts with a white background, and went through five outfits before settling for this.

All had the same color gradients. He was certain he looked good.

It was 6:45 pm on that same day, a few minutes later than the time Seung-ho had informed him to come for his first lesson.

Who the hell begins lessons on the same day as they commenced it?

Min-a tried not to think about how he was cornered by his father and his Noona into being a student of the man he barely knew.

His lessons were mutually agreed to three times a week but trust he wouldn't be making efforts to attend all.

“After tonight, he better not expect me to attend any evening cringe evening classes.” He spoke firmly in his mind.

After he was done, Min-a went back to his shelf to apply perfume, a vanilla mist that made him smell almost edible.

Satisfied with his overall appearance, he took his little LV bag that contained chapstick and his black card. He wasn't dressed for Seung-ho, he wasn't like his sister who lost her cool at the feet of an attractive man.

Though his presence did demand your best somehow, Min-a also had the Velvet Club opening party to be concerned about.

He still hadn't gotten a date but it was fine, he could literally have any of the new rising female pop stars that swam through the city. Their agency didn't stand a chance against him.

“So pretty.” Eun Hye complimented him out of nowhere. She wore a black dress and low heels, simple and elegant, styling her fringe the same way she always did.

“Older sister,” Min-a muttered, heading to the door. He heard her footsteps behind him which brought him to a halt. “What do you want?” He demanded, holding the door ajar while clicking his ton.

“I’m going with you, dummy. You think I'm gonna let you go alone. I love my younger brother-” Eun Hye started with the lovey-dovey “siblings” card she loved playing when she had ulterior motives.

“What do you want? Really?” Min-a turned around to see her holding a neat little bamboo basket of flowers with a nude silk cover over it.

“What’s that?” He cocked his head to the side studying the basket before looking at her.

“Oh, just a little “thank you for coming” It consists of flowers, our customized cologne with his name engraved on it, and-” Eun Hye began to list out but her younger brother didn’t let her finish.

Min-a pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing, “you are one of the smartest women I know out there, and trust me, they aren’t a lot...” his infuriated gaze fell on her.

“What?! I'm being cultured.” Eun Hye snapped. “You know who owns the gifts right? Mr. Kwan!”

“You said it yourself, he hates being bought and you're giving him gifts after he gives you the slightest of chances?” Min-a stared at his older sister as if he could see her brain cells visibly draining.

Eun Hye paused her lips, unsure of her next actions.

Min-a sighed and walked out of the huge brown double-wing door, “Leave the silly bouquet behind if you’re coming with me.” He retorted, nearly displaying how irritated he was.

He decided to not drive, he didn’t have the patience today. So, he asked one of their chauffeurs around to give them a ride.

Eun Hye came out a few minutes later wearing high-waist blue jeans and a white puffer.

“Why did you change your outfit?” Min-a questioned the moment the car started moving.

“Yes, I'm trying too hard,” she replied, adjusting in her seat.

“I didn’t say that, I only said to leave the bouquet behind.” Her younger brother rolled his eyes at her.

Eun Hye shrugged. She wasn’t the type to be caught unfresh. She changed at the last minute with hopes that maybe she could attract Kwan Seung-ho.

She checked her face out on her Samsung 21 ultra, spotless. She smiled with satisfaction.

“You’re beautiful, Kwan Seung-ho will be blind not to see.” Min-a complimented his older sister.

Snapping her phone shot, Eun Hye responded with a faint smile. “Thank you, Min-a.”

Somehow, they matched outfits.

They both wore blue and white themes, only Eun Hye ended her outfit with white Chanel boots.

They got to Coal Street where Seung-ho’s studio was. Min-a noticed Eun Hye grabbing her purse tightly. She kept on checking her phone and closing it back, not exactly inspecting anything.

“Nervous?” Min-a adjusted his shirt, trying to appear nonchalant despite his own nerves.

“No…what? I’m not nervous. I just don’t know what to say to him..” Eun Hye fidgeted with her fingers.

“Then say nothing and leave, show some class that you actually have,” Min-a suggested bluntly.

Eun Hye knew he would say this, but seeing a man resisting both her power and charms aroused her, Kwan Seung-ho had successfully turned her into a restless piece of a hot mess.

Min-a didn’t know that dignity didn’t matter when it came to attraction, she needed to get his attention with other things. Things she didn’t know if she was capable of doing.

Their Lamborghini Huracan EVO came to a stop in front of the garage.

“How long is your session?” Eun Hye asked.

Min-a, who was going through his I***a feeds, grumbled.

“Why are you saying it like I'm going to therapy?” He dropped his phone in his pocket.

“It’s an hour. I have a thing after that, don’t ask me to do anything else for you, this is already enough.” He came down from the car after that.

Eun Hye followed. “I’m only asking because I want to know if talking to him after would be a better idea.” She clarified.

Min-a hummed, stepping forward to press the doorbell, the familiar sound making Eun Hye’s heart skip a beat.

She checked her outfit once more, standing nervously by Min-a’s side as they waited.

Aera appeared at the door, opening it wordlessly and ushering them inside.

“Min-a,” she greeted Min-a shyly as he passed by, eliciting a tight-lipped smile from him before he headed towards the main room.

Seo Min-a noticed Eun Hye lingering at the entrance, seemingly transfixed, and wondered why she hesitated to enter. He sighed and joined her, finally understanding the reason—the enigmatic presence of Mr Kwan.

Seung-ho, clad in gray sweatpants and plastic suspenders, looked every bit the desirable Mr. Right of every woman’s dream. His taut muscles flexed and relaxed as he worked on woodwork, goggles covering his eyes.

His butt was well-defined in the sweatpants, and Min-a couldn’t help but notice another tattoo peeking out from under the suspenders.

For the first time in a long while, Min-a found himself staring at another man for far too long.

His chest tightened uncomfortably, and he noticed Eun Hye seemed equally captivated—quite literally drooling.

Aera’s voice faded in their ears, unable to snap the siblings out of their separate trance until Seung-ho turned around.

The air conditioner in the studio made his nipples a lot more visible.

“God please help me..” Eun Hye whimpered to herself, clenching her thighs together to ease her arousal before finally walking in.

Min-a strolled in behind her. He hated that his body was doing that ‘thing’ again but he rebutted the outrageous sensation.

“Miss Seo…you came too.” Seung-ho didn’t sound exactly excited but he smiled anyway.

“Yes, I- uhm wanted to thank you in person for taking my younger brother, Min-a in as your student. I truly appreciate this kindness. The Seo family will never forget this favor.” Eun Hye stretched her hands out for a shake but Kwan Seung-ho decided to give her a side hug instead.

She felt her face burn at the unexpected intimacy.

Thank heavens she already had pink blush dust on her cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Seung-ho retorted before pulling away to face Min-a. “Hello, Min-a,” he stared into the younger man’s eyes. His intense gaze made Min-a feel very uncomfortable.

“Hello, coach..” he grumbled under his breath, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

Seung-ho couldn’t tell that Min-a was nervous, but he observed that his long dark brown hair was fully down today, and it looked very shiny under the industrial white light in the studio.

“Uh, Mr Kwan, can I speak to you?” Eun Hye choked out impulsively. “Privately?” she pointed towards the hall before the studio.

“Of course.” Seung-ho nodded, dusting the wood hair off his hands. He patted Min-a on the shoulder, “I will be back, feel free to analyze my work, beer is in the fridge over there.” He added before following Eun Hye into the darker hall.

It wasn’t like he didn’t like Eun, but she was a businesswoman, a CEO.

From experience, trusting people like her who claim all they want to do was help, 99% of the time, they had their pockets filled helping.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Kwan. This is really-” Eun Hye started but Seung-ho waved her off immediately.

“I’m doing this for your younger brother’s sake, no need to thank me. Cut to the chase, what do you really want?” He asked, folding his arm. His tone took Eun Hye aback but she bounced back from it. She has dealt with men like him before.

“I have a fundraiser event, a party of a friend of a friend. I need a date and I was wondering if you could be my plus one..” Eun Hye gave her most seductive smile.

Seung-ho sighed. “Miss Seo.. ”

“We aren't business partners yet, Mr. Kwan. This isn’t technically mixing business with pleasure.” She quickly pointed it out, backing him into a corner.

“I would love to but I'm gonna be really busy, you saw the project I was doing back there, it needs work and focus-” Seung-ho tried to say everything but no to her smiling face.

“So no?” She questioned and he remained silent.

Seo Eun Hye, trying to maintain her steez, said. “See you later. Have fun.” She waved to him with a cheerful smile, not looking back once due to embarrassment.

Kwan Seung-ho groaned slightly before he walked into the studio again to see Min-a with goggles on, retouching the painting he started yesterday.

His hand movement was fluid as water, he couldn't help but be impressed.

Seung-ho lingered at the door post watching him paint away while holding a beer in one hand.

“The kid is talented,” he nearly gasped out in amazement.

Min-a wasn’t exactly a genius, but more of the raw, untamed type.

With a bit of refinement, he could easily surpass most of the commercial artists out there.

“Use a type two brush for the wet hair tendrils,” Seung-ho suddenly interjected, but Min-a didn’t react, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

Seung-ho furrowed his brow at this, approaching and observing his distraction.

As Min-a stood back to assess his work, he crept up behind him, closing the distance until he could catch a whiff of a faint vanilla scent. Seung-ho couldn’t help but inhale deeply, feeling a rush of sensation. He reached out to remove Min-a’s earpods, but his sudden movement startled the younger man.

“Fuck!” Min-a exclaimed, dropping the half-empty beer bottle, its contents spilling onto the floor.

Seung-ho merely stood there with a cocky smile on his face.

“What the fuck, man,” Min-a lashed out, getting mad he didn't even apologize.

“You should use brush two for the hair tendrils.” Seung-ho reiterated, feigning ignorance like he didn't know exactly what Min-a was freaked out about.

“I don’t give a fuck about brush two, you DO NOT touch a man’s hair like that.” Min-a almost yelled. He knew he was acting too sensitive and he was getting weirdly mad for nothing, but he was pissed by how unbothered his art coach seemed after touching him.

“Your earpods create a barrier between us. I'm here to brush you up, not talk to a wall,” Seung-ho maintained eye contact with Min-a, intensifying his discomfort.

Feeling uneasy, Min-a decided to put some distance between them.

“Do I make you uncomfortable? Does our closeness bother you? If it does, maybe you should sit your ass in your dad’s glass house,” Seung-ho retorted defensively, his tone sharp.

“What?” Min-a turned around, baffled by the sudden shift in demeanor. He shook his head, incredulous at Seung-ho's outburst.

Choosing not to engage further such a mad man, he simply walked out of the studio.

Finding a futon in the corner, Min-a settled onto it. He was determined to ignore his overly touchy art coach. He scrolled through I*******m, searching for a suitable date for the upcoming Red Carpet event –someone he wouldn't have to see again.

About an hour later, Seung-ho emerged from another door, dressed in a sharp gray tuxedo.

“Lesson already over?” Min-a inquired, switching off his phone.

“Yes. I have an event to attend. My younger cousin is opening a new club in the up city.” Seung-ho replied casually, retrieving a key from the wall.

“Velvet?” Min-a raised a surprised brow at him. He couldn’t imagine such an ethical man like Seung-ho attending nightclubs.

“Are you heading there too?” Seung-ho asked and Min-a nodded.

“Want a ride?” He asked.

“Yes,” he returned simply.

It took some seconds for Min-a to notice that Seung-ho wasn’t wearing the casual white crisp shirt inside.

No, this man wore a black net that displayed his abs and the dip of his broad chest. His tattoos were also displayed in a glorified manner.

Min-a began to wonder if the meaning of ‘ethical’ had changed overnight. His eyes wandered instinctively over to his crotch before traveling up his body to his face.

“Are you done checking me out?” Seung-ho spoke with a smirk hanging on his lips.