2. HE PAINTED IN HIS SLEEP

René Huang. His age would soon touch the head of three, but his face was still flawless without a single wrinkle. He was a French-Chinese mixed blooded. His father was Chinese, while his mother was French.

Even so, he was born in China and spent his first six years of life in the Asian country. It was only when he started elementary school that his family moved to Europe. Therefore, he pocketed the French nationality.

His family was not living with him now, though. They moved back to China ten years ago, leaving him with his grandparents, who loved him dearly. Unfortunately, his two special figures passed away last year.

He was completely alone afterward. The only ‘family’ he had was the psychiatrist, Damien Lau. They weren't related by blood, but they had known each other for so long that they became brothers. Moreover, Damien was also mixed-blooded, and that fact alone made them feel connected. Sometimes, they were chatting in Chinese, and that made him feel at home.

Tall, quite muscular, and definitely proportional. His skin was as shiny as porcelain, his ear-length hair was in the same color as the cocoa beans, his irises were like sparkling emeralds, and his lips were plump and in crimson color.

He was mixed-blooded, but the mix of genes present on chromosomes didn’t make him look like an Asian at a glance. It seemed that the gene that he got from his mother dominated his physique.

He was not a cold and untouchable man. However, René was used to a calm and quiet atmosphere when he was at home, so his almost reserved nature carried over when he was outside.

When he was still living with his parents or his grandparents, their houses were not quiet, but the atmosphere changed after he started living alone. No one talked to him, so he remained quiet. He unconsciously brought the habit when he was outside. He didn’t speak much even if he wasn’t alone outside.

The series of numbers had been memorized by heart, making it easy for him to enter his apartment password. The door opened, and his long legs immediately stepped in.

The residence was classified as luxurious. Silver and black colors dominated the walls and furniture. He bought the unit with his hard-earned money. Dozens of exhibitions had been held, and dozens of paintings had been sold at exorbitant prices. In addition, his presence as a speaker in seminars and forums, as well as a guest lecturer at a university, also added to his coffers of money.

Instead of entering his room to immediately rest, René turned his steps into a room with a closed door. Slowly, he brought his slender fingers to reach for the doorknob and opened it. It was his personal studio, a room where he was free to express all his inspirations on a canvas. Yes, he painted in the room.

Don’t be surprised if the room was full of paintings and all the objects that supported the painting process. Brushes, palettes, brush cleaners, palette knives, easels, oil paints, and canvas. All the equipment for painting filled the room.

René deliberately chose the room as his studio. A room that was quite spacious with large glass windows that directly led to views of the city. René adhered to the flow of Realism, a painting style that depicted conditions as they were in everyday life, and the painting looked real without any additions. Of course, the condition of the city that he saw from the window could inspire him.

René’s eyes were fixed on a painting by the window. His long legs then moved toward the painting, which was now shaded by the twilight rays. The beautiful color combination of the artificial color in the painting and the natural color of the sunset pleased the eyes.

The artist stopped in front of the painting. His eyes stared at the inanimate object with a thousand question marks in his head. His hand touched it. The oil paint had dried, no longer staining his long forefinger.

He made the painting last night. He couldn’t tell the exact time, though. He painted the painting in his sleep.

A sigh echoed as René thought about the event. He didn’t understand why this kind of sleep disorder suddenly happened to him. A few weeks ago, when he woke up in the morning, the first thing he saw was a painting that he himself had no recollection of ever painting.

He woke up in his studio at that time. Confusion hit him immediately. He bewilderedly lamented the painting of his mother’s face that he saw that morning. He really had no recollection of ever making the painting.

A similar oddity happened the following week, but at that time, it was the picture of his father that was painted on the canvas when he woke up in the morning.

The painting he was currently touching was also no exception. The painting was the first thing he saw this morning. The one thing that made him rush to the hospital where Damien worked. It was the first time for him that in one week, he painted twice in his sleep.

It was a painting of his late grandmother. It looked very similar to reality. René remembered his grandmother’s face really well. His grandmother smiled brightly at the painting as if smiling at her grandson. He missed the beautiful lady who had nurtured him for ten years.

Several paintings were painted while he was asleep. He really didn’t know how he did it. How could he paint in his sleep? He must have heard the term sleepwalking, but he had never heard of anyone painting in his sleep. In addition, the paintings that he painted in his sleep were also perfect, just like the ones he painted when he was awake.

So far, the paintings he unknowingly painted were those of his family. His mother, father, older sister, nephew, grandfather, and late grandmother. All the paintings were still neatly stored in his studio.

But, he didn’t want to bother. After all, his strange habit did not harm anyone, and the paintings he made were also only those of his family. Perhaps, René loved or missed them so much that he subconsciously painted them in his sleep.

Yes, there was nothing to worry about as long as the paintings depicted normal things. Unless one day, the work of his unconscious state began to deviate from the normal course.