The Wind Loop

13 | alamort

It suddenly dawned upon Ju Ho that she was an actual artist. A real one. He had been a part of her life since the past few months and had the pleasure to see her emotional and social armour loosen around him. Sometimes, one is pretty accustomed to certain facts and they don't realise the real weight of it until they become a witness of its linkages. Maybe that's what Ju Ho was feeling at that moment. He was more used to seeing her do those part-time jobs and eating the meals prepared by him with big bites.

"You seem different today." Ju Ho commented suddenly, earning a brief glance from Ye Bin.

"Why? I have always looked like this. I am pretty everyday." Ye Bin tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, giving him a smile.

Ju Ho snickered."No, it's not because of your face or something related to your appearance. It's probably because of the environment or maybe because of the money. I have never seen you spend even one won till this date. However, here you are. Holding a bucket full of art supplies."

"There we go again. Let me use my money in peace, mister." Ye Bin couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I can't use cheap products when the customer is paying me such a handsome amount."

"Don't take my comment in a wrong way." he frantically waved his hands. "I am happy to see you doing great. All my food was worth it."

"Then act like it." she scrunched her nose. "I might mistake you for a hater or an internet troll."

"You're hurting my feelings. Have you ever seen such a good looking hater?"

"Oh, please." she rolled her eyes as she put one of the medium sized sets in her hand into the basket. "I'm done. I got everything I hope."

Silence dwelled again as she started mouthing all the items she needed in a low voice, just to cross check it once.

"You got two large tubes of white paint. What are you going to do with all that amount?"

"White is the most important colour for me and almost all the other artists I know. We mix it with other colours to derive particular shades. Painting is a fusion of science and art. Usually, we run out of this colour pretty fast."

"It's almost like how sugar and flour is for me." he drawled, shaking his head as if this was totally a new discovery for him.

Ye Bin marched towards the billing section, Ju Ho following her lead closely with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his beige jacket. He could see the gleam of happiness in her eyes when she took out a huge sum of money from her wallet. She had already visited the ATM before going to the art store. The customer had been nice enough to send an advance payment to her after their peaceful negotiation.

"Should we return back to our home now?" Ju Ho questioned as they ventured out of the building, the warm air hitting their cool body. It was a real menace to adjust to the hot temperature after getting out of an air-conditioned room.

"We should eat something. It's my treat today. How about that cafe on the opposite side of the road? It looks really grand from this side." Ye Bin started longingly at the high-fashioned one-storey building.

"I apologise for ruining that prospect. I don't eat at other bakeries or cafes. It's a principle I abide by, strictly." he explained, putting emphasis on the last word.

"You can call it market research. You can't improve without looking at what others in the field are doing. You'll probably learn something new and maybe end up becoming better at what you're doing right now. "

"Still, isn't it cheating? The owners don't have a clue about my identity. It's just plagiarism disguised as market research."

"C'mon!" she whined holding the edge of his shirt's left sleeve. "I would die without food because of you."