#to be fair she's also got an acrylic painting of her mom displayed in the garage (in a high traffic area)

[truly-sincerely]

When I was a teenager I drew a picture of a woman pouring water out of a jug on a post-it note in like, 30 seconds, as a visual aide for a thing I was describing, and a few years later I saw it in my mom's cubicle at her job where she wrangled digital artists, it was the only art of mine I ever saw in her cubicle

The OG "shit post goes viral while my hardest work is ignored"

[stannerofall]

Carry Me Home - Part One

Type: fanfic

Pairing: Jungkook x reader

Summary: You move to Seoul with your parents and hate being there, until you meet a tall dark stranger..

Chapter One: Tall Dark Stranger

I’m in Seoul. Fucking. Seoul. My mom and dad had been talking about moving here for such a long time. I just thought it was a crazy dream of theirs, but after my father got a job offer at a IPG Legal Law Firm everything went really fast. And I hate it. I loved the place we lived before in the middle of Salt Lake City. We had a big house filled with walls that just begged to be painted. I had just finished a mural of me, my family and my friends in my room, then, just a few hours afterwards, my parents broke the news. I was heartbroken. I had to paint my room a couple of days later and managed to capture a picture of the mural before it was whisked away and then again just a white wall.

Then I had to break the news to everyone else. First, I had to tell my boyfriend, Adam, that I was moving to a country on the opposite side of the world, which he definitely wasn’t happy about. He begged me to stay with him in Utah, but I couldn’t afford it and my parents were stubborn in their decision to bring me with them. “It’s going to be great, just you wait and see.” Yeah, moving 6,000 miles away from everything and everyone you know seems fun.. I promised Adam that I would message him every day and he promised me the same. Then I had to break the news to my best friend, Anna. I think we cried for about three hours straight, until we both looked like absolute monsters, dark circles under our eyes from mascara and red eyes worse than a pink-eye breakout. We both started laughing uncontrollably for several minutes and then started crying again. My mom fiddles with the key for the new apartment, eagerly trying to open the door to her “dream apartment”. I sigh heavely and take the key from her hand, putting it in the lock after one try. “Thank you, honey” she says, and I move out of the way so she can slam open the door. My dad and I look at each other and he shrugs his shoulders and smiles. I do a minor eyeroll but follow him inside. I’m almost blinded by the white walls that dominate the hallway walls which lead directly into the living room/kitchen. Yes, my American parents wanted an open concept kitchen and a living room the squarefoot space of three apartments combined. What a surprise. The lowered living room has a giant window in front of it which takes up all space of that wall.

“Isn’t it great, Lily?” my mom asks.

“If by great you mean excessive to the absolute fullest, then yes.” I say. My mom stops looking in the kitchen cabinets and turns around to give me a sympathetic look.

“I know it’s a lot to move here, away from all your friends and Adam, but can’t you try to just enjoy it a little?” she asks. I look at her feeling a little guilty, but I’m still too mad to forgive her.

“I just don’t understand why you couldn’t lend me money so I could stay in Utah, when you have money for a place like this. It’s not fair.” I say and turn around to go find my bedroom.

Even though I would rather go back to Utah, I must say that I love my new room. Again, everything is way too white, but nothing a little paint can’t fix. The room is at the end of the building meaning I have two windows that meet at the corner of my room. I have a great view over the city and I already know that I’m going to use a lot of my time here, listening to music and dreaming of being someone and somewhere else. My mother knocks on the door and slowly steps inside my room.

“Sooo, what do you think?” she says, anticipating my answer.

“It’s okay, I guess.” I turn around and face her, and she gives me a bright smile. She has her hands behind her back, as if she’s hiding something.

“What’s that behind your back?” I ask, still with a dissatisfied expression on my face and my arms crossed.

She puts out her hands and hand me a card. It reads “Homi Art Shop” – Giftcard. I glance at her with a confused look on my face.

“Your dad and I talked about using the spare room as a guest bedroom, but also as your new studio, so you have a place to work. That is a giftcard to a big arts and crafts store just a few blocks from here. There should be enough money on there to buy new equipment.”

I widen my eyes. My own studio?! I didn’t have that back home, so I just used all the walls I could get my hands on and painted them. I’m in shock, looking at the card, then at my mom, then back at the card, then back at my mom. She looks at me in anticipation. I can feel the tears coming, so I put my arms around her and hug her tightly.

“Thank you.” I mutter into her shoulder, tears rolling down my face. She lays a hand on my head and the other around my back, and we stand there for a few seconds, until dad shouts from the kitchen.

“Hey, I think our furniture just arrived!”

 Moving in takes a lot of time, and after several hours we only have the big pieces of furniture ready and in place. My room is plastered with boxes and I don’t know where to start, so naturally I take my huge beanbag, throw it in the window corner, sit down, plug my headphones in and start blasting Bring Me the Horizon till my ears start bleeding.

I must have fallen asleep, because my mom shakes my shoulder and I quickly take out my headphones.

“Did you hear what I said?” she asks.

“No, sorry, what was it?”

“I asked if you wanted to go with me down to the grocery shop so we can stock up the fridge.” I look at her, knowing that if I say no I have to deal with all the boxes, and that’s just not something I wanna do right now. But I really don’t want to go with my mom and pick out the best offer on chicken either.

“I actually thought of going down to the arts and crafts shop and buy new equipment, so I could have the studio ready before school starts.” I say. I was accepted to attend Seoul National University College of Fine Arts which was one of the few things I was looking forward to.

“Oh, you don’t want any company? Maybe dad can help you carry it home?” I know she only says this because she’s worried that I will get lost. I am not the best at finding my way around new places, so my parents always keep an eye on me when we are out.

“Mom, if I have to live here for a long period of time, don’t you think I should find out how to get around? Besides, I have my phone, so if I get lost I can just use Google Maps. I already have the address in my phone, so don’t worry.” I can see my mom is contemplating whether or not to cancel her grocery plans and go with me.

“I am also almost 20 years old. You have to stop treating me like I’m still 5.” I can see that this convinces her by the look on her face shifting from concerned to smiling a little.

“Fine, but if you are not home in an hour, I’m calling the cops and I will send the whole police force out looking for your ass.” She’s trying to sound intimidating, but I just smile and nod.

 I follow my mom’s instructions on how to get there, and after 15 minutes of speed-walking I reach the arts and crafts store. It is humongous. It’s three stories from what I can see, and by the looks of it they have everything an artist’s heart could desire. I try to find a sign that says something about paint, but everything is in Korean, so I give up, and just wander around until I find the painting section. Acrylic paint, oil paint, canvases in every size imaginable, easels and paintbrushes. I let out a small shriek of excitement and start choosing the things I want.

I end up carrying way too much on my way to the cashier, almost dropping all of my new brushes, but I manage to catch them before they land on the floor. I put everything down before the cashier, who just looks at me with wide eyes like I’m a weirdo, and then start to scan everything. I fumble around my pockets trying to find the gift card. I slowly start to panic, as I notice it is in none of my pockets. I then remember I put it in my pocket inside my jacket so I wouldn’t lose it. I glance at the entrance and through the door comes a tall dark figure, but before I can catch a good enough look the cashier says something in Korean and I turn around again. I look at him not knowing what he just said, and he points at the display, showing the amount I have to pay. 450,000?! Oh wait, it’s not dollars. I almost had a heart attack. I hand the cashier my giftcard and he swipes it through the machine. I start taking the things from the counter, trying to figure out how I’m going to carry all of this home. The cashier again says something in Korean, and I figure he asked if I want the receipt, so I just say no thank you. He says something again, and this time I look at him, and I can see that something isn’t right.

“Not enough.” he says, and again points at the display. I start freaking out, I didn’t bring anything else than the giftcard, so I just hoped that would cover it. What do I do?

“I live only 15 minutes from here, can I please just go get my card? I won’t be long I promise.” I don’t think the cashier understands me, because he again says “Not enough”. I can see that I’m 2,000 won short and I try to rummage through the pile to find something that is around that price. The cashier is growing impatient which only makes me stress even more, and I end up dropping a pack of acrylic paints on the floor. The tubes fall out of the box and I crouch down to pick them up, when suddenly someone starts helping me. Finally the cashier has found a more humane side, I think, and as I look up I don’t see the clothes of an employee, but big Dr. Martens boots, black tight pants, a black shirt and a big black coat. The bucket hat and mask hide most of his face, but just under the top of the hat I’m immediately fascinated by the dark piercing eyes staring right at me. For a split second I forget where I am and just want to stay right here. The stranger gets to his feet and I shake my head a little, picking up the box, getting to my feet and as I turn around, the stranger hands his card to the cashier.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, I’ll just leave these here, thank you.” I say. He doesn’t say anything and before I get to say anything else the cashier has already scanned his card and handed it back to him. He puts it back in his pocket and turns around to walk upstairs.

“Hey, I didn’t need.. I mean, you shouldn’t.. uh, thank you!” I almost manage to stutter my way through a sentence just as his feet disappear up the stairs. That was weird.

 I get out of the store and I am immediately met by the freezing cold weather. Fortunately, I have my big winter coat on, but I forgot my gloves at home. As I try to figure out which way I need to go I can feel my fingers get colder and colder. On the way here I was able to put them in my pockets, but now I have to carry all of this shit and I don’t even know which way to go. Fuck. Luckily I have my phone with me, so I can just.. oh no.. I don’t have more power. I must have used it all when I was listening to music. Dammit, now I have to rely on my sense of direction which is just great. Okay, I can just trace back what mom told me about getting here. So firstly, I went left. Wait, or was it right?  Shit. Shit, shit, shit. My fingers are not getting warmer, so I make a decision and turn left.

After having walked around the streets for 20 minutes I end up back at the arts and crafts store. You have got to be kidding me. I stop and put down the art supplies, so I can blow on my hands to get some feeling in them again.

A deep voice appears behind me: “Do you need help?” I turn towards the entrance of the shop and notice the tall dark stranger once again staring at me. I immediately tense up as I meet his gaze. This time I get a better look at him. As I saw before his outfit is all black, but I didn’t notice the chains on his pants and the long earrings dangling beneath his black hair that protrude out from his hat. I must have been staring for some time, because he repeats his question and as I come to my senses, he looks at my hands.

“Are you cold?” he asks, pointing towards my cupped hands that I am still holding in front of my face.

“Oh, no, it’s fine.” I say and quickly hide my hands behind my back.

“Let me see.” he says, and steps closer.

“No, really its fine.” I say, and try to walk a little backwards, but I hit the wall. I think he realizes that a man coming towards you in all black clothes wearing a mask and being way taller than you might seem a bit frightening, because he removes his mask and reveals what I can only describe as the sexiest grin I have ever seen.

“Do you know me?” he asks and tilts his head a little to the side. I look at him confused.

“No, should I?” I try to slowly slide to one side, but before I move just and inch, he places his hands on the wall, trapping me between him and it.

“No, I guess not. Let me see your hands.” He bends forward to grab my arms and by doing so gets very close to my face. He pauses, looking directly into my eyes making me hold my breath. He then slowly removes my hands from behind my back, still keeping his eyes locked on me, as he leads my hands closer to his mouth. He cups my hands between his and starts breathing on them. Even though this is incredibly weird, something in me doesn’t want it to end. His soft hands and warm breath on my hands make my heart flutter and I could swear I have actual butterflies in my stomach. Before I lose myself too much, a picture of Adam flashes before my eyes, and I pull my hands from his, and break our eye contact. I start quickly picking up my things, and he asks if everything is okay.

“Yeah, I just have to get home before my mom gets worried.” I try not to drop anything as I pick everything up from the ground.

“Do you need help with that?” he asks.

I burst out a “NO!”. I accidentally drop a paintbrush and before I can reach it, he gets it for me.

“I mean, no thank you, I can take care of it myself.” I say and take the brush from his grasp. I start walking and immediately stop. I still don’t know where I need to go.

“Do you know the way to Laymean Daychi Palace Apartment Complex?” I ask, as I turn towards him while looking at the ground.

“Do you mean Laemian Daechi? It’s just down the main road and to the left. I can show you the way if you..”

“No thank you, I know where it is now.” I hurry past him and start walking in the direction he pointed.

“I didn’t catch your name..” is the last thing I hear as I turn around the corner.