CHAPTER 04

The sun hung up high. The sky is as clear as the sea, as blue as sapphire. The clouds that used to pass by disappeared like a bubble. Trees swayed in the wind whilst flowers fell from their boughs.

It's sunny.

The warm and pristine breeze brushed the faces and hair of the students. The shouts of athletes reverberate from the field, from soccer players to runners, from playing a set of games to stretching. Some learners sit on the benches under the trees, relaxing and chatting with each other. Others are wandering around the campus, most of them are first-year students.

" Your cousin is indeed admirable, " Says JunHie. " Imagine those medals and trophies, receiving plenty of academic awards, being a representative of our country to compete abroad. I want to be like him, though I know it's impossible. "

" Right? " ZiHan laughs. " I want to be like him as well. But our gap is too big despite being in the same family. "

" Don't you feel pressured? " Asks ZhengYu.

ZiHan was surprised by his question, but he immediately managed his composure. " Of course, I feel pressured. My parents keep comparing me to him. "

Suddenly, disappointment and sadness flashed in his eyes, and though he tended it with a smile right away, it didn't skip to ZhengYu's gaze.

" But, I just used my parent's words as a reference to where I'm lacking. In that sense, I can deal with my insufficiency. He is my role model and my rival. " ZiHan added.

" But, you two took different courses, right? " JunHie said.

" Well, I want to prove to my parents that although he and I took different courses, I can still compete with him. " ZiHan answered.

" Judging by how you described your cousin earlier, he seems perfect to your eyes. Does he have no flaw? " JunHie asked again.

ZhengYu looked at ZiHan. Indeed. The way ZiHan defined his cousin, it sounds like he is flawless, from his appearance to his personality, from his family background to his accomplishments. Imagining those adjectives that link to his name, he's like a character out of a manhua.

But, does a perfect person exist?

" Hmm. " Hand on his chin, ZiHan thought for a while. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he remembered something. " Yes, he has. "

" I knew it. " JunHie laughs.

Curious, ZhengYu listens attentively despite knowing it is inappropriate to gossip about someone whom he hasn't encountered or who has nothing to do with him. But, even so, something deep inside him wants to know this person. He wants to hear anything as long as it's related to this person.

While listening to ZiHan, plenty of emotions resurfaced in his heart. Happiness, sadness, longing, puzzlement. He doesn't understand why he felt these emotions. It's confusing.

ZhengYu tries to suppress the emotions that look like to overflow at any moment.

" There was a time that he got mad at me. That was the first time I saw him so furious. " ZiHan said. " When I was five, my parents took me to visit the main house. While the elders were talking in the meeting room, I wandered around the mansion. "

" The house is so big I got lost. Looking around, I saw a slightly opened door. Curious, I peeked inside, but I saw no one, so I went in. " ZiHan gasped. " Now I remember why you looked familiar to me. " He said, staring at ZhengYu.

" ..? " ZhengYu. 

" In that room, there are so many paintings. Those are portraits of a man who is similar to ZhengYu. But, the one in that room is a portrait of you in an ancient dress. " He gazed at ZhengYu in awe and disbelief.

"... " ZhengYu.

Hearing what ZiHan said, JunHie stared at his friend who was standing at his side looking confused and puzzled. " You know his cousin? Have you two already met before? " He asked.

ZhengYu shook his head. " No. I don't know his cousin. And I'm sure I haven't met him before. "

Though that was his answer, still deep inside him someone screamed that he knew that person, that he had met that person before. But, he couldn't profess that as he understood he hadn't met or seen him.

" You must be mistaken, " ZhengYu said.

" Right. It must be a mistake. Didn't you say you were just five at that time, you must have forgotten the actual person on that portrait. " JunHie agreed.

ZiHan scratched his head. " You must be right. I mean, how can my cousin paint a portrait of a person in his early twenties when he was just seven? When honestly he rarely went outside and just buried his whole childhood in that room. "

Somehow, ZhengYu felt disappointed. He doesn't know why ZiHan's words make him feel this way. Maybe he wished that the person in that painting was him. However, it is impossible. He doesn't know him. He hasn't met him. He doesn't have a slight connection with him.

The thought hurt him for some reason he didn't know. It's like thousands of needles pricking in his heart till it's bleeding, till it stops beating. The unknown pain causes him to nearly suffocate. It was unbearable that he clenched his clothes near his chest.

What's wrong with me? Why is this happening? I don't understand. I don't know him, but why do I feel disappointed when ZiHan said those words? Why do I feel pain? Why do I feel like crying? What's wrong with me? Am I going crazy?

So many questions, yet he doesn't know how to answer them. Or probably a hint of the answer was already in front of him, but he didn't see it.

" So, you're here ZiHan. I've been looking for you. "

A familiar voice suddenly whispered in his ear. He didn't know where he heard this voice. It is as gentle as spring, as warm as summer. Like a dandelion dancing in a zephyr, like crepuscular rays in twilight.

The world seems to stop.

ZhengYu slowly turned and lifted his head to look at the man behind him. Ink-colored hair, thin pinkish lips, a high nose bridge, and gentle bronze eyes. This is the first time he has seen this person, but also not.

He appears in his dreams and his paintings a hundred times or more than that. He appears in his memories and deep in his heart. But, now, he appeared in front of him, breathing and with a heart beating. He appeared in front of him warm and alive.

This is absurd. This is impossible. How can a portrait become real? How can a portrait be turned into a human? Is this some kind of phenomenon? This is the first time I saw him, the first time I met him, but, how come I can paint him with my hands since before?

This is ridiculous, truly outlandish.

Yet, why?

Why am I crying?