The girl in the Louvre

Before Zhang Mie fully registered what was happening, Zhi Rou had already put a brush in his palm and wrapped her small hand around his and the brush. "Here, don't hold it too tightly but also do not let it fall out of your grasp. Imagine it is like an extension of a body part, you would not exert all the muscles in your arm and wrist just to move your finger, right? The same applies here." As she talked to Zhang Mie, Zhi Rou gently coaxed his and toward the paint pallet. "There, a little bit of blue and a little bit of violet."

The person whose hand was being controlled did not say a word but his breathing turned heavy. As Zhi Rou's body gently brushed against his accidentally, Zhang Wie stiffened. Even his hand that was wrapped in a warm embrace suddenly stopped moving. "I got it," said Zhang Wie with a frown.

Realizing her improper posture, Zhi Rou quickly pulled away. "Ahem, well, since you know how to do it I think we can start using it to paint, right." Hiding her awkwardness with a cough, she continued the lesson. "The reason that you need to put two colours on the same brush is to simply save time and because, especially if it is an inexperienced painter, it looks better. You can use this technique when painting something like grass in the background which you don't wish to spend that much time on."

Drifting off one the last sentence, Zhi Rou suddenly realized that Zhang Wie was not listening to the lesson. Instead, he was staring at her in confusion. The slightly dazed and confused look unexpectedly softened his usually stern features. Before even when he was smiling, he looked distant and untouchable. Seeing that he wasn't quite right, Zhi Rou's brow furrowed while touching her cheek. "Is there something on my face?"

Zhang Wie, who until then was still reminiscing the feeling of body brushing by his back and her hand holding his, was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by her question. "Your face?" Realizing that he had been staring at her for the past while he froze. "Humph, it is not like I was staring at your face for any reason. I was just thinking about something else." Looking down at his paintbrush he asked, "what do I do now?"

Looking at him slightly suspiciously, Zhi Rou continued with the lesson. "We are going to draw little flowers. When drawing larger flowers we would usually use one colour and then add more colour later to make the best blend. When the flowers are too small though, like in this case, we need to put both of the colours on one brush and draw it in one stroke. This way when you are looking at the painting you can see both of the colours vividly and it does not take that artist that long." Demonstrating with her brush, Zhi Rou showed Zhang Wie how to do it before letting him try. "Remember to make small strokes, if they are too big it will don't look realistic."

As Zhi Rou gently corrected him, Zhang Wie continued to try different techniques. As they enjoyed themselves with the paint and fine company, time continued to flow by as if it was sand slipping through one's fingers and by the time they finally stopped for a rest, it was past three o'clock.

While washing their hands in the sink, Zhi Rou pondered while glancing at the man next to her. 'It seems he is a bit different than what I first thought.' Throughout the lesson, Zhang Wie had gotten progressively quieter. It wasn't bad though, in fact, it made Zhi Rou feel more at ease. Unlike at the beginning, where he would keep himself at a distance even though he was smiling, Zhang Wei now seemed more tangible.

While she glanced at him through the corner of her eyes, she did not notice that he was doing the same thing to her. 'What it with this idiot? Doesn't she know that she is so obvious when she tries to secretly look at someone.' Rolling his eyes, Zhang Wie finished washing his hands and walked away.

Started by his sudden absence, Zhi Rou quickly called after him."Where are you going?"

"Don't you want something to eat? I am going to make some food," replied Zhang Wie while walking away.

"You can cook?" while asking that Zhi Rou's stomach suddenly grumbled which made her blush in embarrassment. Fortunately, no one was close enough to hear it.

"Supposedly I suck at art, but I can do anything else. For something as simple as cooking food, of course, I can do it," Still not convinced of his inferiority in art, Zhang Wei quietly grumbled in his heart. 'It is not that I am bad at art, it is just that no one has the genius to understand my work.'