Chapter Text
Kaiser checked his hair in the bathroom mirror, smoothing a few flyaway strands. He conveniently ignored the insistent knocking on the door, coming from none other than Ness. His friend’s patience was reaching its breaking point.
“Kaiser,” he hissed. “We’re going to be late, and you know how Rin gets when people don’t show up on time.”
The blonde man continued to tie the top half of his hair up with no sense of urgency. “Oh, please. That’s not my problem. He and Sae can mill around the gift shop for all I care.”
Today was a day off for their soccer team, and Kaiser had planned to spend it on personal training before exploring the local bars. Rin and Ness thwarted those plans when they vehemently insisted on visiting the local art gallery, hosted by a neighbouring university. Apparently one of their favourite artists, whom he had never heard of, was hosting an exhibit. And Ness had begged him to join them.
He’d refused until Sae had shown up and made a passing remark that he simply couldn’t ignore. It’s not surprising that you’re so uncultured, considering your taste in hair dye. I could put you in front of ‘The Persistence of Memory’ and a mug of beer and you’d tell me beer had a greater cultural impact. Sae knew he'd struck the right nerve when Kaiser suddenly declared he was tagging along.
“I’m about to make it your problem if you don’t get your ass out of there in 10 seconds.”
Sighing, Kaiser fastened a bobby pin under his half-bun. With a grand show of feigned concern, he unlocked the bathroom door, revealing an unimpressed Ness. He jangled their car keys under Kaiser’s nose.
“Took you long enough. Let’s go.”
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As Ness predicted, Rin was ready to tear Kaiser’s hair off by the time they arrived. Sae stood next to them, wearing a faint smile of amusement. The sibling duo had placed bets on whether their teammates would arrive on time. Clearly, Sae had won. Kaiser inwardly snickered as he watched a fuming Rin shove $50 into Sae’s expectant hand.
“You’re 20 minutes late,” Rin seethed, his tone unforgiving and accusatory. “Isagi’s exhibit is already swarming with other visitors.” He shot Ness a look. I thought we had a deal to show up early. His teammate raised his hands in a placating gesture, as if to say, I fucking tried.
Kaiser, choosing to ignore Rin’s complaint, strode into the gallery. “Well then! Let’s get on with it, shall we? Hurry up, Rin-chan.” Kaiser rarely used honorifics, and he just so happened to pick the one usually reserved for children, mockery dripping from his voice. Leave it to him to fan the flames of an unfavourable situation.
Sae inwardly sighed as a murderous look passed over his brother’s face. It’d probably be best to say something before things escalated.
“Kaiser, shut up.” Never a man of many words, but he was putting in effort for Rin. Secretly, he also felt like Rin was being overly dramatic for Kaiser’s tardiness—not that he’d voice it out loud, though. They’d patched their relationship up a few months ago, but that didn’t mean everything was back to normal. It would be impossible to return to their old dynamic, but Sae was trying. And so was Rin.
Apparently Sae wasn’t trying hard enough, because Rin glanced over with a withering stare. “That was horrendously lukewarm.” He stalked up the pathway, following the rest of their group.
That’s my line.
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The four of them were being directed like bees in a hive, shuffling throughout the exhibits along with the rest of the crowd. This Isagi person must be a big deal. If the crowds were anything to go by, his social media presence was even crazier. Sae thumbed through the gallery pamphlet, eyeing the blurb under Isagi’s photo. The artist’s eyes were a deep azure, framed by blue-black hair topped with a tiny sprout. Something about them reminded Sae of the intensity of a soccer match. Seems like he’d be Rin’s type.
“Isagi Yoichi is a young Japanese artist who primarily works with oil and watercolour paints. His imagination, fueled by fantastical landscapes and surreal worlds he envisions in his dreams, is what drives his striking work. His newest series, titled ‘Soul(mate)s I’ve Painted’, has yet to be released on social media, and fans are flocking to his exhibit to get a first look for themselves. Similar to his previous paintings, Isagi claims he’s never seen these subjects in real life—only through dreams. When asked to comment on them, Isagi states, “I don’t know why, but I feel a strong sense of connection to these people I’ve painted. Maybe in another universe, we’re romantic or platonic soulmates. If these people exist in this universe, I’d love to meet them.” If you find yourself painted in his work, Isagi kindly requests that you reach out to him via this email… The sentence revealed an opportunity to work with Isagi in a one-on-one portrait session. No wonder there were so many avid fans here. On the off-chance one of them was painted, they’d be able to spend private time with a famous artist.
Whenever Rin expressed immense interest in something, his features became less impassive. As a teenager, he’d begun to suppress unnecessary emotions, maintaining a look of detachment on the outside. However, there were some things he simply couldn’t hide, especially from his brother. It was challenging for an outsider to notice, but Sae had grown up with Rin’s admiration for the majority of their childhood. Call it a sixth sense, but he could detect a shift in Rin’s attitude from a mile away. He was practically glowing with anticipation—as much as the current Rin was able to—as they neared Isagi’s exhibit, while Kaiser was more focused on Isagi’s pamphlet photo.
“Hey, Sae,” Kaiser called. “He’s kind of cute, isn’t he? You think he’s single?”
Out of the corner of Sae’s eyes, he could see Rin turn, his jaw imperceptibly twitching as he opened his mouth to speak. Not good. If a fight broke out between the two of them now, they’d cause chaos amongst the throngs of people. That would spell bad PR for their team. He grabbed Rin’s arm, steering him away from Kaiser and into a neighbouring room. Here, it was much quieter and cooler, with far less people milling around.
“I’m going to need you to ignore Kaiser for the next while. At least, until we finish our outing and leave the premises—” Sae was cut off by the thundering of Ness’ footsteps.
“Sae! You can’t just waltz into someone’s studio!” He frantically waved his arms, ushering them back toward the door. “Let’s regroup with Kaiser before he gets lost.” The faint smell of earthy oil paints wafted into their noses, coupled with the soft whispering of a fan ventilating the room. All three of them turned around at the clattering of a paintbrush dropping.
Isagi Yoichi, looking as pristine as he did in his pamphlet photo, was staring at them as though he’d just seen a ghost.
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Isagi was in the midst of setting up a new canvas when he heard two voices chattering near his studio entrance. I thought I put up a sign that said “Please do not disturb.” He didn’t mind meeting fans—frankly, it made his day receiving praise and chatting with them. At this moment though, he was a bit anxious. Today was the first day of showcasing his new series, and he wondered if any of the subjects he’d painted even existed. They’d blossomed to life in his dreams, the first face appearing a month ago. Perhaps the most striking feature about this man was his eyes. A bright, vibrant teal, decorated with a smattering of thick lower lashes that brought him vast joy to paint. Isagi had spent so much time arranging them just right.
When he woke up from that dream, an unknown force had guided him, prompting him to finish that portrait before throwing his subconsciousness into another dream. Multi-toned blue roses and black vines peeked out from the golden-blue haze surrounding this second person’s face. Isagi was still undecided on how he felt about the imperious aura emanating from this subject.
If both paintings were in the same room, an invisible, magnetic pulsing would attempt to pull Isagi towards them every time. He’d come to his studio for a momentary respite, and maybe to do some more research on romantic and platonic soulmates. Yesterday, he called Bachira, asking if his mom had ever experienced something similar. She was still compiling information for Isagi and had yet to give a formal response.
The cacophony of voices came to a peak as a third person joined, shouting and disrupting the music playing in Isagi’s headphones. I think it’s time I escort them out. He glanced backwards, catching sight of a familiar-looking black head of hair. The paintbrush fell from his hands, and the strangers spun around.
Isagi blinked. Once. Twice. Were there two sets of teal eyes he’d painted? Or maybe his first subject had an older brother. That was the most plausible explanation. Whatever the reason, he now found himself engulfed in the wide gaze of—I don’t know his name. Isagi’s tread was light and cautious as he walked towards him. As if he was gliding through a lake of this person’s eyes, flooded with the same deep turquoise. Up close, Isagi could see the eyelashes he’d taken such care to paint.
“Did you…did you see your painting? Have you gotten a chance to?” Isagi watched as a ripple of confusion passed through the man’s face. I suppose he hasn’t yet.
“We were supposed to get here early, although a certain someone took his sweet time—”
A blonde man rounded the corner and nearly gave Isagi his second heart attack of the day. “You know, Rin, it’s quite rude to talk about people behind their backs—Yoichi!!!”
Isagi must have been hallucinating. Not one, but two of his paintings had materialized in front of him? And they were real people, not just figments of his imagination. Judging from their reactions, neither of them had seen his exhibit yet. It didn’t look like they were very friendly with each other either. The ensuing argument reminded Isagi of two territorial cats fighting. A familiar magnetic pulsing thrummed through his fingers as he watched the two of them bicker.
Rin’s brother gave Isagi a slightly apologetic grin that looked more like a grimace. “Don’t mind those two. Rin is a big fan of your style and work, although I don’t think he’d ever admit that. Could I trouble you to show him around your studio? Ness and I will take care of Kaiser.”
A warm fuzziness encompassed his chest at these words. Praise, no matter what form it came in, always left Isagi feeling giddy and blissful. His paintings had names to them now. They echoed in his head; Rin and Kaiser. Hopefully, they’d both agree to a one-on-one portrait session. A joint session would be far too chaotic, he mused, watching as Rin’s brother and Ness dragged a protesting Kaiser out of his studio.
“Why does your little brother get first dibs on Yoichi?” His voice trailed off as the trio traveled further away, toward the other exhibits.
Isagi cleared his throat amidst the sudden silence overtaking the space. Rin stood next to him, their height difference now all he could focus on. He looked up, wondering how he was going to segue into proposing a portrait session.
“Well then, shall we get started? Let’s go for a tour.”