The Painter and the Prince Who Cannot Be Painted novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: Lamp Out
The ladder was eight rungs of split pine, and Do-yun climbed it in total darkness with Gyeol's hand on the back of his ankle.
The loft was a low platform of boards under the slope of the woodshed roof, open at one end to the sky.
It smelled of cut oak and old straw.
Gyeol had spread a quilt there already, and a second one rolled at the head, and a brick wrapped in cloth that was still warm.
Do-yun crawled across the boards on his hands and knees and sat down.
He could not see his own hands.
For the first time in his adult life, he could not see anything he touched.
"The lamp stays below," Gyeol said, climbing up after him. "That's the rule."
"Whose rule?"
"Nobody's. Tonight nobody gives orders."
The boards creaked as he settled beside Do-yun, close enough for their shoulders to touch.
Far overhead, through the open end of the loft, a handful of stars hung in the cold black.
"I haven't looked at those in a long time," Gyeol said.
"Why not?"
"They were the only thing I could see over the wall. I stopped."
Do-yun found his hand in the dark and held it.
They sat for a while without speaking, hand in hand.
Then he turned and put his palm against Gyeol's cheek.
"May I?"
"You don't have to ask."
"I know. I want to anyway."
He let his fingertips go where his eyes always went first.
They found the rough stubble of the jaw, and followed it up to the ear.
They moved across the cheekbone, over the heavy ridge of the brow, and down the straight nose.
At the scar they slowed, and traced it from end to end.
"Here is the face I'm not painting," Do-yun whispered. "The one that's yours."
"What does it feel like?"
"Warm." His thumb brushed Gyeol's lower lip. "Like someone I've known all my life."
Gyeol turned his head and kissed his palm.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of The Painter and the Prince Who Cannot Be Painted are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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