The picnic didn't happen right after the next day came.
It started with Astra's apology for suddenly being called at the vet clinic where she's currently an intern and Jrey's forgotten paper that needed to be passed later that day.
It has been a busy week for the four friends to meet with all the assignments they all needed to finish and the commissions that needed to be done in Deen's case. They only get to meet during lunch or dinner when one of them is too busy to meet the others in the school's cafeteria during their breaks.
Tungsten, being the one with the most flexible schedule took matters in his hand and became the delivery man and caregiver for the girls, making sure that they're all having the break that they need and delivering food when one of them hasn't eaten anything yet in the day (Deen and Jrey being the artists, an art major and music major who seems to forget food when inspiration hits), always making sure that they're all hydrated (especially Astra who is always assisting at the clinic and always running around school since some of her classes are far away from each other), and making sure that the two artists gets some fresh air and not die from suffocation because the air inside their studios can get nasty at times especially at Deen's, what with all of the different type of paints that she use.
Their busy schedule continues for another week and when they're finally free from all of their responsibilities as a student, none of them wants to get up from their bed so they canceled their picnic plan that only get to happen another week later during the weekend.
"I envy your decisions in life." Jrey told Tungsten after they're done arranging the blanket and pillows around them. They're currently fixing the foods in the middle of the blanket while Astra subtly steal pieces of the chocolate that Deen brought just for herself.
Tungsten let out a laugh at Jrey's statement. "Well, it wasn't really the best decision when I was living as the student who took a lot of the supposedly subject needed at that time. But seeing you all struggle makes me want to high five my younger self for being clever." He teases and Jrey groaned at her younger self for laughing at Tungsten when he used to be so stressed out during their freshmen year.
No one has ever warned her that senior year causes so much stress and makes her lose sleep because of the numerous music samples and composition she needed to finish and pass at the same time. Adding to her stress, is the questionable minor subjects that she needed to get before she graduates, if only she followed Tungsten's way and took them earlier.
Does people even mix chemicals when they compose music? No, right? Who even uses pythagorean in real life? Well not unless if you're a math freak and not a music producer like her.
"Quit complaining and just drop out of school." Deen said and pretends to act like she didn't mean to say those words by covering her mouth and opening her eyes wide. "Yeah, choose the easy life and sell drugs." Tungsten added before covering his mouth as well. "Ohh, or I can help you find a sugar daddy and let's use his money to travel the world." Deen continued, touching her chin as if she just suggested something great. "You my friend, is a genius" Tungsten gave Deen a high five before they started laughing and Astra joined them.
"I hate y'all." Jrey groaned and she threw them the pillow that she's been holding.
They continued teasing Jrey and sometimes bicker, mainly Deen and Tungsten, as they eat all of the foods that they prepared. After a while of the constant laughter, Astra squeals and rubbed her arm where Deen pinched her. She slapped Deen's arm before she quickly moved away from her because she's pretty much sure that Deen's gonna slap her back.
"What's that pinch for?" She asked teary eyed. "Don't act innocent. I saw you stealing my chocolates a while ago. I was just too lazy to do something while you think you were being subtle." Deen hardly throws the pillow that she's been hugging at Astra making her fall on the ground. Astra quickly got up to throw the pillow back but Deen's already running away and so they started chasing each other with the pillow being thrown back and forth.
"Ah, they're such a kid." Jrey commented as she and Tungsten watch the two screaming each other from a distance. "Astra's older than you." Tungsten pointed it out before laughing when Astra tripped falling face first to the ground. Fortunately, she quickly put her arms on the ground before her lips could kiss the grass. "What a clumsy little bean." He fondly said and stood up to go and check on Astra but before he could walk away, Jrey annoyingly coughed out a "whipped."
After a while of just watching, Jrey decided to join her friends play around. They started playing tug to catching each other and tickle whoever is caught to flying a kite, it is then that Deen decided to take a rest and go back to their blanket.
She leans at the tree that's giving a shade at their spot and put a pillow on her lap. She closes her eyes to inhale the soft breeze before exhaling loudly. She tries to focus on the rustling of the leaves hoping to lull her to sleep. She feels peaceful, even with the screams and the loud laughing around her, she still find it peaceful.
She's about to finally get her most awaited sleep when someone played an upbeat music and soon Tungsten is screaming the lyrics. Deen opened her eyes with a huff and was about to shout at Tungsten to shut up but ends up chuckling instead. He's a great dancer, it's what he always says and Deen would only agree if she's gone blind, she keeps on saying that he looks like a worm squirming. Tungsten can be really entertaining at times even if he annoys the hell out of her.
She watches fondly as Jrey sang along with the music and Astra even rapped along when the rap verse came. Although she can't really call it singing and rapping because they're only shouting the lyrics.
She wants to remember this day, and if only she can pause the time and live this moment forever.
She grabs Tungsten's camera and started to record what her friends are doing. She abandoned her plans of sleeping and went where her friends are and they pretended that they're making a music video that only ends up making everyone laugh.
A new music started and the three suddenly became serious. They started bobbing their heads along with the beat and did a choreography that Deen thinks is the song's official choreo. She started laughing when Jrey clutched her right foot because Tungsten stepped on her and the supposedly serious atmosphere started to become chaotic again.
Deen's about to say something when the rap verse ended and a male's voice that is oddly familiar started singing.
Deen is a fan of music but she mostly listen to classicals, she listen to pop songs and sometimes hip hops, of course, but she never bothered to listen much at the words that is being sang or get familiarized with a singer's voice. She simply listen and never have been invested..
She don't know what's with the singer's voice but then at that time, she fell in love with his voice. She loves how deep the singer's voice is, she's mesmerized and would gladly want to hear more of his songs but she stopped herself from asking her friends about the singer's name.
Tungsten shouted a rap verse breaking Deen's trance because of that deep voice.
"Come on Deen dance with us." Astra asks but Deen only shook her head and continued laughing at their antics while moving around with the camera to capture everything that her friends are doing.
The four of them spent their day playing around knowing that it will be a while again for them to have a day like that.
And just exactly how they predicted, the next weeks made them spend less time with each other because of the exams and major editing for the essays they needed to pass.
Deen is once again keeping herself in the studio painting as always and trying to read her notes once in a while. Jrey is also busy in her own studio making a remix that would impress her professors and still complaining about calculus and chemistry, good thing one of her peers are tutoring her when they're free. Astra's still busy and tired as ever, running from school to the clinic and sometimes stop by at the cafeteria to say hi if her friends are there and Tungsten, Tungsten's still Tungsten. He made a short music video from their time at their picnic for his project and even asked to take a video while the girls are working to include in his project and he still bring foods for them when they get too caught up in their works.
Exam weeks are always energy draining and everyone wants to relax, maybe grab a drink or two once everything is over, the friends agreed to go to a nearby club once they're done with all their works but sadly for Deen, it's like the universe don't want her to take a rest because Ryu, her sort of a manager, called her for commissions.
Just like the others, she met Ryu during her freshmen year but she met him during the last months of the year when she's looking for someone to manage the commissions she receives and will be the one to send the art works because she has a lot of things to do and can't do everything at the same time. Ryu is also a freshman then and is looking for a part time job and only accepted Deen's offer when she told him that they're going to split the pay 60-40%. A once professional relationship turned to be a great friendship a few months later when Deen went to his dorm when he's not answering her calls for the finished art works that he needs to deliver at that time. Turns out, he's sick so Deen did all the job and Ryu didn't expect her to come back later that day with foods and she stayed with him until he's feeling better.
Now back to the present, Ryu sits in front of Deen in her apartment as they discuss about the paintings that she needed to finish in a span of two months. When Deen thought that they're done, Ryu suddenly made a noise that he always does when he remembers something.
"I almost forgot to tell you this. Someone called this morning wanting you to paint something like Blue since that painting is not for sale but instead of your original model, he wants someone else's face." Deen frowned remembering the painting she painted in the previous exhibit. She put her heart in that painting but there's only few people who noticed it and so she's quite shocked that someone wants her to repaint it.
She remembers how she put the boy's most relax state in that painting, her memory the only guide she has. She made it looks like the boy is her entire universe which is technically, it is.
"Someone who wants to surprise their partner?" She asks.
"No. The client wants you to paint a certain artist for his upcoming birthday. It's for Ash, who I'm sure that you don't know but he's an artist and is currently one of the top artist today, he's a rapper by the way and sometimes sing. The client gave Ash's agency address so we're sending it there and the birthday is a month from now."
"You seem to know a lot about this guy." Deen pointed out when she noticed how fond Ryu is while talking. "I'm a fan." He said with grin.
"Then I hope that you're not going to do something that would embarrass us both." Deen teases that made Ryu blush.
"I've been a fan when he and his brother debuted. They're not actually brothers but it's how they introduce each other. But anyways, I did think of sending him something with your painting but I need to be professional for this, right? Besides, I don't think that I'll have the luxury to buy him one." Deen only hummed at this and patted Ryu's back and went to the kitchen to cook them dinner.
She's been busy for weeks and she really needed a drink but she stops her self from reaching a bottle in the fridge because if she does, then she wouldn't be able to finish anything later tonight.
If only she can pause the time and play it back whenever she wanted to.