Chapter 122
“These are people from our department. You know Sung-rok sunbae, but the rest are new to you, right? Lee Jin-sol from first year, Park Gyu-bin from second year. There’s another fourth-year senior, but they’re in class now. Oh, and this is Ryu Jeong-ha from the Painting department.”
At this rate, it seemed I might be introduced to every student in the Business Administration department through Choi Kyung-won before graduation…
“How did you two get to know each other?”
“Jeong-ha? We became friends while taking a general education course.”
“As always, Choi Kyung-won, you’re so well-connected.”
I agreed with that statement.
As soon as the introductions were over, I checked my laptop screen while ignoring Lee Sung-rok sunbae’s gaze fixed on me. My only thought was to give feedback as quickly as possible and leave.
“What can I help with?”
I deliberately lowered my voice tone a bit more than usual to avoid showing signs of nervousness as I asked.
“We’re participating in a Global Startup Idea Competition, you know? We’ve decided on the theme, but we’re not sure if the design matches the theme. What do you think? Wait, I’ll open the file and show you.”
Choi Kyung-won turned the monitor towards me and opened the file. Meanwhile, Choi Kyung-won continued to chatter, adding various explanations without pause.
“Objectively speaking, the idea isn’t insanely groundbreaking, right? But I heard that for these competitions, the judges are relatively young, so they pay a lot of attention to the design concept too. Sung-rok sunbae wanted to participate with this idea before graduating, so we recruited participants, but unfortunately, none of us have a talent for design. I’ve participated in several competitions, but people’s ideas are all similar. In the end, it’s the small differences like design that determine the results…”
I was on the verge of bleeding from my ears.
Choi Kyung-won literally talked non-stop. However, it wasn’t a topic that required my focused listening and response, so it felt like having a radio on in the background, which wasn’t bad. It was also good to get detailed information about the competition’s purpose and concept.
“What do you think? It’s a bit disappointing to submit it as is, right?”
“Yeah. First of all, the font and main layout are ugly. That seems to be the biggest problem.”
“What?”
I sighed involuntarily at the strangely mismatched design. Anyway, since I came to help, I couldn’t just do it halfheartedly, so I spoke honestly to Choi Kyung-won.
“Don’t you have any other references besides this?”
“Puhahak! Ryu Jeong-ha, you’re merciless when it comes to design feedback. That was made by Sung-rok sunbae.”
“Huh?”
Choi Kyung-won dropped a bombshell statement while laughing loudly. This was made by Lee Sung-rok sunbae?
“We have references, wait. I’ll open the file for you.”
“No, um. I…”
“Ah, the more I think about it, the funnier it gets. Still, among us, sunbae is relatively good at this.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“I guess it looks bad to an art student’s eyes. Hahaha!”
Unintentionally, I ended up harshly criticizing Lee Sung-rok sunbae. Ah, I should have just kept my mouth shut.
While the atmosphere around us was lighthearted, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
Was I too harsh in saying the design was ugly? Should I apologize?
But I didn’t have the courage to look at sunbae at all, so I kept my mouth shut and quietly checked the file Choi Kyung-won had opened.
Since they were from the Business Administration department, they had many presentation design references, so it wasn’t difficult to re-establish the concept.
I slightly modified the already established layout to change the overall design tone. I was familiar with the tools due to my experience in the digital lecture I took in my first year.
However, sitting at the same table as Lee Sung-rok sunbae felt like sitting on pins and needles in many ways.
Haah. This is unbearably awkward. If it weren’t for Choi Kyung-won, I would have left without looking back.
“Oh! Good. This looks much better, doesn’t it? It’s much easier on the eyes.”
“Indeed, we couldn’t achieve this level of detail.”
Thanks to the various design references Choi Kyung-won had prepared in advance, the work was quickly completed.
Honestly, I was so flustered that I’m not even sure how I finished it. It seems like a lot of conversations took place, but I can’t remember…
“Thank you. We’ll adjust it according to this and submit it.”
“…I’m glad I could help.”
“I bought coffee, would you like some? Ah, I asked for your help without offering anything in return.”
While I was holding onto the laptop, one of the team members, who seemed to have gone to the cafe, awkwardly smiled while offering a takeout cup.
“Thank you.”
Not wanting to refuse after they had gone to the trouble of buying it, I bowed my head and accepted the cup.
“That’s on Sung-rok sunbae!”
Ack. I almost spat out what I was drinking. I awkwardly put the straw in my mouth and bowed to Lee Sung-rok sunbae.
“It’s fine, you helped us out.”
He turned his head the other way and muttered almost inaudibly.
Just then, Choi Kyung-won and another student got up, saying they had to go to class. This led to the meeting disbanding quickly.
“Then Jeong-ha should head back too. Oh, you heard about Joo Kwon-oh going to the Netherlands, right?”
“Ah… yeah.”
“That bastard kept putting off the application until the last day as if he wasn’t going, but he ended up getting accepted? At first, when we told him to go, he said he absolutely wouldn’t. I don’t know why he hesitated if he was going to do this. When I asked, he said the work seems quite useful in terms of overseas networking.”
I couldn’t naturally agree with Choi Kyung-won’s chatter, and just nodded stiffly, conscious of Lee Sung-rok sunbae standing next to me.
“If it were during the break, we could have gone right away for a European trip too, it’s a shame. Anyway, I have to go in for class.”
“Oh, okay. Take care…”
As people packed up and dispersed, I also gathered my phone and coffee to return to the studio.
As I was hurriedly turning around to escape, Lee Sung-rok sunbae called out from behind.
“Why did you help?”
When I turned around, Lee Sung-rok sunbae was approaching me. I moved my lips and then swallowed dryly.
“I didn’t know you were here too, sunbae.”
“…”
“…”
If I had known, of course I wouldn’t have helped. Is that what I should say?
It was absurd, but I didn’t want to make trouble unnecessarily, so I turned to leave. I wanted to get away from him quickly.
“I haven’t told anyone about you two.”
At that moment, sunbae’s voice caught my step again.
I was so nervous and trembling that I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“…I’m telling you this because Kwon-oh seems to be worrying a lot. Just so you know.”
“Yes.”
Barely squeezing out one syllable, I walked towards the Art Department building without looking at sunbae.
*
After that, my school life was relatively smooth.
After ending things with Lee Sung-rok sunbae in a somewhat unsettling but not entirely bad or good way, I completely turned off my thoughts about it.
Anyway, I didn’t have any reason to meet sunbae again after that, so he was practically irrelevant to me now.
I didn’t bother mentioning what happened that day to Joo Kwon-oh, thinking he might worry if he found out.
Joo Kwon-oh was already busy enough, having been urgently brought in to fill a suddenly vacant position.
While there was paperwork and planning work, it seemed he was often mobilized to the logistics team, just as he had been at the Korean factory. It was an unavoidable aspect given that the items were furniture.
I thought the working environment would be good in Europe even for an intern, but it seemed he could barely find time to contact me in the morning and evening.
While I was relieved to hear that he was adapting well, I couldn’t help missing him. We usually had short video calls almost every day, but honestly, it wasn’t enough.
But I didn’t want to complain to the busy Joo Kwon-oh. Although not frequently, he said he sometimes had opportunities to attend company meetings, and when I heard Joo Kwon-oh say he was glad he applied, my discontent would disappear and I’d feel proud too.
Anyway, even while learning everything he could in his busy schedule, Joo Kwon-oh would occasionally post Instagram stories. I’d excitedly tap on his profile picture when I saw the red circle around it, but the uploaded photos were usually like this:
A picture of flat peaches sold in a Dutch supermarket, with the caption:
—Tastes bad
And then a picture of white peaches taken in Korea with the caption:
—Tastes amazing
I had been disappointed several times already, expecting to see photos of his daily life but finding spam-like content instead.
Although I receive updates about his daily life through KakaoTalk every day, it seemed like he was intentionally baiting me on Instagram, which was quite annoying.
Anyway, including these minor points, our relationship was going smoothly. The only problem we had was being physically apart.
My daily life without Joo Kwon-oh flowed with a bit of boredom but also maintaining its own urgency.
The first month after the semester started was busy adapting to the new term.
In the second month, I had to pull several all-nighters preparing for midterms and practical evaluations.
The third month was much more relaxing than before, as I had almost fully adapted to school life.
Moreover, I was incredibly happy to hear that Joo Kwon-oh had booked his return ticket even before the full three months were up.
[Joo Kwon-oh: I arrive on Saturday]
[Joo Kwon-oh: Airport arrival at 5 PM lol]
[Joo Kwon-oh: Wait for me, peach]
When I first saw the KakaoTalk messages, I was so happy I almost shouted out loud in the classroom. Thanks to my introverted and quiet nature cultivated over the past twenty-one years, I barely managed to control my emotions.
Anyway, I was right. Three months passed quite quickly.
What should we do on the weekend? Since he was in the Netherlands, he’d probably want to eat Korean food, right? Where was that good Korean restaurant again? Or should I cook for him myself? Ah, come to think of it, there was an exhibition I wanted to go to with him…
Since hearing the news of his return, these were the only thoughts I had all day. Even with other important assignments in front of me, I found it hard to concentrate.
“You’re going to break your phone at this rate.”
Kim Jae-hyun clicked his tongue, looking at me strangely as I desperately clung to my phone during practical classes, when going to the bathroom, and while eating lunch.
“That’s a severe case, you.”
“What is?”
“Do you need to ask? At this point, aren’t you and your phone one body?”
“…”
“Why are you being so dramatic? I’d like to see the face of this amazing girlfriend of yours.”
I continued eating my school cafeteria pork cutlet, pretending not to hear Kim Jae-hyun’s words.
After making a few more unwanted comments, Kim Jae-hyun soon started venting about the difficulties of the practical assignment.
Using three different art materials? It’s hard enough to complete a drawing with one material, but using multiple materials harmoniously requires a lot of research.
I had been having similar concerns recently, so I quietly listened to Kim Jae-hyun’s lamentations with sympathy.
“Ah, I saw Joo Kwon-oh at the main gate earlier.”
While having a deep art consultation with Kim Jae-hyun for the first time in a while, a familiar name stuck in my ear.
Surprised, I turned my head towards the sound and saw three female students sitting right behind us, chatting.
“Didn’t Kwon-oh take a leave of absence this semester?”
“Yeah, he said he was going on an overseas internship.”
“Right. But I met him at the main gate and even said hello?”
“Wow. Is he back in Korea already…? Why did he come to school?”
“I don’t know. By the way, he cut his hair. Short hair suits him well too.”
What is this? They met Joo Kwon-oh at school?
“…Jeong-ha. Ryu Jeong-ha!”
“Huh, what?”
Kim Jae-hyun, who had been talking to himself for a while, called me. I had been focusing on the conversation of the female students sitting behind us and only then looked up at Kim Jae-hyun.
But I couldn’t hear a word he was saying.
Joo Kwon-oh came to school? That can’t be. He didn’t contact me at all.
Come to think of it, contact had been cut off since yesterday evening. But due to the time difference, this happened occasionally, so I didn’t think much of it…
I urgently checked my phone again to see if there were any new messages. There was nothing except for advertising texts and group chat notifications from classmates.
“…”
Maybe the student sitting behind misheard? Or maybe I misheard a different name…
No way. It didn’t make sense that Joo Kwon-oh would come to Korea without me knowing. Besides, he said his return date was Saturday.
In the end, I concluded that I must have misheard someone else’s name. I glanced at the table behind us, which had gone quiet as they ate, and got up following Kim Jae-hyun.
“Ryu Jeong-ha, didn’t you say you have a class next?”
“Yeah. General education…”
“Ah, you take that with Bae Yu-rim, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. We’ll probably meet in the classroom.”
Normally, we would have gathered nearby in advance on days when we had the same lecture and gone in together, but since Bae Yu-rim was in a relationship, she often missed our gatherings these days. She’d probably be in the classroom when I get there.
“Then go ahead.”
“See you in the studio later.”
I cleared my tray and parted ways with Kim Jae-hyun in front of the student cafeteria. Then I headed to the next building for my general education lecture.
Even as I went up to the lecture room, I couldn’t shake off the conversation I had overheard earlier and kept going over it in my mind.
Ah, something feels off. Joo Kwon-oh isn’t a common name, so how could I have misheard it?
I’m also worried about not being able to contact him…
What’s going on?
I turned towards the stairs instead of taking the elevator, disliking the idea of being crowded with people.
I’ll call him later when it’s time for Joo Kwon-oh to wake up. We were in contact until yesterday, so nothing serious could have happened.
Having come to that conclusion, I was trudging up the stairs when a familiar figure quickly passed in front of me.
I stopped in my tracks, startled by the strange feeling.
“…Huh.”
Quickly turning my head to follow the familiar figure, I saw Joo Kwon-oh going up the stairs ahead of me!
“Huh?”
I unconsciously covered my mouth while looking up at him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
