Chapter 79
Honestly, our progress was too fast. At this speed, it must have been burdensome for someone like Ryu Jeong-ha.
Still, Ryu Jeong-ha likes me anyway. If he didn’t suddenly start disliking me overnight, there was still plenty of chance.
I’m not sure exactly what he doesn’t like about me that’s making him ignore me, but whether it’s a man or a woman, the way to win them over is the same. You just need to treat them so well that their firmly built walls melt away, right?
I pondered as I watched Ryu Jeong-ha sitting next to me, giving off an icy cold vibe until the end of class.
Actually, treating someone well isn’t difficult. The important thing is that we need to increase the time we spend together more than now.
Although we had already seen everything there was to see of each other, we had only really had one proper date-like date, on the day we drank.
Whether it was going out or drinking again, it was important timing to just meet and do something together. Then, if a gap opens in his heart, the key is to wedge myself in. I was confident I could gain his trust that way.
The problem is that Ryu Jeong-ha and I have very little in common, so we hardly ever run into each other.
We’re in different departments too. He doesn’t seem to like going out much either. From what I’ve heard, he’s not interested in games either. If I rashly invite him to something like a board game club, he might avoid me even more. We only have one overlapping class.
How do I smoothly make plans from here? The difficulty level is extreme.
In the end, I couldn’t come up with a plausible excuse to spend time with Ryu Jeong-ha until the class ended.
“How about we grab a coffee together to wake up? There are a lot of flowers blooming next to the main building these days.”
“I have a meeting with a professor later…”
If not today, I’d have to wait another week to see Ryu Jeong-ha’s face.
Forget being smooth. I’ll just have to push forward, come what may.
“I’m supposed to have lunch with Jeong-ha.”
I brushed off Choi Kyung-won’s suggestion to have coffee and look at flowers near the main building, using Ryu Jeong-ha as an excuse.
I was prepared for him to say we never made such plans, to tell me to get lost because he didn’t want to, and I’d worry about the consequences then. Fortunately, Ryu Jeong-ha didn’t completely reject me.
“I’m supposed to have lunch with Yu-rim and Jae-hyun.”
But he seemed reluctant to have lunch alone with me.
“You can eat with them another time.”
“We were going to order delivery together… They might have already ordered.”
“I see.”
“…Do you want to eat together in the studio?”
Since he insisted on eating with his Painting Department classmates no matter what, I ended up following him to the Painting Department studio.
Well. I’m satisfied just with him not telling me to get lost. For now.
The Painting Department students always seemed to eat together. It’s different from the Business Administration Department where everyone mostly does their own thing. It feels more like high school.
“Jeong-ha… Oh? Kwon-oh? What brings you here?”
“I came to hang out with Jeong-ha.”
After greeting Bae Yu-rim, who was surprised to see me, I slowly looked around the studio. Although I’m not interested in art, the fact that this is where Ryu Jeong-ha spends most of his time was quite intriguing.
Despite the gloomy atmosphere, the classmates seemed to get along well. It made sense, given that they take all their major classes and most of their liberal arts classes together.
Ryu Jeong-ha’s space, set up in one corner of the studio, was somewhat messy. Personal items like blankets, work clothes, and brushes were scattered around without order.
Not wanting to give Ryu Jeong-ha time to think deeply about the situation of bringing me to the studio, I deliberately fired off questions in rapid succession.
“Does each person only paint one picture?”
Fortunately, it seemed he didn’t intend to completely ignore me, as Ryu Jeong-ha answered my frivolous questions diligently.
“In a semester, usually… two to three paintings.”
“I see. So you paint each semester.”
“There’s no fixed standard. Sometimes we paint on a yearly basis. Sometimes the professor decides, but um, mostly it depends on what the student chooses to paint. Each painting takes different amounts of time and has different levels of completion.”
I’ve noticed before, but Ryu Jeong-ha’s voice when talking about paintings is really nice. Calm and soft. Like listening to classical music?
“It’s a bit incongruous. Is there a reason for painting like this?”
More. Talk more, please.
“Um. I’ve wanted to paint something that feels immediately out of place when you see it. Reindeer live in the Arctic tundra region, so they don’t match with brightly blooming tropical flowers. It’s a scene you’d never naturally see in reality.”
Whether it was explaining the nude sketch or the current painting, the way he expresses his opinions in detail conveys how much effort he puts into his paintings.
Above all, Ryu Jeong-ha speaking at length and precisely was so damn cute.
I even had the silly thought of wanting to record his voice and listen to it whenever I’m bored.
As I listened to Ryu Jeong-ha’s explanation, I observed the studio scenery and the paintings on the canvases. I wanted to know more. Everything related to Ryu Jeong-ha.
Unlike me, who attends classes and does assignments without much thought, I liked how he approached his assignments with clear intentions.
Come to think of it, not just with paintings, but even when he brought the first research materials for the liberal arts assignment, he had a clear purpose. Despite looking soft like jelly, he has some surprisingly firm aspects.
Bae Yu-rim, thinking that Ryu Jeong-ha and I had become quite close in the meantime, was watching us fondly from a step away. Well, it was somewhat true. Thanks to Bae Yu-rim, I had my second kiss with Ryu Jeong-ha at the cafe that day.
However, we still hadn’t gotten as close as I had hoped and were struggling at an awkward distance.
Anyway, seeing the paintings Ryu Jeong-ha had painted himself, hearing explanations of his intentions, and getting a detailed look at the place where he spends a lot of time – it was quite an interesting experience.
It’s a bit disappointing that he removed the canvas where he was painting my back. I held back from insisting he paint it again, afraid I might look crazy.
“What about the notebook? Aren’t you using it again?”
“Notebook… Ah.”
Thinking the mood was good, I brought up the notebook, but Ryu Jeong-ha’s expression, which had been chattering away just fine until now, noticeably hardened.
I became serious along with him.
Did he see the notebook or not? Judging by his reaction, he must have seen it. But he doesn’t want to talk about that subject?
No. Why? He said he likes me. Is he the type to lose interest once you confess? Or was the problem that I’ve been treating him too casually all this time?
Ah, shit. Why did you do that, Joo Kwon-oh? Surely he hasn’t gotten tired of me already.
I wanted to press him, but the timing was awkward and I was careful not to lose what little affection there might be.
It’s frustrating. If we had more chances to run into each other, there would be more opportunities to probe his feelings and dig deeper. As it is now, the only option is to approach carefully.
As I was deeply pondering how to approach Ryu Jeong-ha, I got a call from a classmate.
—Where are you?
“Why?”
—The vice president and treasurer were looking for you, asking where you are.
“So why?”
I’m eating with Ryu Jeong-ha, why are they looking for me now of all times? These guys are not helpful.
—That Moonlight of Business or whatever event in the summer, with graduated seniors participating. They said they were going to decide on the venue. Go quickly, everyone’s gathered.
“That was today?”
—Shouldn’t you know that instead of me? I’m just calling because the vice president asked me to contact you.
“Haa. Wait a bit. I’ll be there soon.”
—Senior Sung-rok was looking for you too. Anyway, go quickly.
Although I wasn’t part of the student council that runs department events, I often got involved in event management meetings because I actively participated in physical tasks that could be handled in my freshman year.
It wasn’t because I wanted to, but because whenever there was work to be done, the guys would slack off and avoid it, so I ended up doing their share too and it turned out like this. I don’t know why they’re so stingy with their bodies when it’s not that hard to carry some luggage and set up booths.
It’s not as bad as an all-boys school, but there are plenty of guys here who might as well have their dicks cut off. Anyway, what pathetic guys.
“Looks like something came up in the department. I’ll go first.”
After hanging up the phone, I had no choice but to put down the delivered food I had received for lunch and get up from my seat. It’s a shame, but I had to go. I’ll have to bring up the notebook topic again later.
“See you later.”
Ryu Jeong-ha, who had been keeping his mouth shut, belatedly added a word to my farewell.
“Take care.”
“Oh, you’re here. What were you doing to be this late, you punk? Did you leave your brain somewhere? The department head is waiting for you too.”
“It doesn’t matter even if I’m not there, right? I’m not even in the student council.”
“Still, it’s not right for someone who always joins to skip out without loyalty.”
“Loyalty my ass.”
When I entered the department room, my classmates were already seated. Since the Business Administration Department has many students, it was common not to run into some faces for weeks unless we made specific plans, so there were some faces I hadn’t seen in a while.
Sitting still among the kids conducting the meeting made me restless. I prefer to move my body and work rather than talking at length about trivial agenda items.
Initially, I had no intention of joining these meetings since I didn’t have any official position in the department. However, Senior Lee Sung-rok, who roughly knew about my family situation, persuaded me that experiencing organizing various events would be helpful when working for a company later.
Hearing that, it didn’t sound wrong, so I’ve been consistently participating in management meetings whenever I had the chance.
Although it was annoying, there were definitely things to learn from the process of gathering people, persuading when opinions clashed, and practically implementing planned events.
“Shouldn’t we decide on the venue first?”
“From what I saw last time, it seems better to choose a place with better transportation than near the school.”
“We need to know the number of people to make a reservation. And if it’s too close to the station, the rental fee will be expensive, so let’s narrow down the number of participants first.”
“Okay. But our budget…”
Ah. I miss Ryu Jeong-ha. How can I create another opportunity to meet?
It would be nice to bring him to my place again like last time. I could be a bit more comfortable making moves at home.
But do I just want to have sex with him? That’s not it.
I want to feed him delicious food too. I want to take him to nice places and have fun together.
Since he’s an art student, does he often go to art galleries? That seems like it would be perfect. Ryu Jeong-ha can appreciate the paintings, and I can appreciate Ryu Jeong-ha.
“Joo Kwon-oh. Are you even listening?”
Noticing that my mind was elsewhere, a classmate elbowed me and asked. I raised my eyebrows and nodded confidently.
“Of course.”
“Then do you have any other opinions? Anything you’re curious about?”
“How do you make tomato pasta?”
“You crazy bastard. You didn’t listen to a word.”
