Epilogue Chapter 3
“I’m really okay. But I think I’m a bit hungry…”
“Ah. Then let’s eat dinner first.”
After saying it without thinking, I realized I was even hungrier. It was because I had skipped several meals while pulling all-nighters in the studio during the exam period.
Joo Kwon-oh wiped my lips, which were glistening with saliva, with his hand and then went straight to the kitchen. Since we’d have to wait for delivery if we ordered food, we decided to heat up some frozen food for a simple meal.
Joo Kwon-oh took out a few items and started cooking. Once he heated up the instant rice as well, a decent meal was quickly prepared.
He didn’t like me hovering around in the kitchen, so I just took out the chopsticks and sat at the table, observing him quietly.
Has his skin tanned a bit? I heard the sun is strong in Europe. Maybe because he cut his hair, his features looked more defined and strong, drawing my gaze repeatedly.
My heart, which had been racing since earlier, wouldn’t calm down at all. Maybe I shouldn’t have suggested eating first. I was hungry, but I wondered if it was right to sit quietly and eat in front of Joo Kwon-oh, whom I was meeting after several months.
However, once the food entered my mouth, I realized how truly starved I was. Maybe because I had skipped breakfast and barely had lunch, I ended up eating two bowls of rice.
After putting the empty plates in the sink, I looked at the luggage Joo Kwon-oh had brought.
A phone case from the Van Gogh Museum, chocolates, a music box, t-shirts, postcards, and so on. There was a whole bunch of gifts he had brought for me. There wasn’t much of his own stuff.
“Why did you buy this?”
I picked up a peach-shaped keyring that caught my eye. Joo Kwon-oh took the keyring from my hand and shook his head.
“It’s mine.”
“Why a keyring… You don’t even use them much.”
“I’m going to use it. Now that I think about it, I should attach it to my backpack right now.”
Joo Kwon-oh chuckled and actually attached the pink peach keyring to his backpack right there. I was about to say something but couldn’t find the words and just shut my mouth.
After giving me an armful of gifts, Joo Kwon-oh roughly organized his luggage and then went to the bathroom, saying he needed to wash up.
While he was showering, I unnecessarily checked my bag to make sure the condoms I had put in were still there.
Should I take them out in advance? Or would that seem too eager?
“I’ll just put them in my pocket.”
Listening to the sound of water from the bathroom, I took out the condoms and put them in my pants pocket. Then I lay down on the bed absentmindedly, and drowsiness washed over me.
My eyelids grew heavy and closed in an instant. Having not slept properly for days and with a full stomach, my mind was hazy.
Ah… I shouldn’t fall asleep.
Mumbling that to myself, I lost consciousness.
“Peach. Jeong-ha.”
A little while later, I thought I faintly heard Joo Kwon-oh’s voice. Along with the subtle scent of shampoo.
“You’re not asleep, are you?”
I wanted to answer that I wasn’t, but my lips wouldn’t move as I wanted. My body felt heavy, as if weights were attached to each joint. My consciousness was as hazy as if submerged deep in the sea.
Honestly, it was hard to distinguish whether the voice I was hearing now was a dream or reality.
“Mmm…”
“Ryu Jeong-ha… Are you really doing this?”
“…”
“It’s been three months, you know?”
I know that. I know.
But my consciousness had already completely sunk, making it difficult to move even a fingertip as I wanted.
“You really… Haa.”
*
The next day.
I gradually woke up from sleep due to the bright sunlight streaming in.
I squinted and looked around, noticing the bright daylight outside the window, and sat up.
“Kwon-oh?”
My voice calling for Joo Kwon-oh was hoarse. Why is my throat so dry?
How long did I sleep?
I rubbed my eyes and checked the time. 8:10.
It’s bright outside, so it can’t be evening, could it be… morning?
“What, what’s going on.”
Did I just fall asleep like that yesterday? What should I do?
Belatedly realizing the situation, I jumped up from the bed and looked around the room. Despite it being Joo Kwon-oh’s studio apartment, he was nowhere to be seen.
When I went to the kitchen, there was a post-it note on the refrigerator.
—I have to meet my dad and brother, so I’m leaving first. Let’s see each other in the evening.
Ah, this can’t be happening. Did I really waste the day Joo Kwon-oh returned like this?
From today until the end of finals, I have to do night work every day without fail!
I wanted to deny reality. I hadn’t even changed clothes yesterday, so the ill-fated condoms were still in my pants pocket.
“Haa.”
I couldn’t help but sigh.
When I barely managed to arrive at the studio on time, my classmates, worn out from night work, were sitting haggardly in front of their canvases.
Only my face was fresh after a good night’s sleep for once.
When I talked to Joo Kwon-oh briefly in the morning, he seemed just as busy as me. He said he had to submit a report to the school related to the internship program after meeting his family. Moreover, he had an urgent meeting with a professor, so he planned to stop by the school in the afternoon.
Joo Kwon-oh will be busy for the next few days too. I can’t believe I wasted such a precious day like this. It’s unbelievable.
“Jeong-ha, Jeong-ha. We decided to have a quick chicken and beer before night work tomorrow, want to join us?”
Bae Yu-rim, who was coming with an oil jar to wash brushes, spotted me and called out.
“Why chicken and beer? It’s exam period.”
“We’ve been cooped up here every day because of the practical exam, it’s been a while since we had meat. Everyone seems to lack energy, so we thought we’d fill our stomachs and get some fresh air while we’re at it.”
“I’m not really up for drinking… You guys go ahead.”
“Really? You can come and just eat chicken without drinking if you want. Let me know if you change your mind later.”
“Okay.”
Chicken and beer in the middle of this busy time? After giving up a precious day with Joo Kwon-oh for mere sleep, chicken and beer is out of the question for me.
I sat dejectedly in front of the canvas. Kim Jae-hyun, my portrait partner, wasn’t here yet, his seat empty.
I picked up the brush to work on the assignment alone, but I couldn’t concentrate at all.
Ah, why did I do that yesterday? How could I carelessly lie on the bed and sleep until morning? It had been three whole months. When will we be able to set another date?
In the end, after less than a minute, I put down the brush and checked my phone. There was still no message from Joo Kwon-oh.
Is he very busy? Or is he angry?
I entered Instagram to kill time while waiting for Kim Jae-hyun to arrive. As I scrolled through various photos, I eventually reached the feed of a student who had gone to the Netherlands for an internship with Joo Kwon-oh.
That’s right. Even though Joo Kwon-oh had become my boyfriend, I still hadn’t broken the habit of stalking him.
There was a new photo on the feed I hadn’t checked in a while.
Surprisingly, it was a group photo that included Joo Kwon-oh! Everyone was smiling and holding drinks in what looked like a pub.
Joo Kwon-oh, wearing a gray hoodie, was holding a beer mug as big as his face and smiling with one corner of his mouth raised.
The comment on the photo read:
—real-huhnn Last day party. As expected, this combination works even abroad lol
I carefully checked all the comments on the photo.
∟yessman._.! You work? For whom exactly??ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
∟real-huhnn Joo Kwon-oh, not meㅋ
∟yessman._.! Is he popular in the Netherlands too?
∟real-huhnn There was a girl in the same team who followed him around saying she liked himㅇㅇ
∟yessman._.! A foreigner?
∟real-huhnn ㅇㅇ
∟yessman._.! Anyway, not youㅋ
∟real-huhnn Shut up
What? Wait. There was a girl who liked Joo Kwon-oh? I frowned at the last comment that was posted almost in real-time.
Joo Kwon-oh never mentioned anything like that. Of course, with the time difference and him being so busy, we barely had any long FaceTime calls…
If someone followed Joo Kwon-oh around saying they liked him, that means they confessed, right? Shouldn’t he have told me about an incident like this? Moreover, if they were on the same team, they must have worked together seeing each other’s faces every day! For three whole months.
Feeling an unnecessary sense of betrayal, I scrolled through all the group photos Joo Kwon-oh had posted. There were five women in the same team, so I couldn’t figure out who was the one who supposedly liked Joo Kwon-oh.
Somehow, it seemed like all of them were conscious of Joo Kwon-oh. To make matters worse, they all looked about the same age, which made me even more upset.
Even if we were apart, shouldn’t he have told me, his boyfriend, if he was in such a romantic situation?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
