My Stalking Diary – Chapter 61

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Chapter 61

I thought about lying down and watching YouTube during my free time, but I didn’t feel like it, so I just got dressed. I remembered that a classmate had contacted me yesterday asking how I was doing, so I decided to visit the studio after a long time.

In principle, you had to submit an application to use the studio during the break, but hardly any students actually went through the application process. Everyone just used it freely at their convenience.

I packed some basic materials and left my apartment. The studio was very close to my place, so I arrived quickly.

“Ryu Jeong-ha! What brings you here without notice?”

As I entered, a male classmate who was playing a phone game by the window looked up in surprise. There were only two classmates in the studio.

It was natural that there were fewer people during the break with no classes, but it was interesting to see such a relaxed atmosphere after a long time.

“I came because I was bored.”

“Well, you did say your place was close to school. What have you been up to that you haven’t shown up for work even once?”

I sat down in the chair in front of my classmate.

“I’ve been busy with my part-time job. How have you been?”

“Ah, almost everyone is working part-time during the break. But did you really come to draw today?”

“Why else would I come to the studio? What were you guys doing?”

“I work four hours at the school office in the afternoon. I often drop by here before going to work.”

“Oh, really? Is the job okay?”

“It’s alright. It’s cool and comfortable, just organizing documents in an air-conditioned room.”

‘Why don’t you try an office assistant job? You can just do some photocopying in a well air-conditioned room and even have lunch at the cafeteria.’

As I listened to my classmate, I couldn’t help but recall what Joo Kwon-oh had said.

“That’s true.”

“Oh, right. Seong-im sometimes brings high school students’ drawings to check and give feedback. She’s working at an art academy.”

“Isn’t working at an art academy really tough? Is she helping with college admissions?”

I was getting more engrossed in the conversation with my classmate, forgetting that I had come to draw.

“Oh? Jeong-ha?”

The studio door opened, and Bae Yu-rim entered. I was glad to see her face after a long time.

“Yu-rim. Do you come to the studio during the break too?”

“Yeah, quite often. I want to try something for the second semester assignment, so I’m trying to familiarize myself with some materials in advance.”

“Why is everyone so diligent?”

I was quite shocked.

“Why are you here when neither you nor Kim Jae-hyun have shown your faces for so long?”

“I was bored…”

“Is your relationship not going well? You seemed to be buying clothes and going out excitedly.”

Bae Yu-rim suddenly brought up the topic of relationships. I was already feeling down about that relationship issue, so her guess wasn’t entirely wrong.

“It-it’s not like that.”

“Yeah, looking at your clothes, it seems that’s true.”

I checked the clothes I was wearing today, conscious of her comment. It was one of the loose t-shirts I always wore to the studio.

“What’s wrong with this? But Yu-rim, your makeup seems… different from usual.”

Suddenly, Bae Yu-rim’s heavy eye makeup caught my attention. She was usually well-dressed with various accessories, but today she seemed to have put in extra effort.

“She got a boyfriend,” the classmate next to me casually mentioned.

“Really? Who?”

For some reason, a face immediately came to mind when I heard that.

“Don’t tell me it’s Kim Jae-hyun…?”

“I’ll kill you, Ryu Jeong-ha.”

“Oh, I guess not. That’s a relief.”

I let out a sigh of relief without realizing it. I didn’t know why I did that either.

“But when did you meet your boyfriend? You didn’t show any signs on Instagram.”

It wasn’t really my place to say this, as I never showed any signs of dating on Instagram either, but unlike me, Bae Yu-rim was active on social media, so it was strange that she hadn’t shared the news.

“He’s not from our school. And we haven’t been dating for long.”

“It’s strange, Yu-rim… Is that why you haven’t contacted me lately?”

“Still, Jeong-ha, let me know if you need help buying clothes. I’ll choose for you.”

“…Thanks.”

“Didn’t the ones I picked last time get a good reaction? They suited you really well.”

“Ah, no, they were fine.”

The clothes Bae Yu-rim recommended not only got a good reaction but also led straight to the bed, so her eye for fashion was truly remarkable.

“It’s the break, don’t you hang out with your friends?”

“Friends?”

I asked back as if I didn’t understand what she meant. I was confused about how to answer when Bae Yu-rim, my closest classmate, asked such a question. Did I have friends other than my painting department classmates?

“You know, the ones you met in your elective classes. Didn’t you become close while working on projects?”

“Ah.”

“You met Joo Kwon-oh there too.”

“Well… I think everyone’s busy these days… I’m not sure.”

Feeling a bit flustered at the sudden mention of Joo Kwon-oh, I gave a vague answer. As I was trying to change the subject, the male classmate suddenly chimed in.

“Joo Kwon-oh from Business? I know him.”

“Doesn’t everyone at our school know him?”

Bae Yu-rim said as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“I don’t mean I just know his face, I heard about him from Seo-jun. Baek Seo-jun is from Yongin, so he knew his name since high school.”

“That might be true. He probably wasn’t the quiet type.”

Bae Yu-rim shrugged as if she wasn’t interested. Regardless of her reaction, the two classmates continued talking about Joo Kwon-oh.

“Apparently, he instigated a few fights in Yongin. But seeing that he studied and got into Hanguk University, I guess he’s not a complete delinquent?”

“When I saw him hanging out in front of the school last time, he looked a bit intimidating. He’s big too. Tsk. With a girl by his side.”

“Ah. I heard he had some issues with girls in high school too… Apparently, he messed around with so many that the girls in his class would fight over him. I guess that’s natural if you’re good-looking?”

“Still, if he was a school bully, that’s not good. Jeong-ha, you shouldn’t get too close to him.”

Finally hearing such comments, I felt quite uncomfortable. I felt like I should defend him somehow…

First of all, Joo Kwon-oh had confessed to me that he first dated a girl after turning twenty. So the story about him having issues with girls in high school couldn’t be true. Moreover, he went to an all-boys school, so there couldn’t have been girls in his class…

From what I knew of Joo Kwon-oh, who had done all sorts of part-time jobs due to his family circumstances, the possibility of him causing trouble at school seemed very low to me.

This is all just rumors.

“I don’t think he was that wild… He seemed to work hard on assignments in class.”

I timidly objected. I was hesitant about how much I should say, worried that it might look strange to others if I defended him too strongly here.

It also didn’t feel right to go around talking about his personal life without his permission.

“No, Baek Seo-jun said he saw him riding a motorcycle since high school.”

“Hey, you can get a motorcycle license at 16.”

Bae Yu-rim, who had been listening, interjected to correct him.

“Isn’t it a bit much to talk about someone when you haven’t seen it yourself?”

“But would a normal high school student ride a motorcycle? He might still be hanging out with those Yongin thugs behind everyone’s back. While pretending to be super polite to girls on the surface.”

“What’s wrong with being polite to girls… That’s a good thing.”

I hastily added before my classmate could finish speaking. I had just made up my mind to say something if he made any more strange comments, but thankfully, Bae Yu-rim backed me up.

“That’s right. As a woman, I only see it as a good thing. What’s your problem? And weren’t you supposed to go to your part-time job soon?”

“That’s not what I… Huh? Is it that time already? Oh.”

The classmate checked the time and hurriedly got up to gather his things. With one of the two who had been gossiping gone, the studio felt much more pleasant.

Perhaps it was because I had been listening to talk about Joo Kwon-oh for a while, even if it wasn’t positive. The content of my phone call with him this morning kept bothering me.

Will he contact me later this afternoon? I looked at my silent phone and habitually bit my lower lip.

There was no news from Joo Kwon-oh until my part-time job ended. Even though we had talked in the morning, not being able to communicate freely was frustrating.

I thought the phone issue would be resolved quickly. I guess he doesn’t have time because of work.

It didn’t feel right to call or text his brother’s phone… Joo Kwon-oh might not like it either, so I decided to just leave a KakaoTalk message for him as usual.

[Me: Haven’t you fixed your phone yet? I just finished work and arrived home. I’m going to shower, rest a bit, and then sleep. You must be tired with so much work.. Don’t overdo it though ㅎ Good night, Kwon-oh]

‘I miss you.’

Looking at the quiet chat window, I remembered what Joo Kwon-oh had said this morning.

Naturally, I also recalled the night he left for his family home. The little squabble we had in front of the studio apartment building, me wanting to see him off because I was reluctant to part, him insisting I should go inside. The warm feeling we shared then.

‘What? Why would you come here?’

‘Don’t come.’

Because the memories and feelings from that time were so vivid, Joo Kwon-oh’s firm rejection this morning bothered me even more. The sudden story about his phone breaking also seemed strange.

Am I being too sensitive about the situation?

After staring at the chat window with Joo Kwon-oh for a while, I added one last KakaoTalk message.

[Me: I miss you]

Ah, I hope Joo Kwon-oh’s phone gets fixed soon. Or he could buy a new one.

No, that’s not it. I just wish he would finish helping with work and come back to Seoul quickly.

Unfamiliar with spending time alone after so long, I pondered what to do and took out the AirPods Pro I had put away in a corner to listen to music.

I hummed along to some calm music for a while before falling asleep.

*

The next morning.

It’s Monday. Finally, from today, I don’t have to go to my part-time job for three consecutive days. The boss pays the part-time wages weekly, so I just received money yesterday.

I have money for a date, but no one to date.

This was the perfect day for drawing. Since Joo Kwon-oh had said he would model for a portrait, it seemed good to decide on the composition and canvas size in advance.

If I drew in the studio, someone might see, so I had to work on this at home.

“Ah, right.”

While searching for colored pencils in my room to plan the portrait, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten. I had left my pencil case at Joo Kwon-oh’s apartment just a few days ago.

I could sketch with regular pencils, but since I didn’t have to go to work today, I wanted to make more diverse and detailed sketches if possible.

After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to go to Joo Kwon-oh’s apartment. I knew the password anyway, and Joo Kwon-oh had said I could come and go whenever I wanted. It’s a short walk, so I might as well buy some snacks while I’m out.

Until then, I hadn’t thought much about it. I was planning to kill time and wait until Joo Kwon-oh returned, even if it took a few more days.

That was until I saw Choi Kyung-won at Joo Kwon-oh’s apartment.

“Huh?”

Seeing the apartment door open from the corridor, I initially thought Joo Kwon-oh had returned. I quickly ran towards the door and happily entered the studio apartment.

But instead of the face I expected, Choi Kyung-won was there.

“When did you come to Seoul… Oh.”

“Whoa, you startled me! Huh?”

“Choi Kyung-won?”

Choi Kyung-won, who had turned his head at the sound of my arrival, also seemed quite surprised and opened his mouth.

“…What, it’s Jeong-ha.”

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

“Jeong-ha, why are you at Joo Kwon-oh’s place?”

“Uh? Well…”

I hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to say. At the same time, I observed what Choi Kyung-won was doing in Joo Kwon-oh’s room.

He was in the middle of cramming Joo Kwon-oh’s clothes and underwear into a large bag.

As I just stood there silently watching, Choi Kyung-won seemed to interpret it somehow and made an expression as if he now understood.