Chapter 69
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The only photos uploaded were drawings from school or design patterns. No selfies, and the only picture showing a face was a single group photo with friends from high school.
There wasn’t nearly enough information to figure out what kind of guy this Ryu Jeong-ha was.
By the way, the drawing Bae Yu-rim posted on Instagram. No matter how I look at it, it’s me.
What a funny guy. I thought he’d be discouraged after I caught him with the notebook, but he’s secretly drawing me again behind my back? Was his scared act just pretense?
How should I teach him a lesson? Postponing the DM notifications I would usually open immediately, I browsed through various Instagram accounts before checking the back view of me that Ryu Jeong-ha had stolen and drawn again.
Come to think of it, this drawing was strangely similar to the composition my mom used to draw. I don’t remember the details, but.
I wondered why I felt so irritated looking at this drawing, but I think it’s because of those memories.
It was a complicated feeling, as the drawing touched on a part of me that I had deeply buried long ago. My mom used to draw with pencils, but I briefly had a useless thought wondering if it would have looked like this if she had colored it.
There was an equal mix of wanting to see it up close and annoyance at being voyeuristically observed.
I can’t leave him be like this. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but this time I really need to scare him off properly. Otherwise, it’s going to get more and more annoying.
“You lost your notebook, right?”
In the end, I went to find Ryu Jeong-ha.
I planned to confront him as soon as I saw his face, asking why he drew such a thing and firmly warning him that I wouldn’t let it slide if I caught him one more time. Usually, guys like that would avoid me well enough after being properly scared once.
But when I saw his face filled with fear as soon as he saw me, the words I had planned to say scattered in my mouth.
I did come to scold him, but I didn’t mean to be so scary that he’d tremble like that.
“How long have you been drawing?”
“S-since first year of middle school…”
“No wonder you draw well.”
Contrary to my resolve to teach him a lesson, nonsense unrelated to my plan was coming out of my mouth.
Shit, why am I saying this crap? I should have told him I wouldn’t let him off if he hung around me again. Why am I saying cheesy stuff like he draws well?
If I do this, he’ll just get more arrogant and keep doing weird things.
Since I came all this way to make a fuss, I should have given a proper warning.
“I’m sorry.”
As I was about to change my mind and raise my voice in earnest, Ryu Jeong-ha apologized with his eyes tightly shut.
It was just a brief moment, but I was at a loss for words again.
“Shit, do you like men?”
“……”
“Are you gay?”
Then, a fact I wasn’t even particularly curious about spilled out of my mouth on its own.
Startled by the direct question, Ryu Jeong-ha’s face turned pale as if he might collapse at any moment.
This guy, shit, does he get scared like that with everything I say? What did I do? Someone might think I slapped him or something. He’s the one who did wrong, so why is he acting like he’s being bullied? Like he’s looking at some germ.
There were always one or two wimpy guys in every class throughout middle and high school, but they didn’t freak out this much even when I made a scene in front of them.
“…Yes, I’m gay.”
After mumbling and hesitating for a while, Ryu Jeong-ha finally confessed. That he was indeed gay.
Gay. I had never seriously contemplated this word before. It was a word I didn’t even need to know.
But when Ryu Jeong-ha admitted that he liked men, strangely, all the inexplicable anger that had been spreading in all directions evaporated.
Ryu Jeong-ha, looking like he might cry at any moment, clearly admitted that I was the subject of the drawing posted on Bae Yu-rim’s Instagram. Along with a promise not to draw anymore.
I thought he would deny it since the face wasn’t clearly shown in the drawing. At least he has a conscience.
Now, this is the timing to properly threaten him not to do such disgusting things again. To warn him that if he gets caught doing such creepy things again, I won’t let him off next time.
I knew this in my head. I had already made such threats countless times before.
“How’s the research going?”
But again, words I hadn’t planned came out of my mouth.
“You were supposed to organize the outline for our liberal arts project, right?”
“Ah, that.”
“Thinking about it now, I feel like I was too harsh.”
Shit, what’s wrong with me? My brain and mouth aren’t coordinating at all.
“Honestly, I thought dumping the task of selecting the topic and organizing the outline on you was too much.”
Why should I worry about a guy who volunteered to take on the assignment?
I was annoyed, not knowing why I had said such nonsense even after saying it. If I had to give a reason why, maybe it was because he looked so pitiful with his spirits so low when I faced him.
But after returning to my studio apartment, I quickly forgot that I had been annoyed.
He admitted he was gay while trembling, and showed a repentant attitude. Do I really need to scare him more than that? Besides, what he wrote in the notebook was actually just trivial, insignificant content.
I naturally recalled the creatures of the male biological sex that I had experienced so far. They were guys with nothing but dirty thoughts in their heads.
The only difference was in the concentration and form of those filthy desires. Whether it was the ape-like guys I saw in high school or the relatively normal guys I met at Hanguk University, they all ultimately perceive attractive people as objects of desire.
That was the essence of the male creature as I knew it.
But strangely, I couldn’t find such obscene instincts in Ryu Jeong-ha’s notebook. There’s no way he would have put on airs in a notebook where he wrote such personal impressions.
All he had written was a few lines about what I liked, disliked, and what suited me well.
“Is this guy really a man?”
Why did he bother to make notes of such trivial things? He’s quite peculiar.
If he had indulged in all sorts of dirty fantasies about me, I wouldn’t have let him off. But the more I look at it, this level is just ticklish, like children’s play.
That’s probably why I wasn’t particularly angry when I saw Ryu Jeong-ha earlier. All that sneaking peeks and scribbling earnestly turned out to be just noting that the mole behind my ear looks like a star.
There’s no need to intimidate such a harmless guy more than necessary.
“Kwon-oh. Just this week as a substitute. This is really the last time, okay? Please save me.”
As I was about to go for lunch after morning classes, Jung Han-min started clinging to me and begging. This is starting again after being quiet for a while.
“Are you crazy?”
Ever since I filled in for his part-time job a few times, he’s been constantly pestering me.
“No, something suddenly came up at home. I’m really sorry, okay?”
“Just find someone else.”
Even when I show how annoyed I am, this persistent bastard never backs down. Choi Kyung-won, who was walking ahead, gave me a look that said to deal with him well.
“Where can I find someone like you? And the boss says he won’t even get mad if I put you in as a substitute. This is the last time. Okay? Okay?”
Jung Han-min was close with the owner of the brunch cafe where he currently works. And that owner seemed to like me.
Honestly, working at a cafe for a day on the weekend wouldn’t be difficult, but I was sick of part-time jobs after doing them so much in middle and high school. I don’t want to go out of my way to do it. It’s not like I’m short on money.
Of course, compared to karaoke, delivery, and logistics, working at a brunch cafe was almost like getting paid to play. But still, giving up a weekend for a part-time job is no small annoyance. And it’s in Bucheon, of all places.
“I stayed up all night helping you when you lost all your presentation materials last time, right? Huh? Kwon-oh. Brother Joo Kwon-oh. For old times’ sake.”
“Damn it, are you going to milk that forever?”
“I’ll only use it this last time.”
Because Jung Han-min brought up that old story, I finally agreed to fill in one last time. I’m grateful that he helped me clean up my mistake by staying up all night, but how long is he going to bring it up? I can’t even hit him for this.
“Fine.”
“Yes!”
When I glared at him with eyes full of annoyance, Jung Han-min grinned disgustingly. Why is a guy smiling so mindlessly? It’s sickening.
“I’ll tell the boss? Oh, and there’s a girl there with long wavy hair. Noona Subin. That noona likes you, so try to be nice while you’re there.”
Jung Han-min winked as if he was doing me a favor. I pushed his face away with my palm.
By the way, Subin? I think I remember her face. She probably worked the same shift every time I filled in for Jung Han-min.
Ah. Seo Subin. The memory quickly came back. Everyone said she was like a cat with her slightly upturned eyes and precise way of speaking.
In the past, hearing something like this would have made me boil over with childish desire for conquest, but these days I was indifferent not only to other people’s love lives but even my own.
Since it’s come to this, I’d better graduate on time and help with my dad’s business quickly. Even though theory and practice are different, I was realizing more and more these days that theory can’t be completely ignored.
Especially since my brother wants to expand the furniture business to several times its current size, there are many processes to go through, and we need to know how to handle various documents and procedures.
Marketing, paperwork, logistics, labor costs, sales, net profit, and so on. The more I learn at school, the more clearly I see things that are still difficult for my dad and brother to handle at once.
Since I’ve made the effort to come to university, I might as well learn what I can and graduate. That way I can be of help to my dad and brother too. I hate the idea of becoming poor again more than death itself.
