I Became an Artist in a Romantic Comedy

Chapter 58: Side (Choi Yeseo)

At first, it was just curiosity.

How did things change so much?

—

Lee Ha-eun and Ha Soyeol.

Both of them stood out in our class.

Lee Ha-eun always looked indifferent, as though nothing in the world interested him.

Ha Soyeol, on the other hand, was completely captivated by him.

To me, someone who loved pretty and beautiful things, they looked like a perfect pair.

I felt an urge to insert myself into their dynamic.

So, on my first day after transferring, I approached Ha Soyeol and took the chance to befriend her.

At first, Soyeol seemed to enjoy my company, but over time, she began pushing me away, telling me not to cling to her.

Even then, I didn’t feel bad.

At least she didn’t seem to dislike me outright.

‘…Or am I wrong? Was I just imagining that?’

Soyeol wasn’t great at expressing herself.

Her face always seemed blank, and she spent her days with a languid gaze.

But with Lee Ha-eun, it was different.

She laughed, sometimes frowned, showing a wide range of emotions.

For some reason, I found it amusing.

I was curious about why Soyeol acted differently around him.

‘Ha-eun is definitely pretty and beautiful too, but…’

There was something about him that made it hard to approach.

It felt like he existed in a world completely separate from ours. Not like a normal 10-year-old.

But if I called him mature, I’d be lying—sometimes I’d catch him joking around with Soyeol.

Still, there was a strange disconnect, something about him that felt otherworldly.

Because of that, I mostly spoke to Soyeol. If I accidentally ended up talking to Ha-eun, it was brief and never lasted long.

About a week after I transferred, Soyeol mentioned she was going to visit Ha-eun’s house.

When I asked why, she replied,
“To see Ha-yoon.”

Ha-yoon. Lee Ha-yoon. Ha-eun’s younger sister.

For some reason, I imagined that Ha-yoon would be just like her brother.

So, I thought I’d just head home by myself that day.

“If you’re bored, you can come along. You’ve been hanging around Ha Soyeol since you transferred anyway.”

Ha-eun made the offer casually as he left the classroom, and without thinking, I nodded.

Even now, I’m not sure why I followed them so readily.

But looking back, I’m glad I did.

When we arrived at Ha-eun’s house, I realized how wrong my assumptions were.

‘Ha-eun is… normal.’

He spoke to his mom with no trace of distance or awkwardness.

The way he played with his sister was so natural.

And Ha-yoon, she was much more outgoing than I’d expected.

When she greeted me with a bright smile, I thought,
‘She’s adorable…’

It was then that I realized I’d been seeing Ha-eun through a distorted lens.

I hadn’t had any particular issues with him, but we weren’t close either.

We were simply indifferent to one another.

This must have been the first time I’d seen him in a different light.

After that, I started using Soyeol as an excuse to join them and play with Ha-yoon.

It was fun. I enjoyed myself.

At the time, I labeled that feeling as simple happiness.

When I later realized it wasn’t just that, I felt a little embarrassed.

—

During P.E. class, Soyeol managed to knock out three classmates during dodgeball.

Unfortunately, her strength was much greater than expected, and one of the kids she hit started crying.

‘That must’ve hurt…’

As I watched, Ha-eun came down from the shadowed staircase.

Soyeol was apologizing to the kid she hit.

Ha-eun approached and said,
“If you worked on your expressions, you’d be really popular.”

Honestly, it was true. If only Soyeol smiled more, I think people would warm up to her.

Soyeol shook her head at Ha-eun’s comment.
“It’s not that easy.”

Watching the two, I chimed in from behind,
“Soyeol, you’re really good at sports, huh?”

“Not really. I just like it,” she replied curtly.

Afterward, when I suggested we eat lunch together, she hid behind Ha-eun and said, “Do whatever you want.”

It was such a funny situation that I couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.

As we started heading up for lunch, Ha-eun suddenly turned back and went down the stairs again.

From his pocket, he pulled out a fruit candy.

‘What’s he doing?’

Ha-eun handed the candy to the girl who had been crying earlier.

“Here. If you eat something sweet, it won’t hurt anymore.”

“O-okay. Thanks…”

The girl, still sniffling, hesitantly accepted the candy and thanked him.

‘He’s softer than I thought.’

I wondered if he was just naturally kind or if it was something else.

Watching him now, I could see he resembled his parents a lot.

Soyeol, standing beside him, glared with her fiery red eyes and held out her hand.

Ha-eun pulled another candy from his pocket and handed it to her.

“Hehe.”

Soyeol beamed as she took it, her face lighting up with happiness.

Something about the moment made my chest feel warm and tingly.

‘What is this feeling?’

I wasn’t sure yet.

“Me too!” I blurted, reaching out my hand.

But Ha-eun turned his head and said he was all out.

Disappointed, I smacked my lips, feeling a pang of regret.

“Here, all I’ve got is lemon flavor.”

As he passed by, Ha-eun handed me a candy and climbed the stairs.

‘It’s the same color as my hair…’

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

The tingling warmth in my chest grew stronger.

Scratching my cheek, I unwrapped the candy and popped it into my mouth.

The sticky sweetness made me grumble, but Ha-eun just shrugged off my complaint.

For some reason, the exchange made me happy.

It was as if the conversation itself left me with a warm, ticklish feeling in my chest.

—

When I was 10, there was an incident.

A false accusation against Ha-eun escalated into an assault case.

At the time, I didn’t know the details or what exactly had happened.

I just remembered it was after finals, while we were watching a movie.

Ha-eun had suddenly packed his bag and left.

His complexion looked pale. Was he sick? Or was it something else?

I was curious but couldn’t bring myself to ask. I simply waved goodbye as he left.

‘…This is so frustrating.’

Watching him leave with that gloomy face made irritation well up inside me.

It was a bad feeling.

—

By the time we were 16, Ha-eun had nearly caught up to me in height.

Soyeol wasn’t far behind him either.

When Ha-eun mentioned the lunch menu, I made a joke, which caused a burst of laughter.

Pointless chatter, but it was fun.

“Must be nice…”

“What is? Come on, I’ll buy you some. Just tag along.”

“Really?! Awesome!”

Sometimes, I’d accept his kindness—though this one involved food.

Moments like these made the ticklish sensation in my chest grow stronger.

Ha-eun’s small, casual acts of kindness felt warm, and our effortless conversations filled me with gratitude.

Unlike other kids—especially the well-known ones like me—he didn’t seem to care about fame or appearances.

For people like idols or actors, every little action is scrutinized. That’s the life of a public figure.

Because of this, I’d maintained surface-level friendships with most people. Just polite greetings, nothing deep.

But with Ha-eun and Soyeol, things were different.

They were the only ones I could talk to so comfortably.

It was something I was deeply grateful for.

Only recently did I realize something else.

Ha-eun didn’t have any friends aside from us.

We went on a retreat. And of all places, it was at a military base.

I’d made arrangements with my agency beforehand, so it was fine.

Soyeol looked great in the uniform—probably because of her well-proportioned physique.

Glancing at myself in the mirror, I nodded.

‘I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of either, right?’

My proportions were pretty good too.

…Proportions were all I had.

When I saw Ha-eun at the training field, he was also wearing a uniform.

‘…Surprisingly?’

It suited him very well, even though he didn’t have any muscle to speak of.

Not to be mean, but Ha-eun had a certain decadent charm.

It made him look like a defeated soldier from a war.

Or maybe I should just admit he looked handsome.

During the retreat, Ha-eun was excused from training while I paired up with Soyeol to complete the drills.

‘…Paying for this kind of training.’

I scowled at the thought, though I kept it to myself.

In the middle of the retreat, a major incident occurred.

A boy named Kim Byung-jun was caught committing aggravated assault.

The school went into chaos, with calls and messages flooding in from every direction.

The students remained relatively calm, though.

At lunch, I saw Ha-eun use his pinky finger to wipe some sauce from the corner of Soyeol’s mouth.

Then he… ate it.

“What the heck?!”

Why would he eat that? Did Ha-eun have some sort of fetish?!

I stared at him in shock.

“What are you looking at?”

Was it me who was weird? Huh?

“No, no… Wait, what?”

Was this what people meant by being at a loss for words? My mouth wouldn’t move.

“Why don’t you two think this is weird?”

“What’s weird?” Ha-eun tilted his head, genuinely confused.

“I mean, it’s gross! Why would you…?”

“Why make a big deal about it now?”

His nonchalant shrug made my head spin.

‘…Should I ask him to do that for me too?’

That thought crossed my mind as I bit into my burger.

“…Why don’t you do that for me?”

“Why would I do something gross like that?”

…That’s not what I meant!

“That’s all. Thank you,” Ha-eun finished his song.

The students erupted into cheers, calling for an encore.

But I couldn’t say a word. I couldn’t react at all.

Maybe it was because I’m an idol, someone who sings professionally.

It made me hesitate to speak.

His song lingered, filled with unresolved longing.

A mournful melody, one full of regrets about art.

It touched me deeply.

But all I could do was quietly observe him.

The tingling warmth in my chest grew stronger and stronger.

America!

For the first time in my life, I set foot in a foreign land.

With me were Soyeol and Yehwa.

Thanks to Yehwa, we had this opportunity.

She had two suitcases, one of which contained a painting.

It was the one that had won the national art competition.

She said she brought it specifically to show Ha-eun.

A pang of envy shot through me, but I didn’t let it show.

As I looked around, I spotted a boy standing awkwardly in the airport.

Lee Ha-eun.

The boy I’d missed so much.

Two weeks had passed—it wasn’t that long, but it felt endless to me.

Soyeol ran ahead, and I followed close behind.

As I got closer, I felt a comforting sense of warmth that I’d missed.

Ha-eun pushed Soyeol aside with one hand.

“Ugh,” she grumbled, her nose wrinkling.

“So, where should we—”

“Stop talking! Just follow me already!”

Ignoring his question, I grabbed his wrist and dragged him along.

It wasn’t long before I realized what this ticklish feeling in my chest was.

It was love.

A person I could never give up on.

‘I love you, Ha-eun. I love you.’

If anyone dares to hurt you, I’ll personally make sure they disappear from this world.

But that dark thought was hidden behind my bright, cheerful smile.