My Stalking Diary

Chapter 19

“……”

He boldly ignored my previous private message, but now… I stared at the KakaoTalk chat for a few seconds, contemplating how to reply.

“Jeong-ha oppa!”

Just then, a voice calling me from outside the studio made all the sentences I was organizing in my head fly away.

“Shin Ji-ye?”

Shin Ji-ye was peering at me with her head poking out from the back door of the studio.

“Can I come in?”

“Huh? Oh… sure.”

With my permission, Shin Ji-ye’s body, which had only been showing her head, popped out entirely. She approached me while looking around the messy studio.

Her eyes widened as she examined the workbenches and paintings by other students along the way.

“Wow. This is amazing. It’s my first time in the art college area. The paint smell is quite strong. It’s a bit similar to your smell…”

“My smell… is that bad?”

It was a shocking statement. I hesitated and sniffed the work clothes I was wearing. Shin Ji-ye shook her head and laughed, saying it wasn’t like that.

“Ah, I don’t mean you actually smell like that. It’s just a feeling, you know, a feeling.”

It wasn’t a very comforting explanation.

Anyway, I was both pleased and puzzled by her visit.

“What brings you here?”

“You said you were sick, so I came to check if you’re okay. And also to tell you about today’s meeting?”

“Ah, thanks. You could have just sent it via KakaoTalk.”

Shin Ji-ye seemed quite fascinated by the studio, constantly looking around at the dozens of easels and canvases in the room.

“But there’s no one here? Is it always this quiet?”

“There’s a sketch class later, so everyone’s probably just stepped out for a bit.”

“I see.”

“By the way, how did you know where the studio was?”

“I asked around. If it’s the Painting department, it must be in the Art College building, right? Is this really Hanguk University? It’s so different from our department, it feels like a completely different school.”

“I need to tidy up the studio a bit… Anyway, did the meeting go well?”

“Yes. It ended earlier than expected. We were supposed to have lunch too, but Kwon-oh oppa said he wasn’t hungry, so we just dispersed. Are you feeling better?”

“More or less. I’m a bit better now.”

“I heard the flu is going around these days. I have some medicine I take often, and it’s really effective. I thought it would be good to bring the medicine along with the meeting materials…”

Shin Ji-ye opened her bag and fumbled around for something.

“Ah.”

“…It seemed a bit odd to just give medicine… so I bought an apple juice too.”

She, who had been talking cheerfully until just now, stuttered and avoided eye contact. Her cheeks were slightly redder than usual.

By this point, I could roughly guess Shin Ji-ye’s intentions in coming all the way here.

“……”

“……”

A brief, strange silence fell.

“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”

“Th-then I’ll be going now.”

“Already?”

“You look busy. You have class later, right? And I… need to go get lunch.”

“…Okay, see you next time.”

I received the medicine and drink, and saw Shin Ji-ye off at the studio door. As we awkwardly faced each other and waved goodbye, suddenly Joo Kwon-oh appeared behind Shin Ji-ye.

“……”

Noticing my gaze shift behind her, Shin Ji-ye turned her head too.

“Oh, it’s Kwon-oh oppa?”

Shin Ji-ye called out to Joo Kwon-oh in a surprised voice. I was just as surprised as she was.

Joo Kwon-oh’s eyes narrowed for a moment as he looked at us both, but quickly returned to normal. He greeted Shin Ji-ye with his usual smile.

“What brings Ji-ye here?”

“Jeong-ha oppa said he was sick. You know the materials from our meeting today? I just came to give him those and some medicine… Ahem.”

Seeming embarrassed, Shin Ji-ye trailed off. Joo Kwon-oh’s gaze lingered on the drink and medicine in my hand.

“Oh, anyway, see you in class later!”

Thinking Joo Kwon-oh had caught onto something, Shin Ji-ye blushed and quickly disappeared.

Left alone with him, I pondered for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.

I stared at him blankly, then turned my head towards the studio.

“Did you come to see Yu-rim? She’s not here now, but she’ll probably be back in about thirty minutes…”

“I came to see you.”

“……”

“Do you have a fever? A cold?”

Too shocked, I silently moved my lips a few times.

“Oh, no. My stomach… doesn’t feel good.”

“Why? Did you eat something bad?”

“I guess so.”

To be honest, I’m not sure exactly how I’m feeling right now. I was fine until just now, but now I really do feel like I might have a fever.

“Then why don’t you skip class and go home early? Can’t you do that in the art college?”

It was hard to choose an answer because I didn’t understand why he was acting like this.

“I have one practical class left. I should attend that before going.”

“When does it end?”

“Four hours from now.”

Joo Kwon-oh frowned deeply at my answer.

“What? One class takes four hours?”

“We have to draw… Usually, practical classes take at least three to four hours…”

As I was mumbling an explanation, Joo Kwon-oh placed his palm on my forehead.

“Hmm. No fever.”

I was inwardly screaming at the unexpected contact, but I blinked calmly, pretending to be composed. I turned my head slightly, afraid Joo Kwon-oh might notice I was faking illness.

Fortunately, his attention soon shifted elsewhere.

“What’s that? Why is someone walking around half-naked at school?”

Joo Kwon-oh raised his eyebrows as if he’d seen something strange. Following his gaze, I saw today’s nude model entering the studio wrapped in a blanket, seemingly to check the platform. He had already removed his top and was only wearing pants.

Most models weren’t this free-spirited, but experienced models sometimes were this uninhibited, like now.

“Ah. Today is nude sketch day.”

“What? Nude? You draw naked people?”

Joo Kwon-oh asked accusingly.

“Yes.”

“Completely naked?”

“They’ll probably wear underwear…”

“That’s practically naked. You’re saying you draw someone completely undressed for four hours?”

“Not for the full four hours, there’s also time for professor feedback.”

I found Joo Kwon-oh’s reaction unfamiliar, as classes where we directly drew undressed models were common not only in art college but also in high school entrance exam special lectures. I wondered if he was thinking something strange because I said “nude.”

“The art college seems like an interesting place.”

Joo Kwon-oh muttered in a voice that didn’t sound amused at all. Somehow, he seemed to be glaring at the model casually walking around.

“You have to look closely to draw, right?”

He continued to mutter, almost to himself, while still looking at the model.

“…That’s right.”

“How closely?”

Joo Kwon-oh’s obvious gaze turned towards me. It seemed he was misinterpreting the meaning because of the word “nude.”

For some reason, I felt obligated to explain the misconception about nude sketching and its importance.

“Usually… we rarely have the opportunity to see the human body and muscles as a whole. There are photos and videos, but observing movement directly with your eyes is different. But since it’s difficult to encounter in daily life… we take time to observe things like overall body proportions. But this also varies depending on what pose the model takes…”

As I spoke, my stiff tongue seemed to loosen, and words started flowing smoothly. Maybe it was easier to speak because it was a topic I knew well.

When I finished speaking, Joo Kwon-oh, who had been listening quietly, nodded reluctantly.

“I see. Sounds exciting.”

“Yeah.”

Maybe I talked too much.

“Anyway, you’re saying you draw various poses while directly looking at someone else’s naked body?”

“That’s… right.”

It was a strange conclusion, but not incorrect. This time, I answered reluctantly.

Joo Kwon-oh shrugged as if it didn’t matter. Then he pointed at what I was holding.

“What did Ji-ye give you?”

“Ah, meeting materials. And medicine and a snack.”

As soon as I finished answering, Joo Kwon-oh snatched the apple juice and medicine. Then he quickly took out a medicine packet from his own pocket and held it out to me.

“Don’t take that, take what I’m giving you. This is more effective.”

“Huh?”

“I’m going.”

Before I could ask him to return the items, Joo Kwon-oh turned around and left on his own. Being tall, his strides were quick, and he soon disappeared at the end of the corridor.

I alternately looked at his retreating figure and the medicine packet in my hand.

“……”

A few seconds later, when I came to my senses and opened the packet, I found the same medicine as what Shin Ji-ye had given me, and instead of apple juice, there was a Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

I carefully rolled them in my hand. The crackling texture of the wrapper had never felt so beautiful and soft.

Why is my face so hot? Could I really have caught a cold?

“……”

What was that just now? What does it mean?

What does this mean?!

*