My Stalking Diary

Chapter 22

“Yeah.”

“Do you have a lot of drinking gatherings in the art department too?”

“Just occasionally.”

“Your home. Do you commute from your family home?”

“I live in a studio near the school.”

As questions and answers were naturally exchanged, Joo Kwon-oh pressed the bell to call an employee. He then ordered a non-alcoholic drink.

Even though he told me not to drink. He seemed to really think my cold wasn’t fully gone. It made me feel guilty since I had lied about being sick.

“Want to order more side dishes?”

“…Yeah.”

“What would you like?”

“Assorted skewers.”

“One order of assorted skewers, please.”

While placing the additional order with the employee as per my request, Joo Kwon-oh chuckled as if something was amusing.

“Why are you laughing?”

I asked as soon as the employee closed the door and left.

“Seems like you like all kinds of skewers. No wonder you carry around that tanghulu pen.”

“Th-that… It’s not mine. It’s my sister’s.”

I took this opportunity to emphasize that the silly pen wasn’t mine. Though it didn’t seem to be very convincing.

“Okay, I get it. Heh.”

“It’s true. Stop laughing.”

“I’m not laughing. Eat a lot of the assorted skewers when they come.”

“……”

I finished the remaining alcohol in my glass. Then I asked a question to change the subject.

“You live alone too, right?”

“Yeah. About ten minutes from the main gate.”

“That’s really close.”

“Where’s your family home?”

“Seoul. But transferring subways was too inconvenient, so I said I wanted to live alone. I often work late at the school studio too… so commuting would be difficult.”

Joo Kwon-oh poured the newly arrived drink and placed it in front of me. Without refusing, I sipped the drink he offered and asked.

“What about you?”

“Our house is in Yongin.”

This is really new information. I naturally assumed his family lived in Seoul like mine. I should write this down in my notebook as soon as I get home today, so I don’t forget.

“Then it must be hard to eat home-cooked meals.”

“I can cook for myself. I’m a good cook.”

“…That’s unexpected.”

“If you come over sometime, I’ll make whatever you want.”

“……”

…He’s just saying that to be polite, right? It was nice to hear though. It made me feel excited too.

Ah, right. I shouldn’t get excited.

“Did Ji-ye contact you after that?”

By “after that,” he probably means the day I made an excuse about being sick and didn’t go to the group meeting.

“She didn’t say much.”

“You’re lying.”

I thought I knew roughly what Joo Kwon-oh was thinking.

“Really. But… I think she might confess later.”

“Ryu Jeong-ha, you’re more perceptive than I thought.”

“……”

“Have you received many confessions?”

“Sometimes…?”

I answered honestly.

“Have you dated before?”

“……”

This time, it was difficult to answer.

“Aren’t you gay?”

“Yeah.”

“You said you liked me.”

“…Yeah.”

“Then you’ll have to reject her, right?”

“That’s true. But how can I reject her when she hasn’t even confessed yet?”

“That’s true.”

That’s right. This topic was close to counting chickens before they hatch. Joo Kwon-oh readily agreed.

Then he brought up a topic I hadn’t expected.

“Come to think of it, you and Ji-ye are following each other on Instagram too.”

“She asked first…”

“You didn’t follow me.”

“……”

“Don’t you look at my Instagram?”

Joo Kwon-oh asked in an interrogating tone.

“I do.”

“How?”

“With a… secret account.”

As soon as I said it, I regretted confessing the truth.

Joo Kwon-oh’s eyes narrowed.

“That’s creepy.”

“I, I often hear that…”

Hearing my dejected response, Joo Kwon-oh burst into laughter.

“Then follow me with your main account now.”

“Is that okay?”

“My account isn’t private, why do you need permission to follow?”

“I thought you might be uncomfortable…”

Because from Joo Kwon-oh’s perspective, it might be unpleasant if a gay person who liked him and even recorded all sorts of information about him followed him on Instagram. That’s why I had been secretly viewing with a different ID, feeling guilty.

“Then I wouldn’t have followed you first.”

“That’s true.”

Without realizing it, I nodded, repeating exactly what he had said earlier. Then I immediately went on Instagram and followed him.

“Done.”

“Let me see.”

Joo Kwon-oh not only allowed the follow but also checked it himself. When I held out my phone, he scrutinized the screen.

Our faces got closer as I showed him the phone while facing each other. As I was about to withdraw my phone, I noticed the piercing in his ear and looked at it curiously.

I knew he had piercings, but they weren’t usually noticeable unless you paid attention.

“How many piercings do you have?”

“One on the right, two on the left, so three in total.”

Joo Kwon-oh readily informed me.

“I just got them in high school to show off.”

He grinned, pointing to his own ear. I easily understood when he said it was to show off. Having gone to all-boys middle and high schools, it must have been difficult to survive without putting on a tough act.

“Didn’t it hurt?”

“It hurt like hell. I thought I was going to die trying not to cry.”

Even as he said it hurt, he looked happy. When I chuckled, he laughed along.

“Want to take a closer look?”

“Yeah.”

I quickly answered, drained the glass of alcohol that had just been refilled as if doing a shot, and suddenly stood up with some newfound courage. Then I went to sit next to Joo Kwon-oh on the opposite side.

He seemed a bit surprised but soon obediently tilted his head towards me.

He even patiently waited as I carefully touched and observed his earlobe with the thin piercing.

I had never thought about getting earrings or piercings because I was scared of piercing flesh.

But isn’t this a bit much? Who looks at piercings this closely, sitting right next to someone?

Judging by how my actions had become unrestrained and brazen, I seemed a bit drunk. However, I didn’t want to back away now. When else would I get to see Joo Kwon-oh up close?

Using the piercing as an excuse, I took in his face in as much detail as possible.

Joo Kwon-oh, with his head tilted diagonally, stared back at me. I had the illusion that he was observing me as carefully as I was observing him.

After a moment of silence, Joo Kwon-oh took a drink and spoke.

“You still have baby hair on your face.”

“Everyone has baby hair.”

I informed him of the fact. But Joo Kwon-oh shook his head.

“It’s not usually this childlike. It’s like the fur of those baby kittens in the staff room.”

“Right. How are the kittens doing?”

What kind of conversation flow is this? Due to the alcohol, all topics of conversation were flying around like feathers. You never know where they’ll land next.

However, neither of us pointed this out, and we continued talking with our shoulders pressed together.

“They’re fine. I heard they’ll be put up for adoption when they’re a bit bigger. Apparently, a few customers said they’d take them.”

“That’s good.”

“Come take pictures again later.”

“It’s not even where you work part-time.”

“I can do a one-day part-time job then.”

I burst out laughing at his brazen words.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just let me know before you come.”

Joo Kwon-oh leaned in close and whispered as if telling a secret. I nodded, looking at Joo Kwon-oh’s handsome face that was getting closer and closer.

Then, borrowing courage from the alcohol, I asked a question I would never have dared to ask normally.

“There’s something I want to ask…”

“……”

“Why did you suggest drinking today?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to be alone with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I was curious how it would be.”

Joo Kwon-oh answered while drinking. He poured alcohol into my empty glass too. So I naturally held the cup and followed him in drinking.

My head was noisy. Nourished by Joo Kwon-oh’s unusually gentle attitude and his meaningful words, the expectation I had deeply buried kept growing on its own.

I swallowed hard and barely managed to steady my trembling voice.

“So, how is it… being alone together?”

Joo Kwon-oh stared intently at my face for a moment. His dark eyes capturing me were much more intense than usual.

“I’m not sure.”

“……”

“We haven’t done anything yet today.”

Does that mean… it’s okay to interpret that he wants to do something with me? Like kissing, for example…

The words Joo Kwon-oh uttered entered my brain, stimulating every corner of my brain cells like a stimulant. And it awakened sensations I had never been aware of in my life. Is this what people commonly call “romance cells”?

Even though no one had ever taught me, some kind of intuition, some kind of signal, struck my mind like an alarm.

That this moment was the timing to send a signal.

I made eye contact with Joo Kwon-oh and barely parted my slightly trembling lips.

“You know, I… I put on the lip balm you gave me.”

Joo Kwon-oh’s gaze, which had been on my eyes, moved down to my lips. He slowly nodded.

“No wonder it looks so damn shiny and delicious.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he leaned in towards me. And we kissed, very naturally and inevitably.

“Ah…”

I opened my mouth and immediately went to meet Joo Kwon-oh’s tongue. This act was no longer awkward. However, the thrilling sensation was still as intense as the first time.

The alarm that had been brushing my mind was now bursting like fireworks all over my sensory organs. As if announcing the achievement of a goal.