My Stalking Diary

Chapter 29

Honestly, I didn’t expect him to actually follow me to another department’s studio, so I just made up an excuse. Should I be criticized for that?

Feeling awkward, I was about to bite my lower lip out of habit, but consciously closed my mouth to avoid bleeding again. Then, as I had been doing for the past few days, I took out my lip balm and applied it.

“Why, why…?”

I hesitated for a moment as Joo Kwon-oh stared intently at me applying lip balm. Joo Kwon-oh shrugged.

“Yu-rim, can you order lunch for me too?”

“You’re eating here?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure, why not. Just send the money to Kim Jae-hyun. He’s our department’s treasurer for meals.”

“Got it. By the way, the canvas sizes are quite large. It must be a hassle to store paintings done on these.”

Joo Kwon-oh looked around the studio belatedly as he spoke. Today, there were particularly many traces of work, with large canvases of 50 to 60 inches on easels scattered around.

The studio looked even messier with paint-stained towels and students’ personal belongings strewn about. Even though it wasn’t my room, I felt a bit embarrassed showing it to Joo Kwon-oh.

“Proper care is important. They can discolor over time, and they often get scratched when moving them.”

Joo Kwon-oh listened to Bae Yu-rim’s explanation as he pulled up a nearby chair and joined the lunch group.

“Jeong-ha, sit here too.”

He pulled up a chair for me next to his and patted it. He acted as naturally as if he were a regular fine arts student and I was the guest.

I sat down stiffly in the seat he had prepared for me. I couldn’t get used to Joo Kwon-oh being so friendly.

What is he thinking? Why does he keep acting like he knows me…?

“It seems like you’d need a warehouse to store all of these. Right, Jeong-ha?”

I flinched as he addressed me this time.

“We have… a storage room.”

Even as I answered, I communicated with my eyes. Why are you asking when you already know?

“Does each person only paint one picture?”

Joo Kwon-oh ignored the meaning in my eyes and continued his questions. He even turned his body towards me, resting his chin on the desk, so I had no choice but to answer.

“In a semester, usually… two to three paintings.”

“Ah, so you paint each semester.”

“There’s no fixed standard. Sometimes we paint on a yearly basis. Sometimes the professor decides, but um, mostly it depends on what the student is painting. Each painting takes different amounts of time and has different levels of completion.”

I lowered my eyes, feeling uncomfortable under Joo Kwon-oh’s gaze.

“How do you take exams like midterms? You must have exams. I wonder if you only take tests for majors like art theory or history.”

“…”

“Hm?”

“…We take tests for art history, but for practical classes, paintings are usually evaluated instead of exams.”

“It must be absolute evaluation then.”

“Yeah, mostly.”

“What are the evaluation criteria? Even if it’s art and absolute evaluation, there must be some standard, right?”

“That varies depending on the professor and how the student completes the work with what materials. It’s not as clear-cut as regular exams. Painting well is the most important, but… well, I think you need a bit of luck too.”

“Mr. Joo Kwon-oh? Did you come to interview the Fine Arts department?”

Bae Yu-rim cut in with a teasing tone. Joo Kwon-oh just smiled once, then pretended to hold a microphone and passed the imaginary mic to me.

“Student Ryu Jeong-ha, how do you decide on the subject of your paintings?”

“Sometimes I decide alone, sometimes I consult with the professor… Mostly we paint what we like.”

“So that’s why you sometimes paint using models.”

Feeling oddly guilty at those words, I cleared my throat softly.

“…That’s right.”

“Do you know this, Reporter Joo Kwon-oh? We don’t do many portraits. It’s not easy to find models.”

Bae Yu-rim jumped into our conversation again.

“First, you need to meet continuously to paint, and surprisingly, people don’t easily allow their faces to be painted.”

“Ah, I see.”

“That’s why you refused me too, Kwon-oh.”

“Right. But now that I think about it, being a model might be fun.”

“What? That’s not fair. Why didn’t you think of that earlier?”

Bae Yu-rim, who was already in the middle of painting a new picture, grumbled.

“Is it too late?”

“Can’t you tell? I changed my subject because you turned me down.”

“Really? Then will Jeong-ha paint me?”

…Wait.

I just realized that for some time now, Joo Kwon-oh had been calling me without my surname. It used to always be “Hey, Ryu Jeong-ha,” but now it was just “Jeong-ha.”

The Joo Kwon-oh I knew was gentle and generous to girls, but merciless to the same gender. The difference was stark in his tone and attitude.

But now, it seemed that the kindness that was only for girls had somehow spread to me as well.

No. Is it just my imagination?

Moreover, he’s offering to be a model for my painting? Joo Kwon-oh?

“I’m already working on something… It’s difficult to start a new painting right now…”

“That’s a shame. Don’t you have any other assignments?”

Just as I was about to answer, the delivery food we ordered arrived.

Kim Jae-hyun, who had been sitting nearby with his mouth tightly shut, jumped up and ran out first. Joo Kwon-oh also brought the food, placing his and mine on the desk. He didn’t forget to bring napkins, spoons, and chopsticks.

Meanwhile, Park Sung-im and Lee Jae-wook also returned to their seats and took their packaged meals.

“Shall I open the plastic for you?”

“I’ll do it.”

“Water?”

“I can get it from the water purifier.”

Bae Yu-rim, who had been listening to our conversation, found it curious.

“By the way, how did Kwon-oh and Jeong-ha get close? It’s a very unique combination.”

“I know, right? They don’t match at all.”

Despite having been so intimidated earlier, Kim Jae-hyun stubbornly agreed with Bae Yu-rim’s words.

This time, Joo Kwon-oh completely ignored Kim Jae-hyun and only answered Bae Yu-rim.

“We got close after meeting a few times for an assignment. Jeong-ha is really good at research. Better quality than mine.”

I was secretly worried that Joo Kwon-oh might throw some insults at Kim Jae-hyun with his usual contemptuous glare and voice. But contrary to my concerns, he just moderately ignored him, which was a relief.

“Wow. Jeong-ha? That’s unexpected.”

A moment later, Joo Kwon-oh turned his body completely towards me and continued the question that was interrupted earlier.

“What are you painting now, Jeong-ha?”

Again. He called me Jeong-ha again. Once I became aware of it, I couldn’t help but be conscious every time he called my name.

I stopped eating earnestly, swallowed my food, and opened my mouth.

“A, a reindeer and flowers in a snowy field…”

“That’s a bit incongruous. Is there a reason you’re painting it like that?”

Interestingly, Joo Kwon-oh immediately grasped the characteristic of my painting. I was so pleased by this that I started to explain in more detail.

“Well. I’ve wanted to paint a picture that feels immediately out of place when you see it. Reindeer live in the Arctic tundra region, so they don’t match with fully bloomed tropical flowers. It’s a scene you could never naturally see in reality.”

“Hearing your explanation makes it even more interesting. When I thought of fine arts, I imagined impressionist oil paintings, but this seems extremely realistic.”

“That’s just my preference. It’s different for every painter.”

“What about the one you were painting before?”

I hesitated slightly as I was excitedly explaining. If he’s talking about what I was painting before, he must mean himself.

“…I decided to stop that one.”

“Where is it? Did you take it home?”

“In the storage room…”

“Ah, I see. Why couldn’t I see it then?”

When Joo Kwon-oh brought up the storage room, I felt preemptively guilty and bit my lower lip. His gaze then fell on my lips.

For some reason, I felt a constant sense of being cornered. I was very uncomfortable having this kind of conversation with Joo Kwon-oh in a place full of students like this.

Here’s a question that came up again. Why is Joo Kwon-oh acting like this towards me? What is he thinking, coming all the way here to eat with me?

“What about the notebook? Aren’t you writing in it again?”

“The notebook… Oh.”

Nothing but troublesome questions. Is there really some ulterior motive?

It doesn’t make sense for Joo Kwon-oh to be nice to me without reason. Is he doing this because he finds it fun to make me uncomfortable?

But I couldn’t sense any intention to tease or mock me, which made his current attitude even more puzzling.

As I was flustered, unable to find words to answer, Joo Kwon-oh’s phone rang. He excused himself, saying “Just a moment,” and answered the call.

After a brief conversation lasting about ten seconds, he put down his chopsticks and stood up.

“Seems like something came up in my department. I’ll go first.”

“…”

“See you later.”

Joo Kwon-oh said goodbye with a troubled expression. Bae Yu-rim waved, and the classmates around, despite having only exchanged a few words with Joo Kwon-oh, bid him farewell.

Fortunately, Joo Kwon-oh had almost finished his share of the delivered food.

Soon, I too nodded calmly.

“Goodbye.”