My Stalking Diary

Chapter 31

I ended up sitting at the very end, against the wall, as Joo Kwon-oh had instructed. And Joo Kwon-oh took the seat next to me.

I felt grateful for his consideration, even though I hadn’t mentioned feeling uncomfortable beforehand. The tension I felt when entering seemed to subside significantly.

“Jeong-ha. These are seniors from our department. Lee Sung-rok sunbae is a fourth-year, and the others are second-years Kim Jae-yoo and Jung So-hee. I mentioned before, right? That some people from our department might come. Say hello.”

“Hello.”

“The sunbae is two years older than us, and those two are the same age as us. Oh, sunbae. This is Ryu Jeong-ha, who’s taking the same class as me. He’s a second-year in the Painting department.”

“Nice to meet you. It’s a bit embarrassing joining the juniors’ gathering…”

The senior Choi Kyung-won introduced patted my shoulder with a smile. Despite the difference in years, he seemed close to the juniors, probably meeting them quite often.

“Sung-rok sunbae is actually the fourth-year department representative. It’s rare to see him, but he came out specially today.”

“The one hard to see is you, Choi Kyung-won.”

“Oh, Jeong-ha. You should get close to Sung-rok sunbae if you paint. Sunbae is from a wealthy family and has many connections in the art gallery world.”

Choi Kyung-won pretended to whisper to me in an exaggerated voice. His voice was so loud that everyone around could hear clearly.

“Here he goes again. Why bring that up? It’s burdensome.”

Sung-rok sunbae laughed and chided Choi Kyung-won. From the atmosphere, it seemed like this happened often.

“Why? It’s true. Sunbae has wide connections and has helped many juniors get internships.”

“Didn’t you say he was going to do something for Kwon-oh oppa too?”

“Oh, right. The exhibition staff thing I mentioned before. See, Ji-ye? This is the caliber of our department’s seniors.”

“Why do you keep bringing that up at a drinking gathering? Besides, Kwon-oh hasn’t even gotten it yet.”

Sung-rok sunbae waved his hands at Choi Kyung-won’s continued chatter.

“I’m preparing my resume now, sunbae.”

“Really? Send it to me when it’s done.”

“Of course. If I don’t get in, I’ll come to your house, sunbae.”

Joo Kwon-oh laughed playfully. From the subsequent small talk, it seemed that Sung-rok sunbae’s parents were running quite a large company. He also seemed to have a good personality and was close with the professors.

It was certainly different from the Painting department, where relationships with professors were often distant and group gatherings like this were rare.

“By the way, why are the side dishes so meager? I thought you said you got recommendations for good food.”

Joo Kwon-oh, who was drinking, suddenly complained about the side dishes.

“What? This is enough.”

“Don’t they have skewers here? Like an assortment of skewers.”

“Why are you looking for skewers at a bar where you don’t get good value for money?”

“Go down later and buy some for 3000 won. There are plenty at the food stalls.”

Criticism poured towards Joo Kwon-oh from his classmates. But Joo Kwon-oh remained stubborn.

“I want to eat that, so let’s order one.”

“You don’t even eat that many side dishes.”

“Yeah, just eat what’s here and then talk.”

“I’ll buy it, so just order. If you want to eat it.”

Sung-rok sunbae intervened amidst the barrage of attacks.

“If sunbae says so…”

Only then did Choi Kyung-won reluctantly hand the menu to Joo Kwon-oh, pretending he had no choice. Joo Kwon-oh opened the menu with a sly smile.

“Here it is, assorted skewers.”

He said it as if for me to hear, which made me feel somewhat embarrassed.

My fingertips tingled. I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my fist under the table and nodded slightly.

“Is there anything else you want to eat?”

“Mm-mm.”

“But why isn’t there any alcohol on Jeong-ha’s side? Hey, Joo Kwon-oh. Pass this over there.”

Choi Kyung-won, noticing there was no bottle in front of me, passed one from his side. However, Joo Kwon-oh quickly intercepted the bottle coming towards me.

“It’s fine, there’s enough.”

“What do you mean enough? When he finishes what’s in his glass now, there won’t be anything to pour next.”

“You insist on ordering your own side dishes but act like that towards your friend?”

“He only pretends to have good manners with girls.”

“Kwon-oh. He’s from a different department, so he might feel awkward. You should take better care of him, man.”

Finally, only after Sung-rok sunbae stepped in did Joo Kwon-oh relent. He looked at the glass of alcohol placed in front of me with dissatisfaction but didn’t add anything more.

“Don’t drink too much.”

He whispered softly, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Oh, right. I think Yu-jung said she was coming today too.”

At that moment, Choi Kyung-won, who had been watching the situation, spoke as if he just remembered.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? It’s not like she’s coming to a place she shouldn’t.”

“Hey. You should have said something earlier then.”

Joo Kwon-oh furrowed his brow, glancing in my direction.

“What? Weren’t things going well between you and Yu-jung?”

“No, sunbae. This guy is so full of himself, he’s been avoiding all gatherings where Yu-jung is present lately. The poor girl even asked me for help.”

“Oho. Kwon-oh oppa is popular. As expected.”

Shin Ji-ye, sitting across from me, sparkled her eyes with interest.

“I heard she can’t even get in touch with you. Yu-jung is upset, you know.”

“Joo Kwon-oh ignoring a girl’s messages? What’s going on?”

“I’ve been busy writing my resume for the exhibition.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Be honest. You’ve got a girlfriend, right? I’ll understand if you admit it.”

“That’s right. You think it’s easy for a girl to make the first move? Unless you have a girlfriend, you shouldn’t be acting like this.”

“Well…”

Joo Kwon-oh shrugged without denying it and took a few sips of alcohol. His easy acquiescence caused a small ripple at the table.

“Huh? Really? I didn’t see anyone, who is it?”

“No wonder he’s been so quiet lately.”

“So, who is it? Someone from our department?”

“I’m not telling.”

“Since when? When did this guy… There’s nothing special in the club either, right?”

“Ah, maybe it’s that girl whose number he got at the library last time.”

“Or maybe when we were drinking at the student council meeting…”

“Enough, it’s none of those. And I’m still in the process of pursuing her.”

As speculations ran wild, Joo Kwon-oh reluctantly opened his mouth.

Judging by the variety of candidates, it was clear he had been quite active in dating. I quietly listened to the conversation while sipping my drink.

“Then we invited Seo Yu-jung for nothing today. Damn. If you’re seeing someone, you should have said so earlier…”

“I said we’re not dating yet.”

I tried to calm my pounding heart as I drank. As I stole glances at Joo Kwon-oh from the corner of my eye, I had the illusion that his gaze was often directed towards me too. As if we were exchanging secret signals.

“You said you’re pursuing her. Isn’t that the same thing?”

“It’s not.”

“Then?”

“The response is ambiguous.”

Could he possibly be talking about me?

Or not.

Probably not.

“Damn. Did you confess?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

I froze at this bombshell statement.

Joo Kwon-oh confessed…? Did he have a girl he was seeing?

One thing for sure is that he never confessed to me. Even though I was a bit tipsy on the night we drank together, I wasn’t drunk enough to lose my memory.

Given that I can recall every detail of our sexual encounter, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember if he had confessed to me.

So it seems the person he’s pursuing isn’t me after all. Why did I subconsciously think it was me…

I felt so embarrassed that my cheeks burned, realizing I had briefly indulged in wishful thinking.

I carefully put down the glass I had been sipping from. Although it was a bit shocking, it also felt like I had finally confirmed my position, so I tried to accept it.

It was just a misunderstanding after all. As expected.

However, Joo Kwon-oh’s attitude towards me had certainly been ambiguous. Was that… just him playing around because he found my reactions amusing?

“You confessed but the response is still ambiguous?”

“What kind of girl is she?”

“Try to win her over by cooking for her. Remember how the girls went crazy when they saw you making stew at the MT last time?”

“Kwon-oh oppa, are you good at cooking?”

“Ji-ye, it’s no joke. I ate the stir-fried pork he made when I went to his house, and it was good enough to sell in front of the school.”

“You pay for it next time. I don’t cook for just anyone.”

Unaware of my sinking mood, Joo Kwon-oh boasted in an arrogant tone. Then Choi Kyung-won opened his mouth, giggling as if he remembered something.

“But the funny thing about this guy is, he’s only good at Korean food. He doesn’t know anything about Western cuisine.”

“Oh, really?”

“I’m telling you. He doesn’t even know how to boil pasta. He’s just Korean to the bone.”

“Hey, stop it.”

Joo Kwon-oh was flustered by the unexpected revelation.

“You know, when you boil pasta, you usually add salt and butter, right? To make the noodles chewy? On the last day of our joint MT, when I was boiling pasta, he was freaking out next to me asking why I was adding those things.”

“You’re supposed to add those, right?”

“Choi Kyung-won, you crazy bastard, I said stop talking.”

The surrounding people reacted even more exaggeratedly to Joo Kwon-oh’s impactful response. Choi Kyung-won, excited, babbled on in a louder voice.

“When I told him, he suddenly got defensive saying he doesn’t like pasta. Said he’s never made it before.”

“Usually, people make Western food more often, right? Because it’s easier to cook.”

“Ah, I don’t know.”

Joo Kwon-oh drank his alcohol, irritably running his hand through his hair. He started to turn his head towards me but quickly averted his gaze. I could see the tips of his ears had turned slightly red.