By Zephyria 
She was a woman, standing in front of what seemed to be a verbose, unfinished piece of work. Yeon-jun, with a keen look, said something to her, then suddenly got up and strolled in front of the work. He pointed somewhere and said something again, then leaned his back towards the woman, and they talked again…
It was a pleasant scene. At the same time, a scene where he belonged, very appropriately and rightfully.
Eun-ha, with a strange expression, watched the scene for a while as if appreciating it. He thought he might wait a bit like this. That was the purpose of his visit in the first place. He figured Yeon-jun would be at school until the appointment time. He thought he’d be somewhere around here.
Because Yeon-jun had waited for him for a week. He thought it wouldn’t be bad to come out and meet him a little.
Had he been waiting? When Eun-ha sent a message a few hours ago thinking about that, Yeon-jun had called back soon after. That immediate contact was a little funny for some reason, so he hesitated before answering, and Yeon-jun blurted out that he had no schedule today. So, if Hyung was okay with it, he could meet right away.
It was a low baritone, and the speed of his words was neither rushed nor neat, but Eun-ha felt that his voice was somehow excited. So he let out a silent laugh again.
The reason why such silly laughter kept leaking out was because the emotions he was showing without even thinking of calculatingly embellishing them were somewhat absurd. The way he was being so transparent, as if asking Darling to look at him… it felt really absurd.
How did we end up breaking up last time? And then he was left unattended for over a week, but he was making it so obvious that he missed me.
“Aren’t you at school right now?”
I am, but…
A bit of a old-fashioned mind sprang up at his vague way of speaking. He shouldn’t be neglecting his studies so much. If he’s majoring in art, he’ll have a lot of assignments anyway. There were quite a few people around him who majored in arts and sports, so he knew roughly how fiercely they had to live. His Noona alone had been living a tough study abroad life in Canada for several years, and among his group of friends, Park Hyun-ji happened to be majoring in art at Yeon-jun’s school.
“Don’t do that, let’s meet around dinner time. Around mealtime.”
…Okay.
“I’m saying let’s eat. You like that?”
Yes. I know.
“What’s so good about it? This is the first contact in over a week.”
When he pretended to be stern on purpose, after a short silence, he heard a slightly broken laugh.
I know.
“……”
I should be feeling a little bad… but I don’t.
“Oh, come on…”
Why did it take a week?
“To make you fall out of love with me.”
…What’s that?
“…Just kidding. I was sorting out my thoughts.”
Both were true. It took time to sort out his thoughts, and in the meantime, he hoped Yeon-jun’s thoughts would change a little. It didn’t seem to be the case at all, which was regrettable.
And he became regrettable again. Yeon-jun, who was holding the strap of his messenger bag and walking out of the workspace with the woman he had been with all along, inadvertently discovered Eun-ha. As soon as he did, the expression on his face changed very dramatically.
As if trying to figure out the situation, he blinked his eyelids diligently, then slowly widened his eyes, and finally, Eun-ha, watching Yeon-jun make a bright, expressionless face, let out a silent sigh. He tilted his head lightly.
“How did you get here?”
“I had some time left. I was walking without thinking and ended up here.”
Eun-ha replied simply to the question that clearly showed he was happy inside. Ignoring Yeon-jun, who was leaning his upper body and peeking like a curious person next to him, he gestured with his eyes in the direction he had been in until just now.
“Are you doing assignments or something over there too?”
“Ah, that’s a place that sculpture students use a lot. I have my own space.”
“What department are you in?”
“I’m in Western Painting.”
The same department as Park Hyun-ji. It was a coincidental commonality. “I see,” he nodded, and Yeon-jun, who had turned around half a circle, blocked Eun-ha’s path.
“Since you’re here, do you want to take a quick look?”
It was a tone as if asking him to look just once. Eun-ha, staring at his eyes that seemed to be sparkling, turned his gaze to the surroundings where the sun was slowly setting.
“I have time… but is it okay?”
“There’s no reason why it wouldn’t be. It’s dinner time, so there won’t be anyone inside.”
Right. There’s no reason why it wouldn’t be. Eun-ha nodded. He followed Yeon-jun, who was slightly raising the corners of his lips and leading the way. Everyday conversations were exchanged during the short walk. Have you thought about what to eat? I’ve narrowed it down, but what does Hyung like? I eat anything well. Let’s go to a place you like. No. I was thinking about what Hyung would like and narrowed it down. I don’t care. Let’s go where you want to go. No, Hyung… Eun-ha eventually raised both hands.
The studio they arrived at was empty as he had said. Eun-ha, holding onto the door frame, scanned the messy interior for a moment. All the windows were open, but even so, the smell of oil paint strongly stung the tip of his nose.
“Do you do assignments here every day?”
He asked as he slowly took steps. The lights were off, but the interior was still quite bright, so he entered without turning them on.
“Not every day, but often, right?”
“There are a lot of assignments. A lot to do.”
“That’s what I heard. I honestly didn’t know it would be like this from the first year.”
“I don’t know how you managed to come to the cafe so regularly in the midst of all that.”
At the lament as if complaining, Yeon-jun turned around. Eun-ha showed a seemingly resolute expression to him, who had a face as if he knew nothing.
“I mean you should go to school properly. Don’t keep thinking about how to skip.”
You’ll regret it later. Before he could add that, he heard a laughing sound from inside his throat.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It’s like, a tone I’ve only heard when I was being scolded when I was little.”
“I am scolding you.”
“I’m not a kid, Hyung.”
Saying that he’s not a kid is what makes him a kid… Because I still don’t think I’m an adult at all.
While he was only repeating it in his mind, Yeon-jun led Eun-ha to a corner. Eun-ha, taking in the canvas placed on the easel, opened and closed his lips as if swallowing air. And he said.
“…You’re going to school properly.”
Yeon-jun laughed out loud. Eun-ha sat on the work desk nearby.
He began to seriously examine the painting. It was a fairly large canvas, and within it, a certain form was dryly and gloomily melted. It was mostly like that, but bright colors that seemed to pop out in parts were mixed in, cutting off the overall gloomy flow. Thus, it was a painting that conveyed a subtle atmosphere.
He didn’t have a particularly good eye for paintings, but at least he knew that there were no lacking aspects. Well, he wouldn’t have come here without a reason.
“Abstract painting… Do you draw things like this from the first year?”
“Ah. Not necessarily. This is what the professor…”
Yeon-jun, sitting in his chair, continued to explain something. The topic continued for a while with the theme of painting and school life. “Yeah, I see,” Eun-ha said occasionally, carefully observing Yeon-jun, who seemed a little happy for some reason. At some point, he blurted out.
“You seem to have gotten over it.”
“Pardon?”
“You were, like… crying back then.”
He had been watching him since they met earlier, but he couldn’t find any traces of that day at all.
Yeon-jun, blinking his eyes a couple of times as if grasping what he had heard, soon raised resentment in his pupils. He awkwardly let out a laugh close to a sigh.
“I really didn’t cry, Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“I really didn’t cry.”
“I get it. Yeah. Really. Truly. Actually, I know too. Your eyes were just full of tears.”
“Ah, Hyung-…”
At the sound of Hyung being stretched out with a lot of inflection, Eun-ha snorted. How can he say he’s not a kid while doing this?