Chapter 74

"But teacher, isn't this technically not a still life?"

"What do you think is right in front of us?"

"A cherry blossom tree. Well, a model of one. And there are animals around it, though they’re also models."

"Since everything is still, it qualifies as a still life, doesn’t it?"

That logic felt a bit off to me. But... maybe she wasn’t wrong?

"You’re probably the only person who rents an entire set just to paint a picture," I said.

"I’ll take that as a compliment."

"Good for you. That wasn’t a compliment."

And so, my daily life continued, stacking up karma points as usual.

I stayed in the corner of the set, quietly chatting to keep her company.

Since Teacher Lee Ah-Reum was the one painting, my role was minimal—just stepping in if she hit a snag.

-Minimal... with a giant spoonful of input, she’d say, which I chose to ignore. After all, I needed some entertainment too.

"Oh, right, teacher. Did you manage to get tickets for Ye-Seo’s concert?"

"Tell her I’m sorry~," she replied, not even looking back as she waved her hand, too busy sketching outlines.

Her previous drafts had all ended up in the trash. Clearly, a painting like this couldn’t be completed in a single go.

She hadn’t committed to any of the earlier concepts, so they were just rough ideas anyway.

Still, it seemed Teacher Lee Ah-Reum had failed to secure tickets. Choi Ye-Seo was bound to be disappointed.

[Me: She couldn’t get them. She says she’s sorry.]

[Choi Ye-Seo: Aww… But hey, it’s the effort that counts! I’m satisfied!]

At least she was taking it well.

While exchanging casual texts with Choi Ye-Seo, I heard a voice.

"Ha-Eun, could you come over for a moment?"

"Could you not call me like that? It’s kind of scary," I muttered, setting my phone aside.

"Do you think this part looks okay like this?"

"Hmm. Teacher, can you do contour drawing?"

"Contour drawing? You mean drawing with a single line?"

"Yes, though this would be blind contour. Think you can manage it?"

She frowned at my suggestion.

"I can do it, but I’m not very good at it."

"That’s fine. The lines can always be adjusted later. I just think it could make the process more efficient at this stage."

Sighing, she rested her chin in her hand and stared at the canvas for a moment before responding.

"I’ll give it a try, but I’m not confident. Don’t complain if I mess it up later, okay?"

"Of course. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll handle that section myself."

Barely thirty minutes later, the pencil was already in my hand.

...Magic, I suppose?

***

"Ha, haha..."

I ran into a completely spaced-out Choi Ye-Seo during lunch.

"Three days left... haha."

"Why do you always get like this when a concert’s coming up? Get it together," I scolded, worried she might start eating her lunch through her nose at this rate.

"But! What am I supposed to do about being nervous?!"

She flailed her arms dramatically, only for Ha Soo-Yul to calmly restrain her.

"Why do I always get so nervous before getting on stage? I’m fine once I’m up there, though," she grumbled.

"Maybe try living every day like you’re on stage?" I suggested.

"Do you even hear yourself?"

Her sharp glare made me avert my eyes.

"Have you tried taking a calming pill? It might help," I offered.

"Should I? Ugh, but I need to manage my condition carefully, too..."

Lately, Choi Ye-Seo had been looking a bit worn out. Maybe she wasn’t sleeping well. It was starting to worry me.

"Are you heading to practice again today?"

"Yeah. The concert’s so close—I have to prepare as much as I can."

Though she tried to smile, her face betrayed how stressed she was.

"You’ve done great so far. I’m sure you’ll do well this time too," I said encouragingly.

Both Ha Soo-Yul and Hong Ye-Hwa joined in with their own words of support.

"Yeah, you’re right! I’ll do my best!"

Re-energized by her friends’ encouragement, she suddenly declared, "Let’s go to the snack bar! It’s been a while!"

Wait, wasn’t she supposed to go practice? And I thought we agreed that going to the snack bar was a bad idea for me...

.

.

.

I felt full—like I’d eaten 1.5 times my usual amount.

The girls, on the other hand, ate at least twice as much as I did.

Where all that food went, I had no idea.

As we left the snack bar and began heading our separate ways, Choi Ye-Seo turned back and called out to me.

"Ha-Eun! Can I come over to your place? It’s been a while!"

I was just about to walk home with Ha Soo-Yul when she caught up to us.

"You’re going to come over whether I say yes or not, aren’t you? What about practice, though?"

"Hehe, I already got permission! Practice can wait—I got permission for this too!"

"Well, good for you then. Oh, by the way, my little sister has been complaining that you haven’t visited lately. Go play with her for a bit."

"Of course! I haven’t seen Yoon-i in forever!"

I could feel Ha Soo-Yul’s sharp gaze boring into Choi Ye-Seo as she spoke, but I chose to ignore it.

And so, the three of us started walking together. The gray sky above seemed to warn that rain was on the way.

Even if we hurried, we’d probably still get caught in it.

‘I should’ve grabbed an umbrella this morning. I even checked the weather.’

The rain wasn’t supposed to start until around five, but it looked like it would come down at four instead.

"Should we stop by the convenience store? I think we’ll need an umbrella."

"Good idea. I felt like I was missing something anyway," Choi Ye-Seo said with a sparkle in her eyes.

...What exactly did she feel she was missing?

"How about some ice cream?!"

"Your diet?"

"Tomorrow’s me can skip meals. Today’s me deserves happiness!"

How convenient. Though that mindset reminded me of the phrase "Diet starts tomorrow."

Surprisingly, Ha Soo-Yul actually stopped her. Her gaze lingering on Choi Ye-Seo’s chest for a moment was probably just my imagination.

"If Ye-Hwa is already well-endowed and you grow even more…"

Hmm. Pretending I didn’t hear that seemed like the best option.

We eventually made it to the convenience store, but—

"Um… it looks like we’re out of umbrellas."

"Yeah, sorry. We don’t have any left."

"I’m not a robber or anything," I muttered awkwardly.

The store clerk scratched the back of their head, looking just as embarrassed as us.

‘Great. What do we do now? No umbrellas.’

Waiting for the rain to stop wasn’t an option—it didn’t seem like a quick shower.

Calling my parents was the next idea, but no one answered.

Mom was probably asleep in front of the TV in the living room, and Dad was at work, so calling him wasn’t ideal either.

‘Should we call a taxi? But does it make sense to hail a cab for such a short distance?’

It felt like a waste of money. It’d only take about eight minutes to walk home—at least for me.

As I crossed my arms, deep in thought, Ha Soo-Yul and Choi Ye-Seo approached me.

...It looked like Ye-Seo had lost whatever argument they’d been having. Her face was clouded with a defeated expression.

"They said they’re out of umbrellas. Should we call a taxi?" I asked.

Even so, having them run through the rain wasn’t an option—especially since running wasn’t exactly an option for me.

Both of them shook their heads.

"It’s not that far. Let’s just run for it! Getting caught in the rain is part of the charm of school days," Choi Ye-Seo declared enthusiastically.

"Yeah, and I’ll carry you, Ha-Eun. I’ve got two cardigans, so we can even cover our heads," Ha Soo-Yul added, giving me a confident thumbs-up.

Some half-baked romantic notion and an overconfident proposal.

...It sounded fun, honestly.

Sure, we’d get wet, but what’s the worst that could happen?

With a plan in place, we strode boldly out of the convenience store, spurred on by the clerk’s parting words of encouragement.

***

I caught a cold.

"Ugh. Ah-choo!"

My throat itched, I had a constant dry cough, and to top it off, I was dealing with sinusitis.

‘Still, it was fun.’

If it was fun, then maybe it was worth it. But something strange happened.

"I get why Soo-Yul’s fine, but how come you didn’t catch a cold?"

"Never underestimate an idol’s resilience!"

Choi Ye-Seo, who was chatting with me alongside Ha Soo-Yul, seemed completely unaffected, even though she’d been soaked more than I was.

"Seriously, who even catches a cold just from getting wet?"

Her cheeky grin made me want to whack her blond head.

Laughing to herself, she suddenly grew serious and looked at me with concern.

"You don’t have to push yourself to come to the concert. If you’re sick, you should rest."

"I’ll probably recover by then. Besides, I have a doctor’s appointment that day anyway."

I shrugged, trying to downplay it.

The truth was, I got sick pretty often. My immune system seemed more like a theoretical concept than something I actually had.

That’s why kids are supposed to play in dirt when they’re young.

‘...Wait a minute.’

I distinctly remember doing that too.

Perfect balance, my ass.

"Sniff."

"Don’t sniff like that," Ha Soo-Yul scolded.

"It’s a reflex, can’t help it. By the way, are you sure you should be hanging around me?"

"It’s fine."

"Yeah! I even brought a mask, see?"

I could trust Ha Soo-Yul’s iron constitution, but I was a little worried about Choi Ye-Seo.

"Just don’t catch my cold," I said.

"Don’t worry about me, old man," she retorted, sounding exasperated.

Her grumbling made me chuckle.

"The concert’s coming up, so you’ll be busy for a while after, huh?"

"Next week’s going to be hell... Ugh, even thinking about it is exhausting."

Even as she complained, her smile was genuine.

"But hey, I’m doing what I love, so I’ll make the most of it."

"That’s all that matters."

Still, take care of yourself.

***

"Whew... made it with time to spare."

We’d arrived with plenty of time left.

The concert venue was absolutely packed, a sea of people as far as the eye could see.

‘Just eyeballing it, there must be at least 12,000 people here.’

They weren’t kidding when they said Choi Ye-Seo was popular.

She was the undeniable number-one idol in her group.

Thinking about it now, it was impressive.

Being a public figure isn’t easy, but she’d managed to avoid any scandals or controversies.

Most celebrities are careful, but plenty still mess up and ruin their careers with one misstep.

‘She said to meet her over there.’

Unlike with Ha Soo-Yul or Hong Ye-Hwa, I’d been asked to meet her separately.

Sometimes I wondered what went on in her head.

Other times, I was curious about what she wanted to show me.@@novelbin@@

She was the quintessential idol, after all.

I arrived at the staff-only room she’d told me about.

When I got there, no one else was around—just a meeting table and a few chairs.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

"What the—? You’re already here?"

The door opened, and Choi Ye-Seo walked in, startled to see me.

I got up from the chair, stretching with a yawn.

"So, what’s going on—"

I didn’t get to finish my sentence.

Her face was suddenly right in front of mine.

And before I could react, soft warmth pressed against my lips.