HYUNG 18

“I’m perfectly fine right now…”

“You don’t look like it.”

The bread looks delicious. I tore open the plastic packaging of the croissant and took a large bite as I strode ahead with wide steps. For how pretty it looked, the taste was just mediocre.

“Did you eat breakfast?”

“Yes.”

“Eat some anyway.”

I tore off a corner of the croissant and stuffed it into Ham Dowon’s mouth as he caught up to me. If I plug his mouth, maybe he will stop talking nonsense.

“Hyung, feeding me directly is a little… I think it’s a bit too fast.”

Even though he couldn’t pronounce words properly while chewing the bread, he still sputtered strange things. What on earth is he talking about? I didn’t even want to understand. I let out a deep sigh and shoved the bread into his hand.

“Then eat it with your own hand.”

“Nooo, you feed me, hyung.”

“Fine. Eat it. Eat it all.”

I stuffed the rest of the bread into Ham Dowon’s mouth and walked ahead at a brisk pace. I heard Ham Dowon let out a short groan—”Mmph!”—and then call out “Hyuung, hyung!” in muffled tones.

“Hyung, is this… are you playing hard to get?”

Coming right back to my side, the things he said were absolutely absurd.

I felt like I understood why Yoo Hwajung was so worried about him, like a child left by the water’s edge. I simply ignored Ham Dowon, who was smiling brightly despite one cheek bulging with the leftover bread. I couldn’t even bring myself to sigh.

“Just go to class. Do you remember where the lecture hall is?”

“Room 206!”

“Right. Got it.”

Upon arriving at the Fine Arts building, I walked toward the emergency exit instead of the elevator. It was only the second floor, so walking was more than enough.

“Hyung, you’re not taking the elevator?”

“Yeah. I’m not. It’s all a waste of electricity.”

“Ah! Yes! I understand! Let’s go up the stairs, just the two of us, all cozy!”

I didn’t tell him to come with me, but Ham Dowon stood beside me of his own accord as we climbed the stairs side by side. Well, whatever, it was the same lecture hall. Besides, wasn’t he the kid Hwajung asked me to look after? The kid talked a lot of nonsense and his mental structure was quite strange, but he wasn’t a bad kid. If you look closely, he has many cute points, and his face is exactly my type. No, is it not my type? I wanted to draw him even though he looks different from the subjects I usually draw. If I think about it that way, he might be a “type-destroyer.”

“Hyung, the hat you’re wearing today is really cute. You have a pretty head shape, so I guess hats suit you well.”

“Yeah. I know I’m cute.”

“You know? Ah, I guess if you’re that cute, you have no choice but to know. Hyung, you really are incredibly cute!”

“Sure, sure.”

Even though I brushed it off indifferently, Ham Dowon kept going on about how I was cute, mentioning my earlobes that looked plump, my round nose tip, and my thick lips in particular. I wonder if he even knows what he’s saying. If he said those things to a girl, he’d be in big trouble.

“Hyung, by the way, did you talk to Hwajung noona?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Room 204, 205… Ah, it’s 206. Having reached the second floor, I pushed open the door to Room 206. No one was inside.

“Hwajung noona contacted me too. She told me to be good to you, hyung.”

“Yeah. Do be good.”

I sat down in a suitable spot. And Ham Dowon, sitting in the seat next to mine as if it were only natural, blinked at me.

“I’m already being good to you. Isn’t it nice just having me by your side?”

“…Tsk.”

“What does that mean?”

“Forget it.”

I had clicked my tongue in disapproval without realizing it. I didn’t particularly want to break that ego of his. It wasn’t that I wanted to protect it… it was more of an indifferent thought like “just keep living like that, it’ll get broken by someone else someday.” Looking at him, even though he’s peculiar, he has some cute sides and is decent… but as he was a type of person I’d never encountered before, it was quite hard to adjust. I found myself placing a distance in my heart. Since it hasn’t even been a week since I met him, I suppose it’ll eventually be fine as I keep seeing him. He’s strange, but he isn’t a bad kid.

“Is your afternoon class painting too?”

I took a sip of my americano and quickly changed the subject. Ham Dowon nodded.

“Yes. I’m taking the same professor’s class as you, hyung.”

“Have you decided what to draw?”

“Not yet. I’m going to listen to the course direction during the orientation and then decide.”

“Yeah. That’s the right way to do it.”

I nodded in agreement, unpacked my bag, and took out an item. It was a tablet PC.

“Hyung, you use a big pad. Is it for digital painting?”

“Yeah. I bought it to practice, but I can’t quite get the hang of it. Are you good at digital stuff too?”

“Rather than being good… it’s just at a level of doodling since I was little, following my sister.”

“Since you draw so well anyway, you’ll probably be great at it if you’re used to digital.”

“You draw well too, hyung.”

“I didn’t say that to get a compliment.”

“It’s the truth. I like your drawings, hyung.”

The dark brown eyes staring straight at me were so determined that I ended up laughing. Right. This side of him was a bit cute. He seemed to think I didn’t believe him.

“It’s true. The moment I saw your drawing, hyung, I fell in love at first sight.”

He’s quite good at saying cheesy things. This guy is really strange. He’s funny. I rested my chin on my arm on the desk and tilted my head slightly, smiling at him.

“Right. Thanks.”

“…I, I use this too! The color is the same. Space Gray. This is a couple item too… Couple item…”

Ham Dowon’s eyes, which had been looking at me resolutely without wavering, suddenly trembled, darted around to some random place, and then looked down at my pad. Then, he rubbed the surface of the desk with his finger for no reason.

“The laptop and the pad are both couple items… everything is a couple item.”

“There are tons of kids who use the same thing.”

“Couple item” again. How cheesy. Since it’s a world-famous brand, there are so many people using their products. You can find plenty of them just by going to the school cafe or library. But Ham Dowon seemed to want to give meaning to this coincidence no matter what. He even clenched his fists and shouted enthusiastically.

“But! There are almost no cases where even the color is the same! Besides, you and I have the same model and the same color for both the laptop and the pad! That’s not common, right? Is it?”

“…Well, yeah. It’s not common.”

“Exactly! Couple item!”

When I readily admitted it, Ham Dowon even crinkled his eyes and laughed. This was such a small thing, yet he looked so happy that I didn’t tell him that my younger sister, Ye Hwanyoung, also uses the same laptop and pad as me. Although the colors are different.

“Did you read the syllabus?”

“Ah, yes. There were all sorts of books, but I couldn’t tell which ones were the textbooks. Since I already have many of the books at home, I just ordered the ones I didn’t have online. Anyway, it all helps with studying. Hyung, if you happen to need any, tell me. I’ll lend them to you.”

“Sure. Thanks in advance.”

The book list on the syllabus was packed. Since they were art books, the price per volume must be no joke, yet he seemed to have bought them all. I thought about buying them all too, but when I thought about moving later, the idea of moving every single one of them was so daunting that I held back. I can borrow them from the library and buy them if I need to later.

“Hyung, among the books there, have you read ⌜Art is, Art is⌝? I read it back in high school, and that book…”

“Oh, isn’t that Ham Dowon?”

“It really is. It’s Ham Dowon. Why is he here?”

Ham Dowon, who was about to go on with excitement, turned his head toward the side that had thrown the sudden interruption. I didn’t know their faces, but they were people I felt like I’d seen passing by on the Plastic Arts department floor. A short girl and a boy who was slightly taller than her, but still not on the tall side, stood nearby. Ham Dowon lowered the corners of his mouth, which had been upturned just a moment ago.

“Do I know you?”

Oh, he can make a voice like that? When his voice, which was always high-pitched and excited when he was with me, sank low, even his way of speaking felt stiff. The boy made a face as if he found it absurd.

“What? ‘Do I know you?’ You don’t even remember a senior’s face? You went to the same middle and high school as me. I even went to the same academy as you.”

“There are so many people who went to my school and academy that I wouldn’t know… Anyway, hyung, about that book. It was a book my noona bought for me when I was in middle school, and it was written by an Italian-American author.”