HYUNG 9

Ham Dowon made some clicking noises and then turned the laptop toward me to show me the screen.

…Wow, this guy is really… beyond strange; he was marvelous.

“Why are you so good at drawing? Did you do art before?”

I hadn’t expected much since he was a double major student, but Ham Dowon’s drawings on the screen were quite excellent. It wasn’t just a matter of “Oh, he has talent,” but the technical skill of drawing itself was outstanding. It was a level of mastery that could only come from drawing for a long time. You couldn’t reach this level simply as a hobby.

“I went to an arts middle school and an arts high school.”

Ham Dowon spoke with a nonchalant face as he swiped through the photos. As if it were no big deal. If it’s arts middle and high school… since I started in my senior year of high school, he had been doing it longer than me, someone who took art as a major. Usually, if you graduate from an arts middle and high school, don’t you continue with that major all the way through university? But clearly, he…

“But you’re a Trade major.”

“Yes. I am a Trade major.”

He had a look on his face that asked what that had to do with anything. For some reason, I felt a bit stifled.

“Why did you go into the Trade department?”

“I went there based on my grades.”

Ham Dowon blinked. This time, his expression asked why I was curious about such a thing. And then, he made a face as if he suddenly realized something. “Ah!”

“Hyung, you have a lot of things you’re curious about regarding me! I get it! I’ve been drawing since I was probably four years old…”

“…I meant, why did you go to the Trade department after graduating from arts middle and high school? Ah. Was that too rude. You don’t have to answer me.”

What on earth is he talking about. I cut off Ham Dowon’s words and finally threw a direct question instead of beating around the bush. Though I did regret it after the words left my mouth. It could have been that he didn’t do art because of family circumstances, or there could have been other reasons. However, Ham Dowon, who was the one asked, simply opened his mouth a little and answered casually. “Ah.”

“I went to the Trade department so I wouldn’t have to do art. I wasn’t sure if I really liked art.”

“Then why did you double major in our department?”

“Because I’m confused about whether I really don’t like art. I wanted to try and find out.”

“You are really…”

A strange kid. I had been thinking to myself that he was strange, strange, but he was a truly bizarre fellow. Judging by his expression, quitting art wasn’t due to various circumstances but simply because he changed his mind. And yet, doing a double major in art again was because he felt another whim. It’s a relief that there weren’t any hardships, but… while having the kind of background that most kids doing art would envy, he unhesitatingly let go of art and then grabbed it again—which was both impressive and enviable.

“What about hyung?”

“I… just went to a local high school. I started art really late, too. In the first semester of my senior year. I did my entrance exams in the provinces. I spent an extra year studying, and well… that’s how it was.”

I couldn’t help but admire kids who started art at a young age and went through arts middle and high schools. No matter how hard I worked, it was difficult to catch up with those years. Doubting my own talent was a common occurrence, and I worried every day about whether I could really keep going, whether I truly liked it, or if I had just fallen in love with the image of an artist in the media and was mistaken.

“Anyway, the work is good. It’s exactly the style I really like.”

I rested my chin on my arm placed on the table and slowly swiped through the screen. I stared intently at the drawings. The sense of color and the use of lines were exactly my taste. Ah, to the point where it reminded me of the time I dreamed of becoming someone who draws like this someday.

“…Hyung, do you like my drawings too?”

“Yeah. I like them. Your drawings. Ah, this 3D work is also quite good. You’d probably be good at sculpture too.”

I could feel the dignity of someone who had been working for a long time. I chuckled softly to myself, thinking it might be a bit too funny to say that to a mere twenty-two-year-old.

“Hyung, you really like me… That’s right. Hyung really, me…”

“Why is your face so bright red? Should I turn on the air conditioner? Or are you sick somewhere?”

“…No. I’m okay…”

Ham Dowon was muttering something or other to himself so much that I painfully tore my eyes away from the drawings and looked toward him, only to be surprised. Ham Dowon’s face was as red as a sick person’s. Even the voice replying that he was okay had no strength in it at all, so I couldn’t really believe those words.

“You’re really okay, right? I’ll be looking through your work, so lie down for a bit.”

“…M-me, on hyung’s bed! Lying down is too…! That’s a bit!”

This guy is being extremely shy. Ham Dowon, covering even his face with both palms, looked just like a shy country maiden. Even though he must have finished his military service, I thought he was a real eccentric. Though I didn’t know for sure, I felt like he would have been a “troublemaker” soldier.

“Does it feel gross? I haven’t been long since I washed the bedding. I don’t care whether someone lies on my bed or not, so if it’s hard for you, lie down.”

“Hyung… do you let just anyone lie on your bed? Is it okay for just any other person to lie there?”

Ham Dowon, who peeked his eyes through his fingers, suddenly glared at me. His voice was also high-pitched and sharp. I was just telling him to lie down and rest for a bit, but he was putting it in a really strange way. If there had been other people around, it would have been perfect for them to misunderstand.

“What does it matter whether a guest who came to my house lies on the bed or not? I’m not uncomfortable with that kind of thing. Ah, if you’re going to lie down, take off your coat first.”

“But I…! I am!”

As if it were unfair, Ham Dowon’s lips flickered busily.

“You’re what?”

“I’m special! To hyung!”

“…”

Just how do you have to raise a child for them to have such high self-esteem and a bloated ego? I became genuinely curious.

“…Lie down or not, do whatever you want.”

“I’ll lie down. But in the future, don’t just tell other people to lie on hyung’s bed.”

Ham Dowon, who issued a warning to me for reasons I couldn’t fathom, quietly took off his coat and cautiously climbed onto my bed. I told him to lie down because he looked sick, but seeing him lie there in a stiff posture after spreading the blanket was uncomfortable even for me to watch.

“Cover yourself with the blanket and lie down comfortably. Comfortably.”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course it is. Would I have told you to lie down just so you could stay there uncomfortably?”

“…”

Ham Dowon watched my reaction and then hesitantly covered himself with the blanket. Still, seeing him lying there like a mummy didn’t look particularly comfortable. While looking at the ceiling with wide-open eyes, he suddenly sent a sharp look toward me.

“Hyung, no matter what, you can’t lie down next to me. Got it?”

“…It’s narrow, so there’s no room for me to lie down anyway.”

“I’m lying down because hyung told me to, but that doesn’t mean I’ve permitted everything. I’m telling you so you know.”

What is he “permitting” on his own? I’m the one who permitted him to lie on my bed. And what exactly am I supposed to “know”? For some reason, I felt like my head was starting to throb. Sigh, I let out a deep breath.

“…Just go to sleep instead.”

“Sleep…! What are you going to do if I sleep? I’m a light sleeper. I’ll know immediately if someone touches me.”

“I’m going to do the assignment. The assignment!”

Toward Ham Dowon, who was wrapping his body up in the blanket like a naive maiden in front of a rogue, I finally couldn’t hold back and shouted.

‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹

“…Ah.”

Only after the photos on the screen I was slowly looking through came to an end and I confirmed that the slides would no longer turn did I blink slowly. Ah, I focused too much. I didn’t even blink once. My eyes felt stiff. But I couldn’t help it because I liked the work piece by piece. Just as he said he had been doing art for a long time, the amount of work was so vast that it took a long time to look through. I wasn’t bored. Rather, it was enjoyable. But how do I narrow this down? Everything is good… Should I first divide them by working method?

While pondering for a moment, I instinctively tried to take a bite of ice cream, only to realize anew that my cup was empty. The green tea ice cream that Ham Dowon had left half-finished on the opposite side had completely melted into liquid. I glanced at the bed. At some point, the fellow had closed his eyes. Is he sleeping?

“Hey, Ham Dowon, are you sleeping?”

“…”

What happened to being a light sleeper. After all that overacting about lying on a single bed, it seems he’s sleeping in the end. Seeing him staying still with his mouth and eyes closed, he really did look like an angel, so a chuckle escaped me. If the angels in old master paintings had been Asian and adults, I thought they would have looked exactly like that.

He looked even more so because of his curly hair. Did he get a perm? Or is it natural? Fortunately, the fever that had been red all the way to his ear tips had disappeared, as if he felt better in the meantime, but the areas under his eyes and his cheeks were still rosy, making him look much younger than his age.