# Chapter 61
I turned my head at the sound of rain hitting the window. Though the curtains blocked the view beyond the glass, the soft pitter-patter of raindrops was gradually growing stronger.
I had felt uneasy since the dark clouds gathered, and sure enough, it seemed to be raining now.
The already cool temperature in the room felt like it was dropping even lower. I started to shiver from the cold that was seeping in despite only having removed my shirt. I rubbed the goosebumps on my forearms while looking at Jung Hyoin.
He seemed deeply absorbed in his drawing as he had said he would be, occasionally glancing at me when I moved, but otherwise just moving his pencil. I was about to ask if he was cold too, but decided against it.
Even though there wasn’t a hint of breeze, cold air enveloped my body. When I naturally hugged myself, Jung Hyoin’s eyes lit up.
“Ah, that’s good. Stay still like that.”
“……”
I gave Jung Hyoin a disapproving look, but still obediently remained still with my arms crossed, hugging my body as he had said.
Good grief, I need to finish this quickly. What am I even doing? The increasingly fierce sound of rain made me anxious. Judging by the sound, the rain wasn’t likely to stop anytime soon. I’m in trouble without an umbrella. If I had gone straight home after class, I wouldn’t have had to worry about this.
“Achoo!”
Suddenly, I sneezed. It didn’t stop at just once; they came one after another, and I felt like I was dying. My body shivered involuntarily, and I let out a groan.
“Hey, I’m cold.”
Finally, I spoke out to Jung Hyoin, who put down his sketchbook and pencil and stood up. Then he brought me the shirt I had taken off.
“Let’s take a break.”
Honestly, I had asked half in doubt, so I was surprised and bewildered by Jung Hyoin’s flexible response. With a blank expression, I received my uniform and began to put it on, while Jung Hyoin headed toward the storage cabinet.
I opened my pants zipper to tuck in the protruding undershirt, then zipped it up again. Jung Hyoin, who had taken something out of the storage cabinet, sat back down in his chair.
I was about to finish buttoning my shirt when I paused momentarily at what Jung Hyoin was holding. It was a glass cup with numerous types of colored pencils in it.
The glass cup, which was wide at the bottom and elongated, had a drawing engraved in the middle. It was a male figure, drawn in a nude croquis technique, slightly bent at the waist as if stretching. The drawing wasn’t just done with black lines but was colored with a mixture of yellow and green overall, and even to a layman like me, it looked impressive like a work of art.
I knew this drawing cup.
“Why do you have that?”
Jung Hyoin stared at me blankly at my question. His face was expressionless, showing no emotion, but there was a question in his gaze.
“That drawing cup, isn’t it Moon Seoheon’s?”
Jung Hyoin looked down at the cup he was holding. When he raised his head and stared at me blankly, his eyebrows were slightly contorted. He seemed confused.
I also had questions. I knew that drawing cup as one that Moon Seoheon used during art class. While a cup doesn’t necessarily have to be used for drinking water or beverages, the fact that it was used for storing colored pencils and its entire design was identical to what Moon Seoheon had used.
What I couldn’t forget was a scene where they were drawing pictures outdoors during art class, and Yoon Taeho had broken that drawing cup.
Under the pretext of borrowing it, he took it but didn’t use it, instead turning it around in his hands, and then dropped it when his hand slipped. Although Yoon Taeho acted slightly flustered as if it wasn’t intentional, he didn’t even offer a word of apology.
It was simply a scene depicting Yoon Taeho’s inconsiderate behavior, but Moon Seoheon nonchalantly threw away the broken glass cup and the mess of colored pencils all at once.
It might have been a frustrating scene, but it was portrayed as a rather cool way of letting things go, as the owner could boldly discard his own belongings.
That’s why I was puzzled that Jung Hyoin had this item. Jung Hyoin examined the drawing cup, lifting it up, at my curious expression.
“It is mine.”
Jung Hyoin, who had been examining it from various angles as if to check if there was any problem, bluntly said.
“Is it really yours?”
“Yes.”
At his definitive answer, I scratched my cheek. Since he said so, it was hard for me to say anything more, and I thought, what does it matter whose it is anyway?
I resolved never to break it and decided not to even touch it.
I fastened the hook I hadn’t yet closed and ran my hands down my arms. Though wearing clothes made me a bit warmer, I was still cold. Swoosh. The sound of rain from outside was ominous. At this rate, it was pouring down heavily.
I approached the window and pushed aside the curtain. The rain pouring outside was quite fierce.
“I’m screwed.”
How am I going to get home? As I spoke in a perplexed voice, Jung Hyoin approached my side and asked.
“What is it?”
“I don’t have an umbrella. I guess I’ll have to get soaked on the way home.”
After I let out a small sigh, Jung Hyoin traced the steamy window with his hand and said.
“I’ll take you home.”
“What? …How?”
“By car.”
Ah, so this guy also gets around by car. After a low sigh, I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. I had no intention of refusing when he offered to give me a ride. I didn’t have the courage to go home in that rain anyway.
Just then, there was a rattling sound at the door. It was the sound of the wooden door hitting against the lock, unable to open.
Turning around, I saw the wooden door rattling. Shortly after, a loud knocking sound echoed.
I immediately turned my gaze to Jung Hyoin. It seems someone has come, shouldn’t we open it? Jung Hyoin, meeting my gaze, turned and took out a key from the teacher’s desk.
The only person who would come here was Moon Seoheon, so the person knocking on the door now must be him. I tilted my head at his earlier-than-expected arrival, then remembered the weather outside and nodded.
When Jung Hyoin unlocked the door, it opened immediately. As expected, the person standing outside was Moon Seoheon. But there was one more person. Maeng Moa, who was shaking his thoroughly soaked umbrella while examining the inside, paused when he spotted me.
“Wow, were you really modeling?”
His eyes rolled as he examined me, and his eyes and mouth widened as if quite shocked. I hugged my body, feeling the cold even more while standing by the window, and moved to the center to make way.
“I was, but why are you here?”
“It’s pouring like crazy. What if you got wet?”
Maeng Moa said, looking at Moon Seoheon. It seems he went to find him with an umbrella in case he might get wet from the training that was interrupted by the rain. And then they came here together. How considerate of him.
I laughed dryly while fidgeting with my clothes. Meanwhile, I took a quick glance at Moon Seoheon, who was wearing athletic clothes. Thanks to Maeng Moa’s efforts, perhaps, he looked neat except for his slightly wet hair. Even the wet hair didn’t seem to be from rain but rather from sweat.
I looked around the art room, needlessly rubbing the back of my neck. It would feel suffocating enough with just Moon Seoheon, but now Maeng Moa had joined in too. Those guys probably won’t just leave after coming all this way… I felt awkward about continuing my modeling job in front of them.
I turned slightly toward Jung Hyoin. As I was debating whether to suggest continuing another time, he silently sat in his chair, took out a gray colored pencil, and started coloring his sketchbook.
Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa quietly approached behind Jung Hyoin and stared intently at the sketchbook. A strange emotion was glimpsed on the faces of the two as they checked the drawing.
Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa, whose expressions had been filled with indifference and curiosity respectively, both became blank. Their slightly open mouths suggested they might be surprised. Since I hadn’t seen it either and didn’t know how it had been drawn, I suddenly became curious.
I stealthily approached them and peeked my head out to see the drawing. Several drawings were on the white paper.
A pose of me standing awkwardly with just my arms raised. A pose where I was slightly covering my body as if embarrassed and tilting my head. A pose of me drinking a canned beverage. And the pose that Jung Hyoin had liked, of me hugging my body, were all realistically depicted.
It seemed like he had drawn all the movements I had taken, and each one had lines and surfaces described three-dimensionally, overflowing with vitality. And as he added colors, they began to become even more intricate.
While I was impressed, I also felt a bit embarrassed knowing that was my image. I could have overlooked it as if appreciating an art piece, but some explicitly showed my body. Moreover, examining each movement in detail, it felt awkward.
It was strange and gave me a peculiar feeling that even in a drawing, it could look so uncomfortable. I needlessly moistened my dry lips with my tongue.
To me, who has no artistic sense, it seemed roughly drawn at first glance, but the more I looked, the more I felt a certain charm to it. I also wondered if my body really looked like that.
It felt just like opening an old essay in an antiquated bookstore.
“Did you take your clothes off, by any chance?”
In the midst of blankly appreciating the drawings, Maeng Moa suddenly turned and looked at me. Since he knew Jung Hyoin was drawing me, he could naturally assume that all those drawings were based on observing me.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I pulled up the corners of my lips awkwardly.
“Yeah.”
“……”
At that moment, Moon Seoheon and Maeng Moa slowly lowered their heads and scanned my body. The gaze was too blatant to be brushed off as a natural reaction, so I took a step back.
Unable to soften my inevitably stiffened face, they looked at the drawing again and then at my body. When the gaze that was examining me up and down stopped in the middle, I shouted for them to stop looking.
“Did you really model in that pose?”
“That’s what I said.”
I roughly answered Maeng Moa, who asked with a slightly furrowed expression. Maeng Moa, who took his gaze off me and looked at Jung Hyoin, made a subtle expression.
Even if they don’t talk much about themselves, it would be obvious that they know what Jung Hyoin draws. I was looking at them curiously, wondering what there was to be surprised about, unless it was me who didn’t know and posed as a model, when Maeng Moa, who was making a sullen face, muttered lowly.
“I was dubious when I heard he proposed to be a drawing model, but I guess he really took a liking to you.”
Jung Hyoin stopped coloring and looked at Maeng Moa. His slow blinking seemed to be his way of expressing agreement.
I stepped away from the guys and distanced myself. I approached the corner where my bag was placed, intending to suggest we end it when the opportunity arose.
