Stalking Diary - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I doubted the situation, wondering if Choi Kyung-won might be calling someone else, even though we made eye contact.

However, Choi Kyung-won naturally continued speaking.

“We’ve got three people now, but it’d be good to have one more.”

“Ah.”

“I’ve noticed you’re rarely late and always sit in this spot. The three of us are pretty diligent too.”

“……”

I mumbled, not knowing what to say.

“Have you already joined another group?”

“…No.”

“Then let’s work together, okay?”

Choi Kyung-won smiled, raising his voice at the end in a non-pressuring way. Behind him sat a female student who seemed to be in his group, and Joo Kwon-oh.

Joo Kwon-oh was playing a game on his phone with an indifferent expression. He didn’t seem to care whether I joined the team or not.

Since I had no other options anyway, I nodded. Then I pulled the notebook I had covered on the desk towards me, trying hard to hide my nervousness.

“I’m Choi Kyung-won, sophomore in Business Administration, and this is my classmate Joo Kwon-oh. And she’s Shin Ji-ye, a freshman in Library and Information Science.”

Choi Kyung-won introduced everyone while pulling his chair and desk towards me.

“I’m Ryu Jeong-ha.”

“What’s your major?”

“Painting.”

“Oh, an art student. What year?”

“Sophomore.”

“Weren’t you a freshman?”

“No… I’m not…”

“So you’re 21, right?”

“Yes.”

“We’re the same age. Can I speak casually?”

“…You already are.”

“Ah, that’s right. If you’re upset, you can speak casually too.”

“……”

And just like that, introductions and ages were sorted out very quickly.

“Joo Kwon-oh, come quickly. We’re going to decide on a topic.”

“Wait. Let me finish this round.”

Joo Kwon-oh turned his body while still holding his phone, sat facing me, and nodded in greeting.

“You really look like an art student, by the way.”

Choi Kyung-won said this to me in a slightly more comfortable tone than before.

What does that mean? How should I respond…?

I wasn’t used to such impromptu conversations with unfamiliar people. Moreover, it was in front of Joo Kwon-oh, so my lips froze and refused to move.

“Ah, Kwon-oh. Didn’t you say your mother used to paint too?”

Fortunately, Choi Kyung-won quickly changed the subject, seemingly not minding that I didn’t answer.

“Yeah.”

Joo Kwon-oh answered half-heartedly. In response to this, Choi Kyung-won seemed more apologetic to me.

“He went to all-boys middle and high schools, so he’s brusque with guys. You’ll have to understand.”

“What unnecessary things are you saying, Choi Kyung-won.”

“Why, it’s true.”

I was already familiar with this side of Joo Kwon-oh, so his indifferent attitude didn’t bother me.

By the way, it was interesting information that his mother had something to do with painting. I should write that down in my notebook when I get home.

It would be good to sketch the front view of Joo Kwon-oh I saw today too. After only observing him from behind every day, now that I had the chance to see him from the front, my fingertips itched with the desire to draw him.

“Shall we select a topic now?”

Shin Ji-ye, who had been sitting quietly until now, spoke up.

“Shall we?”

And just then, as if his game had ended, Joo Kwon-oh answered in a quite different voice from before and pulled his chair closer.

And so, a fairly serious topic selection meeting began. Choi Kyung-won was the most active, and Joo Kwon-oh and Shin Ji-ye also participated a lot. I was the only one who couldn’t find anything to say, just occasionally nodding or barely managing a few responses.

As time passed and my tension gradually eased, I began to notice Joo Kwon-oh’s appearance.

There was no logo play, so I hadn’t noticed, but looking closely, every piece of clothing was expensive. If they were genuine and not replicas, all the clothes he was wearing were things an ordinary college student couldn’t afford.

I hadn’t noticed when I only saw him from behind, but he’s wearing a watch too. They said his family was wealthy, I guess it’s true.

I’m not interested in consuming luxury goods, but I used to be into drawing fashion spreads, so I knew quite a bit about luxury brands.

In other words, I had already drawn the watch Joo Kwon-oh was wearing in detail before. Moreover, it matched his casual style aesthetically well, so I felt the urge to draw it more carefully than my usual sketches today.

“Ah. Now that we’re talking about it, there are a lot of ambiguous parts. It seems difficult to decide right away.”

“That’s true. Actually, this is my first group project… I’m not quite sure how to approach it.”

“How about we each do some research and meet again tomorrow? If you can’t come to school, we can do it over KakaoTalk.”

It turned out all four of us had classes tomorrow too, so we decided to meet again for discussion then.

The timing was good as there were only ten minutes left in the lecture, and everyone was in the mood to pack up. The professor was explaining the group project guidelines while handing out printouts.

“Joo Kwon-oh, what are you doing on Friday? Some people are getting together to go bowling.”

Choi Kyung-won started talking again as he moved his chair back to its original place. He really never ran out of things to say.

Joo Kwon-oh answered while moving the chair Shin Ji-ye had brought.

“I have to go to my parents’ house in the evening.”

“Ah. Did you say you’re going to help your father with work? Then how about Sunday? Let’s go clothes shopping that day.”

“Why clothes?”

“I have a blind date. With that composition major I mentioned before.”

“Just buy something online.”

“Everything I buy online is a failure. Shit. You’ve seen it too.”

Joo Kwon-oh burst out laughing, as if Choi Kyung-won’s online shopping results had been quite disastrous.

I confirmed that their attention had completely shifted away from me and secretly opened my notebook to write down the information I had heard about him today.

h5

After quickly finishing my notes, I hurriedly sketched Joo Kwon-oh’s outfit today before it faded from my memory. It was almost like an esquisse (a preliminary sketch made for a final painting or design).

“Ah. How’s it going with her?”

While I was deeply focused, Choi Kyung-won whispered to Joo Kwon-oh again. But his voice was so loud that I could hear everything.

“Who? Seo Yu-jung?”

“I meant Kim Hye-ryeong. Is there something with Seo Yu-jung too?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Joo Kwon-oh left an ambiguous answer as if it was a secret!

“You bastard. You just broke up not long ago. What’s this about Seo Yu-jung?”

“That’s all for today’s class. Don’t forget to decide on your topics and submit them to me by next week.”

Just as I was listening intently, the professor’s voice drowned out Joo Kwon-oh’s words. At the same time, students started to get up, dragging desks and chairs, making it impossible to eavesdrop any further.

I was disappointed but closed my notebook without showing it.

“Ryu Jeong-ha!”

Just then, someone called my name from behind.

It was Kim Jae-hyun, who had made me unlucky by failing to register for this liberal arts class after we had planned to take it together.

I was especially glad to see Kim Jae-hyun among all these strangers.

Kim Jae-hyun approached me and asked while adjusting his glasses.

“Is the lecture over? Are you doing late-night work today?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too, me too. Let’s have dinner together later.”

“Should we order in?”

“Ordering delivery is too expensive, let’s just go down and buy something.”

I nodded, shouldered my bag, and followed Kim Jae-hyun out of the classroom. Then I took out my phone and smoothly went to stalk Joo Kwon-oh’s account on Instagram.

The conversation I had just overheard was bothering me unnecessarily. Did he get a girlfriend? Or someone he’s interested in?

There’s no way a guy like Joo Kwon-oh would be gay, so there’s no reason for me to feel disappointed, but somehow I felt deflated. However, Joo Kwon-oh’s Instagram showed no particular changes from yesterday.

3,813 followers. 72 posts.

“Oh right. You said you decided on a topic for your practical assignment painting? The third one. Yu-rim told me.”

“Yeah.”

“How unusually quick of you. Ah, I should start soon too, but what should I do?”

“You haven’t decided anything?”

“I can’t think of anything. These days I’ve been carrying around a notebook and pen, scribbling this and that, but I can’t decide what to do! How can the professor dump assignments on us so recklessly, even if it is the professor?”

This third practical assignment that was newly added was suddenly demanded by the professor. He added the strange reason that since we’re not freshmen anymore, we should be able to paint one more work per semester, and acted on a whim.

Instead, since it was added in a hurry, both the esquisse submission deadline and the completion deadline were quite generous. That’s why Kim Jae-hyun and Bae Yu-rim were also taking their time deciding on topics.

Of course, I had no worries about the topic because as soon as we received the new assignment, I immediately consulted with the professor and was happily drawing Joo Kwon-oh’s back view.

“Think about it a bit more. If you look through your previous sketches, wouldn’t something come up?”

“I’ve already taken out all my notebooks and looked, but nothing catches my eye.”

“Then…”

I stopped mid-sentence. The word ‘notebook’ that Kim Jae-hyun uttered reminded me of my notebook.

Did I bring that with me after class ended?

“No way.”

I hurriedly put down the bag I was carrying and started frantically searching inside like a madman.

“What’s wrong? Did you lose something?”

It’s not here. The notebook isn’t here. The notebook where I had written every little detail about Joo Kwon-oh during every liberal arts class and even scribbled sketches!