Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: A Picture-Perfect Day (1)
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A short while later, inside Seol Rokhui's studio apartment.
“Ah. You should have at least told me you were coming, Hyunsoo. I look like a complete mess right now.”
“Why? You look beautiful to me. Besides, how could I ask someone busy with work to wash up and get ready?”
“I appreciate the thought, but still, this is embarrassing.”
Rokhui's lips jutted out in a slight pout as she sat at her desk, diligently wielding her Cintiq pen.
Well, even that just made her look cute.
Chop, chop, chop.
Meanwhile, Hyunsoo stood in the kitchen, preparing the ingredients he’d brought.
Potatoes, green onions, onions, a cut-up chicken, and so on.
Tonight's menu was spicy chicken stew—his specialty, one he’d perfected after making it countless times while living alone.
He had come prepared today, wanting to cook a meal for her himself.
“How much work did you get done today?”
“I just finished the line art, so I think I’ll start coloring soon.”
“Hmm, you are pretty behind schedule. Did you have a hard time with the story for this chapter?”
“Hmph. It’s an important part, so I kept agonizing over it. My pride as an author wouldn’t let me go with a half-baked idea.”
“I know how that feels. When you think you can come up with something better, you end up stuck on it for hours.”
“Exactly!”
One person cooked while the other worked, and their mouths moved nonstop, chattering away as if they’d been waiting for this very moment.
Perhaps because of that, a hint of ease settled on Rokhui’s expression, which had been strained with the stress of a looming deadline.
Hyunsoo talked about the call from the congressman’s office and recent stories about his team and the company.
Seol Rokhui spoke of the stress from her webtoon serialization and her fellow authors, the conversation flowing endlessly between them.
And on top of that.
“Meow!”
Rokhui’s calico cat, Madangi, kept coming over to my leg, rubbing his head against it affectionately.
“Hehe, it seems Madangi likes you, Hyunsoo. He’s usually scared of men, so this is a surprise.”
“Oh, really? Does that mean I’ve been chosen?”
“Ahem, you could say that. You should consider it an honor!”
Hyunsoo smiled, occasionally making eye contact with the cat.
The cat beside him, Rokhui in the distance.
It truly was a picture-perfect, pleasant moment.
How much more time passed like that?
“Alright, it’s ready. Let’s take a break and have dinner, Rokhui.”
“Woooow, it smells amazing!”
The spicy chicken stew and white rice steamed invitingly, and the side dishes from the fridge, neatly arranged on plates, were a comforting sight.
“Well then, let’s eat.”
“Let’s eat!”
Hyunsoo picked up a chicken leg from the stew, placed it on top of Rokhui’s rice bowl, and watched her with a slightly nervous expression.
Rokhui smiled sweetly, finding his expression adorable, then picked up the leg and nibbled on it with her small lips.
“Mmm. Hmmm.”
Then, the slight furrow in her brow slowly smoothed out.
“Wow! This is delicious! You’re a great cook, Hyunsoo! Amazing! I’m not exaggerating when I say this is the best spicy chicken stew I’ve ever had.”
“Phew. That’s a relief. This is my specialty, you know. I really wanted you to try it, so I’m glad it was a success.”
“Hehe, it tastes like a specialty should!”
After that, Rokhui ate the spicy chicken stew with gusto, a giddy smile on her face.
She looked as cute as a baby bird pecking at its food, and Hyunsoo found himself barely touching his own meal as he watched her.
Before long, we had cleaned out the pot of stew until not a single solid piece was left.
“Wow. That was a great meal, Hyunsoo!”
“Are you full?”
“Of course! I ate so much! I hadn't eaten anything all day, so you saved me.”
Rokhui replied, patting her non-existent belly.
“Okay, Rokhui, you get right back to work. I’ll do the dishes and then help you.”
“No, no, after you cooked such a feast, the least I can do is the dishes!”
“It’s fine. The sooner you finish your work, the better for me. Besides, you’ve helped me out so much until now. Give me a chance to return the favor today.”
“Ahem. Well, if you insist… it’s a bit shameless of me, but could I take you up on that?”
“Of course.”
Rokhui once again took up her tablet and immersed herself in her work.
Meanwhile, Hyunsoo did the dishes, then took out the coffee he had put in the fridge and served it to her.
“Ah, thanks for the coffee, Hyunsoo. I really don’t know what to do with myself today.”
“Rokhui, send me the files for coloring, along with the palette.”
“The coloring? Hey, how are you going to do that?”
“You know, for a one-man developer, I’m pretty good with Photoshop. And.”
Hyunsoo took a laptop and a small pen tablet out of the backpack he had set down in a corner of the room.
It was something he had quickly borrowed from Pateujang Heo Yuri before leaving the office.
-“Oh, Pateujang Yuri, you have two tablets?”
-“Ah, yes. I find it more comfortable to use a display tablet. I only use the pen tablet in a pinch.”
It was a stroke of luck that he’d remembered at that moment that she had a spare tablet.
Hyunsoo set up the tablet and laptop on the now-clean dining table and spoke.
“I told you, I’m here today to repay the favors I owe you.”
“Haa. Hyunsoo, you seem especially cool today.”
“So I’m not cool usually?”
“Usually, hmm… I’d say you’re more charming than cool.”
Rokhui felt a surge of emotion, realizing that Hyunsoo had come here with the express purpose of helping her.
The life of an author was inherently a lonely battle fought by oneself.
But today, she didn’t feel that loneliness at all; having Hyunsoo by her side, helping her, felt incredibly reassuring.
“Alright then, I’ll shamelessly accept your help just this once, Hyunsoo. I’ll send you the files and the palette. Just be sure to fill in the base colors meticulously.”
“Sure. Once the base colors are done, I’ll do the typesetting. I can just reference your previous work.”
“Okay! I’ll leave it to you then.”
In webtoon production, the parts that required the author's creativity were typically the script, which finalized dialogue and direction, and the storyboarding.
The subsequent steps—line art, coloring, shading, and so on.
As long as the art style was established, these were tasks closer to simple labor, and for that reason, they were grueling.
However, Hyunsoo had a way to handle this a little more easily than others.
‘Acceleration.’
The power of the God Game Maker, one he hadn't used in a while.
As he activated it, Hyunsoo's hands began to move with a speed rivaling that of a professional artist.
Tap! Tap-tap! Tap! Tap-tap!
The sound of their two styluses moving filled the studio apartment.
Even so, the two continued to talk, enjoying their own version of a Friday date.
“Soo. Did you see that new thing that came out? Hyunsoo?”
“Ah, what? What did you say just now? I was focused on work for a second and didn’t hear you, haha!”
Hyunsoo quickly responded, realizing Rokhui had been talking to him.
He had been so engrossed in his work that he hadn't heard her properly.
“Ah, I was asking if you’d read that new webtoon. You know, the one called ‘I’m Too Strong for Just Cutting Flowers’ or something? I gave it a read, and the author’s sense of humor is so unique, it’s strangely fun.”
“Oh, that one? I think I read up to about chapter 20. The author is really good at writing misunderstanding-based comedy.”
Hyunsoo chatted cheerfully while diligently moving his hands.
About two hours passed like that.
“Rokhui, I’m done with all the base colors. I sent them over messenger, so please take a look.”
“What? You’re already finished?”
Rokhui couldn't help but be surprised.
Even if the portion she had given Hyunsoo was smaller than her own, it was far too soon for him to be done.
‘Wow. What is this?’
After opening and checking the files that arrived in her messenger, Rokhui was surprised yet again.
Usually, when you first assign base coloring to an assistant, the colors are often not filled in meticulously, or they bleed over the lines.
But in these files, the coloring was as precise as if drawn with a ruler.
On top of that.
“Hyunsoo, you did the shading too?”
“Yeah, it looked like I’d have some time to spare. I did it by comparing it with your previous manuscripts. You use an airbrush to define the borders and then erase, right? I couldn’t do the post-processing, though, since I don’t know how.”
The coloring files Hyunsoo had worked on included the first layer of shading and the characters' shadows.
And it was done to a level that Rokhui would barely have to touch up.
Even if he had experience creating game assets, it was hard to believe that Hyunsoo, who had never worked on a comic before, could accomplish this much.
“Are you a genius, Hyunsoo? How did you do this on your first try? I think you’re even faster than me.”
“Well, it’s just simple, repetitive work, haha. I have an impatient personality, so my hands are pretty fast.”
“Woooah. That sounds like something a genius would say. I’m starting to feel inadequate. Sob.”
Rokhui said with a playful pout, then broke into a grin.
With that one innocent smile, Hyunsoo felt as if all his hard work over the past two hours had been rewarded.
“It’s not like that. I can really only do the simple stuff.”
“Simple stuff? The simple stuff would be sad to hear you say that.”
“Rokhui, for now, give me all the remaining files. I’ll finish them up, so you can just handle the post-processing and the second layer of shading.”
“Alright! I’ll be counting on you again. Genius Hyunsoo!”
“I told you, I’m not a genius.”
As the two of them were being all lovey-dovey.
“Meeeoow!”
Madangi, who had been beside them, let out a loud cry as if to hurry us along.
“Aigoo, I get it, Madangi. Mommy will finish her work quickly and play with you!”
“How do you understand what a cat is saying?”
“When you live together for a long time, you just know.”
“Aha… I guess I should speed up too, then.”
After that, Hyunsoo and Rokhui kept up their work pace without stopping.
“Done, done, doooone! You worked so hard, Hyunsoo!”
“Phew. You worked hard too, Rokhui.”
By the time it was 2 AM, they had managed to completely finish the manuscript for the chapter.
Compared to her expectation of finishing tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, this was an incredible speed.
“Ugh. I would have really struggled without you, Hyunsoo. I feel like I want to go out and brag about this, that my boyfriend helped me finish my deadline early.”
“Then please make sure you brag about it later.”
Rokhui kept thanking him with a happy face, and Hyunsoo was filled with the satisfaction of knowing he’d made the right choice to visit today.
“Well then, I should probably get going home. Rest well tomorrow, and if you’re free, let’s go on another date on Sunday, Rokhui. Oh, and play with Madangi a little, too!”
He packed up his tablet and laptop and was about to get up from his seat.
“Um, you don’t have to go home today, do you, Hyunsoo?”
Rokhui asked in a serious voice, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt.