The Lunchtime Workshop (2)
It was around the time the preparatory bell signaling five minutes until fifth period rang faintly through the speakers.
I carefully wiped the leftover clay residue from my hands with a wet wipe and let out a light breath.
“Whew… not bad.”
The Agrippa bust that had been nothing but bare bones now had a decent overall sense of volume, from the head and neck down through the shoulders.
This week? Or maybe it’ll be finished by next Monday or Tuesday.
Did I actually pick up some related trait or something…?
Anyway, I draped a damp cloth over it so the moisture wouldn’t evaporate and tidied up around the turntable.
Once everything was cleaned up, I was about to leave the workshop right away—then I remembered I hadn’t been alone in here and casually glanced back.
The warm afternoon sunlight streaming through the window poured over Choi Sua’s back as she sat in the old chair.
Did she get a blood sugar spike from the snack bar bread and instant sausages or something?
She was slumped sideways, lost in a deep sleep, completely oblivious to the world.
And honestly, the sight of the pretty girl breathing evenly with the sunlight at her back looked like a painting.
At least until I spotted the glistening something at the corner of her mouth.
…Kinda ruins it.
Feeling oddly embarrassed for having just called it a painting, I slowly approached her.
“Excuse me, sunbae.”
I tapped the desk lightly as I called out.
Her soft snoring stopped, and her long eyelashes fluttered.
Choi Sua opened her eyes slowly, staring blankly into space—then the moment our eyes met, she flinched hard and hunched her shoulders.
“W-wait, was I asleep?”
She asked in a voice thick with fluster.
I tapped around my own lips in reply.
“Well, you certainly seem to have slept quite soundly.”
Not fully grasping what I meant, she just blinked—then unconsciously wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.
The instant she confirmed what the liquid on her hand was, Choi Sua’s pale face flushed crimson all the way down to her neck in a flash.
“Th-this isn’t drool! You know that, right?”
She rushed to defend herself before I’d even said a word.
I picked up a spatula that had fallen on the floor and set it on the workbench as I answered.
“Of course. The sun must have been hot, so it was probably sweat.”
“Ugh…”
At my rather soulless reply, Choi Sua let out a pained noise and hurriedly pulled a small pouch from her bag.
Click.
She opened the round compact and checked the mirror, her hands growing frantic.
“I’m losing it, I’m seriously losing it.”
Leaving her to dab at the makeup around her mouth that the drool had smeared with a puff, I grabbed the doorknob to the utility room.
“Well then, I’ll be heading out first.”
I had the door half-open and was about to step into the hallway when—
“Wait!”
Her urgent voice stopped me in my tracks, and I turned my head.
Still holding the puff, Choi Sua had half-risen from her seat and was staring straight at me.
“Are you… going to keep working on that after school today too…?”
Her question trailed off slightly at the end. I gave a light shake of my head.
“No. I’ve got two academy classes today, so I’ll probably head straight home once school’s over.”
“O-oh, I see.”
I could see the corners of her eyes droop ever so slightly at my answer.
I pointed through the gap in the door at the old metal locker and continued.
“If you want to hide out like yesterday, the utility room lock is in the second compartment of that locker over there. Lock the door from the inside and just close the window curtains—no one outside will know a thing.”
“……”
Choi Sua’s lips parted as if she wanted to say something more.
But then she just fidgeted with the compact in her hands and gave a small nod.
“…Got it. Thanks.”
With that quiet reply—so different from her earlier fuss—I hurried off toward fifth period.
The youngest daughter of the Jungwoo Group, ranked among the top five conglomerates in South Korea.
A young woman who had lived—and would continue to live—without a single real-world worry, thanks to her outstanding family and three older brothers above her.
Beauty and talent combined. A walking jewel.
Or the ice princess no one could easily approach.
Every time she scrolled, the screen filled once again with the same sensational, glittering article headlines that always described Jeong Hyein.
“……”
She glanced sideways at the scenery rushing past the car window, then pressed the power button to shut off the screen and tossed the tablet onto the leather seat beside her.
Just then the black sedan took a smooth turn, and through the distant trees the red-brick building of Hanyoung High School began to come into view.
“……”
Jeong Hyein rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window—then, without thinking, slipped a hand into the pocket of her school skirt.
Her fingertips met the smooth, carefully finished texture of wood.
She pulled out the small wooden Dogaki she had somehow ended up receiving yesterday morning and lightly rubbed her thumb over the keycap-shaped grooves.
It was just a block of wood that didn’t even press down, yet the way it nestled against her fingers felt strangely pleasant.
That was when it happened.
“Young miss, I’ve never seen that before. Where did you get it, if I may ask?”
The secretary in the passenger seat, checking the schedule on a pad, glanced through the rearview mirror at the back seat and asked.
Jeong Hyein didn’t take her eyes off the wooden piece resting on her palm as she answered indifferently.
“Just… somehow ended up getting it as a gift.”
“…!!”
At those few words, the secretary—who always maintained robotic perfection—whipped her head around from the passenger seat, eyes wide.
“Pardon? Miss Hyein received a gift… and you’re actually using it yourself?”
“……”
She couldn’t even scold the reaction for being excessive.
Because Jeong Hyein herself had only just realized that, until a moment ago, she had been unconsciously fiddling with this little wooden scrap in complete comfort.
“…You’re right. Why am I even carrying this around in my pocket and playing with it?”
She quietly looked down at the wooden piece resting on her palm.
The massive name of the Jungwoo Group.
And the youngest princess who monopolized the chairman’s blind affection.
Knowing the weight and power that position carried, people had never stopped flocking around her from the moment she was born until now.
Political and business figures desperate to make an impression and forge a connection to the group.
Crowds lining up to curry favor.
Even the accomplished young masters who came hoping to become part of the Jungwoo Group family.
The gifts they sent were always jaw-droppingly expensive luxury goods or rare jewels.
But inside those glittering wrappings, there was always naked desire and dark ulterior motives.
And to Jeong Hyein, who had been thoroughly sick of such things from a very young age, what happened yesterday morning had been an utterly alien experience.
Those eyes that hadn’t even seemed to properly know who she was.
The boy who had simply said he’d made it to keep his sense of touch sharp, then casually handed over this carving without losing focus even as classmates arrived one by one and the noise grew.
On the face of the student who had introduced himself as Kim Sihun, there hadn’t been even a speck of the petty calculations she had encountered most often until now.
Instead, only that indifferent expression from start to finish remained vividly in her mind.
A rough little wooden scrap carved purely, with no intention and no purpose.
Maybe that was why she had tucked this worn piece into her pocket and brought it out.
“…It’s not dangerous or anything, so you don’t need to worry.”
“…Understood.”
Confirming that the secretary had returned to focusing on her work, Jeong Hyein stopped tapping the corner of the Dogaki and let out a small sigh.
I don’t get it. What am I even thinking?
The sedan gradually slowed and stopped in front of the school gate.
After confirming through the window that only the security guard was neatly tidying up in front of the gate, she slipped the Dogaki deep into her pocket again.
I wonder if he’s making a new carving today too.
She hoped he was.
Because never before had sharing a space with another person felt so free of discomfort.
After quickly finishing the breakfast Mom had prepared before heading to work and thanking her, I entered the classroom the moment the door opened—faster than anyone else, just like always.
I was watching YouTube and briefly wondering what to make today when—
Rattle—!
The sound of the back door of the classroom opening reached me, and just like yesterday, Jeong Hyein took Lee Hyunwoo’s empty seat as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Not making a carving today?”
With the morning sunlight at her back, she stared straight at me and asked.
I tilted the smartphone screen in my hand slightly toward her.
“I was deciding what to make.”
“I see.”
A reaction that didn’t seem particularly interested.
Did something not sit right with her?
That thought crossed my mind as I fiddled with the round block of wood and carving knife I’d left on one side of the desk and casually spoke up.
“Or do you want to recommend something? A figure you’ve always wanted is fine too.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. Like I said yesterday, the goal isn’t so much making something as building up my sense of touch.”
“I see……”
At my suggestion, Jeong Hyein pressed her lips tightly together and, as if seriously searching for something, repeatedly closed and opened her long, dense eyelashes.
Not long after, her lips parted just a little.
“Banana… the cat wearing a banana peel. Do you know it?”
“Oh, yeah. You mean the meme of the cat crying inside the peel?”
At my answer, Jeong Hyein’s previously indifferent eyes began to shine ever so slightly.
“Can you make that?”
“Hmm…”
I lightly ran my fingers down the smooth handle of the carving knife while sketching the form in my head.
“I’d have to capture the curve of the banana peel splitting open, and the cat’s face has pretty complicated details, so I don’t think I can finish it in this morning’s leftover time. Is it okay if it takes a few days?”
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
With that clean answer, Jeong Hyein pulled a thin outer layer from her bag, draped it over her knees, and comfortably folded both arms on the desk.
She had lowered her posture a bit, fully prepared to watch my fingertips in earnest.
“Got it. Then I’ll start right away.”
I picked up a generously sized round block of wood.
First, to capture the long, curved overall outline of the banana, I pushed the knife blade in deep.
Shhk, shhk.
I began with the rough work of chopping away unnecessary edges.
Every time large, coarse wood chips fell to the floor with soft thuds, Jeong Hyein’s gaze followed them.
Once the rounded base of the banana roughly took shape, I immediately laid the knife at a slight angle and carefully began carving out the section where the peel split into four.
Jeong Hyein didn’t say a single word, her eyes fixed completely on the thin wood grain peeling away from my fingertips.
I, too, completely erased the surrounding scenery from my field of vision and poured every nerve into the sensation at my fingertips alone.