Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Sketchbook and the Rival's Call
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After returning to the studio like that, we set a date for our next visit and headed straight home.
A few days later, Daeun and I were rushed off our feet from the morning.
"Daeun-ah, we're about to head out. You almost ready?"
"Yeah! Just a sec!"
Daeun shouted at the top of her lungs and dragged something over with a grunt.
"What's that?"
Curious about her bulging bag, I asked, and she immediately unzipped it to show me.
"I gotta bring Daeun's paintings! Need this!"
Packed inside were none other than the sketchbooks filled with all the drawings Daeun had made so far.
At least ten of them, no less.
We had planned to select a few from her past works for the exhibition anyway, but it wasn't time yet.
It was still too early before the show, and with so much to transport, we'd decided to move the essentials first.
Naturally, Daeun's sketchbooks had been pushed to the back burner.
"Wanna take it!"
Daeun was dead set on bringing the sketchbook somehow.
"We don't really need to take that this time..."
I tried reasoning with her, but Daeun seemed determined to bring it and unleashed her ultimate weapon.
"Can't I take it?"
She cocked her head and asked if it was no good. How could anyone turn down a face that cute? I nearly caved right then with a "Sure!"
Dodging her gaze, I said instead, "Let's ask Uncle Jungeun. It might be too heavy for the car."
"Yeah! Okay!"
Just then, Jungeun—who had given up his day off to help with the move—walked in through the door. "Why aren't you coming down? What are you two doing just standing there?"
"Ah, Uncle Jungeun!"
At Daeun's call, Jungeun's face lit up like the sun.
"Yeah? Why'd you call Uncle, Daeun?"
"Look at this! Can Daeun take this?"
"Yeah. All good."
Hey, you didn't even look.
"Really?"
"Yeah. If Daeun wants it, Uncle'll carry anything."
Look at him lying without batting an eye. But Daeun bobbed her head eagerly at his words, beaming.
"Yeah! Uncle says it's okay, Daddy!"
If she wants it that bad, what choice did I have?
"Fine, but that's the only extra thing. Got it?"
"Yeah!"
With that, I took the bag stuffed with sketchbooks from her. 'Whoa, she dragged this monster all the way here.' I'd underestimated sketchbooks—they were way heavier than expected. How much did she cram in there?
"Daddy, heavy?"
"Nah, not heavy at all."
Saying that, I promptly handed the bag off to Jungeun standing right there. Thud, wobble! Caught off guard by the weight, Jungeun staggered like a paper doll.
"Uncle, heavy."
"N-No! Not heavy at all!"
Not wanting to look weak in front of Daeun, he overdid it, hoisting the bag like a dumbbell, up and down. But that only egged Daeun on more.
"Whoa! Uncle strong! Super muscles!"
To a doting uncle craving her attention, "cool" was all it took.
"You bet! Rawr! Uncle's super strong!"
Jungeun mustered pointless bravado, lifting and lowering the bag until his stamina hit zero before we even left.
Tremble, tremble.
His hands shook wildly on the steering wheel. Serves him right for showing off.
"You okay?"
Glare.
Jungeun shot me a look that seemed to blame me for not stopping him.
Snicker.
'Told you to take it easy.'
It was all his own doing. Knowing that, he didn't outright blame me, but he was clearly miffed. Unable to say anything, he just pouted and turned away.
I chuckled and switched topics.
"Anyway, you're something else. Thinking to bring that."
As a pretty successful journalist, Jungeun drove a nice car.
Sure, he was still single and had been car-obsessed since college, so it made sense—but what surprised me wasn't the car.
It was the spot where Daeun sat. An unmarried guy shows up with a car seat installed.
"Can't have her riding without one—too dangerous. Borrowed a spare from a senior."
Thanks to that, Daeun could ride safely, but it made me feel oddly guilty.
"Thanks for going out of your way. Felt bad dragging a busy guy into this."
"I wanted to come. Don't sweat it."
He said it casually, but giving up a day off for a friend wasn't nothing.
"Plus, I had something to talk about, so two birds with one stone."
"Something to talk about?"
Some worry? If it wasn't major, a call would've sufficed, but the way he put it sounded serious.
"It's about you."
"Me?"
So he came today to talk about me?
Jungeun's expression turned a bit grave as he spoke.
"Yeah. Remember that contest you entered a while back?"
"Oh, yeah."
"When your name came up, an article dropped."
"Right."
Never imagined a brief mention would make the news.
"Yeah, and after that, a few people reached out to me."
If people were contacting Jungeun...
I had a pretty good guess who.
"Changshik, by any chance?"
Glare.
Totally caught him off guard.
Jungeun startled and asked,
"You knew?"
"Not knew, exactly. More like I know the guy well."
Bae Changshik, self-proclaimed rival and college classmate.
Weirdly kept bumping into each other more than expected lately.
Especially back in college...
"Hmm, Changshik called me the other day. Said he saw your article."
Predictable.
Probably asked where I was.
"What, you probably guessed, but yeah—he asked where you were."
Nod.
Yup.
"So what'd you tell him?"
"What else? That I didn't know, obviously."
With Changshik's personality, he wouldn't drop it there.
He'd dig until he found me somehow.
"But like you know, Changshik's persistent as hell."
That's why he was here—to talk about Changshik.
"..."
As I mulled that over, Daeun—who'd been quietly listening from her car seat in the back—piped up.
"Daddy, who's Changshik?"
"My rival."
"What's a rival?"
Did Daeun even know the word?
I pondered how to explain it to my little girl.
Jungeun beat me to it.
"It's when two people compete with each other."
Hey, that's way too literal. At least make it something Daeun could grasp...
"Oh! So they fight?"
What?
Daeun was sharper than I thought.
"Well, kinda like that, but not actual fighting. More like Daddy draws really well, so they compete to see who draws better."
"Wow! Daeun wants one too!"
"You'll probably get one when you grow up, Daeun—a rival."
"..."
Somehow, Jungeun and Daeun clicked in conversation.
"Daddy's cool! Has a rival!"
Was that really a good thing?
Sure, friendly competition beat none.
But both Jungeun and I had our reasons for paying Changshik this much mind.
Maybe a grudge stretching back to college...
"So anyway, he calls every day bugging me to tell him. Should I keep stonewalling?"
His words gave me pause.
If Daeun weren't here, fine—but with her beside us, Changshik felt like a real problem.
'He'd be the same.'
Still, asking Jungeun to keep covering forever would just put him through hell.
I knew Bae Changshik—he never let up.
"Tell him I'll call later."
"W-Why? I can keep brushing him off for you."
"Nah, no need for you to suffer on my account."
"But..."
I just shook my head and smiled.
Then from the back, Daeun went "Ah!" and chimed in.
"Ah! But Daeun has a rival too!"
Jungeun and I asked almost in unison.
"You have a rival?"
"A rival?"
"Yeah!"
Daeun had a rival?
Maybe some kid at the orphanage who drew?
But her next words had us both cracking up.
"Mommy! Mommy's Daeun's rival!"
Mommy as her rival.
Thinking about it, she had a point.
In Daeun's life, no one drew as well as her except Hyorin.
I grinned at that and said,
"You're right. Mommy's your rival, Daeun."
"Yeah!"
Thud.
Thanks to Jungeun, we got all the stuff from home into the studio.
Honestly, I'd thought with basics already stocked, there wouldn't be much to move.
"Wow, looks like a lot when it's all laid out."
"Yeah. How'd we end up with so much?"
Mostly Daeun's drawings from over time, but we'd packed extras just in case too.
"Well, all necessities for Daeun."
"True. We'll practically live here from now on. Might as well move it all at once."
Clunk.
As we set the luggage down in the studio, someone approached.
"You're here."
"Oh, hi."
An Jimin—was that her name?
The studio manager An Jimin checked our stuff with a bright smile.
"That's a lot. Need any help?"
"No, we're good. Better to unpack and sort gradually."
"Sure, whatever works for you artists."
She glanced over our bags and asked,
"But lots of paintings. Need any post-processing?"
Perfect timing—I'd been meaning to ask.
"Could you do post-processing on all these?"
"Hmm, I'd have to check, but looks doable at a glance. Want me to look into it?"
"Would you?"
She beamed.
"Of course. I'll have staff take the paintings separately—just leave them here, no need to move."
"Thanks."
"Sure. Call if you need anything."
Nod.
With a greeting, she headed downstairs.
'Phew, time to sort.'
To grab stuff easily when needed, everything had to go in its proper place.
A clean space makes for good work, as they say.
"Alright, Daeun-ah, let's tidy up."
"Yeah, Daddy!"
As we moved to organize with Daeun,
Bzzz!
Jungeun's phone rang from where he stood behind us.
He said,
"Speak of the devil."
"Hm?"
"It's Changshik."
A call from Changshik.