Kiss Marks
It was a day with afternoon classes.
Ahn Seong-hyeon and I finished a late breakfast and headed to campus a little early. There was nothing for the two of us to do at home anyway, and if we were going to go to a PC bang, we might as well kill time at the clubroom.
Incidentally, Seong-hyeon hadn't had time to stop by his place, so he was wearing my clothes.
Ahn Seong-hyeon fiddled with his outfit and spoke.
"How do you only own hoodies and sweatpants? Buy some real clothes."
"I lend you my stuff and you still bitch about it. I'll buy clothes after I lose more weight."
"You've already lost a ton. Wait, you're not seriously going to wear sweatpants to the department blind date, are you?"
"Ugh, I told you I'm not going to that."
My face twisted. I avoided the whole idea of dating, so putting myself into a formal setup like that was out of the question.
'A blind date, of all things—literally a place for people to find a partner.'
But Ahn Seong-hyeon didn't back down and kept trying to persuade me.
"You said you'd go last night."
"I don't remember that."
"So what? You not remembering doesn't change anything. Seongju Hyung already lined up the other side."
I pressed my palm to my forehead. Amazingly, according to Ahn Seong-hyeon, they had already lined up a group for the department blind date during last night's drinking party. He said Seongju Hyung had set it up through his connections. What the hell kind of social butterfly connections...
"No, did I seriously say I'd go to the department blind date? There's no way."
"...You did."
"Why does that answer sound so half-hearted?"
"Ah, I don't know! Anyway, you really did say you'd do it. It's not a lie."
"How does it make any sense to set up a department blind date in the middle of asking for advice about girl problems!"
"Why doesn't it make sense? It's not like you have a girlfriend anyway. Come on, just go, okay? Please!"
This bastard had been asking me weird questions all morning about whether sex felt good, and apparently he was that desperate for a girlfriend. Clinging on like that was just pathetic.
We arrived at the clubroom.
I spotted Seongju Hyung, who had gotten there first and was lying on the sofa.
"Hyung?"
"Oh, you're here. Figured you guys would come to the clubroom too."
Seongju Hyung, who had been reading a manga, waved his hand. I walked straight over to him and asked.
"Hyung, I heard from Seong-hyeon that you set up a department blind date. Is that for real?"
"Ah, that. The girls' photos came in. Wanna see?"
"Photos already?"
Seongju Hyung held out his phone. I saw three fairly pretty girls.
"You only need to look at these two. The other one's my acquaintance. She'll be attending with me as the other arranger."
"Ohh, they're cute?!"
"You guys send over a decent photo of yourselves too, each. Or I'll just pick one from my gallery and send it."
Ahn Seong-hyeon was gawking at the photos with a delighted face.
I left him to it and asked Seongju Hyung.
"Hyung, did I seriously say I'd do this?"
"You did, but... Seong-hyeon was basically hanging onto your pant leg and begging, so you reluctantly agreed. For the record, I didn't push you."
"...Ah!"
Hearing that, a vague memory surfaced. I recalled the sight of that bastard Seong-hyeon, completely drunk, clinging to me and whining with tears in his eyes, begging me to go to the department blind date just this once. Of course, he hadn't literally grabbed my pant leg, but he'd looked so pitiful that I reluctantly agreed.
'So that's why the bastard was being evasive. Ugh.'
Even he must have been embarrassed about the fact that he'd clung to me crying and begging for help getting a girlfriend.
Seeing my grim expression, Seongju Hyung clapped me on the shoulder.
"Don't worry too much. A department blind date isn't strictly a place you go to find a boyfriend or girlfriend."
"The name literally says 'blind date' though?"
"It's a department blind date, not a one-on-one blind date."
Wasn't a department blind date just a blind date organized by department? I didn't get how it was different.
"A one-on-one blind date does have that goal, but a department thing is a little different. Sometimes people really do hit it off and become a couple, but most of the time it ends with everyone just being friends."
"Really? You must have done a lot of these, hyung."
"Actually, no."
"What?"
Seongju Hyung shrugged.
"I'm also a first-year, so when would I have gone to a department blind date? Well, I've been at similar gatherings since high school. I heard the stories about department blind dates from friends."
Come to think of it, Seongju Hyung was only two years older than us by student ID year, but since he'd completed his military service, he was actually in the same academic year as us.
"Anyway, don't take it too seriously just because it's called a blind date. Just think of it as going out to have fun for a day."
"Okay."
"Ah, right. Cheol-jin, aside from the blind date, do you remember anything else from yesterday?"
I answered with an awkward expression.
"...Honestly, I don't remember much. Sorry, after you went to the trouble of giving me advice."
"Nothing to be sorry for. You really don't remember anything?"
"I... only remember you telling me not to make too big a deal about getting a girlfriend, that dating isn't such a big deal. That if you kind of like someone, you date, and if not, you break up."
"That much means you remember pretty well."
Seongju Hyung chuckled and nodded. I said regretfully.
"I feel like you gave me a lot more advice beyond that... could you tell me again?"
When I shamelessly asked that,
Seongju Hyung waved his hand.
"No. Actually, it's for the best. I was drunk last night too, and I had a tendency to talk like I knew what I was doing. But thinking about it again, it didn't seem like something I should get deeply involved in."
"Someone like you, hyung, has it all figured out no matter what."
"Haha, thanks. Anyway, you don't need to worry about the rest. Your situation isn't normal right now. I feel like if I clumsily add anything else, it'll just make things more complicated."
"Yeah......."
I answered with a slightly deflated tone. If he put it that way, I couldn't exactly keep pestering him to tell me. In the end, all I got from last night's drinking was advice not to take relationships too seriously and a department blind date I never asked for.
*
I decided to worry about the department blind date later. It was scheduled for a week from now, so there was still time. I had far too much to do to be dwelling on just that for now.
After all my afternoon classes were over, I returned to the clubroom. Seongju Hyung had said he had plans and left, and Ahn Seong-hyeon had gone home, saying he was still tired from his hangover.
"It's been a while since I was alone. No Areum either."
Areum had gone off with the girls from her department to check out a newly opened café. As a result, I was alone in the clubroom.
"......."
For some reason, Hana wasn't here today either, and neither was Han Saebyeok. Sitting by myself in the quiet space, I was suddenly struck by a feeling of loneliness.
...I must have lost my mind. Feeling lonely just because I was alone in the clubroom? The default state of a shut-in was solitude, after all.
'Hm. Or maybe not?'
Come to think of it, holing up at home hadn't always meant I was alone. My mother had been a full-time housewife, so she was almost always at home.
Anyway, this was a silence I hadn't felt in a while. Maybe it hit harder because this clubroom was usually so noisy.
Tok, todok.
I sent a KaTalk message to Bam Nuna asking when she'd arrive. I was supposed to work with Bam Nuna one-on-one today.
The reply came right away.
= Bam Nuna: Cheol-jin, so sorry! It's going to end a little late. The group project is dragging on. I'll come right over as soon as it's done ㅠㅅㅠ
- No problem. Take your time.
After sending a casual reply, I turned on the computer and connected my tablet. The reason I'd arranged to meet with nuna today was to work on the storyboard for the short-form animation we were submitting at the end of the year.
Ttalkak. Seuk, seu-euk.
I drew lines without hesitation. Even though I hadn't drawn in a while, the pen moved like an extension of my hand. It even felt like I was drawing better than before.
I had multiple art styles. The most distinctive among them were the 'erotic illustration style' I used for R-19 commissions, and the 'fairy tale style,' an all-ages style I could confidently show to others.
Obviously, the style I was using for the club animation was the fairy tale style. Only Areum and Hana in the club knew that my main work was erotic illustration.
My hand, which had been drawing for quite a while, stopped at some point.
"What the, why's it already done?"
I checked the time, and less than thirty minutes had passed. Even considering the small page count, it was done way too fast.
My hand had always been fast, but not this fast?
"What's up? I haven't even drawn for a while."
Had the break actually helped? I felt oddly amazed, thinking that something like this could happen.
'When's nuna coming? The parts I can do alone are done now.'
'Escape from the Room Corner' was a comic based on my experiences, but to make it into an animation, it needed proper adaptation.
The maximum running time the club set for the short-form animation was 10 minutes. The ideal length was about 5 to 8 minutes. To complete a full narrative arc within that time, we'd have to cut out a significant amount of the unnecessary side branches from the comic I'd drawn earlier. Plus, I'd only drawn the 'introduction' and 'development,' so I also needed to craft a new story for the middle and latter halves—the 'turn' and 'conclusion.'
For the first half, I could just work in my own experiences, but from the middle onward, it was pure creative territory. That was where I needed help from other people, and fortunately, Bam Nuna had said she had a knack for crafting stories.
"Hmm. Should I warm up a bit more before nuna gets here?"
It looked like it would take a while, so I figured I should at least draw a personal piece. I'd been meaning to slowly get back into commission work, so it'd be good to practice beforehand.
My hand, having picked up the pen again, began to move. This drawing involved more curves and flesh tones than before.
'Whoa, am I in the zone today?'
I felt like I'd caught the so-called groove. The image in my head was being realized directly through the pen. Drawing erotic illustrations made me certain. My art skills had advanced further than before.
'The anatomy is more natural. Especially the female characters.'
My erotic illustrations had always been recognized as top-tier in the field. But what I'd drawn just now was even better. How should I put this? Not only had the anatomy become more natural, but the drawing gave off a sense of 'arousal.' Even though I'd just sketched it out roughly, everything from the coloring to the texture expression was perfect.
'Is it because I've been having a lot of sex?'
It was a ridiculous thought, but not impossible. The erotic illustrations I'd drawn solely from imagination while shut in my room had always been well-received, but now I'd actually seen and tasted a real woman's body firsthand. Thinking about it that way, it was only natural that my art skills had improved.
I was drawing while marveling to myself when it happened.
Hwa-rak!
Someone wrapped their arms around me from behind and hugged me tight.
"Cheoljjin! Sorry! I'm so late!"
Large breasts pressed against the back of my neck, but I didn't have the luxury of caring about that. The instant I felt the presence behind me, I had to hit 'Alt+Tab' immediately.
'Scared the shit out of me.'
It seemed I hadn't been caught. Getting caught drawing erotic illustrations—I didn't even want to imagine it.
I turned to look at Bam Nuna as naturally as possible, acting like nothing had happened.
"It's okay. Did your group project meeting go well?"
"Nngh. I think it's a lost cause. Nobody wants to work. I'm so mad they're not doing their work!"
Bam Nuna huffed angrily, shaking her fists up and down in little circles. Her motions were so vigorous that her large chest wobbled and the cardigan draped over her shoulders slipped out of place. For the perpetually positive Bam Nuna to talk like this, she had to be genuinely furious.
"Oh man. Looks like you got stuck with bad group members."
"I should have taken the same class as Soyeon. Then the group project would've been fine......."
"Ah, right, Soyeon noona's a beast at handling group work."
Why did group projects even exist? To build cooperation skills with others before entering society? Bullshit. It was clearly just professors trying to coast through their lectures. Group projects were a goddamn plague.
As I was sympathizing with her and making small talk, something caught my eye.
'Huh?'
I spotted a mark on Bam Nuna's neckline through her disheveled hair.
A reddish bruise-like mark, as if blood had pooled under the skin.
In the past, I would have assumed it was just a mosquito bite. But now, a different thought came first.
'That's.......'
Isn't that a kiss mark?