With Areum During Exam Period
Bam Nuna clapped her hands, gathering the club members' attention.
"Everyone, listen up! We're not done yet!"
Once all eyes were on her, she began speaking in a calm, measured tone.
"I have homework for you all."
"Homework?"
"You're going to decide on the theme for the animation we'll be making."
They hadn't decided on anything yet? No wonder they said first semester would focus on planning.
"We've talked about it among ourselves a bit. But nothing's really clicking. We need good ideas."
Still, it seemed like they hadn't come up completely empty-handed.
"It'd be best to finish the storyboard before the end of first semester. So everyone has to come up with one plan each by the second week of May."
Every club member was to pick one theme to develop into an animation and draft a proposal for it. That was the homework Bam Nuna assigned.
'I've got no confidence in coming up with ideas.'
In my own estimation, I had zero talent as a storyteller. So writing a proposal felt more daunting than any regular class assignment.
*
After the teachers and students had been paired up, class ended and we naturally gathered in the clubroom. We were there to learn the skills needed to produce animation.
My teacher was Ju Hana.
Sitting side by side, we exchanged a few words before starting the lesson. Jumping straight into teaching would've been so awkward it was suffocating.
Seeing as she looked even more timid than me, I spoke up first.
"You probably already know, but I'm Kang Cheol-jin. First-year in Digital Content. My specialty is drawing."
"Mm. I know."
"You know?"
"Bam unni told me. That you're good at drawing...."
Had Bam Nuna ever seen my drawings?
I tilted my head in puzzlement, and Ju Hana elaborated.
"She said we were in the same group during MT... that when we were prepping for the talent show, you drew something and showed her."
"Ahh. So that's what she meant."
Even though I'd just dashed it off roughly, she must've thought well of it.
"You're a second-year, right, sunbae? Is it okay if I call you Hana nuna?"
"Well... I was born early in the year... so just calling me by name is fine. You can speak casually."
"Should we do that? I mean, should I?"
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. The thing was, if Ju Hana was an early-year birth, I was a late-year one. My birthday's in December, so I turned a year older for free less than a month after I was born.
Well, anyway, it's better to go with what works, and acting as friends rather than nuna and dongsaeng would probably help us get closer.
"Then, Hana, let's take care of each other."
"Mm. Let's take care of each other. Oh, and could I get your phone number and email...."
"S-sure."
Two timid people trying to have a conversation made it incredibly awkward. It looked like it would take quite a while for us to get close.
My prediction was quickly proven wrong.
All thanks to the fact that Ju Hana and I found common ground.
"Really? You watched all of Steel Alchemist?"
"Mm. It was good."
She'd already watched the whole 64-episode run?
Before I could even doubt it, Ju Hana started telling me about a scene that left a deep impression on her.
"At first I watched it going 'you bastard,' but... once I knew the whole story, I cried. The story was just so solid."
"Right? That scene was my favorite too. The BGM was perfect on top of it."
"Yeah, yeah. And I liked how clean the ending was. These days a lot of anime have sloppy endings, but Steel was good right up to the end."
"You know your stuff, huh?"
My affection for Ju Hana skyrocketed.
Thanks to our common ground, the awkward tension flowing between us vanished in an instant.
The atmosphere had grown a lot more comfortable.
Then, while I was chatting with Ju Hana with that newfound ease of mind, I suddenly felt a sense of dissonance and stared intently at her. She looked a little flustered under my gaze.
"Wh-what? Is there something on my face?"
"Ah, sorry. Nothing's on your face. You're pretty."
"...Huh? What?"
Even as I apologized, I kept right on staring at Ju Hana's face. It was because the more I looked, the more familiar it felt.
"Hana, have we met somewhere before?"
Of course, given that I'd been holed up in my room, there was no way that could be true. Yet oddly, Ju Hana's face felt familiar. As if she were someone I'd known for ages.
Today was the third time I'd seen Hana.
Once at the last club dinner.
Once at the club meeting a few days ago.
And today made three.
It was only the third time meeting her, so what was this sense of closeness? No, come to think of it, from the very first time at the club dinner, I'd thought I'd seen her somewhere before.
"Ah, n-no. I've never met you outside of the club...."
For some reason, Ju Hana waved her hands with a flustered look. She seemed to be denying it desperately. Did she have something to hide?
But, sorry to say, I ended up figuring out Ju Hana's identity anyway.
"Hana, you use SNS, don't you? Trickster!"
"I-I do use it...."
"I knew it!"
"But that's something any artist would...."
The rest of her words didn't reach my ears.
I snapped my fingers and pulled out my phone. Then I logged into Trickster and pulled up a photo of one of the people I followed onto the screen.
The heavy makeup and flashy outfit were characteristic of someone who did cosplay, but it was unmistakably Ju Hana.
"This is you, right? Cosser Juha!"
"...Hic."
Ju Hana started hiccupping.
Only then did I calm my excitement and apologize with an apologetic look.
"Sorry. I got too carried away, didn't I? It's just, I've been a huge fan for ages."
"Mm. Thanks...."
Ju Hana, her face dyed bright red, spoke with her head hung low. The way her ears had gone red too made it clear she was beyond embarrassed.
Cosser Juha.
She was a well-known name among hardcore otaku.
There were several reasons Juha was so well-known.
Needless to say, her face was pretty, but she also had long, slender limbs and the aura of a professional model, which earned her a thick fanbase. On top of that, since she was an independent cosplayer not affiliated with any crew, there wasn't much info on her, giving her a mystique that added to her charm.
I too had been a fan following 'Juha' for a long time. Partly because she was pretty, but more than anything, it was because of her high-quality cosplays and their incredible faithfulness to the original characters.
To think I'd get to see Juha in the flesh.
I calmed my racing heart and asked.
"Hey, would it be okay if you gave me an autograph? I'm a real fan. I've even sent you fanart before."
"Huh? Fanart? No way...."
Ju Hana blinked as if she couldn't believe it.
"It's true. Hold on."
I quickly logged into my own account and pulled up the messages I'd briefly exchanged with Ju Hana. For reference, it wasn't my work account 'Kkangcheol,' but my normie-concealing sub-account 'Steel'.
"Look. Here, you even replied to me."
"Huh? For real... Gasp! Steel was you? Then from four years ago...?"
"Yeah, that's right!"
Ju Hana's eyes went wide as she recognized me. Truthfully, meeting face-to-face was a recent thing, but Ju Hana and I had exchanged messages frequently.
"Th-thanks. This is my first time meeting a fan when I'm not in cosplay...."
Ju Hana fidgeted with her fingers, her head bowed.
'Her personality's really different from what I imagined. She was a total social butterfly online.'
I don't really buy into MBTI, but the her from the internet and the Ju Hana in front of me seemed to have their I and E swapped.
Well, it was unexpected, but not all that strange. There are plenty of cases where someone's personality online differs from reality. I was a bit like that myself.
"Hey, Cheol-jin."
"Yeah?"
"Keep the fact that I'm Juha a secret...."
"Got it. Don't worry."
In any case, this incident sparked a quick friendship between Ju Hana and me.
*
The day before midterms.
As exams loomed right around the corner, dark clouds gathered on the faces of even the friends who'd spent their days carefree, drinking and partying.
My group and I weren't much different. We were fairly diligent in our studies, but the weight of the word 'exam' was similar for everyone.
That said, one person oddly seemed excited in the midst of all this.
"Let's pull an all-nighter at school! Study for exams, eat a late-night snack, go for a walk! It'll be fun, right?!"
It was Pi Areum.
As if she'd been waiting for this very day, Areum proposed an all-night study session, her expression brimming with anticipation. To her, exam period meant days she could legally stay out overnight.
"Your parents said yes?"
"Yeah! I mentioned it, like, three weeks ago, and they gave permission?"
It was probably less about permission and more like they'd given up.
Areum's parents really had it rough. They always seemed to be fretting, worried their pretty daughter might come to harm somewhere.
Well, it wasn't that I couldn't understand Areum's feelings. From her perspective, her parents' restrictions must feel stifling. I know it comes from a place of concern, but admittedly, Areum's parents were a bit excessive in their worrying... hmm, or maybe not excessive?
'If she were my daughter, I'd have set a curfew too.'
When you're as pretty as Areum, there's a truckload of guys around trying to make a move. How many confessions had Areum gotten just since the start of the semester? She even got bombarded with messages from older guys, apparently.
Obviously, Areum's parents would have an inkling of this situation. It was only natural to set at least a curfew as a bare minimum safety measure.
'And she's got a history, too.'
Hadn't she picked a guy out from the freshman orientation before school even started and gone all the way? The problem was that the guy happened to be me, though.
...Suddenly I felt sorry toward Areum's parents.
Anyway, I nodded.
"I'm fine with it if the others are."
Originally I'd planned to study alone at home, but if it was with friends, I was willing to pull an all-nighter at school. I figured it'd also count as making some college memories.
"I'm okay with it too."
"I was gonna pull an all-nighter anyway."
"Awesome! Then I'll tell Seo-jin and Mi-hyeon unni too!"
The all-night study party was set.
In the middle of it all, Areum winked at me.
...Was she seriously planning on it?
Suddenly, I recalled what she'd said at the club dinner.
- After all, now that you're in college, you've just gotta try secretly doing it in a lecture hall at least once...!
Lecture-hall sex was one of Areum's bucket list items.