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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Yoo Bam noona clapped her hands, drawing the members’ attention.
“Everyone, focus! We’re not done yet!”
Having gathered everyone’s attention, noona began to speak softly.
“There’s homework for the members.”
“Homework?”
“We need to decide on a theme for the animation we’ll be making.”
They hadn’t decided yet? I see, so that’s why she said the first semester would focus on planning.
“We’ve discussed it amongst ourselves. But nothing’s clicking. We need good ideas.”
So it wasn’t like they had absolutely nothing.
“It would be good to complete the storyboard before the end of the first semester. So, let’s each come up with one plan by the second week of May.”
Each member had to choose a theme for an animation and write a proposal. This was the homework Yoo Bam noona assigned.
‘I’m not good at coming up with ideas.’
I considered myself completely devoid of storytelling talent. That’s why writing a proposal felt more difficult than any class assignment.
·
After the teachers and students were decided,
we naturally gathered in the clubroom after classes to learn the skills necessary for animation production.
My teacher was Ju Hana.
Sitting side-by-side, we chatted a bit before starting the lesson. It was too awkward to jump right into the training.
Since she seemed even more shy than me, I initiated the conversation.
“As you probably already know, I’m Kang Cheol-jin. I’m a freshman in the Digital Contents department, and my specialty is drawing.”
“Mmm. I know.”
“You know?”
“Yoo Bam unnie told me. She said you’re good at drawing…”
Had Yoo Bam noona ever seen my drawings?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Ju Hana added,
“She said you were in the same group during the MT… and that you showed her a drawing when you were preparing for the talent show.”
“Ah. So that’s what she meant.”
It seemed she thought highly of the drawing I had sketched out.
“You’re a sophomore, right? Can I call you Hana noona?”
“Actually… I was born early in the year… so you can just call me by my name. You can speak informally too.”
“Should I? Or, should I?”
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. If Ju Hana was born early in the year, I was born late. My birthday was in December, so I technically gained a year for free after less than a month.
Well, whatever. It was better to be friends than to have a senior-junior relationship.
“Then, Hana, nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you too. Ah, can I get your phone number and email address…?”
“S-sure.”
It was incredibly awkward for two shy people to have a conversation. It seemed like it would take a while for us to become comfortable with each other.
But that thought was quickly proven wrong.
Thanks to a common interest we discovered.
“Really? You finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist?”
“Yeah. It was good.”
She had already watched all 64 episodes?
Without missing a beat, Ju Hana started talking about the scenes that impressed her.
“At first, I kept cursing Hohenheim… but after knowing the whole story, I cried. The story is so well-structured.”
“Right? That scene is my favorite too. The background music is perfect.”
“Yeah, yeah. And I liked the clean ending. A lot of anime these days have weak endings, but Fullmetal Alchemist was good until the very end.”
“You know what’s good.”
My affection towards Ju Hana skyrocketed.
Thanks to our shared interest, the awkwardness between us quickly dissipated.
The atmosphere became much more comfortable.
I was chatting with Ju Hana, feeling more relaxed, when
I suddenly felt a sense of familiarity and stared at Ju Hana. She looked a little flustered under my gaze.
“Why, why? Is there something on my face?”
“Ah, sorry. There’s nothing on your face. You’re pretty.”
“…Huh? What?”
Even as I apologized, I continued to stare at Ju Hana’s face. The more I looked, the more familiar she seemed.
“Hana, have we met before?”
Of course, that was impossible, considering I was a shut-in. But for some reason, Ju Hana’s face was familiar. As if I had known her for a long time.
Today was the third time I had seen Hana.
Once at the club gathering.
Once at the club meeting a few days ago.
And today, the third time.
What was this sense of familiarity after only meeting three times? Come to think of it, I had thought she looked familiar even when we first met at the club gathering.
“N-no. We’ve never met outside of the club…”
Ju Hana waved her hands, a flustered look on her face. She seemed to be desperately denying it. Did she have something to hide?
Unfortunately for her, I figured out Ju Hana’s identity.
“Hana, you use social media, right? Trictor!”
“W-well, I do…”
“I knew it!”
“But everyone who’s an artist…”
The trailing words no longer registered in my ears.
I snapped my fingers, pulled out my phone, and opened Trictor. I pulled up the profile of someone I followed.
Despite the heavy makeup and flashy outfit typical of cosplayers, she definitely resembled Ju Hana.
“This is you, right? Cosplayer Jooha!”
“…Hiccup.”
Ju Hana started hiccuping.
Only then did I calm down and apologize with a regretful expression.
“Sorry. I got a little too excited. I’ve been a huge fan for a long time.”
“Mmm. Thank you…”
Ju Hana, her face flushed crimson, lowered her head and spoke. Her ears were also red; she seemed incredibly embarrassed.
Cosplayer Jooha.
She was a famous name among those in the know.
There were several reasons for Jooha’s fame.
Needless to say, she was beautiful, with long limbs and a model-like aura that garnered a large fanbase. Furthermore, as an independent cosplayer not affiliated with any crew, there wasn’t much information about her, adding a mysterious charm.
I was also a long-time follower of “Jooha.” Part of it was because she was pretty, but more importantly, it was because of her high-quality cosplays, which had an uncanny resemblance to the original characters.
To think I would actually meet Jooha in person.
Trying to calm my racing fanboy heart, I asked,
“Um, could I get your autograph? I’m a really big fan. I even sent you fan art.”
“Huh? Fan art? No way…”
Ju Hana blinked, as if she couldn’t believe it.
“It’s true. Wait a second.”
I quickly logged into my account and pulled up the brief messages I had exchanged with Ju Hana. It was my alternate account, “Steel,” which I used for blending in, not my work account, “Kang Cheol”
“Look. You even replied to me here.”
“Oh? Really… gasp. Steel was you? Then since four years ago…?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s right!”
Ju Hana’s eyes widened in recognition. Although we had only recently met face-to-face, Ju Hana and I had exchanged messages frequently.
“Th-thank you. This is my first time meeting a fan when I’m not cosplaying…”
Ju Hana fidgeted with her hands, her head lowered.
‘Her personality is very different from what I imagined. She was such an extrovert online.’
I didn’t usually believe in MBTI, but the online version of her and the Ju Hana in front of me seemed like their I’s and E’s were switched.
Well, it was unexpected, but not entirely strange. It was quite common for people to have different personalities online and offline. I was like that too.
“Um, Cheol-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“Please keep it a secret that I’m Jooha…”
“Okay. Don’t worry.”
Anyway, thanks to this incident, Ju Hana and I quickly became close.
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The day before midterms.
With exams just around the corner, even my friends, who had been busy drinking and having fun, had dark clouds hanging over them.
My group wasn’t much different. We were relatively diligent students, but the weight of exams was similar for everyone.
However, there was one person who was actually excited.
“Let’s stay up all night at school! We can study for the exams, eat late-night snacks, and take walks! Wouldn’t it be fun?!”
It was Pi A-reum.
As if she had been waiting for this day, A-reum suggested an all-nighter study session with an excited expression. For her, exam periods were days when she could legitimately stay out all night.
“Did your parents allow it?”
“Yes! They agreed after I kept asking for about three weeks.”
I wondered if they agreed or just gave up.
A-reum’s parents must have it rough. They always seemed worried that their beautiful daughter might get into trouble somewhere.
Well, I could understand A-reum’s feelings. From her perspective, her parents’ restrictions must feel suffocating. She knew they were coming from a place of concern, but A-reum’s parents were definitely overprotective… or maybe not?
‘If she were my daughter, I would have set a curfew too.’
A girl as pretty as A-reum would have a truckload of guys trying to hit on her. How many confessions had A-reum received since the beginning of the semester? She even said she got tons of messages from upperclassmen.
Naturally, A-reum’s parents would be aware of this situation. It was only natural for them to set a curfew as a minimum safety measure.
‘And she even has a history.’
Didn’t she pick a guy and do the deed at the freshman orientation before the semester even started? The problem was that the guy was me.
…I suddenly felt guilty towards A-reum’s parents.
Anyway, I nodded.
“I’m in if everyone else is okay with it.”
I had originally planned to study alone at home, but I was willing to pull an all-nighter at school with my friends. I thought it would be a good memory.
“I’m okay with it too.”
“I was planning on pulling an all-nighter anyway.”
“Yay! Then I’ll ask Seo-jin and Mi-hyun unnie too!”
The all-nighter was decided.
Then, A-reum winked at me.
…Was she serious?
I suddenly remembered what she had said at the club gathering.
Now that we’re university students, we have to secretly do it in a classroom at least once…!
Having sex in a classroom was one of A-reum’s bucket list items.
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