ASIAH 5

You might wonder how I ended up seeing a lot of the upperclassmen’s work. It was a different route from the classmates who went to drinking parties. I found that I enjoyed cleaning the studio and various workshops, so I set a goal to completely eliminate all dusty spaces. It was like playing a solo game of territory expansion.

In the process, I became close with the TA, Eunha noona, and she even guided me to spaces that underclassmen don’t usually go to. Usually, Hyun Jaekyung, the work-study student, was with us at those times, but I tried my best not to mind him.

Eunha noona also seemed close to Hyun Jaekyung. But they didn’t seem to talk about every little thing, as he only found out I was the one cleaning when he happened to come in early that one time. That bastard never lifts a finger to help; he just stands there with his arms crossed and watches.

Well, if he was a bit of a delinquent in high school, he probably passed off his cleaning duties to someone else. I ruminated on the image of him I had pieced together from bits of information I’d overheard as I wiped the floor of the sheet metal room. Then, a sudden wave of irritation washed over me, and I glared toward the doorway.

“If you’re not going to help, can’t you just leave?”

Just as Hyun Jaekyung shrugged his shoulders, a third-year sunbae, Geum Juri, walked in.

“Jooyoon! You’re cleaning again. Jaekyung, tell Eunha unnie to give Yoon a scholarship.”

Hyun Jaekyung walked over and put his arm around my shoulders as if he had been helping me all along. Of course, I immediately shook it off.

“I’ll go pickpocket Professor Yoo. Phantom Thief Jaekyung.”

“Or, Yoon, you could just collect gold dust while you’re cleaning. Seokhyun oppa is rich so he doesn’t collect the dust.”

“Ah, the hyung who works on the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva piece… His concentration is incredible.”

Hyun Jaekyung, looking like he didn’t know who ‘Seokhyun oppa’ was, kept his mouth shut and just listened. The fact that I knew someone the social butterfly Hyun Jaekyung didn’t was so satisfying that a laugh escaped me. When I laughed, Juri sunbae also seemed to get excited and continued to chat while placing a cylindrical object on the anvil.

“You know what’s funny? That oppa is Catholic.”

“Isn’t that too big of a plot twist…”

“The professor also asked if he shouldn’t be making a statue of the Virgin Mary, but he said he wants to do that when his skills are perfect.”

“Wow… I guess he’ll make it someday, right?”

“He’s such a perfectionist—”

“We have to get to class, so we’ll get going now. Good luck with your work, sunbae.”

Hyun Jaekyung suddenly interjected, cutting the conversation off unnaturally. Geum Juri sunbae didn’t seem offended and gave a kind smile.

“Really? Then let’s see each other again later. Yoon, if you’re not sure about seaming, come find me. I’ll try making you my apprentice. I heard you even had a meal with Jeongho.”

“I’ll let you know when I learn seaming. With Jeongho hyung, it just sort of happened…”

“Jooyoon, class.”

“Ah, thank you, goodbye.”

Hyun Jaekyung was in such a rush that I was dragged out in a daze, but there was still a lot of time left before class. I had no idea why the guy, who doesn’t even come to class early unless it’s to watch me clean in the morning, was making such a fuss.

I tried to pull Hyun Jaekyung’s hand off my wrist, but the crazy bastard was just too damn strong. Then, he lowered his voice and said.

“…Are your classmates not up to your level, so you can’t hang out with them?”

“What?”

“You don’t show up to drinking parties, you keep your mouth shut in the studio, but you know how to be cute to the sunbaes. I just learned now that you’re someone who can talk that much, Jooyoon.”

This is ridiculous. Is he checking me now for sucking up to the sunbaes? Do you have to be the only one who’s friends with everyone? When I pulled away with real force, a red handprint was left on my skin.

“What’s it to you?”

“Huh?”

“Whoever I’m friends with, what business is it of yours, Hyun Jaekyung?”

Hyun Jaekyung furrowed his brow and rolled his eyes before answering in a tone of great disappointment.

“…I’m just upset, that’s why.”

We had already left the secluded area and were in the main lobby where many people were coming and going. That guy usually pretends to be a normal human being in front of others. Right now, too, just looking at his expression, he looked completely hurt, as if I were the perpetrator, and the sunlight streaming in through the glass facade made him look a hundred times more pathetic.

Come to think of it, the glass facade looks like my sister’s Issey Miyake bag that she just throws around anywhere… That’s not the point.

What kind of two-faced crazy bastard is this? Does everyone have to love you? Does this bastard have an affection deficit disorder?

If I get any more involved, I might have to spend the rest of my college life just catering to this bastard’s whims until graduation. The best answer for a rabid dog is to stay away. If you get bitten, you’ll be screwed before you even know you’re screwed.

On the other hand, I also wondered just how hopeless he thought I was to throw a fit like that just because I was on friendly terms with some sunbaes. It’s not that I can’t make friends, I just choose not to, and I especially don’t talk to Hyun Jaekyung more because I just dislike him.

If that bastard reflects on his behavior, repents, and rehabilitates himself, I might even become his friend. Because I am generous. The problem is that Hyun Jaekyung will not change.

“Ah!”

He could have used his words nicely, but Hyun Jaekyung shoved me hard and stormed out the main entrance. His personality is really strange. But since the cause of that fit is solely his personality and not me, I don’t care.

❊

“I feel like coffee is flowing through my veins.”

“For me, it’s Red Bull.”

“Did you know? A friend from the visual design department who worked part-time at a music video production told me they have a fridge there filled with only Red Bull.”

“…For the crime of choosing the art college path, just how long do we have to pull all-nighters?”

I was dozing off like a sick chicken when the chatter of my classmates finally woke me up a bit. The first major hurdle of college life was the midterm exam period. I really thought I was going to die, but the despairing news is that this is the weakest of the bosses. To be precise, the subjects with actual exams are mostly liberal arts courses; the rest are all assignment rushes.

It’s a cycle of clearing out mobs every week, then facing the mid-boss and final boss during the exam period, which we have to repeat every semester.

-Zhuangzi left behind many works in the form of fables, which makes studying him enjoyable.

When I had time after wrestling with my major assignments, I listened to the recorded liberal arts lectures. Even then, I couldn’t listen while hammering, filing, sanding, or sawing, and could only tune in when I was doing handicraft assignments in a state of empty-mindedness. Naturally, I couldn’t go to my club activities.

And did I get to rest after midterms were over? No. There’s going to be an accessory sale during the university festival, and I wanted to participate in it. At first, I was just going to assist a sunbae, but I gained confidence from learning over their shoulder and picking up tips while cleaning.

“Jooyoon, you should get a booth too. A ring should be manageable enough.”

“Should I?”

In the end, thanks to Juri sunbae, I decided to make simple silver cubic zirconia rings. Hyun Jaekyung, probably because his work-study at the department office was a priority, seemed to be helping with the overall planning and the design of the booths.

Also, the art college holds its own, quite serious, sports day. The freshmen from other majors are apparently opening some kind of club in addition to the performance and sports events they’ve been practicing for since March, but I’m not really interested. Hyun Jaekyung would probably love it.

Still, I’m happy that we’re doing a clay sculpting project in the Basic Sculpture class. I’ve made various things with clay before the entrance exams. Although I am disturbed by Hyun Jaekyung, who sits right next to me no matter how I try to avoid him, as if he’s trying to torment me.

After Hyun Jaekyung chased away the classmate sitting next to me a few times (he was gentle with his words), no one naturally sat next to me anymore.

“What are you going to make?”

“…”

“You’re ignoring me too much. Are you trying to ostracize me?”

“Haaah…”

This is bullying. I wished Hyun Jaekyung’s hipster friend would come and drag him away, but Ha Wonjong hated Basic Sculpture. No, it seemed he just wasn’t a good fit for the major in general. I guess it would be tough if you’re a Metal Craft major with a metal allergy.

Still, I ended up talking to him quite a bit, and it was the Basic Metal Craft class that served as the catalyst. After training with sawing brass plates, we were now tasked with layering the cut pieces to create an emblem or a logo badge. I chose the signature motorcycle from a famous manga and quickly started working.

The two on either side of me hadn’t even thought about it, it seemed, as they just blackened the innocent paper under the guise of an idea sketch. But then, the hipster glanced at my workbench and started talking to me in a low voice.

“Jooyoon, do you… know Akira?”

How could I not? Guys like him have a tendency to think of required liberal arts as a niche hipster hobby only they know about. Do you know how many copies Akira sold? And in many cases, they’ve calculated that talking about a manga like this won’t put them in the category of creepy otaku. They’re aiming for the image of someone who prefers retro, bubble-era Japanese animation from a cultural observer’s perspective.

To put it simply, liking an anime like this isn’t embarrassing and actually makes you seem like someone with a diverse range of tastes.

I just picked it because I was lying in my studio apartment, looked at my figurine shelf, and thought it looked cool. But the hipster seemed to love that manga a lot more than I thought; his cheeks were flushed red, disgustingly so, as he spoke in an overwhelmed tone.

“Wow, holy shit, this is the first time I’ve met someone who likes Akira…”

Get on the internet more. And please don’t say you like Cowboy Bebop too. I also watch super-nerd manga (my sister’s term). It means I don’t rank manga.

“I like Cowboy Bebop too. Have you seen it?”

“…”

I had nothing to say, so I just nodded, and the hipster got excited. He suddenly suggested we link our individual projects and work like a team, saying he would make the Akira logo badge. I wasn’t sure if a guy who can’t even cut a straight line could successfully create something with a mix of English and Katakana, but the idea was cute, so I told him to go ahead.

“Ah, but I wasn’t in class when we learned how to cut from the inside out… If you’re going to work on it today, can I ask you about it?”

“Of course.”

“Jooyoon, I’m sorry for calling you a murderer. You’re an angel.”

An angel, even. The hipster, happy to have found an otaku friend, felt quite friendly, and I let out an unconscious chuckle, when I suddenly felt a cold stare. I glanced to my right and my eyes met with Hyun Jaekyung’s.

“Ha Wonjong, want to go to AA today?”

AA is a club said to be run by a famous entertainment agency, and I had heard that the hipster and Hyun Jaekyung used to practically live there. Ha Wonjong hesitated before answering in a timid voice.

“I was thinking of working on my assignment today.”

“Wow, I’m learning how the sun can rise from the west.”

Hyun Jaekyung’s smile was quite cold. I immediately felt uncomfortable, sensing the subtle superior-subordinate relationship between the two. They hang out like best friends and talk about all sorts of things, but in the end, Hyun Jaekyung has the upper hand. I was surprised, too, thinking he only pulled that kind of stunt on me. At this rate, Hyun Jaekyung’s shitty personality will be common knowledge after just one semester.

Moreover, even while talking to the hipster, he was glaring at me.