Chapter 82 – Each One’s Worries
The first Saturday of July arrived.
“Huuu, let’s go resttt.”
“This weekend I’m seriously doing nothing—just pure rest.”
From the grade project deadline to the Tujiman chang event preparations.
After surviving this hellish week, most of the kids boarded the shuttle bus and left the school.
And…
“Hmm… maybe I should’ve gone home too.”
Inside the drawing studio.
The place was so empty it almost felt cold. Min-hyuk scratched his head.
Even Han Yu-ra, Kim Rok-hee, and Oh Dong-gyo—who usually stayed late on weekends—had completely cleared out.
“…Tch.”
Min-hyuk sat down at his desk and slowly chewed on a triangular gimbap.
It felt strangely lonely with everything so quiet.
Hong Mi-seon had said she recently finished moving, so he had wanted to stop by and see the new place…
But he couldn’t.
- Min-hyuk, are you coming home this weekend by any chance?
- Haven’t decided yet. Why?
- Well… Mom was going to go to a pension with the ladies from the shop. If you were coming, I was going to skip it.
- Ahh, then just go. I’ll be working anyway.
- You’re not just saying that because you feel bad about not coming, right?
- Eyy, no way. I’ve got a mountain of work to do anyway. Oh right—should I send you some pocket money?
Hong Mi-seon was finally taking a long-overdue break…
How could her son selfishly barge in and ruin it?
In times like this, the only filial thing to do was play the “son who can’t come home because of work” card.
“Well… I do actually have stuff I need to do.”
Min-hyuk went to the bathroom to fill a container with water, then set up his materials on the desk.
He placed a sheet of drawing paper on top.
Swish! Swish swish!
He moved the brush exactly as Kim Rok-hee had taught him.
‘For the base layer, apply firm pressure with the brush at the right dilution.’
He drew several faces on the paper, and each time one dried, he added a few light touches on top.
Scrape scrape!
Then layered oil-based colored pencils to add texture.
And then…
“Hmm, the feeling’s pretty good?”
The unique grotesque yet eerie atmosphere of the Reverse Heaven’s Monarch armor came through vividly.
It felt completely different from just using screentones to set the mood—there was a whole new level of freedom.
If he used this for the cover…
‘It’ll have a completely different vibe from everything I’ve done before.’
He could already imagine something dark, overwhelming, with the sheer presence of the Reverse Heaven’s Monarch coming alive.
Just picturing it made his stomach flutter.
His heart raced so hard he could feel his breathing quicken for a moment.
‘Time to practice.’
Right now he was only at the level of someone who had just learned watercolor.
If he invested the whole day honing it, practicing enough, he might actually be able to bring that image in his head to life.
‘I’ll start the volume 3 cover once I’ve got it down.’
Thinking that way, being able to use the drawing studio alone like this actually felt pretty nice.
Of course, a small part of him still felt a little bitter.
“Huuu, let’s do this properly.”
Pat pat!
Min-hyuk slapped his cheeks lightly and began moving the brush diligently.
‘Yeah, stacking multiple layers of touch definitely changes the feel. It’s almost exactly like Photoshop overlay.’
Watercolor + watercolor combinations.
Watercolor + oil-based colored pencils, and even mixing different pencil colors.
Various touches, various methods.
And with watercolor’s inherent unpredictable randomness layered on top, all sorts of different effects emerged.
After drawing dozens of armor pieces…
“Hmm… number 1, 3, and 10.”
He picked out the ones that looked good, then repeated the practice again.
One hour, another hour—each passing hour increased the number of drawings and raised the overall quality.
How long had he been that focused?
Grrrrrr!
“I’m hungry…”
The loud rumble from his stomach made Min-hyuk set down the brush and stretch.
“Guess I’ll eat something.”
Well, today he had time to spare… might as well get something tasty.
Min-hyuk stood up.
Just as he was about to leave the drawing studio—
“Huh? What’s that?”
A light was still on in one spot, and he could see a laptop and drawing paper left on the desk.
It was Han Yu-ra’s spot.
“…You came.”
Being alone with her feels a little awkward.
Min-hyuk scratched his head and let out a long sigh.
‘Well… let’s just eat first.’
He stepped out of school for a moment and headed to Oh Dong-gyo’s favorite restaurant…
The grandly named Hwangje-seong.
“Boss, one large bowl of fried rice.”
“Yes, coming right up.”
After casually(?) devouring the fried rice…
“Huu…”
Min-hyuk patted his full stomach, added an ice cream on the side, and walked back.
When he looked up at the sky, it was clear and cloudless.
His chest felt wide open.
“Krrrr, this is happiness.”
Work is going well.
He learned watercolor and oil-based colored pencils this time.
After spending the weekend, Monday brings the Tujiman chang event right away.
Well, he already had his work published, so what was there to be so excited about…
‘But this is my first time.’
Gathering with kids who love comics, preparing an event together, putting out comics.
That process itself was pretty enjoyable.
He wanted to see what the other kids did for their grade projects too… and also.
- Monday? I can take one day off.
- Ah, if I can see Min-hyuk’s comics, of course I have to go.
Artist Shin Pil-ho and Hong Mi-seon both said they’d attend the event.
- Us? Of course we’re going with the department head. It’s not just because of Author Min-hyuk—we always go to Animation High events. We have to make connections with the new artists too.
- Ah, really?
Editor Go Gwang-jin was coming with Manager Song Mi-hyeon as well.
In all sorts of ways, being able to show his comics in front of people he knew…
That alone made him look forward to their reactions—it felt fun.
There was no life better than this.
Except the weather being a little hot.
“Huuu… Should I practice a bit more?”
As Min-hyuk leisurely walked back toward the drawing studio—
“No way, you can’t come? Why?”
A sharp voice echoed from the corridor.
Min-hyuk stopped walking and turned his head left.
Then…
Inside the lounge, someone was standing there holding a phone.
‘Han Yu-ra?’
Click! Click! Click!
Han Yu-ra was biting her nails, pacing in circles while on the call.
Uncharacteristically, her face was full of anxiety.
If he just passed by like this…
‘This feels like something I shouldn’t get caught overhearing.’
If the prideful Han Yu-ra found out he eavesdropped—even by accident…
He’d probably earn her resentment.
Min-hyuk awkwardly stopped in place, waiting for the call to end.
Once she finished and left, he’d leave too.
Smoothly. Naturally.
‘Okay, let’s go that way.’
With that decision made, he waited quietly.
Then—
“No, you can at least come once, can’t you? Why—why do you hate me doing comics so much, Dad? Art, comics—it’s all just drawing, isn’t it?”
From the other end, an angry voice mumbled through, loud enough to be heard even here.
It must have been practically shouting.
“Haaa… Fine, don’t come. Whatever. I didn’t expect anything from the start anyway.”
BAM!
A sound like something being smashed rang out.
‘Ah… this is uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable.’
Maybe he should just take the long way around even if it’s a detour?
As Min-hyuk slowly began to back away—
Creak!
The door opened, and Han Yu-ra burst out.
‘…Act natural. Natural.’
As if nothing happened.
Min-hyuk pretended he was just walking by, gave a light smile, and waved.
“Ah, you didn’t go home either? D-did you eat?”
Then, Han Yu-ra stared straight at him.
A face mixed with irritation and anger.
For some reason her eyes were red-rimmed, and above all, the phone in her hand…
Was half-destroyed.
“Your phone… why is it like that…”
“Don’t talk to me.”
Thud thud! Thump!
Han Yu-ra walked straight toward him, shoved his shoulder, and disappeared toward the stairs.
“Ugggggh…”
It was obviously something to do with her father.
‘Hwa-baek, Han Kyung-taek, right?’
He felt sorry for her, but awkwardly butting in would only hurt her pride more and earn him resentment either way.
‘For now… let’s just work.’
Shaking off the uncomfortable feeling, Min-hyuk returned to the drawing studio.
And… focused on work again.
His mind felt a little unsettled, but he forced his concentration back up and devoted himself to watercolor practice once more.
For some reason, his hand didn’t feel as natural as earlier, but once he started, he couldn’t stop.
How much time passed like that?
Screech!
The door opened, and Han Yu-ra walked in and sat at her spot.
When he glanced over, he could see her eyes were swollen.
A wrinkle formed between Min-hyuk’s brows.
‘Ugh, she’s making me feel so uneasy.’
- Min-hyuk, do you really have to do comics…? Something like that can just be a hobby.
The situation was a little different from his own, but in the end, both of them were facing opposition to drawing comics.
And anyway, they were the duo who won the badminton doubles together—he couldn’t exactly ignore her completely.
“Huuu…”
It had been a while. Maybe he should meddle a little.
Min-hyuk stood up abruptly and walked over to where Han Yu-ra was sitting.
“Hey, you okay?”
“I told you not to care.”
If you don’t want me to care, then stop making it so obvious I can’t not care.
Min-hyuk swallowed the words he wanted to say and forced an awkward smile.
“I don’t know what happened, but… if you want to talk, why don’t you? I’m good at listening to other people’s problems. My mouth’s pretty heavy too, you know.”
“……”
Han Yu-ra stared at him as if she couldn’t understand the current situation at all.
Then she squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again, and said,
“Then buy me coffee. You’ve been getting a lot from me lately anyway.”
“…Okay.”
At that, Min-hyuk nodded with a small laugh.
***
In the secluded lounge on the floor below the drawing studio that Kang Min-hyuk sometimes used.
Han Yu-ra and Kang Min-hyuk sat across from each other at a small table, each sipping a can of coffee.
The setting sun poured orange light through the window as Min-hyuk scratched his cheek and asked,
“Your dad… isn’t coming to the event?”
Well, the story was simple.
The Tujiman chang event this coming Monday.
For the comic creation department students, it was practically everything—and her father had decided not to come.
How should he put it.
‘Her dad’s pretty harsh too.’
No matter how much he hated comics, she had gathered the courage to ask him to come… and he still refused.
Han Yu-ra let out a long sigh, took a sip of coffee, and said,
“Yeah. I didn’t expect anything from the start.”
“If you didn’t expect anything, why are you so angry?”
“You… haven’t read my comic, have you?”
“Ah…”
The moment he heard that, Min-hyuk’s eyes widened, then he nodded as understanding dawned.
‘She thought if he read her comic, something might change.’
Han Yu-ra’s comics almost always shared a common theme.
A protagonist with some kind of deficiency or lack, desperately struggling to gain recognition from their parents.
So probably… Han Yu-ra had hoped her father would read the comic she drew.
And maybe, if she could convey her true feelings through comics…
She thought his attitude might change.
But from the start, it seemed Han Kyung-taek had no intention of even looking in that direction—so the disappointment must have hit even harder.
“I get what you mean.”
“Yeah… that’s roughly the situation. It’s embarrassing, so absolutely don’t tell the other kids what happened today. If you do…”
Han Yu-ra let out another sigh, then narrowed her eyes sharply.
“I’ll seriously find a way to kill you.”
“I said my mouth’s heavy.”
“……”
For a very brief moment, silence fell between the two.
Then, Min-hyuk scratched his head and casually tossed out,
“But… do you really have to be recognized by your dad? Han Yu-ra.”
“What?”
At that single sentence, deep wrinkles formed between Yu-ra’s brows.
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