Chapter 25

25

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be drawn.”

Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Hwang Nom-in froze in the middle of reaching out his arm. What did I just hear? As soon as he realized, his face grew hot.

The first feeling he experienced was discomfort.

It was discomfort. Hwang Nom-in glanced at the boy. He wasn’t just calling him a boy for no reason. No matter how well he looked, the boy seemed to be a high school student.

So, considering that Hwang Nom-in had retaken a year, served in the military, and was now a teaching assistant in graduate school, the age difference between them was at least ten years.

The boy’s critique, who was clearly born after Hwang Nom-in, made him feel a surge of discomfort.

It wouldn’t be strange to say something right away, but Hwang Nom-in couldn’t. It was because of the embarrassment that followed the discomfort.

The boy’s face was hidden behind the paper. It was a thick watercolor paper that even paint couldn’t penetrate. With the colored side facing forward, it was impossible to see anyone standing behind it.

Thus, he couldn’t know that the owner of the drawing was right in front of him.

In other words, it wasn’t meant for him to hear.

So, it might really be wrong. That was a reasonable assumption. But what does a high school student know? Hwang Nom-in didn’t want to ask where he went wrong and thus ignored the correct answer.

He just wandered between discomfort and embarrassment, squeezing out a dry voice.

“Um... Can I have some paper...”

“Ah.”

With a short exclamation, the boy lowered his hand to offer the paper. At the same time, his face was revealed.

He had a slightly tough-looking, dark chestnut hair, and eyes that seemed ordinary at first glance but revealed a reddish-brown hue up close. The boy had a slightly smiling but almost expressionless face as he handed over the paper. It seemed he didn’t hear the muttering, as his face showed no emotion—no guilt, no arrogance.

Hwang Nom-in took the paper as if in a trance and placed it carelessly on the highest part of the box.

I was going to redraw it anyway. Hwang Nom-in looked down at the paper he had completed in a rush and turned around.

He had to hurry; the appointment time was approaching. Hwang Nom-in bowed his head quickly and ran off toward the seminar room where the human anatomy project presentation was to be held.

...

...

...

He’s running so fast.

Kang Seok watched the man, who was carrying a box and running, become a dot in the distance.

“Why are you like that? Do you know him?”

Kang Seok kept looking in the direction the man had disappeared, and Kang Chae-young spoke to him. Kang Seok shook his head. Of course, he didn’t know the man. But the drawing that had come out of the man’s box was familiar.

Male Pelvis (Android Pelvis).

Among the bones that make up the body, the pelvis is the part where the difference between males and females is most pronounced. The typical shape of a male pelvis is generally narrower, wedge-shaped, and shorter and more gradual. But the male pelvis drawn on that paper... Kang Seok’s expression became strange.

“Brother?”

“No. I just saw a really weird drawing.”

Kang Seok briefly summarized and returned to Kang Chae-young, who was nagging. Her phone screen had already turned black.

“What kind of drawing?”

Kang Chae-young’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. Kang Seok looked at her eyes and then down at the paper and pen in his hand.

The paper was filled with notes he had taken during the call. There was no way he could explain it like this.

“Um...”

“Do you need paper? Here.”

A new piece of paper was suddenly thrust into his field of vision.

“Where did you get this paper?”

“It’s a must-have for college entrance exam takers.”

“Is that so.”

Kang Seok nodded and took the paper. He tried to lay it as flat as possible on his knee and started drawing with the pen he had been holding.

“So, the thing drawn on the paper earlier was a pelvis. Here, this is a bone. The pelvis. This pelvis is like a plate made of bones. A plate is a bowl, so think of it as a bone plate or a bone bowl. So, when you draw, just roughly sketch lines to form a bowl shape. Usually, when drawing the pelvis, you start with the sacrum, which connects to the spine...”

Kang Chae-young nodded and watched Kang Seok’s hand move. She understood most of what he said, but it was a cycle of hearing one thing and forgetting another.

But there was one thing she was sure of.

‘Brother, you really draw well.’

It’s amazing. Lately, my brother seems different from the one I knew. From sculptures to articles, and now participating in exhibitions, it feels like my brother has grown up a lot.

‘He’s completely different from before.’

Kang Chae-young’s eyes became hazy, lost in memories.

When was that? When I first started decorating my diary...? It seems it was about three months after my brother started preparing for the entrance exam at Cheonghwa Arts High School.

At that time, my brother seemed amazing to me. The fact that my brother had talent in art was incredible. My brother really drew well, at least to me.

So, I asked my brother to draw a cat character in my diary. My brother spent the whole night drawing a cat for me. I remember how I felt then. I was eager to show it off to everyone.

– ‘This was drawn by my brother!’

– ‘Hey, guys. Look at this. This cat was drawn by my brother.’

– ‘This was drawn by my brother? It’s really well done!’

I went around showing it to everyone I knew at school. I was so excited that I didn’t even think about the content of the diary being visible.

Everyone clapped, saying it was well done, which made me even more excited.

I must have been showing it off all through the third period. Just before the start of the fourth period, I rushed back to my seat. A shy classmate walked up to me. I later found out that this classmate had a crush on me.

– ‘Chae-young, I have something for you.’

The classmate handed me a cat. A cat drawn with a pencil.

Someone asked how long it took to draw. I wasn’t curious, but the classmate answered kindly. He said he started drawing during the second period after seeing me running around the hallway. He drew it quickly because he thought I liked cats.

– ‘Wow! What is this?’

– ‘Chae-young, it looks better than what your brother drew!’

– ‘Chae-young, you’re so lucky. Take it!’

– ‘Yeah, Chae-young, you like cats, right...?’

I didn’t like cats. I liked the cat because my brother drew it. I muttered in frustration. I was heartbroken. I realized, against my will, that the cat drawn by a boy who didn’t even attend art school was better.

My brother isn’t an amazing drawer. He just draws better than me.

Kang Chae-young shed small tears at that moment. She felt sorry for her brother, who sat at the same desk every day, drawing so hard. He could only draw to that level despite all his efforts. Kang Chae-young cried bitterly.

And she never asked her brother to draw again.

That’s how it was.

But now.

Kang Chae-young’s eyes sparkled.

‘He’s completely different now.’

Even as he spoke casually, his drawing was clearly good. They say a skilled person has golden hands, but Kang Seok seemed to have diamond hands.

‘What is he, really?’

He drew so smoothly without looking at anything, as if he had a computer in his head. It was almost suspicious.

“...Look. These large bones that encircle both sides are called the hip bones. They encircle and naturally create a space in the middle.”

“The space created at the top is called the superior aperture. But in the male pelvis, this area is triangular when viewed from above. When viewed from the front, the pelvis is shaped like an arrow, forming a triangle.”

“Look at the female pelvis drawn next to it. You can clearly see the difference. It’s narrower. But the person who drew earlier...”

From the mouth of a brother who usually doesn’t talk much, professional knowledge flowed like a stream. It was as if someone had put a library in his head. Kang Chae-young was amazed.

‘Do art students need to know all this?’

Isn’t this a memorization subject? Kang Chae-young stared at her brother’s face, but he didn’t notice, continuing to look at the paper and explain.

“...Here. This is where it’s wrong. By unnecessarily adding features typical of the female pelvis to the male pelvis, the human form looks distorted and unnatural.”

“Ah. Why would he draw it like that? I don’t understand. I didn’t learn it that way when I was young... No, it should be better now than when I learned. No, do teachers not teach this nowadays?”

Although the man was much older than her brother, Kang Chae-young kept quiet.

After all, her brother started drawing early. Kang Chae-young nodded in agreement.

‘Still, that large drawing at the furniture store, and participating in figure drawing... My brother seems to be good at anatomy. Maybe I should ask him to draw my face once?’

Kang Chae-young’s lips twitched. It was a smile identical to Kang Seok’s. As she smiled, Kang Seok, who had been complaining for a while, sighed deeply.

“Why aren’t Mom and Dad here yet?”

Kang Seok turned his head. At the end of the hallway, he saw his parents engrossed in their phones.

Kang Chae-young peeked from behind and waved her hand.

“It’s fine. They haven’t even called us yet. They must be on a long call. Let’s just wait.”

– ‘No. Did you see the link? Oh. I posted it in the wrong group chat, but you saw it already. Sigh. Yes. Yes. Seok participated in club activities during the break. Yes. You went to the Renaissance mall. I was really surprised too. He’s so reserved, he doesn’t say much. Yes. That’s how boys his age are. Yes. Is the next meeting there? Yes...’

Kang Chae-young remembered Baek Myung-hee, who was laughing while holding her phone at the furniture store. It seemed they were in the middle of a bragging session, which was likely to continue for a while.

It was a big deal that Seok’s furniture store, which was usually open every day, was closed for a day due to personal reasons. The phone calls were bound to be endless.

It’s commendable that a high school student is using his own money to pay for health check-ups for his family.

Kang Chae-young firmly held Kang Seok, telling him to go and chat.

“Since they work every day, they probably have a lot to talk about today.”

“Maybe.”

Kang Chae-young, who was quite mature and perceptive, was right. Kang Seok nodded.

How long had they been waiting for Kang Hyun-do and Baek Myung-hee, who were laughing while holding their phones at the end of the hallway? A voice calling Kang Seok from the reception desk was heard.

As Kang Seok stood up, Kang Chae-young hurriedly went to bring Kang Hyun-do and Baek Myung-hee. Kang Seok raised his hand to the nurse who was looking for him.

“Here.”

A long day was just beginning.

* * * *

“Here?”

“Huff, huff... Yes! Here. We were supposed to meet here... huff...!”

Hwang Nom-in panted heavily. He had run as fast as he could, but the boy was already gone.

“Ah. This is so disappointing.”

“...Huff, huff.”

The man who had been walking in front of Hwang Nom-in stretched out his arm. The paper he was holding fluttered. It was the male pelvis drawing that had been pointed out by the boy, Kang Seok.

“You don’t know his name?”

After taking a deep breath, Hwang Nom-in nodded.

“...Yes... I don’t know. I’m sorry, Professor.”

“No, there’s nothing to be sorry about. It could happen.”

His gentle eyes curved into a crescent moon. Park Ji-yeop, a professor of visual arts at Han Yang University of Arts, swept back his brown hair and the gray strands that reflected light, and pursed his lips in disappointment.

“He said, ‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to be drawn,’ right?”

“Yes...! But, Professor, do you think he noticed that the male and female pelvises were mixed in the