CPAW Extra 9

“Kimchi fried rice.”

“…Mashed potatoes.”

“Braised cutlassfish.”

“Tomato salad.”

“You’re only saying boring things.”

“…Chocolate.”

Ludwig, provoked by my instigation, struck a direct hit. Just hearing the word made it seem like a greasy chocolate scent was wafting in my mouth.

“Ack! No talking about chocolate.”

“Is that so? Then biscuits.”

As I wriggled in disgust like a fish caught on a spear, Ludwig smiled a victor’s smile. Cesare stood up from his seat with a satisfied grin.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Where are you going?”

“Remember Giovanni, whom we met at the restaurant before? He offered me a modeling job.”

I was a little surprised. I had thought he seemed like an artist, but I didn’t expect him to offer Cesare a modeling job.

“Modeling? Is that person a photographer?”

“No, he’s a painter. When I told him about our situation, he said he’d pay in cash.”

But that guy looked at Cesare like he was about to devour him…

“Are you going to do modeling work because I said I was hungry? I was just complaining. If that’s why you’re doing it, I won’t do it anymore.”

When I asked dejectedly, Cesare shook his head with a bright laugh.

“It’s okay. I think it’ll be fun. And I just got a message saying he’ll double the pay, so I’m tempted.”

“Double? Then how much are you getting?”

Cesare held up his phone to show me his text history. My eyes widened. It was an amount that could allow not just the three of us to luxuriously spend two days, but even five people to spend a week.

“Is this… a scam?”

“I was also worried, so I searched various things using that person’s name. He’s quite famous. There are interview videos and I saw his works too. Here.”

Cesare showed me one by one the things he had already looked into. On the phone screen, I saw Giovanni being interviewed in front of a painting he had painted. It was easy to recognize him as he was wearing the same hat as when we saw him at the restaurant.

“The fortunate thing is that Giovanni mainly paints abstract art. Thanks to that, there are no copyright issues. He also knows all about my situation.”

It seemed Cesare had looked into things much more thoroughly than I thought. He seemed a bit different from the past when he would say, “Shall we try it?” and push forward like a bulldozer. Had he matured a little?

“If you tell me not to do it, I won’t.”

“Huh?”

“If Lee Hyun tells me not to do it, I won’t.”

Cesare was unexpectedly firm. I hurriedly shook my head and said,

“No. Don’t do that. You should do everything you want to do in life. It’s really okay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I want to go with you. Is that okay?”

Cesare’s eyes, which had widened in surprise, soon softened.

“Of course.”

“Welcome.”

I was a little surprised by the foreign man’s awkward Korean as soon as we entered the atelier. Giovanni was greeting us with a bright smile.

“You know Korean?”

“I had a girlfriend. I know a little Korean. Not very well.”

I didn’t expect to hear Korean with an Italian accent here, and it was intriguing. As Giovanni ushered us inside, he added hastily,

“But I also had a boyfriend. In love, there is no gender.”

Giovanni spoke while staring intently at Cesare. That sticky yet expectant gaze… Will it be okay like this? I pretended to look around curiously while checking if there were any suspicious objects or escape routes.

“I agree with you.”

Unaware that I was having these thoughts, Cesare was saying such things to Giovanni. Stop flirting, Cesare. That guy is already head over heels for you! As expected, when I looked to the side, Giovanni was overjoyed.

“Sit here. Make yourself comfortable.”

Giovanni came to the center of the atelier and pointed to a chair.

“You two, here.”

The place where he told us to sit had a plush sofa that seemed spacious enough for about three people. As Ludwig and I sat down, a person who seemed to be an assistant approached us. Perhaps mistaking Ludwig for an Italian, he naturally spoke to him in Italian. Ludwig looked at me and said,

“He’s asking if you’d like coffee or tea.”

“Oh, then I’ll have tea.”

The staff member smiled slightly and went inside after hearing our order. Cesare was receiving a barrage of flashes from Giovanni. It seemed he planned to take pictures before painting. Cesare was relaxed even with the flashes going off in front of his eyes. His leisurely posture, leaning back in the chair with his legs crossed, was captivating even to me. How much more so for Giovanni?

The staff brought the drinks right on time. To prepare for any possible situation, I opened the cap of the water bottle they brought instead of tea. I intended to keep a close eye on them to see if they were doing anything foolish. Because I had a responsibility to protect them.

“Lee Hyun, Lee Hyun, wake up.”

“I’ll protect… Huh?”

A familiar voice came through in my half-asleep state. I lifted my heavy eyelids and struggled to open my eyes. Cesare’s smiling face filled my field of vision. Cesare was looking at me right in front of my nose. Then I heard a click. When I raised my head, I saw Giovanni holding a camera and taking pictures of us like that. The focus of the photos would only be on Cesare, though.

“The sofa must have been comfortable. You were sleeping soundly.”

“…Ah, darn it.”

It was a blunder. I said I would protect them, but I ended up falling fast asleep like this. How does this atelier get so much sunlight? I scratched the back of my head, feeling embarrassed. I whispered in Cesare’s ear,

“That guy didn’t do anything weird to you, right?”

“Hmm… Who knows.”

Cesare answered evasively with a meaningful smile. I was flustered and grabbed Cesare’s shirt as if I was about to strangle him.

“He did? What did he do? Was it consensual? Or were you taken advantage of?”

“Calm down, Lee Hyun. Nothing happened. I just posed as a model.”

Then there was another click from the side. Giovanni had taken another picture of us. Why is he even taking pictures of this? I frowned.

“No photo.”

“This, gift.”

Giovanni didn’t even blink an eye at my words and said only what he wanted to say. Then he handed me a Polaroid print. I took it without thinking, and the one he had just taken was still white, while the previously taken one had a faint blue silhouette starting to appear.

“Oh, thank you…”

I wasn’t particularly grateful, but I thanked him and roughly shoved the photo into my pocket. Only after hearing my thanks did Giovanni lower the camera with a satisfied look.

“Can we go now?”

“Yes, we decided to do the rest tomorrow.”

“We have to come again tomorrow?”

“Yes. He said he wants to try a different project tomorrow. Ah, Lee Hyun doesn’t have to come.”

“That can’t be. I’ll come with you tomorrow too.”

I clenched my fists and made up my mind. I should go to bed early tonight. I’ll protect Cesare without falling asleep tomorrow.

As we stepped outside the atelier, the evening sunlight was shining down on the streets. It was a day with a beautiful sunset.

“Shall we catch a taxi here?”

As I turned on my phone, Ludwig shook his head.

“I made a reservation at a nearby Korean restaurant. We can walk there.”

Cesare tapped the inside of his jacket and smiled.

“They paid in cash.”

I looked at the two of them with a touched gaze. Suppressing the urge to hug Cesare right away as my heart swelled, I followed them to the Korean restaurant.

“Ah, I’m still full even now.”

I smiled as I recalled the satisfying dinner of the day after taking a shower. Kimchi stew with finely chopped leeks, kimchi fried rice generously filled with ingredients, thinly sliced and pan-fried potato pancakes, and even a refreshing doenjang stew with clams. I almost couldn’t eat the sikhye that came out after the meal because I was so full. As we left the restaurant, I said I might not need to eat for two days, but we all knew we would be starving again by the next morning.

After taking a late shower due to procrastination, it was already well past midnight. I roughly towel-dried my hair, sat on the edge of the bed, and muttered into the air.

“He has to answer today. If he doesn’t answer by today, I’m really… going to get a little angry.”

I prepared myself and pressed the call button. Ring, ring… However, only the annoying dial tone echoed in the room. After a long yet short time passed, only a missed call notification remained on the phone. I pressed the call button again. After two, three, four, five missed calls, I finally gave up on calling. Deflated, I sat on the bed for a long time.

“…Should I try again?”

However, the number I dialed this time wasn’t Matthias’.

I didn’t think I would ever have to call this guy.

The other party answered the call before the second ring.

“Lee Hyun!”

Absilon’s clear and transparent voice came through.

“What a surprise that you called me.”

Absilon couldn’t hide his excited tone. Strangely, the moment I heard that voice, my chest tightened painfully.

“Where are you?”

“Me? I’m at the airport.”

“Already? It’s a morning flight, but the sun has barely risen there, right?”

“I have to hurry to meet Lee Hyun.”

I could feel his joy from here. After a brief hesitation, I asked,

“Did you… meet Matthias?”