I Became an Artist in a Romantic Comedy-Chapter 86

It had been 18 years since I arrived here. Adding that to my age in my previous life, I should’ve been long buried by now.

“…Okay, that’s a morbid thought.”

Still, I had to believe they were alive. If they’d passed away, Sanya would’ve told me.

There was no way my master would just abandon me here and leave first.

“How much time has passed—?”

Having stretched enough and prepared to head out, I glanced at the clock.

Three hours had passed.

“I’d better get back before the others come looking for me.”

Knowing them, they would’ve come searching after just an hour. The fact that three had gone by made it strange they weren’t here already.

Maybe they were too caught up playing around at the festival today—

“Oh, Ha-Eun’s awake.”

Just as I was about to push open the library door, a voice called out from behind me, making me turn around.

“You looked so sound asleep that I didn’t wake you. How’s your body feeling?”

Hong Ye-Hwa was returning a book to the shelf as she approached me.

If she was here, it meant the others weren’t far away.

“What about the others?” I asked.

“Yul and Ye-Seo are outside playing around with the livestream.”

“And you? Why didn’t you join them?”

Spending three hours in the library couldn’t have been easy.

Especially with the noise from the festival making it hard to focus on reading.

“We’ve been taking turns every hour.”

…Of course. I’d given up trying to understand their behavior long ago.

Even now, they continued to do things in unexpected ways.

“Let’s head out. I’ve left the stream to them for too long.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Honestly, it’s been fun.”

As we walked out of the library, casually chatting, I threw a question to Ye-Hwa.

“Do you think you’ll manage to participate in the Prize on your own?”

Unlike this time, where we entered as a group of three, I was asking about competing solo.

“Yeah, I think I can. Winning, though… not so sure.”

“You’re my apprentice. Of course, you’re going to win.”

“…Okay.”

Her cheeks turned a faint shade of red as she looked away, fixing her gaze elsewhere.

“There they are! Should we head over?”

“Let’s do that. I feel bad leaving the stream in their hands any longer.”

While they’d appeared on the stream plenty of times before, it was still my broadcast, after all.

Ha Soo-Yul and Choi Ye-Seo, who had been munching on tanghulu, spotted us first.

Their busy mouths hurriedly gobbled down the remaining fruit in one go.

“They weren’t eating that the whole time… were they?”

I couldn’t help but worry if their stomachs would start acting up, though the thought made me smile despite myself.

“Hey, Eun-ah. Want some?” Soo-Yul offered.

“Not a fan of sweets. Besides, we’ll be eating lunch soon.”

“Lunch and dessert go in separate stomachs.”

Soo-Yul’s retort left me momentarily speechless, as always.

That aside, the art exhibit should be open by now.

“Maybe I should take the kids and my family to check it out later.”

“Oh, right, Ha-Eun. Here’s your phone.”

Our resident streamer, Choi Ye-Seo, handed over the selfie stick she’d been using.

“Apologies for the time we lost. Hopefully, you had a good nap.”

“Ah, damn it, my idol is back!”“Can’t you just sleep for three more hours?”

Their lively greetings lifted my mood.

Just as I grabbed the selfie stick to resume the broadcast, Soo-Yul pushed something toward my mouth.

“Ah~.”

“I can eat on my own, you know.”

“Ah~.”

“…Fine.”

Opening my mouth, I felt something round pop inside.

“Takoyaki, huh? It’s been a while. Though I’d prefer to eat it with my own hands.”

“WTF…”“Am I really watching this broadcast to get salt in my wounds?”“That’s it. I’m picking up a brush starting today.”“^ Only if you’re redrawing your face, pal.”

The viewers’ chaotic reactions were amusing, but…

Thanks to Soo-Yul’s bold gesture, both Ye-Seo and Ye-Hwa joined in, each trying to stuff different foods into my mouth.

“Stop… I don’t think I’ll need lunch at this rate.”

After half an hour of this, my stomach was ready to give up.

“You really eat so little! Can a guy even survive on that?”

“If I compare myself to you, there’s probably no one here who could win.”

My response to Ye-Seo’s remark earned me yet another mouthful of food.

Only after I raised both hands in surrender did they finally back off, satisfied.

“Mom and Yoon should’ve arrived by now.”

They’d probably call when they were done enjoying themselves. I’d meet them later and take them to the exhibit.

Lingering outside for too long seemed like it’d wear me out. Spending some time idly chatting with the others here didn’t sound bad.

While killing time in a quiet booth, I received a text from the student council president.

[President: Ha-Eun, are you interested in performing in the talent show?] [Me: So that’s why you approached me last time?]

Turns out, her seemingly random visit was actually to recruit me for this.

I’d suffered enough that day from everyone pestering me about it. Just thinking about it made me shudder.

[President: Yes. If you’re willing…] [Me: Can I say no?] [President: Of course. I just thought I’d ask out of curiosity ^^] [Me: You must be really lonely, huh.] [President: …]

“Why not? I think you’d be super popular in the talent show,” Ye-Hwa chimed in after reading over my shoulder.

Before I could reply, Soo-Yul and Ye-Seo grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her away.

“In middle school—”

“She used to sing—”

I couldn’t make out what they were whispering about, so I turned my attention to the festival sights instead.

“Ha… Ha…”

“You’d find the teacher’s office cooler than this, though.”

“I ran away because I didn’t want to meet the parents. Why?!”

“That’s… debatable.”

With the broadcast still running, the exchange between Ms. Lee and the others wasn’t picked up thanks to the sound restrictions.

“Would you like some water?”

After wrapping up her counseling, Ye-Seo handed Ms. Lee a bottle of water with a smile.

“How many parents did you meet, anyway?”

“Not even a break to go to the restroom…”

“That’s rough…”

While I felt bad for her, it was part of her job. Still, I wondered if she was okay hanging around here.

“I passed it off to the homeroom teacher.”

“So, you’re just slacking off?”

Ms. Lee’s aggrieved expression turned into a tirade.

“You’ll understand when you’ve done four hours of nonstop counseling! Try it for yourself!”

She collapsed onto a table set up inside the booth.

The others sat beside her, lending their ears to her grievances.

“She really doesn’t have any friends, huh.”

If she did, she wouldn’t be hanging out here like this.

She probably didn’t have any workplace companions either.

Meanwhile, I was chatting away with the viewers, our banter making up for my lack of real-life friends.

“Hey, Yoon just started her stream!”

“She’s stuck at the main gate lol.”“Are you going to meet her?”“Might as well see her at the exhibit.”

Noticing the notification for my sister’s stream, I instinctively looked at the button to end mine.

“Should I host her?”

“You’d better not.”“Do it, and we’re all coming to find you.”“Do you even know how many viewers are nearby, lol?”

With no choice but to keep my broadcast running, I decided to at least greet my family.

Letting the others know, I stepped out of the booth.

The scorching sunlight and the heat of the crowd made moving around exhausting.

“Mom and Yoon probably won’t enjoy this much.”

Yoon might be able to handle it, but Mom would likely prefer someplace quieter, like the exhibit or the library.

The exhibit should’ve thinned out by now, considering it had opened at 10 a.m. Most people would’ve left by lunch.

Heading toward the main gate, I unexpectedly ran into my family halfway there.

How they managed to come from that direction, I had no idea since it was closer to the rear gate.

“We watched your stream to find you,” Dad explained.

Mom and Yoon, both looking weary, nodded along.

Even Yoon, second only to Dad in stamina, had sweat dripping down her forehead.

“Ugh! This weather is the worst!”

Her frustration spilled out, echoing across both streams.

“LOL.”“She snapped!”“This weather really is cursed lol.”

The viewers found endless amusement in her outburst.

“Why are you so fine— Never mind. You’re drenched.”

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

Yoon glanced up at me, puzzled, but quickly turned away upon spotting my sweat-soaked clothes.

“This place is really popular, huh…”

Dad fanned himself with his hand as he glanced around.

“Let’s head inside. It’s too hot out here.”

“I already told the others, so they’ll probably meet us at the exhibit.”

At my suggestion, the family nodded, and we moved toward the building housing the art and creative writing departments.

“Phew…”

“…Finally, I can breathe.”

Even Mom, who hadn’t said much until now, let out a long sigh, thoroughly drained.

“If it’s this hard, you could’ve just stayed home…”

“When else am I going to see a festival like this? You have to take the chance while it’s there.”

Well, no arguing with that. I’d already told them about the painting I submitted to the art exhibit.

I’d asked if they’d prefer to just watch the broadcast, but—

“It’s your painting. We need to see it in person.”

And so, they’d come all this way. Might as well enjoy the festival while they were at it.

After catching our breath, our family headed to the first-year art class.

My painting was there, and I wanted my parents to see it first.

The classroom doors were all open, and a cozy atmosphere filled the hallway.

It felt almost like a quiet, humble party unfolding in the middle of the night.