I Became an Artist in a Romantic Comedy

Chapter 28: Sixteen and Growing, Plus a Retreat and a Competition (11)

—

The recent national contest for middle and high school students: the Anthropomorphism of Objects Art Contest.

This contest was run by Korea Drawing Inc., a company that wasn’t your typical enterprise.

It was a paradise for artists with some recognition overseas as well. There was a similar company in the U.S. called Atlantis Inc., but it had nothing to do with this contest.

Korea Drawing, headquartered in Cheongdam-dong.

Ahn Dae-min, the head of the Planning and Public Relations department, scratched his neatly groomed hair as he reviewed the contest entries.

“Sigh… To think we’d receive such high-quality artwork for a first-time contest like this.”

Leaning back in his chair, he sighed deeply.

“This is going to take a while if we want to pick out the best works.”

Ahn Dae-min looked at the monitor, filled with artwork submissions. These were works that would impress even the general public.

“But isn’t that the Evaluation Department’s responsibility?” remarked his subordinate Seol Yoon, who entered the manager’s office casually.

“Ha… thinking about it gives me a headache. Didn’t you know? We have to screen out the irrelevant pieces first before handing them over.”

“…What? I thought the Evaluation Department was fully responsible for this! Why are we hearing this only now?!”

“Beats me. Those old-timers have pulled stunts like this more than once.”

“But…”

Seol Yoon had plenty to say but couldn’t voice it. The Planning and Public Relations department was newly established and, naturally, less influential than the other departments. With no record of achievements yet, it couldn’t even voice complaints.

“Overtime’s a sure thing. And the professors are coming this afternoon, so keep that in mind.”

“Yes…”

Ahn Dae-min left his computer as he got up from his seat. A coffee break seemed essential to get through the workload.

Seol Yoon returned to her desk with a frown as well.

The two didn’t notice the email that had just come in.

The email bore the sender’s name: HA-EUN.

The title was also unique: NO.1 [Peach Blossom Village].

—

“Oppa!!”

I was lying around, scrolling through my phone, when my younger sister, Lee Ha-yoon, burst into my room with a kick to the door.

Although only four years younger, she was an early entrant and now a sixth grader. Ha-yoon frowned and pursed her lips into a triangle shape.

“You ate my Häagen-Dazs again, didn’t you?!”

“Yes.”

I had thought it was leftovers because the lid was open.

“…Should I go buy some later?”

Still, I couldn’t voice an excuse. How could I commit the grave sin of making excuses to my only sibling?

“Hmm… Fine!”

Luckily, my good-natured sister quickly softened her expression and smiled.

“Come here.”

I gestured toward her, and Ha-yoon, eyes shining, ran over and dove next to me.

“Careful.”

“It’s okay! Oppa will save me if anything happens!”

Oppa isn’t invincible, you know. It’s strange that we both ended up rather frail siblings. Well… at least Ha-yoon seemed healthier than Mom or me.

She likely inherited more from Dad, I guessed, but that wasn’t important. I was simply content as long as she grew up healthy.

Honestly, I would have liked her to bring friends home, too. The first and only time she ever brought a friend over, though…

– “…Does your brother have a girlfriend?”

– “You’re not allowed to come here anymore.”

Yeah… best not to dwell on that.

Since that day, Ha-yoon hadn’t brought any friends home.

I did worry a bit about the possibility of her being ostracized at school, but thankfully, I’d seen her interact with plenty of friends at school events. She seemed quite popular during sports days and bazaars, too.

As her older brother, it was reassuring.

“Oppa, doesn’t this have your name on it?”

Lost in thought, I looked up when she suddenly held her phone out to me.

“Hm? Oh, wow. It’s up already?”

It was the file I’d submitted a while ago. I’d sent both a digital file and the actual painting to participate in the contest.

On her screen, I could see my painting displayed in what looked like an exhibition hall, streaming live on YouTube.

The images changed every 10 seconds, so I couldn’t look closely, but there was a voting section in the description.

One painting was dominating the votes.

– HA-EUN / NO.1 [Peach Blossom Village]

It was the painting I’d spent seven hours on, far surpassing the votes of any other artwork.

“Is that your painting, Oppa?”

I nodded. There was no point in denying it—she’d find out at the award ceremony anyway.

“Wow. No wonder it looked so beautiful.”

Nodding as if she had known it, Ha-yoon paused the video on the part where my painting was displayed and admired it.

“I thought it looked familiar. Maybe it felt like it had Oppa’s scent on it?”

“Obviously, since you’re pressed up against me right now.”

Although she’d been lying on my pillow, her face was now buried in my chest.

“Hehehe. Oppa! Häagen-Dazs!”

“Alright, let’s go.”

An unpredictable kid, but I liked her just the way she was.

The two of us threw on some simple clothes and headed outside.

The dark, gloomy sky looked like it might rain soon.

“Looks like it’s going to rain. Let’s bring an umbrella.”

I should have checked the weather before we left.

“One umbrella!”

“Hm? Why? We should take two—”

“Just one!!”

“Uh, okay.”

She often had strange requests, though they weren’t hard to accommodate. But she only made such requests of me. Never of Mom or Dad.

She was a peculiar little sister, always wanting something from me specifically.

“One umbrella might be a little small for us.”

In the end, we brought just one.

“I wanted to share an umbrella with you, that’s all. Do you not want to… with me, Oppa?”

When she put it that way, how could I say anything else?

“Of course not. Here, I’ll hold it. Stand on my right.”

Just in case we got splashed from the road. That’s something an older brother should take for his little sister.

As soon as we left the apartment, raindrops began to fall.

“Sigh, what terrible timing… or not. Okay.”

I forced a smile and glanced to my right, where Ha-yoon clung closely.

She soon beamed and hooked her arm around mine.

“Let’s go! To the convenience store!”

Going to the convenience store was fine, but was it really necessary to hold my arm like this?

But if it’s what she wanted, there was no need to question it.

Raindrops pelted the ground, blocked by the umbrella.

“Oppa, that painting earlier…”

As we walked down the dampened road, she spoke up.

“Earlier? Oh, mine?”

“Yeah, the one you painted. That girl… is she…?”

Wow, she figured that out.

Now that I think about it, my sister might have a decent artistic sense.

I gave her a mysterious smile.

“Hmm. I’m not sure what you mean.”

But I couldn’t keep a grin from forming.

“Come on, tell me!”

“Fine, I painted it with my little sister in mind.”

Smiling, I watched her face light up as she realized the truth.

“I knew it! The mood, the face, even the hairstyle—it all looked like me!”

“Even the half-eaten apple?”

“Eek! Can we forget that part?!”

She’d handed me her leftovers because she didn’t like it, but I’d eaten it happily.

Is this… the heart of a parent?

“Oh, we’re here. You can get other snacks besides Häagen-Dazs if you want.”

“Really?!”

“Yep. Think of it as a reward for being the first to recognize my work.”

“Yay! I’ll clear the shelves!”

We’re definitely going to hear from Mom about this later. But we were out of snacks anyway.

Might as well pick up a few for the studio, too.

As I started filling a basket with snacks, I pulled out my phone to check out the YouTube channel.

It was still streaming artwork in real-time, with even more new pieces being showcased.

The initial entries were impressive, but the new ones raised the quality even higher.

“Incredible.”

They’d have a hard time ranking the pieces without mine here.

But my painting was there, prominently displayed.

“Oh my… what’s with this number?”

I glanced at the votes my painting had received.

217,795.

People could vote from overseas as well, which probably accounted for the large number.

Curious about the live chat reactions, I opened it.

[WTF IS THIS???]

[holy…=/=]

[Wow, that’s stunning.]

[Is that really a student’s work? Seems like it should be in an auction.]

…Let’s leave it at that.

I was pretty sure I knew what painting they were reacting to.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected this level of response, but I hadn’t anticipated it being this intense either.

When I looked up from my phone, I saw…

“…Ha-yoon?”

“Puff!”

There was my sister, cheeks puffed out in a pout.

“I’ve been calling you…”

“Sorry, sorry. Got a bit dizzy.”

“What? Are you okay? Did I drag you

out for nothing?!”

Seeing her worried expression made me smile.

“No, I was just stunned by the YouTube comments.”

“Oh… Phew. I thought you weren’t feeling well.”

As if a simple trip to the convenience store would tire me out.

“Still, if you’re ever feeling unwell, you’ll tell me, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

We placed the baskets filled with snacks on the counter, meeting the gaze of the cashier.

The expression on his face… it might have been my imagination, but he looked a bit distressed.

…We did pile up a lot, didn’t we?

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