My illustrator!

#3. Inbox

I was definitely irritated, but I wasn’t confident enough to keep the conversation going.

Build-up. I needed time to prepare a proper build-up.

“…Answer when I call. If you don’t, I’ll print out your illustrator name and illustrations and plaster them all over the school.”

Of course, I had no intention of actually doing that.

She wasn’t just some junior who got caught drawing NSFW art.

She was my illustrator. My collaborator.

The last thing I wanted was for her to stop working or leave the industry because of me.

Still, my pride wouldn’t let me back down without saying something.

“…I’ll answer, okay?” she responded curtly when I spelled out my vague threat.

I didn’t like her uncooperative tone, but I figured that could be dealt with… gradually.

Leaving Han Na-eun’s desk, I went back downstairs to retrieve the model figures.

The once-white figures were now completely red, as if they had been that way all along.

It reminded me of my novel, [I Imprisoned Her.]

The story begins with the protagonist kidnapping an innocent young woman.

Whip and carrot. Mercy and cruelty.

The protagonist relentlessly pushes the heroines to their mental limits until he successfully reshapes them into completely different beings.

The once-pure young women disappear, reborn as devoted slaves who live solely for the protagonist’s desires.

That was the main plotline of my story.

For a moment, I thought of Han Na-eun’s face.

I shook my head furiously.

Snap out of it.

“Repeat after me: Reality is reality! Reality is reality! Reality is reality!!!”

Do you know when erotic novel writers feel the most threatened?

It’s when they start getting “inspired” by everyday, normal situations.

Work is work, and reality is reality.

The moment that line gets blurred…

Well, let’s just say it’s a slippery slope to becoming the kind of criminal you only see in news headlines.

Gathering up the model figures, I started placing them carefully into the final model using tweezers, one by one.

This should be a decent distribution…

The figures were only there to give a sense of scale to the building model. There was no need to add too many.

As I planted trees and placed furniture, I noticed the sun beginning to rise.

“Ahhh…”

I felt the energy drain from my body.

It felt like I had been sitting in this exact spot watching the sunrise yesterday too.

And now, here I was again, watching another sunrise from the same seat.

I need to quit architecture… desperately.

The panels…

I still needed to print the panels.

After finishing most of the model, I opened my laptop for some final touch-ups.

…Wait. What’s this?

Where’s my charger?

The laptop charger I should’ve brought along was nowhere to be found.

Seriously? Seriously?

I turned my bag upside down, shaking it furiously, but the charger didn’t appear.

I’m screwed. Really, really screwed.

Checking the time on my phone, I calculated how long it would take to go back home and get it.

It took about an hour to get from my house to school.

Round trip? At least two hours.

And if I hit rush hour traffic, it could easily stretch to three.

Considering the time needed for printing…

There was no way I could make the deadline like this.

I needed a computer.

“Hey! Hwi-min!”

I called out his name loudly, causing him to look up at me with his tired, sunken eyes.

“What…? You’ve got a lot of energy, yelling like that.”

“Can you lend me your laptop?”

“No… I need it to tweak this perspective view. Why? What’s up?”

“I left my charger at home.”

Hwi-min gave me a look like I was some kind of idiot.

I know, okay? I know. Stop looking at me like that.

“Hmm… but most people are probably working on their final tasks right now. I doubt anyone has a free computer lying around.”

He wasn’t wrong.

At this hour, everyone would be frantically wrapping up their presentations and materials.

It was the most chaotic time of the day.

“Just take a lap around the studio and see. Who knows? Maybe someone’s only working on their model now.”

“Yeah, that’s probably my best bet.”

Feeling the pressure, I hurriedly scanned the studio again.

A laptop… Someone who isn’t using their laptop…

I needed to find someone who was focused on their model work.

And then my eyes landed on Han Na-eun, who was carefully cutting acrylic to represent window frames.

“Na-eun!”

I hurriedly ran over to her desk, calling her name. Startled, she let out a strange sound.

“Eek! You scared me!”

The knife she was holding clattered to the floor.

When she turned to glare at me, her eyes were filled with hostility.

“I’m busy enough as it is. What is it this time? Didn’t you say that was all earlier?”

“No, no, it’s not that. Can I borrow your laptop?”

“What? Why do you need my laptop?”

“I left my charger at home…”

She looked up at me with an incredulous expression.

“Who forgets their laptop charger on a deadline day?”

Honestly, I wanted to respond with, ‘Right here, genius,’ but this wasn’t the time to pick a fight.

“Please, seriously. If you’re not using it, could I just borrow it until the deadline?”

“…What programs do you need?”

“Me? Just CAD and Rhino. I already saw you have Photoshop.”

“Sigh…”

She let out a heavy sigh, clearly annoyed.

“Fine, take it. But only for your work. Don’t touch any of my folders or anything. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course!”

At this moment, it didn’t matter to me whether her laptop was HNE’s or anyone else’s.

I just needed to survive today. I would’ve made a deal with the devil if that’s what it took.

Han Na-eun opened her laptop and unlocked it for me.

“Again, don’t touch any of my personal folders. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am! I’ll be careful! Thank you so much!”

I took her laptop and opened a browser to download my backup files from my email.

When I clicked on the email tab, the screen that appeared was different from what I was used to.

This isn’t my account…?

It seemed her account was automatically logged in through the auto-login feature.

I figured I should log out and access my account, but then…

A certain email caught my eye.

Its subject read…

[Nam Ga-yeon Final Version.JPG]

The completed illustration I had commissioned was sitting right there in her inbox.

Should I open it? Should I not?

Since it was in the sent mail folder, there wouldn’t be any record of me viewing it.

Glancing around, I confirmed that Hwi-min was still slumped over and dozing at his desk. I swallowed nervously.

Click.

The veil lifted, and my commissioned illustration filled the screen.

Raised hips, shamelessly high.

A lewd, milky substance dripping between her skin.

Massive, gravity-defying breasts.

I’m not even exaggerating, there were no words other than ‘This is insanely hot.’

Was this really drawn by her?

The shock was overwhelming.

I rested my hands on the desk for a moment and looked over at Han Na-eun again.

She was still struggling with the acrylic, letting out faint grunts of frustration as she worked.

I’d always wondered what people like HNE, the illustrator, would be like in real life.

I imagined they’d be awkward men, stuck in their rooms, drawing perverted pictures all day.

But this…

…..

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The Han Na-eun before my eyes was the picture of a delicate young woman.

She gave off the vibe of someone who probably had over 100K followers on Instagram…

Still, I couldn’t keep the illustration open on the screen any longer. I quickly closed the email and logged into my own account.

Even in my inbox, the same email was right at the top.

[Nam Ga-yeon Final Version.JPG]

As impressive as the illustration was, I decided it would be better to save it for later, viewed at home with a calm and respectful mindset.

Hurriedly, I downloaded the file and began my retouching work.

The process didn’t take as long as I expected.

I adjusted the shadowing and shading, added texture to the finishing materials, and lightly blurred the background figures.

If I’d had more time, I could’ve made the edits even more meticulous, but the deadline wouldn’t allow for it.

Once I finished arranging the panels, I went to the print room and left my name on them.

“Phew…”

It’s over…

Finally, I could say goodbye to this cursed neighborhood facility project.

I slumped into my chair, feeling the exhaustion crash over me all at once.

But I knew that if I fell asleep now, I wouldn’t wake up in time for the presentation.

The laptop… I need to return it.

After confirming that I had properly logged out of her account, I shut down the laptop and trudged over to Han Na-eun’s desk.

She was leaning against her desk, lightly snoring, likely having fallen asleep after finishing her model.

I carefully placed the laptop back on her desk and took a moment to examine her model.

It was clear she was skilled with her hands, the finishings were exceptionally clean.

Even the curved surfaces, which could easily go wrong with the slightest error, were perfectly aligned and well-defined.

Judging by the quality of her model alone, she seemed destined for great success in architectural design.

So why is she so dedicated to drawing erotic illustrations?

Later that afternoon, I started to understand a little more about why she might have made that choice.

***

“Na-eun, it doesn’t matter how pretty your model is if it has no substance.”

“Architecture isn’t art. It’s not all about how it looks. What matters is the concept behind it.”

“Sigh… Your technique is so good that I think you’ve fooled yourself. Maybe you should take a step back and reflect on that?”

Han Na-eun sat silently in front of the professors, her head hanging low like a defeated criminal.

“I’m sorry…”

She apologized for her work, her voice barely above a whisper.