SMNTCERR, Chapter 31 Cyan #4.

   “I checked the files you sent. Overall, it’s okay, but there are a couple of things I want to discuss.”

   Sangwoo, whom he met the next day, still looked like an oil-less robot. The other party didn’t even look at him or open the file he sent yesterday.

   Sangwoo enlarged the picture and pointed to one corner.

   “Do you see that the pixels are broken? Fix it, please.”

   “Can you see it on your phone?”

   “The small details. When you put them together, it becomes a complete image. Please pay attention to it.”

   Next are two open-swapped weapon images.

   “This part should use the same color code, but do you see that they’re different? Fix it, please.”

   It’s called “an eagle eye.” It’s an insignificant detail, but what the other party said is not wrong, so he has nothing to say. Sangwoo pointed to the same case in two or three places before arranging the folders according to the file names.

   “And I wrote it clearly in the guidelines. When you send me pictures, name the files in the format ‘type_ description_type_two-digit number.’“

   “…”

   “Don’t include underscores here, and all of them should have only one digit. Add a zero in front. Also, don’t mix uppercase and lowercase letters. Just use lowercase letters. Why did it become like this? I fixed it this time.

   Be careful not to make the same mistake again.”

   The other party is only interested in this much. Jaeyoung created dozens of files simultaneously within the specified time, and it’s impossible for him to make mistakes. Especially when he is someone who likes to name files like ‘last_final11finally_1_last.ai.’ The bigger the better.

   “You cold-blooded person.”

   Sangwoo folded his notebook and put it in his bag without paying attention to Jaeyoung’s comments. There were no words like “Well done” today. Is that how it is? Jaeyoung secretly waits, but all he feels is a cold breeze passing by. He worked hard almost to death but didn’t receive a single word of praise. In the end, it’s just his own imagination that Chu Sangwoo cares about him.

   When Sangwoo finished packing up and stood up, Jaeyoung called out softly.

   “Here.”

   “Why?”

   “Have you been studying during this time?”

   He didn’t know what to say, so he slipped out the question casually. Sangwoo looked at Jaeyoung with a puzzled expression, wondering why he asked such a question.

   “Yes, I have. I just went and came back today.”

   “Superman… clearly.”

   “I’m in a good mood lately, and studying has been going well.”

   “It’s good because I gave it my all. Thanks, little hubae.”

   Now it was Sangwoo’s turn to frown and tell him to speak more sensibly. If one looked at the previous pattern, this hyungnim tended to be like that, but Sangwoo turned his gaze around and stared at one corner of the ceiling.

   “No, it’s not like that.”  “And?”

   “I don’t want to…”

   “I don’t want to answer. Is that a new catchphrase?”

   Now it was time to leave the meeting room. As soon as that moment arrived, Sangwoo walked towards the door as expected. Jaeyoung thought about quickly grabbing the other party’s arm, but he realized that Sangwoo hated physical contact, so he changed it to holding the strap of his backpack instead.

   “Do you think I’ve lost weight?”

   “No, please let go of that.”

   In a matter of seconds, he went from speaking incoherently to the other party leaving within three seconds. Jaeyoung used his brain heavily. Then a brilliant idea occurred to him.

   “I have to fix many things. There are parts I don’t understand… Come and see for yourself and guide me, that would be good.”

   “You still don’t understand?”

   “Isn’t it better to be sure? You haven’t been to my workspace yet. Come see the room I work in and have a cup of tea. You can do your work there.”

   “…Your workspace?”

   From the tone of voice, he couldn’t tell what the other party was thinking. The pillow’s hat obscured his vision, making it impossible to see those eyes and read the facial expression. Jaeyoung pulled the strap of his bag lightly.

   “Let’s go then, you’re not doing anything anyway.”

   “I have plenty of miscellaneous things to do.”

   Sangwoo answered directly and crossed his hands on his chest.

   “But I should check the working environment that you are working in, because it doesn’t seem to be good, and there’s a lot of work. We need to improve work efficiency for both sides, don’t you think?”

   “Yes, that’s what I mean.”

   Jaeyoung, who had been sitting exhausted at the desk, immediately stood up. Sangwoo saw that and widened his eyes.

   “Now, really?”

   “Then when?”

   “I’m not prepared…”

   “What do you have to prepare? Just come for a moment. Follow me.”

   Jaeyoung pulled Sangwoo’s bag strap and walked together as they left the library. Sangwoo followed quietly without saying anything.

   The weather in early April was refreshing and cool. Jaeyoung loved this kind of weather the most. He walked with his mouth slightly open, pulling Sangwoo’s bag strap when he felt that the other party was too far away, until they reached the Faculty of Fine Arts.

   “This is the workspace for four people. Each year’s registration must be renewed.”

   “So, are there other people here?”

   “There are two more people. One person seems to have gone to the army, and the other person only does necessary tasks. You don’t have to worry about them.”

   “Are they my seniors?”

   “They’re the same age as you, but they’re the same age as me. Go and greet them yourself.”

   They were of the same class year but over two years older. Sangwoo looked perplexed. In such a situation, normally you would just call them “seniors.” but for Sangwoo, that was not possible. Jaeyoung opened the door to the workspace.

   “Here it is, come in.”

   Sangwoo walked into the space with four large work desks. Jaeyoung had never felt crowded in this place before, but he didn’t know why he suddenly felt a sense of unease. Posters were overlapping on the walls, looking particularly messy today. There were boxes, crumpled paper, snack bags, broken speakers, hair clips, leg massagers, missing flip-flops, and more scattered all over. A special heavy metal song played by Yoona filled the air, and a sleeping girl was nodding off and shaking her head. Her yellow-dyed hair fluttered in the air, electrifying the atmosphere.

   ‘…I don’t think these two will get along well.’

   “Hey, Choi Yoona, look over here for a moment.”

   “Why?”

   She replied without turning around. Then Jaeyoung looked at Sangwoo’s face as if he saw a ghost. The other party was already dissatisfied. Why did that girl wear a red jacket and a necklace today?

   “Don’t mind her, just sit here.”

   When Jaeyoung pointed to Seojin’s seat, Sangwoo reluctantly walked over and hung his backpack on the chair. At that moment, Yoona turned around and screamed loudly.

   “Who’s that?”

   “It’s the junior who worked on the project together. She does whatever she wants.”

   “Wow, is she working on that game recently? What’s its name? Is it our project?”

   “Chu Sangwoo, the computer genius. Don’t mind his expression, this is his way of being pleased to meet you.”

   “Such a funny name, just like Choo Sang-lee.”

   Yoona clapped her hands and laughed happily. Jaeyoung felt awkward waiting for Sangwoo’s response, but the other party just sat down with a stiff face. Jaeyoung handed Sangwoo the pastry box on Seojin’s table.

   “Please help yourself.”

   “How can I make myself comfortable when you’re not comfortable?”

   “That’s true.”

   When Jaeyoung tried to turn on the computer, Sangwoo raised his hand to stop him.

   “Take out the trash first.”

   It was then that he noticed the crumbs, empty cola cans, cigarette packs, and a discarded tissue on the table. Jaeyoung calmly took out the trash as instructed by Sangwoo, while sweeping the remaining items on the floor to a corner.

   “Take the sock bag too.”

   After sitting down, the next order came immediately. Jaeyoung picked up the sock bag that was stuffed behind the computer screen and put it in his bag.

   “Air out the room.”

   Despite being annoyed, he opened the window.

   “Arrange the books.”

   He managed to tolerate organizing just a few books and arranged them neatly.

   Then Sangwoo spoke again.

   “Now you can turn on the computer.”

   Jaeyoung looked at the ceiling while waiting for the boot-up process.

   “Before starting work, organize the icons on the desktop first.”

   “Even something like this, really?”

   “It looks difficult from the side. Hurry up.”

   Annoyed, Jaeyoung reluctantly deleted unnecessary files or moved them to a separate folder.

   “Organize it as a habit.”

   ‘This is my territory. This kid is coming into someone else’s place and still acting like he’s in charge.’

   “It’s funny when older students speak like that.”

   “We’re similar in some ways.”

   Jaeyoung smiled. At this moment, he wanted to lock Sangwoo’s neck or flick his forehead, but that was prohibited for Sangwoo. Sangwoo sat hugging his chest with a dissatisfied expression, then looked at the ceiling, and suddenly turned his chair to look at Yoona sitting with her back turned.

   “Sorry. Am I being too loud even though I’m not alone here?”

   Yoona glanced and looked back and forth between Sangwoo and Jaeyoung. “There’s a good headphone right there. Use it.”

   “…”

   Yoona wasn’t easily angered, but she seemed perplexed and could only mutter incoherent words. Jaeyoung stood up from his seat and picked up the headphones on Yoona’s desk, then put them on her head. After plugging in the jack into the computer, the loud heavy metal music disappeared, and Sangwoo’s face looked much more at ease.

   “Now let’s open the program.”

   It’s time to show their abilities. Jaeyoung returned to his seat. Then he raised his left hand to the keyboard and placed his right hand on the mouse.

   “Start.”

   Finished speaking. Sangwoo shifted his gaze back to the book spread out on the empty desk.

   Jaeyoung thought that Sangwoo would come in and interfere with everything, ordering them to work like that. But Sangwoo kept his promise to only supervise and control, so Jaeyoung was able to work comfortably.

   Sangwoo sat quietly as if he wasn’t there.

   Click, clack. The room only had the sound of keys being pressed and mouse clicks. If you didn’t count the occasional humming of Yoona’s loud music from the background, there was no other disturbance.

   As time passed, he absentmindedly looked to the side. Sangwoo rested his elbows on the table and gazed at Jaeyoung’s computer screen instead of his textbook.

   The slender and long neck of the other side attracted attention. The collar of the black long-sleeved shirt slightly revealed a distinct white skin. If the useless clothes were removed and the noose was hung on that shoulder, he would probably die with closed eyes, but that was only something he thought in his mind.

   ‘Uh… dangerous.’

   Jaeyoung imagined the bare shoulders of Sangwoo with red marks before turning his gaze back to the computer screen. If such a thing actually happened, he could book an interview for tomorrow’s news.

   [Breaking News] A junior male student was bitten on the shoulder by a senior male university student – live from the court.

   ‘It hurts a lot. Although I have been tested for rabies, the results are not out yet, and I don’t plan to withdraw the charges. I hope he gets a severe punishment.’]

   He felt like he heard a voice giving an interview near his ear. When he saw that the mouse had been still for a while, Sangwoo turned his head. Jaeyoung felt like he was stabbed without knowing the reason, so he became the one asking questions first.

   “What am I looking at?”

   “I’m thinking that I’ve found a good designer.”

   “…”

   “A terrible living condition… but in terms of abilities, hyung you seems limitless.”

   Sangwoo spoke as if it were a general matter. Sometimes the other party likes to intrude like this. Although it was a phrase he often heard, when Sangwoo said it, it sounded different.

   Then the speed of work increased. What changed seemed to be a cleaner desk, a quieter environment, fresher air, and the person sitting next to him reading a book. Although it was work as usual, Jaeyoung felt delighted as if he had won a lottery.

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