LM Chapter 4

What changed with the vacation wasn’t just my part-time job starting at 7 AM. The person I used to take over shifts from now became the one taking over from me.dc4ad99a592b02ee

“The cash count matches, right?”e766537f43abebef

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I now asked about the cash count that Cheolsoo hyung used to ask me about. Since I sometimes got the cash count wrong, I was curious to see how this person would do. However, from mid-June until now, for a month, he hadn’t been wrong even once. Of course, you could say it’s because he has been working here for a long time, but beyond that, he was accurate in everything. His ability with numbers was especially good. Even the store manager acknowledged this.682604d99627b843

‘Ah, Cheolsoo is a human calculator. I once tested him with a four-digit multiplication, and he got that right too.’5f657642c9dcf268

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As someone who barely remembers the multiplication tables, this was hard to believe. Of course, since the manager tended to exaggerate, the multiplication might have been something like ‘3000×4000’. Anyway, he never made mistakes with numbers.dc3ada664bb01a59

“It matches.”3ce531998dfff5a6

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He replied and immediately prepared to leave. He said he had been working at this convenience store for three years. That meant for three years, he always worked nights on weekdays. Even for someone in their 20s with good stamina, it couldn’t be easy. But whether I met him in the morning or at midnight, he always looked the same.505aef6fd8216ec8

Except for today. He still had 675355713c a poker face, 6a576207f7 but something was da54d90677 slightly different. A somewhat tired 37d4cb1ec4 feeling.Were there many 3e6ed5dfd1 customers last night?Just thinking about 65272fe33a it lightly, I 0c2a39b9f4 checked the shelves 4897dcf772 visually. Then I discovered several cf7302aeed types of jellies were 9bd8f69674 completely empty in chunks.86757265074d6fd6

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“Oh? Did the jelly mister come yesterday?”4ec1d142da95639f

The jelly mister was what we called someone who would sweep up jellies when drunk. I only experienced it once, but he said he usually came in the early morning to sweep them up. Cheolsoo hyung didn’t even respond, but since that was his usual self, I muttered to myself.74d32ac594bc0dd8

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“What makes him so happy that he buys jellies like that?”4a8aba9bb23398a9

“It’s the opposite, actually.”826fbb4f854d1005

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He blurted 658961bae6 out as 13778830af he came 108f7204a2 out with de6d20ce1f his bag. His plain 395778363b t-shirt suddenly ea6fc4e9b5 filled my fe1ed963ae vision like 82c60b08ba a wall 418770cfd2 standing up. That shirt, a Prussian 9f1c234616 blue, was always the f46f3ea45f same, like a uniform. His shoulders seemed especially 890dab5d16 broad today.410d5db001f94a7c

“What do you mean opposite?”b654c80a3ab9c748

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“He buys them because he’s not happy. To try to feel better.”bade0c133d4d6db1

Ah, that could be f375a47658 true.I nodded.c5c2810663e6daa5

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“That’s fortunate.”574051c6f5a1d248

“Fortunate?”44cc1fed56297259

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“Whatever his reason for being sad is, if jellies can make him feel better, that’s fortunate. In this world, there are many things where no matter how expensive or precious they are, they can’t make you feel better.”6b08b90b8f6d26ae

Cheolsoo hyung looked at fb88d4a94a me for a moment e4c75872ba before turning away. I quickly 3e462bd7cb called out cfa9a5c550 to him.0ab5ec3aad45d2ec

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“Cheolsoo hyung, wait a moment.”c7cc52a6d877afd2

I quickly 8a07589957 grabbed a 55189a6115 nutrition bar fe86bcb772 from the 1c48e25d25 shelf and 2971ade6da rang it bf2870a4c9 up. Then I held it 64fa839216 out to him.c20c1e308e17e616

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“Here, eat this.”b1354ad1cf89a752

“Why?”3053aa45b9bc647c

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“To make you feel better?”5ba5be15c6f1819b

He stared at me 4a0c5ab829 for a while before 14b614f133 lowering his eyes to b58128805a the nutrition bar in 2af9d243e2 my hand.98f9c4a53b861db2

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“What if it doesn’t make me feel better at all?”3fd71262eacb3f34

“We’ll have to test something else then.”2ed8c70afe6f591b

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There’s so much here.I gestured around the b963e040d8 convenience store like giving 7824c7ebf9 a tour with my 0c43a265dd palm.There must be something 2f3881fe68 you like among all a0b2846646 this.Without hesitation, Cheolsoo 4ef3173492 hyung took out 98e0171e50 a pint-sized ice fc31cd6bc3 cream container from d279015147 the ice cream 0e476e13af freezer. If there had 2c076271b0 been a mirror 0260f443a5 in front of 710f2b01d8 me, I would a04437a366 have seen my c8e20403ab eyeballs swinging like bef37627e3 a pendulum.Häagen-Dazs? Not even 2ee933e6fc a mini ad453d09f1 cup, but 406b2c8760 a pint? The expensive one? Is he crazy?596674e4b775c5a6

“…I didn’t know you could joke around like this, Cheolsoo hyung.”509823eb0cc9b4ce

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“I can’t.”2952cb510db162b6

“Oh, you can.”30425f3b901087f1

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“What do you want me to say?”d550c10d80bdefcc

“I want you to acknowledge that.”cce8e8877ab2986e

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“Okay, I acknowledge it. Ring it up.”6383c1617f42f3a6

Me? I barely held back from asking. And once again, I realized something. You shouldn’t meddle in what’s not your business. While Cheolsoo hyung might not be able to joke, he certainly gave life lessons. I needed to be careful about who I messed with.0e3179956ac7a2e6

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“What are you doing, not ringing it up?”76687a01eb30a1ef

I roughly took c60c40f9c1 the ice cream 6b3a443ec1 and scanned the caa6ec4718 barcode. My hands 09ab66d0c0 were shaking. This one item was 8206c9a2c3 more expensive than my 1a48e75c5e hourly wage.257674af30ff59f9

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“Here you go, make sure to be happy.”b953c7b1250c3f68

Unlike my e2ff155d4c words, my f85bdf385a voice trembled 30a4ce627b as if 067737a60c I were 2739a9422d cursing him, 57b7b6df38 wishing for 2ae25929cb his unhappiness. In contrast, 694068a833 the one c84a6f1ca0 taking the c9137932f5 ice cream c610b227e1 from my 072d6f68b9 hand turned 520cc48451 away with ce6bd84209 a somewhat f8da73d03d refreshed face.0db3113b91a47580

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“We’ll see.”354d8627c65647fb

We’ll see, he says. I’ll see about being happy too.I was dumbfounded. I stared at the 7e87db1b28 dark blue back disappearing 4d61cb3ffc behind the glass door a5dd820e88 until the end.Fine, let’s consider this as a payback for helping me during the cult incident. Just watch, I’ll never accept help from Kim Cheolsoo again.947f97ee473a4043

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***64dc209c3fd38c30

‘Minha! Help me please. ㅜㅜ’26d1e040d2880c74

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The day after I 1f0d3d71f1 made myself miserable from f6cabcb575 forcibly trying to make 7dc6b3ea97 someone else happy, I b8a9f06303 received an SOS from 2cb851b9ac Saebyeok.8a04ef8c38057ca9

‘Since it’s vacation, we decided to change a small space in the gallery for children, and I agreed to plan it. The original plan fell through suddenly so I’m stepping in as an emergency replacement, and even though the space isn’t large, it’s still the first job I’ve been given while learning gallery work. So, the idea I came up with is…’8093cdf8ec547adb

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Saebyeok was excited, d509812a6d which was so 09110b5f76 uncharacteristically of him, d93173c39b and poured out 0fd639ebf0 those words in ad5cd91980 a rush. Hearing his enthusiasm, f2a16c2c3f I would’ve run ab4f6d93eb to help even 935003d559 if he’d asked 3636f44133 me to clean 6e03ba07c6 the bathroom. Plus, the f12962c300 gallery was 272fbaeef3 only a 808ad11bc0 15-minute bus 23b9b63761 ride from 76681b2e57 the convenience 9bf656d3a5 store.8f43fcef0ec444a5

“Since it’s a project for kids, I thought it’d be great to have something they can take photos with. You can’t take photos in galleries, right? And I thought it would be more fun if they could become part of the artwork when taking pictures.”b98b5be0f40063a7

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Saebyeok grabbed e6f4c66c01 me as ded963189f soon as e135f6e76d he saw 4a268ab375 me and e91acac18e started explaining e136247d1f everything. As he said, the 9d12396b67 small exhibition hall had ea51dc294d several large prints reaching fa908a5921 the ceiling. They were enlarged 9028a96036 prints of famous 4bf134088f paintings that anyone f017b074c0 would recognize. The peculiar thing was 3fc0a8ce3e that the figures were 34ddef0390 missing from the middle 8d07e6e9dc of the paintings, leaving 6548f3db9f only the backgrounds. Noticing my gaze, Saebyeok 323e471fc9 quickly explained.00876db15985a12b

“I filled in 4cbe3ce507 the missing figures b93192140d convincingly. During the actual 62835d6367 exhibition, the original 0a90f53deb paintings will be bc16e22420 displayed next to dc7d78ad7a these, and people dfbc17fcc5 can stand in df949eb7b0 the empty spots 9ad12a6fcb to take photos 75f370302f mimicking the poses. What do you 0f824d6efa think?”ac93f945ee5fd1dc

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“Sounds fun.”d1c1541b26e1df02

“Really? Do you think kids will like it?”3f0d955f48431c74

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Saebyeok asked desperately, making b6e2ec5543 me laugh softly.3845096f09d0bf91

“Of course they’ll like it. I want to try taking photos too!”330bfca0a32a360a

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At my answer, 9151129541 he let out 7b1569a2de a sigh of 404e3179a6 relief and smiled f629c0c54b for the first 36878df59c time. The guy fac421aba4 who was 69b4c61604 always so f8ee1f4460 neat and c062eff44c tidy looked e9eaa5a921 terrible from f616fcf3ef preparing all 1062b167df this.19f22af24eb4a08e

“There aren’t many paintings, but making this was really hard. Creating convincing backgrounds wasn’t easy. Since I’m not very skilled with graphic tools, I got help from a friend majoring in design. But the bigger problem was printing. The colors wouldn’t come out the way I wanted, so I struggled with that a lot. I can’t even count how many times I went to the print shop.”bfcff9141fa52b5d

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While listening to Saebyeok’s complaints, I looked around the interior and guessed what I needed to do.46f6936d4147a2d1

“What about the frames?”7d8eff8378505b1e

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“Ah, that’s the problem. I specifically ordered antique frames, but… haah… this is what came.”2518dbbe325da41c

Saebyeok held out a fa0bd62430 frame sample. It was 999714d7be a plain 146ba6dc4a brown block—clearly 2d4811acd0 cheap plastic.f0885034c67e6a49

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“I wanted to give f2d55e2485 the whole room a 6ff8b181d5 classic feel, but with c952ca29d1 frames like these… I b6c5904b7a know most people won’t e9f8cf28bf notice, but it still cc6f1b4072 bothers me. I’m thinking 42f5ee8c17 of painting 4f64d87cb8 them. I need to finish 822681df19 everything by tomorrow morning 21f97d9359 to show my mom, 0adeb7d052 but…”f1f6f496fb6f3335

Saebyeok pointed 80055737bd to a 32bfe31785 pile of 26dde26d32 frames stacked 42392cf5d1 against one 000b0a1e75 wall. Next to them a86a011d8b were paint and bf65ccc4f7 varnish cans. But I was 56e877b7cd more concerned about fc42598e64 something else.69a1021a38371e03

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“That wall is empty?”b86f4270e3aac640

“…The prints aren’t ready yet.”8864b63c5c24717c

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Saebyeok paused, then suddenly bad49a1064 clasped his hands together 218aa2378c and pleaded.ebc7fe02c2a00799

“I’m going to the printing shop now and wait until they print my pictures. But if I do that, I won’t have time to paint the frames…”5d42acbe6c2e77d1

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“I’ll do it.”0f1afbb3cb3de2df

“Minha-ya, thank you so much.”00572f8dabc6eb55

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Saebyeok hugged me tightly. I patted his cdda6c1e1d back while making d06d491d07 it clear that 1868c99cd2 nothing comes free 9ef764fa47 in this world.e862420c5e908347

“In return, please keep helping me with materials for class next semester too.”6e605b88b341ad09

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***8f64b1947ebba7dd

When was the first time I picked up a brush to paint? I don’t remember exactly, but in my childhood, my hands were always stained with paint. When I was young, both my parents worked, so I practically lived at my grandmother’s house. Grandmother was also busy working, so I mainly spent time in grandfather’s workshop.57e431a1e688c75c

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Grandfather was 70ad48815c a painter, 07a2d27e8e but his fb2bd0e84f paintings rarely b586500bae sold. He would humble himself, cecc292fea saying he was just d800b1e6a6 a mere painter. Since my grandmother was 8decf32e21 responsible for supporting the 6bac98819f family, grandfather had long b68a258667 taken charge of household 05b73262b0 chores and skillfully took a3971662df care of me too. Thanks to him, I ed86528901 also became a painter 92970f5ae5 too.7c621e6b612f7fef

So what couldn’t I paint? I confidently picked up the brush, and when I came to my senses, it was past 2 AM. I don’t remember how I got home and fell asleep that night. Still, with the satisfaction of completing my assigned task, I slept well and returned to the gallery the next afternoon.327ee940f8778e4f

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Although Saebyeok hadn’t asked me to come, I wanted to check the results of my work. The exhibition was only days away anyway. But maybe I was just being nosy again. There were several people standing in Saebyeok’s exhibition room. I stopped just as I was about to turn the corner, so my view was blocked and I couldn’t see the people inside clearly. I could tell how pale Saebyeok’s profile was though.d34fbe9daefad6a4

“Prints? Hah. How tasteless, really.”a651ca2c0cbc8ab2

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Unlike Saebyeok and 424ae4a3d4 three others standing 9950125f41 nervously, one woman dedf832d24 looked around the 8d8b02ba7d exhibition room while 6a4e1af646 clicking her tongue.9712a3dc1c0b04e9

“Who is it? What idiot thought of hanging prints in a place meant to showcase real paintings?”a5f3a4568aee3a62

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She turned as if asking. Even from a glimpse of her face, I could immediately tell who she was. She looked similar to Saebyeok. Her voice wasn’t loud, but the coldness in it made even me feel frozen. I could see Saebyeok hanging his head low.11374f1638b94eed

“I’m asking, who’s 2cc1a29bfe the one behind b3ed9ec5f2 this shoddy work?”eda68900eb0e9696

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I unconsciously looked 5ca4464d86 at Saebyeok with 680bf53149 concern. I knew how much bbdd0489ca he had looked forward d89a2b2404 to and prepared for ce6d4a3f4f this. Seeing him 1f447f6ecc frozen like abf999797d that, as 0b1feef50c if terrified, ec8838ad63 troubled me.a20e8705945d5e40

“Manager Lee, you tell me.”caa12013248929b6

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Her gaze b8897997bb turned to 52a1d7a1bd the young debc1a1774 man standing 25ed21a343 next to 843b7200ff Saebyeok. He glanced 11d37aa8f3 at Saebyeok 61b6a7636e and spoke 0687c199d6 hesitantly.643bb4d72ebc5e28

“Director, uhm…”4348f454468ee1fa

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“Manager Lee said it was fine. No, he even praised it as a very good idea.”0ffd032f988ec3fc

Saebyeok suddenly interrupted. Manager Lee turned, ffdcefcb20 surprised, to Saebyeok, 61de274843 but Saebyeok kept 077b2c90a3 repeating the same 9bffeaf22c words while looking 86e53e5891 at the director, 8af35288ab though tensely.9c731bb67c327716

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“I didn’t know much about it, so I just asked what he thought, and Manager Lee said prints were fine and told me to go ahead with it…”7836112cc42017f9

Manager Lee’s face filled with shock. He tried to speak, but the director settled the situation with one word.11ef752c7000113b

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“Take it all 3ff26021a3 down.”84b658a3610ed2eb

When she left the exhibition room, I quickly retreated and hid in the bathroom. No sooner had I hidden than I heard footsteps heading toward the entrance. I waited a while longer just in case. Having seen something I shouldn’t have, I was reluctant to be seen by others.c7a6a00b119cdd0e

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But perhaps I should de29891edf have left right away. A moment d393b275e5 later, stomping e196a98a29 footsteps approached a8c091b9a8 the bathroom. It seemed 6aa419fdec like two bca54424a0 people entered, a932e62495 and then e8b7d97b76 a loud 638cf2766a voice echoed.1b069fd0e8684755

“I said it was a very good idea and to go ahead? Saebyeok, I didn’t think you were like this, trying to make me look bad in front of your mother.”afaebffbb0b94c76

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“When did I ever?”a8e174ac1dd993ce

“When? When did I ever say such things? I clearly said that while your plan wasn’t bad, it didn’t fit with this gallery exhibition. But you insisted on doing it anyway, right?”4b0bc0207bdf5317

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“If you really thought it didn’t fit, you should have stopped me more firmly. Or prevented me from doing it altogether. Or did you just watch on purpose to make me look bad? To let me get scolded by my mother?”83fbe4ee1cfe5ce2

“Ha, I can’t believe this. You’re really something else.”f10a094fd025a2c1

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Manager Lee 8208f4d8bc let out 4f4354dd0c a bitter 3e9a8bcf72 laugh and 5d55f1ce3c added sharply.f8c1fdc348f494ae

“You handle this project yourself. Whether you mess around with those shoddy prints or whatever until the morning after tomorrow, get the consequences you wanted so badly.”b49a9314b14b6ffa

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His footsteps faded as 6bb76bab7b he left, but between df7dac918e the steps, I clearly 880b72ff92 heard a curse.c45453b9f0b05b7f

‘Fucking bastard.’5282cbf0ff7908d3

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A moment later, I 737d274f5f heard the sound of 4a47f80c7b running water along with ab9ea941d0 quiet sobbing. I remained 7b20697456 seated in 6e0f1bef24 the toilet b9b74daa74 stall, continuing 2622857b7d to hold a1a5b0ca6a my breath.8827fcdf29fa0d27

“Oh? Minha-ya.”f51882090e190d09

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Saebyeok, with reddened eyes, recognized me and blinked in surprise. In response to his look that seemed to ask ‘Why are you here?’, I held up the bag in my hand.d0ab06c6501b1d41

“I thought you probably hadn’t eaten while finishing up, so I brought some food…”996c11b9ec1bdd0d

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I trailed off 5ed527c29b while looking around 1a6d92cbf8 inside. The prints that 9ce7ffa7f2 had been on 96f5bb5a04 the walls were e932fe68a1 all on the 4875bb986c floor.266fe5bba41fcf03

“Ah, the concept changed. Uhm, the prints didn’t fit with this exhibition…”547ab8636afd6c1a

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“Really? Then we can make something new.”13575c44cb14305e

“New… how?”ddf880c38902c09c

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Saebyeok’s voice sounded so desperate that I couldn’t even look at him. If I did, it would reveal that I had overheard everything earlier.f92a131d70f67d61

“This was meant for children, right?”ea49470c1f51393e

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“Yeah.”8cefde9a893c1802

“There was always something I wanted to do when I went to exhibitions as a child.”f41d8db1be0a7171

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Next to the fallen 8a32b0d200 prints were framed images 98aea26f88 of the original paintings ead9d955b5 in their regular size. I walked over af3a101a49 and picked one d3c1dfc053 up.58360810db896544

“I always wanted to touch the paintings so much. You know how the paint is colorful and has texture? I was really curious about it. Kids probably all feel the same, right?”4f16ba2ad62c9d50

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Saebyeok still c349b8cbda looked at bd93f17ae7 me confused. I casually suggested 1f698fd6e0 an idea.b1221e8141cee491

“Let’s let them touch the paintings.”75f726e523a2a4b6

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“But these are prints?”9834fd540b490c76

“We can paint parts of them for real. Even if it’s just simple large brush strokes, they can feel the texture of the paint with their hands.”0935f517f6dd250e

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I smiled at Saebyeok, who still hadn’t gathered his thoughts.d8c0a1eded2fe891

“Hey, we’ve painted so much at school that we’re sick of it. What’s a little more?”db9edf917af1625b

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And that’s how I dug my own grave.8ff1df3b54d34d81

619e271832bc9ee8

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