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"Lisa-ya? What's actually the matter?"
Lisa's gaze was fidgety. She bit her lips and kept trying to escape. She instinctively lifted a hand, wanting to block Irene.
Irene caught her wrist and simply placed it off to the side. "Lalisa, look at me."
"Don't...... My heart is beating so fast......" Lisa looked like she was close to tears.
Irene slid her fingers down to rest on her pulse. As expected, the other's heart rate was frighteningly fast. After a moment of confusion, she reached a realization. "I'm that pretty?"
Lisa vigorously nodded. "Didn't you realize?" Her tone was a bit whiney, which was rare and quite fresh. It made Irene's heart itch with desire. "Didn't the magazines get sold out......"
She was speaking of when Irene had been an ulzzang in Daegu. Someone had taken her picture on the street and this picture had been published in a certain magazine specially designed to promote fashion brands. It had been half of a face and the side profile of someone who walked confidently. In the end, that edition of the magazine had become incredibly popular. When she discovered this, Irene's older sister had been furious. She had been forced to use a few connections to hide this issue.
However, Irene completely treated this incident as a good story to tell. She often joked about it with her friends, not because she felt pleased, but as a means of making others laugh. After all, she was believed that people should solely rely on their abilities for success. Beautifulness or ugliness were both irrelevant.
However, after being complimented by Lisa like this, she felt that looking good was still an advantage. She started getting cocky and bit the tip of Lisa's nose.
"You ah. If you keep saying such cute things, you won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow."
Lisa was trapped in her arms, not daring to move at all. Irene couldn't bear to keep teasing her.
She returned to the driver's seat and prepared to drive. However, she heard Lisa quietly say from next to her, "But originally... I wasn't planning... on getting out of bed tomorrow anyways."
Irene thought, the fact that I haven't carried her back into the room is proof of my great self-control.
●●●▬
Lisa's school was in the old school district. The dorms had been built during the colonization era and were hundreds of years old. They weren't very disability friendly. Though Lisa had a wheelchair, many places only had stairs and no ramps. In the end, they still needed to stop. Irene first carried Lisa up the stairs, carefully placing her there before heading down again to carry the wheelchair up—— Fortunately, it was already break. There weren't too many people on campus. Thus, Lisa obediently resigned herself to being carried up and down the stairs by Irene.
When they entered the teaching area, Irene noticed a vending machine. She hurriedly walked over to buy two iced drinks for Lisa. "Ice your face a bit."
"Is it still very red?" Lisa froze. She hurriedly accepted the drinks from Irene and glued them to her face.
Irene reached a hand out to feel her forehead. "I'm even suspecting that you have a fever." After confirming that the other didn't have a fever, she softly sighed. "You've been sneaking glances at me this whole time. Still not used to it?"
Lisa made a startled noise. "You found out......" She added, "I'll get more used to it if I see this look more, but as soon as my blush appears, it won't go away......"
This was the truth. Lisa had thin skin and lots of veins. It was very easy for her to start blushing; when she started, it was also very hard for the blush to go away. The same went for the rest of her body. Neither her embarrassment nor attraction could be hidden.
Irene liked this a lot. She selfishly didn't really want anyone else finding out about it. When Lisa started blushing in front of outsiders, Irene would always help her cover it up. Or, she would use a wet towel, ice pack, etc. to help the other get the blush to go down first.
When she had first hired Lisa, Irene had casually brought her along to a friend's gathering. She was an unfamiliar face who was sweet and blushed easily. As such, she got teased incessantly. If not for Irene protecting her, she wouldn't have been able to leave in one piece. Later, Irene was no longer so eager to take her to loud gatherings with too many people. Because of this, even Irene herself started attending less and less of these events. Only when Lisa wasn't present would she go out for a few drinks with her disreputable old friends.
Her old friends would all tease Irene: they said she was keeping a young lover in her golden abode. The little demon had completely captured her heart. Irene never responded to these words. She would only emotionlessly chuckle.
By now, the blush had already completely disappeared from Lisa's face.
"You've recently been more obedient about eating. You've finally grown some meat on your face." Irene used both hands to hold Lisa's face, helping her warm up her icy cheeks.
Although Lisa was taller, but her face was smaller than Irene. Her head also small, meaning her face was even smaller. Covered by both of Irene's hands, her face was basically already gone. The meat she had grown wasn't visible to the naked eye at all; one could only slightly tell that there was a difference after feeling it. However, this slight difference was enough for Irene to develop a small bit of pride that she didn't want anyone else knowing about. She felt that she had fed Lisa well and that the results were satisfying.
"It was right to directly transfer money into your cafeteria card."
Half a year ago, Irene had surprisingly discovered that even though Lisa got so much allowance money every month, the amount she spent on food was much lower than her school's average. Because she knew that she was in good health, she often only ate two meals a day. Irene had gotten extremely mad at her over this. Following this, she would save an amount of money every month and directly transfer it into the cafeteria card.
"Even if you have to treat your classmates to meals to accomplish it, you still have to spend all this money for me. I'll be checking." Irene ordered.
Upon hearing her say this, Lisa also lifted a hand and caressed her own face through the gaps in the other's fingers. "You can tell? Then I can't get any fatter. If I get any fatter, my waist is going to become thick."
Irene started laughing. "That doesn't matter. If you're fatter......" She wanted to say you'd be more comfortable to hug. But they weren't at home. She felt like saying stuff like this was a bit embarrassing. Thus, her words suddenly got stuck halfway in her throat.
However, Lisa already knew what she was about to say.
She playfully blinked and, imitating the sophisticated and serious tone Irene used while speaking to her subordinates, "Humans need to have some requirements for themselves, you know?"
An impressive impersonation.
Irene cocked an eyebrow and simply responded by squeezing her face.
Lisa didn't duck out of the way in time. She could only plead, "Stop...... Otherwise, my face is going to turn red again. We're going to have to spend a lot of effort once more."
As they thought of how comical it would be to repeat the entire procedure, both of them couldn't help laughing.
Lisa's laughter was exceptionally joyful. Her chuckles sounded like tinkles. They were both crisp and clear, like the fragments of sunlight passing through the leaves and landing on her forehead——like she was a normal fourth year student in university. She looked slightly different from what she usually looked like at Irene's home.
Irene froze upon seeing this. Her heart suddenly started beating faster. In this moment, she really wanted to lean in and kiss the other. However, this was on campus. She feared that it would negatively affect Lisa if anyone else noticed. Thus, she could only take a step back and lift an arm up to smooth down her messy hair.
Irene pushed Lisa into the art studio. After confirming that the floors of the studio were flat and testing to ensure that there would be no problems for a wheelchair to move across the floor, she finally felt confident enough to let Lisa wheel herself around.
"You only need to bring the important stuff. I've already ordered someone to buy the paints and tools that you listed. The materials are at home now."
Lisa nodded.
"Is there anything you need to pack up in your dorm room? Do you need me to do it for you?" Irene asked in a casual tone. Irene took this opportunity to appear nonchalant.
Lisa hesitated.
Thus, Irene immediately added, "If it's not convenient, then......"
Lisa hurriedly shook her head. "It's not inconvenient at all."
Irene clearly knew she would respond with this. She smiled to herself, only to hear the other add, "But, you're such a popular artist, Miss Bae......"
Irene held out an index finger and placed it over Lisa's lips. "What did you just call me?"
Lisa made a sound of realization. She remembered the roles they had come up with earlier and obediently called out instead, "Ah, Irene eonnie."
Irene's heart seemed to be beating wrong again.
Upon noticing that no one else was in the art studio, she rapidly lowered her head and pecked the other. "Good."
Lisa's face turned red again. She lowered her gaze, not daring to look at Irene. "What was it......Go pack everything......"
Irene cocked an eyebrow. "What? What kind of rich playgirl image do I have in your eyes? I can't pick anything up or do any physical work? At age twelve, I had already entered a boarding school. At age sixteen, I finished a seven day food-free wilderness survival challenge by myself."
"Wow?! Really? Wilderness?" Lisa's eyes turned into round circles.
Irene flicked her forehead. "Why would I lie to you?" Upon noticing how bright the other's eyes were, an epiphany struck. "What? you want to go?"
"A little," Lisa nodded honestly. "I want to sketch in a relatively more natural setting, but I've never had the chance to......"
"I'll bring you along next time," Irene immediately said. She added, "Just the two of us."
Lisa made a noise of acknowledgement and nodded. Her happiness was seeping out of her eyes. Her face had turned red too. She looked away and put her room key into Irene's open palm. Then, she made a list of everything she needed to bring and explained where they were located.
●●●▬
Irene obviously had selfish motives.
Since she had come up with the idea to keep this person forever, she naturally needed to find out all the facts about her competitor. Sitting in her office while waiting for the results of an investigation were obviously fine, but the report would be from an unbiased third person perspective. Given the opportunity, she was more inclined to enter Lisa's private territory and see for herself what Lisa's "girlfriend" was like from the other's perspective.
Unexpectedly, Irene couldn't find any trace of a "girlfriend" in Lisa's dorm. Pictures together, couple items, rings, name pendants or other accessories symbolizing promise...... None at all.
At first, Irene thought that she had gotten the wrong desk. However, only four people lived in each dorm room. Two of the members of this room had already graduated and left. Their stuff had been neatly cleaned up; the other spot was clearly covered with photos of the occupant and her boyfriend. There honestly wasn't any leeway for her to be wrong.
Irene stood in place and thought for a moment. With an ah, she reached a realization: it truly wasn't as easy for a gay couple to so openly show off their relationship in a dorm room the same way a heterosexual couple could. In actuality, not publicizing the relationship was the more accurate choice. Lisa had always been careful. When she made the decision to hide something, most of the time, she could hide it completely.
Upon thinking of this, Irene pressed the spot between her eyebrows and laughed at herself. She thought people say that love can make one's intelligence drop. As expected, even I haven't been able to avoid this.
She had excitedly come here on impulse, completely disregarding whether or not her plan was correct or plausible. If she used this kind of thinking during work, she'd either get complained about by the board of directors within three months or her company would go broke.
However, Irene was someone who was really good at accepting criticism and changing herself for the better.
Since she couldn't find the information she wanted, changing her goal in a timely manner and observing Lisa's daily life wasn't a bad option either.
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