2
Draw Me a DateAfter an initial burst of inspiration that had sent her scrambling for her sketchpad and pencils, beginning to draft the outline of her perfect date, Yeonhee realised she needed a coffee top-up and went to fix herself up. By the time she’d returned from the kitchen down the hallway, having had to vacate her room on a mission for a splash of milk to temper the coffee, she’d calmed down considerably.
It came with the realisation that her version of a perfect date might not correspond with Lonelyblues’s version of a perfect date, and so she decided to ask if there was anything in particular that Lonelyblues wanted to see in it, particularly if that was the prompt she was taking for inspiration.
Sipping happily at the steaming mug in her hand, Yeonhee fixed the towel turban with her other hand and then re-awoke her computer to chase down Lonelyblues’s profile. It indicated a fair amount of activity, though – Yeonhee admitted to snooping – Lonelyblues was clearly an art fan rather than an artist herself, since all her galleries were made up of pictures she’d gathered and liked rather than ones she’d drawn or painted and uploaded herself. Yeonhee saw that a number of her own had been tagged in Lonelyblues’s favourites collection, and she couldn’t help preening a little.
When she actually went to message Lonelyblues, it turned out that they’d communicated before. The message dated back a few years, just a little after Yeonhee had first joined the site.
Wow, you’re talented, Lonelyblues had written. My friend told me I had to check your stuff out and I actually made an account so I could vote for it. Consider me a fan!
It had to have been before she’d uploaded the painting of the ice-hockey players mid-action that had skyrocketed her to fame, because she’d actually replied to the message with a Thank you! That’s so kind. It makes me happy that other people enjoy my art and I hope you’ll like the images I upload in the future too!
The reply Lonelyblues had sent to that made her laugh as she read it again.
Trust me, you could draw a wobbly line and it would probably still be art.
Lonelyblues had messaged a few other times, but Yeonhee hadn’t replied to them. It was easy to see why from the content and the timestamps: the messages had been after she’d become famous and been deluged in so many of them that she’d stopped replying.
She couldn’t help reading over one or two of them as she formatted what she was going to write to her fan, which probably needed to start with an apology for ignoring the messages.
Jan 9th 4 years ago, lonelyblues wrote:
Congrats on all your new followers! The painting of the ice-hockey players is fantastic and you deserve the recognition.
Jan 15th 4 years ago, lonelyblues wrote:
Though, I have to say, I personally think your watercolour of the sunset over Mount Tinagra with those two geese waddling in the foreground is your best. Do you go there often?
Sep 29th 3 years ago, lonelyblues wrote:
You should try your hand at fantasy more often. The mythical beast sketches you’ve been uploading over the past month are IN.CRE.DI.BLE.
Mar 3rd 1 year ago, lonelyblues wrote:
I see you’ve been on a musical instrument sketching binge. Do you play anything?
Nov 4th 5 days ago, lonelyblues wrote:
Are you sure it’s sensible to upload a caricature of the king?
Nov 4th 5 days ago, lonelyblues wrote:
Wow, people are taking this as proof you’re Im Yeonhee or at least a separationist of some kind.
Your fanclub on the pinboard section of the site is going absolutely mental trying to figure it out.
Nov 4th 5 days ago, lonelyblues wrote:
I’m not joking its actually kinda scary
They seriously want you to be their heroine to lead you in the Cause
Or maybe their heroin
Some of them cant spell I swear
Nov 4th 5 days ago, lonelyblues wrote:
*can’t
Oh wait
*it’s too
Sorry lol
I shouldn’t criticise them when I’m doing it too
Nov 5th 4 days ago, lonelyblues wrote:
Never mind lol I see the picture went viral
Nov 6th 3 days ago, lonelyblues wrote:
And got plagiarised, which is not cool.
Lonelyblues seemed like a pretty happy person, which made Yeonhee squint suspiciously at the username. Was it supposed to refer to blues music somehow or was it a reference to actually feeling alone and in the blues? After a few moments’ contemplation and chewing on her lip, Yeonhee tapped out her message and pressed send.
Nov 9th a few seconds ago, pencilmania wrote:
Hi! I’m sorry for being so terrible at replying to your messages. No trouble over the king cartoon, but it does my hard work was nicked. Anyway, I’m stopping by because I chose your prompt for the second sketch of the month and I wanted to ask if there was anything in particular you wanted to see.
She sat back and picked up her cooling mug of coffee, wondering how long it would take to get a response and if it was worth starting on some research for another seminar she had the next day.
To her surprise, the response was almost immediate.
Nov 9th a few seconds ago, lonelyblues wrote:
What, no unholy trinity?
Go wild. I don’t even know what my perfect date would look like. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a proper date.
I’m just stuck on a presentation I need to give in a couple of weeks and could do with some stimulation.
I didn’t think you’d pick my idea because it’s kind of rubbish.
Almost mindlessly, Yeonhee settled down for more of a discussion. There had to be something Lonelyblues particularly wanted or particularly didn’t want in the picture, and she wanted to give some kind of nod to Lonelyblues in the finished product.
Nov 9th one minute ago, pencilmania wrote:
This probably sounds super lame, but I was actually going to do a dinner date of some kind.
My ex never even once took me out to dinner.
Nov 9th a few seconds ago, lonelyblues wrote:
What a scumbag.
Nov 9th a few seconds ago, lonelyblues wrote:
I take it you’re still single?
Yeonhee stared at the screen for a moment, wondering if that was something she should reply to.
Nov 9th two minutes ago, pencilmania wrote:
You must be too if you’re dating vicariously through internet images.
It looked like she might have touched a nerve, because it was several minutes before lonelyblues responded. When it looked like she was being ignored,
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