2

Draw Me a Date
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After 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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Korekrypta
I don't currently have much internet access so I might not be able to respond to your comments until the weekend :( 30/8/17

Comments

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Mitsukiii #1
The political issues in this seemed very applicable to real life, I always did wonder if you took inspiration from an actual country/show. It's been years and I missed all of you wonderful authors.
JeMerald #2
Chapter 25: This is my nth time rereading this and after all the angsty stuff I've read, it was even clearer to me how different the feels wouldve been if Yeonhee decided to be a tsundere of the highest degree
OhSehorn
#3
It's the year 2023 and i'm to reading this fanfic, my comfort fanfic T.T i remember waiting this fic to be updated years ago. This is one of the best fanfic i've ever read.
Baembi
#4
Chapter 23: naurr yixing’s messages are so cute it’s turning me into a pile of goo >…< yeonhee’s “royal high-nice” was such a good save too hahaha
tonnettie
#5
Chapter 83: Dang! It’s still ao good! Be honest sometimes when you re-read stories it gets boring. But this is a real gem! (Stories like this results to hopeless romantic individuals)
atasiwi #6
I love the story' ^^
hetacat
#7
Chapter 83: Well, I finished it. And I was thoroughly enjoying it by the end. Thank you for writing such a brilliant story as usual Korey. I do hope you still read comments despite your disappearance. I've been a fan of your writing for so many years now and I genuinely reread TBBC and DLWL at least yearly, usually more. This story was certainly just as impressive, if not more for the sheer depth of worldbuilding. I'm kind of bummed I put off reading this for so many years, it's a shame. But it's bloody brilliant. Hope to see you back someday, your writing genius isn't something to be sniffed at!
hetacat
#8
Chapter 33: I have to admit I didn't know whether I'd like this story from you Korey! I've always been a fan of your works but the deeply political themes of this story put me off. I'm glad I finally got to reading it though. As a political philosophy graduate some conversations and statements in this story make me deeply uncomfortable but I'm really enjoying how the narrative deals with it. Kudos to you for making me uncomfortable whilst I'm still enjoying the plot! And as always, your romance is absolutely blissfully perfect. So so smooth you hardly notice it growing. I love how protective Yixing is without being over the top or overbearing, especially when compared to Taehyung. Adore it! And do I spot Daehyun from BAP? My ult <3 Thanks for writing such an amazing story as usual and I'm excited to see how the plot thickens!
Emilieee
#9
Chapter 64: HIT WITH THE REALIZATION THAT THE AFF ANNIVERSARY FRIEND IS ME ??? WOWOWMAMWMEMDN ITS BEEN SO LONG