My Name Is Lucy: Between Love and Passion. Book 3

Sitting on the campus lawn, Lucy finished reading an article about contemporary trends in fashion. She looked at the photos used in the presentation and carefully analyzed the details of each design. She had never stopped to examine how every year, cuts, fabrics, and styles changed in fashion. That instinct was growing in her over time. Fashion seemed more enchanting and challenging, and the challenge intrigued her even more.

She put the magazine aside and reached for her sketchbook next to her. She always doodled something, and as she looked at the photos again, she started drawing.

It was nothing more than what she had been doing before, and sometimes she got frustrated for not being able to innovate. But for her first year, she was doing well, and the teachers praised her a lot.

But at that moment, Lucy laughed while analyzing the male sketch she was working on. She always thought of Ryeon whenever she thought of creating a piece with such features. Observing the boy's body helped a lot, and that gave her an extra reason to do it whenever she had the chance.

Ryeon's partially broad back gave the mannequin a delicate silhouette, and his slim waist fit perfectly with the hips.

Lucy continued drawing, finishing the mannequin. She stared at it, imagining what would look good on Park Ryeon's body. All kinds of ideas came to her mind. She was well aware that anything would look good on Ryeon's body.

She changed the pencil she was using to a 0.7 mm one. She wondered if she were to create something from what she was drawing, would Ryeon wear it confidently? Because she envisioned that, not just for him, but for anyone wearing her designs.

Excited, she replaced the pencil with a flamingo pink watercolor pencil. She carefully painted the cropped top, imagining the garment off the paper. When the drawing was finished, she chuckled softly. It was good, really good. She still made some additional strokes, but they were completely out of context. She added the details of Park's body, like the sparse dark hairs he had below his belly button, and some veins on his belly, which stood out even more when they appeared on his neck and arms. Lucy sighed; she loved observing Ryeon, and that's why she knew these details so accurately. She finished with the typical knee-length shorts that the boy almost always wore. She colored them black.

"Hey!" Jaesun sat beside her. She lifted the drawing, showing it to him. "Damn!" he exclaimed with a smile. "I think I recognize this body; who's the model?"

"You know very well," she replied, smiling, and crossed her legs, folding them. "What do you think? Does it look good?"

"Amazing!"

"Do you think he would wear it?"

"Ryeon is hot, he would definitely wear it because he would look even hotter," Jaesun said.

Lucy laughed, giving him a pat on the shoulder, and retrieved her drawing.

"I would be jealous if I didn't know you're head over heels for Mark."

"Speaking of him," Jaesun opened the leather folder next to him and pulled out his sketchpad. "He has become my model too." He showed her some designs of formal pants, but with Jaesun's signature touch: unique buttons, asymmetrical cuts, and even chains and pins, entirely different from the usual.

"Oh my gosh!" Lucy looked closely at the sketches. "Incredible, right?"

"Absolutely incredible!"

"Now imagine this," Jaesun brought over his sketchpad and Lucy's notebook, placing them side by side. "It would make a great collection, don't you think? Now imagine those gorgeous bodies on the runway, wearing a pair of pants from my collection and your cropped top! Mark would make me weak in the knees if he agreed to do it. Park Ryeon too, I mean, it would make you weak in the knees, not me. I'm only devoted to Mark."

Lucy laughed, but she studied the drawings together. Indeed, she could imagine Ryeon wearing something like that. Not because it was her style, but because it would probably look great on him.

"We're still best friends, right?" Jaesun asked, taking her by surprise. She looked at him and nodded. "Then why haven't we spent hours together anymore, talking nonsense and sharing the dirty things we've done with our boyfriends?"

"We're college students, we don't have time for anything," she laughed. She put away her sketchbook and sketchpad and rested her head on her best friend's lap, feeling him stroke her short hair while they both stared at the blue sky. "But go on, tell me."

"I had sex with Mark," the boy said with absurd serenity. Lucy shook her head, laughing; it didn't surprise her at all. "Seriously, it wasn't love, with kisses and cuddles. Okay, there were kisses and cuddles because my man is sweet, but, Lu..."

"You're shameless," she said, turning her head when she saw Kimi in the distance, talking to some people from their course. "Go on, I didn't tell you to stop."

Jaesun laughed, running his fingers even deeper into her brown hair as he sighed, remembering the days he spent with his boyfriend.

"I need to graduate soon! I want to marry him."

"Graduating soon is everyone's wish here."

"True... but, you know, we were alone at his house, his parents were traveling. Lucy, do you know what it's like to have sex on the stairs? My dear, my future house will definitely have a staircase!"

Lucy denied and laughed out loud. Jaesun was undoubtedly the naughtiest of them all.

"And what about you and Ryeon, huh? Tell me, what did you do?"

"I can't talk about it like you. But... it was good."

"Did you guys fool around like that again?" he asked, seeing her bite her lip and suppress a laugh, nodding. "My girl is becoming a naughty one! And how was it?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she covered her face. "But it was good. You know... we did it that way, nothing more, but that feeling... I wish I could feel it all the time."

"You know you can feel that way without necessarily needing Ryeon to be with you, right?"

"I've thought about it. I've thought a lot. Even during my shower... But I can't touch him that way. When I'm with Ryeon, everything flows so easily and well that it's as if that part of me doesn't exist; I can visualize myself the way I want to be. But alone, it doesn't work... because I need to touch him, I need to look at him, and... it's just not possible!

"I understand, my dear," Jaesun sighed, continuing to stroke her hair. "But now you're going to be a hottie who will take photos and make a lot of money. Enough money for your surgery."

"Stop being silly; I'll do it this time, but it's not like this is going to be my profession."

"But it doesn't have to be. It can just be a hobby that brings you money. We know how important that is. After all, we started the crowdfunding campaign to help Uncle Jungso, but we haven't even reached ten million won yet, and that's if he accepts..."

"I appreciate you caring about it..."

"Of course, we care; we're a family," the boy winked.

Lucy smiled, but her eyes wandered back to Kimi again, seeing her walking towards her, with Yugjae by her side. Lucy quickly straightened up and fixed her hair, smiling at both of them as they sat down beside her.

"Everything set for today?" Yugjae asked. Lucy nodded, but Jaesun frowned.

"What's happening today?" he asked curiously.

"We're going to the movies."

"The movies?"

"Yeah, the ones on campus itself," Jeon explained.

"And no one invited me?" the boy opened his mouth, shocked.

"Neither me; you guys don't love me as a friend anymore? Is that it?"

"Enough with the drama," Lucy laughed, looking at them. "Kimi, you have a project to submit; you mentioned that in our messaging group. You even cursed, and Jaesun, you said you don't like romance movies, so we thought it would be boring if you came."

"You're sneaky friends," he pouted. "But I still want to go."

"You really do?" Lucy smiled, seeing him nod. "Alright then, we'll meet at eight, don't forget."

"Sure thing, right, Yugjae?" the boy raised an eyebrow.

The older one nodded, although his expression indicated that he wanted to share the moment only with the girl.

"We were talking about the crowdfunding campaign for Uncle Jungso," Jaesun spoke again, looking at the two in front of him. "Have you guys helped yet?"

"Jaesun!" Lucy scolded, but her friend just clicked his tongue.

"Have you or haven't you?"

"I sent the two hundred thousand won I had; sorry, I didn't have much," Kimi pouted, feeling a bit sad. "But Mom took pity on me and said she would help as soon as she gets paid."

"Uncle shouldn't find out about this; did you tell her?"

"I did, don't worry," Cho winked.

"And what about you, Yugjae? Have you helped?"

He shook his head.

"I saw you guys talking in the room, but... no one explained what it was about..."

"Well, we're raising money online, only sharing it with our friends because Lu's dad is too prideful, and he wouldn't accept it if we handed him the money directly. So we're pooling our resources, and when we get at least half the amount, he'll have to accept it, because I'll make him accept it one way or another."

"Send him the link, Jaesun," Kimi asked. Jaesun took out his phone, nodding.

"And how much are you aiming for?"

"Twenty-five million won."

Yugjae raised his eyebrows, nodding. He looked at his phone, receiving the link to the online crowdfunding campaign from Jaesun, and opened it, checking the amounts that had already been donated.

"Is there a minimum or maximum amount?"

"No, and you're rich, right? You can help us a lot."

"Jaesun!" Lucy scolded him again. "Have some tact. Don't mind him. Just help if you can."

"Is this because of that conversation I overheard the other day?" Yugjae wanted to know. His eyes were still on his phone; he accessed his banking app, checking how much he had, as he rarely touched the money he saved there.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, unfortunately, everything is turning into a big snowball."

"But we're working it out," Jaesun said.

Yugjae quickly made a transfer that he thought was reasonable. He wanted to give more, much more, but he still needed to keep some money aside, as he planned to rent an apartment since it was his final year.

"It's going to work out," he said calmly, smiling at Lucy.

"DAMN!" Jaesun shouted, opening his eyes wide as he stared at his phone's screen. "Are you crazy?"

Yugjae was startled, looking at him with eyes as wide open as the others.

"That's seven million won?!" Jaesun turned the phone's screen, showing him the amount.

Lucy widened her eyes, looking at Yugjae in disbelief.

"Damn, you're really rich!" Kimi exclaimed. "Now we have almost eighteen million won!" She smiled.

Lucy still stood with her mouth open. She knew Yugjae had better financial means than everyone in their group of friends, but he was so unpretentious that she often forgot about it. But seeing those numbers of his donation, she was genuinely stunned.

"Is this... not going to affect you?" she asked, looking at him and getting even more surprised when he calmly shook his head. "Thank you so much. Really."

Yugjae smiled, making Lucy's heart flutter.

"It was nothing," he touched her hand, caressing the back of it. "We'll figure this out, okay?"

"Okay," she replied, nodding, her eyes shimmering with teary emotions that she had to make a tremendous effort not to let them roll down her cheeks.

The warm touch was nice, but it made the other two look at each other. Jaesun was starting to like Yugjae, so he didn't want to see him have a heartbreak. But at that moment, the way Lucy reacted to his touch, returning it warmly, surprised him. The girl seemed to understand what he felt and didn't push him away. Jaesun feared, but not just for Yugjae now.