The Versatile Master Artist

Koizumi Katsuko’s fingers trembled slightly, and she hit the wrong letter.

She looked at the screen full of spelling and grammar mistakes highlighted in red by the Office document’s auto-correct function.

After reading a few sentences randomly, she gave up struggling and decided to correct it later at home.

”No, maybe rewriting it might be a faster option.”

Koizumi Katsuko was somewhat distracted,

Ever since she glimpsed Gu Weijing sketching on drawing paper, the girl’s mind was no longer on the paper in front of her.

”A quick sketch? But these lines and shapes look quite different from traditional sketches.”

”Looks like he’s really good with the pen... Wait, is he drawing me?”

”Oh no, oh no, oh no, is my hair a bit messy?”

Koizumi Katsuko’s mind was in a tizzy,

feeling a bit at a loss.

One moment she worried about her hair being messy, wondering if the little pink cat hair clip on her short hair looked a bit childish.

The next moment, Koizumi Katsuko regretted not remembering to use her mom’s myriad cosmetics to put on a simple light makeup before leaving home.

If it were any other day,

No matter the choice of painting model or her daily life, as someone inclined towards classical style, Koizumi Katsuko never liked wearing makeup.

Naturalness is beauty,

She always felt that artificial foundation would cover up the natural texture of the skin, and eyeshadow seemed even more unnecessary.

The cosmetics her mom gave her before were all stuffed into the bottom drawer of her bedroom; Koizumi Katsuko never cared for the various makeup techniques other than applying some skincare moisturizer.

But now,

She felt as if there was a little drum in her heart, beating unpredictably.

This is the first drawing by Gu Weijing with her as the model,

She was inexplicably worried about whether she was as charming as other girls her age.

Fortunately,

As the daughter of a great painter,

Koizumi Katsuko had been Uncle Sakai’s painting model almost since she was lying in a crib.

She knew what she should do now was just to keep still, not to move, giving Gu Weijing a better painting experience.

However, she had absolutely no mind to write the paper, and for the past ten minutes, she was more about maintaining the ”typing at the computer” pose.

”By the way, Shengzi, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”

Koizumi Katsuko heard the boy’s voice by her ear, feeling flustered, the little drum in her chest beating even faster.

In the quiet of the afternoon reading room, with just the two of them, the boy was drawing the girl.

The scene was indeed romantic and somewhat ambiguous.

Is he about to confess?

We’ve only known each other for a little over a month, is this pace a bit too fast?

Koizumi Katsuko’s breath tightened, yet her lips involuntarily curled into a sweet arc.

Facing Gu Weijing now, compared to the painting Koshiba Tarou gave her, Koizumi Katsuko’s feelings were completely different.

They had more to talk about, a better understanding.

Many times, Koizumi Katsuko couldn’t even feel the passage of time when with him.

”Hmm... I’m willing.”

Koizumi Katsuko hummed with a nasal tone, her face as red as a peach blossom.

”What?”

Gu Weijing didn’t understand the meaning behind the girl’s words.

”I mean, I’d be happy to help you.”

Koizumi Katsuko realized she misunderstood.

A trace of barely noticeable disappointment flashed across her face, but she responded quickly and immediately changed her tone.

”You haven’t heard what the help is.” Gu Weijing said.

”It’s okay...”

Koizumi Katsuko turned her head, gazing into Gu Weijing’s eyes.

”As long as it’s something I can do, I’d be happy to help you,” she said in a soft voice.

Gu Weijing was somewhat moved.

Even though he was somewhat slow with emotions, he realized at this moment that Koizumi Katsuko’s attitude towards him was indeed different.

After Mrs. Sakai’s conversation with him last week, Gu Weijing even felt she was being overly sentimental.

In some corner of his heart, Gu Weijing always thought it was absurd for Miss Sakai to fall in love with him.

It wasn’t that he was humble, but because he was rational.

Girls like Koizumi Katsuko, who were especially favored by fate, had a world of excellent peers to choose from.

There were better-looking, wealthier, and candidates with much better family backgrounds waiting in line.

What was Gu Weijing compared to that?

Not to mention,

When Mrs. Sakai boastfully praised Koshiba Tarou in front of him, Gu Weijing wasn’t actually upset.

If he had a daughter,

He would also hope his daughter would choose a boy from a family well-matched in social status as a partner.

But now,

Gu Weijing clearly realized Miss Sakai’s fondness for him.

This made it even harder for him to bring up the next topic.

”Could you help recruit an additional student in Mrs. Sakai’s advanced class?” Gu Weijing hesitated for a moment but asked.

”Oh, who is it?”

Koizumi Katsuko tilted her head.

”You just transferred here, so you might not know. She’s a student from our school named Mona Sandunu.”

”That’s the student council president.”

”You know Mona?”

Gu Weijing asked in surprise.

”Hmm, she is indeed a pretty girl.” Koizumi Katsuko uttered a nasal sound with no apparent meaning.

She paused for a few seconds, seemingly a bit unwilling: ”I heard people at school say you two used to have a good relationship, but she seems a bit indifferent towards you, appearing very cold and difficult to approach... Sorry, I shouldn’t speak ill of her behind her back.”