Drawing Her

Roseanne nodded and began drawing the first general lines on the large sketch block resting on the easel. She didn't dare to gaze long upon Ji Rin's face, so she focussed on drawing the rough sketch of her body first.

Ji Rin noticed Roseanne's gaze becoming more steady as she drew, and when she gazed deliberately in her face after a while, a flutter filled her chest at the intensity of the girl's rich, azure eyes. Others had looked at her before in various ways, even undressed her with their eyes, but this was the first time she felt truly naked before someone, and the thrill made her glad she followed her instincts and spoke to the shy girl in the coffee shop.

Roseanne drew for a long while before she put down the last pencil she used, and leaned back a little while her mind began to clear. 'There's still some details to fill in and areas to shade, but the most important parts are done.'

'I can finally stand.' Ji Rin said, and slid off of the stool and stretched her legs and back, and went to the easel to have a look. Her heart skipped a beat at the portrait that looked better than any photo she'd seen of herself, even if it wasn't completely finished. She thought there was so much life and subdued expression in it. 'Wow. This is me?'

Roseanne looked at the frown on Ji Rin's face as she examined the portrait a little closer, and snapped completely out of her concentration. 'I'm sorry. It'll be better when I finish it.'

Ji Rin gave her a little smile. 'I wonder how much.' she said, then looked up at the clock hanging on the wall between the windows. 'Oh crap! I need to go.' She went to the hallway door, stepped into her shoes, and grabbed her jacket. 'Wait for me tomorrow after lectures again.' she said, and stepped into the hallway.

Roseanne stared at the door until she heard her front door shut, and still hadn't quite grasped what was going on. 'Okay?' she muttered and looked back at the portrait. Her heart pounded when she realised she'd gazed straight into Ji Rin's face while drawing and hid her face in her hands in embarrassment.

2 - Awakening

Roseanne didn't share her last lectures with Ji Rin, but to make sure she didn't make the same mistake, she waited outside the classroom on a two-seater couch with hard fabric arm rests and back just outside the door. She had finished the portrait during the evening while wondering what exactly was going on. When she looked at Ji Rin's face on paper, she saw no glint of maliciousness, no anger. She actually thought she was very attractive and was reminded of why she had drawn her in the first place. But she still couldn't tell what was on the girl's mind and it made her nervous. With no idea if Ji Rin really liked what she had drawn the day before, since she hadn't seen her all day, even in the coffee shop, she still wondered if she might still tell the whole campus about what she'd seen in her apartment, Roseanne couldn't calm down during the entire day and began to shift in her seat in a futile attempt to find a relaxing position.

When Ji Rin appeared in the hallway, Roseanne watched her with a mixed feeling of relief and trepidation. The girl wore a white t-shirt with a single black music note on it, which stood in stark contrast to her leather jacket and skirt. Her expression was neutral as usual and Roseanne didn't know whether to smile or not.

'Hey.' said Ji Rin. 'Are you ready?'

'Yes.' said Roseanne, stood up to follow her outside, and tensed in surprise when the punk girl linked arms with her.

'This way.' said Ji Rin with a gesture of her head. 'We'll take a little detour.'

Roseanne recognised the small street with a variety of shops scattered along the whole length, and was surprised Ji Rin pulled her into an Asian restaurant. 'Hey, uncle.' said Ji Rin as she waved once at the big man wearing an apron in the back. Roseanne assumed it was a nickname since he clearly had no Asian features at all.

'Hey there, Ji!' he said as he went behind the long counter running along the left side of the slim interior. On the right were booths with high panels separating them. 'Came for your usual?'

'Yes.' Ji Rin said and guided Roseanne to seats at the front of the counter. 'But I'm paying. I brought an extra.'

The man walked up to the front and smiled at Roseanne. 'So I see.' He gestured at Ji Rin. 'I'm Herman, this girl's uncle from her mother's side, if that clears things up.'

Roseanne gave the man a smile and nodded. 'Roseanne.' she said, but there was still a question on her mind.

He could see it and chuckled. 'I was introduced by her father to Asian cuisine, and after a few years practising, I added it to the menu of the diner I owned at the time. It did very well and over time I ended up opening this restaurant.'

Roseanne nodded and smiled more. She loved stories like that.

'So, what would you like?' he said and looked at Ji Rin. 'Don't worry about paying, it's on the house for your cute friend as well.'

'Oh, but I-' began Roseanne but Ji Rin put a hand on her thigh. 'Thanks, uncle. I owe you one.' she said and leaned closer to Roseanne. 'No use protesting when he offers you a free meal.'

Herman grinned wide. 'I do a little of Korean, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Japanese, apart from local cuisine. Your choice.'

Roseanne always had trouble choosing and glanced at Ji Rin. 'I'll have what Ji Rin has.'

'Good choice!' he said and went back to the stoves.

'To go, uncle!' said Ji Rin and turned to Roseanne again. 'Uncle gives me one free meal a week. He'd feed me every day if he could, but this is the compromise between him and my mother.'

Roseanne chuckled. 'That sounds great.'

Ji Rin nodded. 'To return the favour, I help him out sometimes on very busy days.'

He served them a fruit juice drink and only when Ji Rin reached out for hers, did Roseanne sense the place on her thigh where she had held her hand suddenly cool down. She sipped her drink with a slight blush she couldn't quite explain.

Herman returned a little later with a cardboard box sporting the restaurant's logo and put it down on the counter. 'Enjoy your meal, you two. If there's anything you didn't like, let me know for next time.'

Ji Rin gave him a smirk. 'As if you ever made anything someone didn't like, uncle.'

He waved at them as they left, and they were soon back again in Roseanne's apartment where they unboxed everything on the table, and Roseanne regretted not finding out about that restaurant before. Ji Rin took a bite of noodles while she admired the work Roseanne had done on her portrait. If she squinted lightly, it came to life and her heart beat a little faster at the thought of being seen like this by her.

When she turned around, Roseanne fiddled with her noodles and glanced up, almost afraid to ask. 'Is it?'

Ji Rin nodded. 'It's good.' The relief was clear to her when Roseanne's shoulders relaxed and she took a big bite of noodles. and she thought it was cute. She sat down again, put the noodles on the table, and adjusted her stockings meticulously. The blush on Roseanne's face while trying to avert her gaze was priceless to her.

Roseanne couldn't take her eyes away from Ji Rin's legs for long, and did her best to concentrate on the delicious food when Ji Rin startled her by speaking up.

'I'm not satisfied with the pose though.' she said as she poked her chopsticks in the noodles and fished out a shrimp. 'I already had a feeling I would, so you'll have to draw one more.'

'One more?' said Roseanne and her nerves acted up again.

Ji Rin hummed while she chewed and swallowed the shrimp. 'I'm looking for that spark, that something that says boom! This is it!' She looked into Roseanne's eyes. 'I want to use your bed.'

Roseanne choked and coughed hard enough to hide her deeper blush. 'My, bed?'

'Yes.' Ji Rin said and gestured with her chopsticks to the food. 'Eat up, then I can show you what I mean.'

***

Roseanne moved her easel to her bed, which stood underneath the windows at the other corner of the room. Ji Rin looked at the neatly made up bed with cream coloured blankets and pillows from Roseanne's angle and nodded. 'Yes, this should work.' she said, and pulled her shirt over her head.

Roseanne blushed at once at the glimpse of Ji Rin's back in a fishnet top, and turned a little to the side. Ji Rin glanced at her and smiled in amusement as she put on her leather jacket, then went to the bed, and laid down on it with her knees pulled up, resting one leg on her other knee. 'Draw me like this now.'

Roseanne looked at her, and blushed more. Ji Rin's foot on the bed hid the view of her panties, and with her leather skirt crept up, it looked like she wasn't wearing underwear. On top of that, the angle revealed her chest clad in the fishnet top and the insides of her small breasts under the open leather jacket. She was sure the small shadow on top of her breast was her areola. 'Are you sure?' she said. 'Won't it be a little..?'

Ji Rin pulled up a pillow in her neck and laid her arms above her head. 'Nah, it's fine. Show me what you see.'

Roseanne sighed silently and nodded. A live model wasn't the same as a naked statue and for once she hoped her concentration would help her ignore what she now felt during drawing. She picked a pencil and went to work.

It didn't take long for her to be drawn deep into her concentration, and Ji Rin sensed the quiet storm behind the girl's intense gaze travelling the lengths of her legs, her half exposed chest, and her face as she sketched them. The light tingling and warmth moving along her skin caused a bigger thrill than the day before, and she pressed her foot a tad closer between her legs. Enough to feel her heel while avoiding rubbing herself too hard with the movement of her hips or abdomen at each breath.

By the time Roseanne descended from her drawing state of mind, Ji Rin drifted in the peaceful warm shell of her skin, and gazed with a slightly dreamy smile at her. She returned her pencils to the box and looked at the drawing. She couldn't quite make out what was different, but she couldn't deny thinking this one turned out better than the previous one.

Ji Rin startled her when she moved alongside her to see the result, and for a moment exposed one breast before the jacket fell back into place. Ji Rin leaned a little with her chest against her shoulder and laid her arm on the other while she examined the portrait. Despite the leather layer between them, Roseanne sensed the firm softness underneath and tried to keep her thoughts to the technical aspect of drawing.

'Okay, this is better.' Ji Rin said, straightened up, and moved back to the bed. 'It's going in the right direction.' She stretched her legs one by one with her feet on the edge of the bed and massaged the slight stiffness away, and was amused again at Roseanne averting her eyes. She pulled off her jacket and put on her t-shirt again, and stretched her arms upwards.

Roseanne didn't mean to gaze at Ji Rin's legs, as well as the small bumps and the little buttons pushing against the fabric of her t-shirt when the girl raised her arms, but her eyes were invariably drawn to them. Ji Rin lowered her arms and moved towards one of the racks with books and figurines. 'So many of these.' she said as she looked over the rows of colourful girls clad in colourful magic, android, animal, and other outfits.

Roseanne didn't quite know what to say to that. 'There's just so many characters that I like.'

Ji Rin picked one up wearing a outfit resembling a black leather mini skirt and jacket. Her hair was red with black streaks. 'She'd fit well with my friends.'

Roseanne came closer. 'That's Vivienne. She's the arch enemy of Cassy, the brunette in the light green dress.' she said and picked up the figurine. 'Vivienne is trying to take over the city with her minions, while Cassy keeps it safe with the help of her friends. The series is actually pretty good since they reveal a little bit more about the characters and their past and motivations with each episode, and those two are slowly getting to know one another and-' She became aware of Ji Rin's amused expression. 'And it's just fun to watch.' she said as she turned her gaze at the figurines in embarrassment of her excitement.

Ji Rin gave Vivienne back to Roseanne. 'Time for me to go.' she said, and went to pick up her jacket, put on her shoes, and step back to Roseanne. She held out her hand. 'Let me borrow Cassy.'

Roseanne's eyes went wide. 'Borrow?'

'Yes.'

Roseanne looked at the figurine in her hand and her imagination went wild with what Ji Rin had planned to do with her. She thought about refusing but the fear of what might happen if Ji Rin became angry prevented her from speaking up. She laid Cassy carefully in Ji Rin's hand and hoped she'd stay safe.

'See you tomorrow.' said Ji Rin as she left, and Roseanne went over to her easel, and slumped down on the stool. She looked at the expression on the face of the drawn Ji Rin, and wondered why she'd drawn her with dreamy eyes. Without looking, she picked a pencil from the box, and began on the finishing touches, starting with the stockings.

When Ji Rin came home, she placed Cassy underneath the lamp on her night stand.

***

Ji Rin surprised Roseanne when she and her friends came over to her table in the coffee shop the next day, and sat down casually with her. Ji Rin opened a plastic container with long, thin cookies. 'Want some? Uncle made these.'

'Ah, ehm, thank you.' Roseanne said and took one. She nibbled on the hearty snack while one of the friends, a girl with bright white, puffed up hair and jeans top and jacket, talked about setting up a new sound system at a club. She felt out of place since she never experienced casual encounters with people she wasn't acquainted with, and she still didn't know what to think of Ji Rin. Her phone lighting up caught her attention and she tapped to read the message from her mother. 'Oh shit.' she muttered and quickly gathered her things in her bag.

'Something wrong?' asked Ji Rin.

'My mother's coming by right after school. I have to clean up.'

'Oh, right.' said Ji Rin when she understood what she meant, and picked up her backpack. 'Frey, tell the professor something came up, will you?' She noticed Roseanne's puzzled look at her. 'What? I'm going to give you a hand,'

Roseanne didn't get the time to reply when Ji Rin took her elbow and marched outside with her, and confusion welled up from the delighted sting in her chest, but the worry about her mother's visit took over quickly. At her apartment, she asked Ji Rin to place books and figurines in cardboard boxes while she removed posters from the wall and unpacked the boxes with the fiction collection she had already read.

When they were done, Roseanne looked with some sadness at the less decorated walls and the mostly empty spaces on the shelf where her figurines stood just a short while ago. She still liked what was there now, but without the items that were purely fun to her, it wasn't the same. She looked at the time. Glad to see it was enough to spare before her mother arrived, she sat down with a sigh. 'Thank you.'

Ji Rin looked at the drawing of her on the bed. 'No problem.' she said and the same warmth that ran across her skin when Roseanne drew her returned. It confirmed she was on the right track.

Roseanne jumped up when the doorbell rang. 'She's here already!?' She hurried to her front door and pressed the button of the intercom. 'Hello?'

'Roseanne, dear, it's your mother.' came the voice from downstairs.

Roseanne pressed the door buzzer until she heard the click of the entrance door opening, opened her own front door a crack, and hurried back inside, worrying about how to explain her association with a punk girl when she gasped at the changed Ji Rin sitting on the couch.

'I borrowed some of your clothes.' she said, wearing a light blue sweater with the hem of the neck crossing the top of her chest to the shoulders and wide sleeves, and a pair of very light grey slacks. She took out her textbooks from her backpack and laid them out on the table.

'Roseanne?' came the voice from the hallway.

'Mother!' she said and went to greet her mother with kisses on her cheeks.

'There was some mail for you.' said her mother and handed her two envelopes. 'Are you doing well?'

'Yes.' Roseanne said while they stepped inside. 'I'm not worried about the upcoming tests.'

'I'd expect nothing less from you, dear.' Her mother said, then hesitated for a moment when she saw Ji Rin. 'Oh, hello.'

Roseanne recognised the way her mother looked at her when she expected an explanation for something that wasn't quite right in her eyes. 'Mother, this is Ji Rin, a classmate in a couple of advanced classes.'

Her mother raised an eyebrow. 'Advanced, really?'

'We were about to go through the chapters on applied algorithms for approximation of ranges in pi.' said Ji Rin. 'Quite interesting, if you'd like to hear about it?'

Roseanne's mother cleared her throat. 'I'm sure it is, but I have a busy afternoon.' she said and turned to Roseanne again. 'You have, interesting, classmates, dear.' She moved towards the windows and looked outside. 'I keep thinking how great the view you have here is.'

Roseanne froze when her mother turned and laid eyes on the portrait she forgot to hide.

Her mother leaned a little closer as she gazed at it, and glanced at Ji Rin casually reading in her book. 'You're not wasting time on strange things, are you? Like that children's nonsense?'

Roseanne fiddled with her fingers and looked down. 'No. I was just..'

'Oh, what do you think of it?' asked Ji Rin and stepped up to the easel. 'It's a new art project to discuss the separation of art style and subject. Can we combine classic styles of creating art, like drawing in the style of the old masters, with a subject that is completely out of place, in this case something you'd see in cheap advertising. Could you imagine finding something like this a few hundreds of years ago?'

Roseanne's mother snubbed the portrait. 'No, I couldn't.' she said and moved towards Roseanne. 'I'll be going now.'

Roseanne nodded and kissed her mother on the cheeks again, and let her out the door. When she returned to the room, she deflated. 'I'm sorry about her. She's..'

Ji Rin chuckled once. 'Overbearing. I saw.' she said and put her hands in her sides as she looked at the shelves. 'Let's exchange this lot again and cheer the place back up.'

Roseanne smiled and nodded. 'Yes.'

After everything was returned to their place, Ji Rin took a good look at her portrait again and tapped her lips. She liked the sensation crawling across her skin and wanted more. 'Not enough.' she muttered.

Roseanne looked up as she set out fresh tea for them. 'Sorry?'

'Not enough.' said Ji Rin. 'I still can't get the right feeling from this. Let's try a radically different pose.'

'Another one?'

'Yes.' said Ji Rin and unbuttoned and unzipped the slacks, and let them drop to the ground. 'Besides, you owe me one for saving you from your mother.'

Roseanne's heart skipped a beat at the sudden revelation of her lower body, and blushed and looked away when Ji Rin also pulled the sweater over her head and revealed her chest in the same fishnet top as the day before. The slight bounce of her breasts echoed in her mind and she focussed on what sort of drawing she'd have to make. 'What do you want to do?'

Ji Rin bent over at the side of the bed, placed one knee and her hands on it, and looked back. 'I want to try it like this.'

Roseanne had to puff out a breath when her face and chest turned hot at the sight of Ji Rin's smooth curved legs and her taut behind framed in nothing but stockings and black panties, creating perfect round edges around her thighs. The view of one breast in her top with her nipple poking through one of the holes only added to the drum of her heart beat.