AP CH 11 (Mighty Town)
by White LotusNam Seon-woo glanced diagonally across the table at Eun Hyeon-chae. Beneath his dense lashes, Hyeon-chae’s gaze was glued to the laptop screen. His slightly furrowed brows and tightly pressed lips betrayed his concentration. Watching him quietly for a moment, Seon-woo stood up without a sound.
As if on cue, Hyeon-chae immediately lifted his head. He closed his laptop without hesitation and stood to follow. The moment they stepped out of the reading room, he asked, “Where are you going?”
“Just stepping out for a smoke. I’ll be back soon, so why bother coming along?”
Seon-woo didn’t press further, knowing full well that telling Hyeon-chae to stay put would be futile. Instead, he pulled a drink from the vending machine and handed it to him.
The library’s designated smoking areas were unusually crowded, likely due to exam season. Seon-woo, unwilling to drag the non-smoker Hyeon-chae into the thick haze of smoke, opted to walk further away to a quieter spot.
The moment Seon-woo placed a cigarette between his lips, Hyeon-chae brought out a lighter and lit it for him. It was an action they had repeated so many times that Seon-woo no longer bothered to carry a lighter when Hyeon-chae was around.
As if satisfied with completing his small task, Hyeon-chae sat quietly on a nearby bench, gripping the drink Seon-woo had given him. Seon-woo looked down at him, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
“You’ve been working hard.”
“…Because you were watching, sunbae.”
The reply came swiftly, so sincere that Seon-woo couldn’t suppress a chuckle. He still wasn’t used to Hyeon-chae’s unfiltered honesty, no matter how often he heard it.
“Next week, don’t follow me around. Focus on your own studies.”
“Even if I follow sunbae, my grades won’t drop.”
The words “you think you’re so great” almost slipped out of Seon-woo’s mouth. Instead, he gave Hyeon-chae an incredulous look and said, “Except for two major courses, I have exams all next week. You don’t even know when I’ll be done—are you really planning to wait for me outside?”
“…Would that be so wrong?”
It seemed he genuinely meant it, judging by the tentative glance Hyeon-chae cast in Seon-woo’s direction. Smiling faintly, Seon-woo reached out with the hand not holding his cigarette and gently ruffled Hyeon-chae’s hair.
“I won’t be able to focus on my exams with the pressure. Stop being stubborn and don’t come next week.”
“……”
“I’ll treat you to drinks after the semester ends.”
At those words, Eun Hyeon-chae’s head shot up. His wide eyes met Nam Seon-woo’s, who arched a single brow. The gesture seemed to demand an answer, and Hyeon-chae quickly nodded, his face lighting up with a radiant smile.
***
Having finished his last exam, Seon-woo headed to the student lounge. Around twenty people had already gathered, all appearing busy with preparations for the upcoming ski camp, which was less than two weeks away.
“We’ve already booked the charter bus and the itinerary is all set.”
“What about the room assignments?”
“We haven’t received all the applications and consent forms yet. The deadline is this week, and once we get everything, it’ll be easy to divide the rooms since we have plenty available.”
“Alright. Since it’s exam season, let’s not rush—Nam Seon-woo!”
Choi Lee-won, who had been talking to Dong-geon, waved enthusiastically at Seon-woo upon seeing him. Seon-woo approached, casually flipping through the stack of papers on the table. They contained detailed schedules, checklists, and a list of supplies.
“You’re here early. Did your exams go well?”
“Probably.”
“Didn’t you attend all your classes this time? Wow, now that we’re in our third year, I get to see how Nam Seon-woo is focusing on managing his grades.”
It wasn’t really about managing his grades. Truthfully, he had put in more effort because of Eun Hyeon-chae. Before, he had often skipped a class or two, casually brushing it off as a self-declared break. But now, he couldn’t help but pay closer attention to his attendance. Seon-woo simply smiled without a word.
“Is there anything I need to do?”
As he glanced around and asked, Choi Lee-won grabbed his wrist and pulled him down to sit beside him.
“You’re coming with me. The uniforms just arrived, so we need to visit the factory to check the samples. It won’t take long…… Let’s leave at four. You don’t have anything else planned for today, right?”
As if it were the most natural thing, Lee-won asked, and Seon-woo nodded, dropping his bag to the floor.
“Take your time.”
With such a large group involved, there was plenty to prepare in advance. While the club officers worked on completing permission forms in one corner, Seon-woo joined the junior members in cutting name tags, folding guidebooks, and handling other small tasks. It was monotonous work, but they made light conversation as they went.
In the midst of their chatting, the conversation of two sophomores sitting to his right caught Seon-woo’s attention.
“Hey, did you hear? We got the most new members this year.”
“No way. Even more than the Alliance or CDB?”
“Yeah! After Eun Hyeon-chae joined, ten more people signed up during orientation. I thought at least half of them would quit before the camp, but only three have dropped out so far.”
“Come to think of it, kids in my department suddenly started asking me if I was in the ski club. Just so they could ask about Eun Hyeon-chae.”
Hearing Hyeon-chae’s name repeatedly, Seon-woo couldn’t suppress his curiosity and asked with a smirk,
“So, Hyeon-chae’s pretty popular, huh?”
At the sudden question, Su-jeong, who had been deep in conversation, turned to look at him with wide eyes, like a startled rabbit.
“Yes. He’s insanely popular. Your major was Business, right, sunbae? Over in Humanities, Fine Arts, and even the Agriculture College, there’s no one who doesn’t know Eun Hyeon-chae. Honestly, I was shocked to see how many people in Schuphur didn’t recognize him.”
“Oh.”
Seon-woo’s department and Hyeon-chae’s were on opposite ends of the campus, with different entrances and bus routes. He had always known this, but the reminder felt more poignant now. Fidgeting with his phone, he couldn’t help but think about the long distances Hyeon-chae must have traversed to meet him each time.
Jin-sol’s mouth fell open in disbelief at Su-jeong’s comment.
“What? Yang Su-jeong! You should’ve told me that earlier! Did you seriously keep that to yourself for three whole semesters? I’ve been robbed!”
“It’d be weird to just bring it up, don’t you think? Anyway, he used to be famous for never participating in department activities. Hardly ever talked, would just attend classes and leave. Barely anyone has even had a proper conversation with him. But ever since he joined Schuphur, people say they see him around school all the time now. Everyone’s asking me what Schuphur even does to keep him around so much….…”
“But we haven’t done anything yet.”
“Exactly! It’s so embarrassing.”
Su-jeong and Jin-sol burst into laughter, their voices echoing around the room. Ji-young chimed in from beside them, joining the conversation.
“There’s always stuff about him on the Hanguk University community forums too. People are constantly posting sightings. Apparently, they keep seeing two really handsome guys together. Sometimes they even talk about what they’re eating at the cafeteria.”
“Ugh, I hate that kind of thing. No matter how good-looking someone is, they’re just regular people. What happened to respecting their privacy?” Su-jeong said with a shudder.
Seon-woo, who had been unaware of any of this, wore an incredulous expression. His thoughts were interrupted by the vibration of his phone in his hand.
“But you know what’s really weird? Someone actually compiled all the sightings of Eun Hyeon-chae, and it added up to 40 credits. Can you believe that?”
“40 credits? Hahaha. That’s ridiculous! Either they miscalculated, or half those sightings are made up.”
“True. You can only trust about half of what’s posted there.”
“……Hello? Yes, hyung.”
Seon-woo gestured to the juniors that he was stepping out to take the call and got up from his seat.
—You said the camp venue wasn’t finalized yet. What’s the update?
“It’s been decided—it’s going to Inun.”
Dong-jin let out a disappointed groan, hesitating for a moment before speaking again.
—The twins and Mrs. Jin called me yesterday. They want you to book the lessons for them.
“Already?”
—Yeah. They called so early because they were worried someone else would snag you first! But how could you go to Inun so cold-heartedly?
Although the decision hadn’t been his, Seon-woo found himself caught in an awkward position. Sensing his hesitation, Dong-jin dropped all pretense and began to plead.
—Seon-woo-ya, come on. Teach us, please? Pretty please?
“That’s not exactly an easy thing to just… Hah… Anyway, you haven’t mentioned to them about me going to Inun yet, have you?”
—It’s your business, so I wouldn’t say anything without your permission.
“Once the camp schedule is finalized, I’ll reach out first. Don’t get your hopes up, though.”
—Fine. But you better let me know by next week!
Hanging up the call, Seon-woo sighed heavily.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Dong-jin’s perspective. Sure, the camp schedule was packed, but as someone who was never heavily involved in leadership roles, it wasn’t impossible for him to carve out some personal time. Yet, he kept declining, not because he couldn’t manage it, but because… he simply didn’t want to mix personal commitments into a space where Lee-won was present. Whatever the situation, Lee-won’s priorities came first, and Seon-woo couldn’t imagine putting anything above that.
When Seon-woo returned to the clubroom, it seemed the work had already been wrapped up. Lee-won stood outside, holding both his own bag and Seon-woo’s.
“Where did you go?”
“Just stepped out to take a call.”
“Who was it?”
“Dong-jin hyung. He was asking if I could help out this time.”
“Ah, Hwang Dong-jin… And? What did you say?”
“Nothing much. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Did you agree to it?”
Lee-won’s unusually persistent questioning made Seon-woo glance at him with a look that said, Why are you asking so many things? He answered casually.
“I said no.”
“Good call.”
Only then did Lee-won smile.
***
Driving to the factory in Cheonan in Lee-won’s car to inspect the uniforms had taken longer than expected, and by the time they were done, it was already eight o’clock. As Seon-woo estimated what time they’d get home, he turned to Lee-won and said,
“I’ll drive on the way back.”
“Okay. Are you hungry? Let’s grab a bite to eat first. There’s no rush.”
With exams over and the evening well past, Seon-woo was feeling hungry too, so he nodded without hesitation.
However, as soon as they sat down at a restaurant and Lee-won ordered a bottle of soju, handing Seon-woo a glass, Seon-woo shook his head.
“I’ll pass. I have to drive.”
“We can sleep over and head back tomorrow.”