LCL 34

Thinking about it, Lim Dae-han wasn’t always gentle. Even in high school, he was naturally strong, so he had a bit of a rough side, and although he didn’t talk much, he tended to dominate his surroundings with his atmosphere and strength.

In our second year of high school when we first shared a class, the classroom atmosphere would change depending on whether Lim Dae-han was there or not. Even though he didn’t do anything particularly bad in the classroom, there was an air of intimidation.

I finished my assignment earlier than expected and had nothing to do. I sat in the garden near the library, basking in the sunlight. Amidst people gathered in groups chatting or sitting alone looking visibly tired, I looked up at the sky.

After entering university, going through campus life, MT, and midterms, May was already passing by.

Somehow… time felt different from high school. It passed incredibly quickly. Whether it’s because the semester is short or because there are so many events. I’m not sure of the reason.

More than half of the semester has already passed. It was a season between spring and summer clothes. The weather was gradually becoming muggy.

It feels like summer is coming earlier than last year… I’m sure it wasn’t this hot around this time before.

Anyway, it’s hot.

Should I go to a cafe as Lim Dae-han suggested? I checked the group chat to see the time, but there was no message from anyone saying class was over. Well, they should still be in lecture.

Do I have to wait like this every time during group projects? Maybe it would be better to go home. But having always commuted with Lim Dae-han, even imagining going alone felt lonely.

At some point, it became difficult to imagine doing anything alone.

“Hmm…”

It seems a bit strange.

I moved my head around while rubbing my chin. As I was absent-mindedly rolling my eyes, a familiar figure caught my attention. A man with curly, bushy hair wearing gold-rimmed glasses looked familiar yet unfamiliar, and while not completely strange, it was a face I had seen somewhere before.

Is he a senior? The central library is close to the Business School, so seniors often come and go…

While I was blankly staring at him, our eyes met. He smiled brightly as if he had met someone he knew.

He seemed to know me. But I still don’t know who he is. Is he really a department senior? I half-rose from my seat, awkwardly bowing my head.

“Hello.”

I mumbled quietly, though he probably couldn’t hear. As I gave my clumsy greeting, he approached me. Sometimes there were seniors who would come over and talk instead of just passing by.

Usually, I was with my classmates, so they didn’t bother talking to me specifically. Because they were so noisy and boisterous. But now I was alone, so I had to somehow continue the conversation.

I was already uncomfortable with seniors, and not remembering him made me even stiffer. I bit my lip, feeling awkward.

What year is he? When did I see him? What should I talk about?

He had a handsome face, so I should have remembered if I had seen him before. Or not? Did I meet him in an elective class? But why is he acting like he knows me…

The man sat next to me and spoke in a friendly manner.

“Did you enjoy the drink? I thought you were greedy for not giving me a sip.”

Damn.

I finally remembered.

Come to think of it, he’s not even a senior from our department. My brow furrowed involuntarily.

‘Should I open it for you?’

‘Give it to me, I won’t take it away.’

‘I opened it for you when you were struggling, and you didn’t even offer me a sip? How rude.’

He was that man I met at Sky Park. How could I forget? It was just last Friday, and his appearance wasn’t vague either. I had completely forgotten about him.

“……”

Since my first impression of him wasn’t very good, I remained silent in my seat. Whether I showed my discomfort or not, the man smiled and tried to make conversation, pretending to be nice.

“What are you doing?”

“Just sitting here.”

“What are you just doing?”

“Waiting to do a group assignment.”

If it were my brother, he would have said, “Why do you care?” and Lim Dae-han would have responded with a tone implying “Why are you asking?” But I straightforwardly told the truth. This is the problem. This is probably why I seem easy to push around.

“Ah, I see.”

The man nodded and turned to face me. His gaze felt uncomfortable. I pretended not to notice and acted distracted.

I don’t understand why he’s talking to me. All he did was open a drink can for me. And he even tried to take a sip from it.

Keeping my guard up, I only rolled my eyes to observe the man. As soon as our eyes met, a very late, but not particularly welcome, introduction came.

“I’m Moon Ji-woo from the Business Administration department.”

“Okay…”

“I’m one year ahead of you.”

Honestly, I’m not that curious. Neither about his name nor his year. I nodded silently. Instead of looking at the man next to me, I looked straight ahead and saw a couple enjoying a date on the opposite bench.

Good for them-.

As I was mulling over this thought like a prematurely aged person, the man muttered to himself.

“How rude…”

“Pardon?”

The sudden remark was aimed at me. Are you talking to me? Bewildered, I asked back, and the man shrugged.

“Don’t you know about give and take? When I say I’m Moon Ji-woo, don’t you have something to say?”

“……”

“Is the Economics department so individualistic that everyone is this closed off and hostile? Is it a department characteristic?”

I was beyond bewildered, even flustered. As I blinked at him, he pretended not to notice. You criticize someone else’s department like that and then act like you don’t know?

Wait, how does he know I’m in the Economics department? I don’t think I mentioned it.

“How do you know I’m in the Economics department?”

“All the kids wandering around the Business School are pretty much the same. You don’t seem to be in Business Administration.”

“There are many other departments too.”

“I know someone in the Economics department, and I saw you with them. Since you seemed to be a junior, I figured you’re in Economics.”

“Ah.”

“So now, tell me about yourself.”

“I’m Ki Young-hyun, and I’m 20 years old. But which senior did you see me with?”

I rarely spend time alone with seniors. I usually hung out with my classmates, and if I had encountered a senior alone, it might have been Hyuna sunbae last week.

“I’m not going to tell you.”

The man teased me with a curved eye smile. As I’ve felt since before, he’s really a strange person. He’s not someone I want to associate with. Not wanting to talk anymore, I turned my head straight ahead.

I tapped the ground with the sole of my shoe. Strangely, there were no familiar faces among the groups of people around. I was hoping to spot even one classmate so I could quickly approach them saying, “Who’s that?” But since it was awkward to just get up and leave, I ended up just scratching below my nose.

“……”

Glancing sideways, I saw the man was also looking straight ahead. Despite his uncomfortable personality, his appearance wasn’t bad. To be honest, I’m surrounded by people who are quite good-looking, so my standard for first impressions is quite high.

But this man, Moon Ji-woo, had a fairly likable face as long as he kept his mouth shut. How can someone who looks so normal have such a personality?

He kept probing but didn’t actually reveal anything. It would be better if he just got angry outright.

Anyway, it was clear I didn’t like him, so I pouted my lower lip and put on a sullen face. I wish he would leave, but that didn’t seem likely. I rolled my eyes slightly to observe the man.

I only meant to see what he was doing, but our eyes met again. I quickly averted my gaze. I don’t even know how long he had been staring. Why does his gaze feel so burdensome? I clenched my fist tightly on my knee. The man said what I was about to say.

“Why are you staring like that?”

“You, ahem, you were looking first…”

My throat felt dry. I felt thirsty.

“Weren’t you sitting here staring at me continuously earlier? Your gaze was so intense I had no choice but to turn around.”

“……”

I had nothing to say. Come to think of it, I was looking at him first before he noticed me. With a face wondering if he was a senior or not.

“Sigh-.”

I sighed without realizing it. I realized he was someone I couldn’t argue with. If he fell into water, only his mouth would float.

In the end, I bit my lip and took out my phone. I halfheartedly opened the messenger app. Only the group chat with my classmates had notifications, while the project group chat was quiet.

There’s nothing to do. From next week, I should just go home. I could rest for even an hour and then come back leisurely. The weather is nice, although it’s hot.

“You’re just fiddling with your phone when you’re with someone?”

I didn’t ask you to come here. I looked at him with a sullen expression, and he continued.

“I’ve seen Ki Young-hyun before.”

I know. You said you saw me with a senior.

“Actually, I don’t know anyone in the Economics department.”

“What?”

“But I still knew that Ki Young-hyun was in the Economics department.”

I’ve never been the type to stand out much. I’m not bad at getting along with others, but I’m certainly not someone who shines when mixed in a group.

I’ve just lived an ordinary life. Setting aside the man’s lie, how did I catch his attention?

“How did you know?”

“I’ve been seeing you since March.”

“Where?”

“At school, of course.”

“Ah…”

A stupid exclamation escaped at his obvious answer. The man covered his mouth with his fist and laughed, then looked at me with a strange expression and prodded.

“Did you misunderstand that I saw you outside?”

“No?”

“Oh, well.”

It wasn’t a particularly fruitfull or interesting conversation. It was difficult to talk with a man who hid himself while trying to subtly probe the other person. I decided to think of it comfortably.

Well. He probably just noticed me. Aren’t there people who keep appearing strangely after you encounter them once? Not wanting to ask more, I firmly closed my lips.

I just fiddled with my phone. Just then, I got a message from Lim Dae-han. He said his lecture ended and he’s coming to the central library. I have nothing to do, so I might as well go meet Lim Dae-han.

I stood up and looked down at the man. Whether he dyed his hair or it was damaged, his brown hair shimmered with a golden hue in the sunlight.

I’m going to go first, should I say goodbye…? The ending was awkward, so I chose my words. Hmm, what should I do? As I rolled my eyes around, Moon Jiwoo tilted his head back and met my gaze.

“Are you going into the library? Let’s go together.”

“No. I’m not going right now. I’m going to pick up my classmate. You go ahead, go ahead.”

“Girlfriend?”

“No. I said classmate.”

“Or is it a boyfriend?”

What did I just hear? My eyes widened. My gaze was fully focused on the man.

Wrinkles like cat whiskers appeared at the corners of the smiling man’s eyes. Unlike how I had been snapping at him all along, this time I couldn’t say a word.

Feeling my mouth dry up, I just swallowed hard several times without being able to make any reply. The man who had been smiling brightly turned without blinking.

“Aren’t you curious where I saw Ki Young-hyun?”

What do you mean by boyfriend?

Do you know something so you’re saying that? Or are you just probing?

Are you joking?

I had a bunch of questions I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t easily open my mouth.

“…Not really. I’m not interested.”

An alarm went off in my head. It told me not to get involved with this man anymore, not to exchange words, and to cut it off nicely. My thoughts branched out in dozens of directions.

Should I just ignore him and leave? Or should I ask what he means? Should I immediately deny it, saying he’s mistaken? My tangled thoughts knotted up like a ball of thread.

What should I do? I bit my lip hard, then belatedly tried to act as if nothing was wrong, as if I didn’t know anything, slightly raising the corners of my mouth. There was no need to open my mouth above the water surface, asking for bait to be thrown.

“Are you really not curious?”

“I… well.”

“You’ll be surprised if you hear it.”

Instead of answering, I swallowed my breath.

“The west gate of the medical school, and.”

“……”

“The corner stairs of the business school and the underground parking lot.”

Before I could even recall in detail the places the man mentioned, goosebumps instinctively rose. Although I didn’t know the exact names of the places he mentioned, I vividly knew those places.

The stairs located in the corner of the business school were far from the lecture rooms, so students rarely passed by. I frequented that place too often, just to be with Lim Dae-han for a moment.

I also consistently used the west gate when commuting with Lim Dae-han, and the underground parking lot goes without saying. I’m sure I checked that no one was there, but how does this man know and recite it all?

“……”

I silently looked at the man. Only then did he stand up from his seat. Our gazes intertwined. My mind went blank.

What did Lim Dae-han and I do there?