Episode 3
Yunseo walked toward the dormitory building and dialed her grandmother’s number.
When she was a freshman, she couldn’t stay in the dorm during vacations, so she would spend her time at her grandmother’s house. This year, the rules had changed, allowing students to stay in the dorm over breaks. It had been a while since she last saw her grandmother.
“Hello?”
“Grandma, it’s Yunseo. Are you asleep already?”
“It’s already ten o’clock, ten o’clock,” her grandmother replied.
After their father’s car accident, Yunseo and her younger brother Junseo had been raised by their grandmother. She worked as a live-in housekeeper, moving from house to house, and still worked in Seongbuk-dong. Yunseo had grown up eating the hardships of her grandmother like daily bread.
“Why isn’t my puppy sleeping? Can’t sleep?” her grandmother asked.
“No, I’m sleepy. I’m walking back to the dorm,” Yunseo said.
“Your eyesight is getting worse from staring at the computer. Are you taking the eye drops I sent?”
“I’m taking multivitamins with lutein and omega-3. Grandma, you should take care of yourself too.”
Talking with her grandmother always left Yunseo with a mixture of gratitude and a pang of sadness. Her grandmother was the sole source of income for their household, a constant reminder of the sacrifices that had made Yunseo’s life possible. College was a luxury, but she refused to give it up. She lived wisely, successfully, on her own terms.
“Don’t live too hard, my child.”
“If you don’t use force, it’s hard to stay on your feet, Grandma,” Yunseo replied, smiling.
Her grandmother chuckled softly. “Well, my puppy’s tongue is so light, it feels like it could fly.”
Yunseo laughed despite herself. “My pretty baby. But Junseo… you don’t even contact me properly. Where are you, and what are you doing?”
Sometimes, Yunseo wanted to vent her frustrations about not being able to live a normal student life, about having so little, to someone. In those moments, she would listen to her grandmother’s voice and steel herself with the thought: I can’t be like that.
“Why isn’t Junseo going to school again? Did his homeroom teacher call?”
“You’re a total idiot. You should have broken my leg with a club halfway there,” her grandmother replied.
“I’ll try to contact him, Grandma. I promise.”
That bastard Han Junseo. Where the hell are you?
“I’m almost at the dorm. Grandma, sleep well today and eat well.”
After their final greetings, Yunseo hung up. Stretching, she muttered the things she had learned that day and entered the dormitory’s common lounge.
“Han Yunseo! Here! Are you hungry?”
Seo Jin-ho, already seated, waved a sandwich at her while opening it himself. Yunseo took out her textbook and laptop.
Wherever Jin-ho went, he stood out—nearly 190cm tall, with the air of a refined young gentleman. Being a second-year student in her first major class, his presence drew the attention of everyone around.
“Did you understand anything in class today? You look like you’re having fun.”
“Of course I understand—it’s my major. For you, it’s just a hobby, so it’s natural that you wouldn’t.”
High-priced private tutoring was no longer an option, even for someone at a prestigious university. After a painful freshman year, Yunseo had refined her approach: share what she learned with others. Reviewing material herself, teaching it to peers, she absorbed knowledge twice over.
And surprisingly, deep-pocketed students—some even with gangster reputations—were scattered throughout the university.
“Your brother majored in business administration, right?” Jin-ho asked.
“Uh… why?”
“Why waste money on a scholarship? Doesn’t it feel bad lowering your grades?”
“Not really. I’m already thinking about whether I should even graduate here.”
“Are your grades really that bad? Judging by your understanding, it doesn’t seem… but I guess you’re not really cut out for development.”
“Hey, Han Yunseo,” Jin-ho said, frowning, putting down his tablet pen with a clatter. Yunseo tossed her empty sandwich wrapper into the trash as he spoke.
“Okay, I’ll teach you what I learned today! If you don’t graduate, I’ll feel bad for wasting my time.”
“My grades are fine!” Yunseo protested.
“I only believe what I see with my own eyes.”
She pushed his hand away when he tried to show her his report card and opened the data on her laptop.
“Then let’s make a bet. Whoever has higher grades buys the meal.”
“Why me?”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
“No, it’s not that. I just want to eat something really expensive.”
Jin-ho eagerly accepted, unaware that Yunseo had been a top student last year. She remained absorbed in her development language on the monitor, eyes sparkling with excitement at applying what she’d learned. Jin-ho, meanwhile, began tearing his hair out.
“That’s ridiculous! How can you get grades like that, Han Yunseo?”
“Yes. I’m a genius,” she replied dryly, and Jin-ho fell silent.
Meanwhile, rumors about Kwon Do-hyun being banned from the central library spread through the business administration department and reached his mother within a day.
“I wondered who that crazy kid drinking in the library was… and it was my son?”
“Mrs. Kang, there are a lot of ears here. Really…”
Do-hyun’s mother, elegant and poised, oversaw DK’s headquarters with composure.
“I actually thought it was water… it was alcohol?”
“Kwon Do-hyun!”
Before he could respond, his mother grabbed his ear and stamped her foot.
“Just kidding. The library is so quiet you can hear people breathing. How boring it must be to sit there for hours over a week,” she chided.
It had been an unreasonable request from the start. Why would he put his name on a foundation project while still a student? He could have done it later, after officially joining DK.
“Your brother said he was going to use this to make a deal with the Blue House. Do you know how many billions of won he spent on these foundation projects?”
“If I mess up, I won’t be able to recover, right?”
Do-hyun’s throat felt parched that day, the whiskey he’d brought from home tasting bittersweet, even with the faint scent of chocolate.
He remembered the woman sitting next to him in the library, her focused gaze and tightly pursed lips. Her eyes, large and expressive, made him almost forget himself. Even while staring, she tucked her hair behind her ear casually, revealing a flawless, makeup-free face.
She blinked only rarely, tilting her head back as if her eyes stung. Their eyes met, lingering for a long, silent moment.
Do-hyun felt his heart race. She was beautiful—surprisingly, undeniably so. He sucked in a deep breath from his tumbler. Whiskey. Right.
Her wide, astonished eyes met his again. She looked like a shooting star, captivating and fleeting.
Even as he complimented her, she flushed, lips trembling slightly.
“Kwon Do-hyun. Are you listening to me?”
“Well then… Mrs. Kang, what about me? Objectively speaking.”
He teased her, noting how she fluttered around expressionlessly, jokingly offering his number while commenting on her beauty. The colder her expression became, the more entertained he was.
Even passing dogs would know: Kwon Do-hyun was undeniably handsome.
“A tall, distracting, threatening, self-indulgent, reckless bum who lives life his own way?”
“Yes… her,” he thought.
“I told you to focus on school before transferring to the US. And you’re drinking in the library?”
“But I’m the only one who got into Seoul National University. All my cousins got into trouble. I’m the only one who received a stock gift from Grandfather Wang.”
“If you can’t even speak…”
Yet, Mrs. Kang’s pride shone through.
“Your father is coming. Mom has stopped working at the library. But, son… how is Mom today?”
Do-hyun couldn’t help but smile. Even as his mother approached with swan-like grace, carefully presenting a small bag, he knew that, for all her scolding, she was proud of the son she had raised.
What had happened at the library? What kind of damage had been caused? The person who reported it must have had a seriously blocked life.
