CHAPTER 23
For a moment, I froze under all the eyes suddenly focused on me.
I was always used to standing behind Moon Ah-rin. Even when she stood in front, the attention usually stayed on her. This was the first time those gazes had reached me instead.
“Your name was Yoon Seol, right?”
“Professor Baek Ga-hee doesn’t memorize students’ names easily. You must’ve been impressive during the transfer exam.”
“Seriously, how did you hear all that? It was only ten seconds, but there were so many instruments.”
“I heard you were in the piano department. Is that right?”
The questions kept coming one after another.
I blinked in a daze, then gave a small smile and nodded.
“Yes, I was in the piano department.”
“I knew it!”
“Oh right, you’re the same age as Ah-rin, right? Then just speak casually with us.”
“Yeah, we’re all friends anyway.”
“You were amazing earlier. You totally got back at Professor Baek. She always embarrasses late students like that, but this time she got reversed on.”
“Exactly. That was so satisfying.”
They burst into laughter.
“You have perfect pitch, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought so.”
“Hey, do you think all perfect pitch is the same? I have perfect pitch too.”
“At least you have that. I always mess up ear training exams.”
“At Seol’s level, isn’t she like Jo Yoon-jae?”
Jo Yoon-jae?
I tilted my head at the unfamiliar name.
“Seol might not know. He’s in our year. They call him a genius. The professors absolutely adore him.”
“He was born with perfect pitch too.”
“They say he’s almost Mozart-level. You know that famous Mozart story, right?”
Of course I did.
Everyone knew the story about 14-year-old Mozart hearing a nine-part choral piece once and writing it down perfectly afterward.
There was someone here compared to Mozart?
‘I never heard about that before I regressed.’
If there were a genius who monopolized the professors’ attention, they should’ve stood out later too. But even the name felt unfamiliar.
“So what? He only has good ears.”
“That’s true.”
“Pfft.”
The atmosphere shifted slightly.
Then—
Someone suddenly held out their phone toward me.
“Can I get your number?”
“Huh?”
I was stunned again by the sudden request.
“We can work on assignments together later. If our free periods overlap, we can grab meals.”
“Yeah. You just transferred, so you probably don’t know much yet. It’s good to get close to your classmates.”
I flinched without realizing it.
It felt unfamiliar for someone to reach out to me first. But… it didn’t feel bad.
Just as I carefully began to extend my hand—
“What should we do? Seol’s a bit shy.”
Moon Ah-rin stepped in front of me.
“And we have our next class right away. The classroom’s pretty far, so we’ll be late if we don’t hurry. Seol, let’s go!”
“Huh?”
“We’ll head out first!”
She cut off my words and grabbed my hand.
I tried to pull away, but her grip was firm. Before I could fully process it, I was already walking down the hallway with her.
For some reason, her profile looked unfamiliar today.
‘No… was she always like this?’
She subtly blocked people from approaching me, trying to keep me within her world.
Even in the past, I had vaguely noticed it. But I hadn’t cared. I thought it was fine as long as I had Ah-rin.
I didn’t want her to have friends other than me either. I thought we had an unspoken agreement to belong to each other exclusively.
But…
“Why did you do that?”
I asked her.
“We still have thirty minutes before our next class.”
“……”
She suddenly stopped walking.
When she turned around, her face was filled with concern.
“Seol, there’s nothing good about getting close to them.”
“What?”
“You heard them talking about Jo Yoon-jae earlier.”
The mood had shifted strangely back there. The way they mocked him had felt uncomfortable.
“They talk behind people’s backs, and they’re not good people. If you gave them your number, they’d whine for you to come to drinking parties, then twist everything you say and spread it to their close friends to make you look weird.”
Her tone was firm and certain.
“I’m not even that close to them. They were just pretending because they wanted to talk to you.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. I just blocked them because I didn’t want you to get into trouble. I didn’t mean anything else. … Was I being too nosy?”
She smiled awkwardly, as if she truly had no other intention.
“I don’t talk about it much, but there are a lot of strange people in our department. They shine on the outside, but inside they’re rotten. If you get close to them, it’ll only give you headaches.”
Her voice was soft and caring. Like someone trying to protect me.
“So… if you want to make friends in the future.”
She grabbed both my shoulders. Her grip was stronger than it looked, almost painful.
Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered,
“Ask me first. I’ll tell you who’s okay and who you shouldn’t get close to.”
“……”
“Okay? And don’t tell anyone I said this.”
She stepped back and winked.
I gave a short smile and nodded.
“Okay. I will.”
Only then did she smile in satisfaction.
“Alright, let’s go to our next class!”
***
“Everyone, please submit your assignments over here!”
The teaching assistant called from the front. I took my sheet music out of my bag.
Moon Ah-rin naturally extended her hand.
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what?”
She looked at me as if it were obvious.
“Mine?”
“Yours?”
“Yeah. When we got the assignment, I clearly said I’d give you the chance to get feedback from the professor, remember?”
I flipped through my music folder and tilted my head.
“Did you? Ah… sorry. I forgot.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“You said you’d help with ideas and find reference songs. But since you didn’t say anything after that, I thought you were doing it yourself.”
“…So you really didn’t do it?”
“No.”
She looked like she couldn’t believe it. Her face even seemed to turn pale.
I added casually,
“You should’ve at least asked once how it was going.”
Her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something but held it back. The corners of her eyes twitched.
“Seol. You said you’d do it. How can you suddenly change like this? Then give me your assignment instead.”
“Everyone got different base melodies. That won’t work.”
“Then what am I supposed to—! Ha…”
She almost snapped but barely held herself back.
Her face stiffened, as if her insides were twisting.
I shrugged.
“You don’t need to worry. You usually do so well. Missing one assignment won’t be a big deal.”
I smiled slightly and added,
“Unlike me.”
Before she could respond, I walked to the teaching assistant, gave my student number, and submitted my assignment.
The assistant checked the attendance sheet next to the list of submissions.
Even as I returned to my seat, Ah-rin’s complexion was still pale. Her lips had turned slightly bluish.
At that moment, the classroom door opened.
“Alright, everyone, take your seats~.”
It was Jung Tae-sung.
The assistant handed him the organized assignments and list. He greeted them loudly and took them.
“See? You all say you can’t do it, but you actually did well, didn’t you?”
“Boo!”
“It was hard!”
The students grumbled, but he didn’t mind.
“Should I skip roll call today? We’ll use the assignment submission list instead. Anyone who didn’t do the assignment—raise your hand!”
I looked around. No one raised their hand.
I lightly nudged Ah-rin.
“Ah-rin, you should raise your hand. What if they mark you absent?”
I whispered.
She bit her lip tightly, then slowly raised her hand.
“Everyone did well; no one missed—huh?”
Jung Tae-sung looked surprised.
“Ah-rin didn’t do the assignment this time?”
All the students turned to look at her.
Her face turned red as she nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, no. Even if it’s late, if you submit it next week, I’ll give you half the assignment points. I’ll mark you present for now~.”
He scribbled something on the attendance sheet, then suddenly looked up.
“But what happened? You’re usually so thorough.”
“That’s because…”
Ah-rin’s gaze slowly shifted toward me.
