Chapter 20
The start of the week: Monday.
Who said Monday was the worst day ever? Yeonjae’s light steps toward school were full of energy, as if she were moving at 300 kilometers per hour—someone clearly in high spirits.
Why?
Well, obviously. The reason was right there in her phone.
Yeonjae was still messaging Dohan.
The first class on Monday was a major lecture in Business Administration, just her and Hyunoh.
When she arrived, Hyunoh was already seated. Lately, for some reason, he’d been unusually diligent about showing up to class.
“Oh, you look happy,” he said.
His eyes narrowed slightly, making it impossible for Yeonjae to keep her cool.
I have to act like I don’t know anything…
But Yeonjae was terrible at lying, and especially in front of someone sharp like Hyunoh, her resolve quickly fell apart.
“Did you succeed with the private message?” he asked.
Had a minute even passed?
“…Yes. I did.”
It was a total confession ending.
“Still messaging him?”
“Well, kind of…”
Yeonjae trailed off for a moment. She was still messaging, but the context wasn’t exactly normal. She wasn’t even sure it could be called a proper ongoing conversation.
“There’s one problem…”
She bravely risked embarrassment and asked Hyunoh for help. Lowering her head so no one else could see, she slightly revealed part of her phone screen to show him the messages.
Here’s the full story:
After receiving a private message from Dohan, Yeonjae had been so flustered that a full day passed without her responding. She only managed to reply on Sunday morning, hurrying so Dohan wouldn’t misunderstand her silence as ignoring him.
“ㅎㅎ I’m the one who should be thanking you!!”
The reply came almost immediately:
“Have a fun weekend~
You too, sunbae!!!”
Yeonjae chewed at her nails while waiting for Hyunoh’s response. But the little bubble indicating a message had disappeared, and another day had gone by without a reply.
“I read it, but there’s no response…”
Hearing that, Hyunoh went silent, thinking:
…Is she really that clueless?
His face turned serious. Even if it were a conversation between people in the early stages of a romance, Yeonjae’s reply could easily be interpreted as the other person trying to end the chat.
I knew Shin Yeonjae had almost zero dating experience, but I didn’t expect this level…
Hyunoh still held the impression of Yeonjae from her freshman year: seemingly bold, indifferent to the world. He never imagined she’d fumble so much over liking someone. Yet here she was, clinging to a message that the other person might have considered the conversation finished.
Hyunoh decided to help, but he didn’t even know where to start guiding this clueless junior.
What am I supposed to do with this little lamb…?
He muttered to himself, trying to suppress the headache threatening to rise.
“W-What? Did I say something wrong??”
“You didn’t even have a real conversation,” Hyunoh replied.
“Oh, that’s what you mean?”
“Exactly. From just this short exchange, what did you expect? You’re acting like the conversation should end already. If you didn’t want it to end, you should’ve asked at least a simple question.”
Hyunoh pounded his chest in frustration as he spoke.
“…Ah.”
Finally, Yeonjae, embarrassed, put her phone away and straightened herself.
“I guess I didn’t respond in a way that could keep the conversation going… I should have sent a message that made it easier to continue.”
“It’s fine. At least you sent the private message. I didn’t expect you’d be messaging every day from the start. Honestly, I half-doubted it would even happen. So this is fine.”
“Ah, so I did well?”
Yeonjae’s eyes widened, as if she’d found a tiny spark of hope.
“Yes. Shin Yeonjae, you handled it properly.”
Yeonjae breathed a genuine sigh of relief. Watching her, Hyunoh quietly mocked the situation, thinking it was ridiculous.
She spent a whole day worrying about being ignored…
But realizing that the contact with Dohan might already be effectively over, her shoulders sagged. Hyunoh patted her back.
“Cheer up. There’s still plenty of time.”
“Yes…”
By now, the classroom was full. Shortly after, a group message from the teaching assistant arrived:
<Due to the professor’s personal matters, class will start 30 minutes later.>
Yeonjae looked up at the wall clock absentmindedly. The scheduled start time had already passed.
With this extra time, she and Hyunoh closed their books and started chatting.
“Well, thanks to you, I could message him. Lunch is on me today. Really!”
“No need. It’s embarrassing to eat off money that barely counts,” Hyunoh replied.
“You’re a college student too…”
“I actually have 10,000 EnbiX shares. HanicX average price 100,000 won. Even Bitcoin, I bought when it was 10,000 won each.”
“Really?”
“You actually believe me?”
Ah, geez.
“Ah, soon if you two start dating, I might be the only one left out. Ugh. Being single is so lonely.”
Hearing this bold claim about her potential relationship with Dohan, Yeonjae’s face flushed.
“But, sunbae… are you lonely too? Do you want to date?”
“Of course.”
“You said you weren’t interested before.”
“That was then, now is now.”
“You change your mind as easily as flipping a hand.”
“Men’s hearts are fickle like reeds. But why are you asking so much? Want me to set you up with someone?”
“…No, I don’t have many friends, so I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
Ha ha ha. Hyunoh laughed heartily, clutching his stomach.
“Sometimes you seem completely unaware of yourself, but then you can also observe yourself perfectly, don’t you?”
Yeonjae pouted and looked away. The earlier joke about dating had left a flutter in her chest.
Soon, the door to the podium opened abruptly. The professor entered calmly and started the class immediately. Hyunoh focused on the lecture quickly.
Yeonjae, however, kept her gaze on her book, though her mind wandered elsewhere.
This is all thanks to Hyunoh sunbae.
The progress she’d made up to this point was entirely due to him.
Even though Hyunoh often made teasing, trivial remarks, Yeonjae eventually went along with them. Looking closer, it seemed like he wasn’t gaining anything from it at all.
In truth, Hyunoh was looking out for Yeonjae more than anyone, helping her succeed.
Yeonjae idly rolled a pen between her fingers, thinking:
I want to repay Hyunoh sunbae somehow too.
But how? In what way could she possibly return the favor?
