Chapter 22
So now Yeonjae was just moving her lips soundlessly, trying to find the right timing. But sharp-eyed Hyunoh asked first.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Gasp. How did you know?”
“You’re that obvious. I could tell from when you started writing in your planner.”
“Ah, come on! Shh! Why do you keep poking at my sore spots?!”
Hyunoh grinned as if this was endlessly amusing.
…So annoying.
“Anyway… sunbae, would you maybe be interested in being set up with one of my classmates?”
“A setup? Out of nowhere?”
Hyunoh wasn’t someone who startled easily, but this time he actually stopped walking.
Shin Yeonjae, who always moved around alone, had a classmate close enough to introduce to him? That alone sounded absurd.
So he asked bluntly,
“Are you sick?”
“No? Do I look pale?”
“Forget it. Let’s just drop it.”
A beat later, Yeonjae understood what he meant.
“Oh~.”
“That’s not it. My classmate saw us walking together and asked me to introduce you. She wants me to arrange a time for you two to have a meal alone. I’m just mentioning it for now—if you don’t like the idea, I’ll turn her down myself.”
“Hmmm.”
Pushing open the door of the fast-food restaurant, Hyunoh considered it. He wasn’t particularly fond of blind dates, but…
‘A classmate Shin Yeonjae actually knows.’
He was a little curious.
“Sure. Sounds good.”
Yeonjae’s eyes widened.
She hadn’t expected much when asking. Hyunoh seemed like the type with high standards; she wasn’t confident he’d accept without conditions.
But he agreed so easily.
“You’re saying yes just like that? Without asking anything? Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I’m serious.”
Well, meeting Yeonjae’s classmate for a meal wasn’t exactly a big deal.
A few days later.
Hyunoh arrived at the meeting spot.
For someone going on a blind date, he looked exactly the same as usual.
He knew almost nothing about the girl. Same university, Korean Literature department, Shin Yeonjae’s classmate—that was it.
Normally, people exchanged photos and numbers beforehand.
But Hyunoh personally disliked checking photos before blind dates.
The idea of both sides carefully picking their best selfies to send felt a little ridiculous.
So he skipped the photos and just asked for her number.
“Forget the picture. Just give me your number.”
But there was no reply. When Hyunoh noticed the silence, Yeonjae finally spoke.
“…But that friend is an anti-technologist. She doesn’t have a smartphone.”
“What? In the 21st century?”
“…Yeah. Apparently people like that exist.”
“Huh.”
Hyunoh let out an incredulous laugh, then shrugged.
“Works for me.”
He found the whole texting-and-evaluating process bothersome anyway.
“…I’ll pass along the time and place. And her description on the day of.”
And so, now Hyunoh was scanning the area for a girl with long brown straight hair, about 160 centimeters tall, wearing a red cardigan. Ah—there.
But something about her felt familiar.
Tilting his head, he mentally checked off the description and walked over.
He lightly tapped the girl, who was looking at her phone.
“Hello—oh?”
The moment their eyes met, she tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled awkwardly.
“What are you doing here?”
Hyunoh glanced at the smartphone in Sieun’s hand.
So much for anti-technologist.
“Hahaha. Well… yeah….”
Since it was technically a blind date, Hyunoh had deliberately chosen a neighborhood known as a good “date spot,” not near campus.
‘I don’t really feel like going on a date with someone I know.’
But if he just walked away, Sieun would be the most embarrassed. And whatever the situation was, Yeonjae—who set this up—would probably be in an awkward position too.
After scratching the back of his head, Hyunoh jerked his chin toward the busy street.
“Let’s go eat.”
A few days earlier.
Yeonjae, who had seemed impossible to persuade even after five hundred attempts, quietly called Sieun over.
“I’ll introduce you to Sunbae Hyunoh.”
“No way. Really?! For real?”
“But how exactly should I introduce you? You two already know each other, right? Don’t you already have each other’s contact info?”
“Ah. Well… yeah…”
After thinking quickly, Sieun replied,
“Yeonjae, can you tell him I don’t have a phone?”
“What?”
“That I’m an anti-technologist and don’t use a smartphone.”
“…Then what about photos? Usually when someone sets up a blind date, they send pictures too.”
“Umm! Just say that I refuse because modern photos are an exhibition of the self forced by SNS technology and damage one’s authentic identity!”
“…I’m not sure that’ll work.”
“Just try saying it, okay? Please?”
“Fine. I’ll mention it. But if Sunbae keeps asking, I’ll tell him the truth.”
“Okay! Thank you, seriously!”
And that was how this meeting was arranged.
Sieun wasn’t sure whether Hyunoh would believe that ridiculous story—but part of her hoped he would.
From what she knew, Hyunoh seemed more likely to be intrigued by an eccentric type than an ordinary girl.
Her prediction was correct.
Thanks to that, she was now sitting across from him without incident.
Her plan had been simple: disguise it as a chance meeting, share a meal, and naturally steer the mood in a good direction.
Even if two people weren’t interested at first, wasn’t it true that atmosphere could create feelings?
So she’d thought everything would be fine as long as they met.
She had believed that.
‘Haah. It’s over. Completely over.’
She’d sensed it the moment they met. The instant Hyunoh saw her face, he’d looked startled and asked,
“You were in the same department as Shin Yeonjae?”
Then came another question.
“You were in Korean Lit?”
He had asked the same thing just a few days ago.
Not once—she’d told him her major two or three times already, and he still didn’t remember.
So Sieun understood immediately.
‘Sunbae Hyunoh really has zero interest in me.’
Maybe this meeting was just confirmation.
She quietly followed wherever he led.
Having spent her school years constantly fending off guys who confessed to her, Sieun could tell with her eyes closed whether a man was interested or not.
Hyunoh clearly belonged to the “not interested” category.
Ordinarily that might have hurt her pride—but when it came to Hyunoh, pride ceased to exist. In front of him, the word simply vanished from her dictionary.
Just the fact that she was walking alone with him off campus, without any club members around, made her heart feel like it would burst.
Still, Hyunoh seemed to be making some effort in his own way.
‘At least he didn’t question the smartphone I’m obviously holding.’
That part she’d expected. Hyunoh was generally courteous to women.
Beyond that, he was trying—at least minimally—to act appropriately for a blind date.
He led her to an Italian restaurant that looked practically designed for dates.
The lighting, the music, the menu—everything was suitable. And he even attempted something resembling blind-date conversation…
“Are we going on the club MT after midterms again?”
…Except not really.
“Probably? You’re coming, right?”
“We’ll see.”
It wasn’t much different from the casual, meaningless conversations they had in the club room. His tone was light, like he was talking to a friendly younger sister.
Of course, there were moments when he steered the conversation toward something he didn’t usually bring up.
“How’s Shin Yeonjae doing in her department? Is she active in campus life?”
“Is she that spacey even in front of her friends?”
“Don’t you think Shin Yeonjae’s kind of funny sometimes? Like a gag character.”
For example, when talking about Yeonjae.
And when talking about Yeonjae.
And when talking about Yeonjae again.
