CLS 49

Chapter 49 ….

Haejoo was at a loss for words as she stared at him, when her phone rang.

Jimin’s name appeared on the screen. Now that she thought about it, it was almost time for her schedule to start.

“If you want to make a good impression on me, please be careful in front of others until we officially start dating. I don’t want to be talked about anymore.”

“Yeah, sure. Kind of feels like a secret relationship, though. I like that.”

Taehun stood up from his seat with a calm expression.

“Then let’s meet secretly tonight, babe.”

After saying that, he headed toward the west wing.

The recreation event organized by the student council was held on the third floor of the main building.

Seniors and juniors were mixed together and played all sorts of games in teams, earning points. It was a team-based point system, with the top-ranking teams receiving prizes and the lower-ranking teams responsible for cleanup and dishwashing.

As usual, Haejoo’s luck was terrible—she ended up in a team that was pitted against Hyunwoo’s.

Hyunwoo’s team won every game and took first place, while Haejoo’s team ended up at the bottom and was left with the cleanup.

“I’m bad at physical activities… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. We weren’t exactly easy opponents either.”

The fortunate thing was that her senior teammates weren’t the type to obsess over winning, so the atmosphere wasn’t too bad. Maybe that was why they lost.

“The barbecue’s ready, so let’s move to the next spot!”

The victorious teams, led by the student council seniors, began moving first.

Hyunwoo, though on the first-place team, stayed behind because he was part of the student council and wanted to lead the others before heading to the glamping site last.

Everyone carried the equipment used in the recreation games. Haejoo, holding the box of ping-pong balls, lost her grip at the entrance to the auditorium.

As the seniors turned around, Haejoo quickly said,

“I’ll pick it up and follow. You go ahead!”

While Haejoo hurriedly gathered the ping-pong balls, Hyunwoo added,

“I’ll make sure Haejoo gets to the glamping site.”

“Do you need to help?”

“No, it’s fine. The seniors’ hands are full anyway.”

“Alright, take your time.”

The seniors went ahead.

Hyunwoo, standing behind her, quickly started picking up the ping-pong balls that had rolled around.

“Haejoo, could you grab the ones that went outside?”

“Oh, yes.”

Only a few had rolled outside, but they had gone quite far.

As she picked up the balls, she realized she had wandered far from where she had started.

Before she knew it, she reached the top of the stairs at the opposite end of the corridor she intended to go down.

Haejoo noticed a ping-pong ball precariously perched on the stairs.

She crouched behind a wall to pick it up, when a strange female voice called out from below:

“Senior Taehun, I like you. Please go out with me.”

Haejoo glanced slightly and saw Taehun standing half a floor down, with a female student next to him.

The rarely used stairs were so quiet that even small sounds carried.

Haejoo swallowed hard.

The ping-pong ball teetered dangerously on the edge of the stairs.

If she dropped it by accident, it wouldn’t only disrupt the moment over there—it could also make her look like she was eavesdropping.

With trembling hands, she cautiously reached for the ball.

Even with her lack of athletic ability, she could at least pick up a single ping-pong ball—so long as no one interfered.

Tap.

Just as her hand was about to touch the ball, someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

Her fingers slipped, and the ball rolled toward the stairs.

“Haejoo, we picked up everything over here, but that way—”

Tap, tap, tap, tap—thud.

The sound of the ball hitting the floor followed, but then it was caught in someone’s hand.

As expected.

She had dropped it after all.

Haejoo stood up, feeling helpless.

“The ping-pong ball?”

It was Taehun’s questioning voice.

Haejoo apologized, feeling utterly helpless.

“I… I’m sorry. The ball fell over there…”

She looked up and saw the orange ping-pong ball in Taehun’s hand.

It was hard enough to stop a ball that was barely still—how did he even catch that?

Taehun smirked slightly as their eyes met.

“Oh, this?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Haejoo tried her best to act as if she had no connection with him.

The female student standing next to Taehun turned her gaze toward Haejoo. It was an extremely uncomfortable situation.

As Haejoo moved to go down the stairs to take the ball, a hand landed on her shoulder.

“I’ll get it.”

Hyunwoo quickly descended the stairs and stood in front of Taehun.

He reached out and spoke firmly:

“Give it.”

“No way.”

“The mood looks fine. Do your thing and hand over the ball.”

“I said no.”

Taehun raised his eyebrows, staring intently at Haejoo.

“The owner of the ball should take it.”

“That’s our department’s. Can’t you see the box labeled ‘Department of Media and Communication: Ping-Pong Balls’ on my arm?”

“Then why are there only two of you from your department? I thought you were on a secret date or something.”

Ha.

Hyunwoo looked at Taehun in disbelief.

But Taehun didn’t seem willing to back down.

He seemed especially annoyed that Hyunwoo was standing by Haejoo’s side.

“Please, give it to me.”

Haejoo, following Hyunwoo down, snatched the ping-pong ball from Taehun’s hand.

She gave a short nod in thanks and turned her gaze away.

Taehun’s expression hardened as if displeased.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation. Let’s go, senior.”

Haejoo grabbed Hyunwoo’s sleeve and pulled him along, separating the two.

Taehun’s furrowed brow twitched at the gesture.

The two of them hurried toward the barbecue area.

At university, many departments took pride in their drinking capacity.

The physical education department could drink heavily because, well, it was PE. The arts department had many creatives who liked alcohol. Engineering was full of men, so they all drowned in liquor. People didn’t realize, but the humanities department were the real champions…

Essentially, all college students were practically always drunk.

The Department of Media and Communication was no exception.

Believing that a journalist’s essential skill was heavy drinking, freshmen endured harsh training to build their tolerance.

Accordingly, as soon as the barbecue party started, a huge amount of alcohol appeared on the tables.

Cups circulated rapidly, laughter and shouting filled the air, and the boxes of alcohol emptied quickly.

Some got drunk and went to the dorms, while others collapsed face-first on the table, snoring.

“Hey, didn’t someone from business get a number from someone while passing by earlier?”

“Yeah, they said our department has a lot of beauties and wanted us to arrange a department meetup quickly.”

The large barbecue area used by the Departments of Media and Communication and Business was structured with two buildings attached near the outer side of the glamping site.

The Media and Communication department’s section was inside, so to go back and forth between the dorm and the barbecue area, you had to pass through the Business department’s tent.

Haejoo listened to the seniors’ conversation, eating meat and drinking, her thoughts tangled.

Even after a long time had passed, she couldn’t shake the image of Taehun being confessed to.

The girl confessing was a senior who had been joking casually with Taehun until she got on the bus.

“No contact yet…”

She assumed he had rejected her.

Even thinking that, she felt uncertain if she, not even his girlfriend, had the right to interfere.