Chapter 01
『Hobby: exercise. Morning swimming at least twice a week. Runs sometimes. Prefers reading to movies. The most recent book read: Indignation by Philip Roth. Has used the same iPhone for 4 years. Member of the Public Relations Department of the Business Administration Student Council.』
That was all Shin Yeonjae knew about Lee Dohan’s preferences.
Ah, and one more thing. He liked women with short hair.
“Please cut it short. About chin-length.”
At the hair salon she had rushed into before class, the stylist looked surprised.
It made sense. It was rare for a woman with hair down to her waist to ask for it to be cut without even showing a reference photo.
No, she might have looked crazy.
In fact, Yeonjae was crazy.
For Lee Dohan.
Speaking of him, he was a well-known figure in the College of Business. Everyone knew him.
There was no way not to.
184 centimeters tall. A clear, handsome face. Broad shoulders. A gentle personality. Black hair that lightly covered his forehead.
Among ordinary college students, he shone as if he alone lived on a different timeline.
In a generation where wireless earbuds were common, he stubbornly used wired earphones. He wore one earbud in only one ear, the other dangling below. And she had never once seen his earphone cord tangled.
He always carried the same backpack. Today was no different.
Dohan took the backpack off his shoulder and pulled out his major textbook. A male classmate who always secured the seat next to him asked,
“When did you buy that?”
“Hmm. When I entered high school?”
Yeonjae quickly took out her notebook.
She found the line that said “Backpack bought in college,” crossed out the word “college,” and added a few more words.
『College. High school.』
“You really use your stuff for a long time. Didn’t you say your phone is already four years old?”
“If it’s not broken, I just keep using it.”
She changed the line and added another sentence.
『Uses things for a long time.』
As expected. It matched his careful atmosphere perfectly.
The notebook filled with information about Dohan had already passed half a page.
Suddenly, Yeonjae became curious.
Does he know I exist now?
A few days ago, just as the professor entered the classroom.
The classmate sitting next to Dohan asked, like always.
It wasn’t loud enough to shake the classroom, but it was loud enough for Yeonjae, sitting three rows behind, to hear.
“Hey, Dohan. Do you know the girl with glasses sitting in the very back row is always staring at you?”
“Really?”
“She doesn’t even look like she’s from our department. Isn’t she taking Business classes just to see you?”
“Come on.”
Dohan smiled lightly as he said that.
Unlike his short, five-syllable answer, his expression seemed unsure of how to react and as if he wanted to end the conversation at a reasonable point.
But the classmate stubbornly added one more comment.
“She’s like a stalker. Creepy.”
‘Mind your own business. I’m not looking at you.’
…Yeonjae thought that in her head. But since she really had been stealing glances at Dohan, her conscience stung for a moment.
She got over it in one second.
‘If I were weak-hearted, I couldn’t have done this in the first place.’
Since the beginning of the semester, Yeonjae had carefully considered what classes Dohan might take. Then she selected four upper-level Business Administration courses for her double major and registered for them.
The one she was taking now, , was her favorite among them.
Because it was the only one she shared with Dohan.
…That’s right. She had only succeeded in matching one out of four.
‘My luck is really terrible.’
As a result, the other three classes he didn’t attend became useless burdens this semester.
Today, too, Dohan arrived five minutes before class started. So Yeonjae always arrived at least ten minutes early.
And she always sat in the very back row. Dohan usually sat somewhere in the middle, so the back row, with a slight height difference, was the perfect place to look at him.
Meanwhile, Dohan’s classmate from the Business Department, Kwak Seonghyeon (a name she learned naturally while observing Dohan, though she never wanted to know it), always arrived just one or two minutes before class.
He usually threw his bag down and caught his breath while lying over his desk. But on the rare days he arrived early, before even opening his textbook, he would look around to find Yeonjae.
And he always made an annoying comment. Like today.
“Wow, the stalker cut her hair.”
Crazy bastard. I didn’t cut it for you.
Dohan, who usually showed little reaction, turned around today.
Yeonjae reflexively lowered her head. Her thick glasses slid down her nose.
She quickly raised her textbook to cover half her face and waited silently for Dohan to look away.
Soon, Dohan turned back around. Then he said quietly,
“Seonghyeon.”
Kwak Seonghyeon, who firmly believed he had gained Dohan’s agreement, had a mocking smile on his face.
“You’re loud.”
The atmosphere froze instantly.
It was only five syllables.
But those five syllables were enough to shut Kwak Seonghyeon’s mouth as if it had been sewn shut.
Through all of this, Yeonjae stayed quiet.
Only her heart pounded as if it would burst. Not only her earlobes but even the bones on the back of her hand burned hot.
After class started, the air between Dohan and Kwak Seonghyeon eased again. As if nothing had happened, Seonghyeon acted friendly toward Dohan.
“Lee Dohan, lunch at the cafeteria today?”
“Sorry. I have plans.”
Once again, Dohan refused Seonghyeon’s invitation.
Yeonjae didn’t understand why Dohan kept Seonghyeon around, but after observing for two or three months, she realized something.
Kwak Seonghyeon wasn’t Dohan’s friend. He was just one of the many people trying to become close to him.
In this class, there was only one person who could truly be called Dohan’s friend.
No, in this entire school, only one.
Creak.
The door behind them opened.
A man entered the classroom holding only a separated, bound textbook in one hand, without a bag.
It was about fifteen minutes after class had started.
The classroom was quiet except for the sound of writing and the professor’s voice.
When the man finally found an empty seat in the corner and sat down, the professor stopped writing on the board.
Then he looked exactly at the seat where the man was sitting and said,
“Student Kang Hyunoh.”
Kang Hyunoh.
The man who always arrived later than the professor, and the only student whose name the professor remembered well enough to call out even during class.
“You’ve been late for half the semester already?”
For a very dishonorable reason.
Usually, three late arrivals equal one absence. Even Yeonjae, who was indifferent to everyone except Dohan, felt concerned about his attendance record.
Considering how often he was late, it was hard to believe he hadn’t already reached the limit for an F grade. Maybe he had already been confirmed as an F and just didn’t know it.
“Sorry.”
The man lightly bowed his head out of courtesy. Unlike his words, he didn’t look very sorry.
Since it wasn’t the first or second time, the professor seemed tired of it and let it pass without much comment. Once class resumed, the man focused quite well on the lecture.
After watching that much, Yeonjae’s gaze returned to Dohan again.
When class ended, students began closing their textbooks and putting them into their bags one by one.
Dohan did the same. So did Kwak Seonghyeon, who clung to him like a twin.
Only Kang Hyunoh stood up holding his book in one hand again, with his pen tucked into his back pocket, and walked toward Dohan.
“Hey, Lee Dohan.”
Dohan turned to Hyunoh with a pleased expression.
“If you’re going to be late like that, why did you even move near campus?”
Though his face looked happy, his tone was blunt.
Hyunoh was the only person Dohan spoke to casually like that.
Dohan, who usually kept a proper distance from everyone, rarely showed this side of himself. Yeonjae sharpened her focus.
“Did you eat?”
“No. Not yet.”
“How about sundae guk?”
“Sounds good.”
“Let’s go to the new place in front of the back gate.”
Kang Hyunoh was one of the key figures related to Lee Dohan, and Yeonjae had written about him in her notebook.
Sharp but handsome features. An attitude as if something in his neural system was twisted. A rough, carefree vibe.
Because of his naturally cold impression, sometimes even his normal stare felt like he was glaring.
He was in the same Business department as Dohan, and from bits of conversation Yeonjae overheard, he seemed quite smart.
Once, Dohan had said to Hyunoh,
“You get the results you want with just one-tenth of other people’s effort.”
From Yeonjae’s perspective, he seemed to live life quite easily.
The professor didn’t seem to truly dislike him even though he was always late. Sometimes he even joked with him and asked for meetings.
He seemed approachable to others, yet at key moments, he was difficult.
Like right now.
Kwak Seonghyeon, who had been clinging to Dohan, slowly read the room when Hyunoh appeared and then quietly disappeared.
And all of these traits made him suitable to be Dohan’s friend.
Yeonjae quite liked the image of Hyunoh standing beside Dohan.
Pretending to pack her things, she listened to their conversation. Then she remembered that her major class was in the Humanities building, ten minutes away from the Business building, and hurriedly stood up.
She promised herself that next semester, she would never schedule another class right after a Business course again.
It had been quite some time since she started taking the same class as Dohan. It was time to set the next goal.
On her way to the Humanities building, Yeonjae decided.
Next goal: Do a group project together.
According to the syllabus she checked earlier, there was a group project. Considering Dohan’s personality, he would definitely participate sincerely.
If that happened, talking to him directly wouldn’t just be a dream.
Thinking that, while walking with her eyes fixed on the ground, Yeonjae suddenly realized that her hand, which she had slipped into her jumper pocket, grabbed nothing.
She stopped in place.
My notebook!
Like Hansel and Gretel picking up bread crumbs, she hurriedly retraced her steps. But the notebook was nowhere to be seen.
Yeonjae’s face gradually turned pale, as if she had been punched in the stomach.
I’m screwed.
