Chapter 02
Two days later, Business Building Room 301.
The classroom was empty except for Yeonjae.
She searched the floor carefully, moving step by step on her knees, but the notebook was nowhere to be found.
With a sigh, she straightened up. She had already checked this place yesterday. The chances of finding it now were very low. She was just holding onto a tiny bit of hope.
Maybe the janitor found it and threw it away.
But even if someone found it, wouldn’t it be sent to lost and found rather than the trash?
What if the staff in charge of lost items opened the notebook?
What if they saw Dohan’s name written all over it and gave it to him?
As that thought reached her mind, despair spread across Yeonjae’s face.
This was truly the biggest crisis of Shin Yeonjae’s life.
As she stood up, holding her aching lower back, a voice came from behind her.
“What are you doing?”
Yeonjae turned her head reflexively. Before she even recognized who it was, she recognized the object in his hand first.
“Looking for this?”
It was Kang Hyunoh.
And in his hand was Yeonjae’s black notebook.
“Y-Yes!”
Hyunoh lightly waved the notebook in his hand.
Yeonjae ran up the classroom steps. When she tried to grab it from him, he raised the hand holding the notebook high above his head.
She wasn’t short, but Hyunoh was even taller than Dohan. With his arm raised, even standing on tiptoe wasn’t enough for her to reach it.
“Give it to me! It’s mine!”
When she finally gave up trying to snatch it and glared at him, Hyunoh smiled as if amused. He lowered his hand and handed the notebook to her.
Then he asked,
“Are you really Lee Dohan’s stalker?”
Stalker.
She had heard it behind her back before, but this was the first time hearing it to her face.
Ignoring the word, Yeonjae quickly grabbed the notebook. Her fingertips trembled slightly. She tried to act calm, but her heart was beating fast.
She hurriedly stuffed the notebook into the deepest part of her bag and asked back sharply,
“Why are you looking at other people’s things?”
“Sorry, but it was lying open.”
His loose answer didn’t match her sharp tone at all.
“If I hadn’t picked it up, someone else might’ve seen it. You should feel lucky I’m the only one who did.”
His voice was filled with laughter.
Yeonjae was about to glare at him again but stopped. She also felt guilty.
If it had only contained information about Dohan, it would have been better. But the notebook also had detailed notes about the people around Dohan.
The person with the biggest share of those notes was the one standing in front of her right now.
Kang Hyunoh.
Please don’t let him have seen that part…
“My name was written in there too.”
Damn it.
With that one sentence, her wish completely disappeared.
“I had quite a big role. Maybe like a supporting lead?”
It sounded like a question, but it was hard to tell if he was really asking or just teasing.
“Th-That’s… I…”
She tried to come up with some excuse.
But students began entering the classroom, and their conversation was cut off.
In the middle of the noise, Hyunoh casually placed his textbook on the seat next to Yeonjae.
“This your seat? I’ll sit next to you.”
“What?”
Before she realized it, she had given up the seat beside her. She sat down in confusion.
Dohan entered the classroom at about the same time. When he saw Hyunoh, he looked surprised.
“What’s this? You’re early.”
“Just felt like coming early.”
“If you’re late one more time, that’s an F.”
Hyunoh only shrugged.
Then Dohan’s gaze naturally moved to Yeonjae sitting beside him.
Embarrassed, she quickly lowered her head. But Dohan didn’t mention her. He just glanced at her briefly and looked away.
The professor came in and class began. As always, Hyunoh listened quite attentively.
In a world where everyone took notes on tablets, he wrote with a pen in his own way.
Yeonjae tried to forget the earlier chaos and focus on the lecture.
Then Hyunoh suddenly slid his textbook into her view.
On the corner of page 178, there were messy words written.
『Ipa bap?』
The handwriting was hard to read.
After staring at it for a while, Yeonjae finally wrote below it.
『?』
Hyunoh then wrote clearly in big letters.
『Lunch later?』
She stared at the blank space, unsure what to write.
Hyunoh tapped the corner of the book with his finger.
When she still didn’t respond, he picked up his pen and wrote one word.
『Notebook』
Haah.
Yeonjae let out a loud sigh.
The people sitting around them glanced over. Even Dohan, from afar, looked at them briefly.
She quickly lowered her head and drew a small circle under the word.
『ㅇ』
After that, she couldn’t focus on class at all.
What if Hyunoh told Dohan about the notebook?
What if he already had?
Just imagining it made her head spin. She spent the rest of class pulling at her hair.
After class ended, Yeonjae closed her nearly blank textbook and put it into her bag.
Hyunoh stood beside her, holding only his book, waiting.
He looked oddly cheerful, as if he truly enjoyed the idea of eating together.
Without even looking at him, she asked,
“What are you going to eat?”
At that moment, Dohan approached Hyunoh. Yeonjae held her breath and stepped back.
“Kang Hyunoh, want to go to the student hall café?”
“No.”
He pointed his thumb toward Yeonjae.
“I’m eating with her. By the way, what’s your name?”
“Shin Yeonjae.”
“Major?”
“Korean Literature. Business is my double major.”
“Age?”
“Twenty-two.”
She answered automatically, even though she had no idea why she was answering so obediently.
Only Dohan, who didn’t know what was going on, looked confused as he glanced between the two.
“So, she’s Shin Yeonjae, twenty-two, Korean Lit major. Double major in Business.”
Just like that, Yeonjae ended up introducing herself to Dohan in a way she had never imagined.
Dohan still looked confused. He hesitated as if to say something more, then ended the awkward conversation with a small laugh.
“Alright, I’ll go. See you later.”
“Yeah. Go.”
When Dohan left, only Hyunoh and Yeonjae remained.
Yeonjae felt dazed.
Without meaning to, she had achieved one of her goals—letting Dohan know she existed.
Compared to the fact that she knew enough about him to fill an entire notebook, he probably knew nothing about her. Except that she was a creepy stalker, as Seonghyeon had said.
…It would have been nice if she could just be happy about that and end it there.
But there was still one problem.
The main cause—and contributor—of all this.
She looked up at Hyunoh.
He scratched his stomach under his T-shirt as if he were at home.
He looked like someone who found everything bothersome, yet his body showed clear muscle lines, as if he exercised regularly.
Then she noticed his messy hair.
Everyone in this class knew he wasn’t the type to arrive thirty minutes early for a first-period lecture.
Did he really wake up early because of the notebook?
If so, that was ridiculous.
“What are you looking at? Done packing?”
Why. What exactly do you want to say to me?
“Yes. So, what are you eating?”
“Sundae guk?”
“You had that two days ago.”
She answered without thinking and immediately regretted it.
“How do you know?”
“I heard you talking with Dohan.”
Hyunoh narrowed his eyes.
“Are you really a stalker?”
“Yes. Didn’t you already know?”
She decided to just be shameless. Everything was already exposed.
“Haha, you’re really funny.”
He laughed so hard his eyes even looked watery.
Meanwhile, students for the next class began filling the room.
Without deciding on a destination, the two walked out together.
They crossed the wide campus alone.
Yeonjae simply followed wherever Hyunoh walked.
She assumed they were heading to the sundae guk place. But as soon as they passed the main gate, he suddenly stopped.
Then he asked,
“Stalker, where should we go?”
“Aren’t we eating sundae guk?”
“Oh. Right?”
He started walking again. She followed.
The restaurant wasn’t far from the gate. It looked newly opened, with congratulatory flower wreaths and lucky plants on both sides of the entrance.
The early March cold was sharp.
As soon as they stepped into the heated interior, her glasses fogged up.
She took them off and wiped them. When she put them back on, Hyunoh was staring at her.
“…Wh-What?”
“You really came in disguise.”
“What? I didn’t hear that.”
Instead of answering, he ordered two bowls of sundae guk. Then, as if he suddenly remembered, he asked,
“Stalker, you eat sundae, right?”
“No.”
“Hey. Why didn’t you say so?”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Then should we go somewhere else?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just eat.”
“That makes no sense. You eat pork bone soup, right?”
“Yes. But can you stop calling me stalker?”
“Auntie, change one sundae guk to pork bone soup, please.”
He ignored her request completely.
The food came quickly. Hyunoh ate well.
Yeonjae, with no appetite, only stirred the soup. She couldn’t even finish half a bowl of rice before putting down her spoon.
Hyunoh glanced at her.
“Stalker, want a bottle of soju?”
“Are you crazy?”
It was only 11 a.m.
He added in explanation,
“You look really troubled.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Usually when you drink, half your worries disappear.”
“Don’t talk like an alcoholic.”
“Hey. It’s true.”
“Sure. You drink a lot yourself.”
He looked at her and repeated,
“You? You?”
“Yeah. You.”
“You know I’m the same age as Dohan, right? Two years older than you.”
He was more old-fashioned than he looked.
Before he could catch her on that, she corrected herself.
“Fine, sir.”
Hyunoh looked speechless.
“…So what do you want from me?”
“What do I want?”
“Yes. There must be a reason you’re doing this.”
With a faint smile, Hyunoh opened his mouth.
