NOT 12

Cha Jeong-won did not answer. He simply thought the junior before him was making unnecessary excuses.

＊ ＊ ＊

Cha Jeong-won’s face hardened stiffly.

‘If it’s not me, but you, senior, who ends up coming to find me… does that mean you’ll retract your statement about me being a nuisance?’

It was something he could just ignore, but it kept swirling in his mind. Haon’s confident gaze grated on Jeong-won’s nerves.

It was utterly insidious how he kept finding the places Jeong-won was, only to pretend otherwise.

[Road Construction Ahead]

It was the third construction site fence he’d encountered already.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Jeong-won spat out the words with emotion before he even realized it.

In the end, he turned back and came out onto the main road. He intended to take a different route. He crossed the crosswalk and turned the corner.

And then he ran into Yoon Haon.

Yoon Haon, whom he had encountered again, was standing there holding two paper cups.

“Would you like some instant coffee?”

As he blew on the paper cup, hot steam rose. Even that sight irritated Jeong-won.

Jeong-won passed by him with dry eyes.

However, far from being discouraged, Haon spoke with easy familiarity.

“Well then, I’ll drink this one too.”

After taking a sip, Haon shrugged his shoulders.

Jeong-won stood on the avenue and hailed a taxi. He was no longer in the mood to walk.

“To Seoyeon University, please.”

The taxi started moving. As even calm classical music began to flow, his chest seemed to settle a little.

Then, Cha Jeong-won’s phone rang.

After briefly staring at the name on the screen, Jeong-won put the phone to his ear.

“What.”

—Can you talk for a moment?

Jeong-won narrowed the space between his brows. And just as he was about to hang up, the other person spoke first.

—You’re coming to the welcome party today, right?

It was his cousin. He felt like he’d answered the call for no reason.

“No.”

—Come on, can’t you come out? I thought we’d see each other often since you started university, but you don’t. We haven’t seen each other even once. So…

The call dragged on due to Cha Seo-jun’s reply, which seemed to see right through Cha Jeong-won’s personality.

“Hang up.”

After unilaterally ending the call, Jeong-won put his phone in his pocket. A short vibration rang out, likely a message. He tried to ignore even that and look out the window, but the driver spoke up.

“Sir, I’m sorry.”

He touched the rearview mirror with an apologetic expression.

“I really need to use the restroom urgently. Would it be okay if I drop you off here? I won’t charge you. I’m really sorry.”

As the car stopped, Jeong-won swallowed a sigh and got out. At least, having ridden this far, he wouldn’t run into Yoon Haon…

“I knew we’d see each other again.”

Jeong-won froze, unable to even close the car door properly.

Standing before his eyes was the person he thought he’d least likely meet at this very moment.

Conversely, Haon acted as if he had expected this. A somewhat mischievous smile suited his youthful-looking face.

‘Running into you at school wasn’t a coincidence.’

Haon’s feelings were somewhat complicated. Having confirmed it, he felt both somewhat refreshed and troubled.

That accident on the stairs was undoubtedly the culprit. The culprit that, in the original story, made someone as insignificant as me get entangled with Cha Jeong-won, leaving him unable to move forward or backward!

Even though he laughed it off as something that had already happened, did he think his own feelings were fine? He was forcing a smile even now.

Jeong-won closed the door and approached Haon.

Haon stacked the now-empty paper cups and spoke to him.

“It wasn’t me who sought you out, right?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“Furthermore, I was going to say that I don’t particularly find you, senior, a nuisance either.”

At Haon’s shamelessness, pretending to be magnanimous, Jeong-won looked at him belatedly with a puzzled expression.

“Why aren’t you going into school and are outside instead?”

Only now did he realize. Why wasn’t he heading to school and lingering around instead?

“The professor canceled our meeting due to personal circumstances, so I have some free time. I should go to my afternoon class now. What about you, senior?”

He and Jeong-won had different professors in charge. So, it was Jeong-won who should be at school right now.

“I’d like to ask you the same thing.”

Haon swallowed what he really wanted to say and nodded.

Did you wander around trying to meet me? Saying something like that would only make the atmosphere worse.

“Um… Can I greet you every time I see you from now on?”

“So you’ll openly approach me?”

“No, I mean I’ll just say hello. You never know?”

Haon pointed at Jeong-won’s phone.

“Senior, you got that sweet room winning call when you were with me, right? Maybe you won that sweet room because of me.”

Of course, he wasn’t being serious.

Believing that luck came instead of misfortune because of him would be an overinflated sense of self-importance.

“Aren’t you going to school?”

“I was about to.”

This time, Haon moved first. At Haon’s relaxed attitude, even whistling, Jeong-won’s expression darkened further.

＊ ＊ ＊

Afternoon class. Right after the lecture began, the classroom door opened. Haon looked up.

The person who entered was Cha Jeong-won.

They had come to school together, but since there was still time before class, they had parted ways for a while. However, Jeong-won entered later than Haon.

He wondered what had happened, but unless Jeong-won told him, Haon couldn’t know.

People’s gazes gathered toward Jeong-won, who had roughly found an empty seat and sat down.

Sunlight filtering through the window clearly revealed the contours of his face. Through the scattered black hair, like stray light, a neat forehead was briefly visible.

‘We’ll probably run into each other often from now on.’

If that was the case, then Haon couldn’t be free from Jeong-won’s misfortune either.

‘And you’ve experienced it.’

What if he had lived his whole life unluckily like Cha Jeong-won?

‘Hmm, considering that, his personality might actually be pretty good.’

To that extent, it’s almost silk-grade.

Even though he was prickly, he still answered, and his seemingly sharp gaze, upon closer look, was just because his eyes were shaped that way.

Haon picked up his phone and looked at his own reflection. Round eyes looked back.

He tried to frown and narrowed his eyes. He still looked easygoing.

He tried raising just one corner of his mouth. He looked even more easygoing.

“What are you doing.”

Beside him, Kim Hyun-gyu looked at him with a strange expression. Haon quietly put his phone down.

“I’m jealous of the sweet room.”

It was a beginning-development-twist—sweet room.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Hey, you didn’t forget there’s a welcome party today, right? Don’t sneak off somewhere else.”

As soon as class ended, Kim Hyun-gyu stood blocking the way, and Haon stopped zipping up his bag.

“I said I’m not going.”

“Why do you keep saying you won’t go?”

“Those kinds of gatherings make me uncomfortable. Would you like it if you got a job as the newest employee at some company and at the company dinner, the section chief and department head showed up?”

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? Section chief, department head? It’s the last one anyway. If not this time, you’ll never get to go.”

“That’s why I’m not going.”

Hyun-gyu had been the department president in his third year, so attending such gatherings wouldn’t feel awkward to him.

But Haon found such gatherings burdensome. Moreover, such occasions often led to additional expenses.

Just as he was firmly refusing, Hyun-gyu took out his wallet and delivered the final blow.

“You can just pop in for a bit and then leave. For the second round, I’ll treat you to whatever you want to eat.”

“What time are we meeting?”

Haon’s answer was so fast it was almost embarrassing even to himself.

Hyun-gyu put his arm around Haon’s shoulder with a mocking face.

“We can just walk over slowly. By the way, today… Not bad.”

At his words, spoken while looking Haon over, Haon gave a displeased sidelong glance. He’d already seen him in the morning, why was he doing this now?

“Take your disloyal eyeballs elsewhere.”

As he pushed away the annoyingly clingy Hyun-gyu, Haon’s thoughts turned to Cha Jeong-won.

Welcome party. Alcohol. A crowded indoor space.

‘He probably wouldn’t show up there.’

He didn’t seem like the type who would enjoy such gatherings, and Haon had never heard that Jeong-won drank alcohol. He probably wouldn’t seek out such a place on purpose.

Just then, Kim Hyun-gyu, who had spotted a tall silhouette leaving the classroom, shouted.

“Hey, let’s ask Jeong-won senior to come too.”

“Don’t.”

Haon grabbed his arm first with his hand. But then he realized it was already too late.

Hyun-gyu raised his free hand high and shouted.

“Senior! Are you going to the welcome party today?”

Cha Jeong-won stopped. The look in his eyes as he turned seemed somehow more tired than before class.

“Everyone’s waiting for you, senior. Why don’t you come along to get to know some faces?”

Hyun-gyu tried to persuade Jeong-won with very polite words.

Although Hyun-gyu had initiated the conversation, Cha Jeong-won’s gaze remained fixed on Haon.