By Zephyria 
……Come to think of it, Hyung also had a similar misunderstanding.
Hyung. Yeon-jun’s face, which had quickly withered at the single word, let out a sigh. Right. His attention was always drawn to that one person. For the past few months, constantly.
To that Hyung.
“Anyway, that’s not the important thing…….”
“Why isn’t that important?”
“Jiyu.”
“Yeah.”
“What does it mean when you say you’ll contact someone and then disappear for over a week?”
While silently staring at the black screen, Jiyu tilted his head, soon raising his eyes with a curious glint.
“I wonder who you’re talking about?”
“That’s…… don’t ask.”
“Who else could it be? Obvious. Either that cafe part-timer, or a customer.”
Yeon-jun shifted his gaze sideways. With a suspicious look that anyone could see.
“It’s neither.”
“You’re lying. Everyone at our school knows you’re an Earthbound spirit there.”
It was when Yeon-jun let out a weak sigh at the boast mentioning the entire school.
“What does it mean when you say you’ll contact someone and then disappear?”
He turned his calmly lowered eyes towards Jiyu, who was retracing his past words. As if watching his answer.
What do you expect? Jiyu clicked his tongue.
“What do you mean, what does it mean? You got rejected without even a look.”
“…….”
Yeon-jun gradually lost strength and slumped. With a thud, he dropped his head to the side, his eyelids drooping gloomily. It must be that, after all……. Right. It couldn’t be interpreted any other way. There could be no more definitive expression of intent than this silence.
“Was that why you were here doing this?”
“Yeah…….”
“How about contacting him again first?”
“That seems way too pathetic…….”
It didn’t seem like a very good idea. No, it didn’t seem like a valid method. He had already approached him several times, and each time the man had been cold. Or cruelly kind.
Yeon-jun manipulated his phone with a listless hand. He stared for a long time at the chat room where the read receipt disappeared but there was no reply, then found his profile and clicked on it.
The background photo, as empty as the default picture. He thought that emptiness suited the owner’s temperament quite well. Dry, aloof, and empty.
He was like winter. That’s why he had caught his eye from the start.
The beginning. Yeon-jun inadvertently recalled a certain autumn night when he first saw Eun-ha.
A certain November that showed an abnormal climate with snowfall.
“Who the hell is it that makes you like this? I’ve never seen you like this in my life.”
Jiyu looked at his friend as if he was amazed. As far as he remembered, Yeon-jun had only been in one relationship so far. At eighteen, he accepted a confession from a Sunbae one grade above him and maintained the relationship for about half a year before breaking up. Even back then, Jiyu was amazed. He had gone to elementary school through high school with him, but he had never seen him interested in dating.
He had never responded to the confessions that someone would occasionally pass on when they were bored. So he was intrigued by his longtime friend’s first relationship, but it quickly fizzled out. It was because he met so quietly that it made him wonder if they were even dating. Without any expression or mention.
But to be so withered and dried up like this. To have a face that looked like his insides were all twisted.
Jiyu, who had been strangely observing his friend’s unfamiliar side, soon felt a little sorry for the scene and began to offer his own advice. He probably didn’t know much about dating, after all. At least he had dated about three times.
He emphasized the importance of charisma to Yeon-jun. The friend he knew was, unlike his appearance, a very kind-hearted person.
If you want to win a woman’s heart, you have to be forceful. The bold and daring are the ones who win love.
“It’s either all or nothing, Yeon-jun. It’s better to just go for it.”
“……Is that so.”
“Yeah. It’s much better to approach and do something than to wait like this. Take control. Like a man.”
“Like a man?”
“Yeah. Bang. Exactly-. Forcefully. You know what I mean.”
“I really don’t know at all.”
What does it mean to be like a man? I’m already a man, what do I have to do to be like a man…….
It was difficult. Would he even accept my contact if I reached out? Should I go to that cafe again after a long time? He hadn’t gone there in the meantime. Because Hyung said he would contact me. He definitely said he would contact me first. In order to wait.
“Hmm……. Ah! I know. How about this? Ask him to meet you just ten times.”
Jiyu clapped his hands as if he had come up with a good idea.
“Ten times?”
“If you say it with such a specific number, people’s psychology makes it difficult to refuse. It makes them think, should I just meet him that much more?.”
“Why exactly ten times?”
“Actually, it’s a scene from a webtoon I saw yesterday.”
“What is that.”
“No. Really. Look.”
Jiyu, who had sharpened his eyes with determination, placed his hand on Yeon-jun’s arm with an exaggerated motion.
“Then meet me just ten times.”
“…….”
“Because I’m confident I can seduce you within that time.”
“…….”
“And a damn charming eye smile.”
“Please, Jiyu. I’m serious.”
“It was a legendary scene.”
Jiyu said he had to watch it again and took out his phone. His cheekbones were already raised. His interest must have shifted to a suddenly emerging topic.
Yeon-jun left his friend, who was starting to giggle alone while looking at something, and leaned his head against the wall again. He thought of Eun-ha. Neatly opened eyes. Lips closed in a straight line. A solid expressionless face. The face that occasionally smiled faintly at the part-timers.
A slender neckline. The hand that brought a cigarette to his mouth. All the scenery that felt particularly slow or static.
That languid and cold atmosphere. An atmosphere where the blood would be blue if he bled.
Just ten times? Seduce? Charming eye smile?
It would only invite ridicule.
Yeon-jun, who lightly wrinkled his nose as if in resignation, let out a feeble laugh. Then, he made a slight groaning sound in his throat and buried his body in the wall as he was, lost in thought. He thought of Eun-ha again.
Because he thought of him. Because he kept thinking of him. Regardless of his will.
It was then that two vibrations occurred in his hand. Yeon-jun casually looked down to check the screen. A breeze that blew from somewhere tickled his neck coolly and passed by.
I’m Lee Eun-ha
What are you doing today?
Because he was already in the chat room, the message did not initially show as unread. Yeon-jun, who realized that fact at the same time as confirming it, felt his throat getting hot, but soon he didn’t care anymore.
He bit his lower lip and repeatedly read the short two lines several times, then slyly covered his mouth with his hand. Because it felt impossible to hold back his laughter.
He casually touched the corner of his mouth with the tip of his thumb, then closed his eyes tightly for a long time.
Really. How could he feel so embarrassed like this.
It took about 15 minutes to walk from the Officetel to the university. Eun-ha, who arrived at the university’s west gate where they had promised to meet, checked that there was still plenty of time left and slowly moved his steps inside.
He had occasionally come in for a night walk, but it was the first time he had come in when the students were still around. People wearing lighter clothes due to the rising temperature passed by. As he walked along the road where trees were lined up on both sides and felt the cool air, he naturally thought of his college days. It felt like a distant past for some reason, but when he thought about it, it wasn’t that long ago.
Eun-ha graduated with a degree in business administration without any problems. He didn’t come to this place, Korea University, but he still graduated from Yonhee University, which was the next best university. At the time, his father said that it was a good thing that he had failed to get into this place. He said that it was a place where people who wanted to become dragons from the stream went, and that people like us usually went to Yonhee University or Gowon University to think about alumni.
Of course, he knew that it was just rationalization. His father was a person who valued face.
Undoubtedly Korea’s first university. As a hotbed of learning, the campus gave off good energy just by walking around. Eun-ha was able to reach the College of Fine Arts by looking at the map app. What immediately caught his eye was a sculpture in a unique style. As he moved his steps between the buildings, his eyes went to a somewhat noisy point. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a space where they could work separately outdoors. Even though it was getting late in the evening, he could glimpse students who were busily immersed in something.
The reason why Eun-ha paused was because one person in particular caught his eye. His large height, which was easily visible from a distance, and the overall shape of his back looked familiar. As he got a little closer, the other person happened to turn his body sideways. It was Yeon-jun after all. Eun-ha slowly stopped walking. He was sitting on a large work desk, talking comfortably with someone.