Chapter : 03
Cold eyes stared directly at her.
The features exquisitely sculpted above a sharp jawline were so perfect that they seemed incapable of compromise.
Yumin’s mind went completely blank at his unreal appearance, as though a character from a painting were actually looking at her.
…Is this a dream?
Why… Why on earth…
“Where did you sell my assignment, Hong Yumin?”
Why is Senior Jaejun here?
“You never said it would take this long.”
Jaejun took one step closer.
It seemed like Byeongtae was making a commotion beside them, but Yumin couldn’t hear him.
It felt as though only the two of them remained in the entire world, every cell in Yumin’s body focused entirely on Jaejun.
And for good reason.
He had been the only person who had made it possible for her to breathe freely during her college years.
When Yumin couldn’t say anything, Jaejun took another step toward her.
She couldn’t tell whether he had remained in the past and come here, or whether she herself had somehow returned to the past.
The citrus scent that had stirred her heart so deeply that it could confuse her senses filled her nose.
Her heart fluttered.
“Hm?”
At the low voice urging her on, gentle yet impatient, Yumin slowly raised her wandering eyes to look at him.
His gaze was still fixed on her.
“Let’s date. I’ll treat you well.”
Just like back then.
“Haah, fuck. What the hell are you guys doing?! Huh?!”
At that moment, Byeongtae’s pudgy hand suddenly shoved its way between them.
He grabbed Yumin’s arm and tried to pull her toward himself.
Jaejun immediately seized Byeongtae’s wrist.
“Aaah! Ah, ah, it hurts, you bastard!”
Although Jaejun had grabbed him effortlessly, a sound somewhere between a whine and a scream burst from Byeongtae.
Jaejun paid no attention and called out to him in an eerie voice.
“Sir.”
“Ugh!”
“His specialty is eating and running.”
A mocking sneer slipped from Jaejun’s lips.
“Oh, but he might run before he gets to eat. It’s too small.”
His indifferent eyes dropped precisely to the front of Byeongtae’s trousers.
Byeongtae’s face turned as red as a ripe persimmon.
“I know very well. She’s obsessed with big ones.”
Jaejun gave a small laugh and whispered to Byeongtae.
Yumin opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, looking at Jaejun as though blaming him.
Byeongtae, who was standing beside her, pointed accusingly at Yumin.
“Hey! What’s going on between you two?! Th-this is a breach of contract! Huh?! You said she was a virgin!”
Wh-what? A virgin?
Yumin was extremely flustered.
What on earth did my uncle’s family and that pervert agree to?
No, more importantly, why is Jaejun telling such a lie?!
Yumin looked at Jaejun, who was making the situation even worse.
He received her gaze with an utterly emotionless expression, then looked back at Byeongtae.
As though Byeongtae were his only prey.
As though he intended to keep biting into him until the very end.
He took another step toward Byeongtae.
One head taller and radiating overwhelming pressure, Jaejun made Byeongtae slowly back away.
Then Byeongtae suddenly flinched and let out a groan.
Taking a quick glance, Yumin saw that the corner of the table was pointed directly toward his backside.
“Ugh.”
The moment Yumin grimaced, her eyes met Byeongtae’s.
Perhaps humiliated, Byeongtae became angry with Yumin.
“Ah, fuck! You’re dead the next time we meet!”
Byeongtae ran away without a shred of dignity, completely forgetting his age.
Once he disappeared, a terribly cold silence enveloped Yumin and Jaejun.
She could barely breathe.
It was already unbelievable enough that her uncle’s family had forced her to go on a blind date with a vulgar man in his forties.
And of all people, her senior from college had witnessed it.
Her first love, Seol Jaejun, whom she was seeing again after five years.
Yumin cautiously raised her eyes to look at him.
His sharp gaze was bearing down on her.
She flinched and cleared her throat for no reason.
“Ah. Ah, well…”
“I still haven’t gotten an answer.”
Yumin nervously bit her lip and asked,
“…Pardon?”
“I asked where you sold my assignment, Hong Yumin.”
“Ah…”
It had been an abruptly arranged trip abroad.
Her cousin Suji had already decided to study in Germany and was preparing to leave after taking a leave of absence from school.
But two weeks before Suji left, her uncle and aunt forced Yumin to take a leave of absence as well and sent her to Germany.
Apparently, she was supposed to stay by Suji’s side.
In other words, she was basically a modern-day Hyangdan.
And because of that…
“I’m sorry.”
“Would saying you’re sorry really be enough? If it were, why would we even need laws in this world?”
Yumin chewed on her lip before raising her eyes.
When the sensual gaze carrying five years of time settled upon her, her heart rate shamelessly quickened.
The longer she stayed silent, the more she felt that he might hear the sound of her heartbeat, so she spoke again.
“…By any chance… did you not receive the grade?”
“You really have to ask?”
Yumin squeezed her eyes shut and bowed her head.
“Ha… I’m sorry, Senior.”
Yumin was upset.
At the time, she hadn’t wanted to go to Germany, so she had borrowed money from Jaejun—the only person who had been on her side—to escape to a gosiwon, and she had worked hard on his assignment.
She had never managed to give it to him in the end…
But now, five years later, how could she possibly make it up to him?
All she could do was bow her head repeatedly like a guilty criminal.
After bowing several times, Yumin abruptly turned around and moved out of his immediate vicinity.
But a moment later, he grabbed her wrist, forcing her to turn around again.
His eyes quietly held her.
It was difficult to look away from his gaze, as though she were bound in shackles.
Just like when they had first met during a liberal arts class.
“…Please let me go, Senior. I should go.”
“What about your fiancé in Germany?”
“…What?”
Yumin furrowed her brow before remembering what Suji had said in the past.
“Hey. Seol Jaejun’s friend came looking for you, you know? So I told him you had a fiancé in Germany.”
Yumin had assumed there was no way Jaejun’s friend would ever go to Germany, so she had simply laughed it off.
But was it actually true?
Did he really come all the way to Germany looking for me?
“Why do you like selling things off so much? Where did you sell your fiancé?”
Her face turned bright red, overwhelmed by both embarrassment and frustration.
Hoo.
Yumin lowered her gaze and let out a weak sigh.
“Where did you sell him that you’re going on a blind date with an old man like that?”
“…It’s none of your business, Senior. I’m glad I got to see you, even if only for a moment. Take care.”
Yumin twisted her wrist free and began walking away.
Her heart was pounding like crazy.
Afraid that she would be stopped if she looked back, Yumin kept her eyes straight ahead and walked as fast as she could.
Jaejun watched Yumin’s unsteady back as she walked away.
Should I stop her or not?
There were so many things he wanted to ask her about, so many things he wanted to demand an explanation for.
“Master.”
That was when Yongil suddenly appeared from behind.
“I heard there was a commotion in the lounge, so I came over, and sure enough, it was you, Master—”
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Go see if she gets home safely.”
“…Yes?”
Yongil, who had arrived late and knew nothing about what had happened, looked back and forth between Yumin, who was getting farther away, and Jaejun.
“Find out where Hong Yumin lives.”
“Hong Yumin?!”
Yongil spoke loudly, then startled at the sound of his own voice and covered his mouth with his palm.
Of course.
The only person who knew about Jaejun’s intense unrequited love during college was Kwon Yongil.
“Yumin already left.”
“Gasp!”
“If you lose her, you’re dead.”
Yongil hurriedly ran after Yumin.
Left alone, Jaejun calmly sat back down as though nothing had happened.
But there was a complicated, subtle glimmer in his eyes.
After leaving the hotel in a daze, Yumin walked down the street, stopped, then started walking again, only to stop and slap her own cheek repeatedly.
She still couldn’t tell whether what had just happened to her was a dream or reality.
More unbelievable than suddenly being forced into a blind date with Kim the Pervert—or rather, Byeongtae—was the fact that she had met Jaejun.
She had first met Seol Jaejun during a liberal arts class in her freshman year of college.
She had been unable to sleep properly for several days because of Suji’s constant mistreatment. She had fallen asleep without even realizing the lecture had started and opened her eyes to the professor’s voice.
The sculpture sitting beside her, resting his chin on one hand as he listened to the lecture, slowly lowered his gaze and looked at her.
That fleeting moment felt like an eternity.
Because neither of them looked away.
Hello.
His greeting, conveyed only through the shape of his lips, had caused spring to burst into the frozen heart of Yumin.
