Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1.2

The employee enthusiastically welcomed him; he was not only friendly but also exuded an aura of nobility from head to toe. The room where Yeonsu and her classmates were seated didn’t have a separate door. Because of this, she glanced at Hajun, who hadn’t come into the room yet and was still standing at the entrance.

…What’s he paying for?

He was wearing beige chinos and a knit vest, his bangs naturally tousled. His black-rimmed glasses clearly weren’t prescription. His tall height gave him a strong model-like presence even when just standing, but Hajun also had an excellent sense of fashion.

Was it because he had a good physique that anything he wore looked good, or was it because his face completed the fashion?

Anyway, she couldn’t understand why this senior always came to their classmates’ gathering. Strangely, Hajun had always hung out more with Yeonsu’s classmates than his own. In his hand, as he entered the room, was an expensive bottle of kaoliang liquor. Yeonsu briefly lifted her eyes and greeted Hajun.

“Senior, hello.”

His eyes curved in a welcoming smile.

“What, Shin Yeonsu. I heard you’d gone off the grid for a while. What brings you here? Are you… dating someone?”

She tied her hair up tightly, preparing for the meal, and pouted her lips.

“What are you talking about?”

“What else? Seonyeong said you’ve been unreachable, doing whatever you’re doing by the Jeju sea.”

“I was just a bit busy.”

Pulling up a chair and sitting down, Hajun wiped his hands with a wet wipe. He placed the two bottles of kaoliang liquor he had bought in advance on the table, as if he knew nothing about them, and said,

“They said this was a service. Oh, by the way, Shin Yeonsu, what did you say you do for a living?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Do you look down on your senior now?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Hajun shot her a glance, then belatedly greeted the other classmates. The kaoliang liquor, encased in its brilliant crystal bottle between the other glasses, displayed its majesty.

One bottle must be about 400,000 won? That expensive stuff… “service,” my foot.

Yeonsu pretended not to notice and looked away. In the meantime, glasses were filled and emptied countless times.

Hajun was as outgoing and cheerful as Seonyeong, and he had always been popular with everyone, regardless of gender. He was excessively cold to people from other departments but endlessly kind to his own classmates, earning him the nickname ‘Business Administration Medusa Senior.’

The legendary Medusa with jewel-like shining eyes, or one whose terrifying face would strike fear into those who saw her. The rumor that if your eyes met hers, her breathtaking beauty would make you hold your breath for a few seconds and turn you to stone, stirred up the entire department every March when new students arrived.
He was the handsome older brother, oppa, or senior who always bought meals for anyone in his department, and many rumors swirled around him. His parents were famous actors, he was the illegitimate child of a renowned chaebol family hiding his identity, and so on.

Whatever the rumors, to Yeonsu, he was just one of those free-spirited, handsome, and good-natured college seniors with whom she had great banter.

She remembered Seonyeong mentioning two years ago that he had joined some large corporation right after being discharged from the military. His life seemed as unobstructed as an open highway at dawn.

Everyone was unusually kind to Hajun, creating such a misunderstanding. Hajun was that kind of person, one who gave off a strange feeling as if he would bring good luck. Sometimes, for the same reason, she would unconsciously get annoyed and snap at him more than usual.

Hajun never ignored or overlooked the provocations Yeonsu threw at him. He simply reacted cheerfully.

“Oh, Shin Yeonsu is on fire today, huh?”

“On fire? You have class, aren’t you going?”

“See? You always use the formal ‘Senior’ title, but you’re the most ill-mannered one in your entire year, you know that?”

“Takes one to know one.”

“…I lost.”

How childish. Truly childish. Yeonsu pushed away her past thoughts and took a piece of the sweet and sour pork, which Seonyeong had carelessly doused in sauce, and chewed it gently. Her gaze seemed to meet Hajun’s a couple of times, but she ignored it.

“Yeonsu, want some water?”

At Jinseok’s words from beside her, Yeonsu shook her head.

“No, I’m fine.”

As the drinking session properly got underway, the familiar repertoire of old college memories began to emerge, slowly creeping into the conversation.

“Why haven’t we seen Yechan lately? What’s he up to?”

“He’s studying to be a lawyer, apparently.”

“A lawyer? Why a lawyer?”

“Don’t you remember? He always talked about law back when we were in school.”

“Oh! I remember now. Didn’t Yechan get into a huge fight with Professor Kim Youngho and even try to sue him for defamation?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Professor Kim Youngho gave him a C-minus or something on the next exam, and he completely lost it.”

Jinseok, who was picking up a chili shrimp from afar and placing it on Yeonsu’s plate, corrected the story.

“No, that’s not right. Yechan went to the police station to file a complaint, but he ended up getting an apology from Professor Kim Youngho there, and that was it.”

“Really? I thought it went to court for sure?”

Amidst their conflicting conversations, Yeonsu, who had been quietly focusing on her meal rather than the alcohol, didn’t touch the chili shrimp Jinseok had just served her. Instead, she bit into a piece of deep-fried lotus root she had brought herself, savoring it.

Then, her gaze met Hajun’s again. His single-lidded eyes, behind his glasses, were intensely fixated on her.