Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A few days later, over a meal, Hajun caught wind of a rumor: Shin Yeonsu had beaten the hell out of a dorm pervert.

“Wait, who caught what?”

Yumin was practically vibrating with excitement as he recounted the story. A couple of days ago, Yeonsu hadn’t been feeling well during a lecture. She’d excused herself to Seonyeong and headed back to the dorms to catch some sleep.

A rustling noise woke her. And she opened her eyes to find a strange man standing there with a black plastic bag over his head.

Anyone else would have screamed or run for their life. Not Yeonsu. She grabbed the first thing within reach and beat the guy mercilessly over the head and back.

“So she used this long hockey stick…”

“Wait, hold on. A hockey stick? My hockey stick?”

“Yeah. She definitely said she beat him with a hockey stick. Oh, right. Didn’t you say you lost yours during the sports festival this year?”

“Yeah.”

“You… don’t think it’s the same one?”

“Forget the hockey stick! Tell me the rest.”

He got the full story later. It really was his hockey stick. Just as Yeonsu had suspected, Seonyeong’s roommate eventually confessed to stealing it.

Her excuse was ridiculous: she’d just wanted it because it had Hajun’s signature on it.

Either way, the incident completely overhauled Yeonsu’s reputation. She went from a fragile, innocent girl to a hardened survivor who might actually kill you if you messed with her.

Four days later, Yeonsu showed up at the old student council room with the broken hockey stick in hand.

Hajun had been trying to catch a nap in the empty room. He snapped his head up at the sound of the door opening.

“If it isn’t the star of the hour.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the talk of the campus right now.”

“Oh.”

“Is that mine, by any chance?”

Yeonsu nodded. She apologized profusely, explaining that she’d meant to return it in one piece, but an unexpected situation had arisen and the blade had snapped off.

“It’s fine. I was going to throw it away anyway.”

“Still…”

“You caught the panty thief, didn’t you? You did a good deed. If my hockey stick helped, that’s enough for me.”

“Were you really going to throw it away?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll throw it out for you.”

“Be my guest.”

They ran into each other often in the council room after that. At first, they just minded their own business.

Hajun would take his usual naps. Yeonsu would study. But somewhere along the line, that routine evolved into them sitting across from each other, sharing snacks.

Around that time, Hajun naturally started hanging out with Yeonsu’s friends.

He’d initially thought Shin Yeonsu was a bit strange, but she was actually far more easygoing, bright, and cheerful than he’d expected.

That was especially true when she was joined at the hip with Seonyeong. She’d haul her dead-drunk friends all the way back to the dorms without a single complaint or huff of annoyance.

Soon, Summer passed. The new semester started. And Yeonsu remained exactly the same.

Around then, Hajun deferred his military enlistment notice. He did it solely to spend one more semester with Shin Yeonsu, though he never breathed a word of it to anyone.

Spending another season with her taught him a few things.

1. Shin Yeonsu was fucking pretty.
2. Shin Yeonsu was fucking bright.
3. Shin Yeonsu was fucking tough.
4. Shin Yeonsu was fucking nice, but she snapped at him and him alone. Seeing how much she challenged him lately, she was actually kind of a brat.
5. Every guy who confessed to Shin Yeonsu ended up taking a leave of absence the following semester.
6. If you showed any sign of liking her, she’d ruthlessly treat you like an invisible man the very next day. See? Total brat.
7. Shin Yeonsu was fucking cold. But he seemed to be the only one who noticed. God, he wanted to plaster it on a campus bulletin board.
8. Shin Yeonsu had zero interest in men.
9. Did she like women, then? That didn’t seem right either.
10. Shin Yeonsu liked people who kept things light.

She enjoyed easy, breezy jokes. She pursued simple, uncomplicated relationships.

A senior and a junior.

He quickly figured out that she expected nothing more and nothing less from him.

They bickered constantly, nitpicking each other’s words. They’d argue all day over group projects when their opinions clashed.

But when it was time to head home, they always shook hands.

“Good job getting all worked up today. Yeah, you too. Must’ve been hard acting so childish all day.” It was that kind of vibe.

Put simply, they only ever invested energy into each other when they were face-to-face. They rarely texted privately. They absolutely never called.

If one of them cut contact, the other wouldn’t even be upset. The tie could be severed at any moment.

They were just fodder for future small talk. “I used to know this funny upperclassman. I used to know this nice junior.” That was the exact extent of their relationship.

“Hey.”

Hajun walked into the classroom for International Business majors. Seonyeong waved at him.

He raised a hand in return.

“Hey.”

The second he sat down, Yeonsu yanked hard on his hood from behind. She was already checking up on the group project the professor had assigned last week.

“Hand over your research.”

Hajun scowled, his hood still bunched in her grip.

“You said you needed it by tomorrow.”

“Exactly. And it’s not something you can finish in a day, so I need to check your progress.”

“I’m working on it. I’m doing my best—”

Yeonsu snatched his notebook right out of his bag. When they’d first met, she’d been so polite and sweet. Now she treated him like an equal, completely ignoring the fact that he was two years older.

“Hey! You can’t just dig through your senior’s bag!”

“Yeah, whatever. If I don’t get an A-plus in this class, you’re dead meat.”

“Oh, please. This professor is a hardass. He’s famous for never giving A-pluses. He barely even gives A’s.”

“Which is why you need to stop slacking off and work hard.”

She yanked his hood all the way up, pulling it over his head.

Hajun let out a few fake, dramatic sobs. Then he quieted down, watching Yeonsu as she read through the research he’d stayed up all night doing.

“Satisfied?”

Yeonsu nodded.

“Yeah. Good job.”

“‘Good job’ is what a senior says to a junior.”

“We need to start prepping for the presentation tomorrow. Come to Dalgwa Bada Cafe after class.”

“Say ‘please come,’ and I will.”

Yeonsu shot him a glare. Hajun instantly folded, saying he’d be there. He asked if she was heading to the council room today. She nodded.

“Want me to pick up some tteokbokki?”

He tried to sound casual. She shook her head. Seonyeong chimed in then, steering the conversation in a completely different direction.

“Hey, Jian said she saw you two in front of the school a few days ago. Said you were fighting again.”

Hajun shot a cautious glance at Yeonsu, trying to play it off like it was nothing. Seonyeong turned to Yeonsu, demanding to know what they’d been bickering about this time.

Honestly, it wasn’t fair. Hajun had just gone to the council room for a nap. Yeonsu had left her phone on the table, and it wouldn’t stop ringing. He hadn’t had a choice.

The caller ID clearly said “Mom”. Yeonsu had been gone for ages, so he’d just answered it for her.

“Hello, I’m Kim Hajun, a senior in Yeonsu’s department. She left her phone in the council room. I’ll let her know to call you back as soon as I see her.”

It hadn’t been an emergency. Yeonsu’s mother had just started asking him all sorts of questions about her daughter’s college life.

He’d told her that Yeonsu was incredibly polite to her seniors, well-mannered, and got along great with her classmates. Her mother had been absolutely thrilled.

Then she’d mentioned that Yeonsu was actually quite stubborn and strong-willed, asking him to look out for her. He’d laughed and replied, “Oh, I know.”

Yeonsu’s mother had been a little taken aback at first, but then she’d laughed and started playfully complaining about her daughter.

She was so stubborn that whenever they fought, she’d give the silent treatment for days. That was exactly what was happening now, which was why her mother had called first.

Hajun had laughed cheerfully, promising to take responsibility and make sure Yeonsu called her back.

He’d thought it was no big deal. He was wrong. Yeonsu had been absolutely furious.

“Why… would you answer my phone?”

“Huh?”

“I said, why did you answer it?”

“Because the caller ID said “Mom”. She called a bunch of times. I thought it might be an emergency.”

“That’s a huge invasion of privacy.”

“Fine, I crossed a line. But your mom sounded really upset, so just call her back.”

All he’d done was answer her phone. All he’d done was give her one piece of advice. And she’d glared at him in front of the main gates like she wanted him dead.

It had been entirely one-sided. Yeonsu had yelled, and he’d just stood there and taken it. But to Jian, it must have looked like a two-way screaming match.

“Should I consider that a good thing?”

The memory was still painfully fresh. Hajun let out a low sigh, muttering mostly to himself.

“You call that a fight? I was just getting chewed out.”

“Huh?”

“Ask her.”

Seonyeong looked back at Yeonsu. Yeonsu kept her mouth stubbornly shut.

“Seriously, this girl!”

Hajun stuck out his bottom lip.