Had Eunseo’s prophecy come true to some extent? The moment Seongjo entered the library entrance, he bumped into someone.
“Ah! Oh, I’m so sorry…! Are you hurt anywhere?”
There was no way to know whether it was an act with ulterior motives as Eunseo had said, or just a simple mistake, but perhaps because he’d heard such things, he couldn’t help thinking, ‘What if…?’ He nodded to indicate he was fine, but the other person added a word while gauging Seongjo’s reaction.
“Th-they say aftereffects from accidents can come late… If the place where we bumped hurts badly even a few days later, please contact me!”
Saying this, they tried to give him their number, but the vague uncomfortable feeling made him decline. It wasn’t enough to call it an accident—he hadn’t fallen backward or anything, they’d literally just bumped into each other, so there was no need for follow-up measures.
Next to the entrance, just as Eunseo had said, Seongjo’s father’s name was really engraved there. For having donated a huge sum of money to build this library.
Seongjo gazed at that name for a moment, then walked straight toward the elevator. After roughly scanning the floor directory, Seongjo headed to the third floor where Reading Room 1 was located.
When he took a number and entered, quite a few people had already claimed seats in the reading room. Considering it wasn’t exam period and was right after the start of the semester, it was impressive diligence.
He hadn’t come here with the purpose of studying from the start. Seongjo spread out his major textbook at his seat while looking around. Various types gathered there: students lying down asleep, students earnestly studying with earplugs in, students looking at their phones as if they’d come to kill time.
It was a place he’d come to without much thought, but it was an interesting sight in its own way. Even if he’d never come again, he thought it was worth seeing once.
“Oh…!”
Just then, a male student passing by Seongjo’s seat stopped as if surprised. Seeing him make a pleased expression while looking this way, it seemed he recognized Seongjo. Mumbling with his mouth, he leaned in close and whispered.
“Seongjo sunbae, you’ve returned to school. Do you remember me by any chance?”
Nothing came to mind immediately, so he was about to just shake his head, but suddenly a memory came to him and he nodded while only mouthing ‘Ah.’
Was it the year before he enlisted? A male junior he’d taken one class with just once. They hadn’t even done a group project together, just saw each other’s faces in passing, but even then he remembered the junior had approached him actively.
In any case, seeming happy that Seongjo remembered him, he made an excited expression and held out his phone to Seongjo. It seemed to mean they should exchange numbers while they were at it.
It wasn’t like he was making noise, but it was a reading room where everyone else was sitting quietly in their own seats. Just him standing by Seongjo’s seat would draw quite a bit of attention. That said, he didn’t feel like going outside the reading room to have a conversation for someone he didn’t remember very well and had no interest in either.
Seongjo entered his number without further reaction to send him away quickly. Even if a message came, it didn’t seem like he’d save his number.
After sending away the junior he knew like that, as Seongjo sat there half-reading his book, another person soon approached him. It was a student with a young-looking face. They shyly approached next to Seongjo’s seat, handed him a note, and disappeared just like that.
[Hello! If you don’t have a girlfriend, please contact me!!! 😀
20XX3843 Jung Jihye 010-XXXX-XXXX]
Looking at the message, it seemed they probably didn’t even know who Seongjo was. Perhaps because it was an age of self-promotion, it was unusual that not just a number but a student ID and name were written down.
Seeing that the admission year on the student ID was this very year, they were definitely a freshman—was that why they acted like this? Seongjo was also a college student who hadn’t graduated yet, so it wasn’t a huge age difference, but there was a strong possibility the other person was just around twenty. He felt guilty for just receiving the note. It would be terrible to throw it away right after receiving it, so he did put the note away, but he had no intention of contacting them.
Since he’d come all the way to the reading room, he thought he might as well do something, and as he roughly skimmed through his major textbook, more than an hour seemed to have passed. With the feeling that time was passing even slower than when he was in the military, Seongjo stretched and stood up from his seat. He thought he might get some air.
But the moment Seongjo pushed open the reading room door and came out, there was one student who hurriedly followed him out. With a nervous-looking face, she stepped aside from the doorway and then spoke to Seongjo.
“Um, hello. I’m sorry but you’re so my type, so could I possibly get your contact information…”
This time it was a method closer to the standard approach. Regardless of who the other person was, he had no mind to exchange contacts or date. When he politely declined, she bowed her head with an embarrassed expression, then left another greeting and disappeared back into the reading room.
Would she leave her seat like this? Contrary to such concerns, she quickly sat back down and resumed studying. If she was such a diligent student, maybe it was actually better that Seongjo hadn’t given her his number…
Seongjo made a “tsk” sound with his mouth, then tilted his head and turned around.
Assuming the person who bumped into him at the library entrance had ulterior motives, there had already been three female students who’d made passes at Seongjo today alone. Even though he’d always gotten asked for his number a lot, it hadn’t been to this degree. Even one person a day for three days would be a lot, but three people in one day.
He wondered absurdly if somewhere someone had made a bet to get his number or pay a reward to whoever received contact from him. Surely there wouldn’t be anyone bold enough to do such a thing over Lee Seongjo, but…
In any case, Seongjo felt somehow tired from the situations happening one after another. He wasn’t the type to feel sorry about declining. He always declined with appropriate courtesy, so there was no reason to feel guilty and he’d shake it off quickly. However, no matter what, receiving consecutive passes from people he had no interest in couldn’t help but be tiring.
Seongjo headed toward the vending machine to catch his breath. He didn’t carry small bills around, but fortunately there was a vending machine that took cards, so he decided to get a can of beverage and drink it.
What caught Seongjo’s eye was a beverage he’d never seen before in his life. Two types of drinks with simple designs differing only in color were lined up side by side. Pineapple Peach and Guava Orange.
Seongjo’s choice was Pineapple Peach.
When he opened the can and took a sip, the beverage boasted its carbonation as it went down his throat sharply. They said it was Pineapple Peach… Far from the flavors of pineapple and peach blending exquisitely, it was as if they were engaging in fierce combat in his mouth.
‘Ugh…’
It was a taste that made him want to stick out his tongue right there. He couldn’t manage to drink any more and had to throw away all the remaining beverage. At this point his fatigue grew even stronger, and he thought he should head back now. Seongjo came back to the reading room with the intention of gathering his things.
But in the meantime, something he hadn’t seen before was placed on Seongjo’s desk. It was a beverage can.
When he approached closer, the unopened can had a yellow Post-it note stuck on it covering the label. Then it wasn’t a case of mixing up seats. It was clearly a note left for Seongjo.
Was this the fourth one? No… If he thought about that male junior who’d passionately taken his number, it might be right to count it as five, not four.
Seongjo sighed at the fatigue washing over him again even before reading the note. And when he looked at the note,
[It’s chaotic. Please go somewhere else to exchange numbers.]
Handwriting so neat you’d think they’d received professional calligraphy training. Unlike what he’d received directly earlier, it was a memo containing only the main point without a polite greeting, self-introduction with student ID and name, or phone number.
‘Oh…?’
For the first time today, Seongjo’s eyes, which hadn’t sparkled like this when meeting anyone, showed a glimmer of interest. Weren’t a beverage can and a note perfect tools for conveying goodwill? But this note seemed to have no intention of revealing who the person was at all, and even had harsh content written on it.
Far from feeling wronged or angry, Seongjo was simply delighted. What would be the beverage pick of the person who left such a note? With that thought, when he peeled off the yellow Post-it, the label that had been covered came into view.
Guava Orange.
It was the beverage that had been paired with the terrible-tasting Pineapple Peach.
Seongjo opened the can while exquisitely muffling the sound, then brought the beverage to his lips with the Post-it in one hand.
Once again with the feeling of it going down his throat, this time he could feel the terrible taste in full as guava and orange seemed to engage in fierce battle. A terrible beverage with a note full of complaints. Normally one should grumble back at them, but… Seongjo put down the beverage can and laughed happily.
I should come tomorrow too, here.
