“Bye!” Nahyun cheerfully waved at Ahreum as she left the set. Ahreum waved back, preparing to leave as well. The filming ended rather decently: not much yelling from the director nor NGs that were caused by her, but then again, she didn’t have many scenes to film so the chances of messing up were low anyway. She was humming while heading out, but stopped when Sehun passed by with his manager. “Good job today,” she nicely said to him.

Sehun turned to her, briefly replied, “You too,” before continuing out towards his manager’s van. She had expected more conversations to occur between them because of the fact that the two were supposed to be each other’s love interests, but Sehun didn’t talk much. Ahreum started rummaging through her pockets for her wallet. When her hands felt nothing but the pocket’s fabric, her face frowned. She hastily looked into the large bag that used to hold the lunchboxes; however, the important wallet that contained her bus card and money, didn’t show up.

This was one of those rare occasions where she decided on leaving her purse behind and bringing along only a wallet, the reason being that the act of lugging the lunchboxes, itself, seemed difficult enough without carrying around an extra accessory. Though it turned out to be a bad decision since after the wallet was taken out of her purse, she had completely forgotten to take it with her while leaving the dorm. Now she was missing the things needed to head back, no money or bus card in her hands to use for transportation.

Ahreum immediately unlocked her mobile and called the first person that came to mind. The first try ended with an automated voice, but the second try did the trick, an annoyed, human Chanyeol answering with a “What?”

“I left my stuff at home. Come pick me up,” she said.

“I’m busy,” he replied.

“Busy? Again? At this time?”

“Yes, I’m busy. Call someone else.”

Ahreum walked outside, the icy breeze of the night air blasting into her face. The skin on her arm raised its hairs, her body shivering from the touch of cold that seemed to be spreading through her bones. “You really can’t come?” she asked, teeth involuntarily chattering. She looked down at her thin blouse and regretted not checking the temperature that day. If she did, she would have brought a jacket.

“I can’t come,” he firmly answered.

“You really can’t come?” she questioned again, hiding her disappointment. “Isn’t regularly nice Chanyeol still there somewhere?”

“Regularly nice Chanyeol is dead.”

She became silent for a full minute. “You didn’t have to say it like that.”

“I’m being honest. Regularly nice Chanyeol is gone, so call someone else.”

“But what if the other people I call won’t pick up?”

“Then you’re out of luck.”

“How can you be that heartless?”

“It’s because I’m very busy right now and… wait a minute…” No sound was heard on the line until Chanyeol spoke up again. “What time is it?”

“Almost ten. Why?”

“If a restaurant closes at ten, can the workers close early?”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t that depend on the boss?”

“What if the boss isn’t h—there?”

She shrugged even though he couldn’t see it. “I don’t know, maybe. But why are you asking?”

“I’ll come pick you up.”

“What, really?” She brightened up, nearly forgetting about the cold temperature.

“Yeah, tell me where you are.”

She instantly told him the address and waited for him to arrive. Over half an hour in the hair raising cold later, an orange taxi rode up to her. “Hey, I’m here.” At the sound of Chanyeol’s voice, her head perked up, a smile forming at the sight of him. “Get in,” he said, holding open the backdoor of the vehicle.

“You came faster than I expected,” she said while going into the car.

He went in after her and shut the door before telling the taxi driver where to head next. “I had to use my own money for this taxi. You better be thankful.”

“You could’ve just taken the bus.”

“Excuse me, but as the gentleman I am, I can’t leave a girl waiting outside in the cold like that.”

“Wow, aren’t you a gentleman,” she sarcastically said.

He scoffed at her sarcasm. “I’m starting to regret taking a taxi.”

“Why?”

“Because I suddenly remembered that you’re a man, not a woman. What a waste of effort and money.”

She hit his shoulder, and he winced in pain. “I’m a woman!” she retorted with a glare.

“The only womanly thing about you is that you wear skirts and dresses. Everything else though…” He examined her before shaking his head. “You’re a man. Definitely a man.” She attempted to smack his shoulder again, but he quickly avoided it. “Oh-ho, you call yourself a woman when you’re this violent?”

“I’m only hitting you because you deserve it.”

“And I’m only telling the truth.”

She successfully smacked him across the shoulder this time, him yelping and rubbing his shoulder in pain. “Hey,” she said, starting to become worried when his face was extremely scrunched up as if he was in a lot of pain. “Are you alright? Did I hit too hard?”

“You think?” he said with raised brows.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

Silence enveloped the two as Ahreum looked out the window and he continued rubbing his shoulder while conspicuously glaring at her. In the middle of his glares, he noticed that she was hugging herself, palms rubbing up and down her arms to generate heat. The taxi they were in was still pretty cold, and the blouse she wore was inefficiently thin. “Sir,” he said to the taxi driver while pulling his sweatshirt off. “Can you increase the temperature a bit?” The taxi driver nodded and did what was asked of him.

“What’s with that shirt?” he asked Ahreum, throwing his sweatshirt onto her lap. “Are you testing out your cold endurance?”

“No.” She stared at the sweatshirt on her lap.

“Wear it. You may be a man, but no man could survive in this weather wearing that. Why didn’t you wear something warmer?”

“I have to look nice for my first shoot… and I didn’t check the weather,” she mumbled the last part, but he heard it anyway.

“What kind of idiot doesn’t check the weather every day?”

“Says the one who didn’t know that there was going to be a thunderstorm a year ago. Don’t you remember coming back to the dorm looking like you jumped into a pool with your clothes on?”

He scowled and crossed his arms. “I didn’t bring an umbrella on purpose. I wanted to take a rain shower.”

“Yeah right,” she said while putting on his sweatshirt. It was pretty big on her with sleeves that seemed to run a thousand miles beyond her arms and cloth that hung loosely over her upper body, but that was expected considering how much larger he was compared to her. “Hey…” She sniffed the gray garment. “Did you eat chicken earlier?”

He froze. “Why are you asking?”

“Because your sweatshirt smells like chicken. Now that I think about it, you’ve been smelling like chicken a lot these days.”

“I’ve been craving it,” he lied before quickly changing the topic. “Instead of asking me a bunch of questions, shouldn’t you be thanking me instead? First, I helped you get your audition and you got the part thanks to me.” He held up one finger in counting. “Then I helped you grocery shopping and make lunchboxes.” He held up a second finger. “And now I spent money on a taxi to pick you up.” He held up a third finger.

“Yeah, you did help me with all of that,” she muttered, gratitude warming her heart, and the chicken topic falling out of her mind like he intended. “Thanks a lot, for everything.”

He nodded with his arms still crossed. “That’s right. I deserve a thanks.”

“But why did you change your mind about coming? Did regularly nice Chanyeol come back from the dead?”

“No. Regularly nice Chanyeol is gone, and he’s currently preparing for his funeral,” he said. Ahreum held back a laugh, finding what he said a tad bit funny even though the humor may seem lacking to other people. “Let’s just say that I changed my mind after realizing how much I hate chicken.”

She was confused at his answer. “Wait, didn’t you just say that you’ve been craving chicken lately?”

“I… did. Right, I did say that…” A hint of nervousness appeared on his face, but it disappeared before Ahreum could catch a glimpse of it. “But why do you ask me so many questions? You’re being way too curious about everything I do.”

“You’re making me curious,” she replied.

He glanced at her. “Hey, don’t tell me…”

“What?”

“Do you like me?”

Ahreum’s eyes widened, taken aback at his question. “W-What? No!” She was flustered, heat creeping up to her cheeks. “Why would you suddenly ask such a crazy thing like that?”

“You’re asking me too many questions. It’s like you’re interested in me or something.” He leaned his face closer and gazed straight into her eyes. She flinched, eyes becoming even wider at the closed distance, his intense gaze making her stop breathing for a second. “Your face is red,” he said, lips curving upwards and dimples showing.

She turned away from him and faced the window. “It’s because the heater is on too high.”

He chuckled. “Just admit it. You were blushing because of how handsome I am, right? I always knew that I was handsome, but who knew that even a man like you would fall for my charms.”

“I didn’t fall for you. I told you that the heater is on too high,” she argued. “Who in their right mind would fall for an egotistical maniac like you?” His smiled dropped while she grinned triumphantly after it seemed like her words took a toll on him; the tiny victory encouraged her to throw out another attack card. “Your sister also told me something interesting.”

His eyes were the ones that were rounded now. “What did she say this time?”

“She told me that you only had two girlfriends in your life,” she continued, some laughter escaping before she could tell him the main part, “and one of them was in kindergarten, where you two would call yourself the block couple because you liked to play with blocks together.”

“She said that?!” He couldn’t believe that his sister would give away his personal facts to Ahreum as if it were nothing. “Aish, why does she keep telling people unnecessary information,” he muttered. “And why do you keep talking to her anyway? She’s my sister, not yours.”

“She likes me more than you. That’s why.”

“Did she say that?” His eyes were full of betrayal when she nodded.

“Aww, the block couple. That’s so adorable,” she cooed as her hand went up to pinch his cheek. “I guess our Chanyeol is more innocent than we thought.”

He grimaced while swatting her hand away. “Don’t treat me like some baby. We’re the same age.”

“But I’m older by a few months, so you’re technically younger.”

“So what? Do you want me to call you Noona or something?”

“No. I just want you to know that it makes sense that I’m treating you like a baby.” Her hand then moved up to ruffle his hair.

He frowned, once again swatting her hand away. “I’m not a baby. I’m a fully grown, handsome young man.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

Chanyeol started sulking, disliking her babyish treatment of him. When he grew silent and Ahreum noticed him looking the other way, she faced him, eyes gazing at his side profile. Her lips tugged upwards a little, but then he suddenly moved his head, causing for her to immediately face the window. A few seconds later, she courageously glanced back at him, saw that he was only changing his position, and felt relieved that he didn’t notice her actions.

 

---

 

“When did you get all of this?” Gong Myung awingly stared at Kang-joon’s beautiful, expensive-looking music equipment. A brand new computer, instruments, and music recording technology were set up in what used to be a messy storage room.

“It’s sweet, right?” Kang-joon said. “My parents got it for me when I told them I was serious about doing music.”

Gong Myung nodded as he stepped in, his eyes shining, admiring everything in the room. Kang-joon lived in an apartment all by himself: one bedroom, living room, bathroom, kitchen, and an extra room for him to freely use without needing to share. The mere fact that Kang-joon lived in such a spacious apartment and did not have to worry about rent, truly showed how well-off his parents were.

“But I thought you wanted to get into a big company and debut. Why did they buy you this?” Gong Myung examined the fancy music recording equipment in questioning.

“Don’t you know how old I am? I’m on my last year of college while idols these days are like 15. If I want to debut soon I’d better be able to make my own music.” Kang-joon sat down in front of his computer and turned it on. “I have three songs in mind right now. Listen to me sing and tell me which one sounds the best.”

Gong Myung sat down on a chair beside the other guy, listening attentively for over ten minutes as Kang-joon sang through his music choices. He then rated Kang-joon’s singing performance from best to worst, and thought that it was just going to end there. He was wrong. “I actually have some other songs in mind,” Kang-joon said, not asking for Gong Myung’s opinion on staying as he implied the other male was going to stay either way.

Song after song after song, Kang-joon sang his heart out while Gong Myung sat there, listening and growing in boredom. Gong Myung waited for the moment where Kang-joon would finally take a break, which would give him the opportunity to interrupt the solo concert in order to politely ask to leave. But Kang-joon never seemed to become tired, immediately going onto another song after the previous one finished. It also turned out that his computer had adblock, which was a depressing fact to learn since Gong Myung had waited for so long just for one commercial to give him at least five seconds to get out of there.

Gong Myung’s phone rang, ringtone sounding like the bells of heaven to his ears. “Sorry, I have to take this,” he said, instantly answering the call. “Oh, hi Mom. What are you calling for? What? Are you saying that there’s an emergency at home and I need to be there right now? I’m coming right away!” He pulled his phone away from his ear, an apologetic smile given to Kang-joon as he prepared to leave. “Sorry, but my family needs me right now.”

“No. No need to be sorry. Family is important. Go ahead. You’ve helped me with enough today.” Kang-joon waved, signalling the younger male that he could leave. And Gong Myung did leave. In fact, he was near sprinting out of the place, grinning wide enough that one would think he placed first in an olympic race, the front entrance of Kang-joon’s apartment building being the finish line. “Mom,” he said when he was a safe distance away from the tall building. “You don’t know how grateful I am that you called.”

“Why are you saying that all of a sudden? And what is this emergency you were talking about? Did something happen at home without me knowing? Did someone get hurt?”

“No. There’s no emergency, Mom. Everyone’s safe. Especially me now that I escaped thanks to you.”

“Escape? Escape where?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later,” he said. “But why did you call me?”

“Oh, it was nothing. I only wanted to ask how you’ve been,” she said.

Gong Myung smiled and nodded even though he knew she couldn’t see it. “I’ve been doing well.”

“How is the dorm? Are the people there nice?”

“Yes, they’re all very nice people. They even had a welcome party for me. I sent you a picture. Did you see it?”

“Of course I did. I saw your friends in the picture, and they’re all very beautiful people. Where did you find them?”

Gong Myung laughed. “Find them? Mom, I share a dorm with them.”

“You share a dorm with them?” his mom asked, taken aback. “But there are girls in the picture.”

“Dorms are like that nowadays. They’re coed.”

“But that’s too odd. How can men and women live under the same roof? What if something happens?”

“It’s fine. Really. The dorm is the closest to the campus and there are always people nearby. It’s very safe,” he explained. “And they’re all good people.”

“But I still don’t know how I feel about this… You don’t share a room with a girl, right Son?”

“No. I have a room all to myself. Everyone in the dorm does, actually. There are only four people, so we all have our own individual rooms.”

“That’s really good to hear,” his mom said.

“So is everything okay at the restaurant? Do you need me to come and help out?”

“The restaurant is doing well, so just have fun and be a college student.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m more than sure. Don’t worry about money or anything. I’ll take care of it all, so live your college life to the fullest. Go chase your dreams like your dad used to tell you.”

Gong Myung’s smile wouldn’t leave his face. “Okay, I’ll do that. But are you sure that you don’t want me to help out?”

“I have your brother here to help me.”

“But he’s a highschool student. He needs to study.”

“He’s good at studying anyway. It will be fine. And feel free to bring your new friends to the restaurant anytime.”

“Yeah.”

Suddenly, there was another voice on the line, calling out, “Hyung!”

“Yah, Doyoung. Shouldn’t you tell Mom that you should be studying?”

“Nah, you know that I’m good at it. Even if I don’t study, I stay in third place,” he boasted.

“Since you’re already in third, you should study more and place in first.”

“Third is already a great achievement,” his younger brother said. “But I also saw that picture that you sent…”

“What is it now?”

“The girl in the picture is totally my style! Can you introduce me to her?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Doyoung whined.

“She’s a college student and you’re not.”

“But I’m going to be a college student in less than two years!” Doyoung said. “Can’t you at least bring her to the restaurant?”

Gong Myung thought about it. If it was simply bringing a friend to a restaurant, then he could do it since his mom had also suggested it.  “Which girl in the picture are you talking about?”

“The pretty, cute one.”

“Ahreum?”

“Is that her name? The one with the straight hair?”

“Straight hair?” Gong Myung thought about it. If Doyoung described the girl as having straight hair, it must be Seul-ah. Ahreum always had her hair curled, except for some rare days in the dorm, and the picture he sent was also of them at the barbeque place where he remembered Ahreum having her hair curled as always.

“The girl with the straight hair totally looks like this hot idol my friends showed me.”

“Shouldn’t you be studying instead of watching a bunch of idols dance on your monitor?”

“You’re making it sound dirty,” Doyoung said. “And it’s not dance. It’s perform. They sing while dancing. They don’t just dance.”

“Whatever.”

“Whatever? Those idols work their butts off to debut and perform on stage. They work their butts off, Hyung!”

“You work your off too with studying for school. What's the difference?”

“That's different. They work way harder.”

“You're pretty much saying that you're not studying hard enough. Go study. If I come home and see that your is still intact, you're dead.”

“Hyung!" Doyoung shouted. “I need my for sitting!” Gong Myung laughed when hearing his brother’s statement. At the sound of his older brother’s laughter, Doyoung probably felt like it was a good time to bring up the topic they were previously talking about. “Anyway, about the girl I liked…”

“She’s too old for you.”

“It’s not like she’s ten years older or anything. I’m already a 2nd year. I’m pretty much a grown-up now.”

“Yeah right.”

“At least tell me her name and age. Please? Pretty please?”

Gong Myung exhaled, surrendering to his persistent brother. “Her name is Yoo Seul-ah.”

“Yoo Seul-ah? Wow, even her name is pretty,” Doyoung said in a lovestruck tone.

“I’m hanging up,” Gong Myung said, about to gag from his very own brother.

“Wait! At least tell me her age.”

“She’s a 2nd year in college. Just guess her age.”

“She’s a second year?” Doyoung sounded overly excited. “That means we have something in common then! I’m a second year and she’s a second year.”

“She’s a second year in college and you’re a second year in high school,” Gong Myung emphasized.

“It’s the same thing.”

“I’m hanging up,” Gong Myung said. Enough of a dose was taken of his younger brother for the day, and staying on the line for any longer may lead to an overdose of annoyance.

“You have to bring her to the restaurant someday! You have to!”

“I’m not promising anything.” Gong Myung hung up after that. Even though it was tiring to talk to his family, mainly the little rascal Doyoung, it was still pleasurable at the same time. They were family after all, and hearing their voices was enough to make him feel happy.

Gong Myung had lived with them until he moved out—not that long ago—to start living at the dorm. It wasn’t his own decision: the thought of living at a shared place with people other than his family, never occurred in his mind. But his mother worried about her college son’s social life, and suggested that he should try it out. After researching the prices of the different dorms offered by the University, they decided that the dorm that had the appearance of a house, was the best one to choose because of the cheap cost alone.

The sky was dark from it being nighttime; the streets of Seoul glowed with the light that spilled out of stores. Gong Myung headed back to his dorm, not having any plans to explore the city as it wasn’t the first time he’d been there. Years were spent going around the streets as a child with his family for whatever reason it was—simple fun, grocery shopping, visiting family, or something else not listed—and many years were also spent on going around the city either alone by himself or with some friends.

With how long he had been in the city, he had lost the curiosity and thirst for adventure regarding the exploration of citylife at a very young age. Gong Myung then remembered something that Kang-joon had given him. It was a bag of assorted, colorful jellybeans that he threw into the side pocket of his backpack. Kang-joon had mentioned that he had gotten it as a gift, but since he didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, he didn’t have the desire to eat the candy and instead regifted it to Gong Myung.

Gong Myung, too, did not have much of a sweet tooth—he had an average amount of sweet cravings, however the amount of sweet cravings wasn’t enough to consider himself as having a sweet tooth—but he knew one person who was very fond of jellybeans, and planned on regifting the regifted gift to her.

“I have something to give you,” he texted Seul-ah, who gave him her phone number after Ahreum asked her to. “Do you want to meet up somewhere or back at the dorm?”

His thumb tapped on send as he legs continued moving. He waited and waited for an answer, but a long time later, a reply text was still not received from her. Even more time passed after that, and still, no answer. Gong Myung decided that it was best to just head back to the dorm from the lack of response. His steps started to quicken, but he caught a glimpse of someone in a café.

It was Seul-ah, sitting at a table alone, staring at something in front of her. Seeing his fellow dormmate there made him notice how small the city of Seoul could be as this wasn’t the first time that he ran into her unexpectedly—the first time occurred during Ahreum’s and his friendly hangout.

He didn’t think much before heading in, perceiving her aloneness as an invitation for him to accompany her, and also because he really wanted to get the jellybean packet off his hands, but not in the trash because that would be a waste of good candy. He walked into the café, but she didn’t seem to be aware that he was there, her eyes continuing its gazing of something. Before he was able to approach her though, a man at one of the tables in front of her, beat him to it.

“Hello.” Gong Myung heard him say. The man was around his height and had quite a handsome face. He could tell even from a distance that the guy was interested in her. And why could he tell? Well, he wasn’t sure, but he was betting it was some sort of man’s intuition or something like that. “What are you doing here alone?” the man said.

Gong Myung walked farther into the café, finding himself a seat where there was a clear view of the two. Seul-ah gazed up at the tall man with a tilt of the head. “Why are you asking?” she asked back.

“I’m just curious,” the man replied, a sheepish smile forming. “You don’t look like someone who would be left alone.”

She nodded, turning her gaze away from the man and staring at something behind him. “You must be lonely sitting by yourself. Mind if I take a seat?” His hand reached for the chair across from her, but what she said next made him stop in his tracks.

“I wasn’t feeling lonely. I prefer being by myself.”

“Oh, um, okay.” The guy scratched his head, looking puzzled.

“But you can have this table. I was about to leave.” She then waved a hand over her mug as if to check for any hot steam left, took a sip of the liquid as if to truly make sure that the temperature was just right, and chugged it all down after probably realizing that the drink was cooled by then. Both the guy and Gong Myung watched her in shock as she gulped everything down in seconds. “I hope you don’t mind me leaving this here,” she said, wiping with a napkin and placing the mug back onto the table.

Afterwards, Seul-ah got up along with her stuff, and was ready to head out of the café. “W-Wait!” The man said before she could pass by him. “I actually wanted to drink some coffee with you, not take your table.”

“I don’t like coffee,” she bluntly said.

“I’ll treat you to something else then.”

“No thank you. I can pay for myself, but I appreciate your kind offer.” She gave him a slight smile in appreciation and once again headed for the doors, but paused when the man blocked her way.

“But I saw you staring at me,” he said. “Weren’t you showing interest in me?”

“Staring at you?” She seemed confused. “I only remember looking at that tree over there,” she said, pointing at the tree near the back.

“Tree?” The guy turned around and looked back, a medium-sized tree coming into his field of vision. “You were staring at that… tree?” he asked.

Seul-ah nodded. “Were you sitting near it?”

“Yeah… I was sitting in front of it.”

“Oh, that must be why you thought I was staring at you. I’m sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable,” she said while bowing in apology.

“N-No. No. It wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just, um… I just thought…” The guy ruffled his hair with a flustered look on his face, making Gong Myung feel a tickle growing in his stomach from the laughter that was starting to grow. The guy then took out his phone, holding it out to her. “Before you leave, can I have your number?”

“Phone number?” Seul-ah questioned.

“Yes, your phone number.” The guy charmingly smiled at her.

“I don’t give my phone number to strangers.”

“We can get to know each other. Then we wouldn’t be strangers.”

“Why do people reply similarly every time?” She muttered to herself, quietly in question, as her eyes wandered to something behind him.

The tall guy looked back again and saw that her attention was caught by the tree she had mentioned. “Why do you keep looking at that tree?” he questioned.

“I question it’s realism. When you were sitting near it, did it seem real to you?”

“Uh… it… did?”

Seul-ah nodded. “I believe that it’s fake, but I appreciate you answering.”

She then merrily hopped towards the café entrance, but prior to leaving, stopped by the tree, took a moment to examine it, nodded to herself, and only after that did she proceed to leave. The guy was abandoned, looking quite dumbfounded with phone still in hand, while Gong Myung was surprised that she didn’t see him on her way out. But then again, he was sitting at a table far away from the entrance, viewing the previous scene between her and the other guy from a distance, so it’s understandable that she didn’t see him since most people wouldn’t pay attention to random people sitting at random tables in a café.

Gong Myung stood up and went after her into the streets. “Seul-ah!” he called in the midst of running up to her.

Seul-ah stopped, turning around to meet eyes with him. “Oh… Gong Pal?”

Her stopping allowed him to fully reach her. “No, It’s Myung. Gong Myung,” he corrected.

“Ah, Myung. Myung… Myung… Myung…” She nodded when she believed his name was engraved in her brain—it wasn’t—while he noticed her phone in her hands, the screen showing the image of some animated characters.

“Did you… see my message?” he asked her.

“Your text message?” she questioned back as he nodded in response. “Yes, I did see it,” she said.

“You saw it?”

“I didn’t see the entire message, but I saw the first few words.”

“And you didn’t reply?”

“I didn’t feel like replying.”

Her straightforward answer made him feel kind of… offended, to say the least. Usually, people would tell a lie, or an excuse, or at least look apologetic about it, but Seul-ah admitted to it too quickly without trying to step around it, and she didn’t look even a little bit apologetic. “You must have been too busy to reply then,” he said with a forced laugh, planning on letting it slide since it wasn’t that big of a deal even if it was rude.

“I actually texted you because I wanted to give you this.” Gong Myung took out the assorted jellybeans from his backpack and handed it to her. “Someone gave it to me, but I’m not that into sweet things.”

“Thank you,” Seul-ah said with a twinkle in her eyes. She received the packet and placed it into her own backpack.

“Are you heading back to the dorm? Let’s head back together,” he suddenly asked. She nodded, eyes going back down towards her phone, her attention captivated by the animated panels.

“What’s that?” he asked, peeking at her mobile.

“A webtoon.”

“Webtoon? I actually read webtoons, too.” He smiled after finding out something else that they had in common. “Which one are you reading?” he asked, moving closer to her to get a better view of her phone screen. “You’re reading this one? I was reading it at first, but then it got to a point where there were too many jumpscares. I couldn’t read it after that.”

He laughed, waiting for her response, but she only nodded while continuing to scroll down the webtoon, immersed into the fictional world in her screen. He then noticed that they were standing in the middle of the street, disrupting the flow of traffic by making other people have to go around them. “We should start walking. We’re blocking other people’s path,” he said.

“That’s not good,” she mumbled without breaking eye contact with her phone. She started walking, but since she was facing the wrong direction, she started walking the opposite way from the dorm.

“The dorm is the other way,” he told her. She stopped again, lifted her head up, and blinked. Then her head went back down, eyes scanning through the images on her phone while feet slowly waddled one step at a time in order to face the correct direction, all the while not breaking concentration from the digital images.

Gong Myung held back a laugh, thinking that she looked like a distracted penguin, while his hands moved towards her shoulders and helped her turn around. “Let’s go,” he said, gently pushing her forward when she was facing the right way. “I’ll make sure you won’t bump into anyone, so take your time reading.”

She nodded while saying a, “Thank you.” He responded with a, “You’re welcome.” As they walked, there were times where other people were walking towards them in the opposite direction, nearly bumping into either of them, but he made sure to pull her out of the way each time. It was quiet between them as she was focused on reading her webtoon, but he didn’t mind. “Are you done?” he asked when she lifted her head.

She nodded.

“So what’s been happening in that webtoon? I’ve been curious about how the plot is going,” he said. Seul-ah tapped something on her phone before showing it to him. “No way, he died?” He stared at the cartoon male character, blood seeping out of the character’s body and flooding the dark floor. “I thought he was one of the main characters, but he got killed off?” He scrolled upwards to view the previous panels. “I think I need to go back and read this. But at the same time, I’m kind of scared of reading it.”

“You will be alright,” she said.

“Are you sure? I remember getting scared at episode 8 because of the sound and jumpscares. I couldn't continue it after that,” he admitted.

She nodded. “There have been a lot less jumpscares. I think you’ll be alright.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll start reading it again. But hey, what’s your favorite type of webtoon?”

“I like reading all of them.”

“But you must have a genre that you like the most. Is it romance? Drama? Slice of life?”

“I do lean towards thrillers a lot.”

“Oh, so you like thrillers. I should’ve known since you’re reading this one. I’m more of a comedy person, but I like thrillers too,” he said. She nodded as she pocketed her phone and took out a jellybean packet—different from the one he had given her—from her backpack.

“Would you like one?” she offered.

“No thanks,” he refused with a smile. “Ah, I heard that you’re a webtoon artist. What kind of webtoons have you created?”

“Will you view it if I tell you?”

“Well, I’m curious enough to view it. It’s actually my first time meeting a webtoon creator in person, so I’ll definitely give your story a view.”

“You will?”

“I promise,” he laughed. “So what is it called?”

“Parody.”

“Parody? I haven’t heard of it before…” He took out his own phone and started searching for her webtoon in the webtoon app. “Oh, I think I found it. Your author name is SAY?” She nodded as he read the synopsis of the webtoon. “It sounds interesting. I’ll make sure to read it, but…” He meekly rubbed his nape. “...there aren’t any jumpscares or anything, right?”

“There aren’t. It’s not the moving type of webtoon.”

He breathed out in relief. “That’s good. I’ll make sure to read this then.”

She nodded while chewing on a jellybean.

“Are you going to make another one? It shows here that Parody is already finished.”

“I’m not. I’m drawing for another person’s webtoon now.”

“Oh, that’s cool, but also I’m kind of curious about something. You know how some authors use their real name and some don’t? Why do they do that? Why don’t you use your real name?”

“It’s preference.”

“That’s all?” he asked. She nodded in reply. “Then why did you choose SAY as your author name? How did you come up with it?”

“It’s my initials.”

“Initials?” He thought about it for a moment. “Yoo Seul-ah… Yoo Seul… Seul-ah Yoo? The Western way?” She nodded again. “Ohh… it makes sense.”

There was silence afterwards, the both of them walking without exchanging words through the streets of Seoul. Gong Myung tried thinking about another topic to talk about, but came up with nothing. He looked over at Seul-ah, wondering if she had anything to say, but she seemed to not care if they were talking or not as her eyes were distracted by something above. He stopped thinking, not feeling the need to initiate another conversation, and allowed the quietude to remain as they headed back to the dorm.