“Oh my!”
The convenience store employee rushed out at the loud noise and looked down at the floor with a devastated expression.
“I’m sorry. I’ll pay for the eggs.”
Sa-yoon apologized to the worker and muttered another curse under his breath.
Running into someone by chance could happen, but fuck, this was some next-level paranoia. If a normal person were holding a carton of eggs, they wouldn’t have reacted like that. Now where the hell was he supposed to find more?
A flood of frustration poured out of him.
After cleaning up the mess, Sa-yoon left the convenience store and scanned the street. The asshole responsible was already gone.
He ran a hand through his bangs, letting out a long sigh. No matter how many curses he spat, his anger wouldn’t subside.
The next day.
“This fucking major.”
Sa-yoon walked briskly across campus. Fridays were cursed when it came to course registration. Not only had Plan A failed, but Plans B and C had crumbled too, leaving him to scrape together whatever classes were still open.
Thanks to that, his schedule had him shuttling between the general education building and the arts department, back and forth, like a goddamn errand boy.
To make things worse, the business school was planted right between them. Cutting through the building was the fastest route, so he stepped inside out of habit.
“Ugh!”
“Shit, that’s hot!”
A student, too absorbed in conversation to watch where he was going, crashed into Sa-yoon head-on. The impact sent coffee sloshing out of the paper cup, drenching Sa-yoon’s hand and part of his clothes.
“Gasp! I’m so sorry!”
Was this month cursed?
It started on the first day of the semester, when his brand-new textbook got ruined. Then yesterday, he got deliberately shoulder-checked. Now, this? That made three collisions this month. And to top it all off, he’d been cussed out by some brat of a freshman.
The film studies department had an electric kettle in its lounge for students pulling all-nighters. Sa-yoon had been the one to donate it. Just now, he’d boiled fresh coffee to fight off sleep. And now? The steaming liquid was all over his skin, his hand turning red from the burn.
“I’m really sorry! I’ll cover your laundry and medical expenses!”
“Give me your number.”
“Uh, what?”
“I’ll contact you. Just give me your number.”
There was no time to waste.
After exchanging numbers, Sa-yoon rushed into the restroom down the hall. Being late to class was one thing, but he needed to cool his burning hand ASAP.
Practically shoving the door open, he barreled inside—
—straight into someone’s arms.
“Uh…”
“Fucking hell.”
Before Sa-yoon could even lift his head to grasp the situation, the other person yanked his wrist, pulling him back. His back slammed against the cold tiles of the restroom. Only then did he see who had grabbed him.
It was Sa Shin-jae.
“Could you quit following me around?”
“What?”
“Fuck, is this what you wanted to show me? No, huh? No matter how you look at it, this is straight-up stalking.”
The face that was always curved into that annoyingly perfect smile was now completely twisted. Even when they were alone, Sa Shin-jae would sometimes look at him like he was something disgusting, but this was the first time his expression had shattered this completely.
But now wasn’t the time to be dwelling on that. Cooling the burn on his hand was more urgent.
“What the hell are you talking about? Move.”
Did this asshole think the business school restroom was his personal property? Sa-yoon’s hand was still stinging from the scalding coffee.
He stepped toward the sink to run it under cold water, but the moment he moved right, Sa Shin-jae moved with him. He tried left—same result. No matter which way he turned, the tall bastard in front of him refused to step aside.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“What?”
“Move.”
“Why should I? Fuck, you came all the way to the business school just to see me. But now that you’re getting a good look, you’re scared?”
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?”
“You really don’t know when to quit just because I let your bullshit slide, huh?”
“The one crossing the fucking line here is you. You’re really pushing it now, aren’t you?”
“And what about you?!”
At that, his broad chest expanded sharply before deflating again, his breath heavy with hostility. Did he really think glaring like that would intimidate him? Sa-yoon wasn’t about to back down. He squared his shoulders and shot back a glare of his own.
“Quit following me. Before I really report you.”
“This is seriously—!”
A sudden wave of déjà vu hit Sa-yoon. Even back then, no matter how hard he tried, communication never worked with this guy. Showing him his reddened hand wouldn’t make a damn difference—Sa Shin-jae would probably just smirk and say serves you right.
“Do you seriously think the whole world revolves around you? That everyone is obsessed with you and chasing after you?”
“Wow. You really do love talking about yourself, huh?”
“Go see a fucking psychiatrist. No matter how I look at it, you need therapy. Your paranoia is out of control. No matter how many times I tell you otherwise, you don’t listen.”
“And you should visit a police station. Seems like you can’t tell the difference between crime and everyday life. You’re getting old—you should at least try to get a job without a criminal record.”
This bastard really knew how to weaponize the most random shit. It was almost funny.
“How do you even live at home? Worried I might’ve planted hidden cameras in your house? What if all your classmates are actually working for me?”
“Shut the fuck up. Keep talking like that, and I will report you for real.”
“Go ahead. You do know false reports are punishable, right?”
At those words, Shin-jae smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth in a sneer.
“With evidence this clear, how is it a false report?”
“You must be too young to understand, but evidence—”
“Wow, must be nice being so old. Seems like you’ve got nothing else to say besides that.”
“…Ha, whatever. Just move already.”
He was already busy as hell, and wasting time on this unproductive conversation was pointless.
“Where do you think you’re putting your hands?”
“What, did you swallow a frog or something?”
He tried shoving Shin-jae aside, but the bastard didn’t budge an inch, standing there like a goddamn wall.
“I’ve never met someone with a personality as fucked as yours.”
“Wow, thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking.”
Sa-yoon finally realized that no matter what, Shin-jae wasn’t going to back down until he was done talking. Accepting defeat, he ran a hand roughly through his bangs.
“Today is just fucking fantastic. Look, we’re gonna have to see each other anyway, so why not just smooth things over? Is it really that fucking hard?”
“Yeah. Just looking at your face makes me sick.”
“You socially stunted little shit.”
Normally, this asshole would go out of his way to avoid even brushing against him. But today, of all fucking days, right now—he was blocking him like this? Sa-yoon’s whole body burned with frustration. His head was pounding now, not just his hand.
At that moment, they both heard footsteps approaching from outside the restroom. Instinctively, both of them turned toward the door.
“…Just fucking cut it out,” Shin-jae muttered before walking out.
“…Psycho bastard.”
Muttering under his breath, Sa-yoon finally stepped up to the sink and turned on the cold water. The icy stream rushed over his reddened skin.
***
Come to think of it, I was on the bus first. So why the fuck does that asshole act like I’m following him around? Even if I did stick to him before, does that even make sense?
At this point, it wasn’t even about apologies anymore. He just wanted to fuck with Sa Shin-jae. His breathing was still uneven from frustration.
“Sunbae! Did you get hurt?”
Ha-rim, who had been watching his hands as he adjusted the camera, gasped in alarm.
“Spilled coffee earlier.”
Since he hadn’t been able to cool it down right away, his hand had turned red and hadn’t gone back to its normal color.
“Do you have ointment?”
“Already put some on.”
“It still looks really bad though…”
“It’ll heal on its own.”
Honestly, he might as well have just dunked his hand in boiling water. The affected area was pretty wide, but luckily, the burn wasn’t deep enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.
“Sunbae, do you know why Shin-jae is late?”
“How the hell would I know?”
“You’ve been really doting on him lately. If he’s not around, you’re always looking for him.”
Sa-yoon clamped his mouth shut. He had been acting that way recently. And truth be told, he knew exactly why Shin-jae was late today.
The professor for his Friday evening Principles of Business class talked way too much. The guy had a habit of going off on tangents mid-lecture, and if he didn’t finish covering the material, he’d just keep talking until he did.
Shin-jae was probably still stuck in that class. Sa-yoon had heard about it while sitting with Shin-jae’s classmates before—apparently, everyone hated the way it dragged into their Friday nights.
“You liked him so much… Seriously, nothing happened on the night of the dinner?”
“Just curious—why do you keep bringing that night up?”
“Well, you do know Shin-jae’s a lightweight, right?”
“…Him?”
What the hell was she talking about? The guy had pounded drinks that night.
“Yeah, I was surprised too. Normally, if he goes to a drinking party, he won’t touch more than a glass. But I heard later that he blacked out that night and just kept drinking.”
“…Ah.”
So he normally went around telling people that. His whole damn life was a lie, wasn’t it?
“Still, he’s not the type to get sloppy when he’s drunk. If he didn’t do anything major, maybe you should just let it go, Sunbae.”
I wanted to let it go—he’s the one who refused.
Thinking about that pissed him off even more. Shin-jae cared so damn much about his image, so why did he only act like a complete asshole to him?
Being too handsome is a problem too, huh.
People coddled him too much, and that’s probably why his personality turned out so fucked.
As they talked, the rehearsal began. The junior playing the lead role stepped onto the stage, and naturally, both of their gazes shifted toward the performance.
“…Why are all the lights set up like that?”
Two standing lights, which usually weren’t there, were shining directly onto the stage.
