Everyone has someone they look up to and admire. And for most teenagers and people in their twenties, it was very common to pour that kind of admiration onto idols or actors—in other words, celebrities.
“Hey, holy shit, did you see Instagram?”
A female student came rushing into the large lecture hall and quickly ran over to her friend. She was so worked up that she didn’t even notice herself smacking into the notebook of the student seated all the way at the end. As if used to it, Kang Han-gyeom simply set his crooked notebook back into place.
“Kang Hoon is getting married!”
“No way, seriously? Didn’t he only switch from being an idol to an actor not that long ago?”
As always, Han-gyeom sat apart from the noisy lecture hall, alone in his own world. He had no particular interest in entertainment industry talk. To begin with, he was completely clueless about that sort of thing.
“He posted a handwritten letter on his SNS account saying he’s getting married this time. But do you know what’s even crazier? They say the person he’s marrying is a longtime fan.”
Before class started, Han-gyeom had been flipping through a book to kill time, but his hand suddenly paused. It was a surprisingly interesting story. He didn’t care at all about some celebrity getting married, but at the phrase marrying a fan, his ears practically opened on their own.
“They say she’s one of the very few real fans who followed him around since debut.”
“Other fans must be pretty shocked.”
“But isn’t it romantic just thinking about it? Marrying your favorite after liking them for so long.”
Marriage with your favorite.
The shock carried by those few words was incredible. So things like that really did exist in the world. He’d always thought marrying a fan or dating one was the kind of thing that only happened in novels.
“How old are you guys to be getting this worked up over celebrity gossip?”
At that moment, a male student dropped his bag onto the seat beside them. Startled, Han-gyeom flinched and straightened the body that had unconsciously leaned toward them.
“Talking about good-looking people is fun no matter when you do it. Though I guess you wouldn’t know much about that, right?”
“Wow, look at these appearance supremacists. This is seriously a major social issue. Don’t you think so too?”
A classmate whose name Han-gyeom couldn’t quite remember suddenly threw the question at him. Then the two female students who had been happily chatting about Kang Hoon or whoever that was also turned to look at him in the end seat. He faintly heard someone say, “Oh? There was a person sitting there?”
“M-me? You’re asking me?”
“Of course. Who else is here besides you? Your name is… Ah! Cha Hyun-tae, right?”
Not even close. Not a single syllable sounded alike. At that point, it was basically safe to say there wasn’t even any intention to remember his name.
Still, this kind of situation was familiar to Han-gyeom. His oversized glasses stood out even more because of how small his face was, and his thick hair, shaggy enough to cover his eyes, was so full that it looked pretty messy from the outside.
On top of that, Kang Han-gyeom, dressed in dull-colored, plain clothes with a similarly plain bag, would be classified by ordinary standards as the type people called an “outsider.” And in this harsh wilderness called university, it was hard to find anyone who would remember the name of an outsider and be friendly with him.
Because of that, people like this—who at least tried and just got his name wrong—were actually the better kind. On the very first day of the semester, one classmate had made a huge fuss insisting Han-gyeom must be a freshman and offering to buy him a meal.
“So what do you think?”
“Huh? About what?”
“About this world overflowing with lookism.”
Han-gyeom sank into thought for a moment. If he was an outsider, then this classmate—who couldn’t even remember his name properly and still threw a question at him without hesitation—must belong to the opposite group.
“Well. I think anything getting too extreme is bad, but…”
Han-gyeom trailed off for a moment.
“Looks are one of the things a person is born with too, right? Isn’t it only natural that humans are instinctively drawn to pretty and handsome people? In that sense, I don’t think it’s something you can criticize unconditionally…”
Faced with such a clear and orderly answer, the classmate who had asked the question seemed flustered and couldn’t say anything. Wondering if he had done something wrong, Han-gyeom darted his eyes around and awkwardly pushed up his glasses for no reason.
“Right? Hey, you’re kinda different from this bastard.”
At that, the female students beside them cheered and started taking Han-gyeom’s side.
“But it’s kind of funny hearing you say that.”
Apparently not expecting Han-gyeom to push back in earnest, the classmate let out a sneer. As a bonus, he gave Han-gyeom an unpleasant up-and-down look.
“R-right? I’m not really in any position to talk about other people either, like you… L-let’s both do our best!”
Unfortunately, Han-gyeom didn’t have the social sense to pick up on the sarcasm in the classmate’s voice. When he clenched his fist and told him to cheer up with obvious sincerity, the students nearby burst into laughter.
“Hey, you…”
“Ah, s-sorry, but I need to finish reading this… I’d like it if we could stop talking now.”
Han-gyeom scratched his head and gave an awkward smile. Then he turned his gaze back to his book. It was a mystery novel he’d been obsessed with lately, and he needed to hurry and read it because he was dying to know what happened next. It was especially important because he was right at the climax, where the culprit was about to be revealed.
Completely oblivious to the classmate’s dumbfounded stare boring into the back of his head, Han-gyeom once again sank into the joy of reading.
“Ah, but seeing Kang Hoon made me think—doesn’t he kind of look like that sunbae?”
“Who?”
It seemed his classmates still had plenty more to say about Kang Hoon, because they picked the conversation back up.
“Our English department idol.”
“Do Won-hyeok sunbae?”
Clatter—
And the one who reacted to that wasn’t anyone else but Han-gyeom. At the single name Do Won-hyeok, the notebook and pencil case on Han-gyeom’s desk all tumbled to the side.
He heard the classmate who had unintentionally gotten one over on him earlier let out a snicker. Flustered, Han-gyeom hurriedly picked his things up.
At the same time, the professor entered the lecture hall. Since it was a class held during the first week of the semester, thankfully it ended after just the orientation. Thanks to what should have been a roughly two-hour class ending in only thirty minutes, the students, soaked in happiness, began filing out of the room one by one.
Han-gyeom was no exception. Since he still had plenty of time before his next class, he wondered what to do, then decided to go finish his book in the student lounge. No matter what, he was going to find out who the culprit in the mountain lodge murder case was before the day was over.
With grim determination, he went down to the first floor and even bought a drink from the vending machine. Then, suddenly remembering what he had heard earlier, he turned on his phone and opened a portal site.
[Kang Hoon]
As soon as he searched the name, the actor’s profile photo came up first. Han-gyeom pushed up his glasses and stared at the screen as if trying to bore a hole through it.
No. Those nameless classmates from earlier had said this actor resembled sunbae Do Won-hyeok, but in Han-gyeom’s eyes, not at all.
Sunbae’s skin is way paler. His eyes are bigger too, and unlike this guy, sunbae doesn’t have such deep double eyelids. His nose is high, sure, but it looks like he got work done… Sunbae didn’t even get plastic surgery, and he still has a perfectly sculpted nose bridge. Ah, no matter how I look at it, sunbae is way more handsome…
“You’re about to climb into your phone.”
While he was exercising incredible concentration, comparing the differences between Kang Hoon and Do Won-hyeok, a voice suddenly came from above him. Because of that, Han-gyeom jolted and looked up.
“Uh…”
“If you’re done with the vending machine, can I use it?”
Han-gyeom could only open and close his mouth in shock. The very same sunbae he had just been gleefully comparing to the actor on his screen was standing right in front of him. This was an enormous stroke of luck. To run into sunbae during the very first week of the semester.
“Ah, yes.”
Fiddling with his glasses for no reason, Han-gyeom said, “T-then, please take care,” and quickly hurried out of the lounge.
“Please take care? That’s a unique way to say goodbye.”
Do Won-hyeok tilted his head as he watched Han-gyeom’s rapidly disappearing back.
“Do Won-hyeok! What’re you doing over there?”
“I was thirsty, so I was going to grab something to drink.”
After putting money into the vending machine, Won-hyeok chose an ion drink without hesitation, then naturally melted into conversation with the classmates who had gathered around him.
“But weren’t you talking to someone here just now?”
Won-hyeok recalled the shadowy figure who had been beside him earlier. A guy dressed in black from head to toe, glaring at his phone screen and muttering strange things. If the bottom of the book tucked under his arm hadn’t said something like English Department, 2nd Year, Won-hyeok probably wouldn’t have spoken to him so kindly in the first place.
“Who?”
Another classmate asked. Won-hyeok shook his head.
“I was by myself. Yubin, weren’t you seeing things?”
On his face was a truly spotless smile, not a trace of a lie to be found.
***
“Hey. Hey! Kang Han-gyeom!”
“…Huh?”
“What are you doing? We’re discussing our activities for this semester.”
Han-gyeom, who had been spacing out after coming into the club room, snapped back to attention at the words of Baek Woo-jin, a member of the same club.
“But the sunbaes still aren’t here yet, so I guess we have to wait a little longer.”
Another second-year club member, Lee Hyun-ah, spoke in an indifferent tone.
Han-gyeom currently belonged to a central club. It wasn’t some grand organization doing anything remarkable—just an ordinary reading club. They read books in genres they liked, shared their thoughts, recommended books to each other, and sometimes held discussions. It was the kind of extremely wholesome activity any parent would absolutely love.
So of course there was no way it was popular. Including Han-gyeom, the entire club consisted of just four second-years, three third-years, and two fourth-years.
“But I heard the president talking yesterday, and apparently we’re in pretty serious trouble if we don’t recruit enough new members this time.”
At Hyun-ah’s words, Baek Woo-jin jumped to his feet.
“Seriously?”
“I guess only three first-years have signed up to join so far. We need at least four new members, so we’re exactly one short.”
“If it’s just one person, couldn’t we fill that pretty quickly? Try bringing some of your friends.”
“My friends freak out the moment I so much as say the ‘re’ in reading.”
Even in the middle of all that, Baek Woo-jin saw Han-gyeom still zoning out and let out a deep sigh. Hyun-ah quietly muttered, asking why that guy was like this today.
“W-Woo-jin. What’s today’s date?”
“What? You’ve been sitting there doing nothing this whole time.”
Suddenly, Han-gyeom smacked the desk and opened his eyes wide. At that, Hyun-ah kindly told him today’s date.
Han-gyeom hurriedly turned on his phone and opened the calendar app. Of course, the only thing written there was stuff like March 2nd – Start of Semester. He immediately tapped today’s date and entered the text field.
[The day I talked to sunbae for the first time this semester]
After typing it in, he smiled proudly. He was so happy that he felt like he could make today his second birthday instead of the biological one he’d actually been born on. Who would’ve thought that right after the semester started, he wouldn’t just get to see sunbae up close, but actually talk to him too?
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had used up all of his luck for this semester.
“You’re about to climb into your phone.”
How could sunbae tease someone he didn’t even know in such a cute way? And the face he made while saying it, with that slight smile, looked like a sculpture brought to life. And that wasn’t all.
“If you’re done with the vending machine, can I use it?”
Anyone else would’ve just shoved their way in like they were telling him to move, but sunbae had actually asked for permission first. That gentle voice clung to his ears and refused to leave. Sunbae would probably sound cool even if he were cursing someone out with that voice.
“Kang Han-gyeom. Did you even hear what we said?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I knew this would happen. I’m asking just in case—do you know anyone? Someone who might join our club.”
“Woo-jin, I don’t have any friends.”
Yeah, that was a pointless thing to ask.
Woo-jin nodded and patted Han-gyeom on the shoulder. It was a touch full of pity, but Han-gyeom had bigger things on his mind right now. He was so happy that he wouldn’t have cared even if the world ended tomorrow.
