As March drew to an end, the weather turned genuinely warm. News reports said cherry blossoms had already begun to bloom in some of the southern regions. Soft, warm colors had settled over the campus too, unfolding day after day into scenes that were beautiful and cozy, but leaving all that scenery behind, Han-gyeom headed straight to the library again today as soon as class ended.
It was to start preparing for midterms, which would begin around the middle of April. Woo-jin and Hyun-ah had both said there was no need to start this early when two weeks ahead would be enough, but Han-gyeom needed to get even the smallest scholarship possible, and for that, grades mattered.
Naturally, scholarships were also cut and distributed on a sliding scale according to ranking, so he had to do well on midterms and finals, which carried the most weight in his grades.
When he opened the reading room door and stepped inside, he could see dark heads poking up over the dividers. Looking at all the people so absorbed in studying that it was hard to find an empty seat, Han-gyeom thought it had been a good idea to reserve his spot ahead of time on the university website.
It felt as though the world outside and the world inside had been severed by a single door. The only sounds in the reading room were pages turning and the faint scratch of pens.
After texting Won-hyeok that he had arrived at the library, Han-gyeom switched his phone to silent mode. Even though there were still about three weeks left before exams, the students were burning with more determination to study than ever.
Back in high school, Han-gyeom had ranked first in the entire school and was fairly well known among the teachers because of it, and he had gotten into this prestigious university without too much trouble. But after attending school here, there was one thing he had come to realize: the world was wide, and there were an awful lot of smart people in it.
Even Han-gyeom, who had been fairly confident in his academics, learned that painfully well after taking his first midterms as a freshman. This place was packed with kids who were the very best of the best from all over the country.
And on top of that, there were even geniuses like Won-hyeok here and there.
Sunbae, I miss you.
The moment he thought of Won-hyeok, his mind naturally drifted in that direction. Han-gyeom pulled his wandering thoughts back before they could stray too far and lowered his gaze to his book again.
Once exams are over, I’m definitely going on another date with sunbae. The thought alone lit his motivation on fire. One hour, two hours. Time slipped away mercilessly like that. When Han-gyeom rubbed at his stiff neck and happened to check the time, it was already six in the evening.
No wonder people had been leaving one by one. It was already time for dinner. Han-gyeom took his wallet and slowly stepped outside. He went into the convenience store in the lounge located between this reading room and another one, bought a cup of ramen, and sat down at one of the eating tables.
He had poured in the hot water and was waiting for the three minutes to pass when a shadow suddenly fell over him.
“Han-gyeom?”
When he looked up, he saw a familiar face. Though to be honest, with the glasses on, he hadn’t recognized him right away.
“Sun-woo sunbae.”
It was none other than Kim Sun-woo, one of Won-hyeok’s close classmates. Dressed comfortably in loose training pants, he smiled brightly when he saw Han-gyeom.
“You came here to study for exams too, sunbae?”
“That’s right.”
Apparently he’d been looking for somewhere to sit, because after asking permission, he sat across from Han-gyeom.
“But you too?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impressive. Up until my sophomore year, I just spent all my time chugging alcohol.”
As they made small talk about things like whether Han-gyeom had gotten home okay the day they drank together before, Kim Sun-woo opened a pack of convenience store dumplings and set them in the middle of the table. The six dumplings, steaming faintly, looked pretty appetizing.
“Don’t just eat ramen. Have some of this too. These days apparently there are people who get all sensitive if they hear even a little stomach growl.”
“Thank you.”
Even while eating, Han-gyeom found himself glancing around Sun-woo’s surroundings for no reason.
“Uh, by any chance, the other sunbaes…”
“Who? Yubin and Won-hyeok?”
When Han-gyeom awkwardly nodded, Sun-woo, who had been mixing up his jjapaghetti with obvious enjoyment, waved his hand dismissively.
“Those guys don’t really come to the library. Kang Yubin usually studies at cafes, and Do Won-hyeok… well, he’s the type who gets great grades even if he barely studies.”
As expected, Won-hyeok really was a naturally brilliant genius. Han-gyeom had already known it from rumors, but hearing it directly like this felt different.
“So there’s no way he’d understand the hearts of ordinary peasants like us, shriveling up in a reading room and studying three weeks in advance.”
He went on to say that Won-hyeok had even made some incredibly irritating comment once, asking what the point was of going all the way to the library when you’d be fine as long as you paid attention in class. Kim Sun-woo recounted the story like he was tattling, but Han-gyeom only liked hearing things about Won-hyeok.
Even while glancing at his phone every now and then, Kim Sun-woo kept picking up dumplings and handing them over so Han-gyeom could eat.
“Ah, I really don’t want to go back to studying. I need to get a scholarship this time, but I don’t know if it’ll work out.”
“You’re aiming for a scholarship too, sunbae?”
“Yeah. This damn university’s tuition is way too expensive.”
It seemed Kim Sun-woo hadn’t managed to get a full ride, but had still consistently received a partial scholarship since freshman year. Knowing that story made Han-gyeom feel oddly glad.
“I-I am too. I absolutely have to get a scholarship.”
At the welcome topic, Han-gyeom smiled brightly and, without realizing it, leaned his upper body forward. But then, right at that moment, a stark white sheet of paper slid into his view. As if splitting Kim Sun-woo and Han-gyeom apart.
Startled as his vision was suddenly blocked by white, Han-gyeom jerked his head up.
“You don’t check your phone?”
“Sunbae!”
Seeing Han-gyeom grinning from ear to ear, Won-hyeok let out a deep sigh tinged with irritation.
“What’s with you, Do Won-hyeok? Why are you here? Don’t tell me that text earlier was because you were planning to come to the library?”
As it happened, Sun-woo had been texting Won-hyeok just moments ago. Then by chance, the topic had come up that he’d run into Han-gyeom and was with him at the convenience store, and after that, even though Won-hyeok had read the message, he hadn’t replied.
“Sun-woo, what else would I come to the library for? To study.”
“You? Study?”
Sun-woo tilted his head like he couldn’t make sense of it. He’d been attached to Do Won-hyeok since freshman year, but had never once seen him hole up in the library and study.
“Han-gyeom, which reading room are you in?”
“Uh, Reading Room A.”
“What’s your seat number?”
Ignoring Sun-woo’s words with ease, Won-hyeok tapped at his phone screen.
“69.”
On his phone was none other than the university website. Won-hyeok went into the page where you could reserve library seats directly, booked seat 68, which happened to be empty, then slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“Get up. If you came here to study, then study. Are you just going to keep slacking off?”
“Ah, no. I was just about to get up.”
Apparently flustered, Han-gyeom hurriedly cleaned up what he’d been eating.
“Sun-woo, are you in Reading Room A too?”
“No, I’m in B.”
“Right. Then see you later. Study hard.”
With Han-gyeom trotting along beside him, Won-hyeok leisurely left the lounge.
“That bastard’s been kind of weird lately.”
Leaving behind his classmate’s suspicious gaze, Won-hyeok came all the way to the front of the reading room, then abruptly stopped and looked at Han-gyeom.
“Your phone? I kept trying to reach you.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I had it on silent inside.”
“But just now you were out there hanging around with Kim Sun-woo.”
“I forgot to bring my phone out with me…”
The atmosphere was so thick it felt like he’d been dragged into an interrogation room. In truth, unlike most people these days who couldn’t let go of their phones, Han-gyeom really only used his as a means of contact, so he didn’t have the habit of carrying it around like it was part of his body wherever he went.
Though even as a contact device, it wasn’t like he had that many people to contact.
“But, sunbae. I think this is really amazing.”
“What is?”
“Well, just a little while ago, while I was studying in there, I was thinking that I missed you, sunbae. I was thinking it’d be nice if we could study together. But then Sun-woo sunbae said you don’t really study in the library, so I was feeling disappointed.”
At Han-gyeom’s words—that in a situation like that, sunbae had suddenly appeared in front of him, which had surprised him and made him so happy—Won-hyeok let out a long sigh and scrubbed a hand down his dry face. Then he handed Han-gyeom the printout he’d been carrying.
“What is this?”
“Compiled exam materials passed down by year. A few of the required major classes, if you work through those, it should help. But don’t trust them too blindly.”
“Wow.”
Han-gyeom flipped through the printout in a rush, and an exclamation slipped out on its own. Won-hyeok watched him like he was observing something, watching Han-gyeom’s eyes sparkle with delight like a child receiving a gift.
Does this guy really react like this to anything I give him, no matter what it is? That was what he was thinking.
“Thank you.”
“Let’s go in now.”
“Yes!”
And just like that, for the first time since entering university, Won-hyeok stepped into a library reading room—a place he hadn’t set foot in even once for three straight years after enrolling. With one little puppy trailing at his side.
***
Even exam season wasn’t hard if he was with his bias. Han-gyeom glanced sideways at Won-hyeok studying beside him again today and murmured inwardly.
These days, Han-gyeom had gained both an exam-period mate and a library mate. That person was none other than Won-hyeok, his lover and his bias. He’d thought that during exam season they wouldn’t get to meet often, wouldn’t be able to go on dates, wouldn’t even be able to eat together, but instead they’d ended up spending even more time attached to each other, and that made him nothing but happy.
The only downside was that it had become even harder than usual to focus on studying. Today too, seeing Won-hyeok in a hoodie and silver-rimmed glasses, staring at his tablet, made Han-gyeom’s heart beat faster for no reason.
He was secretly stealing glances when Won-hyeok, perhaps sensing the gaze, turned his head. Han-gyeom barely managed to look away in time and was calming his startled heart when suddenly something came flying over with a light thunk.
It was a yellow Post-it folded in half.
[You need to focus.]
The handwriting was as neat as his face. The embarrassment of being caught staring lasted only a moment; then Han-gyeom scribbled something underneath and, unable to toss it back onto Won-hyeok’s desk, gently set it there instead.
[Glasses look really good on you. You look handsome.]
Won-hyeok flinched at the words written underneath, separated with a line like a reply.
Soon, when it was time for dinner, the two of them naturally came out of the reading room. One more change that had come with studying together with Won-hyeok was that Han-gyeom no longer survived on convenience store food.
Won-hyeok came into the lounge where Han-gyeom was sitting carrying a lunchbox he had ordered in advance for delivery.
“Wow, this looks really delicious.”
Starting with bulgogi, the lunchbox packed full of all kinds of side dishes was, quite literally, a feast.
“I’ll send you the money. How much is it?”
“3,000 won.”
“Th-that’s all it costs? That seems way too cheap…”
“It’s a college area. And I ordered through the app, so with the coupon applied, it was definitely cheaper.”
I see. Still, these days, isn’t 3,000 won way too cheap? Tilting his head in confusion, Han-gyeom transferred the money to Won-hyeok’s account on his phone.
“Ah, Han-gyeom. I don’t think I can come to the library with you tomorrow.”
“Okay! I’ll keep that in mind.”
“……”
Han-gyeom picked up a piece of bulgogi and was savoring the taste when he felt a persistent stare from across the table. Won-hyeok hadn’t even split apart his disposable chopsticks yet and was just staring holes straight through Han-gyeom.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“You’re not going to ask why?”
“Huh? I-isn’t it because you have plans?”
Won-hyeok clicked his tongue lightly and picked up the wooden chopsticks.
“…I’ve got a drinking appointment with my department classmates.”
While moving some of his portion of bulgogi onto Han-gyeom’s side, Won-hyeok voluntarily explained what kind of plans he had.
“I see. That sounds fun.”
Nibbling away at the bulgogi Won-hyeok had given him, Han-gyeom answered brightly.
