Chapter 105
“Is this seat taken?”
A voice I hadn’t heard in a while landed on the top of my head. Glancing up, Joo Seung-jae was standing solidly, blocking the view.
“Is this Eun-seok’s bag?”
Joo Seung-jae squeezed himself between my chair and the desk behind him to get in. Ryu Eun-seok, who had been talking with Shim Chan-mi, looked up at the senior with a smile-less face.
“Please, sit.”
Ryu Eun-seok didn’t move his bag right away, his demeanor carrying a hint of defiance.
“Yeah. I’m going to start caring about my grades now too.”
“Why start now of all times?”
Ryu Eun-seok muttered as if to himself, but he was clearly being sarcastic. I felt his gaze brush past me. But with a single-minded resolve not to get involved, I didn’t turn my head.
When Ryu Eun-seok finally put his bag under the desk, Joo Seung-jae, as if he had been waiting, plopped down in that seat. A desk meant for four people was now filled in a strange configuration.
“Sang-hee, have you been well?”
Joo Seung-jae spoke to me familiarly.
“Did you go see the pandas? I saw you changed your profile picture.”
“Yes.”
I answered briefly and glanced over Joo Seung-jae’s shoulder. Shim Chan-mi was showing him something on her phone and talking, but Ryu Eun-seok wasn’t really listening, just staring intently at me.
“Do you go to places like that alone? Or do you go with someone?”
Joo Seung-jae had bothered me with useless questions even during vacation, and nothing had changed after the semester started. I had heard he acted like this with all the girls, so I was just waiting, mentally engraving the Chinese character for patience.
Waiting for the senior’s interest to move on to another woman.
“Sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend.”
“Ha.”
The owner of the scoff that just came out was Ryu Eun-seok. People on both sides looked at him with puzzled eyes.
But with a face twisted with inner turmoil, Ryu Eun-seok roughly tapped on his tablet. I was the only one who knew why he was upset.
“Your profile picture was cute. I’d like to go see them too sometime. When are you going next?”
It was obvious what Joo Seung-jae’s intention was with these questions. Fortunately, the Advertising Theory professor arrived at just the right time, so I didn’t have to continue this awkward conversation.
While the professor was introducing the course, I stiffened my posture to keep my elbow from touching Joo Seung-jae’s. I wondered what Ryu Eun-seok was doing, but I absolutely did not shift my gaze.
“Midterms 30 percent, finals 30 percent, group project 30 percent.”
I sighed at the professor’s explanation that the group project was worth as much as the exams. I had thought this semester would be easy but I had been blinded by my desire to work on a group project with Ryu Eun-seok and made a foolish choice.
“Want to do the project together?”
Moreover, as soon as the professor left, Joo Seung-jae tried to recruit me. I had a feeling this semester would not be easy.
“You know about the fight between me and Kim Do-wan, right?”
I brought up the name of the most difficult person at this school.
“I don’t tolerate free-riders.”
“Ah, of course. That’s only natural. We all said Do-wan was out of line back then.”
He was one of the seniors who had talked behind my back, saying I was rude and whatnot, but now Joo Seung-jae shamelessly lied.
“I can do some of the presenting. I have lots of paid PPT templates too. If you use those—”
“Sang-hee is going to do it with me.”
Ryu Eun-seok cut off Joo Seung-jae’s eager pitch. The senior looked sideways with a displeased face.
“You two aren’t the only ones doing the project.”
“No, but if you’re going to do it with Sang-hee, you should ask for my agreement too.”
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