Campus Log - Chapter 3

Ryu Eun-seok stepped one pace farther away from the glob of phlegm. Because of that, I ended up trapped, unable to move, between the locker and his large frame.

His hard, muscular upper arm was felt clearly through the single thin shirt I was wearing. I wanted to twist my shoulder and slip out, but if I did, it felt like it would look like I was squirming against him, so I held my breath and waited.

Ryu Eun-seok glanced at me again. It was a brief look, but I felt like I could tell what he was thinking.

The man was trying to remember what my name was.

“Have a good class.”

In the end, perhaps unable to recall it, he left behind an awkward greeting and turned around. The suffocating pressure that had been pressing down on my arm faded away.

It was common for people to be unable to remember my name, so I wasn’t particularly hurt by it. Looking at Kim Do-wan, who was still left in front of me, I just wanted to hurry back to the dormitory.

Kim Do-wan, who had been staring blankly at the junior’s retreating back, suddenly came to his senses and lifted his eyes sharply at me. Muttering meaningless threats like “f**k” and “just you wait,” he walked off in the opposite direction.

I brushed down the shoulder that Ryu Eun-seok’s arm had pressed against. Then I looked down at my palm that had touched the man’s bare skin and rubbed it against my jeans to wipe it off. The faint warmth that lingered was uncomfortable.

I couldn’t tell whether the source of that feeling was simply because it was unfamiliar, or whether there was some other, more complicated emotion.

Kim Do-wan’s protest was something I had expected, but having contact with Ryu Eun-seok was not part of the plan. Maybe it’s because I didn’t like a situation that fell outside my predictions.

In the place where people had left, the filthy glob of phlegm lay stretched out, trailing its body long.

Behind Baeksan University’s dormitory, the trees grew thickly like a forest. Because they formed a boundary with the busy downtown Seoul, the view from the window had a certain charm.

If you walked around the building and got closer to the trees, there were benches placed here and there. But there was no one who killed time there.

Since it wasn’t a park, it wasn’t managed separately, and because the dense leaves blocked the sky, it was extremely spooky. Rather, at night, when a few students came out to smoke, it felt safer, but in broad daylight, when everyone had gone to class and there wasn’t a soul in sight, it felt even more desolate.

But as someone who has lived in this dorm for three years, I know this place is a pretty good hideout. Whenever I desperately needed privacy to escape the structure of a two-person shared room invading my daily life, I used it quite well.

To the point that I even knew exactly that the tree above my head, draping white flowers, was called an acacia, I had been a regular here since my freshman year.

The reason I went on and on about how familiar this place was to me is to make one fact clear.

I did not deliberately eavesdrop on the sound of someone sobbing here.

Most importantly, to begin with, I was already sitting on the bench behind the acacia tree, crying first.

I felt like I was about to burst from the anger caused by Kim Do-wan. The resentment kept piling up as I thought about how I hadn’t been able to snap back properly in the hallway.

I should’ve shot back at him, asking where he got the nerve to shout like that. I should’ve spat too. But because Ryu Eun-seok suddenly claimed ownership of the locker, I missed the timing.

I wished Kim Do-wan would just graduate already. But the fact that there was still more than a month left until even this semester ended was so dreadful that it made me sick to my stomach. Barely hiding the moisture gathering at the corners of my eyes, I hurriedly ran away to this hideout.

At least it was some comfort that he hadn’t pulled that filthy stunt during class. If he’d done it in front of the professor, my attitude might’ve been criticized and my score reduced.

As long as I take care of my grades, that’s enough. Since when was a senior’s retake situation any of my business? Unless he’d treated me to coffee while saying “please,” why should I care?

While wiping away the tears that dripped down onto my jeans, I suddenly sensed a presence behind me.

No, I mean, how long was I supposed to wait?

Another visitor had come to the bench that shared a back with mine, separated by just one tree. I held back the urge to sniff and quietly waited for the uninvited guest to leave. It was the seat I had claimed first, and I didn’t want to give it up so easily.

“Then… did our family really go bankrupt?”

At that provocative word, my ears perked up on their own.