Campus Log - Chapter 38

“Is 0817 your birthday?”

My guess must have been sharp because Ryu Eun-seok’s eyes widened.

“How did you know?”

“Because the numbers look like a birthday, to anyone who sees them.”

Using his own birthday as a password. He probably doesn’t keep anything important in a school locker, but still, isn’t that a bit too careless? I hadn’t even said I’d use it yet, and he already gave me the passcode.

He didn’t even check who was around before talking about his family’s downfall—he tended to overlook his own fame. When you have 70,000 followers, you should be more thorough about security.

“Not everyone lives with good intentions.”

Didn’t we just witness it clearly? Kim Do-wan, who came to make peace and then tried to stab with chopsticks; and Park Tae-hyun, who badmouthed a friend he’d been close with until recently.

People with ill intentions are everywhere.

At least they’re still within the school walls, so it ends here. It would be worse if you ran into that type in society.

“I could steal your stuff, you know. Or tell people you like about your password.”

Maybe Ryu Eun-seok had been exposed to people’s goodwill for so long that his threshold for caution was significantly lowered.

And he even easily withdrew the arrows of suspicion he’d shot at me.

Even though he’d once treated me like a rat who’d eavesdropped on his secret. Even though he’d once threatened to sue me for defamation by disclosing the truth.

No matter how urgent the need to eat alone, it’s not that. If our positions were reversed, I would’ve kept a watchful eye on Ryu Eun-seok until the end.

“You wouldn’t do that.”

The answer he returned was absurdly guileless. My upper lip twitched as I held back a snort.

“How can you be so sure?”

“You don’t see me as a keychain.”

My steps halted abruptly. Ryu Eun-seok, a step ahead, turned to look at me. The restaurants lining the street blazed with dazzling lights, but beneath his eyebrows, his eyes were shadowed.

“I know why the kids chase after me.”

Ryu Eun-seok was aware of all the ways people used him.

“I know why they act especially happy just to see me.”

A striking appearance, a generous wallet, a smile he readily showed to everyone, a gentle tone whether or not he hid thorns inside—he possessed the perfect conditions for people to follow.

“I just pretended not to know, that’s all. I needed friends to hang out with too.”

Ever since the day he asked me to teach him how to navigate school alone, I’d once again glimpsed his raw inner thoughts today. I had no idea Ryu Eun-seok needed calculations like that too.

“But with just one rumor, the kids started ignoring me right away. Looking at it, you’d think they’d been waiting for that moment.”

I recalled Park Tae-hyun’s group chewing Ryu Eun-seok apart like prey.

“Even the kids who used to follow me around started acting like they were superior all of a sudden.”

Next, Yang Su-bin and Kwon Ga-ram came to mind, but honestly, I was the same. When Ryu Eun-seok, whom I’d thought was perfect, lowered himself to me, didn’t I also secretly revel in a sense of superiority? Cowardly.

“It’s annoying and disgusting. And exhausting.”

So, hearing Ryu Eun-seok’s candid reflections made my conscience burn fiercely. I was among those who’d cornered him.

“I know you pity me.”

My gaze, which had been lowered, shot back up. Under the glow of the shop signs, the gloomy expression on the man’s face was gradually fading.

“But actually, that’s better.”

With both hands in his pockets, Ryu Eun-seok’s posture was slanted, but a relaxed smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

“Being pitied and looked after is far better than being used all over the place.”

It’s all obvious now. Well, if he knows why the kids call for him, he must’ve also sensed why I was showing him pity.

Feeling awkward, I pretended to look at a pub menu board standing nearby, trying to appear distracted. Though I’d barely had any drinks, my mouth felt dry and my cheeks warm for no reason.

I’d been caught with my petty inferiority.

Giving ridiculous advice like “Admit the rumors” or “Ignore them too” to a desperate Ryu Eun-seok, while secretly envying a man who, unlike me, had choices, and feeling jealous that he was still so popular.

Ryu Eun-seok realized all of that, yet he still lifted me up, saying I was better than the others.

I know. I don’t deserve to hear this.

But it feels good. To feel acknowledged by someone as an okay person. To feel useful to someone.

And the fact that that someone is Ryu Eun-seok makes me feel even more…

“Sang-hee-yah.”

Just then, Ryu Eun-seok yanked my elbow. A delivery motorcycle whooshed past right beside us. My heart, startled a beat late, sank heavily.

A curse, barely audible between his teeth, leaked out. When his eyes, which had been glaring fiercely at the receding motorcycle, returned to me, they had regained their gentle curve.

“Let’s go.”

The man placed his hand on the small of my back and steered our steps toward the school. The warmth covering my back lingered for a moment instead of immediately pulling away.

Walking side by side with Ryu Eun-seok back to school, I realized something. That final call I’d heard when passing the green baton wasn’t my imagination after all.