Campus Log - Chapter 65

“Then you have to come later, okay? I’ll let Hyeokjun know. You have to, alright?”

Lee Dongha told me the time and place of the end-of-semester gathering and repeatedly urged me to come. The junior, who still had one exam left, hurried back to the business building, while I walked up to the dorm, passing beneath the shade of the cherry blossom trees.

And then I spotted a familiar car parked in front of the dorm entrance.

Ryu Eunseok had the trunk wide open and was loading his belongings inside. Judging by the bedding set and major textbooks he was moving in bulk, it seemed he was already preparing to leave.

I lowered my footsteps, trying to avoid an uncomfortable encounter. Running into the very person who had unsettled me throughout the entire exam period made my mind go blank. The only thought in my head was that I needed to avoid this situation.

But then, with an electronic sound, the trunk door began to close—and over it, my eyes met his directly. Startled, I quickly averted my gaze, then looked back at him again, thinking it would be rude not to.

“You took all your books out of the locker.”

That was the first thing he said after two weeks.

I had removed all my belongings from his locker before finals started so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. They were books I barely used anyway, but more than that, I wanted to minimize the chances of running into the locker’s owner in an awkward way.

“Yeah. It’s vacation now.”

“You’re quick to act.”

Even though it was clearly meant for me to hear, I didn’t bother arguing back. I didn’t want to waste energy bickering with someone who would be going home soon anyway.

“Did you eat with Dongha?”

That question left me speechless. It was a plan made quite a while ago—and not even his own—yet he still remembered it? It was strange, but I nodded anyway.

“Yeah.”

“What did you eat?”

“Jjimdak.”

From between Eunseok’s lips came a vague breath, somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh.

Dragging out a conversation related to Lee Dongha didn’t seem like a good idea. I gestured toward his car with my chin and changed the subject.

“Did you finish packing? Are you heading home now?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

For someone who was the one going home, not knowing when he’d leave sounded odd. At first, I thought maybe he still had lingering bad feelings toward me and didn’t want to tell me outright.

“If you have dinner with me tonight, I’ll leave tomorrow.”

Eunseok explained why his answer had been so vague.

“If you refuse, I’ll just leave right now.”

He was extending an olive branch. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t like we had fought, so there was no need for a grand apology, but it was clear he wanted to smooth things over nicely.

Rather than going into the long summer break like this, it would be better to clear the awkward feelings here and meet again next semester on better terms.

“I’m going to the end-of-semester gathering later.”

But the promise I had with Lee Dongha came out of my mouth first.

A clear trace of disappointment flickered in Eunseok’s eyes. He had gone out of his way to suggest having a meal together, and now it probably looked like I was turning him down for a trivial reason.

Especially since I was the one who said I didn’t go to things like MTs, yet now I was saying I’d show up at a semester-end gathering—it must seem ridiculous to him.

I didn’t want to miss the chance to clear the tension between us. But I also didn’t want to give up on my resolve to build more relationships.

What I wanted was balance, and what I wanted to regain was my composure.

I wanted to stay on good terms with Eunseok, but reduce the amount of attention I was giving him. To the point where, no matter who he got close to or even if he raised his voice in front of others, I could simply treat him as a familiar classmate without being affected.

So this was the choice I made.

“Do you want to come with me?”

Eunseok’s eyes widened slightly. His gaze lingered on me for a moment, as if he were thinking it over.