Campus Log - Chapter 66

Without realizing it, I clenched my fist tightly and pressed my nails into the center of my palm. I hadn’t known that keeping my gaze fixed on someone could be this exhausting.

“Okay.”

At last, Ryu Eunseok agreed.

“Let’s meet here at 5:30. We’ll go together.”

The stiffness in my lips from tension softened. I almost ended up breaking into a foolishly wide smile. I barely managed to keep a straight face and nodded.

Just the fact that we had made plans to meet a few hours later made it feel like things between me and Eunseok had already improved.

While Eunseok moved his car to the parking lot, I hurried up to my room. My worn-out face from finals appeared in the bathroom mirror. My hair, roughly tied into one bundle, had stray strands sticking out everywhere, and my loose T-shirt looked beyond comfortable—almost sloppy.

So I started by taking another shower. I scrubbed my hair thoroughly, dried it carefully, and combed it down neatly. Since I had no skill with styling, I didn’t even attempt adding curls.

“My clothes…”

Since I had already packed in advance to leave as soon as my parents arrived tomorrow, there weren’t many outfits left in the closet. I first laid a light blue striped shirt neatly on the bed and stood in front of the mirror again.

The department store cosmetics my mom had bought barely got any use and were stuffed inside my pouch. I hadn’t even opened the mascara. No matter what I applied, my large gold-rimmed glasses covered most of it anyway, so it didn’t seem to make much difference.

I gently applied makeup base over my cheeks. Even just this was said to even out skin tone, and sure enough, my complexion looked brighter. I skipped eye makeup again and carefully applied a reddish tint to my lips.

By the time I finished getting dressed, there were still two hours left until we were supposed to meet. I couldn’t even lie down comfortably, so I sat upright in my chair, scrolling through panda fancams I hadn’t watched during exam period. I’d watch a video, check the time, then go back again—my eyes darted around so much it almost made me dizzy.

Two minutes before 5:30, I checked my reflection in the mirror one last time and left the room. I even went down the stairs carefully so my hair wouldn’t get messy.

In front of the dorm entrance stood a tall figure. Despite how hurriedly I had gotten ready for hours, my steps faltered just before reaching Eunseok.

He was wearing a striped shirt in the same color as mine.

Of course, they weren’t exactly identical. The thickness of the stripes and the shade of blue were different. But at a glance, it was obvious they looked coordinated.

Eunseok, who had been standing there watching the direction of the women’s dorm, seemed to think the same. The closer I got, the deeper the smile on his lips became.

I stopped about five steps away from him.

“Hey, wait a second. I’ll go change my clothes and come back.”

There was no way I could go out like this together. If we had met directly at a bar, it might have been fine. But walking into the end-of-semester gathering side by side in matching outfits—that wasn’t something even an official campus couple would do.

“So what.”

Eunseok’s reply was completely indifferent.

“Let’s just go early and sit in a corner. Then we won’t stand out much.”

Even if I went back to my room, I didn’t really have many options. I could either wear the wrinkled T-shirt I had on earlier, or dig through the clothes I had already packed in my suitcase. While I hesitated, Eunseok gestured for me to hurry up.

“Let’s go. You like sitting in corners anyway. We should get there early and grab a spot.”

Considering how hot it was, maybe his suggestion was the smarter choice than going back to change clothes. If it was a bar, the lighting would be dim anyway, so clothes would all look about the same.

“It should be fine if we sit apart…”

I muttered under my breath as I awkwardly followed behind him.

“Sit apart from where?”

Eunseok stopped walking and looked down at me with a firm expression.

“You’re coming here with me instead of having dinner with me. And you’re talking about sitting apart? That doesn’t even make sense.”

I had only said a single sentence, yet the response I got back felt like a whole bundle of scolding. As if that wasn’t enough, Eunseok even pushed lightly at my lower back with his large hand. Urged on by him, I barely managed to pick up my pace.

The spot where his palm touched felt warm. In the already sweltering weather, having someone else’s body heat added on …My sweat glands felt like they were about to explode at any moment. Afraid that my skin might soon become damp, I twisted my waist and escaped.