Campus Log - Chapter 76

Unlike when I met Ryu Eun-seok casually at school, I couldn’t adapt at all to this sudden encounter in a place far away.

All my nerves were focused on the man walking beside me, and my previously sluggish, tired posture suddenly became stiff. The surroundings, which I had lost interest in after repeated walks, suddenly took on vivid colors and filled my view.

Thankfully, I was holding the leashes; otherwise, I wouldn’t have known where to put my hands and would have been lost.

A voice of doubt rose from deep inside: was this really just because I was awkward?

“How much longer do you have to do this?”

“After I return these guys, I just need to walk two more.”

“Then let’s eat at my house when you’re done.”

Ryu Eun-seok’s voice was too casual. Inviting someone over to your house—grown adults, not children. That seemed a bit much.

Except for when I was very young, I had never invited anyone over, nor had I ever visited anyone else’s house. Other people seemed to frequently stop by each other’s studio apartments, but going to someone’s house where their parents also lived was a completely different story.

“No, it’s fine.”

“No one’s home right now.”

That sounded even stranger. Why would he invite me over when no one was there? It felt like a secretive scheme, as if he had been waiting for his parents to be away to play with fire.

“What if your parents come home in the middle?”

“Our house is big, so we wouldn’t even know if someone came.”

It seemed Ryu Eun-seok had a talent for casually saying things that invited sinister imaginations. Though I felt his gaze on me from the side, I steadfastly kept looking down at the dogs.

“How big is your house?”

“3,000 sqm.”

An enormous number flowed from his lips, as if dismissing my imagination, which had at most pictured a spacious apartment.

“Including the garden and vegetable patch.”

Ah, right. He used to be well off. Except for when I rode in his car, I never truly felt that he was rich. Rather, I had more often witnessed him being looked down on for having fallen on hard times.

“I share the same floor with my older brother, but he’s been living at the company lately, so he’s rarely home.”

The same floor? Did that mean there were other floors? I couldn’t even grasp the size of 3,000 sqm to begin with, so I didn’t know how far to stretch my imagination.

“I’ll make you kimchi fried rice.”

I flinched and looked beside me. Ryu Eun-seok was smiling, his eyes crinkling.

“Let’s eat it with ramen. How about it?”

I had been getting hungry for a while now, and the combination of dishes he mentioned was enough to make my mouth water. My conflicted feelings must have shown clearly on my face. That’s probably why Ryu Eun-seok’s eyes were sparkling so confidently.

“…Is it okay if I come empty-handed?”

Words that were practically an acceptance fell from my lips. Feeling like the question had revealed too much of my hand, I subtly averted my gaze.

“You’re asking something obvious.”

Ryu Eun-seok pulled me closer, even as I kept edging toward the corner. Afraid that our sweaty, damp skin might touch, I quickly twisted my arm away. Even though only bare skin had touched for a moment, that spot felt as if it had been burned red.

“Am I the only one happy to see you?”

Ryu Eun-seok’s lower jaw jutted out slightly.

“Keep avoiding me, won’t let me touch you.”

“It’s because I’m sweaty.”

I hastily spat out a pathetic excuse. Still unable to meet his eyes properly.

“You don’t smell at all or anything.”

“I feel gross.”

Unlike Ryu Eun-seok’s appearance, fresh as a bottled water commercial model despite the humid heat, I was drenched in sweat beyond words. I didn’t even have the courage to check my face on my phone’s screen.

As I brought out the last dogs I had been waiting for, I pulled at my collar and sniffed to see if I smelled. But my nose had probably grown accustomed, because I couldn’t tell for sure.

Thanks to Ryu Eun-seok taking one of them, I now had the leisure to feel the thick, lazy breeze blowing by. Going back and forth on the same path alone had been tedious, but having someone to chat with made it not so boring.

After finishing all the walking volunteer shifts, Ryu Eun-seok and I walked in a straight line along the stream. Taking slow steps, I planned to dry my sweat in the humid wind and wash my face once we got to his house.

But life never goes according to plan. And the same went for the summer weather.

“Huh?”

A single drop of water fell on my forehead. Ryu Eun-seok and I both looked up at the same time. The dark clouds floating in the sky had grown noticeably thicker. And soon, they began pouring down onto the ground the torrents of water they had gathered from somewhere.

“Oh no, what do we do?”

The sound of the rain pounding down was thunderous. In an instant, the ground soaked into a deep color, and with nowhere to take shelter, we were showered with rainwater right in the middle of the path. The raindrops densely covering my glasses lenses made it impossible to see even an inch ahead.

Just then, a strong grip wrapped around my wrist.

“Run.”