Campus Log - Chapter 78

Ryu Eun-seok pulled me and sprinted through the rain-soaked path. There was no time to stumble. The man’s grip held my body firmly, so the only way for me to not fall was to stretch my legs in the direction he led.

It was hard to even keep my eyes open, as if someone was pouring bucket after bucket of water over my head. With the stream running alongside us, the sound of the rain falling was even louder.

This was the first time I had run like this since the sports day. I didn’t even feel tired. Only the survival instinct to run as fast as possible remained.

Ryu Eun-seok must have judged that rather than wasting time looking around for shelter from the rain, it was better to get even one step closer to his house. That’s why he was pulling me with such brute force.

Perhaps because the situation of suddenly being forced into a race was so absurd…

At some point, I started chuckling. At first it was a dry laugh, but soon I burst into hysterical laughter like a mad person. Between the laughs, screams naturally mixed in.

Ryu Eun-seok, also drenched, looked back at me and giggled. The sight of rainwater streaming down his handsome face felt like a scene from a movie, not reality. The downpour, like a tropical squall, must have washed away any sense of reality.

Since it was my first time in this neighborhood, I couldn’t tell where anything was. Only when Ryu Eun-seok stopped running and stood before an imposing gate did I realize we had finally reached a safe place. A thick brick wall stretched from here all the way to the end, looking like a majestic fortress.

“We’re here.”

As he had said about the house being 3,000 sqm, we had to walk quite a distance from the gate to the front door. The surroundings were blurred by the fiercely lashing rain, so I had no leisure to look around. All I could take in was that an expanse of green stretched out widely.

The trouble started once we stepped inside the entrance.

Rainwater had pooled inside my sneakers, and droplets were falling from my clothes, which were clinging to my body. Coming into someone’s house like this—there was no greater imposition.

“Hey, this doesn’t seem right.”

I wiggled my toes inside my soaked shoes and shook my head.

“It’s fine. I’ll clean it up—”

Ryu Eun-seok, who had been checking for signs of people inside the foyer, turned to look at me. His voice, unable to finish the sentence, faded inward. Instead, his gaze, as if scanning my face, grew longer.

Ryu Eun-seok’s eyes traveled all the way down to my neck. The man, who had been drenched in the downpour, had looked pale just moments ago, but now, as if he had a fever, a red flush began spreading from his ears.

“I’ll get you a towel. Wait.”

Leaving wet footprints behind, Ryu Eun-seok strode into the house. He was in such a hurry that a faint breeze brushed past my face.

A chill set in, and my shoulders hunched. I worried that the family might see me standing there dirtying the entrance. Should I not have come? If I had gone straight home, I wouldn’t have to feel self-conscious.

Tensed up, I glanced back to see if anyone was coming. And then I was horrified. I saw my silhouette reflected in the glass-paneled front door.

The T-shirt that had been loose when I was doing the walking volunteer shift was now wet and clinging to my body without a single gap. As a result, the shapes of my chest and underwear were clearly visible. The sight was so explicit and embarrassing that I couldn’t close my mouth.

So that’s why he said he’d get a towel. I quickly crossed my arms to cover my chest. Fortunately, my clothes were dark-colored. If they had been white, I didn’t even want to imagine what I would have seen.

Ryu Eun-seok returned shortly with several thick, generously sized towels. The guy, who always looked people straight in the eye, was now looking slightly downward.

“Don’t worry about the floor. Come in. I’ll wipe it up.”

I quickly draped a towel over my shoulders and followed him. Rather than standing here and running into a stranger, it seemed better to risk being rude and hole up in his room.