Campus Log - Chapter 82

I was genuinely curious. If I lived in a place this nice, I’d want to be alone all day. Why would he want to hold onto a guest who had even dripped rainwater everywhere?

“Because I want to hang out with you more.”

Ryu Eun-seok’s answer was simple. But it was more than enough to push me back into the quagmire of misunderstanding.

“Stay a little longer. I’ll drive you home later.”

His speech grew faster.

“It’s a long way from my house to the bus stop. You’d have to transfer buses three times to get to your place? You already showered—do you want to break another sweat? Stay and play with me, then go comfortably.”

This wasn’t school. Ryu Eun-seok didn’t need something like the courage to be alone. He probably had plenty of hometown friends, so if he was bored, he could just call them over.

Then why was he trying so hard to convince me? In the middle of summer vacation, with no need to use an outsider as a reference point for living, he was acting as if I were his only friend.

The word “what if” kept circling my mind. I tried to tell myself that other girls had probably gone through this same process, but I couldn’t stop the compass of my thoughts from spinning in the direction that favored me.

Maybe, just as I had suddenly developed feelings for a classmate I’d become close with, Ryu Eun-seok might feel the same. That’s why he ran over to see me in this hot weather, lent me clothes, and cooked for me.

The thought that someone who had taken my favor might feel the same way as me made it impossible to just sit still. I squeezed my clasped fingers tightly.

“Lately, I’ve been watching this a little bit before bed.”

Ryu Eun-seok abruptly changed the direction of the conversation and picked up the remote. What he chose was a compilation of videos showing only the process of twin pandas being born and growing up. It was a whopping thirteen hours long—even I had never dared to watch it.

As he said, when he selected the video, it started playing from around the 3 hour 9 minute mark. A scene came on of the mother panda putting her cub to sleep in the next room and eating bamboo.

“Why are you watching this?”

Strictly speaking, Ryu Eun-seok couldn’t be called a panda fan. He had only been playing along with me, so how had he ended up watching three hours of this?

“It came up on the algorithm. They’re cute and quiet, so it’s good to have on at night.”

The sound of the mother panda munching on bamboo resonated through the expensive speakers. I glanced back and forth between Ryu Eun-seok and the TV, then sank comfortably into the sofa backrest.

I had been feeling regretful about leaving anyway, so I decided to just shamelessly drag out the time.

Apparently convinced that I wasn’t leaving, Ryu Eun-seok also folded his long legs into a cross-legged position. His hard knee pressed against my thigh. It was a familiar pressure.

I could easily avoid it if it was uncomfortable. There was plenty of empty space next to me, and I could just move aside and blame Ryu Eun-seok for invading my space first.

But I left it touching. Only, I took the cushion I had been hugging since coming out of the shower and trapped it back in my arms. It was to tie down my hands like ropes, so that I wouldn’t unconsciously do something foolish like before.

A newborn panda appeared, and the zookeeper’s voice was also low and hushed, so the video flowed along calmly. No matter how much I liked pandas, watching it with my languid body made me feel like I would fall into a deep sleep at any moment.

I tried to suppress my yawns without opening my mouth. I was afraid that if I showed any sign of drowsiness, Ryu Eun-seok would offer me his bed, and that I would accept it as if I had been waiting for it.

I forced my bloodshot eyes wide open, as if studying for exams all night, while beside me, Ryu Eun-seok also seemed tired and yawned. His arm, which had been stretched upward, reached out sideways and dropped behind my head.

It was a posture like having an arm around my shoulder. Of course, he had only placed his hand on the back of the sofa, but with his knee and now his arm crossing into my space, I felt completely trapped.

I turned my head and stared intently at the shameless intruder. It was to try and see his hidden intentions. Was it meaningless? Was he trying to joke around? Or perhaps…

“Should I not?”

Ryu Eun-seok spoke first, as if guilty. I couldn’t immediately understand what he meant.

“…Not what?”

“Touching you like this.”

Unlike his cheeky tone, the man was clearly gauging my reaction. The situation seemed one he was very skilled at, yet his expression was innocent, raising cloudy doubts in my mind.

Which side was the real him?

Does he normally flirt with girls like this?