Campus Log - Chapter 95

Just like others had done, Sang-hee assumed that Eun-seok’s reason for wanting to do group projects with her was about getting good grades. How could she misunderstand him like this? His mouth fell open.

“You’re the one who said we should keep it a secret when the semester starts. I want to be able to stay with my girlfriend legally.”

Eun-seok put down his smart pencil and protested.

“You’re not going to let us go to cafes together either, are you? You won’t eat with me? We won’t be able to hang out near the school either. Then when am I supposed to see my girlfriend’s face?”

Eun-seok poured out his pent-up frustration. Flustered, Sang-hee flinched and leaned her upper body back.

“I need at least the excuse of a group project to eat and drink coffee with you.”

On the day Sang-hee accepted his confession, he had been so overjoyed that he could have agreed to any condition. But as the start of the semester approached, he began to wonder if this was right. She was his girlfriend, yet he was going to have to walk several steps away from her, not even able to hold her hand on campus.

“Why do you think I’ve been studying in the dormitory study room all this time?”

Sang-hee couldn’t easily answer Eun-seok’s question. But even if she didn’t say it out loud, she surely knew the answer inside. Someone as quick to notice others’ thoughts as her couldn’t possibly not know his transparent feelings.

Instead of giving an answer, Sang-hee quietly tapped on her tablet. A schedule was completed, with Advertising Theory added and Tax Law removed.

“All set?”

Sang-hee asked gruffly and slurped her coffee. Eun-seok’s gaze lingered on her pursed lips for a long time. Distracted by that, he missed the timing to answer right away.

“Why? Is something on my face?”

Sang-hee asked, feeling around her mouth. Eun-seok slowly shook his head.

“No.”

Even though he had boasted in front of Sang-hee about being a proper gentleman, the truth was that his mind was just as chaotic as any other guy his age. From getting an e******n from touching her feet, to m**********g excited by the thought of her hugging the same cushion—he was far from normal.

Moreover, with Hong Sang-hee, who had become his girlfriend just last week, sitting right in front of him, how could he possibly stop his mind from wandering to obscene thoughts?

As he imagined how he and Sang-hee would spend their time once the semester started, he found himself regretting the officetel his father had hastily sold off to avoid falling behind on employees’ salaries. And thinking about the dormitory life, where the living quarters were completely separated, made him feel suffocated.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the conclusion: “At least I’m glad I didn’t have to sell the car.”

He had only recently realized what a thoroughly calculating person he was.

Eun-seok looked down with satisfaction at his schedule, which overlapped with Sang-hee’s for three whole classes. Now all he had to do was successfully register for courses. His second-semester grades were heading into a black hole, but he didn’t care.

Just the fact that he would be taking classes with the person he called his girlfriend set off fireworks inside his chest.

Before taking Sang-hee home, they decided to take a short walk in the park next to the apartment complex. The heat wave was still ongoing, but they had little time left to walk hand in hand without a care.

“Only one week of vacation left.”

“I wish September would come faster.”

When such a bookworm-like comment slipped out of Eun-seok’s mouth, Sang-hee looked up at him curiously.

“Once the semester starts, I can see you every day.”

At his perfectly reasonable explanation, Sang-hee bit her lip and turned her head away. Her ears were red.

It was the first time he had ever genuinely looked forward to the start of a semester. When vacation ended, he was always disappointed that he hadn’t had enough time to play, but now, just a few days away, he found himself wishing for each day to pass quickly so he could see Sang-hee every day.

Of course, when that time came, they would have to meet as if carrying out a secret operation, but didn’t they have the dormitory as their safe zone? There was the study room and the acacia tree. If things seemed like they might get dangerous sneaking around there, they could take the car…

“Why do you keep steering things toward the dark side?”

As Sang-hee stopped walking, Eun-seok’s fantasies also came to an abrupt halt. Coming to his senses, he realized his shoulder was pushing Sang-hee between the pine trees that had no lower branches. Instead of staying on the perfectly good walking path, their feet were treading on dirt and weeds.

“I guess I want to do naughty things with you.”