MW 14

It had only been a week since he started attending school, but Jaeha was the only friend he had made so far. When Yijae saw people walking around in groups, wondering how they all got so close already, his head would naturally hang low.

After much thought, he searched the internet and found a post saying that to make friends, you had to participate frequently in department events. However, he had already missed both the orientation and the freshmen welcome camp, so he wanted to at least make a friend at the opening general meeting.

‘I should try asking Madam.’

Despite his firm resolve, his heart was already starting to pound. The process of bringing it up and getting permission was daunting, but he thought she might grant his request if he got through tomorrow’s procedure well.

Yijae rubbed his pale cheek reflected in the window and swallowed hard.

“Hi, Yijae.”

Yijae, who had opened the school app to check his attendance, smiled brightly at the familiar voice coming from right beside him.

He had been waiting for this very day, and in his delight, he quickly wrote on the notebook he had taken out in advance.

Hello.

When he looked up, he tilted his head at Jaeha’s slightly frozen expression.

‘Is he sick or something?’

Concerned, Yijae wrote below the “Hello” he had written, ‘Are you sick by any chance?’ and showed it to him. Jaeha, blinking rapidly, finally parted his lips and answered.

“No, it’s just. It’s nothing. Have you been well?”

Although he said he wasn’t sick, Jaeha looked like he was in pain somewhere. Yijae glanced up at his slightly flushed face, which was different from usual, and decided to pretend not to notice for Jaeha’s sake, who seemed to dislike showing he was sick, and nodded.

“Looks like everyone’s present.”

“Yes!”

“Did you all check the notice sent via text? Are you sitting in your groups right now?”

The professor’s question made the lecture hall a bit noisy. It seemed some were sitting in groups, while others were not. The professor, grasping the situation, spoke quickly.

“Alright, alright, everyone quiet down for a moment. As you know, this class replaces lectures and exams with an assignment, so you only need to sit with your groups on the final week after confirming the topic.”

Only then did the chaotic atmosphere start to settle down, and everyone focused on the professor. Yijae, too, with a tense face, gripped his notebook tightly and swallowed hard.

“Now, I will announce the topic. The assignment for this course is for group members to become partners and experience virtual dating and married life.”

Dating… marriage? Yijae stared at the professor with a bewildered expression. However, she continued speaking with a thrilled look, a slight smile on her lips.

“To all of you in your early twenties, marriage might seem like a distant future event, but I decided on this topic hoping that through this course, you will become a little more mature and prepare for the future.

The dating and marriage period will be decided through discussion within each group, and every week, you will summarize what you were grateful for and what you were disappointed in with your partner and send it to me via email.

On the final week, you will present what you felt through the virtual dating and marriage experience. Does anyone not understand?”

A few students raised their hands to ask questions, but Yijae couldn’t hear any of it. He thought it was just an ordinary class, but dating and marriage of all things.

He had never been greedy enough to want to do something like this with Jaeha. Besides, he had never dated or done anything similar before, so he was worried if he could even do a good job of a virtual dating and married life.

With a gloomy face, Yijae clenched his hands together under the desk. He didn’t even have the courage to look at Jaeha. He was seriously contemplating whether he should apply to drop the course right now.

“You’re not thinking of dropping the course, are you?”

“Heuk!”

Startled by the sudden whisper in his ear, Yijae flinched, his body jolting. He was so surprised that his knee hit the desk with a thump.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

At the loud noise, a few people turned to look at Yijae. He covered his reddened earlobe and nodded slightly.

“If there are no more questions, that’s all for today’s class.”

The lecture, which ended in less than 30 minutes again today, left some free time. Yijae hurriedly held out the note he had written in advance to Jaeha.

I want to buy you a drink today.

It was a sentence he had spent an hour on last night, wanting to write it in the coolest handwriting possible. Jaeha looked at Yijae, whose cheeks were as red as his earlobes, and smiled gently.

“Yijae, have you had a full tour of the school?”

Jaeha, who was heading to the campus café, asked Yijae as if he had just remembered something. He said he was a freshman, but he didn’t seem to have any friends he hung out with, and given Yijae’s personality, it didn’t seem likely he would actively participate in school life. As expected, he blinked his big eyes and shook his head from side to side.

“Then, shall we walk for a bit today?”

The weather today was nice, so a little stroll seemed like a good idea. Jaeha got takeout drinks from the cafe with Yijae and headed toward the library in the West Building.

There weren’t many people there yet, and he wanted to show him the new club room they were moving to. Jaeha, who was walking slowly for Yijae, smiled as he looked at his pouting face.

“Still, it feels a bit wrong to have a freshman treat me.”

Jaeha recalled what had just happened and laughed a little louder. Seeing him take out a crumpled bill with his small hand, he just couldn’t bring himself to let him pay.

“I’ll just accept the thought, really.”

For him, spending this amount of money wasn’t an issue, but it might be different for Yijae. Jaeha didn’t want him to worry over something like this.

After he patted Yijae’s head a few more times, his expression finally started to relax. Then, Jaeha suddenly looked at his exposed neck, took off the scarf he was wearing, and wrapped it around Yijae.

“I don’t really get cold.”

Yijae’s lips twitched at the cool scent that wafted to his nose. It was Jaeha’s scent that he had noticed in the warehouse last time.

No one had ever done this much for him. He felt like both his neck and his heart were getting warmer with gratitude. Yijae met the dark eyes looking at him and decided to say the words he had practiced for so long. The moment Yijae’s small lips slowly parted, someone suddenly poked their head in from behind.

“Caught you, Kang Jaeha. And you still say you’re not dating?”

Startled by the face that popped out of nowhere, Yijae flinched backward. Jaeha wrapped an arm around his waist as he was about to lose his balance and fall, glaring at Chaekyung with a frown.

“Kang Jaeha, you’re still going to deny it?”

“How did you know to come here?”

“Yeah, you shut up.”

Ignoring Jaeha, Chaekyung turned his head towards Yijae and gave him a wink. Chaekyung looked Yijae up and down. His lower face was covered by the scarf, but his face looked familiar for some reason.

“Hi. I’m Yoo Chaekyung. But have we met somewhere before? Your face looks kind of familiar.”

“……”

“Are you perhaps……”

“Yoo Chaekyung.”

“Why have you covered your face up so much. Hey, shall we see each other’s faces properly and say hello?”

As Chaekyung approached Yijae and reached out his hand, Jaeha grabbed his wrist tightly from the side and gritted his teeth.

“Stop making him uncomfortable and go.”

Ah. His face was covered because of the scarf. Feeling like he should cover his face for some reason, Yijae lowered his head and curled up.

“Aw, why, introduce me too. What’s your name, Mmph.”

“Yijae, that building over there is the West Building library. Do you want to go on ahead?”

Jaeha covered Chaekyung’s mouth and asked for his understanding with a troubled expression. Yijae nodded, bowed 90 degrees to Chaekyung, and then hurried off towards the building Jaeha had pointed to.

He looked just like a running rabbit, and Jaeha’s stern expression softened.

“Look at you, all happy.”

Chaekyung pushed away Jaeha’s hand, which had momentarily loosened its grip, spat, and spoke with a scowl.

“His name is Yijae? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.”

“Mind your own business.”

“Who is he that you’re hiding him so much? Ha, is this really all our friendship is worth?”

“Yeah. So get lost.”

Jaeha tore his gaze away from Chaekyung and wiped his face, as if tired of how annoying everyone was being lately.

“Are you two really dating?”

“No.”