Chương 7: Don't touch her with your dirty hands

[Past: Third year of high school]

"It's cold," The girl grabs the tails of her long braids and hisses. Her eyes are closed. Skipping the morning assembly might not be a good idea, but she's feeling too cold and too lazy to go through that. She leans against the wall and wraps her arms around her knees. It's not like she has anyone who would miss her in there.

Her heart stops when she hears the sound of the door opening. She tries to shrink her body under the desk; however, there's a limit to what she can do, even if she has a body of a middle schooler. She glances at her wristwatch. The morning assembly shouldn't be over yet.

"Hurry up." The boy's voice is raspy and rushed. "We don't have much time"

Are they also skipping the morning assembly? Chang Seol peeks at the boy and girl near the table in front of the blackboard. The girl is her classmate -- Lim Dabin. Chang Seol doesn't have any friends in her class. She doesn't know much about her classmates including Lim Da-Bin. Her classmates don't know much about her either.

She has seen the boy around. He's from class C. But she doesn't know his name. It doesn't occur to her that she has no reason to hide.

Lim Da-Bin bites her lip and looks at the boy with flushed cheeks. She pulls down her stockings and bends over the table. The boy turns his back to Chang Seol, undoing his belt in a hurry. Both Lim Da-Bin and the boy keep glancing at the door anxiously. He lifts Lim Da-Bin's black skirt.

Chang Seol widens her eyes, unable to utter a word. She pinches her lips together. She's not excited or anything to witness this. She's embarrassed and afraid. It seems that it's too late to come out of her hiding.

It's not a good idea to hide in the classroom during morning assemblies.

It barely lasts for ten minutes. After they are gone, she shrugs and gets out of her hiding place. She glances at her wristwatch. The morning assembly should be over now. It's not a good idea to skip morning assemblies anymore.

***

[Present day]

Chang Seol presses the coffee can on her cheek as she recalls the memory. She stomps her foot on the ground in frustration. "Why her?"

Why is he a professor? Why she is her classmate? Why that annoying old mister is a music producer? Why did her grandfather make such a promise to his friend? This is happening because of that promise.

She sits on the empty bench and drinks the coffee in silence. Why did her heart act in a funny way? Her stomach also acts funny whenever she looks at Namgung Yeon-Sik. Perhaps, she's thinking too much.

"Achoo!" She sneezes hard. The coffee can falls from her hands. She wipes her nose with her sleeve. "So, it's because of the cold."

The old Mister was right. She has a cold now. Her heart and stomach must have acted weird because of the cold. She picks up the coffee can and throws it in the trash bin. It will take two hours to reach the city. Chang Seol walks toward the exit quietly.

"Seol!"

Who is it now? Chang Seol turns around. Mun Soyoon is running in her direction with a bag and an art tube on her shoulder. Mun Soyoon grabs her hands and smiles at her with sparkling eyes. "Did you come here to see me?"

"Um…" Chang Seol smiles at her hesitantly. "I was about to leave."

"Leave?" Mun Soyoon looks at the building. "But you are heading toward the art building."

"Eh?" Chang Seol looks over her head. "That… I guess I was lost again."

"Ah… you are one of those." Mun Soyoon snickers. "You have a bad sense of direction."

Her internal compass is a little broken, but she's not that hopeless. Chang Seol scratches her ear, blushing. "I don't always get lost."

"Soyoon, who is she?" A chubby boy with blonde hair comes to them. "I have never seen this face before."

"Her name is Chang Seol. She's an architecture student. She's a freshman. She's my roommate," Mun Soyoon answers him with a cheerful voice. "Seol, this is my friend, Sang Hee-Chul."

"She's a cutie." Hee-Chul reaches for Chang Seol's cheek. "She should be in our department."

Mun Soyoon slaps his hand away with an angry look in her eyes. "Don't touch her with your dirty hands."

"You are not that clean either." Hee-Chul scoffs at her. "Did you even take a bath today?"

"You fucker! I take a bath every day." Mun Soyoon punches his arm. She bites her tongue and looks at Chang Seol who is watching them with a blank face. "Seol, dear, forget the bad words, okay?"

Sang Hee-Chul clicks his tongue. "She is bound to learn 'bad words' if she is staying with you."

"Aish!" Mun Soyoon shakes her head. "Don't listen to him, Seol. Have you had lunch?"

Chang Seol has been wondering how to escape from these two, but she can't see any escape routes. By the time she finds the words in her to answer them, they are already dragging her along with them.

"We are having a small get together," Sang Hee-Chul says to her, "You should come with us."

"Sang Hee-Chul, don't even think of luring her to your side." Mun Soyoon sneers at him. "She's going to be my model."

What model? She's not even in their department. Ever since she came here, she always finds herself being dragged by people. But the protests die in Chang Seol's throat when she sees Namgung Yeon-Sik walking in her direction.

***

"How did she get caught by them?" Namgung Yeon-Sik mutters when he sees a certain girl being dragged by two infamous art students in the university. Mun Soyoon and Sang Hee-Chul have been competing with each other since they started university. He did hear about the disturbances in the art department. Art Professor Pyo likes to challenge his student oddly.

Should he ignore this? Things are bound to happen anyway. University life is not the same as school life. They are living in the same house and she's also attending his lectures. He should keep a distance from her. However, Chang Seol looks extremely reluctant to go with them. It's hard to ignore that face.

He walks toward them. Chang Seol stares at him with big round eyes. Mun Soyoon and Sang Hee-Chul stop walking when they see him coming.

"Professor Namgung." Mun Soyoon gives him a little bow and grins at him. "I missed you during the holidays."

"I also missed you, Professor." Sang Hee-Chul blinks his eyes. "Please become my model."

"You are full of spirit." He chuckles. "Professor Pyo gave you a new assignment?"

"Yes, the concept is innocence." Mun Soyoon sighs. "Professor, I would choose you, but you are not innocent at all."

"Is that so?" Namgung Yeon-Sik is used to this candid behaviour from Mun Soyoon. "Which concept suits me then?"

"Hmm…" Mun Soyoon puckers her lips and looks up at the sky. Sang Hee-Chul knits hits brows while scrutinizing Namgung Yeon-Sik.

Chang Seol mumbles something.

"What?" Mun Soyoon lets go of Seol's arm. "Long?"

"Ging…" Looking down on her feet, Chang Seol utters with a hoarse voice, "Longing."

Namgung Yeon-Sik blinks, startled. He purses his lips, being at a loss for a word. He wonders how could a girl like her say that word to describe him. He looks away from her and coughs, feeling uncomfortable by their gazes.

"Chang Seol, it's the eyes, isn't?" Sang Hee-Chul leans toward her and whispers to her, "You should change your major to arts. You have it inside you."

"Seol, you and I are fated." Mun Soyoon pats Chang Seol's back. "I knew it from the moment I laid my eyes on you. You have a talent, Seol. Come to our side. We will treasure you. The architecture department will never know your worth. Your talent will rot away those people with concrete in their brains."

"Mun Soyoon, I am still here," Namgung Yeon-Sik reminds them with a casual tone. It's amusing how they are trying to steal Chang Seol right in front of him.

"Sorry, Professor, I forgot about you." Mun Soyoon rubs her nose. "We are holding a small gathering with some friends. Do you want to come?"

"I have prior appointments." If it's only a gathering, then Chang Seol should be alright. Chang Seol lifts her head and peers at him. He smiles at her and says, "Have fun."

***

Chang Seol looks at Namgung Yeon-Sik's back as he walks away from her. But she doesn't want to go to the gathering. Mun Soyoon and Sang Hee-Chul are bickering again. Half of their words fly over her head.

Why is her cold affected by Namgung Yeon-Sik? Chang Seol lets out an exasperated sigh. Should she test it after she goes back home? Is it even a cold? She's feeling a little dizzy. She can't even tell where she's going right now.

"What about innocent longing?" Sang Hee-Chul puts his finger on his chin and narrows his eyes. "That should work."

"I don't think that he would ever agree to be your model." Mun Soyoon laughs at him. "Give up, Hee-Chul."

"He won't agree to be your model either." Sang Hee-Chul glares at her. "Everyone knows that you have a crush on him."

"Everyone has a crush on him," Mun Soyoon huffs at him. "Even you have a crush on him."

"Idiot, I don't have a crush on him." Sang Hee-Chul looks at her scornfully, "I admire the art in him. Admiration is different from wanting someone that way. A man can admire another man without having those feelings."

"Then, it's the same way for me," Mun Soyoon replies with a chilling voice. "A woman can admire a man without having those feelings."

"As if!" Sang Hee-Chul rolls his eyes at her. "I can see what kind of admiration you have for him."

"It's the appreciation for his soul." Mun Soyoon smirks at him, "And his body."

Body? Chang Seol wants to see Namgung Yeon-Sik again. But why? Is it because there's something pretty about him? She also wants to see her mother again. If she was at home, her mother would have made her eat porridge and nagged her for getting sick.

Her sister would have sneaked into her room and hugged her to sleep. At night, the floor would have creaked and she would have heard the familiar footsteps of her father. He would have grumbled about her being clumsy and foolish while wiping her forehead with a cool cloth.

She hates not being at home. She hates that she's with strangers right now. She also hates that she disappointed her parents by not getting married to the man they chose for her.

"Seol, Seol." Someone is calling her name. "Are you okay?"

She looks at Mun Soyoon in a daze. "I am fine."

"Everyone is waiting to hear from you." Mun Soyoon points at the people around the table. Chang Seol stares at them. Sang Hee-Chul is sitting opposite him. The scent of the food on the table wafts into her nose, but she doesn't want this.

Homesick. She knows the word for this feeling now. It's only been two days and she's homesick. She's sick because she misses her home. Home is so far away. It went further away after she lied to her father about being married.

"Chang Seol from U City," She says with a flat voice. "First-year student, architecture department."

They are still looking at her. She picks up the dumplings with chopsticks and stuffs her mouth. "The food is getting cold."

"She's cute." The girl behind Sang Hee-Chul leans on him. "Where did you find her?"

"He didn't find her, Ye-Ji." Mun Soyoon points at her with her chopsticks. "She's my discovery."

"Soyoon, you should bring her to play with us again." Han Ye-Ji glances at Chang Seol who is slowly chewing the dumplings with a dazed look on her face. Chang Seol puts another dumpling in her mouth, resulting in her right cheek swelling like a balloon. Han Su Bin giggles.

"She likes dumplings." The boy beside Chang Seol lets out a laugh. He pushes a glass toward her "Here, drink this."

"Min-Gyu, what are you giving her?" Mun Soyoon frowns at him. "She's too young to drink."

"Soyoon, she's old enough," Kim Min-Gyu tells her. "She is a university student."

"Still, we shouldn't give her that." Mun Soyoon creases her forehead.

While they are arguing, Chang Seol gulps down the drink. "It tastes better than black coffee."

"Whoa!" Sang Hee-Chul blinks his eyes in surprise. "Is it your first time, Chang Seol?"

"First time?" It's her first time eating with people like them. Chang Seol's body is swaying like a pendulum. Her vision is blurry. "Yes, it's my first time."

From the corner table, Lim Da-Bin stares at Chang Seol. She taps the table thoughtfully. She has long lost interest in the boy beside her. She and Chang Seol are so far away from their homes. They are at the same place at the same time. It must be fate, right?