Chapter 21: Whispers on the Screen

Whether it was the way he nibbled on his lip, his hurried footsteps trying to keep up with Joowon’s long strides, or the way he stole glances while trying to gauge his mood—it was all distinctly different from the behavioral patterns of the people who had approached him with an ulterior motive.

Even earlier, he clearly seemed to have something he was curious about, yet he just swallowed his words; why was he acting outside of expectations again?

Shin Joowon felt a slight sense of displeasure.

The more he looked, the more it seemed like Jin Yooha was sincerely sorry toward him, and now, beyond displeasure, his mood turned foul.

It was as if Jin Yooha had realized his inner thoughts and was trying to slip out of his grasp.

Shin Joowon gripped his wallet so tightly it nearly crumpled before letting go, carefully composing his expression so his mood wouldn’t show.

He couldn’t be wrong.

There was no way his eyes, his instincts, were mistaken.

Jin Yooha would be no different.

Only after reaching that almost arrogant thought was Shin Joowon able to smile.

“Then play with me for a day later on.”

“…Pardon?”

Before he knew it, a flutter of excitement had masked his displeasure, filling Shin Joowon’s heart to the brim.

Having roughly smoothed out his slightly distorted wallet and tucked it away, Shin Joowon draped an arm over Yooha’s shoulders, narrowing the distance between them.

He took a deep breath, but he couldn’t feel any pheromones like he had in the car.

“There’s a restaurant I like, but since I was abroad, I haven’t been able to go for a long time. I think you’d like it too, Yooha.”

“…….”

“Let’s settle everything by having you buy me a meal there that day. How about it?”

Offering the tempting proposal while hiding a sinister scheme behind a refreshing smile, Shin Joowon wrapped his arm tighter around Yooha’s shoulders, pressing their bodies completely together.

Judging by their eye levels, Yooha seemed a bit taller than average, but he was still far shorter than Joowon, and his frame was small and thin enough to fit right into his embrace.

Shin Joowon stared more intently at the white skin that turned red and pale so easily, before finally making eye contact with Yooha.

A very faint smile flickered across Yooha’s face, which usually seemed indifferent and rarely smiled.

Shin Joowon blinked once, wondering if he had hallucinated for a moment, and then looked at Yooha again.

“Yes… then I will definitely treat you that day.”

Though the faint trace of a smile had already vanished, a lingering excitement remained on Yooha’s face that he couldn’t quite erase.

Shin Joowon stared at Yooha a bit more persistently, but unable to interpret Yooha’s expression, he had no choice but to look away.

It was an emotion Joowon was encountering for the first time in his life, something he didn’t even know how to name.

****

The next day, after finishing a quick lunch of cup noodles, Yooha was about to leave the convenience store when he bumped into Park Seong-gyeong, who was just walking in.

When he gave a light greeting, Park Seong-gyeong scanned the surroundings as if checking if anyone was watching, then whispered cautiously.

“Yooha, are you busy?”

“Huh? No….”

“I’ll just buy some wet wipes and come right out. Wait just a second.”

Park Seong-gyeong hurried inside and quickly disappeared from view.

Yooha’s heart dropped at her unusually serious expression and firm tone; he managed a nod and stepped completely outside the convenience store.

‘Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong…?’

Yooha leaned against the hallway wall and gnawed on his lip while waiting for Park Seong-gyeong.

He had already been wondering why he seemed to be receiving so many silent stares today, but when even Park Seong-gyeong pulled him aside so seriously, a sense of anxiety set in.

Shrinking his shoulders, Yooha bowed his head deeply and looked down at the tips of his shoes.

“…….”

No matter how much he thought about it, he hadn’t done anything wrong enough to warrant such stares from others.

Or had he caused trouble for someone without realizing it?

He desperately searched his memories, but in his monotonous daily life—moving only between the Business School building, the library, and his home—he couldn’t find a proper cause.

Yooha waited for Park Seong-gyeong with a heavy heart.

Before long, Park Seong-gyeong came out of the convenience store, looked around once more, and made a careful suggestion.

“I don’t think this is something we should talk about here… the others are at the cafe, let’s go there.”

Because Park Seong-gyeong’s face was stiff and grim, Yooha had no choice but to accept her suggestion without a word.

They walked down a flight of stairs and arrived at the cafe, where he saw Kim Eun-chae and Kang So-hyeon sitting across from each other in a corner seat.

Both of them widened their eyes as if surprised to see Yooha.

“Yooha, do you want some coffee?”

“…I’m okay.”

Several different drinks ordered by the three of them were already on the table.

At his refusal, Park Seong-gyeong sat next to Kang So-hyeon as if she had no choice, and Yooha hesitantly took a seat next to Kim Eun-chae.

He couldn’t quite hear the whispering from the next table, but it felt like his name was being mentioned.

“I happened to see Yooha coming out of the convenience store. I just brought him along since we met.”

After taking a few sips of her coffee, Park Seong-gyeong briefly explained the situation to Kang So-hyeon and Kim Eun-chae, who were looking at him with curious eyes.

The two nodded in understanding.

Yooha, who had been merely gauging the strange atmosphere, soon looked down with a bewildered gaze at the phone being pushed in front of his face.

“Yooha, is the hoobae in the comments here you? Take a look.”

Taking the phone reflexively, Yooha stole a glance at Park Seong-gyeong and then looked down again.

On the screen was the anonymous board of “Korea University Town,” the school’s community app.

Yooha’s eyes busily read through the text.

[Anonymous 03/19 9:52]
[I saw SJW yesterday… that face keeps flickering before my eyes, I only just snapped out of it today…
Who said SJW only lives in the Business School building? ㅋㅋㅋ He was eating at Stella yesterday.
I thought I’d graduate without ever seeing him since I have no reason to go near the Business School, but I’m so moved ㅠㅠ I was jealous because he seemed close with the person he was eating with…
Anyway, I’ve now become someone who has seen SJW!!!!!!]

[Anonymous 1: Crazy, I was going to go there yesterday but didn’t ㅠㅠ]

[ Anonymous 2: Who was he with? What did they look like?

[ Anonymous (OP): I’m not a Business major so I don’t know who, but they called SJW “Sunbae-nim,” so I guess they’re a hoobae.
[Anonymous 3: So damn jealous… I want to get close to him too ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[ Anonymous 2: What did they look like? Guy or girl?

[ Anonymous (OP): A guy. And a bit of a… kind cat-type? Should I call it that? Looked like he’d be popular ㅋㅋ As expected, like attracts like.

[ Anonymous 2: I think it’s the guy I’m thinking of ㅋㅋ But that guy is an assa (loner), how did they get close? Freaking mysterious ㅋ

[ Anonymous 7: I know who that is too. Seriously strange ㅋㅋ How did they get close? ㅋㅋㅋ So jealous.

[ Anonymous 4: But is it okay to post sightings and stuff like this?? If I were SJW, I’d be pissed…

[ Anonymous 5: Seconded.

[ Anonymous 6: Thirded. And why talk about the person he ate with in such detail? Calling him a loner and whatnot.

[ Anonymous 8: It’s not like they’re swearing, so why be pissed ㅋㅋ It’s not like it’s the first time an SJW sighting has been posted.

[ Anonymous 9: I heard everyone who posted sightings before got contacted by the Taemun legal team ㄷㄷ]

As he finished reading the post, Yooha’s pupils shook violently.

He could guess that “SJW” was the initials for Shin Joowon, and “Stella” referred to Stella Kitchen, the pasta restaurant he went to with Shin Joowon yesterday.

The hoobae who had eaten with Shin Joowon was indeed himself.

‘Could it be because of this post that people were staring at me?’

‘Was it such a big deal that it would be mentioned on the school community?’

His name wasn’t mentioned, but the specific reference to him as an “assa” and the comments saying it was strange that they were close didn’t seem positive, making Yooha’s heart pound with anxiety.

He just hadn’t had any free time because he was living so busily, but in other people’s eyes, he apparently looked like someone who had built a wall because he hated socializing.

On the other hand, since such misunderstandings were familiar to Yooha, his thumping heart calmed down after a short while.

But that was only temporary; Yooha’s heart grew heavier because of the comments below.

The comment saying they would be pissed if they were Shin Joowon.

The comment saying that people who posted such things had been contacted by the Taemun legal team.

Although Shin Joowon was the one who chose Stella Kitchen, if Yooha hadn’t stepped forward saying he would buy the meal, there would have been no reason for such a sighting to be posted at all, so it was only natural for him to feel anxious.

“Why would anyone even write a comment like this? Who is it, seriously.”

“Exactly. Even I feel bad.”

“They’re probably from our major, right? In the same class as Yooha?”

“They must be, since they wrote it as if they know him well. Yooha, do you have any idea who it might be?”

Yooha, who had been staring at the phone with his head bowed low, shook his head at Park Seong-gyeong’s question.

Since he wasn’t close with any of his classmates, likely everyone would think of him as an “assa.”

Park Seong-gyeong, seemingly parched, emptied half her coffee in one gulp and let out a short sigh.

“I mean, if you take the same class, you can have lunch together and be close. Why are they making such a fuss?”

“I’m telling you, it’s all because of an inferiority complex.”

As Kim Eun-chae raised her voice with a displeased expression, Kang So-hyeon replied as if she had been waiting.

Park Seong-gyeong, who had been fiddling with her straw in silence for a moment, spoke again.

“If we report this, will it get taken down?”

“Probably?”

Hearing Kang So-hyeon’s answer, Park Seong-gyeong took her phone back and pressed the screen a few times with a serious expression.

They continued their conversation, but it had long since begun to sound distant to Yooha’s ears.

His head was filled only with worry for Shin Joowon, leaving no room for anything else.

‘Did Shin Joowon see this post too?’

Yooha rarely opened the school app except to reserve a seat in the reading room or search for a book to borrow, but unlike him, Shin Joowon might look at the app frequently.

Or there was a possibility that one of Shin Joowon’s close friends had seen the news early on and informed him.

“Yooha, we reported it. It’ll be taken down soon.”

“Ah… thank you….”

Even after thanking Park Seong-gyeong for comforting him, Yooha’s thoughts were solely on Shin Joowon.

He really didn’t want this to happen, so why did things keep occurring that caused trouble for Shin Joowon?

Feeling anxious, Yooha kept picking at the hangnails around his fingernails.

Judging by the atmosphere of the post, it seemed like sightings of Shin Joowon being posted on Korea University Town were not a rare occurrence.

No matter how famous he was, he still had a private life, and Yooha even felt pity for him, thinking about how he must have been frequently mentioned as if he were on display.

Since the mention of legal action could be interpreted as there having been many stories that crossed the line.

“We should head up now. Yooha, are you staying here?”

While Yooha was lost in deep thought, Park Seong-gyeong checked the time and asked as she packed her bag.

Only then did Yooha snap out of it and answer carefully.

“…I’m going to the library.”

“Then let’s go out together.”

Yooha packed his things and followed the three women as they got up.

Seeing Yooha’s face still darkened with apology and worry for Shin Joowon, Park Seong-gyeong gave him a bright smile as if telling him not to worry.

Yooha also forced his lips into an unnatural curve and tried to smile back, but Shin Joowon remained stuck in a corner of his heart, refusing to budge.

Yooha left the Business School building, becoming alone again after parting with the three who had classes.

Perhaps because it was almost time for the 5th-period lecture, there were many people coming up the hill.

Somehow, it felt like every one of them was staring at him pointedly as they passed, and unable to bear the weight of their gazes, Yooha’s shoulders hunched up tightly.

“…….”

Yet, Yooha’s mind was still filled only with worry for Shin Joowon.