Chapter 93: Chapter 93

Two days later, on a Tuesday.

I still hadn’t gone to see Yoon Hye-yoon.

This was the kind of thing that should be resolved quickly to avoid deepening emotions and to maintain comfort between us.

On that day, I was too tired, and my thoughts were too jumbled to go straight to her.

Then why didn’t I see her yesterday?

It was because I hadn’t been able to study much over the weekend and assignments had piled up like a mountain.

Thanks to that, I had been buried in books from morning to night yesterday.

So today, I decided to go see her and headed to school for my classes.

「Haah.. I barely made it on time.」

I caught my breath as I placed the report in the submission box.

I had finished the assignment in the morning, but since I had an experiment in the afternoon, I had to come to school anyway.

I came in time for the deadline to prevent unnecessary back and forth.

Once one heavy load was off my mind, I felt much more at ease.

I checked the time and immediately went up the stairs.

When I entered the lab, there were quite a few people there.

Among them was Shin Ah-young, who, true to being a social butterfly, was surrounded by people.

I disliked such gatherings, so I headed to a corner.

While I was on my phone after settling down, someone sat down in front of me.

I looked up slightly and saw Shin Ah-young waving at me.

She had been sitting in the middle before.

She seemed to have moved since she was holding her bag.

As I was about to greet her, she tapped on her phone.

I didn’t understand what she meant and was staring when a KakaoTalk message sounded.

• Shin Ah-young: Hello. Are you feeling okay?

• Park Woo-jin: I rested well that night, so I got better. How about you, Ms. Shin Ah-young? You said you were feeling sick.

• Shin Ah-young: I’m fine now. Really, I thought I was going to die that time. My pussy was raw and it hurt all night.

• Park Woo-jin: I’m sorry about that. I did go on for a long time.

• Shin Ah-young: But it felt good enough, so it’s okay. Did you finish the assignment?

• Park Woo-jin: The one for Professor xx? I just submitted it on my way up. But why do it over KakaoTalk when you’re right in front of me?

• Shin Ah-young: Should I say out loud in front of everyone that my pussy is raw?

• Park Woo-jin: Let’s just stick to KakaoTalk.

It wasn’t something to discuss in a conversation anyway.

If Shin Ah-young talked to me here, everyone would definitely listen in intently.

In some ways, it was a wise decision.

As I typed this, time passed.

The TA entered, and the experiment started.

Shin Ah-young and I made eye contact occasionally, asked each other questions when we didn’t know something, and then it was break time.

When I got up to go to the restroom, she followed at a distance.

And she approached me when there was no one around.

「Hey, do you want to have dinner together after class?」

「Huh? Are you…?」

「What’s with that look? I really just meant let’s eat.」

「That might be difficult. I have plans today.」

「Hmph.. It was the first time I’ve ever asked a man to eat with me. You’re trampling all over my first experience.」

「I’m sorry about that. But today is really important.」

「Alright. If you say so… Let’s eat next time then.」

After saying that, she went into the women’s restroom.

She seemed a little upset, but there was nothing I could do.

If I didn’t meet with Yoon Hye-yoon today, it would be over three days.

Delaying further seemed like it would make the relationship difficult to mend.

As time passed, I headed home immediately after the experiment ended.

I washed up quickly, put my things down, and rang the doorbell next door.

Ding-dong.

But there was no answer.

It was dinner time, so I thought she’d be home.

Did we miss each other?

I had been nervous about coming, but then I felt suddenly deflated.

Should I send a text? Then I remembered something Yoon Hye-yoon had said before.

「She definitely mentioned she exercises in the evening during exam periods…」

Might as well go to the gym then.

If she’s there, great. If not, she’ll probably be home if I wait until late evening.

And since I hadn’t been able to exercise much recently, it wouldn’t hurt.

I quickly grabbed my workout clothes and headed to the gym.

As I entered, the usual front-desk staff greeted me.

「Hello, Woo-jin. It’s the first time I see you at this hour.」

「Hello. I’ve been busy with final exams preparations, just managed to squeeze in some time now.」

「Ah, right, it’s finals period… That’s why Hye-yoon also hasn’t been here in a while.」

「Is she here now?」

「Ah, Hye-yoon? She came about 20 minutes ago.」

So she was here.

She wasn’t the type to wander outside much.

I guessed right.

「Okay, I’ll go in then.」

「Alright~ Have a good workout.」

I went inside and started to look around slowly.

But it was busy because it was dinner time, and I couldn’t even spot her shadow.

I didn’t expect to find her right away anyway.

Since she arrived 20 minutes ago, she wouldn’t leave so soon.

I decided to start warming up, heading towards the treadmills.

「Huff…Huff…」

Even as I ran, I continued scanning the room through the mirrors in front.

Her striking appearance should have been easy to spot.

Why couldn’t I see her?

After the initial 10 minutes were up and my body warmed up, I stepped off the treadmill.

Wandering along the wall, contemplating what exercise to do next, I noticed that the people in one area were all looking in one direction.

I couldn’t just walk by.

Driven by curiosity, I approached them.

「Could I maybe join you for a meal later?」

「Sorry, I’m not hungry.」

「Then…could I have your number instead? Maybe we can eat together later.」

「I’m really not interested right now. Sorry.」

There sat Hye-yoon, resting with a poker face, and a man who was sheepishly lowering his head.

Listening to their conversation, it was clear what was going on.

The talk I overheard from the front-desk staff earlier must have been true.

Seeing Hye-yoon naturally turning down an advance, I finally believed it.

「Could you please leave? It’s uncomfortable while I’m resting.」

「Ah… Yes. Sorry.」

As the man scurried away, people resumed their exercises.

But I kept my eyes on her.

She seemed to have had a tough workout, wiping off sweat that flowed like rain with a towel.

She wore tight leggings and a sports bra, an outfit revealing enough despite having seen her naked.

About 3 minutes later.

She continued resting, looking out the window, apparently unaware of my presence.

Lost in thought, she drank water and zoned out for a while.

Suddenly, our eyes met through the reflection in the glass.

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened.

Her inability to hide her expressions seemed both a flaw and a charm.

I waved slightly and approached her.

Then she quickly grabbed her water bottle and towel, getting up without looking at me and heading elsewhere.

Was this really something to flee from? But it meant she was deeply troubled.

I felt even more compelled to talk things through today.

I followed her.

And in a quieter spot, I finally spoke to her.

「Hey, Ms. Hye-yoon. Why do you keep running away?」

「Um.. What? Oh! Woo-jin. What brings you here at this time?」

She looked surprised as if she was seeing me for the first time.

It was obviously an act, but I pretended not to notice.

「Just had class in the afternoon. It just ended now.」

「Ahaha.. Is that so? Well, I’m done with my workout, so go ahead and work hard.」

「The front-desk noona told me you arrived 30 minutes ago.」

「…I had assignments piling up today.」

As she avoided eye contact and couldn’t keep still, I mentioned the earlier incident.

「I saw you getting hit on earlier. You’re quite popular.」

「You saw that..? It’s just annoying when it’s from someone I’m not interested in.」

「That means you’re pretty; isn’t that good? I’ve never been hit on in my life.」

「…Is it okay to just say that?」

「What do you mean?」

「The.. thing about calling a woman pretty.. Shouldn’t you stop saying that now?」

「Why?」

She kept quiet for a moment, as if speaking it aloud would make it real. A kind of anxiety seemed to envelop her.

「You have a girlfriend, don’t you? So you should only say that to her.」

It must have been that Sunday night she heard moaning.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t say such things.

「I don’t have a girlfriend. What are you talking about?」

「That’s what! …You don’t?」

「I’ve been single for 24 years. And about that thing… you were the one who broke it.」

「Ah…then…」

She seemed unable to continue her sentence.

But from my last remark, her face turned red.

It seemed this state would last a while.

So I waited for her to gather her thoughts.

「Is it really true that you don’t have a girlfriend?」

After a while, she seemed to regain her composure and asked cautiously.

Her lips curled slightly, suggesting her mood had lightened.

「It’s true. Why would I lie about something like that?」

「Then… about that night in the elevator with Shin Ah-young, and the sounds from the night before?」

Sensitive topics arose, and I glanced around.

As expected, since Hye-yoon and I had been together for a while, people were looking at us.

「This isn’t really the place to talk about this.」

「Right…」

She seemed to understand the situation and lowered her voice.

The biggest misunderstanding seemed mostly cleared up, and she didn’t look like she would avoid me anymore, so I pointed towards the exit.

「Shall we go have dinner and talk some more?」

「That sounds good. I was planning to eat after my workout anyway.」

「I thought you said you were full earlier?」

「…I got hungry.」

And so, we left the gym together.