Just A Friend

#63

“…”

“Friend?”

It was easy to understand what he was asking. Only the voices of the professor and Kim Minhwan were echoing in the lecture hall.

“Yes, Maetdol-nim. In a small chat window with limited expressions and voice, what methods did you use to draw the other person’s interest?”

“Yes. My chat partner was Apple-nim. First, I asked about their nickname to naturally share interests and…”

Nam Seonwoo pretended not to see the writing and turned his body backward. It was basic courtesy to look at the presenter while they were speaking.

The gaze on his back was piercing. But ignoring it, he kept looking at Kim Minhwan, and even applauded when he finished his presentation. Though he hadn’t actually heard a word of what was said.

The professor took the microphone again and posed a second question.

“Now, shall we hear from the opposite perspective? Is there a student who can tell us what aspects of the other person they found appealing?”

Just as Seonwoo quickly lowered his gaze and turned to face forward, a low voice came from beside him.

“I’ll do it.”

…Why are you doing it?!

Nam Seonwoo quickly scanned his notes. Nothing there could be considered constructive dialogue. Naturally, there was nothing worth presenting.

The professor handed the microphone to Kang Jihan. His deep voice instantly captured everyone’s attention. Without looking back, Seonwoo could tell. Dozens, no, hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on Kang Jihan beside him.

“My partner was Ddakbok-nim…”

Laughter was heard from somewhere. But Nam Seonwoo desperately maintained a neutral reaction. Kang Jihan seemed to glance briefly at the black hoodie before speaking.

“I found it cute how they kept mixing in informal speech.”

“…”

“Ahaha! This is the first time I’ve heard such an answer. That’s right. Informal speech can quickly create a sense of intimacy. It seems Ddakbok-nim maintained that line well without making the other person uncomfortable.”

The professor’s words didn’t register at all. Seonwoo’s fingers curled into fists inside his sleeves. The familiar sensation of his face turning bright red reminded him of forgotten memories from when he was nineteen.

“What else about Ddakbok-nim did you find appealing?”

Hmm. Kang Jihan, his voice resonating, looked at the back of his hand half-covered by his sleeve before answering.

“I thought their hands were pretty, and their handwriting was pretty too.”

Instantly, the lecture hall filled with laughter.

Objectively, it was an absurd statement. But humans are beings who are unconsciously influenced by others’ appearances to a considerable degree. To their eyes, Kang Jihan would seem funny no matter what nonsense he spouted.

The professor was equally generous with her laughter.

“My goodness. Hangang-nim seems to have been completely captivated by Ddakbok-nim, beyond just liking them. At this point, I’m curious about Ddakbok-nim’s communication skills.”

“Yes. They were someone who made me curious. Ddakbok-nim mentioned that they ‘tend to like certainty’…”

Nam Seonwoo was the only one in the lecture hall who couldn’t laugh.

“I wanted to know more about what that certainty was.”

That… Did he really not recognize me?

Seonwoo had imagined reuniting with Kang Jihan before. Even if not on campus, if they happened to meet by chance in life, such assumptions led to various scenarios. Kang Jihan getting angry and confronting him immediately, Kang Jihan ignoring him completely, Kang Jihan calmly extending his hand as if greeting a common classmate… But he never imagined a situation like this.

He was starting to feel confused. Given Kang Jihan’s personality, he wouldn’t show such keen interest in someone he had only seen once or twice on campus. If that was the case, then he must have recognized Seonwoo.

But if so, things didn’t add up again. The Kang Jihan he knew wouldn’t act so ambiguously, but would ask directly. “You’re Nam Seonwoo, aren’t you?”

‘No, to begin with…’

Do I really know Kang Jihan well?

He thought he knew him better than anyone, but the nineteen-year-old Kang Jihan he met again became stranger the closer they got. The direct, transparent, and affectionate aspects he thought he knew about Kang Jihan had all emerged in just a few months.

If so, he now had no idea how Kang Jihan might have changed during the one-year gap.

For a moment, the man sitting next to him felt like a completely unfamiliar person. Now, Kang Jihan was no longer the person he knew from the ‘previous life’ based on old data.

Realizing this fact made his head feel numb, as if he’d been hit with a hammer. With Kang Jihan being so ambiguous, Seonwoo couldn’t figure out how to deal with him.

“…meaning we’ll form groups today. Some of you may have heard this before, but I never assign groups myself.”

It was only when he saw the professor walking to the front of the podium after finishing the theoretical explanation that Nam Seonwoo snapped back to reality. The lecture now had only 10 minutes left.

“Isn’t our lecture called ‘Modern Society and Communication’? I want you to actively use the communication skills you learned today to find your own group members.”

Four members per group. …This didn’t bode well.

After his presentation, Kang Jihan hadn’t said or written anything. As people around them started to form groups following the professor’s words, a meaningful silence settled between the two.

“Ddakbok!”

The one who broke that silence was Kim Minhwan, who came running over cheerfully.

“I’ve agreed to team up with Apple-nim here. If you bring your partner, we’ll be exactly four people!”

Seonwoo tried to signal him to shut up by stepping on his foot, but Kim Minhwan simply moved his foot away, saying “The floor is over here.” Nam Seonwoo shook his head desperately inside his hood. However, Kim Minhwan, excited about the new connection, failed to notice the pitiful head gesture.

“If everyone’s okay with it, let’s go with us four!”

Neither the woman who followed Kim Minhwan nor Kang Jihan said anything. Silence meant agreement. Kim Minhwan, chattering away as he turned his chair around, started the introductions.

“I’m Kim Minhwan from the Department of Water Resources. I’m a fresh freshman, so please take care of me!”

“I’m Park Jiyoung from the Business School. If everyone’s okay with it, I’ll be the team leader. I’ve thought of a good topic.”

Unlike her fresh nickname “Apple,” her voice was sharp and decisive. As Park Jiyoung finished her introduction, the eyes of the three turned to Nam Seonwoo beside her.

…The moment has finally come.

Nam Seonwoo swallowed hard. Since they seemed to have figured it out anyway, it was now or never.

“Nam-“

“Ah! This friend is my classmate! His name is Seonwoo, Nam Seonwoo. He’s quite shy, but he’s really a nice guy.”

Kim Minhwan’s sudden interruption deflated him. The turn naturally passed to Kang Jihan, who finished his introduction by simply stating his name and department.

“Then let’s exchange numbers first!”

“Yes, Minhwan-ssi, please start by giving us your number. Everyone has their phones out, right?”

Kim Minhwan and Park Jiyoung clicked perfectly. Even as he saved the group members’ numbers, Nam Seonwoo couldn’t shake off the dazed feeling.

Despite revealing his name, there was barely any reaction. He thought there would be some response, even if not a startled one. So he was very tense, but Kang Jihan was calmly entering the numbers.

‘What’s really going on…?’

The only thing that remained the same was Kang Jihan’s number. He never thought he’d be saving this deleted contact again. As Nam Seonwoo was pondering how to save Kang Jihan’s name, he decided to match Park Jiyoung’s naming convention. Just as he pressed ‘save’ after adding the course name in front, a message popped up on the screen.

[ModSoCom Kang Jihan: You didn’t change your phone.]

Nam Seonwoo quickly shoved his phone away. Worried he might have looked like an overly nervous thief, fortunately, Park Jiyoung spoke up at the right moment.

“I heard that this professor values diligence the most in team projects. That’s why he gives us two months to form groups.”

He naturally looked at her, but his fingertips were still trembling. As he pulled his sleeve to cover his fingers, Kim Minhwan nodded.

“But there’s nothing harder to prove than diligence… Should we meet frequently for team project meetings? Like once a week besides lecture days?”

Once a week? That meant meeting Kang Jihan twice in 7 days. As soon as he realized this, a rebuttal burst out.

“That seems inefficient. Weekly meetings for a 2-credit elective is a bit…”

Kim Minhwan hiccupped beside him. Seeing him staring with wide eyes, Seonwoo could guess what he was thinking. He seemed quite shocked to see someone he thought had social anxiety expressing his opinion so normally.

Fortunately, Park Jiyoung also agreed with Nam Seonwoo’s opinion.

“Right. And that’s a common trick that many use, so it won’t work. There are so many groups that lie about having meetings.”

Did she say she was in Business Administration? As expected, very efficient and wise. Feeling relieved that they seemed to have chosen a good team leader, Seonwoo let out a sigh of relief. Kim Minhwan patted his back, whispering, “You did well just now, not stuttering.”

“So, I suggest we go with an experimental study,” Park Jiyoung said, pushing up her glasses.

“We’ll do something like an experiment among ourselves for a month. That way, we don’t necessarily have to meet, and we can still prove our diligence.”

Somehow, even her ideas were good. As Seonwoo looked at her with trusting eyes, Kim Minhwan asked from beside him.

“You mean we choose one communication method and try it for a month? Oh, that sounds fun. What should we do?”

“How about Manito?”