“…….”

“…….”

A cold silence lingered for a long time over the table placed alone in the large hall.

Unlike Yoo In, whose expression changed from surprised to frowning to blank, the man maintained his smile without the slightest waver.

“……Why?”

At the thin voice that seemed to have lost its strength, the man took a light breath and gently pressed his fingertips to his lips.

Then, as if pondering what to say, his deep, unfathomable eyes clung persistently to Yoo In.

Just as Yoo In felt the back of her head stinging from the direct gaze fixed on her, the man pulled the corners of his mouth into a grin.

“Well, that’s for Yoo In to think about.”

“Me?”

“It’s Yoo In’s fault, so find out why yourself.”

Left speechless by the sudden blame, Yoo In could only gape like a goldfish in a bowl.

It was a moment that made her realize once again that he was truly an unpredictable person, as he had been from the start.

It was already difficult to follow the jumping topics of conversation, and now he was suddenly placing blame. Her complicated mind felt like it would burst.

She barely gathered her wits and was about to demand why it was her fault, but hearing the sound of wheels in the hallway, she clamped her mouth shut again.

“If you have something to say, feel free.”

“……It’s nothing.”

Seeing Yoo In speak curtly and bite her lip hard, the man chuckled and shook his head.

The staff member who appeared with the tray quietly placed elegant plates of handmade cookies, dacquoise, and mille-feuille on the table, along with steaming cups, in front of each of them before withdrawing silently.

Yoo In alternated glances between the unidentified tea in front of her and the cup on the opposite side. His is coffee, but what’s this?

“It’s milk tea. I noticed you didn’t seem to like coffee much last time.”

Raising her head at the amused low voice, she saw him gesturing with his eyes towards the large plate rimmed with gold.

Even without words, she seemed to understand the implication behind that look. Something like, ‘How about it, you don’t dislike this too, do you?’

“……Yes. It’s nice.”

As Yoo In nodded grudgingly, the man laughed pleasantly and pushed the plate towards her, telling her to eat plenty.

After that, the conversation entered a lull, and the hall became quiet without a single noise.

Having finally calmed her churning insides, Yoo In sipped the sweet milk tea that suited her taste quite well.

And when she had drunk about half, the man spoke up.

“Yoo In.”

“Yes.”

Yoo In answered as she set down the cup she had been holding.

Looking at his neat features, she suddenly noticed that the man’s coffee, for some reason, hadn’t decreased at all and remained exactly the same as at the start.

Just as she was briefly wondering what he had been doing without drinking, his husky low voice came across.

“When you say you dislike the industry, do you mean you dislike the entertainment world?”

“……It’s similar.”

“Tell me more about it.”

The man spoke gently, but it didn’t sound any different from a command.

The scope of the interrogation, wider than last time, seemed to be expanding endlessly, and she thought he really asked about everything, but the man was waiting for Yoo In’s answer with quite a serious face.

After thinking for a moment, Yoo In recalled the man’s words about knowing her sister well, and carefully opened her mouth.

“In that world, truth isn’t important, is it?”

“Hmm……That’s the same reason Nam Yoo Jin doesn’t do variety shows.”

The man, who had very quickly and accurately grasped the point from her tangled words, immediately concluded and casually smiled.

Yoo In was inwardly surprised at how easily he had hit the mark, but tried not to show it as she brought the cup of milk tea to her lips.

The slight admiration that he didn’t have the title of youngest director for nothing was an even bigger secret.

“You seem to like that quite a bit.”

“……Yes. It’s delicious.”

Pleased by Yoo In’s honest appreciation, the man smiled broadly enough to show his dimples, then poured out questions that were much easier to answer than before.

Starting with favorite foods, colors, and weather, he asked about various preferences, and when he asked what she did on holidays and she replied that she read books or watched movies, the man’s eyes shone even brighter.

He told her that he was very interested in investing in film and drama production these days, and shared stories about practice investments that failed, works that earned more profit than expected, and dramas and movies he was currently considering.

“When I ran into you that time, I was meeting with a film director too.”

“Ah……That drunk person?”

“No, that person was an assistant director. Thanks to what I saw him do to you, the investment went down the drain.”

The man laughed it off lightly, but Yoo In instantly felt uncomfortable.

He decided so easily even though it didn’t harm him personally?

As dubious suspicions about his way of handling work began to arise, the man forcibly placed a dacquoise in Yoo In’s hand and started talking about a screenplay her sister had recently been offered.

The mist that had been lapping annoyingly at her toes gradually cleared, and the ordinary conversation that continued back and forth only ended when deep crimson sunset filled the large window opposite the fireplace.

“Shall we have dinner together?”

“No.”

Yoo In flatly refused the invitation as they left the hall together.

The man met her eyes with dissatisfaction, as if his feelings were hurt, but when Yoo In shrugged her relaxed, drooping shoulders and went down the stairs, he soon chuckled softly and matched his pace with hers.

The man’s sedan heading home took longer than usual, caught in the rush hour traffic jam.

Listening to the softly playing radio, aware of the occasional glances, directly facing the lavishly pouring sunset light. Yoo In felt that being alone in the car was neither as uncomfortable nor as awkward as she had expected, and unnecessarily kept looking out the window even more.

Just before getting out of the car after arriving home after quite a while, the man called out, “Yoo In,” and Yoo In turned around.

“Get home safely, and see you next time.”

Yoo In was about to ask why they had to meet next time, but stopped herself.

Based on today’s experience, it seemed he would answer that Yoo In should think about it herself.

The man smiled knowingly, as if he had seen inside her head just by looking at Yoo In’s expression, and Yoo In silently bowed her head to him before getting out of the car.

And after entering the house and flopping her completely exhausted body onto the bed, Yoo In finally realized.

“Ah……That’s right.”

She hadn’t asked what his business was.

****

As always, the exams approached relentlessly without waiting.

The cherry blossoms that had dyed the school grounds pink before midterms had all fallen, replaced by lush green leaves.

The warmth that came with spring had deepened once more, but with the pink gone, it felt as if spring had disappeared along with it.

Yoo In briefly thought, as she passed in front of the central library, that she missed the cherry blossoms – something she had never done in over three years of attending university.

And also recalling someone’s figure that had occupied that spot as if it were their rightful place.

“……Did he say he was familiarizing himself with the route?”

When she had asked why he was there, that’s what he had answered. What reason could he have to come back to the university campus to say such a thing?

Yoo In resumed her steps that had paused as she faced the incoming breeze.

There was a reason Yoo In could now naturally pull the man out from a corner of her mind like this.

It was due to the messages from the man that started the day after they parted ways after quite a long conversation.

At first, it was a rather ordinary greeting wishing her a good day while mentioning the weather. As it didn’t seem to particularly expect a reply, she ignored it for a few days after reading, but impulsively ended up responding because of one sentence.

[There’s a chance of rain in the afternoon, so make sure to bring an umbrella. It’s unfortunate that natural phenomena can’t be prevented.]

He seemed to remember that she had said she disliked rainy days, but the unusual addendum that followed was both startling and amusing.

With one reply like that, the messages became more frequent, developing to the point of sending a photo of a white-furred dog taken at what looked like a filming location, saying “It looks like you, Yoo In.”

The thought that this might not be right only came much later.

“Yoo In, over here!”

While her head was still spinning in confusion, her legs had diligently walked to the campus cafeteria where the three of them always gathered.

Today, Jae Hee, who was sitting not in their usual spot but in a wider and softer sofa, called out to Yoo In in recognition.

As she approached, Ji Han, who was with her, took Yoo In’s bag and patted the seat next to him.

“Why are we sitting here today?”

“Han Jae Hee drank yesterday and says she wants to lie down.”

Ji Han looked at Jae Hee with an incredulous expression and sneered.

Then he handed Yoo In the coffee he had ordered in advance as she sat down next to him. Yoo In said “Thanks,” took a sip through the straw, and asked.

“Didn’t you two have exams until today?”

“That’s right. I thought she wouldn’t come to take the exam today.”

At Ji Han’s words, Jae Hee made a mischievous face, grinned once, and said as she practically lay down on the sofa.

“No, they clearly said it was an exam, but they made such a fuss about not being able to miss the company dinner……”

“Just because of that, you drink until you’re wasted? You shouldn’t have gone to such a place in the first place. Do you have any sense at all?”

“Oh, Yoo In. Shut that nagging mouth for me.”

“It would be great if you end up taking summer classes because you can’t graduate.”

At Ji Han’s cold curse, Jae Hee used language so crude it was unheard of, and that’s when Yoo In finally intervened to stop them.

“Alright, that’s enough. The exams are over, so why are you fighting?”

Though they often bicker and fight, these friends who quickly stop when intervened glared at each other for a moment before Jae Hee flopped down and Ji Han clicked his tongue and turned his head away.

Yoo In, who had seen countless times how they become the closest of friends once they’re on the same wavelength despite this, laughed watching the two and picked up her phone that was vibrating on the table.

Seeing a message notification on the screen, she touched it and the app opened.

The sender was Director Do Ki Yeon.

[Yoo In. You’ve worked hard taking exams for a week.]

Was this why he asked yesterday about when her exams would end?

Yoo In fidgeted with her fingers, debating whether to reply or not. At that moment, Ji Han, who had approached without a sound, suddenly asked.

“Who is it?”

“Huh? It’s nothing.”

Yoo In, startled, immediately turned off the screen so nothing more could be seen, but Ji Han didn’t take his deeply furrowed eyes off her.

“What are you hiding? It’s suspicious.”

“What’s Nam Yoo In hiding?”

Even Jae Hee, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up and joined in. These two were always of one mind when it came to making things difficult for Yoo In.

Yoo In pretended not to know and put the straw in her mouth, but Jae Hee’s eyes sparkling across the table were too intense to ignore.

Finally, Yoo In sighed and put down her coffee.

“I was checking the department group chat. Looks like they’re starting festival preparations now that midterms are over.”

“Oh. I thought it was something else.”

What Yoo In told her friends wasn’t a lie. It’s just that she had checked the department group chat earlier, and she didn’t want to talk about the man who had been contacting her recently yet.

Jae Hee, who had muttered that it was already the last festival, quickly lost interest and lay back down on the sofa, but the owner of the fine-featured face next to Yoo In seemed unable to shake off his suspicions and was quietly looking at her.

“What?”

Even when asked, Ji Han, with an unreadable expression, remained silent. Instead, he raised his white hand and gently stroked Yoo In’s hair.

The touch of her friend’s hand, comfortable and cozy, is always warm. It was a familiar and long-standing gesture for Yoo In.

So familiar and natural that she unknowingly recalled someone else’s cool touch in between.

Ah, again. Yoo In pushed away the image that had willfully raised its head and also removed Ji Han’s arm.

“Ji Han. When did you say the restaurant reservation was?”

“Next Wednesday.”

Nodding and saying she understood, Yoo In avoided his gaze and didn’t see the arm that had been awkwardly pushed away slowly come down and clench into a tight fist.

Ji Han spoke to Yoo In in a slightly subdued voice.

“You don’t have classes that day, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll come pick you up at your house in the evening.”

Yoo In was about to say that wasn’t necessary when she called out to their other friend, “Jae Hee?”

Then Jae Hee, who had been looking at the ceiling with a grimace as if her head hurt, raised her head and grinned.

“Of course I’m going. I’m going to drink wine too. Let’s fleece Yoon Ji Han after a long time!”

As Yoo In laughed listening to the excited Jae Hee scolding Ji Han to pick her up too without discrimination, she glanced at her phone tucked in the corner of the sofa.

Ji Han’s light eyes also turned to Yoo In, who had been dealing with Jae Hee.

Afterwards, Ji Han’s pale eyes continued to gaze for a long time at Yoo In’s face, which seemed to be hesitating about something.