The next day.

Similar stories could be heard everywhere at school.

In the restrooms, the student cafeteria, and even the on-campus cafe, there was no end to the gossip about Lee Hanna and J.

“People really don’t get tired of it,” Aera, who knew the truth behind the rumors, clicked her tongue and said.

I kept hearing similar stories while eating, drinking coffee, and walking to the lecture hall.

“Don’t worry too much about it. They’ll completely forget about it at some point. Koreans are known for their short attention span. They’ll be all fired up and then quickly cool down as if nothing happened.”

Aera patted Yisoo’s shoulder, who was not smiling and looked down.

People’s interest in the veiled Jiho exploded even more than the already well-known Lee Hanna.

There were various opinions about J’s identity, and comments expressing surprise, envy, and high praise for Jiho’s background and appearance continued.

-The image of J is exactly as I imagined, it gave me goosebumps.
-Seriously handsome. A guy like this should remain a public asset.
-He was Lee Hanna’s unforgettable first love, he really has it all.
-I heard he’s the third generation of a chaebol family, a truly unbelievable character. And he goes to Korea University at that.
-He was already as popular as an idol at Korea University.
-I hope we can hear J’s live in the future.

Most of the comments from girls went beyond compliments and were full of praise.

There were quite a few people who came to school looking for Jiho.

“He was already popular, but now that it’s been revealed he’s J, it’ll be even crazier. You must be worried about that too.”

Aera screamed in surprise when she confirmed the truth from Yisoo on the day the article broke out.

Most people who knew Jiho probably had a similar reaction.

“It can’t be helped.”

Yisoo smiled faintly at Aera.

Jiho said it would quiet down soon and not to worry about it.

Perhaps because this kind of excessive attention was nothing new, Jiho was quite relaxed and calm.

Yisoo wanted to be like that too, but her heart wouldn’t listen to her will.

“Yisoo, don’t be depressed, let’s go to the club opening party today and have a good time drinking for the first time in a while. Okay?”

Aera said as she entered the lecture hall and sat down.

It had been a long time since she went to the club meetings because she went home to sleep during the end-of-semester party and didn’t come to school at all during the break.

‘Should I go?’

She wondered if it would be too disloyal to go drinking alone when Jiho was in this situation.

‘If I get swept up in the bustling atmosphere and laugh and chat, it might change my mood.’

“Let me ask Jiho first.”

“Alright, alright. I got it. If he gives permission, let’s go together.”

Yisoo immediately took out her cell phone and sent a text.

-Jiho, Aera wants me to go to the club opening party with her today, is it okay if I go and come back?

Would he be sad if I said I was going drinking alone?

As she stared at her phone screen waiting for a reply, she received a call after about 10 seconds.

“Aera, I’m going to take this call and come back.”

“Okay. Make sure to get permission.”

Yisoo nodded with a smile.

She walked out into the hallway and pressed the call button.

“Hello.”

[Are you in the lecture hall?]

“Yeah. You’re done with class, right?”

Yisoo also had Jiho’s schedule for the second semester.

It was only the first week, so she didn’t have it all memorized yet, but she familiarized herself with the schedule for each day every morning.

[Yeah. I want to see you for a bit, is that okay?]

“Now? Where are you?”

[In front of the medical school building. Don’t come down, just show your face from the window. Which floor are you on?]

Jiho stood in front of the medical school building and counted the floors with his eyes as he looked up.

“Oh, I’m on the 3rd floor. I’ll be right there.”

Yisoo ran across the hallway to the window where she could be easily seen from outside.

As she stuck her head out of the wide open window, Jiho slightly raised his hand as he looked up.

“Wow, it’s nice to talk on the phone while looking at each other like this.”

Yisoo brightly smiled as she stuck her face out of the window.

She pressed her body against the window frame that came up to her chest.

Just looking from a distance and hearing his voice on the phone made her heart flutter.

[I’m glad I came. I came just in case.]

Jiho smiled as he looked up at Yisoo with one hand in his slacks pocket.

He looked as stylish as a pictorial from head to toe.

The whole school was noisy with rumors about Jiho, but he seemed relaxed.

Rather, he had been avoiding even running into Yisoo at school in case she felt uncomfortable, so today’s meeting felt even more precious.

Yisoo rested her chin on her arms propped on the windowsill and looked at Jiho.

The 10 minutes left until class started were ticking away regrettably.

“You said you have something today, right?”

[Yeah. I’m going to Hyungju hyung’s office today. I have a song to work on.]

Jiho’s daily life went on as usual without any changes.

“Wow! That’s so cool.”

[All of a sudden?]

Jiho burst out laughing, which was clearly visible even from a distance.

“A working man is so cool. It’s sexy.”

Yisoo grinned as she imagined Jiho working.

[Sigh… Should I go to work every day? I want to hang out with you every day.]

When people glanced over, Jiho briefly turned his gaze away from Yisoo.

“You can work and hang out with me. You can do both. Is your new song coming out soon?”

[Yeah. It will be out soon. When it’s done, I’ll sing it for you first.]

At his affectionate voice, Yisoo wanted to run to him and hug him right away.

Yisoo replied in an excited voice.

“Just thinking about it makes me excited. I want to hear it soon, so work hard when you go today.”

[Okay. Don’t drink too much tonight. Should I pick you up when it’s about to end?]

“Sure. I’ll call you.”

Looking at the calm Jiho, it really felt like nothing had happened.

“I’m sorry for going out to have fun alone.”

[If you’re sorry, hang out with me next time.]

“Got it. Be careful on your way.”

Jiho raised his hand as if to say goodbye and turned to walk away.

Yisoo didn’t take her eyes off until his back, walking away with his long, straight legs, disappeared.

**

The familiar air and the noisy atmosphere.

Yisoo and Aera entered the regular pub for the ski club.

Yisoo smiled as she recalled the times she laughed and chatted here.

The last time was almost three months ago, a month before the final exams.

As familiar faces all gathered in one place for the first time in a while, drinks and side dishes were piled high on the table.

“It’s been so long since we’ve all met, I’m so happy to see everyone. Let’s have fun today until the end without anyone leaving early. You all know the first shot is bottoms up, right?”

The club president stood up from his seat and said as he raised his glass.

Nearly thirty people clinked their glasses in a good mood and tilted them to their mouths.

The glasses that were emptied at once were immediately refilled with alcohol.

After drinking together a few times at first, people at the same table tilted their glasses.

Yisoo deliberately took a seat in the corner with Aera.

Sometimes when you drink, there are days like that.

The days when the bitter soju tastes sweet and goes down smoothly.

Yisoo thought today was one of those days.

The soju she was drinking for the first time in a long time was very sweet.

No one was feeding her, but Yisoo poured alcohol into her own glass and drank it smoothly.

It was about the time she had finished a whole bottle.

“Oh my, my best friend was here.”

The owner of the cheerful voice was Juhee.

Juhee promptly sat down next to Yisoo.

When she didn’t see Juhee as soon as she arrived, she thought it was strange that she was absent today, but she showed up not long after it started.

“Why is Yisoo your best friend?”

“There’s a reason.”

When Aera asked in disbelief, Juhee smiled brightly and answered.

Without realizing it, Yisoo’s eyes scanned Juhee’s nostrils.

It was the first time since they ran into each other by chance at the hospital that day.

Knowing about Jiho and Yisoo’s relationship, how much did she want to come to this gathering?

Yisoo smiled and filled Juhee’s glass with alcohol.

“Long time no see.”

Juhee downed the soju in one gulp and put down the glass.

“You remember we promised to keep it a secret, right?”

Juhee whispered in Yisoo’s ear.

A faint smell of cosmetics wafted from her smiling face.

As if it were some kind of signal, Juhee lightly covered her nostrils with her hand.

“Yeah.”

Juhee muttered to herself as she picked up her glass.

“As expected, Jiho didn’t come. Maybe he’ll never come again.”

Juhee, who was looking at the empty soju bottles on the table, poured alcohol into Yisoo’s empty glass.

“Yisoo, you already finished a whole bottle? You wanted to drink. Well, if it were me…”

Juhee trailed off vaguely and clinked glasses.

“Let’s just drink. As your best friend, I’ll keep drinking with you today.”

Juhee sometimes made a sympathetic expression looking at Yisoo, and suddenly patted her back.

“Juhee, what’s up with you?”

At Yisoo’s question, Juhee opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.

“What do you mean… Sigh. Breaking up after dating, what’s the big deal. Don’t be too heartbroken. Still, you got to date someone really amazing. That should be enough.”

Juhee clicked her tongue and looked at Yisoo with pitying eyes.

“I was so surprised when I saw the article too. So you must be even more shocked.”

Juhee, who downed a glass of alcohol, continued talking.

“But this isn’t some kind of rebound relationship, is it? The article said July, and you were still seeing him in July, right?”

Yisoo couldn’t help but chuckle at the ever-consistent Juhee.

From the moment they first met, her eyes looking at Yisoo were strange, and it seemed Juhee believed the scandal article about Jiho without doubt.

‘Does everyone else believe it like this too?’

Yisoo just sat with her chin propped up and listened.

“I was really pissed off. How could he do that? If he was going to travel with such a top star, he should have kept it on the down low. Getting photographed so blatantly in the hotel lobby and making the whole country noisy. He’s really too much! You must be so upset. Look at your rough skin.”

Juhee patted Yisoo’s back.

Her voice was clearly angry, but a faint smile could be seen on Juhee’s face.

Aera, who was sitting across from them, opened her mouth and then sighed when she saw Yisoo staying still.

“Yisoo, but since when were Jiho and Lee Hanna like that? Are you sure Jiho is really J?”

“Let’s stop talking about that. I don’t really want to discuss it.”

“Ah… okay. Let’s drink and forget everything.”

Juhee nodded, thinking Yisoo was upset.

If she tried to explain to Juhee, the story would get long and complicated, and seeing Juhee’s eyes curious about what happened, Yisoo didn’t want to bring it up.

She came here to change her mood for once.

After that, they drank while chatting about trivial things.

The smell of strong alcohol wafted from Yisoo’s breath.

As she tilted her glass one after another, the table was soon filled with bottles.

Even while sitting, the floor surged up and the world was spinning.

The story of ‘Lee Hanna’s man’ kept being heard here and there even in the pub.

‘Do they have nothing else to talk about?’

As she drank more, something hot welled up inside Yisoo.

“Isn’t Jiho coming today?”

Aera asked in a slurred voice.

“Why would Jiho come when he broke up with Yisoo?”

“We didn’t break up! Who keeps saying we broke up on their own!”

Yisoo, who had been quiet, suddenly lashed out at Juhee’s words.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll show you. That Jiho is my boyfriend!”