Off Leash

Pfft. The beer cap flew off with a pop, and the sound alone was enough to cool the chest. Of the five team members, the oldest both in age and in school year, Woochan, went around pouring drinks for the juniors one by one.

"Man, it's a first for me — feeling this sad that a group project is over."

Watching the white foam push up over the rim of his beer, Hae-soo found herself nodding along without meaning to. Ever since she'd chosen Business Administration as her double major, team projects had left a bitter taste in her mouth more times than she could count, but this one was a first even for her.

The process had gone as smoothly as a sail catching a fair wind, and the results were every bit as satisfying. Hae-soo smiled to herself as she recalled the professor showering them with applause and praise the moment their presentation ended. There was still the final exam to get through, so it was too early to declare anything, but she figured she could allow herself to hope for a strong grade.

"Alright, everyone, drink up. Should we do a little toast? Anyone got a good one?"

"What kind of toast? Do you even remember this lineup?"

"Oh come on, that's so corny. Just cheers. Cheers!"

"Fine, fine. Who needs a toast anyway. Cheers!"

Five glasses clinked merrily in the air. Even Hae-soo, who didn't much care for alcohol, was in a good enough mood for once to take a long swallow of her beer. The icy cold stung her temple like a jolt of electricity. It was the last week of May, and the unseasonably early heat wave that had swept in faded to a distant concern — for now, at least.

"Honestly, I mean it — I'm really going to miss this. I looked forward to our meeting days every single week."

"Well, that's because you've always cared more about the snacks than the actual work, Ahn Si-yeon—"

"Ugh, seriously. That is so not what it was! What would you know anyway, sunbae?"

As always, Si-yeon and Woochan fell into their bickering.

Sorry to Si-yeon for the flash of temper, but having done a group project with her last year, Hae-soo couldn't help but wholeheartedly side with Woochan. Barely six months ago, Si-yeon had skipped meetings at the drop of a hat — feeling sick, family matters at home, you name it. Her attitude this time around was a complete one-eighty.

She led the meetings herself, and when it came to digging up research materials — hardly her assigned role — she worked harder than anyone. There was something else driving her, some other purpose. No, seeing it wasn't even the right word. Anyone short of a fool could read it, plain as day.

I'm interested in you. I want you to notice me.

Hae-soo tilted her head at an angle, thinking of how Si-yeon had shown up to every meeting dressed to the nines. And there, at the end of her gaze, sat a man who fit this shabby, ancient gopchang joint about as well as a tuxedo fits a pigsty.

Seo Moon-yeol of the Business Administration department.

The very man responsible for turning the listless Ahn Si-yeon into someone who showed up to the study room promptly, every single meeting day.

He was no fool either, so surely he knew she meant him. Yet there he sat, playing innocent, fiddling with nothing but his beer glass, looking utterly unmoved. He'd probably grown tired of this kind of attention ages ago.

"Honestly, Woochan-sunbae, Si-yeon-sunbae — don't you think those two are going to end up dating?"

Someone whispered suddenly at Hae-soo's ear as she stared at Moon-yeol. It was Doyoon, seated beside her. When she turned, there he was as always, wearing that gentle face and a smile full of warmth.

"You know what they say — they fight, they make up. The more I watch them, the more it looks like an actual lovers' quarrel."

"Does it?"

Hmm. Not so sure about that.

Hae-soo cocked her head with a skeptical look. Woochan-sunbae falling for Si-yeon? That she could believe. But Si-yeon liking Woochan seemed out of the question — even now, in the middle of trading jabs with him, her eyes were too busy darting glances at Seo Moon-yeol.

"I'm telling you, I can feel it. Just wait. They'll be dating before the semester's over."

"Pfft. There's barely a month left in the semester."

"A month is more than enough time to start dating. I'd say it's a hundred percent. Want to bet?"

"A bet?"

"Whether those two get together within a month. Loser buys dinner."

"Oh, come on."

Hae-soo burst out laughing. After Si-yeon, the most transparent person on the team was their youngest, Doyoon.

Two years younger than her at twenty-one, Doyoon hadn't been able to hide the blush flooding his face the very first time the team introduced themselves. Ever since, he'd doggedly badgered her about grabbing a meal together every time they ran into each other on campus, and she'd been dodging him with one excuse after another.

He was cute, and sweet-natured — but that was all.

Being approached as a man, not a junior? Declined. Never mind how she felt about Doyoon — with barely half a year left until graduation, there was no room in her life for dating anyone. These days, Hae-soo's interests revolved around one thing and one thing only: finding a job.

"Aw, why not? It's fun. Oh — unless you think you'd lose?"

"Hmm. Now that you mention it, I probably would. Pass."

"Tch. Fine, if I lose I won't order anything expensive. Cafeteria food, sunbae — the cafeteria. But if I win, I'm treating you to that pasta place by the north gate. Isn't that an absolutely killer deal?"

"I said no."

Hae-soo turned away from Doyoon's whining — and the moment she did, her eyes met Moon-yeol's.

She had no idea when it started, but his gaze was unmistakably direct. That gaze of his — the unguarded, straight-line kind.

Without thinking, Hae-soo swallowed dryly and pressed her lips together. As if he'd caught the flicker of tension, the corner of his mouth curved up in a slanted smirk. It was a strikingly handsome face — handsome enough to make her, who prided herself on never being swayed by a man's looks, doubt herself all over again.

Thump, thump. Her heart was racing hard.

Not a good sign. Like raising a white flag, Hae-soo was the first to look away. As she listlessly picked up her chopsticks and stirred at the side dishes, Doyoon — who'd been watching her — slid a far-off plate within her reach.

"Try this one, sunbae. Tastes like pure weight gain."

It was macaroni salad drowning in mayonnaise. Tastes like weight gain hardly made her hand leap for it, but out of courtesy for him bringing it over, she picked off a piece or two. By the time she finished, her heart had found its rhythm again, and the wrestling match between Si-yeon and Woochan was dying down. It was Si-yeon who changed the subject first.

"So what happens to our group chat? Does it get deleted?"

"Aw, can't we just leave it? It's not like anyone's going to ghost each other now that the project's over."

"Exactly. Ghost? God, just thinking about it makes me sad. Let's all be decent human beings and not do that, okay?"

Si-yeon pouted her lips and cast a sidelong glance at Moon-yeol, clearly hoping he'd respond somehow. All he did was raise an eyebrow, once.

"Putting in the effort, I see. Real effort."

Woochan seized on that to tease her again, and Si-yeon flared up. Round two had begun.

Shaking her head, Hae-soo speared another bite of macaroni. Sweet, and heavy with grease.

"Hey, Moon-yeol. You ever lick a yogurt lid or anything like that?"

The first one to get drunk was Woochan, who'd been raving from the start that the beer tasted incredible. For all that he seemed to be drinking fast, it took less than an hour in the restaurant for his eyes to go slack and glassy.

"Ugh, seriously. Sunbae, why would you even ask that?"

"No, come on, aren't you guys curious? Huh? Am I really the only one?"

Sadly, it wasn't just his eyes that had come loose. His tongue had gone slack too — and so had his filter. Leaning on the alcohol, Woochan fired off questions he would never have asked sober, while Si-yeon clucked her tongue at him again and again.

"Or not just the yogurt lid — the Juju Bar stick! Do you eat the stick? The stick?"

"You're driving me insane, for real."

"What, that's too much for you too? Then what about that... uh, what was it called..."

"Your drunk manners are genuinely cursed. Just face-plant and sleep already!"

"Oh! Takeout coupons! From Chinese restaurants! You ever collect a bunch of those and order a feast?"

Ignoring Si-yeon's outburst entirely, Woochan kept bellowing whatever popped into his head. And every bit of it was mortifying.

Yogurt lids. Juju Bar sticks. Chinese takeout coupons. Asking about Seomoon Group's trade secrets would have been less embarrassing.

"Ugh, just ignore him, Moon-yeol. Don't engage with drunk people."

Si-yeon fussed around like Moon-yeol's personal bodyguard and forcibly stuffed a piece of cucumber into Woochan's mouth. The meaning was clear: eat this and shut up, please.

"What's the harm. It's not exactly a hard question to answer."

Undoing all of Si-yeon's effort, Moon-yeol opened his mouth. He hadn't touched a single dish, only sipping his drink now and then, but he gave a light shrug and obligingly satisfied Woochan's curiosity.

"Being rich isn't all that special. Everybody lives pretty much the same way, really."

Pretty much the same way — even the watch on his wrist today had to cost several semesters' worth of tuition.

It was obviously just a line meant to sound nice. It even struck her as a kind of deception — a member of Seomoon Group, ranked among the top ten conglomerates in all of Korea, telling a room of ordinary college students that everybody lives the same way. What did he know about that?

"Whew... now THAT's Seo Moon-yeol for you. So refreshing, I could cry!"

But Woochan, having gotten his answer, was simply thrilled. He gave a drunken thumbs-up and pumped it enthusiastically — and even managed, in passing, to shoot Si-yeon a disdainful look, as if to tell her to quit her nagging.