Off Leash

Hae-soo counted down the days to the internship announcement, each one swallowed up by the same grinding routine. Finals season happened to overlap, so more often than not she stayed on campus until late at night — sometimes straight through until dawn. She was exhausted, but it was nothing she couldn't endure. She'd spent the last three years living exactly like this; there was nothing new about it worth remarking on.

"Here."

Except for this one uninvited guest who kept materializing out of nowhere.

In the student lounge on the first floor of the Business School, Hae-soo — lucky enough to have claimed an empty table — stopped her scratching pen and stared at the energy drink that had appeared in front of her. Condensation wept down the can and bled into her paper, smearing the not-yet-dry ink into a dark blot.

"...What's this?"

"Drink it while you work. You look like you're about to pass out."

As if answering the unspoken promise of "see you around," Yeol popped up in front of Hae-soo constantly, always underfoot. Sometimes he handed her a drink like now; sometimes he just waved breezily as he brushed past; sometimes he tossed off a casual wanna grab lunch? One way or another, they seemed to cross paths at least once a day.

"You haven't strapped some kind of GPS tracker on me, have you?"

"Aw, you caught me."

Yeol replied absently from the chair across the table, turning a page. She hadn't been serious, but hearing such a lazy answer made her oddly embarrassed. Hae-soo pursed her lips and pushed the drink back toward him as if she didn't need it.

"I'm fine. You drink it."

"If you don't want it, should I buy you something else?"

"Aren't you busy? Go run your errand and buy someone else a drink."

"Nope. Not busy."

"Don't you have to study?"

In answer, Yeol lifted the book he'd been leafing through. So he does study during exam season after all, she thought — until she saw that it was a magazine. Or maybe some kind of catalog.

As long as he avoids academic probation, is that enough for him? Hae-soo clicked her tongue and regripped her pen.

"Must be nice, living the charmed life."

"Right? And yet a guy this blessed keeps reaching out, wanting to see you — how could you say no?"

"Would you please keep it down—"

His blatant flirting made Hae-soo glance around and shush him. How many pairs of eyes were on them? Yeol drew attention wherever he went, so honestly she'd been sitting on pins and needles for a while now. Plenty of students were sneaking glances at them no matter how hard she pretended not to notice.

Is this how I end up tangled in some ridiculous rumor? Genuinely worried now, Hae-soo hunched over the table and hissed at him under her breath.

"How long are you planning to keep this up?"

"Hmm. Until I get tired of you, or until you give in to me. It'll have to be one of the two."

He lowered his voice to match hers, like he was keeping time with her. That same face, the one that treated everything like a game he was enjoying.

"I told you. I seriously don't have time to date anyone."

"You have time. A guy like me is exactly the level of man you can make time for by carving it out of nothing."

"Wow. Have you always been this shameless?"

"Want me to be modest instead?"

"No. Don't. You'd only get more insufferable."

"Let's get dinner once exams are over."

"No."

"Or drinks, then."

"Even more no."

One day, two days, three. The playful passes and the habitual rejections repeated on a loop. Yeol shrugged as if he'd expected exactly this.

"I'll ask again tomorrow. Think it over one more time until then."

"Don't ask. The answer's going to be the same."

"Don't be so sure of yourself."

Yeol chuckled and leaned back in his chair — and just then, a voice bright with relief cut in between them.

"Oh? You two are together!"

It was Do-yoon, trudging wearily through the Business School lobby. With both arms buried under a towering stack of textbooks — enough to make anyone's shoulders ache just looking at him — he hurried over as fast as his burden would allow.

"Mind if I squeeze in? The reading room's completely packed. I've been wandering around with nowhere to sit."

With dark circles sagging all the way down to his jaw, who on earth could turn him away? Moved by simple fellow-feeling, Hae-soo nodded and shoved the items sprawled across the desk to one side, clearing a space for him.

"Ah, saved. I was about to give up and trek to that study café near my place."

Do-yoon beamed as he unpacked his bag. Even mid-smile, he looked grimy and worn down, as if he hadn't properly washed in days.

Hae-soo worried that she probably looked no better than he did. That 'about to pass out' comment — he didn't mean it that way, did he? Rubbing at her tired eyes, she made small talk with Do-yoon.

"You still have a lot of exams left, I take it."

"Yes, ma'am. Three more. I got greedy trying to max out my credits and now I'm paying for it. What about you, sunbae?"

"One tomorrow, and I'm done."

"Whew. I'm so jealous..."

Still grinning, Do-yoon snuck a careful glance at Yeol. Feeling bad about addressing only Hae-soo when his own department sunbae was sitting right there, he stole a sideways peek at the book in Yeol's hands — and his eyes went round as saucers at the glossily printed volume.

"Sunbae, are you finished with your exams already?"

"No."

"Oh. Then why are you—"

"Studying is something you do all semester. Cramming at the last minute — is that really studying?"

It was a toneless, blunt remark that could easily have soured the mood, but Do-yoon — whether thanks to his good nature or sheer guilelessness — only nodded along with growing enthusiasm.

"Exactly! You can memorize everything in a mad cram session and forget it all the second the exam ends. Real studying is something you do day in, day out — day in, day out. Next semester I'm done with cramming for good. I'm building a lighter schedule, too."

Do-yoon pumped both fists for emphasis. Yeol turned away from him with a look of wordless resignation. Flip. Flip. The sound of pages turning was a little too testy.

"Whoa, that's gorgeous. You're thinking of buying it?"

"Yeah."

"Which one?"

"Well."

Do-yoon — who moments ago had three exams left to worry about — had somehow surrendered his entire attention to the catalog in Yeol's hands. A watch really is a man's best accessory. Before his admiring murmurs had even finished, Yeol stopped mid-page-turn and tapped a spot on the paper with his index finger.

"What about this one."

He held the half-folded catalog out to Hae-soo. A white face on a silver stainless-steel band — a watch of clean, uncluttered design filled the entire page.

"I've wanted it for ages. Just never had the money until now."

"I'm sorry — you, short on money, sunbae?"

"Yep. Turns out I was exactly 240,000 won short of the 83 million I needed."

"Whoa. It costs that much?"

Do-yoon's jaw dropped as he snatched the catalog away, staring into it with an aghast expression, as if he might crawl inside the page. With Do-yoon bent over it between them, Yeol's gaze and Hae-soo's crossed in a charged, silent exchange.

"Man, it really is sharp, though."

"......"

"Huh. So even you save up before you buy something, sunbae. I guess people really are all the same, aren't they?"

Yeol broke into laughter first and looked away.

The day of the last final of the semester, Hae-soo had just walked out of the lecture hall, her answer sheet filled edge to edge and her chest light with relief, when her phone buzzed once — a message.

With trembling hands, Hae-soo logged into the Seomun Department Store website. Muttering please some twenty-nine times under her breath, she pressed the search button — and the word PASSED appeared on the screen. She very nearly screamed right then and there.

"Mom! I got the internship!"

The moment she stepped out of the building, she called Jeong-ae to share the news. Over a wash of unidentifiable noise, her mother's proud voice came through.

Haha. Delighted laughter burst out of her faster than she could hold it back. A day like this deserved more than letting it slip past. Skipping along on feet that barely touched the ground, Hae-soo went on, giddy.

"Let's eat something delicious tonight, Mom. Should we order fried chicken for the first time in ages? Or pizza? It's on me."

The voice that jangled suddenly in her ear was Se-bin's. Hae-soo, who had just pushed through the school gate, lost her momentum mid-stride and stopped. Okay, okay, hold on! Jeong-ae called out loudly, then explained the situation.

"...Jeju Island? Why Jeju, all of a sudden?"

Se-bin was a music student majoring in violin. Though the same age as Hae-soo, she treated taking a leave of absence like a meal, and was only now starting her third actual semester. Even that much was the result of Chairman Park and Jeong-ae cajoling and coaxing her out of dropping out entirely.

Again? She failed again?

The words rose to Hae-soo's lips, and she bit them back hard. Past the sting in her ear, the strange noise from earlier drifted in again — and listening closely, she realized it was an announcement paging passengers to board.

Jeong-ae trailed off, hedging, unable to sound sure of anything.

Couldn't she stay with me, on a day like today?

Hae-soo barely managed to swallow the plea that had risen all the way to the tip of her tongue. It would only make her mother feel guilty, and it wouldn't change anything anyway. Jeong-ae's first priority was always Se-bin. Whenever Se-bin needed her, her mother dropped everything and ran.

It's all for you, Hae-soo.