Reinstall Thumping Planet
The thrill she had felt just moments ago vanished in an instant. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head, every trace of heat draining from her body at once. When Seung-jo spoke about Hana, his face wore an expression Ji-eum had never seen on him before—a smile brimming with open delight. Exactly like the one he wore now.
“She said since I called her my closest friend, she wants to meet you right away. I got an earful about it just yesterday, you know?”
Ji-eum found herself staring at him before hurriedly dropping her gaze. Even meeting his eyes made her chest prickle with sharp little stabs.
“Later…. I’m looking for a new part-time job soon, so my schedule’s a bit…”
“Don’t feel pressured. I already told her you’re really shy around new people.”
She still wasn’t ready. Putting on a smiling face was barely possible even in front of Seung-jo. If she ever let even a fragment of her true feelings slip in front of his girlfriend… she felt certain her heart would simply collapse.
“…Yeah, of course I’ll meet her. But later. I don’t think I can right now.”
There was no good reason to refuse outright. Ji-eum settled for putting off any meeting in the near future.
“Alright. Hana’s got a great personality, so don’t worry too much.”
She worried her awkward reaction might make him suspicious, but thankfully Seung-jo just curved his eyes into a bright smile. The moment she started to lift the corners of her own mouth in response, a noise came from behind them.
Rustle, rustle.
It sounded like stiff paper being crumpled. What was that?
“Aigoo, I can’t even watch this with my eyes closed…!”
A deep, booming voice cut in abruptly.
Ji-eum jumped so hard she nearly dropped the drink can in her hand. Following Seung-jo’s gaze, she whipped around and spotted a suspicious man lying on the wisteria bench. He was peeling a supermarket flyer off his face.
“Wh-who are you?”
Even at a glance, his build was enormous. She had a bad feeling about this.
“Let’s just go, Seung-jo.”
The second she tried to back away, wanting nothing to do with him, the thick body sat up with a sudden thud. The man’s face, flyer still clutched in one hand, finally came into clear view.
“Ah…?”
Ji-eum’s eyes flew wide, then narrowed.
“Ha, what the…”
It was Kwon Beom-ju.
She never expected to run into him twice in the same day.
“Ji-eum, do you know that guy?”
She hesitated, unsure how to answer Seung-jo’s question. She both knew him and didn’t.
“Just… by name…”
As her words trailed off, Seung-jo’s eyes narrowed slightly and he shifted his gaze to the bench. Beom-ju paid no attention to the stares fixed on him and let out a leisurely yawn.
“Uwaaaah…!”
Sitting with his legs spread wide, Beom-ju stretched both arms high overhead. As he did, the sharp, axe-carved abs beneath his white T-shirt came into full view. Huk—suddenly his stomach… Ji-eum bit down hard on her lip.
Still in that pose, Beom-ju cracked his neck left and right. Loud pop, pop sounds of bones grinding echoed from his thick throat.
“…….”
One eyebrow raised, he silently looked back and forth between the two of them before his fierce gaze landed on Ji-eum’s hand.
“Aigo…”
Frowning, Beom-ju eyed the peach drink can she was clutching with clear disapproval.
“What the hell kind of nonsense are you two pulling…”
Wh-what did he just say?
Seung-jo’s face hardened as Beom-ju muttered with added sound effects. He asked calmly,
“Were you talking about us just now? How exactly do you know Ji-eum?”
There was an unusual edge to Seung-jo’s voice. He took a step forward, about to close the distance to Beom-ju.
“Seung-jo, don’t—”
Ji-eum lightly caught his elbow.
“Us?”
In that instant Beom-ju’s finger pointed at Ji-eum—who was watching Seung-jo’s reaction—then swung back to himself.
“Her and me? How do we know each other?”
“Yes.”
“Her and I are Thump—”
Uh, uwaak! Has he lost his mind? Ji-eum’s eyes went huge as she frantically crossed her arms into an urgent “X” behind Seung-jo’s back.
Unfortunately the meaning didn’t get through. Beom-ju floated a question mark over his head and opened his mouth again.
“We’re…!”
No, no way.
“Seung-jo! This person!”
Getting Seung-jo out of here would be hundreds of times faster than trying to shut this guy’s mouth. Quick decision made, Ji-eum yanked hard on Seung-jo’s elbow.
“He’s the leader of our liberal arts group project! We were supposed to meet here to talk and I completely forgot. I’m so sorry…. Hahaha.”
She met the eyes of the halted Seung-jo. Seeing the lingering confusion on his face, she forced a smile. Please just leave. Seung-jo…
“Is that so?”
Seung-jo frowned at Beom-ju for a long moment before his expression smoothed back into its usual refreshing calm.
“Mm. Got it. Let’s talk later then, Ji-eum.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll text you! Bye!”
She waved vigorously. Watching Seung-jo disappear toward the central library, Ji-eum finally pressed a hand to her chest in relief.
“Ha, thank god…”
Her mind was a complete mess. She let out a long breath and spun around to face Beom-ju.
“What’s your problem, seriously?”
Her gaze sharpened. Of all places, why did he have to be lying under this wisteria? And why eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation?
“What’s my problem? Why’d you suddenly start talking formal to me?”
“Well, in the classroom we use honorifics…”
“That’s because it’s a group meeting. Mutual respect is obvious.”
Right—he was the same age. She’d briefly forgotten because of that nasty look of his.
“You could’ve just kept lying there. Why’d you pick a fight?”
Formal or casual didn’t matter. The important thing was that Beom-ju had barged into her time with Seung-jo out of nowhere.
Beom-ju jerked his chin toward the central library.
“That guy earlier—your precious unrequited crush?”
Ji-eum, who had been bristling with indignation, froze solid.
How did he…
It had been such a short, empty conversation. And yet he’d figured out it was her crush just from that. What had given it away? Had her voice sounded too excited? Or had she slipped up somehow without realizing?
“Guess I was right.”
Seeing Ji-eum’s face go deathly pale, Beom-ju let out a disbelieving snort of laughter.
“Ha, seriously. What, am I supposed to pick flower petals off the top of my head for you too?”
“Whatever other people do is—”
The shock of running into him again was giving way to rising irritation. Even when she glared, Beom-ju ignored it and muttered with a scowl,
“If it were me, I’d have cracked his skull open with that can.”
“Ha, what kind of things are you even saying…!”
“…Whatever. We’ve still got stuff to talk about, don’t we?”
Beom-ju suddenly stood and stepped closer. His face, brows furrowed even tighter, looked fierce. She was pissed, but… getting near him was a bad idea. As she warily backed away, he quickly closed the gap and snatched the drink can right out of her hand.
“Hey! Why’re you grabbing other people’s stuff…!”
“Why’d you delete the app?”
The app?
At the sudden question, the hand she’d stretched up on tiptoe slowly lowered.
“Th-that…”
“Thumping Planet. Why’d you delete it?”
When Beom-ju pressed her, Ji-eum stepped back again. For every step she retreated, he advanced just as fast.
“That’s…”
“Why the hell did you run away?”
His broad chest filled her vision. Ji-eum bit her lower lip, then released it.
She didn’t know what to say. She’d thought things over while eating at the cafeteria earlier, but she hadn’t expected him to suddenly appear and grill her like this. Panic made cold sweat trickle down her spine.
Apologize first.
“I’m sorry…. That day was my mistake…”
“Mistake?”
“I shouldn’t have left like that…. I suddenly got scared.”
Since it had come to this, she decided to just be honest. She could see Beom-ju’s chest rising and falling as he regulated his breathing.
“You got scared?”
“Yeah…”
“Why? What did I do?”
At the question that sounded genuinely curious, Ji-eum mumbled in a fading voice.
“…go.”
“What?”
Wait. Did he not remember that day? Ji-eum started to bring it up, then decided to pretend she didn’t remember either. That felt easier on her heart.
“I drank so I don’t really remember… Anyway, I’m really sorry for just leaving.”
“Then why’d you delete Thumping Planet?”
“I must’ve deleted that while drunk too. I’m really sorry.”
Silence stretched for a moment. Beom-ju stared at her face as if he might burn a hole through it, then scowled and said flatly,
“Reinstall it.”
“Huh?”
“Thumping Planet.”
“……?”
“I said reinstall it.”
“…Why?”
They already knew each other’s names and numbers now—what meaning did Thumping Planet still have? She tilted her head, and Beom-ju added an explanation.
“If one person deletes the app, the whole chat room disappears. When you reinstall there’s a restore button, so hit that.”
“So why…”
“Are our memories a joke to you?”
Apparently he wanted her to restore the conversations they’d shared that had vanished. Was that all it was? Ji-eum sighed and pulled out her phone right there.
Ha, fine. She’d reinstall the damn thing.