Chapter 19

Ayeon cleared her throat to make sure no traces of tears came out in her voice, then pressed her slightly heated cheeks with both hands.

“It’s nothing… I think I just got a bit dizzy. Maybe low blood pressure or something.”

She forced a faint smile and spoke slowly.

“Is that so?”

Sunwoo raised his eyebrows and asked again.

“Yeah.”

She knew he wouldn’t believe such a clumsy lie, but she nodded anyway.

Ayeon slowly lifted her gaze to the sky.

The autumn sky was piercingly high and blue.

“I thought something had happened. You startled me.”

Sunwoo’s face looked relieved and concerned at the same time as he narrowed his brows.

She knew he had caught on to her excuse, yet he was pretending not to.

There was nothing she could tell him about her situation right now.

She ran a hand through her hair and forced a small smile.

“There’s nothing going on. Anyway, Professor Jin. What brings you here?”

She deliberately changed the subject, hoping he wouldn’t ask further.

“Oh, I just stopped by the bookstore for a bit.”

He pointed at the large bookstore nearby. Ayeon nodded lightly.

“Finished everything you needed to do?”

She sighed softly and asked.

“Yes. And actually, sunbae, you don’t have any lectures today, right?”

“Huh? …Yeah.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Where?”

When she asked back, Sunwoo flashed a bright smile.

“To get treatment for your dizziness.”

“What?”

She widened her eyes at the unexpected comment.

“I mean, let’s go get lunch.”

“Ah.”

She finally let out a small laugh.

“Come on, sunbae.”

“Wait, Professor Jin.”

She looked troubled as he urged her on, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Why? You don’t have an appetite? Let’s go anyway. There’s a place nearby that’ll bring it back.”

For once, Sunwoo was unusually talkative.

“It’s not that, Sunwoo.”

She called his name softly, and he met her gaze quietly.

Before she could say more, he spoke first.

“Who was it that said food tastes best when you eat it together?”

Ayeon opened her mouth but couldn’t say a word.

It was something she herself had said.

A long time ago.

“When I heard you say that, I thought wow, there’s someone else in this world like me. It stuck with me ever since.”

“I didn’t know.”

She laughed a little awkwardly.

“But what should I do. I’m really, really not in the mood to eat today.”

“Then just stay with me. I haven’t eaten either. Think of it as saving a poor junior who’s starving despite being this big. …Please? Not today too.”

Ayeon thought for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh.

“Even if I say no, you won’t take it. Fine. Let’s go. Even if I have to be dragged, let’s go.”

Sunwoo had a way of making refusal impossible.

She wrinkled her nose slightly.

“F-fine. Let’s go.”

* * *

The two of them walked side by side down the street.

It was noon, completely still with no breeze.

Lunch hour had passed, and the once-busy street was now quiet.

“Hey, sunbae.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you really okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Accepting my offer. I wondered if maybe I pushed you too hard.”

Ayeon bit her lower lip.

She remembered that moment, when she’d made the decision impulsively.

That moment when the shock was so sudden she forgot to breathe.

Her chest tightened again.

“Is that what you were going to say earlier?”

She recalled seeing him before the department orientation.

He nodded slowly without a word.

“…I should be the one thanking you. Like you said, it’s a great opportunity.”

She barely managed to answer, then fell silent again.

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but she kept her eyes down.

He was probably curious about how and where she found her subject for the book.

If he asked, she wasn’t sure how to respond.

One day, she would have to tell him, but she hoped that day wasn’t today.

She was still too fragile, barely holding herself together.

“Sunbae.”

He spoke up again, inevitably.

“I have a good feeling. I think it’ll go well. The book, and you.”

It sounded like something he’d said after swallowing back a different thought.

His words were encouraging, but his eyes were full of worry.

He was trying to give her courage even though he was worried.

Ayeon could feel how much he cared.

But could things really go well, the way he said.

Could she finish writing this book and endure it.

The publishing offer from The Mind was a rare and incredible opportunity.

Maybe the kind that never came twice.

A step closer to her dream.

But it could also be brutal.

It meant cutting into her own heart.

That was what worried her.

Could she truly handle it.

She swept her hair back and stared at the clear blue sky.

Then her phone rang.

“Oh? It’s Yoonji.”

“Pick it up.”

“Yeah.”

At the mention of Yoonji, Sunwoo pressed his lips together in a straight line and looked up at the sky.

He stared at the vividly blue sky like spilled paint, biting his lips again.

“Hey, Yoonji.”

The call went on for quite some time before it ended.

“Something happening in the department?”

He asked as he followed her steps.

“No. Professor Yoon’s lab has to be cleared out this semester, and she asked if I could help.”

“Professor Yoon Sang-gi?”

“Yeah. He’ll be disappointed.”

Ayeon let out a quiet sigh.

Professor Yoon Sang-gi was both her academic advisor and father-in-law.

He was well past retirement age but continued to give special lectures once or twice a year as an honorary professor.

His research achievements were so outstanding that the university had kept his lab until now.

But like all honorary professors’ labs, it was finally being cleared out.

It seemed a bit earlier than she expected.

No matter how betrayed she felt by Jooheon, her respect for Yoon Sang-gi remained untouched.

She admired him deeply.

“It’s about time anyway. We don’t have enough lab space.”

“Still.”

She pouted slightly at his unusually blunt remark.

“Hey, sunbae.”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you borrow that lab for a while, since you’ll be helping clear it out.”

“What? What do you mean?”

She tilted her head at the unexpected suggestion.

“For the paper you’re submitting to the conference and for the book. It’d be good to have a quiet place to focus. Preferably on campus.”

“I can just use the lecturers’ office…”

She trailed off mid-sentence.

Could she really write a book about Jooheon in a shared office with people coming and going.

Writing it at home, where Jooheon was, was out of the question.

“Since the department officially asked you to help, no one will say anything. If Professor Yoon agrees, I think it’d work. He’d probably say yes if you asked.”

A thoughtful expression crossed her face.

Before long, they stopped in front of a restaurant.

“We’re here.”

When she saw the name, a soft laugh escaped her lips.

Woosik Flower Sirloin

For some reason, it suited Sunwoo.

“Beef is the best for dizziness.”

“Beef for lunch?”

“Why not. Just wait. One bite and you’ll be hooked. Eat well and go back to school with me.”

His smile was bright, but not careless.

“Sunbae.”

“…Yeah.”

“It’ll get better.”

“Huh? What will?”

“Your mood. It’ll get better after you eat something delicious. Trust me, personal experience.”

She let out a weak laugh at his silly words.

“I mean it. When I was in New York, there was this one day when it started pouring. People said the scenery looked like a movie scene, but honestly, it just made me depressed. It was so humid and gloomy and…”

He talked nonstop as they entered and sat down.

He ordered carefully, and when the meat arrived, he grilled it skillfully and placed a piece onto her plate.

“Trust me. One bite and your mood will change.”

She looked at him quietly as he smiled at her.

“What? You don’t believe me?”