Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Stalker Senior
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"Get in the car first. Let's talk."
"No."
"Then I might really go around telling everyone everything you've done."
He spoke in a threatening tone. But she had no more patience left and fired back even louder.
"What have I done! Go ahead, say whatever you want! I'm dying to know what you'll blab about."
She barely held back a curse, let out a sigh, and turned her head away.
And at that moment.
Kang Hyun, who had somehow rushed over and sized up the situation, came into view.
"Kang Hyun..."
Yoon Haneul's face twisted in surprise at the sight of him.
Whether it was because she'd been seen in such an ugly moment or her pride had taken a hit.
She shook off the man's hand with effort and spun around, fleeing toward the annex building in the opposite direction.
Somehow, Kang Hyun was left standing there alone with the guy.
The man spotted him and approached with a nasty scowl, picking a fight.
"What are you?"
The man gave Kang Hyun a dismissive once-over and snorted.
Judging from Kang Hyun's clothes, no doubt. The guy definitely seemed like the type who'd grown up that way. Flashy car, designer threads, expensive watch—the whole "rich kid" package.
Kang Hyun growled.
"Then what the hell are you?"
"Me? I'm Haneul's senior. And you? Ah... that hotshot boyfriend of hers?"
He curled his lip in a smug, knowing smirk.
"Keep her on a tighter leash. She flirts with me like that and who knows how many other guys..."
But before he could finish, Kang Hyun lunged with lightning speed, cutting his cocky rant short.
"Gah! Guh!"
Thwack! Crash!
Kang Hyun shot forward, seized him by the collar, shook him like a ragdoll a few times, and slammed him straight into the curb.
"Hngh, heuk... Kek."
The man flailed in shock, scrambling to get up—but it was pointless.
Not just the pain from the fall. More like Kang Hyun's raw killing intent was pinning him down.
They were evenly matched in size, but the gap in their presence was massive, and they both felt it deep in their bones.
That's why the man gave up on standing and ran his mouth instead.
"Y-you psycho... Police..."
"Police? Call 'em."
"...Hngh, heuk, what?"
"I said call them. I'll slap you with a petty offense charge too and get a hundred-meter restraining order."
"...What the hell kinda bullshit..."
"I'm warning you. Stalking's a one-way ticket to prison."
"Stalking? What stalking..."
"Approaching, following, or blocking someone's path. Waiting around their home, workplace, school, or anywhere else. Using mail, phone, or whatever to send writings, speech, symbols, videos. Sending objects. Damaging stuff near the target."
Kang Hyun's eyes blazed like fire.
The man couldn't muster a single rebuttal. He just gaped at him, turned to stone.
"If you don't fuck off, next time you won't just hit the ground—you'll eat pavement."
"Ha, fu, sh—"
His voice rasped out in a panicked mix of rage and confusion, breaths heaving.
He glared at Kang Hyun, clearly spooked, but had zero guts to swing.
"One minute. Vanish."
The man lurched to his feet, staggering.
"You'll regret this."
He wrung out the words from his bruised ego, face twisted in a death glare, then tucked tail, scrambled into his car, floored the gas, and peeled out.
Ring ring, ring ring.
His phone kept buzzing from Woo Shi-hyung, but he killed the call and strode off toward the annex.
Luckily, the annex was deserted. There, in a dim corner of the lobby lounge, sat Yoon Haneul by herself.
He swallowed his pounding heart and walked over.
"..."
She sat there, head hung low. Her handbag lay discarded on the floor, her shoulders shuddering with barely contained fury, tiny fists clenched and twitching.
"You okay?"
"..."
"Here, drink some water. Calm down."
"..."
There was a water cooler nearby. He filled a cup and held it out.
Only then did she part her lips and gulp it down.
"...Sorry."
"For what?"
"...For letting you see me like this."
Kang Hyun felt her breath hitch. He sat beside her and gently rubbed her back.
"Not ugly at all."
They stayed like that for a while until her breathing evened out. He gave her shoulders one last pat and scooted back a bit.
"I'll go get Chan-rim."
As he started to stand, Yoon Haneul grabbed his hand tight.
"I'm fine."
"Chan-rim's right nearby."
"No—just stay with me."
She shook her head and tugged on his hand, signaling him not to go.
He settled back in beside her and resumed patting her shoulder. That's when she finally spoke.
"Lately... I haven't been doing well."
"Where?"
"Can't control my emotions. Can't sleep."
"No wonder."
She let out a faint chuckle at his words.
But her head stayed down, and she barely stirred under his touch.
"...Lately, life just sucks. I wanna drop out of school. That senior I wanna strangle is tailing me, spreading rumors everywhere. Even the subway thing from when I was a kid keeps coming back."
"Flowers draw bees... but flies too."
She heaved a heavy sigh, but his casual tone seemed to soothe her a little. She managed a weak smile his way.
"Lame."
Even amid all that, she still sparkled. Kang Hyun's chest tightened with bittersweet ache.
He could kind of see it now—how much weight she'd piled onto that beauty over the years, and the bloody tears she'd shed to keep the pillar holding it all from snapping.
"I took care of him."
"I know. Thanks."
"Skip our morning workout tomorrow?"
"Nah. Let's do it."
"You sure you'll be okay?"
"Yeah."
She went quiet for a bit, then asked him.
"Know when I feel most alive?"
"No clue."
"On normal days."
"When's that?"
"When we exercise."
"Exercise is your normal?"
"Yeah. 'Cause it's with you."
Her words hit like an out-of-nowhere confession.
Thump-thump.
That one line scratched a fresh emotional groove across his heart, somewhere unknown, setting it racing.
A brand-new feeling for Kang Hyun, who'd always just charged ahead.
"Call me anytime. I'll come running. Even if it's not our usual day and you wanna work out, just say the word."
"I'll tough it out. Can't bug you every day. But anyway—what do we do now?"
No sooner had she spoken than both their eyes flicked to their phones.
He already had over a dozen missed calls. She probably did too.
But Kang Hyun just shoved his phone deeper into his pocket.
Like the girl slumped beside him, limp as a drowned rat, mattered more than anything.
The good news? The more he fussed, the steadier she got—visibly.
"Wanna grab cocktails? Non-alcoholic mojito or something. I'll treat you to something tasty there."
"Nah. Tonight, I'm buying you dinner. Promised myself."
She seemed perked up a bit, scooping up her tumbling handbag and digging inside.
Out came the trendy chocolate everyone's been lining up for.
"...Wanted to say congrats with a smile."
"Pfft. That's plenty. But seriously—how'd you know about the finals?"
"Duh. I wanted to be the first to celebrate..."
"You're not late. You're first."
He blurted it out on reflex, then trailed off, a touch embarrassed, racking his brain for the next line.
"So, what're we eating?"
"Got like five spots lined up. But it's almost eight already..."
"No rush. Still early."
"Wanna see the list?"
"Sure."
She thrust her phone at him like it was the first thing she'd planned to do upon seeing him—vitality flickering back.
"Sous-vide steak spot here. Weekends need reservations. This one's famous for mentaiko pasta."
"No tteokbokki on the list today?"
"In this outfit? Tteokbokki's a no-go."
Kang Hyun chuckled at her firm veto.
Relief washed over him at her brightening vibe. She was snapping back to her everyday groove.
Kang Hyun spent the weekend on a "food crawl" with Yoon Haneul.
Breakfast through dinner, plus café pit stops in between. After hitting five or six spots, she finally cracked a satisfied smile.
Sunday night, stomachs bloated to bursting, they power-walked fifteen laps around the big park near school. It was late by the time they parted ways at her place.
After such a blast of a weekend, Monday morning rolled around.
Kim Jong-hwan's dean's office.
The sign under the "Professor's Office" plaque had flipped from "In" to "In Meeting."
"Hmm. You nailed all the points I mentioned. Perfect."
Kang Hyun sat across from him. He'd handed over the "Casebook" materials straight into Kim Jong-hwan's hands.
"Thanks. Time was tight, but your research task took priority."
"Was flipping the school on its head part of that too?"
"If you wanna see it that way, sure."
Kim didn't set the casebook down, but the conversation had shifted to the copy room scandal.
Something he hadn't breathed a word about for months. Not until the missing Yoo Dong-hee finally got indicted for embezzlement.
"Thanks to you, the school's buzzing like it's audit season from the education ministry. Gotta say, I like that part."
"And the part where it's got a bunch of profs blowing steam?"
"That's on me. I'm the type who thinks you gotta rip corruption out by the roots."
Kang Hyun had picked up on something while diving into Kim's research.
The guy didn't skimp on praise—and sometimes laid it on thick.
"Sharper and quicker than half the hacks in my lab. How about sticking around the department?"
"Grad school? Pass."
"Hah. It's a law school 'grad program,' genius."
"Right. Not Korea University master's—Korea University Law School."
Kim let out a dry chuckle at Kang Hyun's bold declaration, set the materials aside, and unfolded his newspaper.
"Fair enough. It's the Warring States era right now. Law schools are about to boom, and undergrad law departments across the country are heading for the dustbin of history."
"But the prestige sticks around."
"Exactly. Y'know, you're in the golden age. A shot at anything you want—and you don't take it for granted. I dig that challenger spirit of yours."
From the way he rambled, Kang Hyun could tell he had something specific on his mind.
He straightened up in his seat.
"If you've got something to say, lay it out?"
"Always quick on the uptake. Love that."
He flashed a grin and continued.