An Unexpected Encounter at the Fountain
The sun had already set, but the campus during the festival was far from dark. From the distant stage, loud music and cheers echoed through the night, while the white tents clustered nearby offered games and homemade food for sale. Their bright lights illuminated the surrounding area, keeping everything lively and vibrant.
A short distance away from the bustling stage and tents, near the fountain at the base of the hill where the dorms stood, the atmosphere was noticeably dimmer. With no attractions or activities to draw people in, it remained mostly deserted. And there, beside the faintly lit fountain, stood a girl.
Lee Ayoung.
She possessed a pure, innocent beauty. Whenever I caught glimpses of her during shared classes or our part-time shifts at the student support center, I often found myself stealing glances without realizing it. The same thing happened now. I had been hurrying along, wondering how to spend money in a parallel world where prices were one-thousandth of normal, when I spotted her from behind and froze in place. I stood rooted to the spot, simply watching her back.
Her short hair swayed gently as usual. She wore a soft pink cardigan that subtly accentuated her slender figure, paired with a blue skirt that revealed half her thighs. Below the skirt, her pale legs glowed softly, ending in white sneakers. Her outfit radiated the fresh, youthful charm of a college girl.
Lee Ayoung held a handbag in one hand and spoke on her phone with the other. Every time she turned slightly during the call, her beautiful profile drew my gaze once more—the elegant nose, full lips, the gentle swell of her breasts beneath the knit cardigan, the graceful curve from her slender neck down to her back, waist, and hips, and the smooth legs extending from under her skirt, with delicate ankles peeking above her white sneakers and socks. She looked like a living work of art.
Yet her expression seemed somewhat shadowed as she continued the conversation. Moments earlier I had been debating what to buy near the back gate, but now my entire attention was fixed on her. Without thinking, I began straining to catch the faint sounds of her call. Even in normal times, during lectures or shifts, I often found myself stealing glances at her or eavesdropping on her voice. Since the conversation was hard to hear from where I stood, I crept a little closer.
She was so absorbed in what sounded like an important call—or perhaps the darkness around us helped—that she never noticed me approaching from behind. Only then did her voice become clear.
"I don't know either... I can't reach Dad either..."
Lee Ayoung usually spoke with a bright, clear tone that lit up any room. But now her voice carried a heavy, sorrowful weight.
"I've told you so many times... This is the first I've heard about Dad acting as a guarantor... Please, don't swear at me."
The content of the call was troubling. It seemed her father had signed as a guarantor and something had gone wrong.
That's why people say never to be a guarantor...
"Next week...? How am I supposed to pay back 350,000 won...? That's such a huge amount..."
...Huh?
The number that slipped into her conversation caught me off guard. I had been so focused on her story that I momentarily forgot about the parallel world's prices. 350,000 won. In this world where everything cost one-thousandth as much, that was an enormous sum—equivalent to about 350 million won back in our original world. No ordinary college girl could possibly scrape together that kind of money in just one week.
"No! Don't come to the school! J-just give me more time... I'll figure something out..."
Lee Ayoung normally had an attractive voice—deep, calm, and crystal clear, the kind that naturally drew people in. But now it trembled, small and defeated, completely unlike her usual confident self.
After some time, the call ended. She slipped her phone back into her handbag. I approached her slowly from behind and spoke carefully.
"Hey..."
"Kyaa!"
She must have been completely absorbed in the call. Startled by my sudden voice, she jumped and spun around. When she recognized me, she spoke in a shaky tone.
"Juwan sunbae...?"
"I... I heard a bit of your call just now..."
"..."
At my words, Lee Ayoung lowered her gaze and fell silent for a long moment. While she stared at the ground, my eyes traveled down her figure, eventually stopping at her legs. Up close, her blue skirt seemed even shorter than I remembered. Half her thighs were exposed beneath it, smooth and pale, leading down to slender ankles. As she stood there lost in thought, I found myself staring at them.
Her legs beneath the short skirt were fair and flawless. Lee Ayoung had an alluring figure. She carried herself with a natural grace today as well—not just because of her clear skin and slender build, but because of something uniquely beautiful about her. I vaguely recalled hearing she had studied ballet as a child. Whenever we shared classes or worked together at the student support center, my attention always drifted toward her. Naturally, I had overheard plenty about her life, including how she had trained in ballet from a very young age until a few years before entering university. She had apparently been quite talented, winning several awards, though I never learned why she eventually quit and switched to business administration. Maybe she lost interest, or perhaps the pressure became too much. Either way, traces of that training remained in her body: an unusually slim waist, a slender frame without an ounce of excess, and an unconscious elegance in the way she moved. Her calm, refined aura seemed to stem from those years of dance.
Ah... this isn't the time for that.
I shouldn't have been staring at her legs—especially not while standing right in front of her. I needed to meet her eyes and talk properly. Yet my gaze kept drifting downward, drawn to her beautiful legs and figure, particularly the smooth thighs peeking from under her skirt.
I had something to say...
After an awkward silence, Lee Ayoung finally lifted her head. Panicking that she might have caught me staring, I quickly raised my eyes to meet hers.
She didn't notice me looking at her legs... right?
My heart pounded at the thought. Then she spoke first, her voice hesitant.
"Juwan sunbae... please don't tell anyone else about this."
"Huh?... Ah! Actually... I think I can pay that debt for you..."
"What...?"
She looked up at me with clear, deep eyes, clearly confused by my offer to cover the amount her father had guaranteed. I repeated myself.
"That money... I can give it to you instead."
"How...?"
"Just a second."
Her question was natural. 350,000 won—equivalent to 350 million in our world—was an impossible sum for an ordinary college student like me to produce. In answer, I simply pulled out my wallet and opened it in front of her. Inside lay exactly 350,000 won in cash.
"..."
Even though it was "only" 350,000 won here, Lee Ayoung was so shocked she couldn't speak. While she stared wide-eyed at the wallet, I stole another glance at her legs—the smooth, freshly washed skin, the pale thighs half-hidden beneath her short skirt. They stirred something inside me.
—Gulp.
I swallowed without thinking. Feeling a strange flutter in my chest, I spoke.
"This money... it's yours."
"...Really?"
"As long as you do one thing for me..."
"What... kind of favor?"
I didn't answer right away. Lee Ayoung lifted her gaze from the wallet and looked at me. In that moment, she realized where my eyes had been drifting—toward the smooth legs beneath her blue skirt. Her body flinched slightly as understanding dawned. She quickly shifted her handbag to cover her exposed thighs.
A strange silence fell between us. Would Lee Ayoung actually agree to my request? The former ballet prodigy with her calm, elegant presence was well-known in our department for her pretty looks. Though I had never confessed, I had secretly harbored feelings for her. Would the girl I had quietly liked—and who so many other guys at school probably liked too—really accept my indecent proposal for just 350,000 won?