An Unwanted Introduction
I went to my seat and sat down.
“What are you doing over the break?”
“I’m gonna travel around.”
“Where? Busan beach?”
The kids were clustered in their usual friend groups, chatting noisily.
“...What is this? Isn’t it still class time?”
I frowned and glanced at the clock.
1:30 PM
It was supposed to be class time, yet the teacher still hadn’t shown up. Well, that wasn’t my problem. I pulled a textbook out of my bag and slipped it into my desk drawer.
“...?”
Something felt off. I’d been sensing a stare boring into the back of my head for a while now. I slowly turned my head to the side. The moment I did, someone’s head whipped back around. It was Jeong Hayeon.
Jeong Hayeon was standing near the back of the classroom, chatting with Kim Minseo.
“Hayeon, where are you traveling this break?”
“Me? Hmm… I haven’t really thought about it. Probably Europe if I go anywhere.”
“Which part of Europe? Where, where?”
“I haven’t decided exactly, but I’m thinking Switzerland…”
“Whoa, that’s awesome. Who are you going with?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I might just go alone?”
“Hmm, I wouldn’t recommend that.”
“Why not?”
“Traveling alone gets really lonely. And at night it can be scarier than you think.”
“Scary at night?”
“A girl traveling by herself? Of course it’s scary. Who knows what could happen. If you can find someone to go with, you should.”
“Hmm… I don’t think anything like that would happen.”
“Still, try to find someone. Making memories together while you travel is so much fun.”
“But there’s no one who has time. You’re busy during break, Jiyun’s busy, and both Dad and my brother are swamped right now.”
“Hmm, does that really matter?”
Kim Minseo’s face lit up with mischief.
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?”
“There’s one person who would drop everything if you asked him to come.”
Right then, the back door slid open with a rattle. Nam Doyun walked in. Kim Minseo and Jeong Hayeon immediately lowered their voices to a whisper.
“Speak of the devil.”
“....”
“There he is. The guy who’d go with you no matter what if you asked.”
“He’s probably busy too.”
“No way. Remember what you told me last time?”
“W-what?”
“That Nam Doyun has started being super aggressive with you.”
“Th-that’s not… it wasn’t a confession or anything.”
“Of course it was. Extremely aggressive, too.”
“...Does it really look that way to you?”
“Obviously. Asking a girl to live in the same house is basically a full confession.”
“....”
“He’s that serious. So if you ask him to travel with you, he’d come no matter how busy he is.”
“No way~”
As she spoke, Jeong Hayeon sneaked a glance at Nam Doyun. Why didn’t he come this morning, anyway? Was he sick?
She watched his movements carefully. He was taking a book out of his bag and putting it in his desk drawer. He didn’t look sick at all.
Then, suddenly, Nam Doyun started turning his head. Jeong Hayeon whipped her face forward again.
I sat quietly in my seat. At first I couldn’t hear the conversation coming from behind me. But at some point it had become perfectly audible.
I glanced backward. Jeong Hayeon and Kim Minseo were still talking among themselves. Something was strange, though. When I first came in they had been talking quite far from my seat. Now they were standing almost directly behind my chair. It was like they were slowly inching closer and closer.
Their voices reached me without any filtering.
“Hayeon, why do you keep moving left?”
“Huh? What?”
“There’s no reason to keep shifting left, but you keep doing it so I have to follow you.”
“It’s… it’s just a habit. Habit.”
“...A habit?”
“Yeah. Habit. I just can’t stay in one spot while talking. You know how I am.”
“...Really? I don’t remember you doing that before.”
“Anyway, Minseo, what do you think about ideal types?”
“Ideal types?”
“Yeah. Were all the people you dated your ideal type?”
“...No? I don’t think dating had anything to do with ideal types.”
“Right?! Exactly.”
Jeong Hayeon clapped her hands together.
“See, I think the heart moves without caring about ideal types. My ideal type is someone tall and sharp-looking, but every guy I’ve dated has been short and gentle-looking.”
“Exactly. I feel the same. Just because someone isn’t your ideal type doesn’t mean your heart won’t go to them. And being your ideal type doesn’t automatically make you like them.”
Her voice was unusually loud for Jeong Hayeon. She normally whispered so quietly that I couldn’t hear her from behind me. Why was she suddenly talking so loudly? I couldn’t quite understand it.
“U-um… yeah, I guess so?”
Kim Minseo sounded a little bewildered.
“Yeah. I think girls are usually like that. It doesn’t matter if he’s not your ideal type—your heart can still move. Dating and ideal types seem completely unrelated.”
“Uh… yeah, I see. But Hayeon.”
“Yeah?”
“This is really out of nowhere. Why are you suddenly talking about ideal types?”
“What? Can’t I ask something like that?”
“Well, sure, but the topic changed so abruptly…”
Just then, the front door slid open and the homeroom teacher walked in.
“Everyone, take your seats. We have an important announcement today.”
At the teacher’s words, the students all returned to their desks. The homeroom teacher looked around the room.
“What was the original schedule for three days from now?”
“Nothing?”
The students grinned as they answered. Three days from now was Sunday—the only holiday at Elphon Academy.
“That’s right. It was supposed to be a free Sunday, but this time you all have something to do.”
“What?”
The students’ faces stiffened instantly.
“After an internal staff meeting, we’ve decided to hold a math competition this Sunday.”
“Aww, teach. It’s supposed to be a day off. That’s not fair.”
A student next to him poked his side.
“Just half-ass it. It doesn’t count toward our grades anyway.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s true.”
Traditionally, the school’s math competition had never been reflected in student grades.
“Just so you know, this math competition will count toward your math scores. So I wouldn’t recommend blowing it off—unless your grades don’t matter to you, of course.”
“Ugh, teach, isn’t this too much? The contest is in just three days. What are we supposed to prepare?”
“That’s why we’re doing something a little special this time.”
“Special?”
“Yes. For this competition, you’ll be allowed to form teams of two to solve the problems together.”
“...Really?”
“Yes. So if you complement each other’s weak points, three days should be plenty of time. That’s all for the announcement. Now open your books—we’re starting class.”
After all the classes ended, Jeong Hayeon was walking toward the dorms. A stunning sunset painted the sky outside. As she headed to the dormitory, a voice called out to her.
“Hey, Hayeon.”
A girl with long yellow hair smiled at her.
“Oh, hey.”
Jeong Hayeon smiled back.
“Hehe, we used to hang out together all the time at the academy prep school, but we barely see each other these days.”
“Yeah, it’s a shame.”
Her name was Kim Nayun. They had been close back when they attended the same prep academy before entering Elphon. Their relationship had grown a bit distant after they started at the academy.
“So what’s up?”
“It’s nothing big, but I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
“Yeah. Can you introduce me to Nam Doyun?”
“...Huh?”
Jeong Hayeon stopped dead in her tracks.
“What? Is it that shocking that I want an introduction?”
Kim Nayun tilted her head.
“No, it’s just… you’re really popular in your class, Nayun.”
Kim Nayun was in Class 1-B. She was the prettiest girl in her class, and her combat ability was outstanding too—she ranked in the double digits.
“...You want me to introduce you to Nam Doyun? Why?”
Jeong Hayeon looked completely dazed.
“I want to team up with him for the math competition. Can you set it up for me?”
“...The math competition?”
“Yeah. We can form teams of two this time, right?”
“Oh, so that’s what you meant. I thought it was something else.”
“What did you think I meant?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
Kim Nayun grinned.
“So, Hayeon, you’ll introduce me, right?”
Jeong Hayeon answered with a stiff expression.
“But… why do you want to team up with him specifically? There are plenty of guys who like you and are good at math. Doyun’s midterm math score wasn’t even that high.”
“Ah, you haven’t seen it yet.”
“Seen what?”
“It’s true his written score wasn’t high, but did you know this? On the super-difficult question Teacher Yuli put on the exam, only two people got it right. One of them was Nam Doyun.”
“...Really?”
“Yeah. It’s even posted on the school homepage. Check it.”
Jeong Hayeon hurriedly pulled out her phone. Sure enough, only two names were listed: Nam Doyun and Jeong Hanna. Jeong Hanna made sense, but how had Doyun managed it?
She had been fairly certain he was hiding his strength. But she had assumed his brain was genuinely weak. Was he hiding that side of himself too?
“Hayeon, you’ll introduce me, right?”
“Uh… yeah?”
“I heard the only people he really talks to are you and Jiyun.”
“Ah…”
“He never talks to other guys at all. So I need a bridge. You’ll do it for me, right? I’m not close with Jiyun.”
“...Well, I guess I could…”
“You guess?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to ask Jeong Hanna?”
“I already did. She said she already has a partner. Makes sense—who wouldn’t want to team with the top student in the school?”
“...Right.”
“So please introduce me to Doyun. I heard the questions this time are supposed to be insanely difficult.”
“...”
“Please? If I don’t team up with him I won’t get a good score.”
“I mean… I guess I could introduce you.”
“But?”
“Even if you do team up, you’ll probably get a ton of stress.”
“Stress?”
“Yeah. He has a habit of saying whatever pops into his head. His social skills are basically zero. He can barely hold a normal conversation.”
“Oh, I see. But that’s fine with me. I have great social skills—I can cover for him.”
“It’s not just low social skills. The guy can’t even talk properly.”
“...Hayeon.”
“Yeah?”
“If he can’t talk, how does he even attend the academy?”
“Ah… that’s true.”
“It feels like you’re making up reasons because you don’t want to introduce him to me.”
“Me? No way, that’s ridiculous.”
“If that’s not it, then text him right now and tell him I want to team up with him.”
“Right now? Okay, sure. I can introduce you. Of course I can.”
Jeong Hayeon lifted her phone and started typing. Then she suddenly stopped pressing the buttons.
“...Huh? What’s wrong, Hayeon?”
Kim Nayun tilted her head in confusion.
“It’s not that… I just think it’s better to ask someone directly about something like this.”
“...What?”
“How should I put it? It doesn’t feel right to ask through someone else.”
“Huh? Suddenly?”