I've Got a Good Idea
My lectures were all done for the day, so I'd slipped off campus for a while and was killing time at a café. As long as I stayed here, the stalker wouldn't be able to see me.
Hmm... the stalker had moved faster than I'd expected, though.
Honestly, I'd figured it would take a few days before they made their next move. I'd anticipated they might send me a new photo, or maybe a warning letter — or, like today, post a new picture on Everytime. But they hadn't even waited a full day. They'd uploaded the photos immediately, slapping on a title designed to get people to tear into Hyeji, just like last time.
I felt terrible for her. Because of me, even people who'd never known Hyeji existed were now ripping into her. The moment I saw the post, I fired off an apology.
She said she was fine after reading comments calling her names, but she was still human. Something like that had to leave a mark...
Hyeji sent back an expectant emoji, her eyes practically sparkling through the screen. Wait. Had I just... made a mistake?
And then another thought popped into my head.
This was a gender-reversed world. A guy had just told a girl he'd grant her any wish she wanted. What exactly would that girl picture in her head?
Probably... something dirty, right? The kind of imagination that involved doing things to my body. Even back in my original world, if a woman told a man she'd do anything for him, he'd at least entertain a dirty thought or two. There was no way it would be any different here.
But actually typing out "nothing dirty, though" in a text felt pretty embarrassing. Would Hyeji even wish for something like that?
I finished my conversation with Hyeji, stood up from the café, and headed back onto campus. It was past five now. Most students had finished their lectures and were either heading home or streaming toward the shops along the university strip in noisy clusters.
First week of the semester. Of course they were going out to drink themselves stupid.
Alcohol, huh...
I wasn't particularly fond of drinking, but I wasn't terrible at it either. I just went along with the mood, more or less. As I recalled, my limit used to be about a bottle and a half to two bottles of soju.
That said, I'd been a loner. I never went out drinking with my classmates just to hang out. The only times I drank were when I got dragged into a department event, ended up helping out, and then had no choice but to clink glasses at the after-party while everyone else was having the time of their lives.
Ah, that takes me back.
Would I end up getting pulled into a department event this time around, too? Back then I'd gone along because someone told me attendance was mandatory, but once I got there I remembered there was absolutely nothing for me to do.
I had a bit of seniority now. If I just said I wasn't going, that should be the end of it, right?
Yeah. That's what I'd do.
Having decided to skip the next big department gathering, I started looking around campus. The reason I was wandering the school grounds instead of going home — even though I had no more lectures — was to cross-reference the stalker's photos I'd brought from my apartment.
At a glance, it looked like they'd photographed me from all sorts of angles. But looking closer, the locations where I'd been captured were actually pretty limited. I walked around, matching the structures visible in the photos against the real buildings, and it became clear: the spot where I got photographed most often was the path leading from the Engineering Building toward the student center.
Most of the shots were probably of me coming out of a lecture in the Engineering Building. Judging by the angle I was walking in the photos, the ones of me heading toward the student center vastly outnumbered the ones of me walking toward the Engineering Building itself.
Now that I knew where the photos had been taken from, I headed straight into the Engineering Building and started scanning the outside through the windows, trying to figure out which floor would give an angle matching the pictures.
At minimum, it had to be the second floor or higher. A huge number of the photos had been taken looking down at me from above — an angle you simply couldn't get from the first floor.
I went up to the second floor and walked the hallways, searching for a spot with a view of that path.
Hmm... where the hell had they shot from?
I'd figured that once I knew the location and the angle, I'd be able to pinpoint exactly where inside the Engineering Building the photos had been taken. But actually being inside the building made it a lot harder. The problem was that there wasn't just one spot with a view of the path I always walked — there were several. Step into any empty classroom and look out the window, and anyone could see the place I'd been photographed.
I ducked into an empty classroom and checked the view. Sure enough, my usual path was visible. But that clue alone wasn't going to be enough to identify who the stalker was or where they were hiding...
I pulled the photos back out and carefully compared them against the path outside, hoping I might catch even the smallest lead.
That was when I noticed something unusual. Among all the photos of me, exactly one was a little different from the rest.
The location was still a path near the Engineering Building, but it was a stretch that almost nobody used. What made this photo special was that to capture that particular spot from inside the Engineering Building, you'd have to go all the way to the far end of the building.
Once I realized that, I started bouncing in and out of classrooms, comparing photo after photo, until I finally managed to pinpoint the stalker's shooting position.
The photos had been taken from what appeared to be the classroom at the very end of the third floor of the Engineering Building. The stalker had apparently gone in there and photographed me walking around outside...
I was just about to step inside and check it out when—
"Minho?"
A voice called my name from behind. I turned around to find Professor Jeon Jihwa, who'd taught Electromagnetism, standing there looking at me after coming out of her office.
"Ah, Professor. Hello."
"What are you doing up here, Minho? Lecture hours are just about over... Did you need to speak with me, or perhaps one of the other professors?"
As Professor Jeon said, the third floor had a lot of spaces used by our department's faculty. Professors' offices, plus the research labs for the graduate students working under them. There were classrooms too, but as a second-year I probably wouldn't have any reason to come up here. Most of the classes on the third floor were for third-years and above.
"It's nothing, really. I just returned from leave, so I was looking around the buildings."
"Is that so? I suppose seeing campus again after so long must feel rather fresh. Hoho!"
Professor Jeon smiled at me and went back into her office. Her office was located directly across from the classroom I'd been about to enter.
For a moment I considered telling her about the situation and asking for help, then immediately stopped myself. Getting a professor involved might produce a good idea or two, but something in my gut warned me not to.
Why, though...? I couldn't put my finger on it.
Well, at least I had a pretty good idea of where the photos had been taken. I went into the classroom at the far end of the third-floor hallway and looked out the window. Sure enough, I could confirm the exact location from the Everytime photos.
So this is where they'd been secretly shooting from.
If I staked out the third floor, I should be able to catch the stalker... except! How was I supposed to catch them and actually prove they were the stalker?
The best method would be to catch them in the act... like when I'd grabbed that groper on the subway. If I could secure decisive evidence that they were stalking me, that would be ideal. But how?
I knew the location, so I could hide in the classroom and wait... ah. There was nowhere in here to hide without being seen.
In that case, I could watch the window from outside, and the moment they tried to take a photo, storm the classroom. One person hides and documents the stalker taking pictures as evidence, while the other goes into the classroom.
For the raid, I could ask Seoyeon — the stalker didn't know her face. Hyeji and I were already burned; if the stalker spotted either of us inside the building, they'd never take a photo.
The problem was catching them at the exact moment they took the picture, and that wasn't going to be easy. I had no idea when the stalker would try to photograph me.
If I could just know the instant they took the shot, I could time it perfectly and pounce...
I needed to know the moment they took the picture... wait.
There was a way to know the exact moment they took the picture.
I just had to create a situation where the stalker would have no choice but to take my photo.
The next day, Minho told me that a new photo had gone up on Everytime the moment he'd been seen hanging around with Park Hyeji, a younger student from his department.
Minho, with a stalker. I'd been half-skeptical at first, but looking at the old photos he showed me and the ones posted on Everytime, it seemed to be the real thing.
Still, seeing Park Hyeji walking along so sweetly with Minho in those pictures made me a little... jealous. She was carrying around a chest that most guys wouldn't even glance at, and yet Minho was chatting with her like it was nothing. It was kind of amazing, honestly.
If I hadn't taken a leave of absence, could I have had a college life that beautiful too?
Well. Water under the bridge.
Then Minho contacted me saying he'd thought of a way to catch the stalker.
The problem was he wouldn't tell me how. He said he was going to walk into a path that people barely used and lure the stalker into taking a photo, but I had no idea what he was talking about.
He told me to hide inside the Engineering Building, and the moment I got a signal from Park Hyeji, I was supposed to raid the classroom the stalker was in... I figured I should just listen to him for now. Apparently Park Hyeji would be outside taking pictures of the stalker in the act, to use as evidence?
I told Minho I understood, and the next day I went into the Engineering Building as instructed and waited for the signal. Might as well watch and see what Minho was planning to do.
Once I got the call from Park Hyeji, I'd sprint to the stalker's position and block the exit so they couldn't run. While I held them there, Park Hyeji would come running up, we'd pin the stalker together, and then Minho would call the police. That was the plan.
But I still had absolutely no idea how Minho intended to make the stalker take a photo.
He hadn't told me the most important part, so I just watched him through the window.
Minho had said he'd create a situation where the stalker would have no choice but to take a picture. What on earth was he about to do...?
Minho walked into the secluded path and started doing some light stretches. That was the signal that he was about to start. What was he planning to—
Huh?
What Minho did next was enough to make even me jump.