Jeong Woo-jin
"Senior?"
"...?"
On my way out of the lecture hall after the morning classes ended, I ran into Han Seorin by coincidence again.
"Oh, it's Seorin. You had a three-credit class too?"
"No? It was a two-hour class, but I had a few things to take care of, so I stayed behind in the lecture hall for a while. You don't have a class until three, right, senior?"
"...?"
She knew that?
Sure, it was true that Han Seorin had played a major role in helping me put together my timetable.
But wasn't it usually hard enough to memorize your own timetable at the beginning of the semester?
"So today, I was thinking of grabbing lunch and then exploring different parts of campus."
"That's perfect. Helping you get familiar with the campus is part of the purpose of mentoring, after all. You haven't been to the Central Library yet, have you?"
"..."
The scope of mentoring was much broader than I'd imagined.
Even so, what kind of sophomore was this proactive about guiding a freshman?
My childhood-friend luck might have been completely screwed, but when it came to mentors, I'd apparently hit the jackpot.
I went to the student cafeteria with Han Seorin.
I ordered the Seaweed Tuna Egg Rice Bowl, the Third Student Cafeteria's signature dish, and sat down with her.
"Oh, right, senior! You have to squeeze mayonnaise onto the Seaweed Tuna Egg Rice Bowl before eating it..."
Squeeze...
I was already squeezing a generous amount onto mine.
Our awkward eyes met across the table.
"Oh, you already knew? Freshmen usually don't realize what the mayonnaise is for."
"Uh... Yeah? I just assumed you were supposed to add it."
I mean, it's tuna mayo, isn't it?
Why did everything about this university's cafeteria contradict my common sense?
"I'm glad you're adjusting well to college, senior. I guess that makes me feel like all this mentoring is actually worthwhile."
"Really? Are the others not keeping up with me?"
"Well... There are people like that, and people who aren't, right?"
"..."
If there are, then say there are. If there aren't, then say there aren't. What was with the "right?"
It wasn't like engineering departments had an unusually high number of students who couldn't adjust to college life.
"Oh, right. Did you have a good time with your friend yesterday? It looked like you two had plans to eat together..."
"Yeah. We had mala hotpot together, played some games, and then went home."
"Mala... hotpot? Do guys eat that together too?"
"..."
Probably not usually.
But since everything Yeonwoo liked was some combination of mala, street food, and pasta, I didn't have much choice.
"I-I'm sorry, senior. I shouldn't have arbitrarily assumed anything about someone else's tastes... I think I was lacking in gender awareness."
"It's really not a big deal. His taste is pretty unusual, to be fair."
As expected of a model student, she immediately went into self-reflection mode.
In all my life, I'd never met anyone who used the term "gender awareness" sincerely rather than as a joke.
Feeling apologetic, the corners of Han Seorin's eyes drooped.
Her naturally languid eyes became even more striking, and I found myself looking away for no reason.
The food was good, the conversation was enjoyable, and it was genuinely the first peaceful time I'd experienced in a long while.
Maybe college life really was as interesting as those short-form videos made it seem.
Normally, after lunch, she was supposed to show me around the Central Library.
But for some reason, we ended up going straight to the campus café instead.
"I'll pay."
But the moment we finished ordering, Han Seorin pulled out her phone.
"No, I'm your senior. I can't let you pay."
"But I'm your mentor, so I should at least be able to buy you a drink once..."
"Then let's just pay separately."
Normally, as the senior who was also receiving help, I should have been the one to pay.
Especially since, thanks to Joo Yeonwoo, I was making a decent amount of money for a student, so my wallet wasn't exactly hurting.
But Han Seorin was responsible enough to insist on buying a drink simply because she was my mentor.
I figured she'd feel uncomfortable if I insisted on paying, so we decided to split the bill.
"Come to think of it, have you made any close friends yet, senior?"
As expected, Han Seorin was worried about my social life as someone practically no different from a freshman.
The problem was, I didn't really have any names to give her.
"Not really... When I look at the people taking classes with me, they seem to fall into exactly two groups. The ones who got close at the OT beforehand, and the ones who, like me, just move from lecture hall to lecture hall by themselves."
"I suppose that's true. But each class has its own group chat, so there should be plenty of ways to get close to people, shouldn't there?"
"You know that yourself. Everyone just asks and answers questions. Nobody really has casual conversations, right? And most people don't even answer those."
"But don't people ever message you privately?"
"Does that actually happen?"
Nobody had ever sent me a private message so far.
If I had to count anyone, there was Han Seorin sitting right in front of me, but she had a clear reason for contacting me as my mentor, so she didn't really count.
"I-I suppose you're right. Now that I think about it, what you're saying makes sense, senior."
"...?"
What I found strange was Han Seorin's reaction.
She had gone through exactly the same college adjustment and mentoring process I was experiencing a year ago.
Which meant that in Han Seorin's case, she must have received quite a few private messages through the class group chat.
"W-What could it be? Is it because I'm too old? Or maybe I'm doing something wrong socially..."
"I don't think that's it. It's probably because of something else..."
"What reason?"
If I was somehow going down the wrong path, she shouldn't hesitate to tell me.
Wasn't that exactly what her job as a mentor was—to look after a freshman who had lost his way?
"It's..."
But why was it that Han Seorin couldn't seem to bring herself to speak?
It didn't seem like I was making some huge mistake.
Rather, she had the troubled expression of someone who was dealing with a deeply personal reason that she was reluctant to say outright.
"Whew... It's probably because there are so many men. As you know, this year's freshmen are especially male-dominated, aren't they?"
"Yeah, right? Even when I entered, it was already heavily male-dominated, but with the recent AI boom, I think a lot of the top students who would normally have gone to other engineering departments ended up flocking here."
Just as Han Seorin said, admission scores had risen sharply in the year I entered.
As a result, the number of female students had dropped to almost single digits.
In fact, there was exactly one female freshman in our class group chat.
"Wait, what does that have to do with nobody sending me private messages?"
"Well... Social tendencies can differ somewhat depending on gender, right? Women tend to become friends through social media first, while men are more likely to become friends face-to-face."
Ah!
Now I finally understood everything.
As a woman, Han Seorin had gotten close to her female classmates that way.
But in a situation where the place was packed with nothing but men, there simply wasn't much reason for her to receive private messages.
"Hmm... So I was using the wrong strategy after all. Instead of trying to become friends naturally, maybe I should've asked them to play games or work out together?"
"Huh? I don't think you need to force yourself that much... I'm sure you'll naturally make close friends as time goes by."
Han Seorin told me I could afford to take my time.
She was probably right. Maybe I'd been rushing things too much.
I'd become overly obsessed with making new connections because I felt like I'd finally been freed from Joo Yeonwoo.
"By the way... If you don't mind me asking, could I ask you one thing, senior?"
"Sure. What is it?"
A hint of nervousness appeared in Han Seorin's already serious eyes.
What was she planning to ask?
"Yesterday, when we were eating, your friend called you, right? But it sounded like you were talking as though I wasn't there..."
"Oh, that? That's just how guys are. If you eat with a girl even once, your friends will tease you like they've got some dirt on you. I just didn't want to create a hassle for no reason."
"I see..."
Han Seorin let out a faint breath through her slightly parted lips.
But I'd seen that expression yesterday too.
Was it when I'd told her that Yeonwoo was the guy who lived next door?
"Oh, and what did you mean by 'take pictures for him'?"
"Pfft!"
"...!?"
I suddenly choked on the coffee I was drinking.
Wait, I'd let way more information slip than I'd realized.
"W-Why are you so surprised, senior?"
"N-No, it's nothing. I momentarily got my windpipe mixed up with my esophagus. Anyway, when I said I'd 'take pictures for him'... I literally meant taking pictures."
"Huh? Guys take pictures of each other?"
"Uh... He's really into fashion and stuff. So I guess you could say he's a narcissist who can't feel satisfied unless he takes pictures of himself..."
Why was I the one having to explain Joo Yeonwoo's bizarre tendencies to Han Seorin?
I wanted nothing more than to just tell her the truth, but that was probably impossible.
"Does he wear makeup too?"
"You saw right through him. I mean, what kind of guy piles on that much makeup? It seriously gives me the creeps."
"But these days, it's considered perfectly normal for men to take care of their appearance too. Hanbin, one of my classmates, does it, and quite a few of the senior students in our department wear basic makeup and even lip products."
"..."
I had no idea.
I was born and raised in Seoul, so why had Joo Yeonwoo been the only person like that in my entire social circle?
"I had no idea. When I heard 'engineering department,' I just assumed it would be full of gloomy-looking guys."
"I-Is that so? Anyway, if your friend even asks you to take pictures of him, I guess he must be really confident about his appearance."
It was driving me crazy how the conversation kept circling back to Joo Yeonwoo.
I had finally come to college thinking I'd been freed from him, yet somehow, because he was my childhood friend—or rather, my next-door friend—I kept getting dragged back into his orbit.
"...?"
He's not my childhood friend. He's my next-door friend.
Like Han Seorin said, guys don't really use the term "childhood friend" with each other.
"Still, most people would just take selfies..."
Han Seorin left me with one last suspicious remark.
That was when I made a resolution.
From now on, I would never answer Joo Yeonwoo's calls in front of other people.
"Then have a good class, senior."
Before I knew it, it was time for the afternoon classes to begin.
Han Seorin and I went our separate ways toward our respective lecture halls.
"..."
I'd ended up spending all three hours of my free period with Han Seorin.
She was so serious about mentoring that she practically gave me a professional narrator's tour of the Central Library, explaining every little detail.
I was genuinely grateful, but I had to admit it was starting to feel a little overwhelming.
Well, once I got used to campus, she wouldn't have any reason to look after me anymore...
"Did you eat with Han Seorin?"
"...?"
Suddenly, someone spoke to me from behind.
A moment later, thud! A guy dropped his bag beside my seat and sat down.
"Excuse me, but who are you...?"
"Jung Woojin. Your classmate."
"Huh? You're in the same year as me? You must've gone through military service pretty early too."
"I was medically discharged. I found out I get panic attacks in crowded places."
Glance, glance!
Just estimating the number of people gathered in this lecture hall, there had to be enough for an entire company.
And yet his panic disorder only kicked in around men wearing military uniforms?
"Even so, how did you recognize me immediately? I didn't even go to the OT."
"How could I not know you? You're that legendary classmate who took a leave of absence before the entrance ceremony even happened."
"..."
So everyone might not know what I looked like, but they were already aware of my existence?
If the other freshmen who went to the OT knew about this too, then I could more or less understand why nobody had approached me.
"Anyway, you ate with Han Seorin, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Regardless, I found this guy's way of greeting me extremely unpleasant.
If we're classmates, shouldn't he at least say hello like a normal person? Why was the first thing he did bring up Han Seorin?
Jung Woojin answered.
His slanted, fox-like eyes were filled with undisguised resentment.
"Don't get too close to her. She's not the kind of person you think she is."