Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: The Professor's Memory
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It was good up until we decided to go confirm Hyorin's feelings that she couldn't convey.
But then an unexpected problem cropped up.
"But where is that place?"
"What?"
"The place we went for our MT."
"Yeah, you don't know?"
"Of course I don't."
"Huh, honestly, I don't really remember either."
It had been over ten years, at least.
Memories from back then were barely hanging on as it was, so pinpointing the exact location wasn't easy.
Searching for it right now would be realistically tough too.
Swoosh.
"This is a headache."
"Tell me about it. I naturally assumed you knew and was just talking about it."
"I figured you knew."
"Hey, even I can't remember that. It wasn't that big a deal anyway."
"True, even if it was a big deal, it'd be hard to remember."
Nod.
We both wore gloomy expressions. But we weren't giving up.
We were determined to find some way to uncover what Hyorin's feelings had been back then.
That's when a brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
"Hey, how about this?"
"What?"
"There's one person who's still there, in that very same spot, then and now."
"Who?"
"Professor Im."
"Ah!"
At the mention of the professor, Jungeun's eyes lit up.
"The professor would definitely know."
"He even told me recently to drop by the school sometime."
We hadn't visited since that school event.
It might be a good chance to kill two birds with one stone.
"I don't have anything going on this morning anyway, so want to come along? I'd love to check out the school after so long."
"Oh, you're giving me a ride?"
If Jungeun was coming, I was all for it.
He had a car, and he'd probably want to swing by his alma mater anyway.
"We can pay our respects to Professor Im too."
"She'll be thrilled."
"You think?"
"Of course. Last time I was at school, she asked about you. 'How's Jungeun doing?'"
Jungeun narrowed his eyes at that.
"I doubt it."
"Nah, she did."
"What?"
Snicker.
Jungeun's eyes went wide at my teasing, but I turned to Daeun.
"Daeun, time for breakfast now. Sausage stir-fry, your favorite today!"
"Yay! Daeun wuvs sausage stir-fwy!"
"But what do we do before eating?"
At my question, Daeun shot her hand up and shouted.
"Wash hands! Uncle too!"
"M-Me too?"
"Yeah! Uncle gotta wash hands befowe food!"
Who did she take after to be so sharp? I watched Daeun drag Jungeun toward the bathroom by the hand as I hurriedly prepped breakfast.
'Hyorin's feelings, huh.'
Soon enough, I'd know what they'd been back then. I could hardly wait.
We wolfed down breakfast and hopped into Jungeun's car.
"Whew, it's been forever since I went to school. Kinda nervous for no reason."
I totally got where he was coming from.
I'd felt the same way when I went with Aram.
"I felt that on my first visit too, but it turned out fine once I was there. Met some juniors and all."
"Juniors? You met juniors back then?"
"Yeah, the first one I ran into was a junior. You know Aram, right?"
"Yeah, Director Go's niece."
"Yep, Aram's our junior."
"Really?"
Nod.
"Yeah, I went to school at her invitation back then. Got to meet other juniors too."
Grip.
Jungeun tightened his hands on the wheel at that.
"Back when I graduated, I swore I'd never set foot there again. Guess you never know with life. Might actually be fun."
Curious, I asked.
"But why'd you swear off school? You had a blast there, always hanging around even during breaks."
But apparently, there was some incident I didn't know about.
"You wanna know?"
"Yeah, what happened?"
"What happened, huh."
"So what was it?"
"Not telling."
"Why?"
"I'd die before spilling it. It's the story that'll haunt me for life if I do."
A story that'd be teasing fodder forever?
I had no idea Jungeun had some secret like that.
Must've happened around when I was buried in my graduation project.
Daeun, listening from the side, piped up.
"Uncle! Daeun's cuwious!"
Swoosh.
Jungeun was the type to drop everything at work for Daeun's whims, but this time, he didn't bite.
"Sorry, Daeun. Uncle has secrets even he wants to keep."
"Uncle's secwet?"
"Yeah, can't tell even if Daeun asks."
It was so unlike his usual self, but Daeun got it.
"Otay. Uncle's secwet then."
"Oh, Daeun's okay with that?"
"Yeah! Daeun good at waiting!"
"Really?"
"Yep! So don't tell! Got it?"
Jungeun beamed at her.
"Thanks, Daeun. You're the only one who gets Uncle."
With that, he drove on with the happiest grin, heading for school...
"But Uncle!"
"Yeah?"
Screech!
"No!"
"Huh?"
"Ah, Uncle!"
"Uh-huh?"
Looks like Daeun was waging her own little battle right now.
"No! Daeun not cuwious at all!"
Over and over.
We headed straight for the familiar fine arts building upon arriving at school.
The place we'd worn the doorstep thin until graduation nine years ago.
Coming back here with Jungeun felt strangely nostalgic.
Like stepping back into the past.
Except Hyorin wasn't here, of course.
"Shall we head up?"
Nod.
We climbed the central stairs to the third-floor office of Professor Im Hayoung.
Knock knock.
After a brief silence following our knock, footsteps approached from inside.
"Who is it?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but Jungeun held up a hand and spoke first.
"Professor, it's Jungeun."
"What? Who did you say?"
Crash!
At the name Jungeun, chaos erupted inside like something huge had gone down, and the door flew open as Professor Im burst out.
She greeted him with a beaming smile.
"Well, if it isn't Jungeun!"
"How have you been?"
"Oh, come on, as if you need to ask. You're doing great, and you brought Kanghyeok and Daeun too? What's this all about? Come in, come in."
She ushered us into the office.
"I saw Kanghyeok recently, but you, Jungeun—it's been ages. How long exactly?"
"About seven years since that chance run-in."
"Wow, has it been that long? Seven years already."
"Seven years?"
Not nine? Wondering why, I asked, and Jungeun explained.
"About a year after I became a reporter, I swung by an expo for a story and bumped into you there, Professor."
"Right, that was the first I heard you'd become an art journalist. Shocked me. Who'd have thought the prankster Jungeun would end up a reporter."
University was supposed to be different from high school, but it seemed similar to her.
Makes sense—looking back, college kids were just a few years older than high schoolers.
We thought we were all grown up back then, which is funny now.
"But your words back then helped me stick it out."
"Glad they did some good."
Whatever it was, it clearly meant a lot to him.
Clap.
Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, Professor Im clapped and asked.
"Oh, right—any luck with marriage?"
"Ah, not yet."
"You haven't?"
She stared at Jungeun like she couldn't comprehend.
"Why?"
"Uh..."
"Why not? Back at graduation..."
Whoosh!
The second she mentioned graduation, Jungeun jumped and yelled.
"Ah! Not that!"
"What, you still keeping that a secret?"
Swoosh.
At "secret," she glanced slyly at me and Daeun.
"Even you don't know, Kanghyeok?"
What on earth was she talking about?
"What do you mean?"
"What happened at Jungeun's graduation."
Jungeun's face flushed beet red as he issued a futile warning.
"If you spill that, I'll never see you again, Professor."
"You haven't seen me in years anyway."
"But you'd hate it more if it came out now, right?"
Classic Professor Im.
'Wait a sec.'
Now that things had come to this, her true nature dawned on me.
She knew I was Jeon Seo-gu.
She knew Hyorin and I had feelings for each other.
She knew all sorts of students' lives, and even Jungeun's secret.
She knew everything. It was downright scary.
'She's incredible in a whole other way.'
Proof she cared deeply about her students.
"Anyway, what brings my alumni grads here on a Friday morning?"
Finally, to the point.
"Well, we figured if anyone remembered, it'd be you, Professor."
"What?"
"We were wondering if you recall where we went for our third-year MT."
"You came all this way just to ask about your third-year MT?"
It was kinda ridiculous, asking their professor about the third-year MT location.
But we had our reasons for visiting in person to say hi and ask.
Professor Im was infamous for her elephant-like memory, rivaling even Daeun's.
"Why not just call?"
"Hmm, felt wrong somehow. Better manners to ask face-to-face, you know?"
"Killing two birds."
"Something like that."
She chuckled at Jungeun's words.
"You two haven't changed a bit since graduation. Same lovable idiots as ever."
"Idiots?"
"Not literally—your antics are endearingly foolish."
F-Foolishly... cute?
Only Professor Im could say that. We chuckled awkwardly.
She nodded, seemingly pleased.
"That's why I like you two. Among all the students who've passed through here, you stick out the most. Thanks to your foolhardy ideas, we get to meet like this again."
Swoosh.
With that, she stood abruptly and headed to the cabinet.
She rummaged through files and pulled out a yellow folder.
"This is the club dues reconciliation from your MT."
"You've kept this all these years?"
"Of course. My memory's sharper than most, so I have trouble throwing things out. Some call it OCD, but it's not all bad. Lets me hand you exactly what you need."
As she spoke, I opened the documents she'd handed over.
'There it is.'
A faded receipt for the lodging approval, with the address below.
This would get us there.
Just as I thought we'd taken a step closer to Hyorin's past feelings...
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on Professor Im's door again.
"Who is it?"
"Professor, it's me."
"Oh, come in."
"Yes."
Click.
She invited them in casually, and the door opened.
We looked up to see who it was.
"Ah, you have guests... Huh? P-Park Jungeun?"
Someone etched deep in old memories.
"Mi-Minji."
Jungeun's cheeks burned bright red.
"Uncle ouchie."