The Plain Girlfriend Is Unexpectedly Targeted (3)
I wondered how things had come to this.
Here in the reading room of the University Central Library, I stared blankly at the research files open on my laptop screen, but none of the content was actually sinking in.
It should have been such a simple task—just organizing a few neatly arranged files, zipping them up, and shooting them over by email.
Sent the materials. Please check them.
Two short sentences would have wrapped everything up perfectly. There was no need to steal each other’s precious time, no reason to wash up and dress properly. It was the most efficient method imaginable.
So why was I sitting here right now, alone with the group project leader, working on this assignment face-to-face?
Would it have been better if we’d gone to a noisy café instead?
No, that would have been just as unpleasant in its own way.
From the start, the very idea of sitting across from someone in person, exchanging opinions and actually talking to the opposite sex, felt overwhelmingly burdensome to someone like me.
I wanted nothing more than to make up some urgent excuse and leave immediately.
Sigh… I just need to finish this quickly and get out of here…
Beneath the cool blast of the air conditioner, the only sound was the steady rhythm of my laptop keys.
I kept my eyes fixed on the monitor, focusing solely on summarizing and organizing the data in silence.
“Since I’m a returning student, there’s a bit of an age gap with the first-years, you know? At first it felt awkward trying to approach them. Still, I tried striking up conversations here and there…”
The group leader sitting across from me, Jung Taekyung, had been rambling on about himself without being asked for what felt like forever.
Honestly, none of it registered. I didn’t want to hear any of it.
But in a small department like ours, I hated the thought of rumors spreading behind my back even more. And I certainly didn’t have the courage to snap at him to his face and tell him to be quiet.
All I could do was keep my head down and type faster.
“By the way, Dasom, you’re dressed quite modestly today, aren’t you?”
Tap.
My fingers froze over the keyboard.
My gaze, which had been glued to the screen, slowly lifted upward.
Jung Taekyung was staring straight at me with smiling eyes.
When he spoke to me, I fidgeted with my hair and answered in a tiny, shrinking voice.
“…Please don’t pay attention to that.”
“No, I don’t mean anything weird by it. It’s summer, but you look so stuffy. The outfit you wore yesterday suited you much better.”
The compliment that left his lips sent an unpleasant shiver crawling up my spine.
Other than my boyfriend Haru, I had never once heard words like that from another man in my entire life.
When Haru praised me, it made my heart feel warm and fuzzy. But the things this man said only felt uncomfortable and burdensome.
Why does he have to act so gross when he even has the same last name as Haru…
I was biting my lip hard when Taekyung leaned forward even more, piling on.
“But Dasom, would you mind taking off your glasses for a second? I bet your bare face is incredibly pretty.”
“……No.”
I lowered my eyes and shook my head firmly.
Disgust had risen all the way to my throat, but I barely managed to keep my voice steady.
“Really? That’s a shame.”
Even though he said that, he showed no sign of moving away from his spot right behind me.
After that, a suffocating silence hung between us for a long time. The only sound was the occasional clack of my laptop keys.
How much time had passed? I had roughly finished the target amount of work, so I closed my laptop without hesitation and shoved it into my bag.
“The materials seem mostly organized, so I’ll be heading out now.”
As I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder, Taekyung looked up and said casually,
“Good work. See you again in a few days.”
“Pardon?”
I froze in place, still gripping the strap of my bag.
“Didn’t we finish the research today?”
“Come on, how many slides do we need for the PPT? There’s no way that little bit we found today is enough.”
His words made my vision go dark. I had to sit through this suffocating, uncomfortable meeting again in a few days?
Desperate to escape the situation, I hastily came up with an excuse.
“Then… I’ll look up the rest of the missing parts on my own and email them to you.”
At my suggestion, Taekyung’s expression instantly turned cold.
He set his ballpoint pen down on the desk with a loud clack and spoke.
“To be honest, I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t want to embarrass you, Dasom. But the direction of the research you did today is completely off, and it’s honestly not very good.”
“……Excuse me?”
“At this rate, we won’t get a proper score. If you really want to do your own thing, go ahead. I’ll just handle all the research myself from now on. You can stick to giving the presentation like you originally planned. That’s fine, right?”
The nightmare of standing alone in a lecture hall with dozens of eyes on me, clutching a microphone with trembling hands.
Just imagining it made every hair on my body stand on end.
I was furious at the way he cleverly used the presentation to grip my weakness and shake it, but I had no choice.
“N… no, that’s not it.”
In the end, the words of surrender slipped out between my tightly pressed lips.
“I’ll do it. The research… I’ll see you again in a few days.”
“That’s more like it. Get home safely.”
Leaving behind Taekyung’s relaxed smile, I practically fled from the library reading room.
My heavy footsteps dragged along the pure white sneakers Haru had given me yesterday—the ones I had worn so happily—scraping against the floor.
A few days later, back at the library.
While waiting for Taekyung, I booted up the fantasy RPG I usually played on my laptop to kill time.
I was sorting through my main character’s inventory and clearing daily quests when—
“Oh? I play this game too.”
The sudden voice from behind me made my shoulders jump violently.
I whipped my head around. A cool, sophisticated wave of cologne hit me, along with the sight of sharp, handsome features filling my vision.
It was the first-year returnee, Jung Taekyung.
“Ah… hello. Taekyung… sunbae?”
Startled, I stuttered even more than usual as I greeted him. Taekyung flashed his signature relaxed smile, pulled out the chair across from me, and sat down.
“Come on, we’re both first-years. No need for sunbae. Just call me Taekyung comfortably.”
“But there’s still an age difference…”
“We’re both adults now. Age doesn’t matter. It’s fine~ I don’t care about stuff like that.”
He waved his hand dismissively, speaking in a gentle, affectionate tone.
The oppressive way he had spoken to me in the library a few days ago was gone. Now his attitude was endlessly soft.
His flexible, easygoing way of talking made my tightly wound nerves loosen just a little.
It felt as comfortable as sitting side by side with Haru on the sofa, trading silly jokes…
I’m crazy…! What am I even thinking!
I scolded myself and shrank back in alarm.
The mere fact that I had compared this stranger—a returnee I had only met a few days ago—to my boyfriend Haru sent chills down my spine.
While I sat there frozen in my own internal conflict, Taekyung nodded toward my laptop screen.
“Is that your main? Tell me your ID.”
“……Why should I?”
A blunt reply slipped out before I could stop it.
When he saw how guarded I looked, Taekyung simply shrugged.
“Why? Because playing together would be fun, obviously.”
When my reaction stayed lukewarm, he didn’t press any further and backed off easily.
That only left me more confused.
I had been sure he had some ulterior motive, yet he gave up so quickly that I suddenly felt embarrassed.
Am I being too sensitive? Was it all in my head…?
When I thought about it, I had always been the gloomy type who hid behind my bangs. I was an average—or below average—woman who had never received even the slightest bit of interest from other men.
There was no way a handsome, accomplished guy like him would have any dark intentions toward someone like me…
Maybe I was just overly self-conscious and had been twisting every kind gesture into something sinister.
While I was quietly coming to that conclusion on my own, Taekyung scratched the back of his head awkwardly and spoke.
“Sorry, I must have made you uncomfortable. I guess I just got a little excited when I saw someone playing the same game.”
Friends…
The word that left his lips lingered strangely in my ears.
Just a normal classmate and friend who shared the same hobby and could chat about games.
“U-um…!”
“Yeah?”
After I gave him my ID, a lingering unease in the corner of my heart made the question burst out before I could stop it.
“…You’re really not being nice to me for any other reason, right?”
At my cautious question, Taekyung widened his eyes and tilted his head.
“Huh? What other reason?”
Seeing his pure, innocent expression as if he truly had no idea, I quickly lowered my gaze to the keyboard and mumbled.
“Ah… never mind. It’s nothing.”
“Hey, I told you to speak comfortably.”
The playful tone in Taekyung’s voice made the tension that had been choking me slowly melt away.
The defensive wall I had put up just moments ago was crumbling helplessly before his flexible attitude.
“…Okay.”
The short, awkward casual speech that left my lips made Taekyung’s eyes curve pleasantly.
He looked at me with a satisfied smile, bright and warm.
His naturally tousled bangs and flawlessly groomed skin.
He really is incredibly handsome…
No matter how hard I tried to build walls and stay on guard, I couldn’t deny that objectively, Taekyung had an irresistibly attractive appearance.
I quickly turned my eyes back to the monitor, afraid he would hear how loudly my heart was pounding.
I gripped the mouse tightly and kept clicking meaninglessly across the screen.
After finishing the awkward research session with Taekyung, I headed to Haru’s apartment with light steps.
We weren’t officially living together, but his computer specs were far better than mine, making it much more comfortable for gaming. Plus, I could lie on the sofa all day doing nothing or sleep in late without anyone nagging me. So I came and went almost as if it were my own place.
Half of my belongings had already been moved here, so honestly, couldn’t you call it my home too?
Beep beep beep—click.
I opened the familiar front door after punching in the passcode.
As I stepped inside and set my bag down, I suddenly realized the air in the apartment felt distinctly different from usual.
Normally, the moment he heard me entering the passcode, Haru’s warm voice would have called out to me.
But the apartment was completely silent—no sound of the television, no clicking of a mouse.
The living room light was even turned off, leaving everything dim and shadowy.
Did he go out? I thought he said he’d be home all day…
Feeling puzzled, I carefully slipped off the sneakers my boyfriend had bought me and neatly placed them in the shoe rack.
I even brushed the heels thoroughly with my fingers in case they had gotten dirty, and the moment my feet touched the floor, my gaze froze in the middle of the entryway.
Something was wrong.
It felt strangely empty, like something was missing.
Haru’s usual sneakers and slippers, plus the white sneakers I had just taken off so carefully.
Other than those, there were no other shoes scattered on the entryway floor.
“They’re gone…”
No matter how many times I checked the floor and the shoe rack, I couldn’t find the old shoes I used to wear anywhere.