A Chance Reunion

I had a senior I'd come to know while taking a general-education class.

His name was Choi Dohyeok, from the media department. At first, seeing nothing but that imposing bulk of his, I took him for the frightening sort of upperclassman—but he turned out to be nothing of the kind.

If anything, he was genuinely kind. He went out of his way to make time for my assignments, and he passed along tips about campus life and about the courses themselves.

Even so, I didn't spend all my time in his company. As a rule, I went around with Jiyeon.

Before the gen-ed class began, my senior and I would sometimes share a meal and talk about this and that. Dohyeok said that once he graduated, he meant to join A Broadcasting Station and become a director.

"Oh? That's where my mom works."

I brought my mother up without a second thought. He heard me out, then nodded.

"Your mother must be quite someone. Well—it's time. Shall we head in?"

His face, though, didn't look particularly interested. And here I could have introduced him to her, if he'd only wanted it.

He urged me to join the club he belonged to. He was vice-leader of a general media club that planned and produced every kind of video work.

"Whoa... this is—!"

The moment I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stepped into the club room, I was startled. The filming gear was impressive enough to pass for a proper studio: expensive cameras and camcorders, all manner of microphones, and even high-spec computers set aside for editing.

"I'll introduce the members later. Look around first, and if it suits you, just say the word anytime."

"I'll join! I'll join!"

There was no way I could let an opportunity like this slip. I was filling out the membership form in a flush of excitement when Jiyeon crossed my mind.

"Ah... Seonbae. Would it be all right if Jiyeon joined too? She's my girlfriend..."

"Sorry, but not right now. Once you come in, Doyun, the directing and planning slots are full."

No openings—nothing to be done. Still, I thought I ought to introduce her to the club at least once, later on.

Come to think of it, I'd heard Jiyeon was keeping up her modeling these days while studying alongside it. Then I should make something impressive here and give her a real surprise.

One night, a message arrived on my phone from a number I didn't know.

I opened it. There was a link.

"Aha."

One look, and I understood. Spam, obviously. I was about to block the number when another message came in.

What could it possibly be, that they'd stress so hard I had to watch it by myself?

More than that, it chilled me that some anonymous person knew my name and who I was. I was holding off on the link when a call came through from Jiyeon.

She hung up before I could get another word in.

I had no idea how she knew a text had come to me, but I decided to check anyway.

The moment I touched the link, the Yungtube app opened and dropped me into a video.

"Huh...?"

It was a study video from an uploader I'd seen before. This one was their most recent upload, and nothing had gone up after it.

The woman on screen was studying in an ordinary zip-up hoodie. Honestly, there wasn't much there to catch the eye.

Not yet, anyway.

Skipping ahead, I found that somewhere along the way she had taken the outer layer off and gone on studying in an ivory shirt so tight it clung to her body. I jumped a little further with a somewhat agitated hand. The woman on screen had a striking figure, sure—but still. I had Jiyeon.

"...!"

The new framing startled me. The camera was focused on nothing other than her thighs.

She was wearing a fairly short skirt, and she even crossed her legs at regular intervals. Every time she moved them, my eyes locked on before I meant them to. Her legs in that video were that alluring.

Then she lifted the leg she had crossed, bent the knee, and set it up on the chair. Her skirt rode up a little at the same time—and should I call it a relief?—her underwear never showed.

I knew the video was deliberate, and still my heart was pounding.

Thinking back, this uploader's first video had been nothing but a plain study clip. Over the thirty that followed, though, what she did had grown steadily bolder.

After that the shot returned to the original angle, straight on. It ended with the woman stretching once she was finished studying.

"Why would Jiyeon send a video like this..."

It was provocative enough that I half-suspected I'd misunderstood something.

But if Jiyeon really had filmed it... If the person who had left those videos—tight shirts, skirts, a school uniform, string camisoles, all of it put on display—really was Jiyeon...

The image overlapped with Jiyeon's naked body, and before I knew it my cock was standing rigidly upright.

"She does look like her. But no. It can't be."

There was no room for doubt. Of course it couldn't be.

Tomorrow was the weekend, and after the modeling shoot I had a date with Jiyeon.

Right. I'll ask her myself tomorrow. Who sent a text like that. And why she called me herself to say it was fine to watch.

Once I had barely managed to let the erection fade, I fell into a deep sleep.

Jiyeon usually shot at the studio every Saturday.

I arrived a little early. The door was open, but no one was inside.

I was sitting in a chair, waiting, when a woman came into the studio. She wasn't Joo Chaebin, the owner of the clothing shop, and she wasn't Jiyeon either.

...Then who?

She tilted her head at the sight of me, too. She was the one who spoke first.

"Excuse me—are you with the shoot staff?"

"Ah, no. Not exactly..."

"Then who might you be.... Ah, I'm—well.... I'm with the shoot."

"I-I'm with the shoot too. Yes. With the shoot."

"Oh, are you?"

I muddled through somehow, and she didn't press any further. She looked my face over carefully, then, as if it didn't matter either way, sat down on the sofa and started on her phone.

Now that I thought about it, she had claimed to be with the shoot in much the same tone—someone trying to gloss past the question.

Then, while she was looking through social media, she suddenly whipped her head around. Straight at me.

"......Haven't we seen each other somewhere?"

"Have we?"

Platinum-blonde hair falling to her chest, a catlike face, and an air that was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠somehow prim. She was attractive enough that, going by her face alone, she could have passed for a fitting model who had come in for a shoot—which only made her harder to place.

"No. No, I think I'm right. That name... Hong, Hong—Hong Doyun!"

"Huh?"

"Hong Doyun! You are Hong Doyun, aren't you! I'm Joo Chaerin! We were in the same class, way back!"

...Joo Chaerin?

Of course I remembered who Joo Chaerin was. She had been a delinquent back in middle school.

"Whoa.... It really is you? But why does your face look exactly the same as back then? You're still handsome, though. Or should I say pretty.... Anyway, it's good to see you!"

The Chaerin I remembered was not someone who lit up like this at the sight of me. In middle school she had tried, in ways both obvious and not, to keep me under her thumb, and once I started dating Jiyeon she had quietly set out to make trouble for the two of us. The standing my older sister Doha had in those days kept her from laying a hand on us outright, but still.

"Ah... you had black hair then. I didn't recognize you either. Good to see you, Chaerin."

"Hmm...... Is this our first time since middle school? We split up for high school, so it couldn't be helped."

"Were you planning to follow me there?"

"Don't you remember? I liked you. Back then I just couldn't quite show it... I was rough with you, and thinking about it now, I'm sorry."

I hadn't expected that Joo Chaerin to own up to it so cleanly. That didn't mean I was ready to take the apology at face value.

If she'd really liked me, she should have just confessed.

Even looking back now, what she had done seemed a little removed from simply liking someone.

"I was scared of you. You always had those thugs hanging off you."

"Th-those kids weren't mean to you, though. I'll apologize. When I was younger, it was jealousy. I wanted to date you too, but... I had a lot of guys around me.... And you had a girl you were close with, didn't you."

"Jiyeon?"

"Right. Baek Jiyeon. That girl knew how to say what she felt, straight out. Unlike me."

So time really had passed. To think Joo Chaerin would tuck her tail like this.

"Meeting like this must be fate, so let me buy you a meal. I'm asking because I really want to make it up to you, Doyun."

"No.... Don't go out of your way like that. I'm doing fine now."

By this point in my life, there was no longer a person named Joo Chaerin. We had run into each other by chance, but I didn't think of it as fate.

"...All right. But Doyun, what brought you here today? Do you have a shoot?"

"Huh? Ah, that's..."

I faltered. I had come to wait for Jiyeon's shoot, and I didn't want to bring her up carelessly in front of Chaerin.

"Well... if you don't want to say, you don't have to. I just came to borrow some clothes from my sister."

From her sister? Wait—her sister. Come to think of it, what was the name of the woman ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who owned this shop?

Joo... Chaebin?

"You're the owner's little sister?"

"You know my sister? Yeah. I go to her sometimes to borrow clothes. Today she said to meet at the studio, though. I never thought I'd run into you here, of all places..."

She smiled as if it were a shame. The soft smile she let slip into her eyes looked a great deal like Boss Joo Chaebin. If only Chaerin's personality hadn't been what it was, the one I was dating now might have been her. Not that there was any point in thinking about it.

"I'll get going. Make yourself comfortable."

"You're not going to see your sister?"

"It's fine. She's probably off smoking somewhere again. ...That delinquent bitch. The meal—think about it. I mean it."

With that, Joo Chaerin left the studio.

In middle school, Chaerin had been famous for being pretty. Pretty alone would have made her a target for other crowds jealous of her looks, but her personality was fierce enough that she knew how to crush every one of them. That was why I had found the upward sweep of her eyes—like a haughty cat—especially frightening.

......

I folded the memories of Chaerin away again, took out my phone, and started scrolling down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through Yungtube.

That was when it happened.

"Oh my! Look who this is. If it isn't our future model."

"Ah— hello, Boss."

The quiet studio grew noisy again. Jiyeon, Boss Joo Chaebin, and the shoot team were coming in together, waving takeout bags of tteokbokki—spicy rice cakes.