The Goddess Sits Next to Me
In the XX University lecture hall.
“Have you heard that rumor?” Before the professor arrived, a female student who looked like one of the popular crowd stepped into the classroom and asked her friends.
“What rumor?”
“You know Yeonwoo oppa, the one who just came back to school? They say he has a girlfriend now.”
“A girlfriend?!” Her friends gasped in unison.
“For real?”
“Yeah. I heard it straight from the third- and fourth-year seniors. They say he’s dating a ridiculously pretty fourth-year. Was her name Senior Shin Hari?”
“What?! No way.”
“So that’s why he never talks to us…”
“Look at your face. Would you talk to someone like you?”
“Excuse me?!” The sudden burn sparked a petty fight among them.
The popular girl wandered off to spread the rumor to anyone who would listen, completely unaware of how wildly distorted it had become.
…
I sat at the very back of the lecture hall, listening to every word, and could only feel utterly dumbfounded.
…But I don’t even have a girlfriend.
I barely had friends, let alone a girlfriend. Who exactly was I supposed to be dating?
What? I don’t talk to them?
It wasn’t that I chose not to talk. I simply couldn’t. Striking up a conversation with strangers was the single hardest thing in the world for me.
…But Senior Shin Hari? Who is she?
From the way the other students kept mentioning her, she sounded breathtakingly beautiful, yet her name was one I had never heard before.
The classroom door slid open with a rattle.
“Everyone, take your seats.”
A relatively young professor entered, and the room fell silent at once. Class began and ended without any answers. My questions remained unsolved, and the popular girl who might have cleared things up never approached me—probably because of that bizarre rumor.
…Such is life.
It happened only three days after I returned to school.
After all my lectures for the day had ended, evening arrived. I met up with the only friend who had stayed with me from elementary school through high school and now university. His name was Lee Minho. His sharp eyes sometimes caused misunderstandings, but he was undeniably handsome. He studied hard, caught every detail, and was the most perceptive friend I had.
“Gu Yeonwoo. Still no friends?”
That same friend suddenly dropped salt into my open wound while we were eating.
…
The worst part was that his words were so painfully true I couldn’t even argue. I felt utterly pathetic. Life could be so cruel.
“You really still don’t have any?”
“Nope. None.”
“…Huh. Why wouldn’t a good-looking guy like you have friends?”
Minho offered both comfort and genuine confusion.
“I know, right?”
“Wait, you’re not even denying it anymore?”
My unusual response made Minho’s eyes widen.
“I got cursed out nonstop in the military for acting humble.”
Before, whenever someone complimented my looks, I genuinely believed it wasn’t true and waved the praise away. But when I did that to a senior in the army, he tore into me, asking if my face was made of concrete. After that, I learned to simply accept compliments. Even if I still didn’t quite believe them.
“…How bad was it?”
“Probably more than every insult you’ve ever thrown at me combined.”
Since Minho rarely cursed, it must have been far worse.
“…I’ll say it again. You really went through it.”
“Thanks.”
As we resumed eating, one particular rumor floated back into my mind.
“By the way, there’s a weird rumor going around. Have you heard anything?”
“What is it?”
I repeated what the popular girl had said earlier that day.
“Hmm?”
After listening, Minho tilted his head.
“You’re dating a fourth-year senior?”
“That’s what they’re saying.”
“Hmm… yeah, I think I’ve heard something like that.”
“Do you know who started it?”
“Not sure. But it does seem like it came from the fourth-years.”
When he mentioned fourth-years, another memory surfaced.
“Then who exactly is Senior Shin Hari?”
This was the part I was most curious about. Why did her name keep coming up everywhere? In the past few days, no name had been whispered around campus more than Shin Hari.
…
Minho looked at me with an expression that said he had plenty to say but wasn’t sure he should.
“What? Tell me.”
“…You seriously don’t know?”
“No, that’s why I’m asking.”
He paused, thinking, then spoke.
“Ah. That makes sense, actually.”
“Why?”
“She also took a leave of absence and only returned last year. While you were in the military. So yeah, you wouldn’t know her.”
“So who is she?”
“Have you shared any classes with her?”
“Of course not.”
The odds of a first-year and a fourth-year sharing a class weren’t high. It happened occasionally, but with tomorrow and the day after still ahead, I couldn’t be sure yet.
“I’ll just tell you the parts you’d actually care about.”
“Please.”
“I’ve only spoken with her once, but Senior Shin Hari is a senior in our Business Administration department…”
Minho launched into a full explanation. What seemed like little information ended up taking a full ten minutes.
“Does that clear things up?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll know it’s her the second you see her.”
“Got it.”
If I had to describe Senior Shin Hari in one word, it would be goddess. The department goddess. Those four letters fit her perfectly. A fourth-year senior with stunning looks, a warm personality, and top grades. She seemed to possess everything. Getting into our university already required elite scores, yet she stood at the very top even among them. Since the words came from Minho—who had actually spoken with her—they carried weight.
They also said her eyes sparkled like rubies. I found myself wanting to meet her. I had my own unique trait with this pure white hair, and she had those striking red eyes. Somehow, it made me feel a strange sense of kinship.
“Let’s head out.”
“Sure.”
Before we knew it, we had finished eating. Minho and I left the restaurant and parted ways, each with our own plans.
I never imagined the day I would actually meet her was so close.
The next day, I once again headed to the lecture hall alone.
It was a general education class, right? Probably.
I had wanted to come with Minho, but he had no morning lectures, so I walked in by myself.
The door opened with a rattle.
Countless eyes turned toward me at once. But they quickly looked away, like prey averting its gaze from a predator. It was definitely because of that rumor.
…Why did something like that have to spread?
It was only my fourth day back. Even I wasn’t sure anymore. Maybe I should just accept it—I simply wasn’t meant to make friends. Still, I hadn’t completely given up hope.
“Haah…”
Letting out a sigh that felt all too familiar, I took the very last seat in the back. The door opened again right after.
The noisy lecture hall fell deathly silent in an instant.
Click. Click.
A woman walked through the quiet room. She moved like a model on a runway, dressed simply in a white turtleneck, beige coat, and jeans. Yet her face and figure naturally drew every eye in the room. If a goddess existed, it would have to be her.
…Red eyes?
Minho had said I would recognize her the moment I saw her, and he was right. That was Senior Shin Hari. Her breathtaking beauty, perfect proportions, and those vivid red eyes made it unmistakable.
Our eyes met across the room.
…
…
For a second, it felt like the two of us had slipped into our own private world.
“Senior Shin Hari…? Where is she going… Wait, the very back? So the rumor about her dating Yeonwoo oppa was true?”
“…Is it actually real?”
“Where is she headed?”
“She’s really going to the back?”
Only after hearing the whispers around me did I snap out of it—only to fall into an even more impossible situation.
“Can I sit here?”
Senior Shin Hari, whose very presence seemed to radiate light, had walked straight over and stopped beside me. Right beside me, where the seats in every direction were empty.
There are so many empty seats… why next to me?
This was no time to freeze. I gathered my thoughts and answered.
“…Yes, of course.”
I managed to speak without stuttering, thankfully.
“Thank you.”
She sat down right next to me. Side by side. The reality of it still didn’t feel real.
“Hello…?”
I had been staring too openly, so I offered an awkward greeting.
“Hey. Hi.”
It might have been clumsy, but her voice was so warm and familiar it felt like she was telling me it was perfectly fine.
Thump!
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Nice to meet you.”
And with that, she gave the faintest, most beautiful smile. So someone like her really existed.
“Senior Shin Hari just smiled…?”
“The rumor must be true…”
…
I didn’t hear the whispers around us, nor the sound of the professor entering.
“Class is beginning.”
Thump!
Controlling my racing heart already felt impossible.
…What is happening to me?
This fluttering feeling was completely new, and unbearably sweet.
“…Yeonwoo.”
…
“Gu Yeonwoo.”
“Y-yes?”
I was so distracted I hadn’t even heard the professor call my name.
“Try to focus on the lecture.”
“I’m sorry.”
Only after the professor’s warning could I manage to concentrate at all. I felt the stares, the quiet laughter. But more than any of that, I felt Senior Shin Hari’s gaze beside me like a physical touch. Normally I might have glanced over once, but right now I was terrified that meeting her eyes would make concentration impossible.
I couldn’t look at her. It almost felt like she was watching me with a small smile, but that had to be my imagination. There was no way a goddess would smile at someone like me.
That was what I believed at the time.