After that day, I didn’t often see Wonbin.
As midterms drew near, classes and assignments all piled up at once, and the paired-senior mission naturally came to a temporary stop, too.
Still, we kept in touch now and then.
Noona.
Are you studying for the exam?
Yeah... I feel like I’m going to die.
What about you?
Me too.
About that much.
They were just a few short KakaoTalk messages, but for some reason, we never really stopped talking.
*
"Today, I really have to go to the library."
"If I bomb this test, I’m taking a leave of absence."
My friends chattered as they headed to the library.
As we passed the student union building, a familiar face caught my eye.
It was Wonbin.
He was walking alone toward the library, clutching his major textbook to his chest.
"Wonbin!"
I waved first.
Wonbin spotted me right away, too.
"...Noona."
He clearly looked happy to see me.
But the moment he saw the friends beside me.
Wonbin’s smile vanished in an instant.
"...Hello."
He just dipped his head a little before he couldn’t bring himself to look at me anymore.
Wonbin, who glanced once at my friends to read the room, went straight into the library.
"What was that."
I muttered with a laugh.
"He’s busy."
Once Wonbin disappeared, Sujin laughed in disbelief.
"Hey."
"Huh?"
"He kept calling you noona, noona, but in front of us he just bows and leaves."
"Yeah, seriously."
"I just said hi a second ago."
"Me too."
"He glanced once and just went in?"
I snorted.
"No, it’s not like that."
"He’s always like that."
"No, Yeoju."
Sujin cut me off.
"He acts like that even when you’re not around."
"We all do that with our classmates all the time, too."
"Even when someone says hi, we barely answer."
"But he doesn’t do that with you."
"That’s..."
I thought for a moment, then smiled.
"He’s probably just gotten a little closer to me."
"He’s super shy around people."
"I’ve never once seen him start a conversation first."
"But you keep defending him."
"I’m not defending him. It’s the truth."
I said it offhandedly.
"If you got closer to him too, he’d probably be different."
My friends looked like they still didn’t get it.
*
I’d settled in and been studying for a while when my phone vibrated.
Noona.
I’m sorry about earlier.
I replied right away.
For what?
Because your friends were there...
I didn’t want to be rude, so I couldn’t greet you properly.
I’m sorry.
Before I knew it, a laugh escaped me.
ItWhy are you apologizing for that lol
Just come over next time.
It’sOkay.
A little while later, a reply came.
Yes.
Next time I’ll do that.
*
By evening, I went out for a bit with my friends to buy coffee.
"Hey, but."
Sujin said, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Isn’t Park Wonbin seriously weirdly fascinating?"
"Why?"
"He seems like a person in front of Yeoju."
"But in front of us he’s totally a noble prince."
My friends laughed.
"He doesn’t even properly return a greeting."
"There is kind of a wall there."
I shook my head again.
"No, seriously."
"He’s not doing it on purpose."
"He’s just shy around people."
"You saw it earlier, too."
"When he saw me first, he smiled."
"He just got flustered when he saw you guys there."
"He’s a much nicer guy than you think."
"I keep telling you, you’re misunderstanding him."
"...Oh."
All of a sudden, Sujin’s expression stiffened.
Her gaze went behind me.
"Why?"
No one answered.
One by one, my friends were looking behind me.
At the strange mood, I slowly turned around, too.
In front of the library entrance.
Wonbin was standing there.
I had no idea how long he’d been there.
Our eyes met for a moment.
Wonbin didn’t say a word.
He just looked over at our side once, then quietly lowered his head.
And then he went straight into the library.
"..."
"...He didn’t hear us, did he?"
Someone muttered softly.
I felt bad for some reason.
*
On the way home after studying.
What happened earlier kept lingering in my head.
Maybe it bothered him for no reason.
Maybe he got hurt because of it.
In the end, I texted him first.
It’s fine?
Did you maybe hear what we said earlier?
The reply came faster than I expected.
Yes.
I heard a little.
My fingers moved right away.
Sorry.
The others were just joking around.
Don’t worry about it.
After a moment, the typing indicator appeared.
It’sokay.
And...
I heard
you say, 'he’s not that kind of person.'
Tha
nk you.I stared at my phone, then gave a small laugh.
It was just a throwaway comment.
I never expected to get a thank-you in return.
It’s
nothing.It’s true.
This time, the reply came after quite a while.
...
Noona is
a kind
person.It was a short sentence, but
for some reason, it stayed in my mind for a long time.
That day, I realized for the first time.
Park Wonbin was someone who lived while swallowing far more words than I’d imagined.
