For two entire days, Jaeyoung had harassed Sangwoo to his heart’s content. He’d gotten his underclassmen friends to call dibs on all the weirdo’s favorite desks, bothered him in his classes, and followed him around everywhere. Watching him bristle like a hedgehog had proven a truly lovely experience. But that joyful sight wasn’t the only reward Jaeyoung had won for himself. First, he’d been given a plethora of delightful nicknames, “stalker,” “lowlife,” “sadistic piece of trash,” and “deadbeat” among them. They weren’t the most pleasant of monikers, of course, but having a label was always better than not having one—as a graphic designer, Jaeyoung knew the importance of branding all too well. There was a reason why rich, handsome men in cliché TV shows went around looking for women who slapped them across the face and disappeared. It wasn’t about romance, oh no. Negative impressions were much more impactful than positive ones—that was why outrage marketing was so successful. At any rate, it appeared the avenue of self-promotion he’d taken with Sangwoo had proven effective. Honestly, after observing the guy’s near-clinical inability to remember who anyone was, having a variety of nicknames dedicated to him felt like kind of an honor. Secondly, Jaeyoung had found that putting all those cracks and chips in Sangwoo’s perfect defense was enough to offset the emotional damage the guy had caused him, at least somewhat. In fact, the utterly refreshing feeling of avenging himself was invigorating as chugging a can of soda. Still, the pure, unadulterated entertainment Jaeyoung had gotten from tormenting Sangwoo was what had turned out to be the ultimate prize. Whenever that weirdo’s emotionless face had crumpled in annoyance, he’d felt more exhilaration than pity. In fact, the whole thing had been so damn fun that Jaeyoung had even been willing to torture himself by waking up at the crack of dawn. He’d never thought of himself as a sadist, but… Well, it was never too late to discover new facts about yourself. The original plan had been to follow Sangwoo around for the entire two weeks he had until he had to drop his classes, but Jaeyoung’s resolve had already begun to weaken. Sangwoo’s reaction to his harassment had been much more extreme than he’d expected, to the point he was beginning to worry the weirdo might run off and take a gap year. His goal had been to make Sangwoo slightly miserable, not bring his entire life crashing down on top of him. It didn’t help that Jaeyoung had a relatively short attention span. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t sit still in the quiet library. Not to mention, he hated eating the mediocre food in the crowded dining hall. The organization required to get underclassmen into place to steal Sangwoo’s favorite desks had taken way too much effort, and every single minute that he’d had to spend in computer science classes where he didn’t understand a thing had felt like torture. Honestly, he’d known that he wouldn’t be able to keep going for two whole weeks. He’d only made a project out of tormenting Sangwoo because he had way too much time on his hands. Why did you do this to me, Sangwoo? Jaeyoung lamented, already cursing Sangwoo only three minutes into the class that he was being forced to retake, Ethics for Hanguk University Students. Even in the overly crowded lecture hall, he could immediately spot a handful of students who were answering roll call for someone else. How many of them would get screwed over like he had? Jaeyoung despaired over the opportunity he’d lost—having a spot in a classroom in the U.S. where he could learn from the best designers in the world. It really was unfortunate that Sangwoo was the most rigid, inflexible asshole Jaeyoung had ever met. Now, thanks to that weirdo, he was stuck in this useless Ethics class. And since he was on the professor’s radar for cutting class last semester, he had to actually show up this time. While it would have been great if he hadn’t been put in the same group as a damn snitch, Jaeyoung knew there was no point in thinking about what could have been. Instead, he let out a sigh and started scribbling on a piece of paper he’d borrowed from the person sitting next to him in the very back of the lecture hall. As he drew, he shot the professor the occasional glance. When Jaeyoung exited the humanities building, he was relieved to find that the weather was objectively wonderful outside. It was nearly spring, the season of blossoming love. Had it already been six months since he’d broken up with his last girlfriend? Jaeyoung was in the midst of pondering this, walking down the steps in front of the building with a crowd of other students, when he spotted Sangwoo in the distance. The weirdo was walking toward the dining hall with quick strides, accompanied by a girl wearing a green jacket. As always, Sangwoo himself was clad in the most inconspicuous, impossibly bland clothes Jaeyoung could imagine. It was a wonder he’d caught sight of the guy at all. He’s a real ladies’ man, huh? Jaeyoung noted. Now that he thought about it, the weirdo had brought a girl along with him that time he’d come to the restaurant, too. He tried to imagine Sangwoo in a loving relationship for a brief moment, but found it was an impossible task. Given the guy’s personality, it was hard to imagine he’d be able to get a girlfriend in the first place. It was mainly curiosity that pulled Jaeyoung into the dining hall, which turned out to be as disgustingly full as usual. This time, it appeared Sangwoo had chosen to eat at a table that was already at full capacity instead of being a loner. It was a rather obvious—but valiant—bid to avoid Jaeyoung. I’ll let him savor the small victories, Jaeyoung decided, chuckling under his breath. For some bizarre reason, he found himself thinking that Sangwoo was cute. Shaking his head, he glanced at the girl accompanying Sangwoo and recognized her as Jihye Ryu, the one who’d been with him at the restaurant. Jaeyoung sat down with his friends, then proceeded to eat the garbage that the cafeteria called “food.” By the time he rose and walked out of the dining hall, he’d decided that the time to stop following Sangwoo around was long overdue—nothing was worth choking down food of that caliber. Even the canned coffee he’d bought from the convenience store was absolutely vile. He’d only tried a single sip before throwing an entire can away, which left him with fifteen more to get rid of somehow. He’d left them on a table in the drama club room, but of course, none of the others had touched them. A short while later, mid-journey across the campus with his friends, Jaeyoung caught sight of Jihye and Sangwoo yet again. How adorable. They’ve got the perfect height difference, don’t they? he grumbled internally, sounding for all the world like some unnamed Thug A in a movie. Studying the pair as they walked in their direction, Jaeyoung noted Sangwoo looked much happier after a day of not being relentlessly harassed. He figured the weirdo would walk right past him, too preoccupied with his girl to notice anybody else, but Sangwoo’s eyes widened in recognition the moment he spotted Jaeyoung’s approaching form in the distance. Jaeyoung felt a strange surge of joy. Once upon a time, Sangwoo hadn’t recognized him even though they were only a step apart. Oh, how things have changed… Sangwoo immediately turned around and sped away, but Jaeyoung jogged after, intent on clinging to him as he had the two previous days. Jaeyoung was about ten steps away from his target when Sangwoo anxiously glanced back and saw him. The weirdo’s eyes widened, and then—much to Jaeyoung’s surprise—he began sprinting away. Judging from his reaction, one would’ve thought Jaeyoung was a serial killer out for his blood or something. Naturally, Jaeyoung chased after him. Did he have a clue why he’d made that choice? No. Did he know how weird the whole thing would look? Absolutely. But he found himself running regardless. As it turned out, Sangwoo was a practically a track star—Jaeyoung couldn’t catch up to him no matter how hard he tried, even though Sangwoo was wearing a backpack. He’d never imagined the weirdo would be such an athletic guy, mainly because he acted and looked like such a nerd. Before Jaeyoung realized it, he was racing through the school’s front gates. Other than during his time in the military, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d sprinted such a long distance. He crouched, trying to catch his breath. Seeing Sangwoo sprinting away from him had awakened something in Jaeyoung, snuffing out the workings of his rational mind under a wave of sheer determination. And now, in its wake, he was hit with an epiphany. Because of his antics, the only thing he’d managed to do was get himself labeled as a critical bug in Sangwoo’s simulation. He might have left a rather permanent impression on the weirdo’s supercomputer of a mind, but at the end of the day, he was nothing more than a malfunctioning line of code to him. Sure, whenever Sangwoo scowled at him, Jaeyoung felt a temporary rush of exhilaration, but he never felt truly satisfied. There was a desire burning in the back of his mind—a desire for Sangwoo to think of him as a cool, smart, funny upperclassman, just like how every other soul at the school did. They do say that humans are inherently greedy creatures, Jaeyoung thought wryly. Maybe that was why he’d felt so strange hearing Sangwoo defend Jihye. “You’ve been stalking her as well? She’s a nice person. She has nothing to do with me!” The words had created a rift between Jaeyoung and her. And now the temptation of claiming the moniker of “nice person” for himself hung before him like a forbidden fruit, just out of his reach. Jaeyoung had long since looked through Jihye’s social media profile in an attempt to dig up information that he could use to harass Sangwoo. It was all too easy nowadays to find someone online when you knew their name, major, and class year. Based on her posts, she appeared to be a diligent person, though not to the same insane degree as Sangwoo. On the day they’d gone to the restaurant together, she’d posted: he’s a little intense, but I think he’s a good person. hope i’ll get to see him again. #adorableweirdo #firstmeeting #excited It was obvious she’d been talking about Sangwoo. As for the weirdo himself, the equation in his brain was clear: Jihye = a nice person Jaeyoung = a deadbeat, stalker, lowlife, sadistic piece of trash The contrast between them was so stark, Jihye might as well have been a green-wreathed angel sent down from heaven, while Jaeyoung was some kind of crimson-drenched demonic entity that had crawled up from hell. Even thinking about it pissed him off. Jaeyoung was fairly positive Sangwoo wasn’t romantically interested in Jihye—after all, he didn’t even know her last name or major. But innocent, naive guys like Sangwoo were easily swayed by kind gestures. Jaeyoung was willing to bet the luxury watch his grandfather had given him as a graduation present that the pair would end up dating within three months. The thought sent a sudden sense of dread sweeping over him, a vivid mental image following along with it. It was about eight years in the future, on Sangwoo and Jihye’s wedding day. Sangwoo was holding his beautiful bride’s hands, thanking her for helping him stay strong back in college, when some dude named Youngjae Kim had taken his inability to graduate on time out on him. “I don’t even remember what that piece of shit looked like, but he wore this red puffer jacket everywhere,” the imaginary Sangwoo said. Jaeyoung bristled. Hell no. Over my dead body! At that moment, his plans changed—in a way, they underwent an upgrade. He wasn’t sure what exactly made somebody a nice, respectable human being, and he wasn’t going to become one anytime soon. Therefore, he had only one card left up his sleeve—his ability to make Sangwoo see him. Jaeyoung might have known what made Sangwoo tick well enough to get the weirdo to remember his name, but his name was now associated with the following words: Jaeyoung Jang = red = villain = lowlife = piece of trash. He’d have to upend Sangwoo’s perception of him entirely to get that to change. Why am I putting myself through this? Jaeyoung asked himself with a tired sigh. But also…why not? I have all the time in the world. Decision made, he began a careful analysis of the clothes in his closet.
Chapter 5
11 min read