Chapter 125

I realized after blurting it out that it was actually a foolish question, one that makes me wonder what the point is. However, the two high school girls who seemed like they would laugh and ridicule me surprisingly began to seriously contemplate their answers.

“That’s a tough question.”

“I’ll vote for that older brother from earlier. I think seeing him in person and experiencing the atmosphere played a big role.”

“I’ll give my vote to this photo. This one seems to have the worse personality, which is my preference.”

“1 to 1 then.”

But does it really make sense to say he seems to have a bad personality and still be tied at 1 to 1?

“But it’s really amazing. How can someone change this much?”

That’s the question I’m most curious about.

“It’s even more surprising that someone with this face has never been in a relationship, in my opinion.”

“You’ve never dated? Really?”

“There’s no real reason to.”

Girls, no matter what they do, always end up talking about love.

“Such a national treasure wasted, really.”

“Agreed.”

“You guys should just leave now.”

“If we leave, there’s nothing to do anyway.”

“I have plenty to do.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to write.”

“You have nothing to do.”

So, what exactly should I do with these annoying girls? I didn’t really mean it when I said they should go, so I’m just sitting here.

Anyway, this meeting had a set end time. Soon, the results of the college entrance exam would be announced, and it would be hard to have times like this again.

Maybe for Seo Eun-a, but probably not for Im Mi-ra.

~

Why did they even set up the company in the countryside?

I sighed as I rode the train to the location of Jikang Culture Company.

It must have been due to various reasons like land prices, building costs, taxes, and so on, but ultimately, it was a hassle for people from the capital region. The previous publishing company wasn’t that far away, which was convenient.

Given the times, most tasks can be adequately handled over the internet even if the company is in the countryside. However, important matters are ultimately safer when discussed face to face. Listening to Jae-Ah, it seems there are contracts in web novels that are made without meeting at all. But anyway, my side publishes paper books.

They said there were some revisions needed for the contract, so I had no choice but to go.

In fact, the editor-in-chief said she could go instead. But I had simply mentioned that I would go down after being slightly pricked by Hwa-won’s words a while back.

It was my own doing. At least I didn’t dress as adorably as last time. Aside from changing from a skirt to pants, not much else changed, but that was quite a big difference.

Thank goodness it was a weekday morning, so the train seats were spacious. I’m not socially anxious, but ever since I became like this, large crowds make me uncomfortable, so I try to travel during less busy times. Aside from a young man with glasses sitting a bit further away, no one else was there.

I’m not particularly interested in others, but I do often find myself observing people.

It was something I learned when I first entered the Department of Creative Writing. One professor had bluntly told us that to write, you must understand humans and gave us an assignment to observe various people outside and write about it.

He was a rather outdated professor. Nowadays, doing such a thing would get you reported quickly. But the idea that you need to understand humans to write isn’t wrong at all. At that time, conflicts related to gender weren’t as severe as they are now, so there weren’t any issues submitting the assignment.

Since then, whenever I went out, I would observe people. However, my observations here weren’t about deducing like Sherlock Holmes.

This wasn’t the observation of a detective. It was the observation of a novelist. And the observations of a novelist are all imaginations.

Observation doesn’t take a long time. Once you capture a moment in your eyes, you can just imagine the rest. A person’s appearance, clothing, expressions, and actions are enough to create a whole story.

Anyway, my current appearance had its merits in this regard. Who would report someone like me staring? Usually, no one would care. In fact, even though I was watching for quite some time, the young man remained oblivious.

He was a fascinating guy. Occasionally, there are people reading books in places like subways, but they are mostly older folks. This young man looked younger than me and was reading a book instead of looking at his smartphone. I couldn’t see the title from a distance, but it didn’t seem like a fantasy novel or a light novel.

The image of a young man intently engaged in a book has long become a rare breed. I wondered what kind of person he was. Judging by his youthful appearance, he seemed like he could be a university student or someone who had just graduated. With those glasses, he probably doesn’t have great eyesight. Did he read so much that it got worse?

Even though I called it observation, I didn’t have much material to work with. There were too many things that wouldn’t catch my eye since we were quite far apart.

What I could infer was that the young man wore glasses, was quite young, and was dressed neatly. I don’t know much about fashion, so I wouldn’t comment, but to my eyes, he didn’t seem to have any issues.

If only I could know the title of that book, it would be good material.

I could imagine anything, but baseless speculations wouldn’t be very helpful. That would essentially be the same as building everything from scratch on bare soil.

Still, I couldn’t just stare at a complete stranger all day, so I eventually shifted my gaze. I wasn’t really that curious about him, so it wasn’t a big loss. But I still wanted to know the book’s title. This was a kind of job hazard, so I couldn’t help it.

I occasionally turned my head to check on the man, but he continued reading his book. I was engrossed in my smartphone instead.

~

After arriving at my destination, I got off the train and stretched my stiff body. Coincidentally, it seemed that the young man had also gotten off at the same station as me. I had hoped I might catch a glimpse of the book title, but it seemed the book was hidden in his bag.

Last time, I called a taxi because I didn’t know the way, but once I got there, the path wasn’t difficult, and the distance wasn’t that far either. So this time, I decided to whistle as I walked.

The weather wasn’t too cold, and the streets were well kept, not slippery from the previous snowfall. I still had plenty of time before the appointment.

Looking around, I noticed the ordinary scenery around me. I absorbed the kind of things that aren’t particularly amazing. I don’t usually go outside often, so I tried to take in as much of the surroundings as I could when I did. That ordinary, seemingly uselessness didn’t particularly please or displease me, but every little thing contributed to filling something within me.

I needed to fill the emptiness inside me with many things like this at times.

Then suddenly, I felt a presence behind me and turned around.

It was the young man from earlier. Were our paths crossing? Somehow, even while walking, he had switched from his book to a smartphone. His gaze was directed toward the screen, making it seem a bit dangerous, but it wasn’t my concern.

I kept walking. I had said earlier that the distance wasn’t too far, but I was starting to feel a bit tired. That distance was likely based on my past standards, so it was unavoidable. Still, it wasn’t tiring to the point where I couldn’t make it, so I should arrive soon.

Then suddenly, I turned around once more.

The young man was still there. His gaze was still locked on the smartphone, but something felt off. It had already been about 20 minutes, and he was still crossing my path? It was hard to believe this was just a coincidence. What had gone wrong since I had been openly staring at him? Still, it didn’t seem like he had noticed.

When we got off at the same station, he had glanced at me once. That alone could have meant my camouflage fashion caught his eye. What if he knows my identity and is scheming something?

Even if it’s a paranoid thought, as time passed, my awareness of the surrounding scenery started to fade. I would soon arrive at the company. It’d been over 30 minutes already. Yet the young man was still behind me.

However, even when I glanced back, he didn’t seem to be paying attention to me. He had never made eye contact with me. That alone might suggest that he meant me no harm, but being followed for 30 minutes made me a bit scared.

I hoped it was just my silly paranoia. I could simply stop, let him pass, but what if I got caught? That thought made it impossible to stop.

Oddly enough, there were not many people around. Is it because it’s a weekday during the day? Still, there were some people, so I wouldn’t get kidnapped or anything. Even if I did, someone would witness it.

Let’s not think nonsensically. It’s only a matter of time before I reach the company, so I could just walk in. Surely, he wouldn’t follow me in there.

I used to mock women for fearing ordinary men walking behind them, but now that I was in the same situation, I couldn’t tease them for being ridiculous. Damn it, I wish someone would laugh at me for feeling this way.

I kept my phone in hand just in case. With a single button, I could alert the police.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to touch the phone. I arrived safely at the company. Letting out a sigh of relief, I opened the door and stepped inside. When I saw the employee sitting at the desk, I felt a genuine sense of relief wash over me—

But then the door opened behind me, and the man walked in.

I could tell my face had turned pale. I froze at the sight of the man approaching me. I knew I should scream and run right away, but my body wouldn’t move.

‘Oh no….’

Imagining the approaching hand of the man, I shut my eyes tightly.

…And nothing happened.

I opened my eyes.

The man walked past me and moved deeper inside to speak with the desk employee.

“I’m here to see Han-bom’s manager.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll let her know. Please wait a moment.”

Oh.