The whole week passed in silence. Jina began to feel that something strange was happening between her and Jun Seo. Not the long conversations or the affectionate gestures, but the way they began to share peaceful moments together, naturally as if they had known each other for a long time.
Today, Jina was preparing to walk across the campus to go home when she accidentally met Jun Seo. He was standing near the lake, his eyes looking far away, as if he was thinking about something important. Jina hesitated a bit, but then decided to approach him.
"What are you doing here?" Jina asked, her voice soft.
Jun Seo turned around, a little surprised, but not annoyed. "Nothing, just need some space."
Jina smiled. "You seem to like this place. I feel peaceful every time I come here."
Jun Seo said nothing, just nodded. The two stood by the lake, not saying anything more. The silence was strange but comfortable, no one needed to break it.
A moment later, a group of students walked by, laughing and accidentally dropping a book. Jun Seo, who was standing nearby, bent down to pick it up. But when he opened the book to look, Jina saw a small photo fall out of the page. Jun Seo quickly picked it up and put it back in his bag, but Jina had already caught a glimpse of the photo.
It was an old photo, seemingly a portrait of several children, probably Jun Seo with a few other children. Although she couldn't see the faces of each person in the photo clearly, Jina could tell that they were all wearing the same clothes. It felt strange, like she had just accidentally seen a part of the story that Jun Seo had tried to hide.
"You seem to have a lot of memories here?" Jina asked, trying to keep her expression casual.
Jun Seo didn't answer. He looked down at the lake, frowning. "Those aren't memories I want to remember." Jun Seo just said softly.
Jina felt something was different about Jun Seo, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable, so she just smiled and changed the subject.
Jina didn't dare ask further, but her heart was filled with questions. Why did Jun Seo have those photos? Who were the children in the photos? What had he gone through that he wanted to hide it so much?
The next day, when Jina happened to meet Jun Seo again at the library, she couldn't help but notice the change in his attitude. Jun Seo didn't seem as cold as before, but he wasn't completely open either. He kept flipping through the books without stopping for long, his face tired as if he didn't want anyone to bother him.
"What are you looking for?" Jina asked, seeing Jun Seo stopping in front of the bookshelf.
"Nothing." Jun Seo replied, then turned away.
Jina didn't know why she had the feeling that Jun Seo was trying to avoid something, but she didn't want to make things difficult for him. She walked past, her eyes on the books on the shelf, but her heart couldn't help but think about what she saw yesterday.
As the two of them started walking out, Jina couldn't help but be curious. "Jun Seo, who are those children in that photo?"
Jun Seo paused for a moment, but didn't turn to look at her. "You don't need to know."
Jina felt like she was being blocked by an invisible wall. But she didn't want to give up, even though she knew that Jun Seo wouldn't open up easily.
"I just feel something…" Jina said softly.
Jun Seo sighed, then turned back to face her. This time, his gaze was no longer cold, but rather filled with something complicated. "Hey, sometimes the past is something people never want to face. And I… don't want to drag you into that." He said softly. "Just that… absolutely not."
Jina looked at him, her eyes no longer curious, but sympathetic. She knew Jun Seo was trying to hide something big, but she also understood that she couldn't force someone to talk about their past if they weren't ready.
"Well, when you want to talk, I'll listen to everything." Jina said softly, then smiled slightly.
Jun Seo was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled lightly. It wasn't a smile of joy, but a tired smile, as if he didn't know what to do with the emotions that were welling up inside him.
"Thank you." He said, then turned away, his steps seemed to slow down a bit as if he was thinking about something.
Jina stood there, not knowing what to do, because the words of thanks really made her heart ache. She felt that things weren't over yet, that Jun Seo had too many things he couldn't say, but also didn't know what to do to help him.