[Present Day]
Summer break, senior year.
While his friends posted pictures of their sun-kissed, carefree trips, Ji-hwan sat hunched over a textbook, trapped in another of Professor Hwang's infamous, tedious lectures.
This was supposed to be the summer he finally caught up on the social life he'd missed.
Instead, he found himself half-asleep in the front row of a summer elective, wishing for anything but more school.
He wasn't a bad student. Or even a bad son, despite what his mom might say.
At first, he'd tried. Really tried. He did everything right. Studied until his vision blurred, racked up grades good enough to make his parents brag, and mapped out a future where he'd slip seamlessly into an office job, just like they wanted.
And yet, somehow, he still managed to burn out just enough to end up here.
He sighed, long and exhausted, pressing his forehead into his hands. There was still time. If he could pull off no less than a 3.8 GPA, he'd be in the clear.
He just had to stay awake.
Ji-hwan had never been this early before, and it showed. The faint dark circles under his eyes felt like war paint, and the non-prescription glasses paired with his plaid button-up served as his makeshift uniform.
If he was going to become a model student, he'd decided might as well look the part. Maybe it would trick his brain into believing it too. If not, he'd settle for looking impressive enough to fool his parents next time they asked how things were going.
As long as no one recognized him.
The classroom filled up, students shuffling to their seats, none of them familiar.
Professor Hwang cleared his throat, tapping a few keys on his laptop to bring up the first slide. Introduction to Probability and Chaos Theory flashed across the screen.
"Welcome, everyone. Today, we begin with Murphy's Law. A fundamental truth of existence: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong..."
He scanned the room, hoping—praying—not to see a single familiar face. The professor had already given him a look when he walked in, a flicker of recognition that was humiliating enough.
He let out a slow breath, ready to resign himself to a semester of quiet suffering.
Then the door opened again.
And in walked the only person who could make his summer worse than it already was.
[Two Weeks Ago]
Yoon-jae had triple-checked his project, printed every page in pristine quality, and left his apartment early to avoid last-minute disasters.
He didn't believe in fate, but if the universe had a personal vendetta against him, now would be the time to prove it.
Standing there, he gripped his coffee-soaked, rejected project in one hand and a crumpled piece of paper in the other—a weak excuse for an apology from the person responsible for his first-ever C.
A few hours ago, his project had been perfect.
Now? It looked like something fished out of a sewer drain. Weeks of meticulous research and writing; days spent formatting, ruined in less than five seconds.
All because some careless moron hadn't been watching where they were going.
Yoon-jae's jaw tightened as he unfolded the crumpled note, eyes dragging over the sloppy handwriting.
Seo Ji-hwan
+82 10-XXXX-YYYY.
Yoon-jae blinked, then let out a dry, humorless chuckle.
Of course. It had to be Ji-hwan.
Because out of 36,000 students at SNU, who else had the uncanny talent for ruining his day without even trying?
Annoyance prickled at his temples as he exhaled sharply, crushing the note further in his fist. As if he needed a piece of paper to track Ji-hwan down. Unfortunately, he already knew exactly who he was. Personally.
And that was the real tragedy.
Their mothers had spent years trying to force them into friendship ever since Yoon-jae's family moved in across the street. Playdates, tutoring sessions, even matching outfits.
But from the start, Ji-hwan had been an infuriating contradiction, the kind of person whose existence made no logical sense. And no amount of forced proximity had ever changed that.
"Just my luck," he muttered under his breath.
He would rather accept the loss than deal with that idiot. Without hesitation, he tossed both the coffee-stained project and the note into the trash.
Despite going to the same university, they had managed to avoid each other completely.
And he intended to keep it that way.
*
*
*
Seo Ji-hwan
Age: 23
Height: 5'10"
Major: Business Management
Ha Yoon-jae
Age: 22
Height: 6'1"
Major: Computer Science
Background: Ji-hwan and Yoon-jae had been unwillingly tied together since childhood, thanks to their mothers' tireless efforts to make them the best of friends.
After a serious fallout in high school, they hadn't spoken since Yoon-jae moved away. By pure coincidence (and parental meddling), they both ended up at the same university.