Just A Friend

#58

Although he was a year junior, everyone in Nam Seonwoo’s year and the year above knew him. Pretty much everyone in the College of Education knew Kim Minhwan. Despite his intimidating build, he was friendly and sociable, well-liked by both juniors and seniors.

Perhaps because they were in adjacent years, Kim Minhwan was particularly fond of Nam Seonwoo. When he acted cute with his burly frame, calling Nam Seonwoo his senior, his peers would chuckle and call Nam Seonwoo “Kim Minhwan’s zookeeper.”

But that wasn’t why Nam Seonwoo remembered him. It was because of the shocking news he heard about him at a gathering with classmates after graduation.

Apparently, Kim Minhwan, who had been working as a contract teacher, had an inappropriate relationship with a student and was fired when it was discovered. That alone was shocking, but the fact that the student was of the same sex caused the scandal to spread like wildfire. After that, Kim Minhwan was never seen again.

‘He was such a good kid, how did this happen…’

As Nam Seonwoo clicked his tongue, Kim Minhwan covered his mouth with a look of regret.

“Oh, you’re a senior! I’m sorry! I thought you were a freshman like me and got excited… But senior, I don’t think I’ve seen you at the freshman welcoming party-“

“We are in the same year.”

All Nam Seonwoo wanted was to quietly attend school; there was no reason to lie just to isolate himself. So when he simply cleared up the misunderstanding, Kim Minhwan immediately approached with a grin.

“I knew it! I had a feeling. Oh, but what’s your name? Were you in the group chat?”

After the acceptance results were announced, he had received a link to the group chat. But he didn’t join. It was just a temporary chat, and he knew it would be full of useless small talk rather than helpful notices. Especially, Nam Seonwoo particularly despised the sight of freshly enrolled male students putting on airs while being conscious of the opposite sex.

Kim Minhwan seemed to misunderstand his silence and let out a sigh.

“…Don’t tell me you didn’t get the group chat invitation? Oh no. That’s why I didn’t see you at the welcoming party. We set the date for the welcome party there and everything… You must have felt left out.”

Nam Seonwoo let out a hollow laugh at that sincere lament. If he had seen his eyes, he would have known that laugh meant exasperation, but from Kim Minhwan’s viewpoint, he could only see Nam Seonwoo’s mouth. The half-raised corner of his mouth looked quite bitter from Kim Minhwan’s perspective.

Kim Minhwan suddenly put his arm around Nam Seonwoo’s shoulders.

“Hey, it’s okay! There’s a start-of-semester party tonight, you know? Come with me!”

“Why would I…”

“I’ll introduce you to our friends and seniors there. But aren’t you hot?”

With a sudden motion to take off his hat, the hood covering the back of Nam Seonwoo’s head and neck was pushed back.

“Why are you covering up so gloomily! Let me see your face…”

As Nam Seonwoo hastily snatched back his hat and put it on again, the guy let out an incomprehensible exclamation after a while.

“…Wow.”

“Hey.”

Although this was the College of Education and the probability of Kang Jihan being in this building was zero, it was better to be careful. There were always people with unnecessary interest in others wherever you went, and such guys liked to go outside their department and gossip about others. From experience, it was better to cover his face a bit to avoid being the subject of their conversations.

“Don’t just take off other people’s hats like that.”

“Huh…? Why?”

Kim Minhwan looked like he couldn’t understand why anyone would wear a hat at all.

‘How did I end up with this busybody…’

Nam Seonwoo pulled up his hood and tried to think of a plausible excuse. A flimsy reason like not having washed his hair didn’t seem like it would make Kim Minhwan lose interest. So after thinking for a moment, he said:

“I have a bit of social anxiety.”

Even as he said it, he felt embarrassed and fiddled with the back of his neck. He heard a small sigh. Curious about the reaction, he glanced up to see Kim Minhwan covering his mouth with both hands, his eyebrows drooping in an inverted V shape.

‘What’s with that expression?’

It was a gaze like someone looking pitifully at a chick hiding in a corner. Feeling somewhat creeped out, Nam Seonwoo shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his bag, saying:

“So, cooperate with me.”

It was closer to a command than how someone with social anxiety would speak, but Kim Minhwan nodded vigorously as if he understood. The conversation had dragged on, and maybe because of Kim Minhwan, attention seemed to be increasingly focusing on them. Nam Seonwoo walked past him into the corridor. But this supposedly cooperative guy obliviously grabbed his arm.

“W-wait! You’re leaving like that? So, about the start-of-semester party… you’re not coming, are you…”

The hand gripping his arm seemed to lose strength, and just as Nam Seonwoo was about to turn around again, Kim Minhwan hurriedly shouted:

“What’s your name?”

“……”

“……”

“What’s going on? Who is that?”

“I don’t know. Never seen him before.”

“Hey, Minhwan. What’s up? Who is that?”

At that shout, the crowd in the classroom and corridor suddenly turned towards them. Naturally, numerous gazes focused on Nam Seonwoo. Even Kim Minhwan looked quite flustered, as if he hadn’t intended this.

This idiot, he’s…

Contrary to his plan to stay like a shadow, it looked like he was going to have to introduce himself in front of all his classmates, but that was fine up to that point. He could just say his name and leave.

But the flustered Kim Minhwan went a step further and raised his voice:

“Oh, no, no! Everyone, please don’t stare! You there! Dongwan, don’t look! That one gaze could be a burden to someone, you know?”

Nam Seonwoo realized this must be what people meant when they called someone an airhead. With even more gazes focusing on them, Kim Minhwan finally seemed to realize this wasn’t working. He grabbed Nam Seonwoo by both shoulders and started running.

“No, hey…!”

His legs were so long that Nam Seonwoo could barely speak properly as he tried to run while being pushed from behind. Even after leaving the Education building, Kim Minhwan showed no signs of stopping, and Nam Seonwoo felt out of breath. Having spent the entire year studying at home, his physical condition was terrible.

Kim Minhwan only stopped this meaningless sprint when they reached a secluded area of the parking lot.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think anyone followed us!”

“……”

This situation was ridiculous, he was out of breath, and sweat was pouring down inside the hood tightly wrapped around his face. Thinking there was probably no one around, he took off his hat to fan himself. Kim Minhwan, watching nervously, helped fan him with some printed papers.

“S-sorry. I thought you were going to leave just like that. We haven’t even properly introduced ourselves yet.”

Kim Minhwan didn’t seem out of breath at all. How annoying. As Nam Seonwoo glared at him, sweat dripped into his eyes, blurring his vision. It seemed that wearing a hat and hood in this spring weather was too much after all. As he wiped the sweat from around his eyes and temples with the back of his hand, Kim Minhwan flinched.

“Are… are you crying?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m… I’m really sorry! Right, you said you have social anxiety. I’ve heard about that before. It’s like feeling each person’s gaze like the tip of a knife, making you scared and anxious, right? And it makes you break out in cold sweat and tears… Oh!”

He stopped mid-sentence, looked at Nam Seonwoo, and suddenly made a pitiful face. Then, saying “I’m a trash bastard,” he started hitting his own cheeks with his large palms.

Honestly, Nam Seonwoo wanted to give him a good flick on the forehead, but seeing his arms like clubs and his reddened cheeks, he felt this was a bit much. Nam Seonwoo grabbed his arm and said:

“Stop it. It’s unsightly.”

Ignoring the gaze looking at him with moved eyes, Nam Seonwoo decided to quickly answer what he had asked.

“Nam Seonwoo. That’s my name. Satisfied?”

Kim Minhwan, who had been dazed, brightened up after a few seconds and started enthusiastically introducing himself. Instead of just saying his name, he went on about where he lived, which bus he took, what food he liked, and at the end, he added a strange comment:

“Seonwoo. You must be worried and finding department life difficult, but don’t worry. I’ll take responsibility and help you out.”

“No, that’s fine.”

“Don’t feel burdened. The kids in our department talk a lot. It must be so hard for you when they try to talk to you. Like earlier, you’d probably start crying before you could even speak…”

“Hey. I told you I wasn’t crying.”

“Right. I understand without you saying it… You must hate that you showed me that side of yourself. I’m truly sorry. But from now on, I’ll never make that mistake again. I’ll be by your side, cutting off the kids when they try to talk to you! If you have something you want to say, I’ll say it for you! I promise!”

Watching him pound his chest, saying to leave it to him, Nam Seonwoo kept his mouth shut. It was clear he wouldn’t listen to anything, burning with unnecessary righteousness. That’s the kind of person Kim Minhwan was.

Unintentionally, he had ended up with a weak and timid image, but he didn’t even have the energy to correct it. Seeing him like this after just a bit of running, it seemed his physical condition had really become terrible.

“If you want to help, not that kind of thing.”

Not participating in department group chats or gatherings did have the disadvantage of falling behind on information. It would be good if Kim Minhwan could fetch that kind of information for him.

“If there are important notices in the department chat or something, let me know. As you know, I’m not really comfortable joining those…”

“Oh! I know! It’s uncomfortable, scary!”

“…Right.”

Moreover, since this guy had been the department representative in his third year, he might be able to bring information from the college level later on. For things like exchange student programs or scholarship programs, you needed to be well-informed, so having someone like this by your side could be beneficial.