“Hic... hic... I’m sorry, please don’t leave me. I’ll do better, I promise.”

“How... how could you even...”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know anymore. I don’t feel like I know you at all. How can I trust that your feelings are real?”

“Of course they’re real. It was a mistake. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I wasn’t lying to you.”

“But still... The image of you kissing someone else is all I see every time I look at you. And you expect me to forget that? Just like that? I would, if I could.”

THUD.

A heavy bag dropped onto the desk, and a girl with a high ponytail plopped into the seat beside Jaein.

“Ohhh! You’re only watching this now? I watched it last night.”

“Yeah.”

Jaein quickly turned his attention back to the screen, but the girl beside him kept staring.

“Isn’t this scene really sad? Why do you look like...”

“Like what?”

She suddenly pulled out a compact mirror as if by magic.

Jaein caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection. It reminded him of the distorted image he had seen in the café window the night before.

“I look pretty handsome today too, don’t I? Maybe even more than yesterday?”

“Eugh.”

She shoved the mirror back into her pocket, her expression twisted in disgust.

“There’s no point in having a pretty face if your personality’s garbage.”

“Why are you talking about yourself all of a sudden, Senior Cha?”

“You bastard!”

Cha Yae-ni, a third-semester student two years ahead of Jaein, was retaking the course after failing it during her freshman year due to missing the final exam because of a medical leave.

They had grown close thanks to their mutual connection, Minyu, who was in the same study club as Yae-ni. Although they bickered often, neither took it seriously.

“Anyway, here. Take this.”

Yae-ni slapped two pieces of paper against Jaein’s face.

“Hey, even if you try to hit me, my handsomeness isn’t going anywhere.”

“Oh, shut up. Just give that to Minyu and tell him I’ll be waiting for the tea.”

Yae-ni looked smug, as if she had just saved a nation.

Jaein glanced at the papers. They were tickets to the university’s Fine Arts exhibition.

“Hah... Here I was thinking they were limited concert tickets or something.”

“Hey! This is limited too! You have no idea how many girls are dying to get these. There are so many handsome guys in our Fine Arts department.”

“Then why would Minyu want them? As far as I know, he’s only interested in girls.”

“You don’t know? Our campus goddess is part of the Fine Arts Department.”

“Oh... so that’s why.”

Jaein rubbed the tickets between his fingers. Now that she had mentioned it, he remembered that Yoon-ie was a Fine Arts student too. Is this fate?

Fragments of the novel began to resurface.

Ah… damn it. I want to mess with Kaiel so badly. But if I did it now, I probably wouldn’t be able to pull it off cleanly. That guy is still around, after all.

“Hey... why the hell do you look so scary all of a sudden?”

Jaein quickly controlled his expression, returning to a blank look.

“What are you talking about? How could this handsome face ever be scary?”

“No. Don’t tell me. Do you like the campus goddess too? Are you planning to get rid of Minyu now?”

“If I could get rid of Minyu, I would have done it a long time ago. The only reason he’s still around is because I haven’t found a clean way to do it.”

“Wow. You sound like a mafia heir or something.”

“Seosung practically is a mafia. In this world, the one with the most money holds the power.”

“Shut up, you psycho. I’m done talking to you.”

With that, Yae-ni pulled out her books and began organizing her notes, clearly finished with the conversation.

***

After class ended, Jaein opened the chat and attached a photo of the two tickets to Minyu. A reply came almost immediately.

[Kyo Minyu]: "WOW I CAN FINALLY COME TO MY GODDESS EXHIBITION"
[Seo Jaein]: "Why are there 2 tickets?"
[Kyo Minyu]: "Why else. U need to come with me ^o^"
[Seo Jaein]: "Ok"

As soon as the last message was sent, the phone buzzed again. The screen lit up with an incoming call. Jaein answered without checking the caller ID.

“What.”

A voice shouted from the other side.

“WHY ARE YOU SAYING OKAY TO ME?”

“What do you mean why? Can’t I go to an art exhibition?”

“You can, but you wouldn’t. Not unless there’s some hidden agenda. Be honest with me now… Jaein… do you… like Senior Rui too?”

“I don’t like an airhead. I like the golden retriever type, you know that.”

“Then why do you want to go? I was thinking I’d need to threaten you with something, but you just said ok. That is just weird.”

“I just felt like it. Bye. I’m busy.”

A frustrated sound came from the other end, but Jaein ended the call before it could continue.

Almost instantly, a notification popped up on the screen. An emoji of a squirrel fuming appeared in the chat window.

Jaein stared at it for a moment, lips curling faintly. The phone slipped back into his pocket as he walked ahead without hesitation.

***

"Hey, why are you so early? This feels weird. You never get excited for art exhibitions."

"What’s weird about it? I just have time to kill. Besides, weren’t you the one who said you'd be busy for a few weeks?"

"Yeah, I'm busy. But for my goddess, every schedule can be squeezed."

"I can't wait for your drunk call, all rejected and pathetic."

"F*ck you. Don’t jinx it."

"Let’s just go."

The exhibition was being held in the arts department building. After showing their tickets to the staff member at the entrance, they were let inside without delay.

The exhibition hall itself resembled a massive, polished warehouse. The interior had been rearranged with temporary dividing walls, forming a maze-like space. Each section displayed paintings or sculptures, arranged thoughtfully across the clean white partitions. The light was warm and focused, designed to highlight the details of each piece.

Minyu walked forward without hesitation, one hand casually in his pocket. His other hand reached back to grab Jaein’s sleeve, pulling him along through the crowd. He made a straight path toward the area where the so-called goddess stood, surrounded by professors and a few interested students.

She was in the middle of explaining her work to a small group. Her posture remained graceful, hands gesturing to a painting that was bold and full of color. Her tone was composed, her eyes flicking between the canvas and the group around her.

Jaein kept his hands in his pockets. His gaze wandered across the room, uninterested in the painting or the explanation being given. Nothing in this place held his attention, and his eyes never stopped moving, as if searching for a reason to stay.

"Oh, Minyu, you're here."

"Senior! Of course I’m here."

"Sorry I couldn’t secure a ticket for you. We didn’t get many, and I gave most of them to my family."

"Hey, don’t mention it at all."

"Oh? Who’s this?"

"Ah, he’s my friend. Seo Jaein. We’re from the same department."

"Hello, Senior Rui. I’m Seo Jaein."

"Hi Jaein, thank you for coming here."

"It’s fine, senior. I’ve always wanted to get more into art. With that said, I’ll leave you two here and go look around first."

"What? Hey, Seo Jaein… we can go together."

"No, no. You two talk. I’ll go first. See you later."

Minyu's hand reached out and grabbed the hem of Jaein’s shirt. His lips barely moved as he leaned closer, muttering with tightly clenched teeth.

"You f*cker. I brought you here so it wouldn’t be awkward between just the two of us."

Jaein pulled his shirt out of Minyu’s grip, barely reacting. His expression remained blank except for a faint smile that barely curved the corner of his lips.

"Not my problem."

Without another glance, Jaein turned and walked off, his steps calm and steady as he melted into the crowd of visitors.

Seo Jaein only came here for one reason.