Well, where was he supposed to start?
Recently, it felt like luck had packed its bag and left without a note.
First, his glasses disappeared. Not the 'I misplaced them' disappeared. No. Just straight up evaporated.
And he had to give a group presentation with the visual clarity of a bat in daylight.
Yun Jiho nodded through half the questions like a monk on mute, praying no one noticed he couldn't read his slides.
But did it end there?
No. That would've been merciful.
Now the pricks from the computer science department, his useless project members, were blowing up his phone like it was his life's mission to clean up their mess.
Did he look like a pushover?
Apparently, yes.
[Hey, that totally caught me off guard. Why didn't anyone inform me about the last-minute change?]
That's because you didn't bother to check.
He'd already sent the updated materials. Twice.
[You just wanted to embarrass me, didn't you? You're screwed if i fail to pass this class!]
Hah...
[The least you can do is apologize.]
In your dreams.
Jiho tapped on his phone, feeling impressed at their audacity.
>Exit the group? [Y/N]
[Y]
Before closing the app, he made sure to add every single one of them to his blocklist.
Goodbye. Let's not meet again.
After all that, Jiho walked out of the building feeling ten pounds lighter.
The sun beat down from above. Jiho squinted up at the glare as he walked down the neatly paved campus path.
He approached the vending machine and dug through his pockets, and came up with a few pitiful coins. Just enough for two cans of soda.
He punched in the code for his usual.
Clunk.
A can of grapefruit soda dropped with a satisfying thunk.
He grabbed it, staring down at the remaining coins in his palm.
That was all he had left.
Reason?
Because he'd just spent his entire savings on the newly released Pro 24 tablet.
It's a serious investment for my creativity. Jiho told himself.
And to be fair, it was totally worth the hype. The results were stunning.
Still... He was officially broke.
But hey, at least I can draw in 4k.
He pocketed the coins with a sigh.
This would have to be his lunch for tomorrow. One can of soda.
But then, one coin slipped through his fingers and rolled across the smooth tiles like it had a vendetta.
"...Hey–!?"
Jiho crouched down to grab it, just a second too slow.
That's when an empty can of soda was magically summoned beneath his step.
Perfectly aimed, right under his shoe.
Jiho's eyes snapped wide, internally screaming.
Nope–no no no.
His body lurched forward faster than the runaway coin, completely off balance.
Oh.
He was already at the edge of the staircase, just one more step and he might end up with a concussion.
Drop!
Not the coin.
That was the sound of his dignity free-falling.
Yank.
His hoodie snapped tight around his neck. Jiho choked on a breath, jerking to a stop like a badly programmed NPC.
"Careful there."
Jiho turned his head, still awkward in the hold.
The next thing he saw was a tall figure in a crisp white shirt, one hand still gripping Jiho's hoodie like it was nothing.
He didn't let go until Jiho stood steady and was no longer gravity's chew toy.
"You good?" The guy asked.
Jiho coughed, tugging at his hoodie. "Thank you, I'm fine."
Barely.
He brushed down his clothes, pretending like he hadn't seen his life flash before his eyes.
But more importantly, Jiho shot him a glance.
"You threw that, didn't you?"
He wasn't blind.
Don't think he didn't saw him toss that can.
Jiho caught the blue pin on the guy's collar. A senior, great.
"Please be more mindful next time."
"Sunbae-nim." He added politely.
The guy raised an eyebrow. He didn't seem to care about it, completely unfazed.
"You caught that, huh?"
That little tilt of his head... Yeah, that one was not helping.
"Too bad. I was hoping you'd be too busy falling to notice." He admitted nonchalantly.
This bastard.
Smug wasn't a strong enough word.
"But is this how you thank your savior?"
The guy took a step forward, hands in his pockets, motioning vaguely to Jiho's hoodie that kept him from kissing the concrete earlier.
Excuse me?!
Jiho felt like he had misheard.
He squinted his eyes, he swore it was not because he couldn't see normally.
But this guy proved him wrong.
"I did save you, though, didn't I? How do you plan to thank me?"
Jiho: "..."
He had never been this speechless in his entire life. Until now.
Jiho was flabbergasted by this guy's shamelessness.
Why did he fall in the first place?
And this guy still had the nerve to smirk at me!
What was so great about being born a few years earlier?
But it was true that he did save me. Technically.
...Jiho sadly looked at his precious can of soda that was no longer his.
The other party took it like it was a trophy.
"I'll drink it well," he said with a knowing smile, popping the tab right in front of him.
Brazenly.
Jiho resisted the urge to roll his eyes and managed a polite nod.
Calmly reminding himself.
This guy was a senior, and he was a junior. It's okay.
Damn it!
Okay, he succeeded in catching my interest.
[Later that evening]
Jiho aggressively drew on his tablet, crushing his third bottle of energy drink.
"Hopefully," he muttered, shading a particularly smug expression, "we won't meet again for sure."
He adjusted his newly bought glasses up the bridge of his nose.
I mean, you can always find a way to borrow money.
Whew...
With a deep breath, he switched tabs and focused back on his work.
Everything was fine.
Or so I thought.
I had no clue that was the beginning of the end of my quiet life.
And it all began with him.
My accidental life-saver, soda thief, and a walking headache in human form.