An hour passed quickly. After finishing the draft of Chapter One, Hyebin and Jeongmin put away their study materials. Hyebin tied her long, loose hair into a messy bun so it wouldn't get in the way while they ate later.
The two of them walked down the stairs toward the dining room on the first floor. The moment Hyebin stepped onto the last stair, she heard the familiar high-pitched voice of a little girl who seemed to have been patiently waiting for her beside the dining table.
“Hyebin Eonnie!! Come here, quick! The food's ready!” Jae-yi called, waving excitedly.
As Hyebin approached the first-floor area, Jae-yi ran toward her and immediately hugged her tightly around the waist. The little girl's sudden momentum made Hyebin stagger back a step as she lost her balance. Fortunately, Jeongmin quickly caught her and kept her steady.
“Careful,” Jeongmin whispered near her ear.
“Th-thank you,” Hyebin squeaked, smiling awkwardly.
“Jae-yi, Hyebin Eonnie's only been here for a day, and you're already stuck to her like glue,” Jeongmin commented, shaking his head at his sister's behavior.
Jae-yi stuck her tongue out at Jeongmin. “So what? I like Hyebin Eonnie way more than Go-eun Eonnie!” she protested bluntly.
Thump.
Hyebin fell silent the moment she heard that name leave Jae-yi's mouth. Moon Go-eun was Jeongmin's ex-girlfriend, a fashion design student and also a key member of the campus cheerleading squad. They had broken up not long ago—or, more precisely, six months ago, before Jeongmin returned to Korea.
“What are you talking about, Jae-yi?!” Jeongmin suddenly panicked. He was about to chase after his sister, but Jae-yi nimbly ran to her dining chair, giggling with satisfaction. Jeongmin rubbed the back of his neck, which had gone cold, feeling extremely awkward and flustered that his ex-girlfriend's name had suddenly been brought up in front of Hyebin by his own sister. “Hyebin-ah... I'm sorry about what my little sister said,” Jeongmin whispered awkwardly, looking at Hyebin with concern.
“It's fine,” Hyebin replied, unable to completely hide the sharpness in her voice. She walked ahead of Jeongmin toward the dining room. “Does Auntie need help setting out the plates?”
“It's okay, sweetheart. Everything's ready.” Min-ah gave her a reassuring smile before turning her attention to Jeongmin, who was typing a message on his phone as he walked toward them. “Jeongmin-ah, put your phone away. Have you two finished the project draft?”
“Not all of it. We still have a lot of sample analysis to do next week,” Jeongmin answered, then placed his phone at the end of the dining table.
The four of them finally sat around the dining table. Hyebin sat across from Jeongmin, while Min-ah sat at the head of the table.
“So, Hyebin-ah...” Min-ah began, a probing smile on her face. “Are you really sure you're not Jeongmin's girlfriend? I mean... you're much too pretty and sweet not to be his girlfriend.”
“Mom...” Jeongmin let out a long sigh, giving his mother a pleading look so she wouldn't start discussing that sensitive topic in front of Hyebin. In truth, she already knew that he liked the girl. “Please don't start.”
“Why not? Mom's just being honest. Besides, I personally like Hyebin here much more than your old ex-girlfriend. What was her name again? I've forgotten.”
“Go-eun Eonnie!” Jae-yi suddenly interrupted from her chair, her mouth full of food. “I don't like her either! She yelled at me once because I spilled juice on her designer bag!”
Jeongmin groaned softly and covered his face with both hands as embarrassment welled up inside him. “Mom, Jae-yi... Can we eat in peace without talking about this?”
“All right, we'll be quiet,” Min-ah said before her eldest son could throw a childish fit.
All Hyebin could do was lower her head and stare at her plate, cutting her meat with stiff movements. Her heart felt heavy and uneasy. Deep down, Hyebin realized how completely different she was from that girl. Go-eun was the definition of a popular college student: beautiful, a member of the cheerleading team, fashionable, and followed by tens of thousands of people on social media. Everyone knew Go-eun.
And Hyebin? She was just a quiet Veterinary Medicine student who spent most of her time in the laboratory or library and hated being the center of attention. A sudden wave of insecurity crept into Hyebin's chest, and her appetite gradually disappeared.
After a dinner filled with awkward tension, Hyebin immediately got up and volunteered to wash the dirty dishes in the kitchen. Although Min-ah had firmly refused her help and told her guests not to work, Hyebin insisted anyway so she'd have something to do and could avoid the conversation at the table that had put her on the spot.
“Boo!”
“Ahh!”
Hyebin was busy washing dishes and didn't notice Jeongmin deliberately standing beside her until he startled her. She screamed when the wet, soapy plate in her hands nearly slipped free. Instinctively, Hyebin caught it again before it could hit the granite sink.
Hyebin shot him a sharp look. “Jeongmin-ah! What if your mother's plate had broken and fallen?!” she scolded, half-shouting.
Jeongmin only chuckled, completely unapologetic. “Jeez, I didn't know you were so jumpy,” he said, still teasing her.
The girl only rolled her eyes lazily, refusing to pay attention to Jeongmin's teasing. She turned away and tried to focus on washing the dishes, rinsing off the remaining suds under running water. Jeongmin watched her every movement.
“Hyebin-ah... are you okay?” Jeongmin asked worriedly. “You've been awfully quiet ever since we sat down at the table,” he added, leaning toward her. “Did something my mom or Jae-yi said hurt your feelings?”
Hyebin let out a rough sigh. She turned off the faucet, picked up a dry towel to wipe her hands, and turned around. She leaned her hips against the edge of the kitchen sink and stared straight into Jeongmin's eyes as he gazed intently at her.
“Jeongmin-ah... why are you actually being so nice to me?” Hyebin asked seriously, her expression grave.
Jeongmin blinked and raised one eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean? I'm nice to everyone. I mean, isn't it normal to be nice to your own project partner?” the guy protested firmly.
Hyebin shook her head. “Can you be honest with me? What kind of game are you really playing with me?” Hyebin pressed, forcing out a breath as she held back her emotions. “Is this some kind of bet? Did the baseball team guys challenge you to mess with my feelings? Or... maybe Ji-a told you to pretend to get close to me so that—”
“Han Hyebin!” Jeongmin cut her off as her words began to sound more and more like baseless, wild accusations.
“Why?” Hyebin looked up at him, glaring irritably. “Am I wrong? Is all of this just some stupid trick to make me fall in love with you? Once I've let my guard down and started trusting you, will you start ignoring me and then leave me like everyone else? That's what you're going to do, isn't it?!”
Jeongmin gave her a crooked smile and leaned closer, placing both palms on the counter to the left and right of Hyebin's waist, trapping her between his body and the sink.
Hyebin held her breath. Oh God, why is he so close to me?! she thought, her heart suddenly pounding wildly.
Jeongmin lowered his head. “I'm not playing any games with you, Hyebin-ah.” He looked straight into her irises, his gaze deep and sincere. “I swear.”
Hyebin clenched her fists and tried to push against Jeongmin's chest. “Liar!” She rejected his words because the walls of trauma around her heart refused to believe him so easily.
“Hyebin-ah...” Jeongmin called her name in an incredibly gentle whisper, his gaze softening. “Can't you trust me even a little?”
Hyebin shook her head. “How can I trust you? We've only known each other and been friends for a few days!” She snorted softly. “That doesn't make any sense, does it?”
Jeongmin sighed and straightened up, releasing her from the cage of his arms. “Okay, you're right. We need time.” For now, Jeongmin chose to give up on forcing her to believe him.
“I want to go home now.”
“I'll take you.”
The atmosphere inside the car was completely silent. Jeongmin focused on the wheel as he drove along the city streets illuminated by streetlights, while Hyebin deliberately turned her face toward the window on her left, watching the rows of buildings blur past.
After fifteen minutes on the road, Jeongmin's car finally slowed to a crawl and stopped right beside the curb in front of Hyebin's house. Jeongmin turned off the engine, then glanced to the side. His eyes surveyed the two-story house belonging to the girl's family.
“Are your parents home?” Jeongmin asked, shifting his gaze from the house to the side of Hyebin's face.
“My mom's working the night shift at the hospital, so I'll be home alone,” Hyebin said as she tried to undo her seat belt.
“Need a hand, Partner?” Jeongmin asked, already preparing to reach out.
“No. I can do it myself,” Hyebin refused, continuing to press the button forcefully.
Jeongmin shook his head in bafflement. Why was the girl beside him so stubborn? Without asking permission, Jeongmin released his own seat belt. He leaned his entire body across the car's center console toward Hyebin to help her.
The sudden movement left Hyebin frozen in place. They were incredibly close. Jeongmin pressed the release button on Hyebin's seat belt until it finally clicked free. Once he had finished, Jeongmin lifted his head again. But his eyes accidentally met Hyebin's, and neither of them looked away.
For several seconds that felt impossibly long, time seemed to stop inside the dim car. Hyebin had never imagined that her heart could beat so strangely and unnaturally fast simply because of a guy's gaze. Without realizing it, Hyebin's eyes dropped a few millimeters to Jeongmin's lips. When she realized where her thoughts were heading, Hyebin panicked. She hurriedly turned toward the door and quickly twisted the handle to get out of the car.
“T-thank you!”
Hyebin hurried away the moment her feet touched the sidewalk. Jeongmin returned to his original position in the driver's seat. He sat there frozen for a few moments, steadying his own quickened breathing, before finally opening the car door and following Hyebin onto the sidewalk.
“My pleasure, Love.”
Hyebin stopped in her tracks. She turned and stared at Jeongmin, her brow deeply furrowed. “Love?” It was obvious that Hyebin was both baffled and uncomfortable when Jeongmin casually called her by an endearment. “Stop calling me weird things like that!”
“Why?” Jeongmin chuckled, taking two steps toward Hyebin. “We're close friends now.”
“I've never heard of friends calling each other ‘Love’!”
“That's normal in Australia. Everyone calls their friends Love or Mate,” Jeongmin replied with a smugly convincing excuse.
Hyebin thought for a moment. Since Jeongmin had grown up in Sydney, what he said did make some sense. “Fine, whatever you say,” Hyebin snorted, turning away.
“Hyebin-ah!”
“Oppa?”
Eunho stepped closer and casually draped an arm over Hyebin's shoulder, pulling her against him with an affectionate, possessive familiarity. Jeongmin's eyes narrowed sharply at once. His competitive instincts as a man flared in his chest.
“I was just about to put some food on the table out front,” Eunho told Hyebin, though his eyes remained locked on Jeongmin. “Who is this guy, Hyebin-ah?”
Jeongmin flashed a thin, challenging smile. He showed no fear of Eunho whatsoever. Turning toward Hyebin, Jeongmin put on a sweet expression.
“Well, I should get going. See you on campus tomorrow, Love,” he said with a wink. Without waiting for a reply, Jeongmin turned around and got back into his car.
“Drive safely, Jeongmin-ah!” Hyebin called, waving as the car began to turn around and drive away.
After Jeongmin's car had completely disappeared from view, Eunho removed his arm from Hyebin's shoulder. He turned to face her, his expression demanding an explanation.
“So...” Eunho folded his arms across his chest. “Is he your new boyfriend?”
“Huh?” Hyebin looked up, then shoved Eunho's arm. “No! What are you talking about, Oppa? You're jumping to conclusions! He's just a friend from college. We only officially met a few days ago!”
“You only met a few days ago...” Eunho repeated incredulously. “...and you've already let him take you out until this late? He even calls you Love?”
“I just got back from Jeongmin's house after working on the big group assignment from Professor Kang, Oppa,” Hyebin explained in detail. “His mother and his little sister were there. We were genuinely studying, nothing else.”
“Ah...” Eunho nodded slowly. “So his name is Jeongmin?”
“Yeah. His name is Yang Jeongmin. He's my partner on the Biology research project,” Hyebin explained, not wanting any further misunderstanding to arise between them.
“Oh, right, this is for you...” Eunho handed Hyebin the high-quality bakery box he'd been carrying. “I bought it at my favorite bakery on the way home from the restaurant because I remembered how much you like Choco Pie.”
“Thanks, Oppa. I'll eat it before bed.”
“You're welcome. Now go inside, and don't forget to lock the door properly. Looks like Auntie still isn't home from the hospital.”
“Okay! Good night, Oppa!”
“Good night, Hyebin-ah.”