Chapter 10 — After Hours
413 Words
Night had already settled over Seoul International University when Alicia, Min-ji, and Jae-hyun entered the computer lab.
The room was nearly empty.
Rows of glowing screens cast pale light across the quiet space.
Jae-hyun pulled out a chair and sat down in front of one of the computers.
“Alright,” he said, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s hunt down a rumor.”
Alicia sat beside him so she could see the screen better. The two leaned toward the monitor while lines of data began appearing.
Min-ji hovered nervously behind them.
“I still feel like we’re about to get arrested,” she muttered.
“You worry too much,” Jae-hyun replied casually.
Alicia watched the screen carefully.
“So what exactly are we looking for?”
“The login records,” Jae-hyun said, typing quickly. “Every post on the campus forum leaves a digital trail.”
He leaned closer to point at something on the screen.
Alicia leaned in too so she could read it.
Their shoulders almost touched.
“See this?” he said. “That’s the account used to post the rumor.”
At that moment, the door of the computer lab opened quietly.
Park Min-ho stepped inside.
He had only come to check something quickly before returning to the dorms.
But when he looked across the room, he stopped.
Alicia and Jae-hyun were sitting close together in front of the computer, their heads bent toward the same screen.
Jae-hyun said something that made Alicia laugh softly.
Min-ho felt something tighten unexpectedly in his chest.
He didn’t move for a moment.
Why does that bother me?
He watched as Jae-hyun leaned slightly closer to Alicia again, pointing at something on the screen.
A strange, sharp feeling flickered through him.
A pang of jealousy.
Min-ho frowned immediately.
Jealousy?
The thought irritated him.
That made no sense.
He barely knew Alicia.
And Jae-hyun could sit with whoever he wanted.
Min-ho exhaled quietly and turned away before anyone noticed him standing there.
He stepped back out of the lab into the empty hallway.
The door closed softly behind him.
For a moment he just stood there.
Then he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Why did that bother me?” he muttered to himself.
The question lingered in the quiet corridor.
Inside the lab, Alicia and the others had no idea he had been there.
Or that something small had just changed.
Something Min-ho himself didn’t fully understand yet.
- Writer
