Chapter two
1990 Words
Chapter Two
A King Hates Being Ignored
Kang Min-jae had a problem.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, he had decided that the problem was Han Seo-ah.
At 8:15 on Tuesday morning, he sat in the back of his family's black luxury car, staring at a photograph on his phone.
It was a screenshot Ji-hoon had sent him the previous night.
A university student profile.
HAN SEO-AH.
Photography department.
Second year.
No impressive family name. No influential relatives. No obvious connection to anyone Min-jae considered important.
And, according to Ji-hoon's accompanying message, a girl with absolutely no survival instincts.
Found your photographer. You're welcome.
Min-jae had replied with three words.
I didn't ask.
Ji-hoon had responded with a laughing emoji.
Min-jae had considered blocking him.
He was still considering it.
"Young master?"
Min-jae looked up.
The driver was watching him through the rear-view mirror.
"Yes?"
"We've arrived."
Min-jae glanced outside.
Haneul University stood beyond the car window, its broad entrance crowded with students hurrying toward their morning lectures.
He put his phone away.
"Good."
He stepped out of the car.
Conversations nearby faltered.
A girl walking past whispered something to her friend. Two students glanced in his direction before quickly looking away. Someone near the entrance straightened their jacket.
Min-jae barely noticed.
This was normal.
People knew who he was.
They knew his family.
And they knew that making Kang Min-jae unhappy could turn an ordinary day into a very unpleasant one.
He adjusted his cuff and walked toward the main building.
Today, he had something to do.
Something important.
Something that had absolutely nothing to do with a girl who had called him Expensive Ego.
Definitely nothing.
---
"Seo-ah."
"No."
"You don't even know what I'm going to say."
"I heard your tone. It's a dangerous tone."
Park Yu-na dropped into the seat beside her and placed a carton of strawberry milk on the table.
"You're being dramatic."
"You tried to convince me yesterday that Kang Min-jae would have me expelled before graduation."
"I said he might make your life difficult."
"You said I should write a farewell letter to my family."
"That was emotional preparation."
Seo-ah stared at her.
Yu-na smiled sweetly.
Seo-ah returned her attention to her laptop.
They were seated in a quiet corner of the university library, supposedly working on their respective assignments.
Seo-ah was reviewing photographs for an upcoming class project.
Yu-na was drawing a dress design in the margin of her lecture notes.
Neither was particularly productive.
"Anyway," Yu-na said, leaning closer, "have you checked your student email?"
Seo-ah frowned.
"Why?"
"Just check it."
Seo-ah opened her inbox.
There was a new message from the university's photography department.
SUBJECT: CAMPUS PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION — STUDENT PARTICIPATION
Her expression changed.
"Oh."
Yu-na immediately abandoned her dress design.
"What?"
Seo-ah opened the message.
The university was organising a photography exhibition featuring student work. Selected photographs would be displayed during the upcoming campus arts festival, and the winning entry would receive a scholarship toward photography equipment.
Seo-ah read the announcement twice.
A scholarship.
For photography equipment.
Her old camera had started making a strange clicking noise whenever she changed lenses. Replacing it would cost money her family couldn't comfortably spare.
This could help.
Actually, this could help a lot.
Yu-na grabbed her arm.
"You're entering."
Seo-ah looked at her.
"I haven't even read the requirements."
"You're entering."
"Yu-na—"
"Seo-ah, if you don't enter, I'm entering your name myself."
"You can't do that."
"Watch me."
Seo-ah laughed, but her attention had already returned to the announcement.
The deadline was Friday.
She had three days to submit her work.
Three days to choose a photograph that meant something.
Three days to prove that she deserved to be there.
For the first time that morning, she forgot all about Kang Min-jae.
Unfortunately, he hadn't forgotten about her.
---
At eleven thirty, Seo-ah left the library to take photographs around the eastern courtyard.
She wanted something different from the usual campus scenery.
Not just buildings and flowers.
People.
Movement.
Little moments that most students walked past without noticing.
She was adjusting her camera when a familiar voice interrupted her.
"Han Seo-ah."
She closed her eyes.
Of course.
Of course, the universe couldn't allow her one peaceful morning.
She turned.
Kang Min-jae stood a few metres away, his hands in his pockets.
Ji-hoon stood beside him, looking as though he had purchased a ticket to a very entertaining show.
Seo-ah lowered her camera.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes."
She waited.
He said nothing.
Seo-ah glanced at her watch.
"Wonderful conversation. I'm glad we had it."
Ji-hoon's shoulders shook.
Min-jae ignored him.
"I think you owe me an apology."
Seo-ah blinked.
"For what?"
"For yesterday."
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she pointed at her camera.
"Oh. You mean when you ruined my photograph?"
Min-jae's expression hardened.
"You insulted me."
"You interrupted me."
"You called me Expensive Ego."
"You were acting like one."
Ji-hoon turned away.
It did nothing to hide his grin.
Min-jae stepped closer.
"Do you have any idea how people treat me?"
Seo-ah considered the question.
"Probably better than you treat them."
Ji-hoon made a noise that sounded like a dying kettle.
Min-jae shot him a murderous look.
Then he turned back to Seo-ah.
"Listen carefully. I'm giving you an opportunity to apologise."
Seo-ah looked around the courtyard.
Students were beginning to notice them.
Some slowed their steps.
Others whispered.
She recognised the expression on their faces.
They were waiting for her to back down.
Apparently, Kang Min-jae was accustomed to getting apologies simply by demanding them.
Seo-ah tightened her grip on her camera.
"No, thank you."
Min-jae stared at her.
"What?"
"I said no, thank you. I don't accept opportunities I didn't ask for."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Min-jae smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
"Fine."
He took a step back.
"Don't come crying to me when you realise how this university works."
Seo-ah raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't planning to come crying to you at all."
She turned away.
"Have a productive day, Kang Min-jae."
And she walked off.
Again.
Min-jae watched her go.
Ji-hoon finally gave up pretending he wasn't enjoying himself.
"That went well."
Min-jae slowly turned.
"Do you want to be next?"
"No, thank you."
"Then shut up."
Ji-hoon nodded solemnly.
"Of course, Your Majesty."
Min-jae walked away before he did something that would make his father question his upbringing.
Behind him, Ji-hoon followed, still smiling.
This was becoming his favourite week of the semester.
---
By lunchtime, a rumour had spread across campus.
Han Seo-ah had refused to apologise to Kang Min-jae.
Some students thought she was brave.
Others thought she was foolish.
A few were already predicting that she'd regret it.
Seo-ah discovered the rumours when she and Yu-na entered the cafeteria.
Three girls at a nearby table stopped talking as they passed.
One whispered something.
Another looked directly at Seo-ah.
Yu-na noticed immediately.
"Oh, absolutely not."
Seo-ah caught her wrist.
"Don't."
"But they're talking about you!"
"They can talk."
"They're talking about you like you've committed a crime."
Seo-ah shrugged.
"Maybe I should ask them where the police station is."
Yu-na stared at her.
Then she burst out laughing.
"You're actually insane."
"I've been told."
They collected their lunch and found a table near the windows.
Seo-ah was halfway through opening her drink when someone stopped beside them.
"Is this seat taken?"
She looked up.
The young man standing there had neat dark hair, warm eyes, and a calm expression that made him seem almost suspiciously normal compared with the people she had met so far.
He held a tray in one hand.
"Sorry," he added. "Everywhere else is full."
Yu-na immediately gestured toward the empty chair.
"Please sit. We're friendly. Mostly."
He smiled.
"Lee Do-hyun."
"Park Yu-na."
"Han Seo-ah."
Do-hyun looked at Seo-ah.
Then his expression shifted with recognition.
"Wait. You're the photography student?"
Seo-ah frowned.
"That depends. Have I done something wrong?"
He laughed.
"No. I saw the photographs you submitted for last semester's student showcase. The one with the old woman feeding pigeons was beautiful."
Seo-ah stared at him.
"You remember that?"
"Of course. It felt like a story without needing anyone to explain it."
For once, Seo-ah didn't have a sarcastic response ready.
She looked down at her lunch, hiding a small smile.
"Thank you."
Do-hyun noticed the camera beside her bag.
"Are you entering the arts festival exhibition?"
"I'm thinking about it."
"You should."
His answer came so naturally that she looked up again.
"You're very confident."
"About your photography? Yes."
Yu-na slowly turned toward Seo-ah.
Her eyes widened.
Seo-ah gave her a warning look.
Do-hyun, thankfully, appeared oblivious to the silent conversation happening across the table.
"I'm studying business," he explained. "But I like photography. My older brother used to take pictures of everything when we were children."
He shrugged.
"I guess it stuck."
The conversation moved easily from photography to classes, campus food, and the confusing university map.
By the time they finished eating, Yu-na had decided that Do-hyun was officially the first sensible man she'd encountered at Haneul University.
Seo-ah had decided that he was nice.
And neither of them noticed the person watching from across the cafeteria.
Kang Min-jae had entered ten minutes earlier.
He'd seen Seo-ah.
He'd intended to ignore her.
Then he'd seen her laughing.
With someone else.
A young man sat beside her, listening attentively while she spoke. He smiled at something she said, and she smiled back.
It was an ordinary interaction.
Completely unremarkable.
Min-jae didn't understand why it annoyed him.
"Who's that?" he asked.
Ji-hoon followed his gaze.
"Lee Do-hyun."
"Who?"
"Business department. Good grades, decent reputation. His family isn't part of our social circle."
Min-jae looked at him.
"Why would I care about his social circle?"
Ji-hoon considered that.
"No reason whatsoever."
Min-jae turned away.
Across the room, Seo-ah laughed again.
He stopped walking.
Then, visibly irritated with himself, he continued toward his usual table.
He didn't care who she ate lunch with.
He didn't care who made her laugh.
And he certainly didn't care whether she thought another man was interesting.
He was Kang Min-jae.
He had more important things to worry about.
So why, ten minutes later, was he still thinking about that stupid smile?
---
That afternoon, an email arrived in the photography department's student inbox.
It announced that the university's arts festival would include a special photography assignment.
Participants would be paired with students from different departments to create a joint exhibition project.
The pairings would be announced the following morning.
Seo-ah read the message twice.
A collaborative project.
Interesting.
Potentially stressful, but interesting.
She forwarded the announcement to Yu-na with a simple message.
If they pair me with someone who thinks taking photographs means pointing a phone at their lunch, I'm withdrawing.
Yu-na replied immediately.
If they pair you with Kang Min-jae, I'm changing my name and pretending we never met.
Seo-ah laughed.
Then she put her phone away and returned to editing her photographs.
She had no idea that the pairings had already been finalised.
She had no idea that Kang Min-jae's name appeared beside hers on the department's internal list.
And she certainly had no idea that, after hearing about the exhibition, Min-jae had made one phone call to a university administrator.
He hadn't asked to be paired with her.
He hadn't requested any special treatment.
He had simply asked whether the assignments were final.
When the administrator said they were, Min-jae had replied, "Good."
Then he'd hung up.
He told himself it was because he wanted to ensure the university's events were organised properly.
It had nothing to do with Han Seo-ah.
Absolutely nothing.
The following morning, the pairing list would be published.
And Kang Min-jae would discover that working with the girl who refused to apologise might be considerably more difficult than arguing with her.
For Seo-ah, the real disaster hadn't even begun.
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