HIS MAN, Part One: The Professor’s Favorit

Chapter 1 Min-seo POV Today was the first day of my third year at university. Three years in… and it still felt like starting over. This time, I was staying in the school dormitory—four roommates I hadn’t met yet. Three strangers whose names I would have to learn between lectures, assignments, and late-night study sessions. I was in the Department of Business Administration. Spreadsheets. Case studies. Presentations. It all made sense on paper. Off paper… I wasn’t so sure it made sense for me. My phone vibrated. Hyun-woo: Where are you? I typed back quickly. Min-seo: At the dorm. Why? Hyun-woo: Come out. My brows furrowed slightly. Come out? To where? Min-seo: For what? Hyun-woo: Freshman welcome party. Ah. That explained it. The kind of event I had absolutely no interest in attending. Min-seo: Oh. Hyun-woo: You’re coming, right? Min-seo: I don’t think so. Hyun-woo: Why? I exhaled slowly. Min-seo: I’m just tired. And you know I don’t like parties. The truth was simpler—I hated the noise, the crowd, the forced conversations. Everyone pretending to enjoy themselves while I slowly suffocated in it. I preferred silence. My room. My thoughts. A pause. Then— Hyun-woo: Sigh. You’re always bored. Min-seo: Thanks. Hyun-woo: See you tomorrow. I blinked. Min-seo: How? Hyun-woo: What do you mean “how”? Min-seo: Aren’t you coming back tonight? Hyun-woo: I will. But you’ll probably be asleep before then. Min-seo: Oh. Okay. I set my phone down. So he was staying out late. Fine. I turned onto my back and stared at the ceiling. The cracks in the paint looked like thin, messy lines stretching endlessly—like thoughts I couldn’t organize. ⸻ Ji-woo POV I checked my phone again. 10:31 PM. I was already dressed, ready for bed “Not coming back tonight?” Ji-hoon: Yes. I’m on night shift. Ji-woo: Okay. A second passed. Ji-hoon: Is there a problem? Ji-woo: Nothing. Ji-woo: Where’s Mum? Ji-hoon: Probably on a date. I let out a short breath. A dry chuckle escaped me before I could stop it. Ji-hoon: Oh—you’re going to school tomorrow, right? Ji-woo: Yes. Ji-hoon: Okay. See you. Ji-woo:mm The room was quiet—too quiet. Only the faint glow of the screen lit the space around me. ⸻ Two different rooms. Two different people. Two separate lives beginning a new year. Min-seo lay on her bed in the dorm, staring at the ceiling, counting invisible cracks in the paint. Ji-woo sat at his desk, the silence pressing against him as the city moved outside his window. Neither of them knew the other existed yet. But somehow… their stories had already started moving toward each other.