Chapter 13 - Ah, 100 Won Girl

There was no way that this could be his real bucket list. When she’d suggested love or marriage as examples, the man had looked disgusted enough to immediately toss away the survey.

He must have thought that it would be better to just write whatever on the form instead of wasting time arguing with a brazen, demanding woman he had never met before. He’d just checked what floor the elevator was on to make sure he could finish writing quickly enough that he didn’t mess up his schedule over her useless survey.

That was why this was the end result. He should have just said he didn’t want to complete it from the beginning. She was just stunned because she felt as if he had made fun of her somehow.

However, for some strange reason, she didn’t feel that bad about it. She simply kept giggling at how funny the whole situation was.

To think that the man who she fell for at first sight would have such a cold and strange personality. She felt she had learned a valuable lesson that falling for someone purely for their attractive face could lead to dangers like this, though it wasn’t like she would ever meet him again, anyway.

“It seemed like he was just scribbling whatever quickly.” She looked down at what he’d written and unconsciously mumbled to herself,”…Even his handwriting is handsome.”

Sun Ha didn’t yet know that it was extremely difficult to get rid of feelings that had been engraved in your heart even if you learned the lesson to not blindly trust it a hundred times.

*

Sun Ha had assumed that was the end for them. However, she met him again that autumn, when the fresh green leaves were starting to turn into a burning red.

As Sun Ha got off the elevator, she pulled the backpack she was wearing towards the front of her chest and unzipped it. She was trying to pull out the assignment she needed to hand in, but the slim umbrella she was holding got in the way.

The weather had been clear and sunny since morning, but she’d heard from the weather report that there was a 70 percent chance of heavy rain today, so she’d brought the umbrella. However, even though all her classes had ended, the autumn sky was still a cloudless blue.

Though she wasn’t planning to shout complaints at the clear sky, she was still annoyed. She’d had to endure this cumbersome thing because she hadn’t believed in herself when she’d left the house in the morning, saw the sunny blue sky, and had muttered, “It definitely doesn’t seem like it will rain.”

“I have way too many things to bring already.” She had more classes on this day of the week than any other. On top of that, she also needed to borrow some books for reference in the library later. Sun Ha felt that her shoulders would be heavily burdened.

Sun Ha fixed her textbook-filled bag properly onto her back again, then carefully carried her assignment so that it wouldn’t be creased or folded.

She knocked carefully on the door which had “Professor An Moon Hyun of Psychology” written on it. Stepping into the room, she saw the TA’s desk where the other students’ assignments had been stacked in a neat pile. It seemed that the TA had finished work early, as Sun Ha couldn’t see their bag anywhere.

After leaving her assignment on the desk, she turned and glanced at Professor An’s research room. The professor had told them they only needed to leave the assignment paper on the assistant’s desk, but Sun Ha had received a lot of help from him, so she felt that she should at least say a brief hello.

“So you’re here, Do Ook?” came the professor’s voice.

Sun Ha had stood there, hesitating for a moment, and the professor had noticed that someone outside his room. He opened up the slightly ajar door wide and came out.

“Ah, it’s you Sun Ha. Did you come to submit your assignment?”

“Yes. It seems like you were waiting for someone.”

“My nephew was supposed to come. It’s hard to see his face often because he’s quite busy, but I made it clear that he should let me see him at least once a quarter.”

“Ah…” Sun Ha said.

“Oh right, someone I know sent some chocolate to me, do you want some?”

“No, professor. It’s fi—”

“Take it. Only young people enjoy snacking on things like this. A middle-aged man like me really can’t enjoy it as you all do. Just too sweet for me,” Professor An said in an easygoing tone as he laughed, and before she could even finish her sentence he’d opened the fridge door and was rummaging inside.

“And you, are you actually sleeping properly these days?” he asked. “I’m sure you don’t have any time to rest since you fill it up with part-time work, so when do you have the time to study enough to be at the top of your class? If it was up to me I would have wanted you to delay finding work and study a bit longer. It’s a shame that can’t happen.

“I think that you have quite a lot of potential as a scholar. Just from seeing you complete simple assignments, I can tell that you aren’t doing it just for the grades like the other students. You truly do find studying enjoyable, which is why you’re putting an honest effort into it even while you’re that busy,” Professor An said, his words filled with teacherly affection.

Sun Ha was thankful for his overwhelming praise but didn’t say much because she felt bashful.

Pulling out a box of homemade chocolate that was wrapped in high-class-looking packaging, Professor An held it out to Sun Ha right away. “Now, take it.”

“It’s really fine, professor. I’m not good at eating sweet things either.” Sun Ha shook her hand back and forth to assure him, even though she honestly loved sweet chocolates the most out of any snack.

“Ah, is that so? Didn’t know that.” Professor An pushed the box back inside of the fridge with a disappointed look on his face. Though she was very thankful to him for wanting to give her something or help out in any way every time they met, honestly in some ways it was quite a burden.

As he was her advisor, Professor An always did his best to kindly take care of her whenever he could. She was able to work at the university to pay off her fees thanks to the recommendation he had given her. Not only that but, since she wasn’t able to go to class events due to all her courses and part-time work, even on weekends, he generously gave her a free pass from having to participate.

He would often invite students that he took care of, including Sun Ha, to meals at a nearby restaurant. It was only recently that she’d noticed that he was intentionally doing this because he knew how she was always alone and might not have been eating properly.