Chapter 14 - Ah, 100 Won Girl.

She’d never received such deep affection and concern from her homeroom teachers in middle and high school, so she’d never expected that her professor would care so much about her. Though she was thankful for what he was doing for her, she also realized how pitiful she was for receiving such special treatment from him.

“Then I’ll be taking my lea—” as she was saying good-bye, the door swung open without anyone knocking and a person walked in.

“Do Ook, you dummy. You’re late.”

“Uncle, you’re the one who told me I should come over even if I was going to be a bit late,” said the man who had just arrived.

“So cold as usual. You don’t have any cute side to you at all.”

“Would you really be able to handle your dark-skinned, almost 30-year-old nephew acting cute in front of you?”

“Yeah, just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine actually. To think of you acting cute in any way…”

Though they weren’t speaking in a particularly friendly way, they looked to be quite comfortable with each other.

While this was all happening, Sun Ha took in the sight of this man, her pupils dilating. There was no way she wouldn’t remember that unforgettable, fancy-looking face of his. It was the man she had met last summer.

“Ah…” To meet this man by pure coincidence when she thought she would never see him again surprised Sun Ha greatly. Why was he here?

Even though she’d speculated before that he wasn’t a student nor a person related to the university, her heart would still race whenever she came to this building, hoping that she might meet him again. She knew that such thoughts were complete nonsense, but it wasn’t an easy thing for her to get rid of her curiosity about the man she had fallen for at first sight.

Hearing the conversation between them, it seemed like Professor An and the man named Do Ook were uncle and nephew. He must have come over last summer as well to meet Professor An.

Though her brain was quickly and efficiently figuring out the situation, Sun Ha’s eyes were locked on the man’s face, her expression dazed.

Finding her expression strange, Professor An asked, “Do you know each other?”

Only then did the man’s gaze turned towards Sun Ha where she was standing in front of the professor’s desk. His eyes were cold and calculating, and just having him look at her caused electricity to jolt through her fingertips, making her shiver unconsciously. As he kept looking at her, his forehead creased minutely as if he had just remembered something.

It had been several months since they’d first met, and their meeting had lasted less than five minutes, so Sun Ha thought there was a large possibility that he wouldn’t remember her at all.

“Ah, 100 won girl.”

However, even though it wasn’t right away, the man definitely recognized her. Even remembering about the 100 won.

Hearing him casually mumble to himself, Sun Ha’s expression became awkward. It seemed like her confidently demanding him to fill out the survey he’d dirtied had left a strong impression on him.

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Perhaps she should be just thankful that he didn’t remember her by her sweat instead.

“Goodness, it looks like you two really have met each other before.” Professor An looked back and forth between the two people in fascination.

“Though it’s not my first time seeing her, it is not like I know this person,” Do Ook said, making sure to efficiently point out exactly what kind of relationship the two had.

He was right, but the way he looked as if he didn’t care about her anymore after realizing who she was made Sun Ha feel slightly disappointed. She’d been on cloud nine after meeting him again, he didn’t seem to feel the same way at all. It was obvious that, while she had fallen for him like some movie cliche, she was nothing but a nameless extra to him.

Professor An tilted his head in confusion upon hearing Do Ook’s extremely short description.

However, Sun Ha also decided not to say he was wrong or anything and just gave Professor An an awkward smile. “Professor, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Yes. If you have any problems or need help, always come to find me. Okay?”

“…Yes, thank you.” Sun Ha bowed her head courteously, then looked at the man. As she also bowed to him in farewell, he gave an extremely quick incline of his head back to her. Just enough to not look rude.

Sun Ha left the research room with a sense of regret in her mind. She had desperately wanted to spend more time with him since she had gotten to meet him again after months. However, she wasn’t brazen enough to get between them when they were having a long-awaited family reunion.

Well, in the first place, she wasn’t so confident that she could be forward and give that man flirty looks when he didn’t seem to have even the smallest bit of interest in her.

Even though she had miraculously seen him again, she hadn’t dared to ask for his phone number. Her steps became slower and slower as she walked down the hall.

Sun Ha jammed her hand into the pocket of her coat. In it, she felt the curve of a tube of lipstick.

The first lipstick she had ever bought with her own money.

Other girls might laugh at her if they were to hear that, but she had never really bought any makeup products for herself until she was 25 years old. Money was certainly a problem, but Sun Ha simply didn’t have any interest in them.

Yet, the very next day after she had met him last summer, she’d gone to a make-up store on impulse. She’d wanted to buy some perfume, but when she’d checked the price of the perfume she liked, it was so expensive that her jaw dropped. Even seeing that, she hadn’t wanted to buy other perfume that wasn’t her preference just because it was cheaper.

She had been about to leave the shop empty-handed because she couldn’t afford the perfume, but then her eyes had been pulled towards the lipstick stand. It’d had a sale going on, and for the first time ever, Sun Ha had bought lipstick because of a man. A man she had fallen for but hadn’t even known if she’d ever see again.

The lipsticks Kyung Min had gifted her weren’t to her taste, and when Kyung Min and her had broken up she couldn’t bring herself to throw them away. She’d just kept them stuck in the corner of a drawer.