That fresh, radiant smile!

Ina found herself staring at him, as though under a spell.

His brown hair fell across his forehead.

He had a straight, prominent nose and slightly upturned eyes.

He was wearing a thinner training outfit than before.

And there was that deep scent brushing past her nose.

Is this a dream?

She blinked rapidly.

Seeing him standing before her again felt almost unreal.

“Is it heavy? It might be a bit heavy.”

Only then did her focus return.

She hurriedly lowered her gaze to the item she was holding.

It was heavier than she had expected — heavy enough to make her arms waver. It was bulky, too — almost too large for her to hold comfortably.

She had been so startled that it was only now that she became aware of its weight.

“Then I’ll carry that one.”

“……”

“You can hold this instead.”

He took the box back from her arms and placed the smaller shopping bag he had been holding into her hands.

“Where’s your room?”

“……”

“Why do you look so surprised? What—didn’t think I’d really come?”

She hadn’t.

She had truly believed it was a lie.

She had thought it was just something said in passing.

That was why she was so taken aback.

When she continued to stare at him without answering, Taeyun bent slightly at the waist and leaned closer.

Far too close.

His face was suddenly right in front of hers.

Her pupils trembled faintly.

“I promised, didn’t I? That I’d come in two weeks.”

She had assumed those words meant nothing.

“I’m the type who keeps my promises.”

Why does he smile so much?

Whenever his eyes crinkled with laughter, her heart beat wildly out of control.

Ina took a hasty step back.

“I’ll carry this to your room. Go on, lead the way.”

“Excuse me—”

“Oh, you’re finally speaking. Wow, it’s really hard to hear your voice.”

The curve of his lips deepened at the single word she had managed to utter.

He had tried countless times before to start a conversation, only to receive the barest of replies.

Why did these two syllables feel so unexpectedly satisfying?

“What is this?”

“You’ll find out once you open it.”

Ina lowered her gaze to the bag in her hand. Even from the picture printed on the shopping bag, she could tell what was inside.

“I told you to call, but you didn’t make a single call.”

Even if she had had his number, she wouldn’t have known what to say.

She had never intended to call him in the first place.

And yet, she hadn’t been able to throw away the piece of paper with his number on it. She didn’t know why. It was now tucked away in a corner of her desk drawer.

“So I got impatient and bought one myself.”

“I don’t need it.”

“Then throw it away. I bought it for you anyway. I don’t need it.”

Ina stared at him in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Taeyun’s lips remained curved in a faint smile, as if he found something amusing.

“I already saved my number in the phone.”

“Excuse me, what are you doing?”

“You said you’d be my junior, didn’t you? Or since you’re technically my junior already, can I drop the formalities?”

A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

Why was he being so unreasonable?

He ignored everything she said and spoke as he pleased.

A faint crease formed on her otherwise smooth forehead.

“Are you always this high-handed?”

Her sharp voice echoed down the corridor.

Nevertheless, Taeyun did not waver at all. It was as if he had expected it.

His calm composure only served to irritate her further.

“You think I look pitiful, so you give me gifts. I don’t have a phone, so you bring me one. Am I supposed to accept them gratefully?”

The realization that it was nothing more than pity suddenly made her feel sick.

While it was true that she hadn’t bought a phone because she couldn’t afford it, she also didn’t want to pay the monthly fee.

Besides, there was no one to call her anyway. No friends. No family.

She lived here because she had no parents or home to go to.

But she didn’t want this kind of pity.

“Don’t twist it. That’s not my intention.”

“Then take it back. I have no reason to contact you, especially since I’m not your junior yet. Even if I did get into that university, what relationship would make me accept something like this? It feels like pity. I don’t like it.”

“Yoon Ina.”

“Don’t make me feel pathetic. I’m barely holding myself together as it is. I may not have anything, but I still have my pride.”

As she spoke, the rims of her eyes turned red.

Watching her, Taeyun drew a quiet breath before speaking calmly.

“I knew you wouldn’t accept it. But I brought it anyway. Yes. I bought the phone because I wanted to contact you. And I even postponed a department event just to come here and give it to you.”

Ina tightened her grip on the shopping bag.

Her eyes stung, and something deep in her chest throbbed painfully.

She frowned.

“Because I promised.”

“……”

“It’s our first promise. I didn’t want to break it. And…”

He placed the box he had been holding back into her arms.

Caught off guard, she took it and looked up at him, her lips parting slightly.

“It felt like this was the only thing I could do for you.”

The smile that had lingered on his lips all this time disappeared, leaving only a straight line.

There was a hint of woundedness in his expression.

Strangely, it was this that unsettled Ina the most.

He seemed as though he was about to say more, but instead he let out a quiet sigh and composed himself.

“Like I said, I bought all of this on purpose — for you. If you want to throw it away, then throw it away. Whether you keep it or not, it’s already out of my hands.”

With that, he turned and started to walk away.

Ina could not say a word as she watched him walk down the stairs.

***

The phone was the latest model, which had just been released. It was plastered across every billboard and shop window. It was impossible to walk down the street without seeing one.

And yet she had never wanted one.

In fact, she hadn’t even bought herself an inexpensive phone. Paying a monthly fee felt like an unnecessary luxury.

When she lifted the lid of the box, she found a small note resting neatly inside.

[The phone is registered in my name. I’ll take care of the monthly payments, so please don’t feel pressured. I’m only lending it to you for now. Use it to ask me questions whenever you’re confused about something. Or you can watch YouTube when you really don’t feel like studying. You can take online classes too. If you can’t think of anything else to do, you can always call me.]

The last line lingered longer than the rest.

“You can call me…”

Each sentence in the note had been carefully considered.

They were very different from the sharp, hurtful words she had said to him only moments earlier.

[While thinking about ways to help your studies, I signed you up for some online lectures, too. As I said, don’t feel pressured. If you end up coming to our university, I fully intend to collect it all back from you then, junior.]

Ina quietly folded the note and placed it back inside the box.

The large package he had handed her was filled with textbooks for the online courses. No wonder it had felt so heavy in her arms.

There was more inside: a small tumbler, several types of tea, and neatly arranged stationery. Everything she could possibly need for her studies had been prepared with quiet, thoughtful care.

“Why on earth…”

Why would he go to such lengths for her?

And why was she reacting this way?

The way her heart trembled at his quiet, deliberate kindness was almost pitiful. She frowned and let out a soft, unsteady sigh.

She had been rereading borrowed textbooks because she couldn’t justify the cost of buying her own. She worked through problems on the blank backs of discarded papers she had gathered, unable even to circle her answers properly. Even the price of a simple notebook seemed like an unnecessary luxury.

And yet the brand-new notebooks he had given her were of such fine quality that she hesitated to write in them at all, as if doing so might diminish their worth.

“Even memo pads can be this pretty…”

She picked one up and turned it over in her hands.

Ding.

“……!”

Her slender shoulders jerked in surprise at the sudden noise.

There was only one thing in the room that could have made that noise.

The phone that he had just given her.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Instead of reaching for it, she just stared at the box, paralyzed by indecision. The notification tone rang out repeatedly, filling the quiet room.

Worried that the noise might wake the children, Ina quickly opened the box and took out the phone.

The screen lit up to reveal several new messages waiting for her.

[Here’s the online lecture site. Sending you the ID and password.]

[Believe it or not, I’m actually a pretty capable private tutor who raises grades. I wrote study tips in each book, so read them—or don’t.]

[If you get sleepy while studying, drink one of the teas I put in there. They’re packed with vitamins, so they’ll be good for you.]

[Oh, and next time I’m dropping the formalities. No senior speaks that politely to their junior.]

After reading all the messages, she stared blankly at the box once more.

Ding!

Another notification.

Her gaze shifted back to the screen.

As she read the final message, her heartbeat became irregular again.

[Sleep well. You worked hard studying today.]