Chapter 3

As she stood among the shelves, meticulously examining each document, time flew by. The vast amount of materials was more overwhelming than she had anticipated, and her complexion gradually grew pale. She began to doubt whether she could organize all of this before the semester started.

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind: 

What was the professor doing? 

She glanced toward where Tae-oh was seated.

“Where did he go?”

But it seemed he had stepped out for a moment. The mountain of papers on his desk remained untouched, but Tae-oh himself was nowhere to be seen.

Feeling a chill at the thought of being left alone in the large underground archive, Seol-rin shivered slightly. The fear of a possible power outage began to creep over her.

“Oh, come on, Jin Seol-rin. The lights are on so brightly—what’s there to be scared of?”

She tried to calm herself and moved with the materials she had gathered. The stack was enormous, as she had collected quite a bit.

“…?”

But, as if on cue, the lights began to flicker and then went out one by one with a popping sound. The phrase “fate plays cruel tricks” came to mind as Seol-rin froze in place.

It happened so suddenly that she had no time to prepare herself mentally. All she could do was mumble to herself, trying to stay calm.

“It’s… it’s okay. The lights will come back on soon. It’s okay, Seol-rin.”

But no matter how long she waited, the lights showed no sign of returning. Goosebumps ran across her entire body, and she began to sweat profusely.

The darkness was absolute. If there were at least other people around, it might have been bearable. But, unfortunately, there wasn’t a single soul using the archive during the break.

The suffocating silence began to consume her, and the overwhelming fear of the endless darkness finally made her scream.

“Kyaaah!”

At the same time, the materials she was holding fell to the floor with a loud clatter. Her frail body trembled pitifully.

“…Hah. Please, someone help me….”

Her legs began to give out. Breathing heavily, she collapsed onto the floor.

With her eyes tightly shut, Seol-rin prayed desperately for someone—anyone—to get her out of there, to free her from the darkness.

At that moment, Tae-oh’s calm voice echoed from not too far away.

“Jin Seol-rin, where are you?”

“P-Professor….”

Gasping, Seol-rin called out to him. Soon, the faint light of a flashlight accompanied by the sound of footsteps approached. Tae-oh, now standing before her, raised his voice slightly as he checked on her.

“Hey, are you okay?”

At that moment, Tae-oh looked like a savior to Seol-rin. Still gasping for air, she clung tightly to his sleeve, like a child clinging desperately to their mother.

“Professor, I can’t breathe… Hah….”

Perhaps it was the shock of the sudden blackout, but Seol-rin began to show symptoms of shortness of breath. She tried to take deep breaths, but instead, her breathing became more labored. As time passed, her vision even began to blur.

Terrified that something serious might happen, she managed to speak to Tae-oh in a strained voice.

“Hah, I… I think I’m going to die…. Please, get me outside. Please.”

“…!”

The mention of death drained the color from Tae-oh’s face, even in the pitch-black darkness. Even as she gasped for air, Seol-rin found herself thinking that a person’s face could grow that pale.

“Ms. Jin Seol-rin, lean on me.”

“…!”

Before she knew it, her feet left the ground. In the blink of an eye, she found herself in Tae-oh’s arms. The musky scent emanating from him was intoxicating, making her feel faint. She thought to herself how surprisingly delicate his choice of fragrance was, so different from his cold demeanor.

Carrying her in his arms, Tae-oh used the flashlight in his hand to light the way as he exited the archive. His steps were quick but steady. Despite the chaotic situation, he remained remarkably composed.

In no time, Tae-oh had carried her out of the archive and into a lounge area designed for students to rest. Gently placing Seol-rin on a plush sofa, he knelt on one knee to meet her gaze. His sharp eyes, which she had always thought of as cold, now seemed incredibly kind.

“Are you okay?”

“Hah… Yes.”

Her breathing was still uneven, but she felt much more at ease than before. No matter how old one gets, the darkness never becomes something easy to endure. Once she regained her composure, she began to worry that she had caused too much trouble for the professor on her very first day at work.

“Professor… I’m okay now. Thank you.”

“Go home for today.”

“N-No! I’m really fine now. I can keep working!”

Half-reclining on the sofa, Seol-rin flailed her arms as she tried to get up. In doing so, her fingers accidentally brushed against Tae-oh’s glasses. With a small “thunk,” his thick-rimmed glasses fell to the floor.

‘Oh no!!’

It took her only a second to realize what she had done. Her face twisted in horror.

“Gasp! P-Professor, I’m so sorry.”

Panicking, Seol-rin jumped up from the sofa to pick up the glasses that had fallen to the floor. But in her haste, dizziness overtook her. Losing her balance, she stepped on the glasses with a loud crunch. It was truly one disaster after another.

Somewhere, she could almost hear the sound of her life falling apart. Her vision went white.

“Eek! Oh no. I’m so sorry, Professor!”

“Ah….”

“I’m really, really sorry. Truly, I apologize, Professor.” 

Seol-rin repeatedly uttered apologies, as if she were about to kneel and beg for forgiveness. Seeing her become flustered again, Tae-oh calmly guided her to sit down.

“Sit down for now. Can you look at my face?”

“Pardon…?”

“It’s just a pair of non-prescription glasses, so it doesn’t matter. Just look at my face.”

“……!”

Even when wearing glasses, she thought he exuded a dangerous charm. But now, seeing his bare face without them, Seol-rin felt as though her heart had stopped. 

His dark eyes, deep as the universe itself, and more than anything, his sharp, slightly upturned gaze had a strangely mesmerizing pull. No wonder all the teaching assistants were so smitten with him—they had no chance against this.

Unaware that Seol-rin was practically drooling, Tae-oh asked her with mild concern, 

“Can you breathe properly?”

In fact, Seol-rin’s fear of the dark had long since dissipated. But now, for an entirely different reason, she found herself struggling to breathe. 

With his piercing gaze locked onto hers, her heart pounded wildly, and she even felt a warm tightening in her lower stomach. It was the same feeling she got when watching a steamy movie.

Momentarily dazed, she responded as if entranced, 

“I can’t breathe… for a different reason, Professor…”

“Wait here. I’ll get you some water.”

Perhaps thinking she still hadn’t fully calmed down, Tae-oh strode over to the vending machine beside the sofa. Naturally, Seol-rin’s gaze followed his retreating figure.

‘Is he a model or something?’

A white shirt and black slacks. She had never seen anyone pull off the Monami (Brand) look so well. As she shamelessly admired his broad shoulders and long legs, Tae-oh turned back toward her. Pretending not to have been staring, Seol-rin quickly averted her gaze, her earlobes tinged with a faint red. Damn it, to be honest, she was thrilled.

“Here, drink this.”

“…Thank you.”

Tae-oh handed her a bottle of water, which she accepted cautiously. As she struggled to unscrew the cap, she realized her hands were still weak from the earlier blackout.

Worried that he might think she was pretending to be frail on purpose, Seol-rin’s face turned beet red as she put all her strength into it. But the bottle cap wouldn’t budge.

“Give it to me.”

Unable to watch any longer, Tae-oh took the bottle from her hands, unscrewed the cap effortlessly, and handed it back.

As Seol-rin gulped down the water he had opened for her, her heart raced as if it were about to explode. It was just a simple act of opening a bottle cap, yet it felt inexplicably sexy. She thought to herself,

This man is seriously… dangerous.

***

“Will you be able to get home?”

“Of course! No problem at all!”

Back in the lab with Tae-oh, Seol-rin waved her hands dismissively. She was worried that she might have caused a scene on her very first day at work.

‘He wouldn’t fire me, would he?’

The thought was so distressing that she kept glancing nervously at Tae-oh, clenching her fists in determination. If it came to that, she decided she’d brazen it out.

“Professor, then I’ll see you tomorrow at work!”

She deliberately emphasized the word “work.” But perhaps her worries were unfounded, as Tae-oh gave a light nod.

“Alright. See you tomorrow.”

“Really? Thank you so much!”

Seol-rin’s face lit up with joy, and she practically jumped with happiness. She couldn’t believe how grateful she felt just to hear him say, ‘See you tomorrow.’

Meanwhile, Tae-oh looked at her strangely and asked, 

“What are you so thankful for?”

“Oh, it’s just… I’m grateful for the opportunity to work.”

Though slightly exaggerated, her words were sincere. She had prayed countless times during her job-hunting days, after being rejected from hundreds of interviews, begging for just one opportunity to work anywhere.

“And, Professor, thank you for helping me today. It’s not that I’m unwell or anything… It’s just that I can’t stay alone in dark places.”

For some reason, Seol-rin began to share a past she had never told anyone before. Tae-oh silently listened to her story without interruption.

“When I was little, both my parents worked, so they left me at a daycare. The director there would lock me in a dark closet whenever I misbehaved. Even when I cried my lungs out, no one came, and I was so terrified that I fainted. That experience became a trauma, and I’ve been like this ever since. Today was one of the worse times, though… My parents cried so much when they found out later. But since there was no other daycare to leave me at, I had to keep seeing that director until I started elementary school.”

“……”

After rambling on for a while, Seol-rin suddenly snapped back to her senses. Bowing her head hastily, she apologized.

“Oh no, I’ve shared way too much… Anyway, Professor, I’m really sorry for all the trouble I caused today. I’ll work even harder from now on, so please don’t think too badly of me. I’ll be going now!”

Without looking back, she hurriedly left the lab. It was as if she were running away. Tae-oh watched her retreating figure with an indifferent gaze.

“She left first.”

This, too, was different from the other assistants he had worked with. Tae-oh nodded with a satisfied expression. At least for this semester, he felt he wouldn’t have to deal with any unnecessary trouble caused by his assistant.