it’s a monday afternoon and danbi is lounging on her sofa, watching as tiny specks of dust dance in the shaft of midday sunlight coruscating through the windows. she’s been in this position ever since she got out of bed an hour ago— flat on her stomach, head resting in her palms and her restless mind wandering all about. the annual masquerade ball is coming up, and as events assistant for the community centre, these days danbi has been finding herself running all around to get things settled for the event. it’s the first slow day she’s had in a while, and it’s only because she managed to finish all the work she currently has on hand.
normally, people would be glad to get a day off like this and spend their time resting, or even do something productive like clean the house. but she isn’t just ‘people’, she’s danbi. the word ‘rest’ is synonymous with ‘boredom’ in her dictionary, her mother sends maids over to clean her house, and she has absolutely nothing to do when she’s cooped up at home like this.
luckily for her, there’s one person in hwang geum that always has the time to entertain her nonsensical whims, and he’s only a short drive away. a grin of impish glee spreads across her face as her thoughts settle on him and danbi whips her phone out of her pocket, tapping hurriedly on the screen to send him a quick text message.
⭢ your class is ending soon, right?
⭢ i’m on my way there
⭢ you’d better not have any plans 😠 cancel them if you do
⭢ nothing more important than hanging out with your favourite person! 😜
before a reply even comes, danbi’s already on her feet and out the door, practically jumping into the bentley convertible her parents recently bought as a reward for getting her driver’s license. she knows the way to hwang geum university all too well, despite not being a student there, because she visits almost every other day. really, at this rate, she should have just gone to university.
fifteen minutes later, she’s parked beneath the university’s business school, sending yet another text to her best friend.
a piercing chime sounded from his jacket’s right pocket, causing him to stir slightly. his eyes remained shut as the sound fades away into the lecture theatre, the monotonous rambles from his business ethics professor vanquishing all other sounds in the room. a second chime sets off within the next second, hauling him out of his little nap. he heaves out in frustration, eyes still shut and hoping to dive back into his semi-slumber — he was going to need this shut-eye to pull through tonight’s date with hyejin. his brows furrow in annoyance when the third chime came, this time, catching the attention from old mr lee.
“whoever’s phone that is, I suggest you switch it off or leave the room.” he remarked.
wang kai peeks out into the lecture theatre with squinted eyes, still adjusting to the glaring florescent lights. ugh— it must hani again, what does she want this time? he silently laments, his right hand slipping to his pocket and swiftly flicking the silent mode button.
the next chime came as a muted vibration and he dips his head down to unlock his phone under the stowaway table. he scans the four new text messages that pop up on his screen, eliciting an eye roll and silent groan from him. his gaze darts to the time on the top of the screen — class ends in thirteen minutes. ok, make that twenty — considering how mr lee is still droning on about corporate ethics.
he leaves the messages read and unreplied, slipping his phone back into his pocket. he looks up at the projector screen for the second time that day, meeting the displeased gaze of his professor along the way. shoot, he knows. wang kai cracks a puckish smile, cocking his head to the side almost as if to say “oops, sorry, I guess?”
fifteen minutes passed and just as he had expected, mr lee was on slide seventy-eight and still unfortunately, going strong. he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, tapping the screen to read the new message. he puffs out his cheeks and looked around the hall to plan his escape. to the right, turn and I’m out. he waited for the unsuspecting professor to turn his attention back to the slides before he slid off his seat, grabbing his unopened textbook and scooting out of the freezing theatre.
wang kai jogs down the stairs and spots the familiar convertible. he catches sight of the jaunty female behind the wheel and breaks into smile masked with a scoff.
“don’t you have work today?”
