The first day of the second semester at Daehan University.

The campus, still holding the summer heat, was filled with the laughter of students meeting after a long time.

Guest was organizing his earphones while heading toward the Physics Department building.

"Hey."

A familiar voice came from behind.

It was Park Kisung.

The two of them hung around together with strange frequency.

But they weren't friends.

They just naturally bumped into each other often because they were in the same department and the same year.

Park Kisung always displayed a subtle sense of superiority whenever he saw Guest.

"Did you do the assignment?"

"Yeah."

"I'll admit, you sure are diligent."

Stopping for a moment, Park Kisung smirked.

"But that's all you've got, isn't it?"

Guest said nothing.

This kind of conversation wasn't new.

Park Kisung was always like this.

Subtly putting people down and then laughing it off as if it were a joke.

"I envy how plain you are."

"You seem to have no ambition."

"I couldn't live like that."

Guest didn't bother responding.

Talking back would only make it longer.

Seeing that, Park Kisung smiled inwardly with satisfaction.

He always thought he was above Guest.

In looks.

In family background.

In grades.

In the future.

He believed their futures, especially, weren't even comparable.

The reason was simple.

Han Yujin.

A childhood friend he grew up with.

And the only daughter of a family that ran one of Japan's leading conglomerates.

Park Kisung had long taken a future with her for granted.

He had never asked her out.

He had never received a confession of love.

They had never promised to marry.

But in his head, all the plans were already finished.

"In the end, Yujin will marry me."

"I won't have to work for the rest of my life."

"As expected, life is decided the moment you're born."

He believed in such fantasies without a shred of doubt.

---

That morning.

The main gate of Daehan University.

Students began taking out their phones one by one.

"Hey."

"Who is that?"

"Crazy..."

"I thought she was an idol."

Long blonde hair.

Hair that shimmered softly in the sunlight.

Clear pink eyes.

A woman wearing a neat white blouse and a long skirt was slowly entering the campus, pulling a suitcase.

Every time she passed, students' gazes naturally followed.

"She's really pretty."

"Is she an exchange student?"

"The school's gonna go wild for someone like that."

A name that was already appearing on the school bulletin boards.

Exchange student in the Department of Korean Language and Literature.

Han Yujin from Japan.

Han Yujin looked around the unfamiliar campus and gave a small smile.

"Korea... it's been a long time..."

A landscape both familiar and strange.

It was the first time she had set foot in Korea since she was six years old.

Just then.

"Yujin."

A familiar voice was heard.

Han Yujin turned around with a surprised expression.

"Kisung?"

She soon smiled brightly and waved.

"Kisung! Ohisashiburi!"

She approached Park Kisung with a look of pure joy.

The surrounding students began to buzz.

"Did they know each other?"

"I heard they're childhood friends."

"Wow... I'm so jealous."

Park Kisung spoke with a deliberately loud laugh.

"When did you get to Korea?"

"Today!"

"Exchange student?"

"Yeah!"

Envious stares poured in from all around.

Park Kisung stood naturally next to Han Yujin as if enjoying the attention.

"See that?"

"This is the difference between us."

His expression clearly showed that kind of confidence.

At that moment.

Han Yujin's gaze naturally scanned the surroundings and rested on Guest for a moment.

An unfamiliar face.

Their eyes met briefly, but neither said a word.

Guest just gave a slight nod, and Han Yujin also gave a small, polite bow before looking away.

That was the first meeting between the two.

A few days later.

Life at Daehan University had begun, but the hardest thing for Han Yujin wasn't the classes or the new environment.

It was the Korean language.

Her memories of living in Korea until age six were faint, and because she had lived in Japan much longer, Japanese came out of her mouth first.

"Professor... talking... too fast..."

When the lecture ended, Han Yujin sighed as she looked at the notes filling one side of her notebook.

The sentences, a mix of Korean and Japanese, were hard even for her to decipher.

In the end, the first person who came to mind was Park Kisung.

Lunchtime.

"Kisung."

"Yeah?"

"This... what does it mean?"

Han Yujin asked cautiously, handing him the notebook.

At first, Park Kisung explained with a smile.

"This is 'hypothesis'."

"And this is 'proof'."

"Ah~!"

Han Yujin quickly brightened up.

"Thank you!"

But the problem came after that.

Korean wasn't a language one could become fluent in overnight.

The next day.

"Kisung... this again..."

"No."

"I told you yesterday too."

"Sorry..."

"Just memorize it."

Han Yujin hugged her notebook with an embarrassed expression.

The day after that, too.

"Kisung..."

"Again?"

"Yeah..."

"Yujin."

"How many times are you going to ask the same thing?"

Han Yujin's shoulders flinched.

"Sorry..."

"If you keep this up, it's annoying for me too."

Park Kisung gave a short sigh and took out his phone.

"Try doing it on your own."

With those words, he left his seat.

Han Yujin was left alone in the hallway.

She couldn't say anything for a long time, clutching the notebook with her small hands.

"As I thought... am I really that bad at this?"

That evening.

Dorm room.

The notebook was already full of red pen marks.

She looked in dictionaries.

She searched the internet.

She re-watched lecture videos, but it wasn't easy to understand.

"Korean... is hard..."

She slowly looked out the window.

Suddenly, she remembered someone she had run into in the hallway a few days ago.

The male student who always hung around Park Kisung.

He was a man of few words, but he was the one who had quietly bowed his head in greeting when they first met.

Guest.

---

The next day.

After class.

Han Yujin spotted Guest at the end of the hallway.

She repeatedly started to approach him and then stopped.

"Can I... ask him..."

After hesitating for a moment, she gathered a little courage.

"Excuse me..."

Guest stopped walking.

"Yes?"

"Maybe..."

Han Yujin spoke cautiously, clutching her notebook with both hands.

"Korean... a little... can you... teach me?"

A moment of silence followed.

Guest took the notebook and flipped through a few pages.

There were far more parts she didn't understand than parts she got wrong.

"If you have time..."

"Let's do it together."

It was a short answer.

But Han Yujin let out a sigh of relief and smiled brightly.

"Thank you."

---

Since that day.

The two began studying Korean together in empty classrooms or the library after lectures ended.

"You don't have to rush the final consonants."

"Try reading it slowly."

"Tha... Thank you."

"Good."

"It was more natural this time."

Han Yujin blushed every time she made a mistake, but Guest never once rushed her.

"Sor..."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"You got it right this time."

Even at that one short compliment, Han Yujin's expression instantly brightened.

One day passed.

And then another.

Before they knew it, their time studying together had become a natural part of their daily routine.

They would greet each other first when they met in the hallway.

They would practice new words while eating lunch.

They would even try reading signs while walking across campus.

Han Yujin laughed much more often than before, and her Korean improved noticeably.

One afternoon after class.

Closing her notebook, Han Yujin gave a shy smile.

"Today, too..."

After catching her breath, she continued speaking clearly.

"I look forward to working with you today, too."

Guest gave a small smile and nodded.

"Sure."

"Let's do it tomorrow, too."

Han Yujin hugged her notebook, unable to hide her happy expression.

"Now, a little..."

Reflecting on her pronunciation for a moment, she smiled brightly.

"Now, I have a little... confidence."

The 'confidence' she spoke of didn't just mean her Korean.

The relief of having found the first person she could trust and rely on in a strange country was contained in that one short sentence.