The Fate Of The World Is In My Hands, But All I Want To Do Is Eat! - Chapter 444

Chapter 444: This land called home

As I walked past, the voices were so loud that even if I shut them off, I could hear them so clearly,

“Whoa, who is that handsome hunk?”

“He’s so hot. Do you think he goes to our school?”

“As if we wouldn’t have heard of it by now if there was someone that hot going to our school.”

“Then, is he a new professor?”

“No way, he looks too young…”

“Look at that car! He must be loaded.”

“But… Didn’t someone just get out of the car?”

“He could be an alumnus.”

The talks were unnecessary. Completely unnecessary.

I ducked my head, quickening my steps, and praying the ground would just swallow me whole before anyone connected me to him, and maybe hide the things I had done that day.

But as I walked further, my steps slowed down as a thought swiftly crossed my mind.

‘How… How did he know the direction to my school when I hadn’t even told him about it?’ I stopped and then turned my head to glance at the direction of the car. ‘And how was it that he dropped me in front of my department when I never told him what I studied?’

Tae-Hyun leaned casually against the car. His eyes never left me no matter how much the distance between us widened, and that damned smirk tugged at his lips as though he ‘wanted’ everyone to know that he was here because of me.

I gritted my teeth, as my stomach churned with a mix of fury, confusion, and shame. Whatever. Someone probably told him about it.

I turned and kept walking, increasing the gap between us even more until I slipped into the crowds and got away from his line of sight.

I hurried into the lecture hall with my head bowed low, clutching my bag tighter than ever, and then picked a favorable seat.

I was still about an hour early before the lecture started, so the hall had just one or two people present.

I felt I could finally catch my breath in this silence and bowed my head, resting on my bag and feeling the heat crawl up my face.

I… I don’t like the fact that I’m so vulnerable towards Tae-Hyun.

How do I toughen up?

Soon after, more people started walking in and their topic of discussion was oddly too familiar.

“Ferrari, did you see?”

“He was tall, broad-shouldered, and definitely looked like a model.”

“Ooh, I wish I had been there.”

“His picture is all over the faculty page, so you can take a look there.”

What? Did she just say his picture was on the faculty page?

“Who was he dropping off? Did you notice?”

This didn’t feel good at all.

What if someone had taken a picture of me as well and noticed I was related to him?

I quickly went to the faculty page, and I don’t know if I should be relieved, but there were no pictures of me. All of them were Tae-Hyun from different angles.

This should be fine.

I placed down my phone, pressed my lips together, and held my hands together in front of my face, as if trying to pray that all of this was nothing but my imagination.

Still, it didn’t go away no matter how desperately I hoped for it to.

It was useless.

The lectures ended, and I let out a breath of relief. I was able to pay attention to an extent, but this wasn’t good. I couldn’t afford to have my attention divided like this.

Students were already chattering again, shoving books into bags, and pairing up to leave but I took my sweet time going over my notes and the parts that I had missed due to my attention suddenly drifting towards the whispering chatter of my course mates.

When I finally stepped out, the taunting talks I had tried to run away from sprang up like spring leaves once again.

“Did you see the Ferrari guy? He’s so hot.”

“He’s probably the talk of the entire faculty right now.”

“He had to be here for someone, right? Imagine dating a guy like that.”

“I swear I saw him smile at someone, but I couldn’t tell who.”

“What do you mean who? He was definitely smiling at me.”

“Dream on.”

I gritted my teeth and picked up the pace, walking faster, as if that would muffle the whispers around me.

This was my fault.

Why didn’t I realize it then when I saw the new car my mother had probably bought for him? Why didn’t I think that his car…that damned car….would attract all this attention when he would drop me off at school later?

Now there was a mess, and I was right at the center of it. Hopefully, no one notices.

I turned a corner, only to stop short as I came face to face with a chattering crowd, and in the center of them was Duck-Hwan.

Duck-Hwan looked like he had been having a fun conversation and looked like his usual cheeky self with his hands in his pocket and his smile broad as ever, but as soon as he saw me, his posture stiffened and he turned solemn.

“Ha-Joon-ssi,” he called softly.

“…Sunbae?” I called cautiously.

“Duck-Hwan, isn’t that the Hoobae you’ve been hanging out with these days?”

It seemed like he talked about me a few times.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”

“Well, alright.”

They walked past, smiling at me and I lightly bowed my head out of respect for my seniors.

Once they were gone, I turned to Duck-Hwan.

“Do you have anything to say to me?” I asked, wondering why he left his friends.

This wasn’t one of his usual attempts to get close to me, was it?

He looked up at me then, meeting my gaze with something heavy behind his eyes.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he said, with a low and deliberate tone.

My brows furrowed.

Was this about last night?

“It’s about last night.”

The pit in my stomach suddenly deepened.

He stepped closer, his voice steady even though his shoulders looked tense and his eyes were wavering.

“I want to apologize for what I did when I was drunk.” He said and it looked like he didn’t plan to make up an excuse for it. “No matter what, I shouldn’t have done what I did, even if I was upset, so… Let me make up for it.”

I looked at him and the uneasiness he was showing. It looks like the reality of his actions hit him hard after he sobered up.

He might look fine but I could see the dark eye bags underneath his eyelids

He was equally exhausted so let’s not push this further.

“You don’t have to apologize. I already forgot about it anyway. I said and attempted to walk past, but he stopped me, his hand holding on to my arm with a light yet firm grip.

He knew that if I just walked away now, he wouldn’t be able to bring this up again next time and I would listen.

“Please,” he pleaded, his tone and gaze softened with guilt. “Let me make it up to you. If not… I…”

He was doing this for himself, as far as I was concerned. If he didn’t get to make it up to me, he wouldn’t be able to act like he did in the past, like we’re on good terms.

Even if I say it’s fine, he would insist because his peace of mind mattered in this pursuit as well.

He needed to get his own peace of mind.

I sighed.

“Fine then, how do you plan to make it up to me?” I asked and his face lit up.

“I… I’ll treat you to dinner. A fancy one.” He said and I had a feeling this was just him trying to get a date with me.

But since I promised I would have dinner alone with him so this works out fine.

“Sure,” I said. “What time?”

As soon as I asked that, his face lit up. He was filled with both relief and excitement.

I guess a dinner with me meant so much to him.

If I liked someone, would I be this excited over a simple dinner with them?

As I thought of this, my mind couldn’t help but visualize a candlelit dinner with Tae-Hyun, grinning at me as he sat with his legs crossed.

Ah, no.

I immediately shook my head.

Why would I think of that? I can’t have dinner with him. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with dinner but that kind of setting… It’s just too weird. Like a real date. Do I want to date Tae-Hyun?

“Are you okay?” Duck-Hwan asked, noticing how dazed I suddenly became and I shook it off, squeezing my eyes as I tried to recall what we were just talking about.

“I… I’m fine.” I said and clicked my tongue. “Um, about that dinner, can we have it tonight?”

One more reason for me not to go home on time.

“Alright,” Duck-Hwan answered but then his face flushed. “I… I have to leave right now.” He said and turned around, looking frantic. “I have so much to prepare for.”

I watched him flee and then sighed.

Apparently, this is what my life has come to.

I feel so sorry for myself but let’s cheer up. The world isn’t ending anytime soon.