Extra Story - 3. Destined Encounter (2)

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The pace of her steps walking across the campus was neither fast nor slow, just like when he had seen her before. Occasionally, a breeze would carry the scent of the female student that Jun-woo remembered.

The early autumn night was neither hot nor cold, perfect for walking. The campus at ten o’clock at night was filled with the chatter of a few students passing by and the chirping of insects.

He could have overtaken the female student or walked beside her in just a step or two, but Jun-woo followed her aimlessly, wondering what his first words should be. Also, he didn’t dislike the time spent walking behind her. In fact, he liked it.

However, a sense of impatience began to grow in him from the moment he saw the main gate in the distance.

Was this something that Jung Jun-woo, the eldest son of the mighty Yeongwon Group, should be agonizing over like this?

Just as Jun-woo ended his hesitation, increased his stride, and quickly closed in on the female student from behind, she suddenly stopped walking. Jun-woo couldn’t stop his momentum in time and bumped into her.

“Ah!”

He looked at the female student who had bounced off him in surprise.

He was usually fit since he didn’t neglect exercising. The female student staggered weakly and touched her forehead.

“I-I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

He tried to support the female student while apologizing, but she coldly brushed away Jun-woo’s outstretched hand. And with a rather sharp voice, she looked up at Jun-woo and demanded, “Excuse me, why are you following me?”

“Huh?”

“I saw you from the library earlier. The drink too, that was you, wasn’t it?”

“Ah.”

He felt suddenly caught off guard. All the words he had prepared had evaporated and flown away. Jun-woo momentarily lost his words and could only stare down at the female student, stammering.

“If you’re planning to do anything harmful to me, stop right now.”

“Huh?”

But what the female student was saying was strange. He had expected her to ask if he was interested, but now she was treating him like a criminal.

“No, I think there’s been a misunderstanding...”

“Isn’t it stranger not to be suspicious when a stranger offers you a drink and follows you on a dark road?”

“Ah...”

Now that he thought about it, his shadow cast by the streetlight extended far beyond the female student. At 190 cm tall, having inherited his father’s height, Jun-woo was a noticeable figure even among men.

On the other hand, the female student looking up at him and questioning him was of average height, slightly over 160 cm, but her frame was unusually slender.

He might have been terrified just encountering him in an empty alleyway. That’s how much the difference in their physiques was incomparable. He even thought that if he used force, the female student might be dragged away without even being able to scream.

“It’s a misunderstanding. I actually, I’m interested in you...”

“I’m sorry. I can’t believe you. So please don’t follow me anymore.”

The confession he had agonized over for weeks was rejected outright.

Jun-woo was speechless as he watched the female student’s back as she turned and walked away.

From childhood until now, thanks to his parents’ consideration, Jun-woo had grown up without being exposed to the media. Even when he attended elementary school in Korea, and when he went to middle and high school abroad, his parents tried their best to ensure that it wasn’t obvious that Jun-woo was the son of the Yeongwon Group.

During his immature childhood, there were times when he didn’t understand why his parents did this so much. Especially when he saw children from wealthy families showing off and acting pretentiously.

As he got older, Jun-woo fully understood his parents’ intentions.

He became grateful for having spent such a valuable childhood, growing up among friends as an ordinary student.

However, now, Jun-woo was pondering his identity more than ever.

‘What should I do? Should I call Secretary Kim from here? How do I prove that I’m not a weird person?’

The female student was walking so fast that she was already far away. Jun-woo briefly stopped thinking and started running to catch up with the female student.

“Excuse me, please listen to me. I have something to say!”

Jun-woo ran with all his might. But the female student seemed to be running even faster than him. He barely managed to catch up right behind her and spoke from behind, but the female student didn’t even turn around.

“I don’t want to listen!”

“Ah, excuse me!”

Just then, the light at the crosswalk in front of the main gate flickered, about to change from green to red. While Jun-woo hesitated for a moment, the female student crossed the crosswalk like the wind and went to the other side of the road.

Jun-woo also entered the crosswalk following the female student, but the light quickly turned red. Looking across the street with a sense of futility, he saw the female student also looking at him from the other side. She was bent over at the waist, catching her breath, as if she was out of breath.

“Ha, really.”

Jun-woo stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded as he looked at the female student. He was upset that she had misunderstood him as a strange person, but he was even more frustrated that he hadn’t been able to clear up the misunderstanding.

The female student’s figure appeared and disappeared among the cars passing on the road. And then, at some point, she vanished completely.

Still, he thought he could just go back to the library tomorrow or the day after.

But the female student had moved her spot, and he couldn’t find her in the Business School library after that. He couldn’t find her in the general education class where they had first met either.

Contrary to his parents’ words that they would meet again someday if they were meant to be, Jun-woo didn’t meet the female student again until the end of the semester.

Jun-woo eventually returned to the United States with a sense of emptiness.

________________________________________

[5 years later.]

Having completed his degree in the United States and served in the military in Korea, Jun-woo secretly joined Yeongwon Electronics, the largest affiliate of the Yeongwon Group, as a regular employee.

Jun-woo took the company bus to the new employee training center like the other employees. Whether the HR department had done a thorough job of keeping it under wraps, no one knew about Jun-woo’s identity.

Entering the assigned room, Jun-woo greeted the group members he would be sharing a room with for the next four weeks.

“Hello. My name is Jung Jun-woo.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, Mr. Jun-woo. Um, do you remember me? I’m Jung Han-chae, we met during the interview.”

“We’ll be roommates. Please take care of me.”

“Likewise.”

The group members he would be staying with seemed nice. There was even someone he had interviewed with, so adjusting to the unfamiliar place wasn’t difficult.

Of course, the training center building itself was familiar to Jun-woo.

Before the training center was built, this place had been used as a villa site by Yeongwon. Perhaps thanks to the memories of often coming here to play as a child, the surroundings of the Yeongwon training center, built in the middle of the mountains, also felt familiar.

“Mr. Jun-woo, let’s go eat.”

“Yes, let’s.”

Following Jung Han-chae down to the cafeteria, Jun-woo was casually looking at the people lining up in front of the cafeteria when he was struck by a strange feeling.

It felt like a scene he had seen somewhere before.

“Mr. Jun-woo, were you looking too?”

But Jung Han-chae, who was standing beside him, whispered to Jun-woo, holding out his food tray.

“Huh?”

Turning back, unsure what Jung Han-chae meant, Jung Han-chae smiled and said, “Aren’t you looking at Ms. Jin Yu-an over there?”

“Jin... Yu-an?”

“Yes. She was the most talked-about person in this new employee recruitment, right? Ms. Jin Yu-an.”

Jun-woo, who had been casually agreeing while turning his gaze to where Jung Han-chae was pointing, froze. It was a familiar back view, one he had truly never forgotten.

Something that was trivial, something that could have been dismissed as just a happening he experienced when he was around twenty, he had often recalled it. Was it because they were destined to meet again someday after all?

Jin Yu-an.

Hearing her name, which he had only learned after a full five years, Jun-woo laughed in disbelief.

“Why is she famous?”

Taking his food tray and sitting down at a table, Jun-woo casually asked Jung Han-chae about Jin Yu-an. Encountering her at the new employee training center meant that Jin Yu-an had joined Yeongwon as an employee.

Whatever Jin Yu-an’s background was, it also meant that she was now within his grasp.

“Ah, Mr. Jun-woo is from overseas, so you might not know. She even appeared on a gifted children’s program when she was young. I heard she speaks about eight languages. Anyway, she couldn’t skip grades because of her parents, but I guess she used to sneak into university classes to audit them in high school. She’s a bit of an unusual person.”

Oh ho. Look at this.

So, if he calculated her age backwards, there was a high possibility that she was a high school student when he had encountered Jin Yu-an.

“Um, Mr. Han-chae. Sorry, I’ll get up first.”

As Jin Yu-an stood up with her food tray, Jun-woo left Jung Han-chae behind and quickly followed her. He couldn’t let her go like this, not after meeting her again after five years.

“Ms. Jin Yu-an.”

Jun-woo only caught up to Yu-an, who was quickly leaving the cafeteria, when she reached outside the building. Her fast pace was the same as it was then.

“Yes. What is it?”

Yu-an looked back with a puzzled expression, as if she didn’t recognize Jun-woo. Yu-an quickly looked at the employee ID card hanging around Jun-woo’s neck and then looked up at Jun-woo again.

It was the same situation as five years ago.

Overlapping memories of the past made Jun-woo suppress a smile that was about to break out.

He hadn’t realized it until now, but he seemed to have been eagerly waiting to meet this woman without even knowing it.

“I wanted to tell you my name so you’d remember it. It’s Jung Jun-woo.”

“...Ah, yes.”

Yu-an nodded, looking somewhat awkward at Jun-woo’s sudden self-introduction. Jun-woo pondered what to say first, then, recalling what Jung Han-chae had just said, he started, “I was a longtime fan of Ms. Jin Yu-an. I really wanted to meet you.”

Jun-woo carefully continued the conversation as he walked with her towards the dormitory building. He felt like he had finally fastened the first button correctly.

His parents’ words that people who are meant to meet will meet again somewhere and continue their predestined relationship were true.

Jun-woo thought that tonight, he should call his mother and tell her again the story about the girl he had fallen for at first sight, a story he had left unfinished before.

<Possession> The End.