Novelist Running Through Time

TL: KSD

There are a few self-evident truths in this world. Flowers eventually wilt, objects with mass are drawn to one another by gravity, and Gu Yu-na and Moon In are a couple.

That is simply common sense.

Even if the two of them tried to deny it, it didn’t matter. Everyone already knew, so what could they do about it? If they didn’t want this assumption, they shouldn’t have spent three years sticking to each other like glue.

Thus, the Creative Writing Department students decided to shatter Gu Yu-na’s deeply mistaken notion that she and Moon In weren’t a couple.

This was a war to defend common sense.

When it comes to upholding what’s obvious, no justification is needed.

Neither is there any need to get caught up in trivial matters.

Such as official schedules…

“What? Hey! You’re supposed to visit the Tomb of King Muyeol today!”

“We’ll be back!”

The students of the Creative Writing Department ran off, leaving behind the anguished cries of Kim, the teacher left in charge of their entire department by Park Chang-woon.

When you think about it, the choice was simple:

Pay respects at the tomb of a Silla-era Kim Chun-chu vs. Bringing together two friends who had been flirting for three years.

For hormone-driven, romance-obsessed teenagers, the answer was obvious: which is more fun?

Still, out of consideration for poor Teacher Kim, not all the students escaped. The boys stayed behind, keeping Moon In occupied with the official schedule so he wouldn’t suspect anything.

The ones who made a free escape were an elite strike team of girls.

After kidnapping Gu Yu-na and fleeing to the downtown area, they entered a shopping mall with wicked grins.

Before Gu Yu-na knew it, she had been dragged into a clothing store, surrounded by her female classmates with a bewildered expression.

Compared to her peers, Gu Yu-na was smaller in stature and had to look up at them.

Her friends showered her with verbal attacks.

“Gu Yu-na. Take that off. Right now.”

“…What?”

“Starting now, that yellow furry hoodie of yours is confiscated.”

Just as there are formulas in mathematics, there are formulas in literature.

Two youths oblivious to their feelings for each other.

An unexpected encounter during a school trip.

The sudden sound of a pounding heart…

When we label these three elements as A, B, and C, the formula A + B = C naturally emerges.

If two youths with mutual interest meet under unusual circumstances, of course, their first love is bound to begin.

It’s a formula that appears in novels, dramas, and movies. Obviously, it can’t be wrong, right?

Thus, the Creative Writing students decided to start by fixing Gu Yu-na’s terrible fashion sense.

Half of their motive was purely self-serving.

“This hideous yellow furry thing… I’ve hated it since the moment I saw it.”

“Finally, Yu-na’s going to wear something that makes her look like a proper human being!”

“Please, stop wearing that yellow hoodie all the time!”

Even though Moon In found Gu Yu-na’s yellow hoodie a bit off-putting, there had been a time during her childhood when he thought it looked cute.

But that was just the distorted perspective of a victim who lived with gaslighting- no, rose-colored glasses for 10 years.

Anyone with a normal sense of reasoning couldn’t help but loathe the yellow hoodie Gu Yu-na wore all the time.

Even her father, Gu Hak-jun, found the hoodie unbearable. He never imagined his daughter would continue to wear the same yellow hoodie even after graduating from elementary school…

Yet, Gu Hak-jun couldn’t bring himself to tell his daughter the harsh truth. Meanwhile, Moon In, being a bit of an oddball himself, only ever complimented her on it.

Thus, when Gu Yu-na was confronted with this cold, harsh truth for the first time, she wore the expression of a child who had just discovered that Santa wasn’t real.

“M-my clothes… why…?”

“The fact that you’re even asking that shows your sense of fashion has completely gone off the rails.”

Thunk. A metaphorical dagger lodged itself into her heart.

Gu Yu-na slumped over, sulking.

Thanks to that, the Special Ops Team was able to carry out their mission smoothly, hauling along the dispirited Gu Yu-na, who now moved as if she had been hit with a tranquilizer dart.

They gathered the most fashion-savvy students in the Creative Writing Department, along with their close friends from the Dance Department, to work on the task with full focus.

The class president, who knew little about fashion but had wealthy parents, willingly opened her wallet, while Gu Yu-na, having come to the harsh realization that her own fashion sense was terrible, meekly obeyed without even attempting to unleash any of her usual fierce rebuttals.

The result?

“……!”

Everyone swallowed hard as they stared at the shocking transformation before their eyes.

The blonde-haired girl who had led this ‘special operation’ was momentarily lost in ecstasy at the sight, only to snap back to her senses and murmur in a dazed voice:

“Something’s missing…”

At that moment, the notorious delinquent of the Creative Writing Department became the most passionate artist in the world.

With a sharp glint in her eyes, she found the final missing piece of her masterpiece.

The blonde-haired girl handed her own beige crossbag to Gu Yu-na.

Gu Yu-na, opening the bag slightly, tilted her head in confusion.

“…? Why would I carry an empty bag?”

“Shut up…”

Even Gu Yu-na was overwhelmed by the intensity of the blonde-haired girl’s zeal.

The moment the beige bag was draped over Gu Yu-na’s newly styled outfit, the girl who had led the operation, feeling the birth of art at her fingertips, murmured in a trance:

“Ah…”

“……”

“The perfect, most cutest girlfriend look in the world… is complete.”

* * *

Gu Yu-na wasn’t enjoying this trip.

It felt as though everyone was trying to deceive her.

Min Hyo-min’s grand claim that this would make Moon In listen to her request didn’t seem to be working at all. Instead, all it brought were reactions from others who found it amusing to watch her transformation.

Could it be that Min Hyo-min had lied to her?

It reminded her of a time during childhood, when she was around seven, perhaps, when her older sister had solemnly declared that passengers needed to take off their shoes to board an airplane. She had fallen for it completely.

Back then, it truly felt as if the sky had come crashing down.

If even family, the people you were supposed to trust the most in the world, could deceive you for the sake of amusement, then who could you trust in the future?

That contradiction was only resolved when she came to understand the concept of a ‘prank’.

Sometimes, people played mischievous tricks to build camaraderie and foster closeness.

When she tried playing a ‘prank’ on her sister the next day, it resulted in her sister going to the hospital, her mother crying, and her father getting angry. It was a terrifying and bizarre experience.

Dealing with others had always been difficult for her.

Gu Yu-na let out a small sigh.

If there was one exception, it was Moon In. But this time, Gu Yu-na was planning to make a very difficult request of him.

A request so challenging that Moon In might recoil in shock and get angry.

He might even decide not to be her friend anymore and run away.

That was a terrifying thought.

So Gu Yu-na sought wisdom from those around her, ‘normal’ people who, unlike herself, didn’t have to think too hard to interact with others naturally.

But somehow…

Following the advice of those normal friends didn’t sit well with her.

All the fuss they made about her, their flushed faces, the way they dressed her up,

It was all so unfamiliar.

The sensation of the airy fabric brushing against her skin felt strange. It tickled.

The heeled shoes delivered a stiff sensation to her heels with every step, and the purple beret perched atop her head was sweaty and itchy.

But to others, it seemed completely different.

“Th-th-this is…!!!”

Park Chang-woon, who had been loitering near the accommodations, froze the moment he spotted Gu Yu-na.

He immediately pulled out his phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to someone.

It wasn’t hard to figure out who that someone was, as a phone call promptly followed.

“Uh, Dad. What is it?”

What followed was a barrage of loud shouting and dramatic exclamations that were practically deafening.

As soon as she finished the call with her dad, Gu Yu-na had to endure another seven-minute phone call with her mom, who had also received the photo.

It felt like she had heard every compliment she could ever hear in her lifetime, all in one day. And yet, Gu Yu-na hadn’t actually done anything.

Her friends, watching this unfold, smiled in satisfaction and eagerly urged her on.

“Come on, go ahead.”

And so, Gu Yu-na finally came face-to-face with Moon In.

The gazes of expectation from those around them poured onto the two.

Soon-

“Ah.”

Moon In, who had been drinking from a can of coffee, dropped it. Covering his mouth with his hand, he ran off.

Cheers erupted from her friends, shouting “Success!” with excitement.

In the festival-like scene filled with screams and cheers, Gu Yu-na, who hadn’t understood any of it from beginning to end, tilted her head in confusion.

Why-

Why did Moon In’s face go pale?

“Yu-na! Did you see? Did you see? Moon In running away?”

“That was crazy! I didn’t think he’d react like that…”

“Did you see him cover his face with his hand? His face was totally red, wasn’t it?”

No. Moon In’s face wasn’t red.

It was pale, nearly white, as if all the blood had drained from it.

Yes.

The Moon In that Gu Yu-na saw was unmistakably terrified.

‘Why?’

Once again, she realized: understanding people’s feelings was incredibly difficult.

*****

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