Jingi expressed his thanks first. Since it was suspicious, he just wouldn’t drink it. Then, the man smiled slightly and lowered his eyes.
“How old are you?”
“What? M-me?”
Asking for his age all of a sudden? “Choi Jingi” kept biting and releasing his lip nervously. Since the man seemed to be waiting for an answer, Jingi glanced at the door and swallowed again. ‘If it gets weird, I’m running.’
“E-eighteen… sir.”
“I guess I’m the hyung, then.”
Question marks filled Jingi’s head. He threw the paper towel in the trash and bowed slightly to the man, intending to leave.
However, the man stepped closer, grabbed Jingi’s wrist, and scanned him from head to toe. He tapped Jingi’s stiff shoulders and laughed. “You’ve got a good build.” The man smiled with satisfaction. Jingi felt his breath hitch.
It didn’t seem like a religious pitch—so what was this?
“You know, I like you… can I get your number?”
“W-what?”
“Where do you live? Wow, you’re really handsome.”
Silence hung for about three seconds. When Jingi blinked, the man pulled out his phone, opened the keypad, and thrust it aggressively toward him.
‘Crap, what is this? Is he crazy? Asking for my number? Why? For what reason?’
“Punch it in.”
“Uh…”
With trembling hands, Jingi typed in a random number. After handing it back quickly, he wiped the sweat from his palms.
“It says it’s an invalid number? Give me your phone.”
“Ah, that… I-I left it at my desk.”
“…”
The man, who had checked the number immediately, lowered his eyebrows with a dull expression. He pouted as if he were truly hurt and rubbed his eyes.
‘Wait, is he crying? Why?’
Jingi stood there, frozen, before twisting his wrist out of the man’s grip and bolting out. A cold sweat broke out. He had no idea what had just happened or what the situation was.
Fearing the man might follow, he hurried straight back into room 3-A. His heart was pounding. In his 22 years of life, he’d never experienced anything like this; his head was spinning. It was more shocking than the reincarnation itself. He sat back down blankly, his mind racing with what to do if he ran into the man again.
As he sat down and placed the coffee on the desk, he felt Joo Unyoung glance at him.
“Were you thirsty?”
“Huh? No… some guy gave this to me.”
“Who?”
“Some stranger.”
‘I shouldn’t just throw it in the trash, right?’ He decided to go to the restroom later, dump the liquid, and recycle the bottle. Remembering how he’d been scolded once in his past life for not recycling properly, Jingi meticulously peeled the plastic off the Starbucks bottle.
Joo Unyoung, who had been watching him silently, suddenly tapped Jingi on the shoulder.
“Jingi.”
“Yeah?”
“Give that to me.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Can’t I have it? Give it to me… please?”
Jingi blinked a few times at the slightly aegyo-infused voice. Before he could react, Unyoung snatched the bottle away with a curved, smiling gaze.
In the split second Jingi gasped, Unyoung went to crack the seal. Panicking, Jingi grabbed the bottle back with both hands. Judging by the popping sound, it was definitely new, but he was terrified there might be sleeping pills or something inside.
“Why?”
“No, it’s just…”
Joo Unyoung gripped the bottle tightly with both hands and stared intensely at Jingi. One of his eyebrows arched in clear displeasure.
“I mean, just in case… don’t drink it. You shouldn’t just drink something a stranger gives you.”
Unyoung’s eyes narrowed. He looked Jingi up and down, then claimed he’d be the one to throw it away, taking the bottle back. He placed it on the desk next to his seat, making it awkward for Jingi to try and take it again.
‘Is he sulking because I snatched it when he wanted a sip? Was he that thirsty?’
Jingi hesitated before looking back down at his workbook. ‘How can he be so naive? What if something really was in there?’ He couldn’t focus on his studies, worried that Unyoung might take a gulp when he wasn’t looking.
‘Right, it’s because he’s this naive that he gets kidnapped in the original story.’ If someone on the street told Joo Unyoung he had a “clear soul,” he’d probably stand there listening until cultists dragged him away and scammed him for “prayer money.”
Come to think of it, taking things from strangers really was dangerous.
Weren’t there always urban legends around exam season about “cheering coffee” given out at school gates? Even aside from that, there were plenty of terrifying stories about people being kidnapped after eating food offered by suspicious vendors.
Jingi’s heart raced. He spent a long time watching Unyoung, terrified he’d suddenly pass out or start clutching his stomach in pain. It was only after ten minutes of Unyoung not touching the drink that he felt relieved, but he still kept his head low, worried the man from earlier might come inside.
A significant amount of time passed. Getting bored of solving problems, Jingi was flipping through some TOEFL English vocabulary he’d stuffed into his bag when Joo Unyoung tapped him.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Ah, I’m starving.”
“I told you to let me know. Let’s go get lunch.”
Jingi started to nod but stopped. The man from earlier popped back into his mind.
What if that guy was still out there? What if he asked for his phone again? He remembered how the man had checked the number on the spot and persistently asked for his device.
His heart thudded. To make matters worse, that news article from the morning surfaced in his brain.
‘Why did he give me coffee? He’s not even a girl… why would a guy give another guy suspicious coffee and demand his number?’
The urban legends he’d been imagining began to overlap with the man’s voice. As the memory of the morning news returned, the ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ background music started playing in his head.
A scene from the original novel flashed by. Even then, a strange man had approached Joo Unyoung, saying he was pretty and demanding his number. While Jingi had stepped away for a moment, the man had twisted Unyoung’s wrist with a chilling voice.
‘“You’re pretty.”’
When he’d read that scene, he’d complained to Kim Hyeyeon, asking what the hell it was, but she was too busy cackling. ‘“A stalker in broad daylight? Is this a kidnapping? Is this a horror novel?”’ he’d ranted. She’d promised to delete it before publication!
Jingi sat in his chair, blinking blankly.
‘“How old are you?” (Are you young enough?)’
The eyes that asked that seemed to flash grotesquely in his memory.
‘“I guess I’m the hyung, then.” (You’re just a kid.)’
‘“You’ve got a good build.” (Your organs must be healthy.)’
At that part, the man had licked his lips—exactly like a predator eyeing its prey. His reddened earlobes were surely evidence of his excitement at the thought of a “full stomach.”
‘“You know, I like you… can I get your number?” (It’s risky to do the job here, so I’ll contact you later.)’
‘“Where do you live? Wow, you’re really handsome.” (If you live close, I’ll have to lure you further away. You’ve got a good face and a good build, so your organs should be in good condition.)’
An empty restroom, quiet surroundings. The approaching man had been triumphant, while he, despite being tall and well-built, had just frozen up.
The man had thrust his phone out in a place where someone could have walked in at any moment. Jingi’s mind turned bright red, as if the white restroom was being stained with blood.
‘“Punch it in.” (I wonder how much I’ll get for this one.)’
And the man had checked the number immediately. That persistence to make contact. The way his eyebrows drooped when Jingi said he’d left his phone behind… that was definitely a criminal’s signal that he was figuring out how to snag this “bag of money” he didn’t want to lose.
