Part 1
Meeting Lee Sunjoon, Part 1
[Yoonhee wants to get higher paying gigs at the bookstore, but no matter how well learned or talented "Kim Yoonshik" is, if she does not take the state exam to higher her status (not taking it equates to ...hmm, I guess not having graduating high school?), nobody will ask her to help them do more difficult homework / help them cheat on tests. Since her brother is about the age to take the exam and is unable to because of his illness, the family agrees that it might be okay for Yoonhee to go ahead and take it.]
The day of the exam, Yoonhee waits among a crowd of men for the doors of the exam site (which is the Sungkyunkwan Bicheondang) to open, but even long before the doors move, everyone is pushing and pulling (they want to get the best place to sit), and Yoonhee starts being thrown around within the chaos. Yoonhee tries with all her strength to stay close to the doors, but she can’t help being pushed farther and farther away. She is about to trip on one of the men’s ankles, and she braces herself to be trampled all over, when somebody’s hand reaches out to grab Yoonhee’s arms and pulls her towards him.
Yoonhee, even after she finds her balances, is still shocked from her almost-fall, and finds comfort in the hand grabbing her arm, even though she doesn’t know who it belongs to. Because of that hand, she is able to resist the pushing and pulling. After a while, the crowd becomes calmer and Yoonhee looks to the person holding her arm. Her eyes go to his white neckline, an then to his adam’s apple. She thinks to herself that it’s normal for men to have an adam’s apple, and lowers her head to cover her own neck, before she can see his face.
“Whoever you are, I was saved, thanks to you.”
“There’s no need for thanks.”
Even as the man speaks, he doesn’t let go of her arm.
“I-I’m okay now, so you can let go.”
“There’s no saying the crowd won’t stir up again, so it’s better if we stay like this until we can go in.”
“A-ah, but, that’s… I don’t want to bother you…”
“If we stay together, I won’t be pushed away by the crowd either. Let’s just help one another.”
Everyone else is so busy taking care of themselves, but this person holding her arm feels so different.
Even though all the other men are worked up and anxious, for some reason, this person is so calm.
His presence helps her forget that she is here to take an exam, and she becomes calm as well.
Curious as to what he looks like, Yoonhee raises her head. She herself is pretty tall but this man is so tall that even when she raises her head she can only see from his wide shoulder up to his neck.
But the crowd now relaxes and Yoonhee can reach her face up farther. She can see his face. As soon as she sees it, she is so surprised and lowers her face right away, because his face is so beautiful that her face reddened the moment she saw it, forgetting that she is dressed as a man.
“You look very young. Is this your first exam, too?”
Yoonhee is startled at the question.
“Ah, yes. It is.”
“It’s nice to make your acquaintance. It’s my first time as well.”
“N-Nice to meet you, too.”
“I noticed you didn’t bring a mat to sit on, and that’s why I thought it might be your first time.”
“That’s because I couldn’t get it, not because I didn’t know.”
