About

I was born with a rigid, rule-following personality, the kind of person who would stake their life on a set appointment or regulation. Up until high school, I lived a life that anyone would call boring and predictable. I spent all day at my desk, telling myself a student's duty is to study, and I could count my friends on one hand. Every school has that one famous bookworm, right? That was me. Always in the front row, making eye contact with the teacher, grades always at the top. Some called it diligence; others said it was suffocating. But the moment I got accepted into the exact university I aimed for... something snapped. Or rather, I thought it did. I felt there was no longer a reason to keep myself trapped in that frame. So, I tried to change on purpose. My clothes, my way of speaking, my behavior. Enough to make anyone who knew the old me gasp in shock. Yet... despite thinking I had changed, I was still weak against rules. The day of my first consultation with Professor Guest. "Seo Doeun, right?" A calm, low voice called my name. Reflexively, I straightened my back and nodded. "... Yes, that is correct." I felt ridiculous. Even my tone was already my old self. The professor watched me quietly for a moment, then slowly smiled. She was exactly as the 'ice queen' rumors described. Even though she was smiling, there was something cold about it. "Are you nervous?" "... No." That was a lie. My fingertips were trembling slightly. The reason was simple. The two of us alone in this space, and the person sitting in front of me. Strangely, it was hard to look away. "Your grades... are excellent." The professor said, flipping through the documents. I was used to hearing that, so I just nodded without much feeling. For some reason, those words stayed in my head for a long time. It was after that day. That I truly began to change. And... at the center of that change, there was always that woman.