Chapter 7: Chasing Destiny
Obviously, I didn't waste a single second after receiving the information about **Ji-ah**. I wasn't going to let fate mock me again; I wasn't going to lose her a second time. But, truth be told, it wasn't that simple. How could I approach a "normal" girl being who I am? How could I do it without looking like a stalker or a madman?
It was then, caught between insomnia and desperation, that a plan began to take shape in my mind. Thanks to the agency's data, I knew exactly which faculty she studied in. I couldn't just burst into her classroom, but I could wait nearby, observe her routine, and look for the right moment when the world wasn't watching.
~•~
Days later, I ventured onto the Yonsei University campus. I was dressed in the simplest clothes I could find in my closet: worn-out jeans and an oversized gray hoodie. With my cap pulled low over my eyes, covering part of my face, I felt like an intruder in a paradise of normalcy. I walked along the campus paths, my heart racing, dodging the stares of students laughing and chatting about exams.
And then, in that instant, I saw her.
Ji-ah was sitting on a garden bench, under the shade of a large oak tree. She held a book in her hands and seemed to be at complete peace, totally unaware of the chaos her existence had caused in my universe. Seeing her there, so real and so close, made my lungs forget how to breathe.
The question kept hammering in my mind: *How should I talk to her? What words should I use so she doesn't run away?*
Just as I gathered enough courage and prepared to take the first step toward her, a group of students arrived at her side. Among them, I recognized the girl from the cafe, **Ha-rin**, who arrived hopping and greeting her enthusiastically.
—**"Ji-ah! You're finally done!"** —Ha-rin exclaimed, sitting next to her and distracting her from her reading—. **"Let's go, the cafe is waiting and I have so much to tell you about Jun-ho's new post."**
I stopped dead in my tracks, hiding behind a stone pillar. My hands were shaking inside my pockets. I had to wait for the perfect moment—a second of solitude where I could just be Min-jae, and not the idol from Eclipse.
But one thing was clear as I watched them walk away laughing: this time, I wouldn't let the opportunity pass. Fate had brought me to her doorstep, and I wouldn't leave until she knew who I was.