Dark Matter | JJK

3. A Pair of Black Eyes

Standing in front of the entrance of Seoul National University, Petranella Gordon realized that never before had she felt so small.

The gargantuan triangular main gate stood tall amidst the spruces and cedars, its vertex seeming to touch the floating clouds and stretching up so high that she had to squint her eyes against the morning sunlight to clearly see. The structure was shaped akin to a key, symbolizing a key to the truth, the university's motto. Yellow light danced on its silver gray slants and slopes. As she walked through the gate and into the campus, her eyes scanned the numerous buses lining the pavement and students navigating the streets, animatedly chatting with acquaintances or quietly typing away on their phones.

Even after a week of attending classes there, she realized that the reality of studying in Seoul's most prestigious university would never quite dawn on her.

She adjusted the straps of her backpack and made her way towards the College of Natural Sciences, admiring the sheer enormity of the campus. There were so many buildings of different shapes and sizes that she had lost count, and memorizing the name of one establishment led to her forgetting that of the other.

The classroom was another sight to behold, the walls painted stark white and seats rising towards the rear end of the lecture hall, a smart board hanging high at the forefront. It was completely occupied save for a few of the front benches, reserved for those undergraduates who were yet to join the new academic session. Although there was no element of surprise in the noise that the classroom buzzed with before the start of the homeroom period, Petra found everyone overly-excited for some reason.

Just as she was about to settle down on her seat, a body bumped harshly into her, and she almost tumbled to the ground.

Seunghee beamed at her from underneath thick burgundy bangs, eyes bright and animated. The girl was joy personified, oozing enthusiasm and trailing puffs of energy in her wake - a social butterfly considered a friend to everyone in their year. She'd approached Petra herself on the first day, and they'd both instantly clicked over talks about their mutual love for YA literature and baking. In nutshell, Seunghee was the reason Petra hadn't ended up as the typical loner nerd of their batch yet.

"Since when did knocking your friend to the ground become the equivalent of good-morning?" Petra scowled playfully, dumping her back pack on the desk and taking a seat.

"Good morning to you too," she grinned, toying with the straps of her blue overalls and flopping down beside her.

"You appear a little too happy today," Petra observed, only to mentally facepalm herself the next moment. "You're happy all the time, really, but why does everyone look like they've just won the campus lottery?"

Seunghee waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"What?" Petra asked, the beginnings of a sly smile pulling at the corners of her lips. "Did anything specific happen last night that I should know of?"

She rolled her eyes, waving her hand dismissively. "I, my dear, remained bone dry all night, quite unfortunately. But you should see the good. We have a newcomer today. And if you don't know who that is, you obviously live under a goddamned rock."

Petra narrowed her eyes, digging her brain for clues. When the realization struck, she resisted an eye roll. "Yeah, I know. You'll finally get see the man of your dreams in the flesh."

"Tell me what he's like." Seunghee smiled a gleefully knowing smile before waving her hand before her face and speeding off towards the College of the Social Sciences.

For the past few days, gossips were on the buzz about a certain boy who was expected to arrive by practically the entire administration, for his father happened to be the university's most notable alumnus.