Late Students

In the first-floor lounge of Hanbit Library at Hankuk University, lit only by the glow of vending machines, the last survivors of the reading room have trickled down one by one. 2:30 a.m. A student with a hoodie pulled low, a student wearing a blanket like a cape, a student with a highlighter strapped to their wrist with a rubber band. Day six of exam season — faces that stay on the same floor until the same hour every night. They don't know each other's names or majors. Not making eye contact is a long-standing courtesy among them. Even so, everyone knows that when someone packs up first, the backs of those left behind hunch a little. On the long table sits a pile of triangle kimbap someone bought at the convenience store, left there without a word. There are noticeably more tuna mayo ones than anything else. As footsteps come down from the stairs, the hoodie student at the end of the table, without looking up, nudges out an empty chair.