Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Securing the First Teammate
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Meanwhile, as Kang Hyun stepped out into the hallway, he ran into an awkward encounter.
Woo Si-hyung was standing right there in the hallway, waiting to meet Professor Cheon Woong-jae, following right behind Kang Hyun.
“Hey, did you just meet with Professor Cheon Woong-jae?”
“Huh? You too?”
Woo Si-hyung nodded and, without asking any further questions, tried to brush past Kang Hyun toward Professor Cheon Woong-jae's office.
“Wait a sec! I have something to say.”
“Yeah?”
Kang Hyun urgently called out to Woo Si-hyung.
He had a pretty good idea why Professor Cheon Woong-jae had summoned him.
‘He’s probably going to offer Si-hyung a spot on his team too, right?’
If that happened, it would throw a wrench in Kang Hyun’s plans. The first member he had in mind for the mock trial competition was none other than Woo Si-hyung.
Kang Hyun spoke with an urgent expression.
“It’s kind of weird to talk about this suddenly in the hallway, though…”
“What is it? Just say it.”
Kang Hyun rubbed his nose awkwardly with his finger before speaking.
“Si-hyung, wanna do the mock court competition with me? We’ve still got plenty of time, so we can prep step by step.”
“What?”
“There’s a mock court competition at Korea University. I want to enter with you. I really want to team up with you.”
Woo Si-hyung flinched at Kang Hyun’s words.
His face was half stunned by the surprising offer, half curious about why Kang Hyun was making it.
So Kang Hyun was straightforward.
“Professor Cheon Woong-jae probably called you to offer you a spot on the trial team he leads. That’s why I’m jumping the gun here. Sure, joining his team would come with some solid perks. But I really want to do this with you… What do you think?”
He said it matter-of-factly, but in truth, Kang Hyun was extremely tense.
If Woo Si-hyung turned down his offer, it would derail his plans from the very start.
‘I should’ve said something sooner…’
Kang Hyun inwardly regretted not anticipating this situation. Of course, it hadn’t even crossed his mind.
But…
“Alright, then I’ll turn down Professor Cheon Woong-jae’s offer.”
Kang Hyun’s worries turned out to be unfounded. Woo Si-hyung accepted his proposal without hesitation.
“Huh? For real?”
Woo Si-hyung’s response came faster than expected, leaving Kang Hyun looking baffled instead.
“Take your time to decide. Joining the professor’s team is definitely a great opportunity, and I know that.”
Kang Hyun felt a pang of guilt, wondering if he’d been too hasty and blocked a big chance for him. He was about to say it was fine to take more time to think it over carefully and make a rational choice…
“Nah. You think I can help, right? Thanks. Next time, I’ll make sure not to miss your bus.”
Woo Si-hyung spoke firmly, as if he’d already made up his mind. Then, he scratched his head sheepishly and added,
“Honestly, my mock trial experience is just a few school awards from when I was a kid. The rest is basically just activity-level stuff. That okay?”
In response to Woo Si-hyung’s words, Kang Hyun’s face lit up with a bright smile.
“Of course! We’ll practice together. It’ll probably be easier than the debate competition, even.”
“Cool, then.”
“Thanks for saying yes right away.”
“I’m the one who should thank you. People are gonna start looking at me differently now.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because I’m on your team.”
Kang Hyun mulled over Woo Si-hyung’s words for a moment, lost in deep thought.
First, gratitude toward Woo Si-hyung for trusting him. And the thrill of realizing people’s expectations for him were rising higher and higher!
On top of that, Woo Si-hyung hesitated, his cheeks flushing red as he continued.
“And… what you said. It was real.”
“Huh?”
“I went yesterday. To see Mom.”
The reason his cheeks were flushed wasn’t because the debate class had just ended not long ago.
He had mustered the courage, just as Kang Hyun suggested, and gone home.
“She was so happy… I haven’t seen her smile like that since I was little. I saw that expression yesterday.”
“That’s great! I was worried I’d been too rude.”
“No way! It’s thanks to you that I found the courage. Maybe I’d prepared myself mentally but was waiting for someone to cheer me on. I had my doubts…”
Taking that first step takes more courage than it seems.
He’d been trying to reconcile with his mother but had struggled with that final push—until Kang Hyun’s help got him over it.
“No, you did it all yourself. I didn’t do anything. Just delivered some kimchi.”
Kang Hyun gave Woo Si-hyung an approving, pleased look.
“Mom wants to have a meal with you sometime. Let’s go when you have time.”
“Of course we will!”
The two smiled at each other.
‘Perfect.’
Kang Hyun couldn’t hide his sense of pride as he looked at Woo Si-hyung.
In his mind, Woo Si-hyung was perfect for Bismuth. He had plenty of international competition experience and knew the vibe well.
Plus, while he didn’t have flashy, intricate techniques, he excelled at calmly managing situations, making logical judgments, quickly grasping inferences, causation, and correlations, and stably applying them.
His individual skills were solid, but he was ideal as a heavenly supporter.
It was clear he’d play a huge role in preventing the team from spiraling into the worst pitfalls when they hit roadblocks.
“Thanks. Let’s do our best.”
In response to Kang Hyun’s words, Woo Si-hyung asked,
“Just one question.”
“What?”
“How far are you planning to go?”
“With the competition?”
“Yeah. If we’re starting prep, I need to know the goal. You’re not just aiming to participate, right?”
“Obviously, the win.”
“Win the Korea University Mock Court Competition?”
At Woo Si-hyung’s serious question, Kang Hyun’s eyes burned with passion.
They resembled the fiery gaze Woo Si-hyung had shown in the debate competition.
“No, international wins.”
Kang Hyun shook his head slightly and stated it flatly.
“VIS Moot and Jessup. Winning among the monsters—that’s the goal.”
For the first time, Kang Hyun voiced aloud his grand plan: claiming the top spot as team lead in those two prestigious mock trial competitions.
Thud.
A note landed in front of Woo Si-hyung.
‘Gonna read a bit, then head to German Constitutional Law.’
Nod.
Kang Hyun set his bag down at a spot he’d reserved in the school library ahead of time, tossed the note to Woo Si-hyung in the seat next to him, and Woo Si-hyung nodded.
Even after Professor Cheon Woong-jae’s class, Kang Hyun had no time to rest.
‘Article 23 of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Law Schools. To get into law school, out of 200 total points, school grades are worth 60. Don’t wanna think about it yet, but…’
Kang Hyun’s goal was, naturally, top-of-the-class A+ grades all the way until law school admission. To enter with full scholarship, it was unavoidable.
Law study wasn’t hard for him in some ways, but what weighed on him and held him back was something else.
Law school admission wasn’t just about grades; the ‘qualitative evaluation’ mattered too. Department activities, club involvement, awards, extracurriculars—all had to be top-tier.
Compared to rivals who’d steadily built up experiences, Kang Hyun had to hustle in other areas to catch up, leaving him short on time overall.
So he filled his free periods with club and department activities, squeezing in exam prep whenever he could.
He planned to reduce credits during mock court prep, so right now, with no room to pick and choose classes strategically, he had to max them out.
That’s why he hadn’t chosen first-year-level courses but had scheduled as many as possible.
‘German Constitutional Law Seminar, Sociology of the Legal Profession, Scalia’s Legal Philosophy, Advanced Constitutional Policy, Critical Legal Studies…’
Excluding the overlapping class with Woo Si-hyung under Professor Cheon Woong-jae, most were terrifying upper-level electives just from their titles—but Kang Hyun stacked thick books in front of him and smiled contentedly.
‘I can handle it.’
Woo Si-hyung, who had settled into the seat next to him before long, blinked and whispered,
“I was wondering why only Professor Cheon Woong-jae’s class overlaps with yours—they’re all upper-level major courses.”
Kang Hyun stretched a bit before skimming a book, then whispered back to Woo Si-hyung.
“Had to schedule around credits. I’ll read quick and head to class, so hold my spot.”
“Sure.”
Woo Si-hyung nodded and turned to his own book.
Then, a glance.
His eyes flicked toward Kang Hyun for a moment.
‘Is he really that good?’
Woo Si-hyung recalled the rumors circulating about Kang Hyun.
Rumors that he was a genius when it came to legal knowledge, breezing through basic and applied law.
‘They say he memorizes statutes without even looking at the book, and he’s top-level in analysis and info studies too.’
Woo Si-hyung turned his head slightly to look at Kang Hyun and instantly knew the rumors were true.
‘Whoa… he’s reading that like that?’
Kang Hyun flipped through the thick upper-level textbook like a light novel. It looked like he was just skimming.
But there was something different about him.
He opened a notebook, pen flying across the pages as he turned them, jotting things down—maybe pulling out only the key or unknown parts in a way he could understand, or maybe just doodling.
But one thing was certain: the pen in his hand moved like it was on fire, and his expression remained utterly serene, without a hint of disturbance.
‘Does he really get all of it?’
As major textbooks piled up next to Kang Hyun—one, two—every twenty minutes or so, Woo Si-hyung couldn’t help but grow more skeptical of his bizarre behavior.
Finally, unable to contain his curiosity about whether he’d actually read them or was just messing around, Woo Si-hyung flung a note at Kang Hyun.
‘You done reading?’
‘No? When would I finish that.’
Fortunately(?), Kang Hyun’s reply was ordinary. But Woo Si-hyung still couldn’t tear his eyes away from him.
Kang Hyun felt the gaze but pretended not to notice, coolly turning pages again.
His speed-reading had gotten even smoother and more efficient; pages flew by uncontrollably, and soon enough, another book stacked up next to him in under fifteen minutes.
Woo Si-hyung couldn’t hold back anymore upon seeing him breeze through major texts packed with tough terms, even ones full of English or hanja, like they were picture books.
“Is that really studying? Did you learn speed-reading or something?”
Nod, wordlessly.
Ignoring Woo Si-hyung’s ‘this guy’s weird’ look, Kang Hyun grinned, turned back to the book to skim a bit more, then stacked five thick major texts to one side and shot to his feet.
“Be right back.”
“Already? It’s been a little over an hour and a half.”
“Yeah. All done.”
Leaving the dumbfounded Woo Si-hyung behind, Kang Hyun hurried off.