Chapter 157: 2nd Year
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 157: 2nd Year
It was not long after the semester had started.
Pretending to listen to the lecture, I stole a glance at Choi I-seo sitting next to me.
She was wearing a beige knit sweater that perfectly suited the fresh spring air. The wide, loose sleeves made her healthy, athletic frame look a bit more petite, which was quite cute.
As I stared blankly at her, she glanced back at me, scribbled something in her notebook, and pushed it toward me.
— What?
She seemed to have noticed I was bored.
— It’s nothing.
I told her I was just clearing my head, but in truth, I hadn't been doing much of anything lately.
Since it was the start of a new semester, everyone was busy, and things just seemed to be flowing naturally. I felt a bit like a fool for having worried so deeply, and the time I spent at Gold One felt like a distant dream.
They were my friends, after all.
Seo Ye-rin, Choi I-seo, and Yoo Ah-rin.
They were all great friends, and it felt a bit pitiful that I felt the need to keep my distance for such reasons.
Is this greed, too?
Thinking that there would be no end to this if I kept going, I let out a sigh and rested my chin on my hand.
The lecture was tedious, and Choi I-seo remained silently focused on her studies.
"Let's take about a ten-minute break before we continue."
I had been needing to use the restroom, and fortunately, the professor paused the lecture.
"Gotta hit the restroom."
"Okay."
I got up immediately and headed out. When I returned, a few freshmen were crowded around Choi I-seo.
"So, that senior—!"
"Hey, hey!"
"Ahem, ahem! Ha-yoon? Let's go back to our seats."
They seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, but the moment they saw me, they scattered as if they were running away. It was like lifting a rock and watching the ants underneath scramble for cover.
"What was that about?"
I asked as I sat down. Choi I-seo scratched her cheek with a bewildered expression.
"Your reputation is really bad."
"So they were talking behind my back."
I figured as much. Choi I-seo looked a bit flustered as she gave me a brief explanation.
"There are rumors that you have a nasty personality because you've fought with seniors so much, and that you swap through women like you're changing clothes."
"That is truly an injustice."
"……."
Choi I-seo pinched my arm and glared at me. I tried to act shameless, but it didn't work on her.
"I even heard a rumor that you confessed to three junior girls and got rejected by all of them?"
"Now that is a flat-out lie!"
I mean, I might have clashed with seniors, but I never went around confessing to people like that. This was going too far!
"Sigh, university is just a small society after all. Rumors just keep circling around."
Then, looking at me, Choi I-seo made a subtle suggestion.
"Should I tell them? That it's all nonsense?"
"You?"
"Yeah. It's not great having a bad image even with the freshmen. Besides, the seniors are going to be graduating next year anyway. I was actually going to tell them just now, but they ran away when you showed up."
"Forget it."
I considered it for a moment, but I didn't want to ask that much of her.
"It's true that I fought with seniors because of my personality, and it's... somewhat true that my history with women isn't exactly clean."
Though the part about confessing to three seniors was a total fabrication.
"Hmm, is that so?"
Accepting my answer, Choi I-seo suddenly slipped her arm through mine.
"What are you doing?"
The sudden physical contact caught me off guard, but she just gave me a playful, mischievous grin.
"I'm just letting the freshmen know they don't need to worry."
"Huh?"
"I'm telling them not to worry because I've got this bad guy wrapped around my finger."
As she pressed her body closer to mine, my heart gave a slight flutter.
"You know, like in those dramas. The trope where I tame the bad boy?"
"……Do you actually watch stuff like that?"
"I watched it with Min-ji."
Insisting she wasn't watching anything weird, she poked my shoulder with her chin. Then, her cheeks turned slightly red as she muttered in a whisper.
"Y-you're the one who watches weird things anyway."
"Weird things?"
"I don't know, don't ask."
I don't know why she brings things up just to shut them down.
"Oh, right. Hey, remember when you and Seo Ye-rin stayed over at my place?"
"K-keep your voice down! And we stayed there without you."
"Ah……."
Choi I-seo looked embarrassed, yet she didn't let go of my arm.
"Anyway. What did you guys do? Senior Ju-hee gave me an earful, telling me to keep you guys in line."
"……."
As if she knew exactly what I was talking about, Choi I-seo shut her mouth tight and turned away, pretending she hadn't heard me.
"You're not going to tell me?"
She just nodded slightly with a flushed face, avoiding the conversation. Fine, if she didn't want to talk about it, I wasn't going to pry.
The professor walked back into the room, and just as the lecture was about to resume...
"B-but Woo-jin."
Choi I-seo called out to me cautiously.
"Wouldn't... six people at once be a bit much?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
* * *
I thought I might have lunch with Choi I-seo, but she said she had plans for the freshman Mentor-Mentee program.
I was planning to just head back to the dormitory to eat, but then I got a call.
The meeting place was a PC Bang.
The person who called was Senior Han-gang.
When I arrived at the PC Bang, a place filled with many memories, I found our group of idiots huddled together. Even Chan-woo, who worked part-time here, was with them.
I thought he said he got a girlfriend. Why is he still hanging around here?
He had been so happy about dating a freshman.
Anyway, I walked up and slapped the backs of the guys who were all staring at a single monitor.
"What are you morons doing?"
"You're here, dumbass."
"You're late, trash."
They never missed a beat with the insults.
"I asked what you're doing."
I checked the screen they were crowded around and saw they were looking at an amusement park.
"An amusement park? Why?"
When I asked, Jeong Chan-woo, who looked miserable, immediately pleaded with me.
"Please, talk some sense into them. They want us all to go to the amusement park together!"
"……With this lineup?"
Are these guys insane?
I asked again in disbelief, and Pyo Jin-ho and Han-gang snapped back desperately.
"We're enlisting in a week!"
"God dammit! Is it for real that everyone is ditching me just because I'm going into the army?"
Pyo Jin-ho was one thing, but I thought Senior Han-gang had plenty of women around him.
Well, I guess that's as far as it went.
Since he only met them for fun, the feeling was probably mutual. They weren't the type of connections that would last or wait for him while he was in the military.
"I haven't even gone there with my girlfriend yet! Why do I have to go with you guys?!"
Jeong Chan-woo resisted, claiming it was unfair, but...
"Silence! Aren't you going to the army too, you bastard?!"
"We're talking about the brotherhood of dicks right now, and you're bringing up your girlfriend?!"
It was no use. These guys had lost their minds.
Ahn Hyun-ho had been silent the whole time, intensely focused on texting someone on his phone.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
This place was just a kingdom of animals.
Only a few days ago, this guy was lecturing me about Choi I-seo, and now he's already hitting on a girl who looks like a freshman.
That's the problem with these guys. They're idiots on the inside, but people get fooled because they have decent faces.
Gyu-a? Was she the freshman class rep I saw last time?
Well, whatever.
Wishing him luck, I decided to try my best to stop this amusement park plan.
* * *
I failed.
Why are they so obsessed with the amusement park?
They were making a fuss about seeing some panda eating bamboo, and I barely held back the urge to beat them to death. If only I were a better fighter, I would have ended them right there. What a shame.
Since we were at the PC Bang anyway, we decided to play some games.
"Then why did you even call me?"
While the four of them played a survival game, I was left out in the cold, staring blankly at my own monitor. It felt like a waste of the time I'd paid for.
"Anyone need a medkit?"
"Me, me, me."
"Anyone got 5.56 ammo?"
"I'm literally going to be shooting real guns in a month, and here I am shooting guns in a game. My life is a legend."
If they were going to put on headsets and only talk to each other, why did they even call me? I didn't play that game, and since it was a four-man team game, there was no room for me anyway.
……Should I just go back to the dorm?
There was nothing for me to do here. Just as I was about to get up and leave...
"Hoi?"
A woman wearing a white cap sat in the seat next to me and tapped my shoulder.
It was Seo Ye-rin, dressed in jeans and a light hoodie, smiling at me.
"Huh? Seo Ye-rin?"
"What are you doing? Did you come to play games with everyone?"
"Uh…… yeah, something like that."
I instinctively glanced over toward Senior Han-gang. Even though he was at the far end of the row, he noticed immediately and was looking our way.
"Ah, Ye-rin…… hi. Long time no see."
"Senior? I thought you went to the army?"
Seo Ye-rin asked, looking surprised.
"Ah, well, you see—"
Han-gang tried to give an awkward excuse, but...
"Senior, what are you doing?!"
"Hey, why are you just standing there?!"
"You bastard! Are you going to drop your gun and go say hi even if a war breaks out?!"
The criticism from the other three shut him up instantly.
"Go back to your game."
Seo Ye-rin responded with a kind smile. It was that professional, commercial smile she used to wear when she worked at the Gold One bakery.
"Ah, right."
In the end, Han-gang was practically forced back into his seat. He went back to the game, but he kept stealing glances our way, clearly still lingering on her.
"Woo-jin, let's play a game together!"
Seo Ye-rin suggested with a bright smile, as if the brief interaction with Han-gang had never happened.
To be honest, I didn't want to play with a Bronze, so I deliberately changed the subject.
"But why are you here? Don't you have classes today?"
"Nope, I have no classes on Mondays. Let's play."
"Aha. But I thought you hated coming to PC Bangs."
Even now, people were naturally staring because of the Bronze's looks. But the Bronze just coolly replied.
"I don't really care anymore. Log in."
If the old Seo Ye-rin had seen this, she would have been shocked. You've really grown, Bronze.
"But didn't you have a computer at home? Why come all the way to a PC Bang?"
"My mom took my computer away because I stayed out the other night. Why aren't you logging in yet?"
"Sigh."
She was talking about the time she slept in my room. I heard that Senior Ju-hee caught them and made both Choi I-seo and the Bronze sleep in her room instead.
"Log in, Woo-jin."
She was smiling, but there was a chilling edge to her voice. I instinctively swallowed hard and decided to speak my mind.
"I don't play with Bronzes."
"Listen to this Silver talk."
"Yeah, I'm a Silver, but I'm better than a Bronze."
"Are you really not going to play?"
"Nope. Not doing it."
Knowing how exhausting it is to play with that maniac, I stood my ground.
"BDE-578. It was quite a classic piece."
"……?"
The Bronze suddenly started saying something strange.
"Uehara Yui? She has so many works, doesn't she?"
This girl.
I wondered what she did in my room, and it turns out she looked through my laptop! I had nothing to hide except for my porn, and she found exactly that.
I quickly grabbed her shoulder and threatened her.
"Hey, you know that's an invasion of privacy, right? You crossed the line."
"Did we even have a line? We've already seen everything there is to see. The line was already crossed when you came in—"
"Shhh!"
If those guys behind me, who were enlisting in a week and playing a shooting game, heard that, they might actually kill me. At my warning, Seo Ye-rin continued in a low whisper.
"We were already sharing everything back when we were Anonymous 69 and the Administrator."
"Th-that's……."
True.
Back then, we even recommended product codes to each other.
"You like cosplay too, so why did you pretend you didn't? Was it DVQ-117?"
"Ye-rin! Let's play! Let's play right now!"
When I desperately shouted for us to play, Seo Ye-rin finally gave a satisfied smile and nodded. Then, suddenly...
"But Woo-jin."
"……What now."
"PSV-693. Isn't that a bit much?"
"What's that? I don't memorize every single product code."
"It was a 7P."
"……Ah, that—"
I was about to explain that it's just good to have one of those in the collection, but then...
The conversation I had with Choi I-seo in the lecture hall flashed through my mind.
‘B-but Woo-jin.’
‘Wouldn't... six people at once be a bit much?’
"Aaaaagh!"
Overwhelmed by shame, I clutched my face and let out a scream.
I'm deleting it! I'm definitely formatting my entire laptop!
I vowed to go home today and delete every single adult video on my laptop.
But after playing one 30-minute game with Seo Ye-rin...
Hmm, the videos are innocent.
I decided that deleting them was going a bit too far and put it on hold.
And after another 30-minute game...
Maybe I should just download some videos that aren't embarrassing.
I resolved to go home for the first time in a while and update my folders.