Chapter 193: Orientation
The novel is set on Earth in a parallel universe.
"Owner!!!"
Smack.
Click.
The car door opened, and A-jeong and Jumi climbed inside.
I had ordered Yuri—who had been cooking naked in the living room—to go wake A-jeong, then washed up, come back down, and waited in the car first.
"Sleep well? Jumi, human mode. You know to be careful with titles outside, right?"
"Yes, Owner."
"I'll just call you Ian-ssi."
"Fine."
They owned plenty of luxury clothes, yet both had chosen light T-shirts, jeans, and coats. I avoided jeans myself—too painful when I got hard—so I wore cotton pants and a matching white T-shirt.
"Owner… is it really okay for me to sit here…?"
Jumi, looking uncomfortable, had taken the back seat behind the passenger side. I snorted a quiet laugh and nodded.
"What else am I supposed to do? I want to drive, and A-jeong wants the passenger seat. If it's that bad, just slide in behind me."
"Yes… Owner."
Vrrr-grrr.
The engine turned over, the twelve-cylinder power plant shaking the whole car. We left the residential complex and gradually picked up speed.
"A-jeong. Commerce G class? What are the people like there?"
"Huh? Everyone's nice. Jumi, the first-years… no, they're second-years now—how about yours?"
As if anyone wouldn't be nice to you…
Being kind to a beauty was basically a man's inescapable fate. Even at Jumi's level, guys would practically hand over their livers and gallbladders; at A-jeong's level there was nothing left to say.
"Ah… our class is pretty average. But the kids from Daewoong Foreign Language High tend to cluster in G class, so there's a pretty active inner circle around them and a lot of people who feel left out. Class participation is low, club membership is high."
"Hmm… clubs. Not sure we'll have the leisure to enjoy that kind of romance."
I gave a short laugh, glanced at A-jeong, then returned my eyes to the road. Her expression had hardened; she simply nodded.
Only Jumi failed to catch the meaning and asked back,
"Huh?"
"Nothing. And your clubs—did you hear anything?"
Both A-jeong and Jumi shook their heads. Apparently they had focused on class activities or simply never joined anything.
"Um… Owner?"
"Yeah? What is it, A-jeong?"
Just as the traffic at a Gangnam intersection was starting to irritate me, A-jeong spoke up.
"Are you going to say we're campus couple?"
I snorted. The women were being unusually soft today—Jeong-mi earlier, now A-jeong. I reached over and stroked her hair. She closed her eyes, savoring the touch.
"Of course. I'm not going to hide the women who actually go to school with me, including Jumi."
If I get Su-jeong too… well, two or three, it's all open dating either way…
"Thank you, Owner!!! Even someone as lowly as me as campus couple…"
Jumi's voice floated from the back. In the rearview mirror her face had bloomed even more brilliantly—probably the body remodeling. She looked like a gorgeous flower.
"You'll be having sex with me in other departments' bathrooms, at Cheongsong University, empty lecture halls. Still grateful?"
"Yes!!!! Um… I'm not wearing panties today. Because you said before that you'd have sex at school."
"What? Haha. Okay. But you brought a pair just in case, right?"
She nodded, face flaming red.
Then A-jeong tightly clasped my hand.
"Me… me too. In the bathroom… outdoors is a bit much, but I want to try the bathroom."
Once the masochist switch flips, A-jeong starts asking for it herself…
"Yeah? Heh… what's so hard about that. Okay."
Polygamy might draw envy, but the legal protections were strong, and that itself could become part of the appeal. Any woman who approached me would already be open to it, so I wouldn't even need the usual persuasion work.
"Anyway, it's pretty far, huh?"
We had left at 7:30, twenty more minutes had passed, and we still hadn't even seen the Han River. Only sighs drifted toward A-jeong. We finally passed Bongeunsa and turned onto Cheongdam Bridge.
Even without traffic, parking and everything takes an hour… do I really have to waste two hours on the road every day?
"A-jeong, you loaded a bunch of clothes in the trunk—planning to come again tomorrow?"
She shook her head vigorously. She already knew I was heading to America, so I had asked; both she and Jumi—who I hadn't even asked—shook their heads.
"Jeong-mi called and said to leave clothes at her villa just in case. She said during lectures or exam periods it would be inconvenient to keep going back and forth."
"That makes sense. Ah!! Jumi, you said the second- and third-years put together about half the first-years' schedules, right?"
"Yes. To help people in the same class get closer, four courses are registered through the student council."
I nodded. When I looked at A-jeong she gave a shy little smile.
"Um… I still have some required electives left. Let's take the remaining ones together."
"Yeah? Okay. Which ones haven't you taken?"
"Understanding Film and Understanding Nature."
"Two? Okay."
Film I could guess. Understanding Nature sounded like some science course. I nodded. Jumi, having already filled her electives, stayed quiet.
"Um… I have to retake… Foundations of Psychology. Is it okay if I register for the same class as you, Owner? It's a class first-years take together, so I was worried I might get in the way when you're picking up girls."
"Do whatever. But if there's a pretty girl, you actively support me. Got it?"
"Yes!!! But Owner, this time Commerce G class is putting Foundations of Psychology under Professor Jang Hye-jin… she's an incredible beauty in her twenties. Not as good as Lady A-jeong, but they say she's Jang Ye-jin's younger sister…"
"Jang Ye-jin—the one from The Last Farewell?"
Jang Ye-jin had been a representative star of the nineties. Her acting had been a bit lacking, so she mostly did high-teen films and light romantic comedies, but her looks carried everything. She had never quite matched Hye-rim or Hyeon-jin in skill, yet her flashy type of beauty had made her hugely popular with teenagers.
"Yes. That Jang Ye-jin."
Somehow, unlike my future self, I seemed destined to get tangled up with the entertainment world in all sorts of ways. A professor, though… after already taking a teacher, the idea of taking her didn't bother me at all.
"Hmm… having a professor or two at home wouldn't be bad, right? Especially from the psychology department… Jumi, spend the semester getting close to that Hye-jin woman."
"Yes, Owner. There's a rumor she's a lesbian… so maybe professors will come running one after another. At Yeonseo University a few departments are clearing out older professors who are retiring, so there are a lot of young ones now."
"Heh… quantity doesn't matter. They have to be pretty."
We kept chatting until the car left Gangbyeonbuk-ro and turned toward Gwangheungchang Station. The clock read 8:32. We had arrived too early; once we hit Gangbyeonbuk-ro the traffic had vanished and we made good time.
"We're early. It starts at ten…"
"Owner, don't park at school… use the public lot and let's walk through Sinchon. We can grab coffee at Stellabucks. There's also a place near the main gate that makes great shaved ice."
Shaved ice in the middle of winter… well, I don't care either way.
"Hmm… Jumi, don't you need to get there early?"
"No. I'm a third-year, so the second-years handle the prep."
I nodded.
I remembered the underground public parking lot at Sinchon five-way. Originally I had planned to park at Jeong-mi's villa or just pay and use the school lot next to New Millennium Hall, but I decided to follow A-jeong's suggestion.
Walking like this drew every eye.
I was in the middle, A-jeong on my right and Jumi on my left, both clinging tightly to my arms. The two women were broadcasting so hard that anyone could tell the three of us were dating; neither men nor women looked at us kindly.
"Once school starts we'll keep getting these stares."
"I don't care."
A-jeong even rested her head against me. Jumi nodded too, and I could only snort a laugh.
We entered the straight boulevard that led directly to campus, and A-jeong pointed.
"Coffee's over there. The Orange Sherbet shaved-ice place is across the street and further down."
"Coffee. We'll save the shaved ice for summer."
"Okay."
A green-and-white two-tone sign; beyond the glass almost every customer was a female student. When our eyes met they stole glances, but mostly they shot envious looks at A-jeong and Jumi.
It wasn't me they wanted—it was pure jealousy of those two faces.
Holy shit…
On the entire walk here I hadn't seen a single one, yet inside the shop five faint blue lights flickered above heads and vanished. I scanned them quickly, but their looks were mediocre at best—Jumi's old level if I was being generous.
So that means they're from our school. The ones who look young are probably freshmen.
The window seats were full, so we took a round table inside. Jumi shrugged off her coat, proudly displaying her newly enlarged E-cup breasts.
Bounce.
The white T-shirt looked ready to burst; a black bra peeked through faintly.
"Babe! What do you want?"
I had told them they could use whatever titles they liked outside, so she called me babe.
"Hmm… I don't like sweet stuff, so iced americano."
"Jumi, I'll have an iced café mocha."
"Okay. A-jeong café mocha, babe iced americano… um… can I get a caramel macchiato?"
I nodded.
As long as my own body didn't have to eat the sweet things, it was fine. I already knew women liked sugar; I had no desire to force my tastes on them too.
Jumi pulled a red wallet from her coat and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans. That was deliberate. With a ridiculous 41-inch hip and an ass so plump it looked ready to explode, she wasn't showing off a wallet—she was showing off her own rear.
A-jeong had already removed her black coat and folded it beside her. She wasn't at Jumi's E-cup, but her D-cups still made the white T-shirt strain and rise just as dramatically.
She rested both elbows on the table, chin in her palms, and simply gazed at me with a soft smile. She looked so cute I reached out and stroked her hair again.
"Ian-ssi, it feels like a dream. Walking through Sinchon as campus couple with you, same school, same department and everything."
"Same for me. But not the same department yet."
Originally I had planned a double major in business and law. Knowing the structure and rough concepts of law would make life a little easier for someone who was basically an orphan. Now, because of what would happen in two years, I wanted to look for something more comfortable.
"Huh? You said you were going for business."
"I was… but I heard group projects and everything are brutal. I have to think about two years from now, so I'm looking for an easier major."
"Hmm… then go for economics, Ian-ssi."
"Economics? Sounds fine."
"Yeah. They don't have many in their twenties, but lots of early-thirties professors. In the lecture hall you could…"
A-jeong lowered her voice from the word "lecture hall" onward, afraid someone might overhear, then gave a sly little smile.
"What, you want to whip a professor?"
I leaned all the way in and whispered against her ear. Her eyes went hazy and she nodded—then suddenly startled and lightly slapped my shoulder.
"No. It's not like that…"
"Yeah, yeah. If any of our school's professors become slaves, I'll give them all to you."
"I said it's not… you're so mean…"
I snorted and leaned back in my chair—only for the three women at the next table to whip their heads around in surprise.
How the hell did I even attend school? Was I so horny I never actually went to class properly?
Blue lights shone above the heads of the women who looked like freshmen. These weren't the weak glows of the others; they were almost as strong as the mermaid girls I had seen at Gaeseong.
Even just those three plus A-jeong made four. I was starting to wonder whether I had ever actually attended classes or just spent my time meeting women.
Hmm, cute though.
More cute than beautiful, faces that looked around 150 cm tall.
A-jeong's eyes flicked behind me; I heard footsteps approaching, the soft slosh of liquid—Jumi returning. At that moment the women beside us slowly turned their heads this way, staring blankly at her.
Thud.
"Babe. Here's your iced americano."
"Thanks, Jumi."
"No problem."
"And A-jeong's café mocha…"
She handed us our drinks, then stirred her own caramel-colored coffee that looked sweet enough to rot teeth just from looking at it, stuck in a straw, and took a long pull.
Shudder.
Just imagining it was too sweet, so I put my lips to the straw in my own cup and sucked. Bitter coffee filled my mouth, along with its faint aroma.
Something suddenly occurred to me; I leaned to the ear of Jumi, who still wore a smile from the sweet drink.
"What would coffee mixed with rabbit breast milk taste like?"
Her face flared red.
"Once the semester starts I'll squeeze some and carry it around."
She whispered it into my ear with an embarrassed expression.
Maybe I shouldn't have told her to empty everything this morning. Jeong-mi had probably already arrived and was turning it into ricotta cheese by now.