Orientation

The novel's setting is an Earth in a parallel universe.

I strode quickly toward Jumi and A-jeong. At that, Ji-eun and Eun-ae finally unlinked their arms.

Jumi was already heading this way when one of the guys who'd been saying something while looking at A-jeong trailed after her and grabbed her arm.

"Let go. We broke up last month."

"Hey!! I said I was sorry."

"Hmph. Stop clinging."

Jumi shook off the arm of a guy who stood around the mid-170s and came running over.

Jumi was fine for now. I looked toward A-jeong — and spotted Emily approaching from behind her, which let me breathe a little easier.

So the International Studies department gathers in the main auditorium too…

International Studies was the track mostly filled with foreigners and overseas Koreans. Since it covered international politics, international economics, international law, and the like, it looked like they were holding orientation together with the social sciences track.

Jumi threw herself into my arms.

"Babe."

"Who's that guy?"

I glared at the one who'd come up short mid-approach and held Jumi tight.

"That's the ex I told you about — the one I broke up with a month ago."

The boyfriend she'd mentioned when I'd ordered her to answer under the Chaehyang capsule — the one she'd said she dumped a month back. I hadn't pressed further.

But he looked like a campus couple ex, and he was staring daggers at me for holding Jumi, like he wanted me dead.

Disgusting. Looking at the bastard who played the decisive role in turning her into a bitch…

The older sister of a revenge target. If she'd still been a virgin, I might have made her a slave if things went well. If she'd still been a virgin.

Anger at the man staring me down without knowing his place started to rise.

"She's my girlfriend now, so just leave."

I said it loud. Plenty of people were already looking our way, and more kept turning to watch.

"How… in just a month…"

"You cheated while we were dating. I never once said you could keep a second girl."

When he looked ready to scream out of pure spite, Jumi spun around and shouted so everyone could hear.

I kept an eye on A-jeong and Emily, and on the scrawny guy facing off with them. Thankfully, that side still looked like a standoff.

"You little…"

The reason he was this obsessed was probably Jumi's body after the physical remodeling. He'd cheated, and he'd been fine with the breakup when she asked for it — but in his rewritten memories, dumping a Jumi with this nice a body and a face that had bloomed even further just wouldn't make sense.

"She's dating me now. Just go. While I'm still being nice."

"You little—!!!"

He was solidly built, sure. But 175 cm against my 185, plus my thighs and lower body being bigger and thicker — the difference was obvious.

He huffed and puffed, checked the crowd once, then headed straight down the stairs toward Baekyang-ro. The eyes around him were anything but friendly.

"You said you had two exes. What about the other one?"

"Ah… my first boyfriend was a total loser. At a group blind date… I'm sorry, babe."

She looked up at me, reading my face. I gave a short snort of a laugh and patted her waist.

"Stay with Ji-eun and the others for now. And who's that guy?"

That one kept glancing at Emily too. I wanted to charge over right then — but I needed to know who he was first.

"A total punk. Eldest son of the vice chairman of World Trading. He hits on every girl he sees, and starting last year he kept asking me where A-jeong had gone."

"Ha… figures. No way a girl like her wouldn't have at least one guy trailing after her. Introduce Ji-eun and the first-years for now."

I looked to the side. The flag for Business G Class was fluttering right by the auditorium on the right. Among the people who looked like they belonged to Business G, about twenty of them briefly glowed blue, then the light faded.

I scanned their faces one by one. Out of those twenty, only two or three matched my taste — and those ones glowed a little stronger before the light vanished. I filed them away.

"Okay, babe."

"Ji-eun. Eun-ae. Ye-eun… go up front with Jumi and greet the seniors."

"Okay…"

Ji-eun and the others glanced worriedly toward A-jeong, then nodded and followed Jumi toward the flag.

I started walking toward them, focusing my hearing their way.

"Go out with me already. I'm the heir to World Trading."

"No. I hate guys like you the most — the ones who get all horny and keep pushing when a girl says no. Got it?"

"Hey. Just because you've got a pretty face…"

Getting embarrassed in front of Emily must have wounded his pride; his face was turning redder by the second. Emily stood beside A-jeong and watched him with open mockery.

Neither of them has an ordinary personality.

A third-year showing up to orientation in a full suit, hair parted two-to-eight, in a fashion that deliberately flaunted money and made you want to look away.

"You don't know World Trading? We're forty-second in the business rankings."

"I know. So what? With a guy like you inheriting it, the company's going under anyway."

"What?"

"I said no. Don't be gross. Get lost. You're ugly too."

Emily had been quiet until the guy, furious at A-jeong's words, stepped toward her — then she drove the knife in.

— Hahaha.

— He's hitting on her. That senior did the same to you.

— Hmph. I hated it too. He hit on Yoon-ju the exact same way back then.

My enhanced hearing pulled in so many overlapping voices that it made me dizzy for a second. I cut the hearing off and moved fast toward A-jeong.

The self-proclaimed heir of World Trading glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. A-jeong's hand was in her pocket, so I kept a close watch on that as I approached.

"A-jeong. What's going on?"

"Babe."

"What do you mean, babe?"

"Honey."

Both women ran over and threw themselves into my arms.

Kiss, kiss.

Making sure he saw it. I wrapped my arms around the waists of the two beauties openly kissing my cheeks.

"Why? What happened?"

"Nothing… I was just greeting the juniors when he grabbed my wrist, dragged me back, and held out a ring. So I slapped it away."

I followed her gaze. A diamond ring was rolling on the ground.

"What? No buildup at all, then he just pulls out a diamond and says go out with me?"

"Yeah."

Is this guy insane?

I was speechless. Jumi's conversation had given me a rough idea, but this was arrogance beyond arrogance.

He looked me up and down, wary. Our eyes met. I poured killing intent into my gaze and just stared calmly — so that to anyone else, it would look like I was watching him with indifference.

He started trembling.

"Seo A-jeong and Emily here are my girlfriends. Excuse me, but who are you to hit on my women?"

"Hit… on?"

Even as I spoke, I pulled A-jeong's arm out of her pocket. Her fist unclenched as her arm came free.

He's arrogant as hell, but this isn't a crime worth beating him down and eating the fallout for.

Of course, if no one were watching and I could guarantee I wouldn't get caught, I'd thrash him a hundred times over. But starting with Hyeong-cheol, if I kept thrashing every guy who got on my nerves one by one, sooner or later someone would catch my trail.

A-jeong looked up at me, her face full of dissatisfaction. I patted her waist to soothe her.

"Yes. This is hitting on someone. A-jeong, didn't you tell him you have a boyfriend?"

"I did. When Jumi was here, and when Emily showed up too — I said we all date the same man. Babe."

I looked at him steadily again, packing even more killing intent into my eyes.

He trembled harder. His face flushed and drained by turns. But with his legs shaking under the pressure of the killing intent, he just looked panicked. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he dropped hard onto his rear.

"D-do you even know who I am?"

"Who are you, then?"

World Trading. I'd heard the name once or twice, but it didn't feel particularly impressive. If things went according to plan, my own money would balloon massively, and with Mi-jin's connections I could probably crush them if needed.

"I'm Kim Jun-ho of World Trading!!!!"

He shouted it, face red, radiating raw fury.

I snorted.

"So what's your position at World Trading?"

"…My father's the vice chairman!!"

"So you're nothing right now, then. Do you hold any shares?"

"…"

Pinned under the killing intent, and apparently without even one percent of the shares as the chairman's grandson, he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't open his mouth. Around us, people were murmuring — most of it variations on He didn't even get shares?

A neglected kid, then… Usually you'd hand over at least a little for gift-tax or inheritance-tax reasons…

A-jeong snorted and turned away.

"What. So you're nothing? I think I saw an article about your younger sibling getting shares…"

"…You?"

His face crumpled. Sensing he might do something impulsive, I poured the killing intent on even harder. His face was red as it could get, a vein standing out on his forehead — but he glanced at the murmuring crowd and tried to stand toward them.

I eased off the killing intent.

"What are you looking at, you dogs and pigs!!! You think you're on my level?!!! I was just playing along!"

It's over. Dogs and pigs, though… I've only seen that line in a scenario from the other world…

Rage had stripped away his reason. So the way he usually thought about other people came out unfiltered.

— The public are dogs and pigs.

That line had been so strong I'd figured if I ever made the film, people would criticize it for painting chaebols too villainously. But here was an actual guy who thought of the public as dogs and pigs… Tsk.

"Enough. A-jeong. He's done. We won't be seeing him around campus."

"Holy… dogs and pigs…"

I turned A-jeong around as she muttered it.

I can write that scenario now. There are over a thousand witnesses here…

Already, thanks to this guy, two scenarios I could write without catching heat were floating up: a debauched chaebol second-generation story, and a film with that legendary "dogs and pigs" line.

The murmuring swelled.

— Insane. Is he calling us dogs and pigs right now?

— Was there even a place called World Trading?

— Hey, weren't you close with that oppa?

Especially from Business G Class, voices of pure shock kept coming. Only then did he seem to snap back to reality. When the cold eyes of the people around him fixed on him, he stumbled backward in panic and fled down the same stairs the other guy had taken.

"You're not seriously about to write that, are you?"

"Why? I'm pissed off, and I was going to write it anyway."

"First… let's set some standards. Don't just throw them around. What if someone starts tracking you?"

Time froze, and Jini's voice came through.

Hermaphroditism — people like Hermaphroditus, with both male and female organs. But why bring that up out of nowhere?

Wait… so I can just slap them on whenever I feel like it?

…So it should just be treated as a sex change, then?

Side effects?

Time started flowing again. The people who'd gathered glanced our way and drifted back to their respective groups. One cluster of eyes, though, stayed locked on us.

What a flashy initiation… We just filmed a movie… Tsk.

The people behind the Business G Class flag were still staring at A-jeong and me.

"A-jeong. If that guy comes back and hits on you again, just slap one on him."

"Huh? I can?"

I nodded. Once he turned into a woman, he wouldn't be able to hit on girls anymore… Living however I felt like was starting to sound more convenient.

"But Emily. How did you recognize A-jeong?"

"Mm. The name, and earlier I saw her from a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠distance with Jumi. I just knew she was A-jeong unnie."

Only then did the two of them, still clinging to me, properly face each other for the first time and look a little awkward.

"So I can slap one on him right now?"

A-jeong's sudden question. Just in case, I looked toward the stairs — and there he was, stomping back up, fuming.

"…Yeah."

In that moment I saw it: A-jeong's brilliantly bright smile. I snorted, shook my head, and let go of the arm I'd had around her.

"Hey!!! You little bastard. You're a first-year, right? And you talk to a senior like—"

Slap.

Invisible to anyone else, a scroll was clenched in A-jeong's right hand. The instant it touched his cheek, it flared with light and vanished.

He clutched his cheek, looking back and forth between A-jeong and me in pure confusion. Behind him, the guy who'd been hitting on Jumi earlier was standing there — but when the crowd's eyes swung back their way, he fled down the stairs.

That one was borderline. Good thing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he left…

I stepped up to A-jeong, took hold of her, and set her behind me, then faced the guy head-on. I poured the killing intent on hard. His face went pale.

"Get lost. Before you die."

I dropped my voice so only he could hear it. He jolted in shock, stumbled backward, and bolted down the stairs.

If he'd just left the first time… he wouldn't have ended up like that…