Club (1)
Club (1)
"This place is nice."
She said, looking around the shop. It was a small tonkatsu place tucked away in a corner alley near the school's back gate.
"I actually came here once with a friend the day before yesterday."
It was the place I had barely managed to escape to with Hyun-woo a few days ago to get away from the girls' attention. There weren't many people, the taste wasn't bad, and above all, it was a restaurant officially certified by the Male Student Association sunbaes.
I never imagined I'd be coming back here with the woman from upstairs.
We sat facing each other at a corner table.
"Please order."
"I'll have the Cheese Katsu."
Not a moment of hesitation. That decisiveness, picking something within a second of opening the menu. Perhaps because someone else was buying, she didn't seem to care about the price at all.
"...Boss-nim, one Cheese and one King Tonkatsu, please."
After finishing the order and pouring water, a strange silence fell.
She was staring blankly out the window with her chin resting on her hand. I couldn't tell if she wasn't fully awake yet or if she just had zero interest in me.
'...She's not even asking for my name.'
Technically, she's the one getting a free meal; shouldn't she at least do a basic background check?
But it felt awkward for me to step forward first and introduce myself like, "I'm Seol Jin-hyuk." It's not like I'm here for an interview.
Feeling awkward, I just sipped my water.
Then, as if suddenly remembering, she turned her head.
"By the way."
"...Yes?"
"Room 603-nim, what's your name?"
She's finally asking. I put down my water glass and answered calmly.
"It's Seol Jin-hyuk."
"Ah."
She let out a short exclamation and nodded.
"Ah, yes. Jin-hyuk-ssi."
"......"
"I'm Yoon Seo-ah. Class of '17."
That was it. No further questions, no curiosity. Just a dry reaction, as if she had simply input the information 'Ah, Room 603's name is Seol Jin-hyuk' into her brain.
I paused for a moment. If she's Class of '17...
"You're a huge sunbaenim. I'm Class of '20."
"Ah, really? Just speak comfortably then."
She waved her hand coolly.
"We met outside anyway, what's the point of checking the family tree? If you buy me food, you're all oppa."
It was clear that everything was a bother to her.
Somehow, I ended up eating with a woman, and a sky-high senior at that.
'...Is this actually a relief?'
Even if we're neighbors in the same officetel, it would have been exhausting if she tried to establish a hierarchy based on seniority.
Seeing as she didn't try to act superior even after finding out the guy living downstairs is a far-off junior...
This person doesn't seem to have a talent for being a kkonde.
Above all.
'It's comfortable.'
Usually, women in this world either have a sparkle in their eyes when they see me, or they're so careful they don't know what to do, as if I'll break. This person isn't like that.
She doesn't care that I'm a man; she's just someone for whom the tonkatsu in front of her is more important. That indifference actually allowed me to breathe.
I asked casually while cutting my tonkatsu.
"Sunbaenim, what's your major?"
"Life Sciences."
She added indifferently while chewing.
"...I'm a sophomore now because I returned after serving in the military. And speak comfortably."
"......"
Wow. Holy shit.
A military veteran.
My chopsticks faltered for a moment.
If she's Class of '17... roughly calculating, she'd be twenty-three or twenty-four.
Is this the aura of a reservist I've only heard about? No wonder. That hollow gaze from earlier, and her confident attitude even while wearing tracksuits with bulging knees, weren't ordinary.
So this was the vibe that comes from experience.
We finished the rest of the food in silence. She must have been truly starving because she inhaled the Cheese Katsu without any conversation.
A moment later.
"Phew."
She let out a satisfied sigh as she put down her empty plate.
"That was a good meal. I couldn't eat any breakfast. I was playing games until dawn last night."
Games. My ears perked up at that word.
Should I try asking?
Honestly, how easy is it to meet an S-Gong user in this land of Korea? Finding an S-Gong user is harder than finding a needle in a desert.
Since things turned out this way, it would be nice to have someone to play with.
I wiped my mouth with a napkin and tossed out a question.
"By any chance, what games do you play?"
"Hmm..."
Her gaze wandered through the air. She hesitated for a moment as if it was difficult to say.
"Um... S..."
"?"
"...No, Rel."
Just now. I definitely heard an 'S' sound.
Seeing her quickly change her words made me certain. She's cosplaying as a normal person.
Well, it's true that the social gaze is a bit stinging to proudly admit you play S-Gong anywhere. I understand that feeling.
She took a sip of water and asked.
"What games do you play?"
I didn't hesitate. There was no reason to hide it.
I looked her straight in the eye and said very clearly.
"S-Gong."
I was proud.
Of the fact that I am a 'Restorance' walking through the Storm of Time and Space. Of the fact that I love that ambitious piece of crap game that others point fingers at as a dead game.
Because there was no reason to hide it.
"Oh, really?!"
Yoon Seo-ah's eyes widened. It was the most vivid expression I had seen all day.
"...Yes. Well, yeah."
I asked back indifferently, pretending it was nothing.
"But do you know it? It's a game with so few players that more people don't know it."
"Yeah. I play that too."
She nodded, brightening up.
"There are so few people that I usually play other games more often... but that's still the root."
Was it the joy of meeting a comrade? She pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it out.
"Give me your BattleTag. Let's add each other."
"Ah... yes."
I took the phone reflexively and entered my ID.
[ TimundoNaeGyehoek#13... ]
When I finished entering it and handed it back, she gave a satisfied smirk.
"Let's play together later. Give me a carry."
"I'll try."
Leaving the restaurant, I cheered inwardly.
Now, look. Who called S-Gong a dead game? Who mocked it as a shelter for the socially maladjusted?
If you play Storm of Time and Space, you can pick up girls.
...Even if that girl is the reservist noona from upstairs who hits her desk at midnight.
Anyway, it works.
.
.
.
We parted ways coolly in front of the restaurant.
"See ya. See you later."
"Yes, goodbye."
She waved her hand half-heartedly and went on her way.
Looking at her back, I suddenly tilted my head.
'...Wait, did she not see my nickname?'
I definitely entered it into the phone myself. She had no reaction even after seeing that glorious ID, [TimundoNaeGyehoek].
Does she not remember? Or could it be that she can't match that 'super pro Dark Knight' she played with yesterday to this dorky freshman in front of her?
Well, it doesn't matter either way. She can just be surprised later when she finds out.
My steps back to school were light.
Even though it was a connection made by chance, she's a more comfortable person than I thought.
She doesn't treat me as a 'rare male' like other women in this world, but just as a 'person' to 'person' without hesitation. That indifference was actually comforting.
The break time was almost over. It was time to return to reality and attend my major class.
I spotted a familiar face in the hallway in front of the lecture hall.
"Oh, Jin-hyuk! Over here!"
Park Hyun-woo. My precious classmate who watches my back in this harsh female-dominated engineering school, and my soul duo.
"Hey, hurry up. There are no seats."
Hyun-woo called me urgently. As I opened the lecture hall door, a wave of heat and loud noise rushed out.
"......"
I'm screwed. The prime spots were already taken.
The corner back seats, behind the pillars, and even the sweet spots by the window had long been occupied by diligent students.
'Ah... I hate the very front more than anything.'
Hyun-woo and I stood awkwardly like lost lambs. Gazes were pinned on us from everywhere.
"Oh? There's Seol Jin-hyuk."
"Park Hyun-woo is next to him too."
"There's a seat here..."
Several female students gestured while tapping empty chairs.
But I hesitated to go. If I sat squeezed in there, it was obvious I'd have to endure a barrage of interest and questions even more intense than the professor's lecture.
It was then.
Far away, in the very back row of the lecture hall, someone raised their hand high.
A white hand beckoned toward me.
"Hyun-woo, Jin-hyuk! Over here!"
It was Shin Ga-young.
She was smiling brightly, pointing to two empty chairs next to her.
'...Nice.'
Securing a back row seat. Plus, sitting next to Shin Ga-young, whom I know, is a hundred times better than being squeezed between total strangers. She helped me study yesterday, and we even exchanged numbers.
Above all, since she's the class rep, she'll probably look out for me more if I'm next to her.
I poked Hyun-woo in the side and moved my feet.
Step, step.
During that short time crossing the hallway to the back seats, stinging gazes were pinned all over my body.
"Ah, what..."
"I guess Shin Ga-young saved the seats."
"Wow, she's taking both of them for herself?"
Small whispers could be heard. Sharp voices, unclear if they were filled with jealousy or envy.
I pretended not to notice and just walked forward, but a strange worry bloomed inside me.
'...I mean, I'm fine.'
I can just go my own way. But Shin Ga-young is different.
In this distorted society with a 1:9 gender ratio, she's hogging two male classmates, the most decent ones at that, all to herself?
This is practically a declaration of war.
'...Is she going to get backstabbed later?'
That invisible power struggle unique to female-dominated societies. I can already hear people calling her 'fox-like' or saying she's 'abusing her power as class rep.'
Honestly, I have some idea of my own standing. I know what position a man holds in this world.
I like it because it's comfortable, but I was a bit concerned that knives might fly behind that brightly smiling face.
Well, if she says she'll handle it, there's no reason for me to stop her.
I tried to shake off the uneasy feeling and pulled out a chair to sit.
"Thanks. For saving the seats."
"It's nothing. Sit down quickly."
Shin Ga-young just beamed, completely unbothered by the surrounding gazes. I couldn't tell if she had a strong mentality or if she was just oblivious.
Looking at that bright face, I mocked myself.
'...Ah, right.'
Come to think of it, my mystery concept. Where the hell did I sell off my image as a chic, silent outsider in just one day?
...I don't know either. What was that again?
Thinking about it, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse.
The fact that no one even knows I had such a grand concept. Because it was strictly my own private setting.
'I should set a new concept. What should I go with...'
Soon the professor entered, and the class began.
I rested my chin on my hand and stared at the blackboard.
Blurry eyes. My focus wasn't on the writing on the board but on chasing the dust floating in the air.
It was a desperate energy-saving mode to endure the aftereffects of the Storm of Time and Space that lasted until dawn yesterday.
While enduring like a zombie, the end of the class approached before I knew it.
Tap, tap.
Someone nudged my elbow from the side. When I turned my head, Shin Ga-young was leaning toward the desk and whispering.
"Jin-hyuk-ah."
"...Uh?"
"The next hour is a break, what are you going to do?"
Her eyes sparkled. It was a look of pure certainty, as if she didn't doubt for a second that I would be with her.
"Ah... I'm going to go check out a club."
"Where?"
"A male club. It's called Utopia."
At that name, Ga-young's gaze dimmed slightly. She seemed to sense it was a place she couldn't follow.
"Ah... if it's a male club, it can't be helped. Okay, then I'll hang out with the girls."
"Yeah, sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
The conversation ended cleanly. Saying only what needs to be said and parting coolly. It's the method I prefer most.
I tapped the shoulder of Hyun-woo, who was busy organizing the notes he had taken.
"Hey, let's go."
"Huh? Is it over already?"
Only then did he adjust his glasses and start packing his major textbooks. He had even written down the professor's jokes throughout the class, and his hands were nimble as he packed his bag.
"Come out quickly. If we dawdle, we'll get blocked again."
We hurried out the back door as soon as the professor left.
If we missed this timing, the hallway would be packed with crowds, and it would take ages just to get out of the building.
Thus, we arrived at a building in a corner of the campus. We headed toward the place a sunbae had told me about, whether it was 'Utopia' or 'Jot-topia.'
The 4th floor of the Student Union building. The very inner corner.
And the moment we arrived at our destination.
"......Wow, shit."
A curse escaped my lips.
There are so many women.
The hallway was packed. It was swarming, with no room to step. I definitely heard it was a male-only club.
That old door surrounded by that crowd seems to be the Utopia club room, based on the circumstances.
What kind of Utopia is this? It's a Dystopia.