It Should Have Been Over
I shrugged my shoulders in response since I was in the middle of drinking water.
“That thing. The reward written on the whiteboard. It looked like it said something about a phone call. Was that why you stepped out to take a call earlier?”
“Yeah. That. Honestly, it was pretty weird. It was my dad’s name. The call came straight from him.”
“…Would it be weird if I asked what it was about?”
“It’s not really anything I need to hide.”
I gave Jian a quick rundown of the conversation with my dad. How the reason I was treating her to lunch was because he’d given me money to eat with a friend, and how, while we were at it, I’d learned that his test results had come back good.
“But we don’t know if it’s connected to that room or not.”
I’d deliberately kept my tone casual, but Jian’s expression had grown serious at some point.
“…Is your dad usually pretty sick?”
“He looks fine on the outside. He’s still working. But they’ve started talking about how he might need to start dialysis soon. Wait, did I go too deep with this?”
I scratched the back of my neck with an awkward laugh.
Even so, Jian had gone all serious on her own, lowering her head and muttering quietly.
There was only one other customer in the restaurant—an old man sitting at a table way off in the corner. So her voice was just loud enough that you could hear it if you really focused.
“Since you started the TMI first, I’ll tell you too… The truth is, my family isn’t doing great financially. There are a few reasons I came to this reading room, but the biggest one is that we don’t have money. I used the cash I earned from part-time work during vacation to buy online lecture subscriptions, and whatever was left, I used to come here.”
“…….”
What the hell was this atmosphere?
“Anyway, the fact that our rewards are different… maybe it’s because—”
I scooped up a huge spoonful of steamed egg, shoved it into my mouth, and answered as indifferently as I could.
“Hey. The more I listen, the more it sounds like you’re the one who still has lingering feelings. Weren’t we supposed to forget everything and be done?”
“N-no… that’s not what I meant…!”
“If you’re curious about how it works, want to go back and try it again?”
“That’s not what I’m saying! I’m allowed to be curious about what the reward criteria were!”
And then silence.
Even the old man drinking soju with his gukbap at the far corner table and the lady standing quietly behind the counter both turned to look at us with puzzled eyes at the same time.
Of course they would. Someone had just shouted at the top of their lungs in a place like this.
The moment Jian noticed the stares, she lowered her head and started fiddling with her spoon for no reason, then took out her frustration by kicking my sneakers under the table.
This time, she whispered so quietly that only I could hear.
“…You keep trying to corner me like that? Huh? It must’ve been good for you, you son of a bitch. Did you think I was going to suggest we do that shit again? Gross.”
“You’re the one who suddenly twisted the conversation.”
“See? You’re embarrassed too, so you’re changing the subject. I guess just looking at me was enough to make you think those kinds of thoughts?”
“…….”
Come on, I really couldn’t help it.
“Bite your tongue and die, you fuck.”
It was a genuinely vicious insult, but…
The person who looked more distressed wasn’t me listening to it—it was Jian saying it. Her face had turned bright red, like it was about to explode.
It was over.
We’d filled our stomachs with gukbap, and now we could go back to focusing on studying like nothing had happened.
But no matter what, the problems wouldn’t stick in my head.
If that was an excuse, then it was an excuse. Jian knew it too. Even if I forced myself to cling to a math problem, evening would come before long.
But Jian deliberately left the reading room.
Officially, it was to go to the bank.
There was no reason to walk around carrying five 50,000-won bills, right? She’d gone out of her way to create an excuse and quietly slipped out of the reading room.
> [Be back soon]
She’d only sent Hanbin a short text.
“…But is it really right for me to be teaching this guy?”
Jian scratched the back of her neck.
We’d decided not to use the whiteboard anymore and to end things there, so Hanbin could just go back to the academy. But seeing him studying at the reading room without saying anything about returning to the academy…
It made her feel strangely responsible.
Even though she thought she should help him with his studies, she couldn’t help wondering what she’d actually gained from this whole thing.
The cash she’d received from the first day’s mission—around 60,000 won.
She’d already spent all of that.
Adding the 250,000 won she’d just received as payment for the hug mission brought the total to roughly 310,000 won.
For a repeat examinee, that was a pretty big sum.
On the other hand, what she’d lost was… her dignity.
She hadn’t pathetically pressed Hanbin about exactly what he’d seen. But he must have seen everything. Her chest, her belly button, her ass—maybe even down there.
A fresh wave of embarrassment hit her, and her ears grew hot.
“Haa… This is fucking awful. Seriously.”
Jian stepped into the nearby ATM booth.
Irritably, she pulled all five 50,000-won bills from her pocket and shoved them into the deposit slot.
> Verifying bills...
> 50,000-won notes: 5
> Deposit amount: 250,000 won
> Proceed with deposit?
She immediately pressed confirm. Soon after, a notification that the transaction was complete appeared along with her new balance.
> Deposit amount: 250,000 won
> Current balance: 518,600 won
“…Five hundred thousand won.”
For a moment, Jian’s first thought was, Thank god…
She was eating breakfast at home and getting by on cup ramen or triangle kimbap from the convenience store for lunch and dinner, cutting food expenses to the absolute limit.
That was why she was genuinely grateful that Hanbin had bought her the gukbap for lunch today.
These days, one decent online lecture subscription covered pretty much everything, and for textbooks that were a problem…
She downloaded them through Telegram and had them printed and bound.
With that, becoming a repeat examinee didn’t actually cost as much money as people thought. The money she’d saved by working hard during winter break had somehow gotten her this far. But no matter how much she pinched pennies, her bank balance was bound to keep shrinking.
She couldn’t get every textbook as a PDF, after all.
Lately, she’d been thinking she might need to start weekend part-time work again. And then, out of nowhere, 250,000 won had fallen into her lap. Of course, calling it free money felt wrong when the price she’d paid was so steep.
It was compensation for doing that thing with Kim Hanbin for over ten minutes.
Slap!
She smacked her own cheek hard with her palm. Then she kept repeating to herself over and over that it was really, truly over now…
After taking a long detour on a road she didn’t even need to walk, she finally returned to the reading room.
That evening.
After finishing her studies, Jian returned home. As always, she grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower.
Today, though, she did something special—she called Hanbin before getting undressed. She spoke in a hushed whisper, careful in case anyone outside the door might hear.
The call connected right away.
"Hello?"
“Hey. The penalty is definitely over, right?”
"I… guess so?"
There was a slight pause in his answer. Then came the follow-up question.
"Are you taking your clothes off?"
Jian felt her face flush instantly and frowned deeply.
“That question was way too direct. If someone heard you, they’d think you were a total pervert.”
"…Should I just hang up?"
“I’m not undressed yet. Happy? You’re not imagining weird stuff, are you?”
"Haa… Fine. I’ll hold back."
Hanbin let out a big sigh.
That’s right. Jian had forced herself to endure the embarrassment and get a clear confirmation from him. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Hanbin, but there was always the slim chance of a “what if.”
“…This is going to sound ridiculous, but—”
"You said that exact same thing during lunch, you know?"
“Ugh, shut up. Anyway. I’m about to start taking my clothes off now, so tell me right away if you can see anything. If you can see but pretend you can’t…”
"I’ll tell you right away, so just hurry up. I’m in the bathroom about to wash up too. I need to shower and sleep soon."
“…Fuck.”
The swear slipped out instinctively.
"What? What’s wrong?"
“No, the situation is just weird. Why does it feel like we’re showering together over the phone?”
"…Want me to leave the bathroom right now?"
His voice was full of mischief.
For some reason, the feeling that she was being played by this guy made her stubborn streak flare up.
Jian pouted and answered.
“Who told you to leave? Hey, more importantly, just tell me. Are you undressed?”
"…Do I really have to say it?"
“Fuck. Put your clothes on right now. Talk after you’re dressed.”
From the other end of the line came a dull thud, like he was setting his phone on a stand somewhere. Then the rustling sound of him putting clothes back on.
"I’m dressed now, but I almost laughed at how ridiculous this is."
“…Can I start now?”
"Yeah, just hurry. I’ll tell you the second I see anything."
With her phone pressed to one ear, Jian grabbed the hem of her hoodie with her other hand. She slowly began lifting it upward.
She stopped once her belly button was visible and asked Hanbin.
“Hey, Kim Hanbin. You really can’t see anything?”
"…How far have you taken it off?"
“……Up to my belly button.”
"You’re still nowhere near done."
In the end, she had to lift it higher until her E-cup bra popped into view.
She asked again.
“Hey… You really can’t see it, right…?”
"How far have you taken it off?"
“B… b-b-b… b…”
"B?"
“I’ve taken it off far enough that you can see my bra…!”
"I can’t see anything. Don’t worry and just shower. Looks like the penalty really did end today, huh?"
“Haa… Fuck… You really saw everything, you bastard.”
"……"
The call ended there.
To cool her burning red face, Jian deliberately turned on the cold water—only to scream, “Eughyaaak!”
She barely remembered how she finished her shower. While she was still drying her hair in front of the bathroom, her younger sibling walked by and tossed out a comment.
“Were you talking to someone in the bathroom? I heard a guy’s voice.”
“……W-what are you talking about?! Why would I be talking to some guy?!”
“No, I just… thought maybe you’d started contacting your high school friends again…”
At that, Jian’s mind went completely blank.