Freshman Kang Ha-neul: The Golden-Busted Junior (20, Has a Childhood Friend ♥)
"Ahhh!"
I took a long, refreshing pull and slammed the 500cc beer mug down on the counter.
We were sitting side by side at the counter of a Japanese-style skewer joint, and the moment the draft beer arrived I knocked it back in one shot.
If not for that pretty face, the whole vibe would have been pure middle-aged man energy.
"You like it that much?"
"Of course I do! Chicken skewers after a workout? Always the absolute best! Heaven on earth!"
Ha-neul polished off the sauced skewers with pure mukbang enthusiasm, chomping away like it was the greatest meal of her life.
Today, same as always, she was in her department jacket and jeans. Whether she stuck to this look outside of gym clothes or simply owned nothing else, her casual outfits never changed—plain and simple. Her looks alone more than made up for it.
There was something raw and unpolished about her, like an uncut gem no one else's hands had ever touched. That only made her more appealing.
This was our third private drinking session.
To lower her guard, the first night I had her drink just one glass and sent her home. Same on the second night.
Some guys snatch up a freshman on the very first round of drinks while she's still warm and tipsy. Sure, that works sometimes—but experience had taught me that rushing only raises the odds of failure.
All through college I never yanked the fishing line taut. When a delicious catch finally swam into range, I never did anything suspicious that might scare it off. I always gave the prey time to fill its belly and relax.
"I really enjoyed the drinks, sunbae!"
So today I let her go again.
I had Ha-neul cheerfully empty three mugs of draft beer, stuffed her full of side dishes, and released her back into the wild.
"Um… S-Seo sunbaenim!"
But she didn't head straight home this time.
On the lively university night street she dragged her sneakers and hovered, reading the mood.
"Sorry for freeloading every single time! …N-Next time I'll treat you!"
Apparently the free meals had left her with a guilty conscience.
From my end the financial hit was about 0.0000001 percent.
"Forget it. I don't want to freeload off a junior anyway. You said you're living on allowance, right? I know exactly how thin your wallet is."
"Ah, ahahaha…"
"Just get home safe. Want me to give you cab fare?"
"Nooo way! The bus is plenty. See you!"
Ha-neul bounced off into the night with her usual energy.
If she wanted, she could clean out the entire restaurant and I wouldn't care. I already knew she would repay me with her whole body someday ♥
"Heh heh, so she got free drinks again yesterday, she says!"
Ha-neul was already on her third round of bragging about free booze.
"That so…"
"Hey, hey, why's your reaction so lukewarm?"
Today was a liberal-arts class.
Seo Junhyuk sunbae had skipped, so the two of us were paired up and just chatting.
Lately Junhyuk sunbae's name kept spilling out of Ha-neul's mouth more and more. Every time I heard it, it grated on me, but not knowing would have been even more frustrating, so I let her ramble. I kept my notes neat and only flicked her the occasional glance.
"Nothing weird happen?"
"Huh? Weird how?"
"Just… you know…"
I trailed off. Ha-neul's lips curled into a sly grin before she burst out laughing.
"Haha, you dirty-minded bastard! I swear he's not a bad sunbae at all. He's not even expecting anything in return when he treats me."
"That's even more suspicious. No matter how popular a sunbae is, buying drinks for a junior every single time? Both the treating and the freeloading feel off, don't they?"
"Hmm…"
She drew out a long, unimpressed hum at the criticism, then said,
"I feel a little bad freeloading… but I am giving him free personal training, you know."
"So you're just paying with your body? …Sure you are."
"Hmph."
She made a lame excuse and sucked up the last of the coffee she'd grabbed from the café that morning. Then she idly scanned the clear window and murmured, almost like the wind was carrying the words away,
"If you're that worried, you should just come too…"
"…"
It was a soft, almost sulky aside. I pretended to be buried in my studies and let the whisper drift past with the breeze from the window, just like always.
"Sunbae, you're amazing! You're improving by leaps and bounds again today!"
"That so."
I was pretty sure the proper four-character idiom was "ilchwiwoljang," but I let it slide.
I racked the barbell and sat up on the bench-press machine.
Ha-neul's PT help was pretty… no, insanely useful. Even when I was wiped, her energetic buffs from the side kept my pace better than before. Sharing tips had given me new routines, and my muscles felt like they were splitting and packing on denser than ever.
I wiped the sweat off with a towel, feeling good.
"All thanks to my excellent coach. Whew, seriously glad I came with Ha-neul~ Free PT doesn't get better than this."
"No way! I'm the one who should be thanking you. Honestly I'm the one deeper in debt… hehe."
"What, because of the free drinks?"
"Th-That too, but…"
I teased her and she flailed. I was enjoying her trademark raw reactions when she flashed those white canines in a bashful grin.
"If I'd come alone I definitely couldn't have handled it. Something would've happened and I probably wouldn't have lasted three months…"
"Huh? Why?"
"I'm not… being self-absorbed or anything, but when I come alone… weird guys kind of flock to me."
"Ah."
Instant understanding.
Living with that body, Ha-neul must have fielded countless approaches. Especially in a gym reeking of testosterone and packed with guys, it was inevitable.
"Geun-seok used to be right next to me so it was never a problem… but having you here instead is a huge relief!"
"I see…. Still, can't really be helped, can it?"
"Huh?"
"Ha-neul's just too pretty. Guys can't leave you alone."
"W-What?! D-D-Don't say things like that!"
Her hair practically stood on end as she freaked out. The reaction was so cute I patted her shoulder and stood up.
"Anyway, glad I could help. All right—shower and meet me downstairs right after."
"Yes sir! Sunbaenim!"
My junior had started following me around like a puppy. We were getting closer at a nice, unhurried pace, and I was glad for it.
Shhhhh…!
"Whew!"
I finished up in the men's shower. I roughly toweled my hair and headed out to the first-floor entrance, but Ha-neul wasn't there.
She always washed at lightning speed and waited downstairs. Maybe she was taking longer today. Then, about twenty paces away, I heard voices.
"Whoa~ You're seriously stacked."
"That department jacket—○○ University, right? Hell yeah, I'm an alum too!"
"How about it? Us senior alums are grabbing a drink nearby. We'll treat you."
"Uhh… well, I mean…"
"Hey, hey, what's with the speech?"
"The more I look the cuter you get."
"No, it's just that…"
Ha-neul was backed against a fitness-center pillar, boxed in by two guys. Her resistance to men was so low that even her refusals were pathetic. Dragging the conversation out only gave them more openings.
Weird places for a junior to attract hands…
I had no choice but to step in myself.
"Hold up a second."
"S-Sunbaenim!"
"Huh?"
"Sorry. She's taken."
"T-Taken?!"
I walked over and casually draped an arm around Ha-neul's shoulders. Her spine went ramrod straight, so I gave her a light tap from behind to tell her to relax.
Then I pulled her snug against me, showing her off to the next thug, and tugged the corner of my mouth up.
"Surely you respected senior alumni wouldn't keep hitting on a much younger girl who already has a boyfriend, right?"
"…"
I'm pretty tall. Alone I'm already enough of a threat. And since I was still in gym clothes—a tank that looked dangerous with a light jersey draped over it—my pumped biceps peeked out just enough.
"…Tch."
"If she's got a boyfriend she should've said so."
They grumbled and vanished, kicking a streetlight on the way just to vent.
"Seriously, people like that the second they hear there's actually a boyfriend…"
With this type you don't need to act tough. Stay calm, try talking, and if that fails just show the body. Clean finish.
Once the hunters disappeared down the dark street, Ha-neul squirmed in my arms.
"Um… sunbaenim,"
"Yeah?"
"You said… girlfriend?"
"Ah! Just a lie to get rid of them. Sorry. Did that bother you?"
"No no no! It's not that it bothered me—more like if I really were your girlfriend I'd probably just drag you down…"
"How would you drag me down? Landing a girlfriend like Ha-neul would be pure luck from the heavens."
"What?!"
It came out because I meant it.
If I actually got a girlfriend of this caliber I'd have to drop to my knees and thank every ancestor. In a past life I must have saved not just a country but the entire Asian continent.
Of course, with the insane money I now had, I figured I'd probably saved a parallel-world Earth from alien invasion or something.
"…"
Anyway, once I voiced the opinion, Ha-neul's face went tomato-red. She fell silent and just stared up at me blankly.
"Ha-neul?"
"D-Drinks! Let's go drink! Sunbaenim!"
"Uh, yeah, sure."
"Drinks! I need drinks right now. Drinks!"
"Hey, come with me. Wrong direction."
I grabbed the flustered Ha-neul and we headed to our usual Japanese skewer place.
Glug glug glug!
"Hey, hey, you okay?"
Ha-neul was slamming drinks way harder than usual. I must have hit some button without realizing it—right from the start she stacked draft beers and went full throttle.
Every time a new round arrived she one-shot it. That insane pace lasted a solid thirty minutes.
"I'm fiiine…! No matter how much I drink I never get drunk…!"
"Uh, your tongue's already twisted."
"This isn't twisted… it's just… hic! Uuunn."
"Hey—hey?!"
Ha-neul suddenly collapsed onto the table. She curled up like a cat, using her cozy department jacket as a blanket.
"For real…"
I had no choice but to move her to a seat and lay her down, then wait. But no matter how long I waited, she didn't get up. When I spoke to her she just babbled and swatted my arm like I was annoying her.
I killed time on YouTube, but the already-late night clock hands raced ahead, and soon the shop was about to close at dawn. I stood up.
"Well… nothing else for it…"
"Mnyam mnyam…♥"
I let out a short laugh and a quiet victory smile slipped out.
Guess we're heading to a motel like this ♬
I didn't even know her home address, so there really was no other option. I'd planned to take things nice and slow, but this was force majeure. If God exists He's watching from the sky, so I'll call Him as my witness.
"Finally done…!"
I flopped backward from the low table in my one-room with a big stretch.
The report was perfectly revised and midterm prep was locked in. To keep the scholarship I needed the grades, so managing them from freshman year was essential.
"She got home safe after the workout, right?"
Usually around this time Ha-neul would message first on KakaoTalk, but when I checked my phone there was nothing today.
Our one-rooms were less than two minutes apart, so sometimes she barged in unannounced to game and leave, but she hadn't shown up tonight.
Well, it wasn't like we met every single day, and no news is good news, as they say.
Still, just in case, I tried calling.
Beep… beep… beep…
"Not picking up…"
The signal went through but she never answered. After waiting a long while I hung up.
"I'll just talk to her tomorrow."
It was pretty late. I figured she'd gone home happily drunk and crashed.