Group Project with Strangers (2)
Group Project with Strangers (2)
[Kim Ji-ye: Good work, everyone. I'll handle the submission.]
[Lee Ji-min: Good work.]
[Yoo Seong-hwan: Good work.]
[Kim Min-ji: Good work.]
The group assignment I had expected to be full of ups and downs was finally nearing its end.
All that was left was the presentation, but the other group members had decided to find a presenter, excluding me.
Well, I wasn't aiming for a high grade anyway.
So I felt nothing but gratitude.
Oh, for reference, the presenter gets an extra 3 points added to their presentation score,
so everyone was eager to volunteer.
That meant picking a presenter without me
wasn't a nuisance to them but actually beneficial, since it reduced the competition.
[Kim Ji-ye: Seong-hwan-ssi, don't read Seong Yehwa's messages even if she texts you.]
[Yoo Seong-hwan: Huh?]
[Kim Ji-ye: That bitch, after what happened, she's been chasing after other men.]
[Yoo Seong-hwan: Heoh...]
I'm not even a fish, you know.
Did she decide it wasn't going to work out and go after some other man?
That seriously gave me the creeps.
[Kim Ji-ye: And I already let the professor know.]
[Yoo Seong-hwan: About what?]
[Kim Ji-ye: That she's a crazy bitch.]
[Yoo Seong-hwan: Ah-ha... then it's really all over now.]
[Kim Ji-ye: Just one more class and the semester ends, after all.]
It was already June, and the semester was wrapping up.
Time really flew by fast.
It felt like just the other day I went to show my face at the freshman welcoming party...
"End of the semester, huh..."
"Meong!"
Looking down, I saw Lil' One rubbing her head against my leg.
She looked so adorable that I picked her up with both hands and held her.
"You little wriggler, once the semester ends, let's have fun every single day."
"Meong!"
"But I still have exams before then, so I might not be able to play with you for a while."
"Kkiing...."
Seeing Lil' One so visibly sad made my heart ache.
Our pup is so smart, I wondered if she could read my expression and figure out how I was feeling.
"Still, I'll play with you for two hours a day, so don't hate me too much."
Lil' One lay down with her head drooping low, not making any reply at all.
I patted her head and gave a small smile.
"Huuu... anyway, with the assignment all done..."
It was about time to start the laundry.
There were so many things to do.
***
"Oh shit..."
I had come to the convenience store to buy coffee, and I almost ran into someone who looked very familiar.
It was Seong Yehwa, the person I needed to be actively avoiding right now.
"That startled me. Hmm...."
I had to go into the convenience store to buy coffee—something I couldn't live without anymore—but what was she doing over there?
Even now, looking at her, it seemed like she was hitting on some guy for no good reason.
"Is that bitch ever going to come to her senses unless she gets hauled off to the police?"
"Hey, just leave her alone. If you touch her, you'll get burned for nothing."
"Ugh... I can't help but sigh."
It wasn't just me; passersby were all talking about Seong Yehwa.
They even looked quite reluctant to be anywhere near her.
"Should I ask?"
It was a bit hard to approach people I didn't know and start talking, but how could I suppress my curiosity?
I swallowed my saliva and slowly approached them.
"Excuse me..."
"Yes? Huk.. Yoo Seong-hwan..."
"If it's not too much trouble, could I ask you something..."
"A..anything, please ask."
"I'm not sure if we'd be able to tell you what you're curious about."
Both of them were visibly tense.
Probably because a man had suddenly started talking to them.
"That person you were talking about earlier, that's Seong Yehwa, right?"
"Huh? Yes... but how do you know that, Seong-hwan-ssi?"
"Seong-hwan-nim...?"
"No, no, how do you know that, Seong-hwan-ssi?"
"I ended up in the same group assignment team as her. And then yesterday, she suddenly asked me if I wanted to go to her place."
"Wow... that's a crazy bitch, right there."
"Is she trying to mess with Seong-hwan-nim... Seong-hwan-ssi now too?"
"Mess with?"
What did she mean by 'mess with'?
Did she mean it in the way I thought?
"That woman, she's even gone to court for sexual harassment and assault."
"Her parents have a ton of money, so it all ended with settlements or fines, but..."
"Heoh...."
Hearing that truth made my head start to spin.
I thought it might be the case, and now I heard she had a criminal record.
***
"So, centering on the local community... we'll end the lecture here for today."
It seemed like time was already up, because the professor cut the class short and pulled the USB out of the computer.
She finished the electronic attendance check on her phone, pulled out her attendance book to check once more, and then walked out.
"Let's see, the time is..."
I had to receive a live seafood delivery today.
A-ra had said she wanted to eat abalone, so I went to the store to look, but the price was high and the quality was poor.
So I had purchased some live ones online that could be delivered the same day.
I packed my bag and tried to get up from my seat, but Jeong Hwan-yi grabbed my arm and made me sit back down.
"Hey Seong-hwan-a, you'd better be careful."
"What are you talking about now?"
I tilted my head at Jeong Hwan-yi's warning, which came with no context whatsoever.
Hearing that, Lee Min-ho turned around from the front and started to speak.
"People from other departments were saying it. They said you ended up doing a group assignment with some weird woman this time?"
"Ah... so that's what this is about."
I had wondered what was going on, but it turned out to be something I already knew.
I was already keeping an eye on that situation, so they didn't have to worry.
"The assignment went fine. And there's only one more class before the semester ends, so whatever."
"Hmm... still, let's stick together when we're inside the school building."
"Yeah, don't go to the convenience store by yourself."
"Alright, alright, I said."
The problem with these two was that they worried way too much.
No matter how things were, I could at least take care of myself......
"You can't."
"Kkung..."
"What on earth did you do to make your wife ask us to look after you at school?"
"She even said that?"
Was A-ra's overprotective passive starting to activate again?
No matter what, having her ask my friends to look after me was a little embarrassing.
"Ugh... it's already time for work. I'm heading out."
Jeong Hwan-yi got up, and Lee Min-ho got up and followed behind him.
Seeing them leave, I got up from my seat as well.
*
"I sent the video to the producer too..."
I left A-ra eating in the kitchen, came out to the living room, and picked up my phone.
Waking the phone with Knock-On, I saw a KakaoTalk message from a name that was all too familiar.
It was Seong Yehwa, the person of concern.
"Is she seriously a crazy bitch?"
"Why, what's wrong?"
"Whoa, you startled me."
Turning around, I saw A-ra, who had been happily eating her steamed abalone and butter-grilled [abalone] just moments ago, tilting her head behind me.
I calmed my startled heart, sat down on the sofa, and let out a sigh.
"It's because of an elective assignment."
"Hmm... is it really tough?"
"There's that, and... there are a few other reasons too."
Should I just tell A-ra?
I was worried it might blow up into something bigger, but wasn't she the one who told me to tell her about these things?
"Noona, actually..."
"Yeah."
"One of the members in my current group assignment..."
I recited everything to A-ra, starting from the day I got that first invitation.
I didn't leave out a single incident.
A-ra's face, which had been quietly listening, began to darken gradually.
Then she started to make an expression that looked a little angry.
"Yoo Seong-hwan."
"Hikkuk..... No... Noona?"
It was the first time A-ra had ever called me by my full name, so a bit of fear started to creep in.
I must have been so surprised that I even got the hiccups.
I wished she could be a little gentler with me.
"Noona told you to tell me right away if anything like this happened, didn't she."
"She... she did..."
"Then why didn't you tell me."
"I was worried you'd be concerned..."
"Did noona tell you to worry about something like that or not?"
A-ra was coming on a little strong.
Considering she was never like this normally, it was quite a shock.
She raised her voice at me.
She must have been pretty angry.
"N... no, you didn't..."
"But still, you...!"
Afraid that the enraged A-ra might try to hit me, I flinched and curled up my body.
Curling up like a mouse to avoid her—what a sorry sight that was...
But instead of hitting me, A-ra suddenly pulled me into a tight hug.
Then she diligently stroked my head.
"Were you scared?"
"Y... yeah..."
"Would noona ever hit you? You're my one and only precious husband."
Would it be a problem if there was more than one?
No, this wasn't the time for thoughts like that.
"Do you know why noona got angry?"
"Because I didn't tell you...?"
I couldn't think of anything else.
Unless I ate a lobster or a king crab by myself, I thought there was no way I'd ever be in trouble with A-ra.
"That's part of it, but do you know how bad it is to suffer all by yourself, keeping it bottled up?"
"Mm..."
"Setting aside that you told me late, noona asked you before if you had any worries."
"Yes... you did, while we were eating."
"This is punishment for not confiding in noona back then and suffering by yourself."
A-ra made a fist and planted a kkong onto my head.
I thought it would be light, but she hit me so hard that the pain lingered for a while, so I grabbed my head.
"It hurts...."
"Hearing what you said made noona's heart hurt just as much."
"I'm sorry.."
"Okay. Since you apologized, I'll accept it."
A-ra handed me back the phone she was holding, then pulled me into another tight hug.
She rubbed her cheek against mine, nuzzling and making a whole fuss over it.
"Can I kiss you?"
"Wash up first."
"Tch! Did you do something wrong today or not?!"
"I did something wrong, but that's completely unrelated."
"Che..."
She seemed to be sulking, because she started to draw little circles with her finger on my chest.
Something I had felt for a while now was that A-ra didn't seem to think showering beforehand was mandatory.
Honestly, I didn't really want other people to smell my dirty scent.