Course Registration (2)
Course Registration (2)
"Got it."
The moment the server clock hit 2:30 exactly,
the course registration server opened, and I began adding my preferred electives to the cart one by one.
I'd picked up a honey tip that major courses could be taken later even without seats,
so I consulted a chart with well-placed times for required electives and general electives,
selecting each one in turn.
First, Introduction to Masculinity Studies.
Only two sections had been created, so the moment it opened, I searched for the course number
and slotted it into the Monday 3rd and 4th period blocks.
Next, Japanese on Tuesday 1st and 2nd periods.
English, also on Tuesday 3rd and 4th periods.
My policy was to carve out at least one extra free day, even if it meant sitting through 9 a.m. classes,
so I lucked into time slots most other university students would loathe.
"Ah! It's full..."
The last class I chose, a heavily philosophical lecture called 'Life, Death, and Religion,'
had filled up in an instant.
It was an elective that sounded genuinely intriguing just from the name, and I really wanted to take it.
I also liked that it was pass/fail credit.
Left with no other option, I clicked to register for 'History of Eastern Culture,' offered at the same time in the lecture hall right next door.
Eastern culture... history isn't so bad either.
I may not look it, but before common sense between men and women got turned on its head, I quite liked historical dramas.
Finally, I looked up my major courses individually and placed them where they fit.
Exactly as I'd aimed for, there were no elective classes on Wednesday or Friday,
so I succeeded in freeing up those days.
"Success? Did you pull it off?"
"Barely cleared it..."
Lee Min-ho asked with a bright smile.
Then his expression shifted in a split second to one of utter boredom, and he asked Jeong Hwan-yi the same question.
He must have thought I'd pulled a Time Wizard routine, erasing the fact that I'd failed to snag 'Life, Death, and Religion' and frowned earlier.
"I barely cleared it too. I definitely locked in Wednesday and Friday as my free days."
"All three of us are freshmen, and we all cleared it? This is practically divine luck."
Lee Min-ho offered a faint, wry smile and scanned the room.
There were people clutching their heads in despair,
and I also spotted what looked like seniors groaning in agony.
There was one person, just one, who couldn't accept reality and was taking her anger out on the computer.
That's a bit much...
A young woman, either a part-timer or the owner, approached her
to stop the enraged woman, but the woman seemed so consumed by fury she didn't have the composure to let a human voice reach her ears.
"Customer, I will call the police if you continue."
"Call them, fuck! You put out computers and internet shittier than absolute dogshit,
so of course the course registration went completely fucking bust!"
"Excuse me. If you're blaming our PC bang for that..."
"I'm going to end up taking a semester off because of you, you fucking bitch!"
As the stream of curses went on, my forehead furrowed.
I could understand her course registration going up in flames, but I never imagined there were people who actually took that frustration out on a PC bang.
If that person does end up taking a semester off this time, it won't be because of her course registration.
She'll be so mortified by what she's doing right now that she'll flee into the military and take a leave of absence.
"Why is that person acting like that when she's the one who built her own timetable like a pile of garbage?"
"Shh! Lee Min-ho, shut up! Be quiet so no one hears us!"
"No, didn't everyone do course registration under equal conditions? The server didn't even crash.
So I can't wrap my head around blaming a PC bang and carrying on like that. Don't you guys feel the same?"
"Ah... even so, though..."
Oh, whatever.
I clamped my hand over Lee Min-ho's mouth as he kept running it.
Even then, Lee Min-ho seemed determined to say his piece,
because he peeled my hand off his mouth and kept talking.
"And on top of that, the CCTV is recording, and she's doing this right in front of other people?
I'm dying of embarrassment that we go to the same school. Dying, honestly."
He struck his chest with flair, as if deeply wronged,
and shook his head.
And then, the woman who had been screaming at the top of her lungs at the person who appeared to be the owner
came walking toward us.
"What kind of bullshit did you just spout?"
She'd clearly heard every word.
Seeing her approach, Lee Min-ho smirked
and started provoking her all over again.
"For someone who looks practically ancient, aren't you embarrassed?
Yelling and making a scene right in front of the school."
"What business is that of yours? Just because you've got a dick, does that make it fine to run your mouth from the get-go?
Is that the kind of home education you got?"
"Lo... I'm sorry. Please just ignore us..."
To mediate first, I widened the distance between the two a little
and grabbed the agitated Lee Min-ho by the shoulder to steer him to the corner.
No, I tried to steer him.
That is, until she suddenly grabbed my shoulder and yanked me, sending me flying.
Do women around here not grasp that their strength borders on violent?
Why do they use their full power even on men who are frail as twigs?
I could seriously die if things go wrong.
I nearly cracked my head in that moment, but because I used to fall so often from having a weak body,
I shielded my head with my hands and landed hard on my rear to evade.
"Can't you see I'm talking to this dick- bastard?"
"Eueup...!"
She kept going on about dick this, dick that—sexual harassment with every other word.
To make matters worse, I'd landed on a marble floor,
so I was stuck groaning in pain from the fall.
Pain shot through me as if my tailbone might be cracked.
This qualifies as bodily injury, doesn't it?
The bystanders who'd watched me get thrown began to stir.
And I could make out a few people filming the scene with their phones.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm okay... Huh? Yo... the person I saw before..."
"Do you think you can stand up? I think you'd better go to a hospital."
I took her outstretched hand and barely hauled myself upright.
She was definitely the person who'd been sitting off to the other side, staring at stock charts.
Now that I looked properly, it was the man who'd picked up my wallet before... no, seeing her now, she's a woman.
After taking her hand and standing, I plopped down noisily into the chair.
Jeong Hwan-yi hurried to my side to ask if I was okay and started placing a call somewhere.
"Excuse me, no matter how angry you were, don't you think a woman shoving a man to the ground is a bit out of line?"
"No, and who the hell are you?"
"What do I look like? I'm a customer. You can see the CCTV and the people around here recording videos, right?"
Only then did the woman glance around, and realizing the situation,
she faltered a little.
Because it was a guarantee that if things went on like this, by tomorrow morning,
she would become the headline star across various SNS, CueTube, the morning news, and the 9 o'clock news.
"Have you gotten a handle on the situation now? In that case, this time,
please check who it was you just shoved to the floor."
"........!!"
What was she suddenly talking about?
I was sitting in the chair, cooling the pain, when I was suddenly singled out,
and the focus shifted right back to me in an instant.
"You know what kind of fandom that person has, right?"
"I... I'm... sorry..."
"Person recording the video, please come over here."
"Huh? O... okay...."
The pretty noona who'd been holding her phone in her hand and walking over slowly
looked bewildered at suddenly being pointed out.
"You still have what you just filmed, right? Upload it to CueTube this instant."
"Um... is it okay if I don't mosaic her face?"
"Portrait rights don't lead to criminal punishment anyway. How is someone who's going to have to prepare for a trial all day
going to prepare for a civil case? Or else, I'll buy the video from you."
"Re... really? In that case.... how much..."
Like they say, you have to seize the moment.
As soon as she said she'd buy it for money, the other person's eyes shifted like she was ready to sell right that instant.
The pretty noona must really need a lot of cash.
"I'll give you my business card, so please contact me at this number.
I'll upload the file right now."
"Uh... ah, okay..."
I didn't know what kind of university student carries around business cards,
but she took one out of a case very much like the one A-ra carries,
handed it to the noona, received the video file via Bluetooth, messed with her phone for a moment,
and then showed it to the woman who'd been raging moments before.
"But what now? Even if you cry and apologize, it's too late. The video's already been uploaded, as you can see."
"Oh, it's real."
I hadn't noticed when Lee Min-ho had come up beside me,
but he was watching the video replay in real time on his phone right next to me, giggling.
That guy's laughing even after his friend took a fall.
Ah, my butt hurts.
"It took me quite a while to become famous, so you must feel great becoming famous all in one go."
With that, she took off the sunglasses she was wearing and tossed them onto the computer desk.
She must be someone fairly famous.
"Huh, isn't that Song Ye-hee?"
"I think it is?"
People who recognized her whipped out their phones
and started comparing faces.
She didn't seem to find the act unpleasant, because she responded with a bright smile.
"Jeong Hwan-a, the person who picked up my wallet before was that noona."
"What are you talking about... Could it be you don't know Song Ye-hee?"
"Judging by the atmosphere, she seems like a fairly famous person?"
Jeong Hwan-yi brought a hand to his forehead and let out a sigh,
as if to say, 'Right, you never did have much interest in celebrities.'
It seemed she was a famous person even Jeong Hwan-yi recognized.
"She's a senior at your wife's agency. Song Ye-hee, former idol, currently working as a composing producer.
She even made a few songs for Queens!"
"....Really?"
From what I gathered, she was a senior who had lent Queens a considerable hand when they were getting off the ground.
I hadn't done anything wrong, but I still got this feeling of being sorry for no reason.
This was all Lee Min-ho's fault.