Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: In the Department Lounge (1)
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Today, Han Chae-ah's personal space felt much closer than usual.
Was it because of what happened at the karaoke bar?
"Sunbae, you're heading to the lecture hall, right? Let's go together."
"……."
She was so close I could smell her shampoo.
Sticking right up against my side, she flashed a bright smile as she asked.
"You didn't message me once all weekend, so why the sudden change?"
"Huh? Oh, that... um..."
"Too embarrassed to reach out? Or did you watch the video I sent and get off to it instead of contacting me?"
"W-why would you say that out here...?"
Han Chae-ah jumped in surprise and grabbed my arm in a panic.
"You go radio silent, then suddenly get all clingy like this."
"Ugh, w-well, there's a reason."
"A reason?"
"I went to see my mom on Sunday. That's why I couldn't message."
Her eyes dimmed slightly as she spoke.
Mom, huh.
'She grew up in such a strict household that it even has its own dependency level.'
Her obsession with being a "good girl" stemmed largely from her mother's influence.
Her mom probably controlled every aspect of her life.
She might not visit often, but she'd definitely demanded Han Chae-ah come home.
A mother trying to control everything from one to ten.
It must feel suffocating.
Really suffocating.
So, as a rebound, she'd sought liberation through me.
'Even I could tell from overhearing that phone call.'
How hard must it have been for her?
I didn't press for more details.
Her expression had darkened as she spoke.
"That's a shame."
"What is?"
"I was hoping you'd say you were too busy masturbating to reply so I could tease you mercilessly."
"S-sunbae!"
She flushed red, flustered.
"You didn't come over here hoping for something like this?"
She pretended otherwise and pulled back, but it was already obvious.
Your face gives it all away.
"Anyway, I'm not heading straight to the lecture hall today."
"Huh? Then where...? D-don't tell me you're going to see Ye-won sunbae?"
Her voice grew urgent.
"Not that either."
"Then...?"
"The department lounge."
"The d-department lounge? You?"
"Yeah. Why the weird reaction?"
Anyone would think I was barred from the place.
"Well... I've never seen you go there even once."
"True enough."
Honestly, not since that incident with the freshmen in my first year.
My peers and even my sunbaes all made it awkward.
Once rumors about me spread and the sunbaes started avoiding me especially, I gave up on trying to build any friendly senior-junior bonds.
With those kinds of people?
That naturally distanced me from the lounge, and now that I'm back...
What's the point of hanging around a place full of underclassmen way below my year?
So that's why I hadn't gone.
But why now?
"I thought you were going to the lecture hall..."
To shake off Han Chae-ah clinging to my side.
From the main gate, she'd been glued to me, drawing every eye on campus.
Naturally, the stares aimed at her spilled over to me.
-Who's that guy with a girl like her?
-Her boyfriend?
-No way, impossible.
-She'd date a guy who looks like that?
I was sick of dealing with those appraising looks.
All those eyes probing whether I belonged at her side.
So, to peel her off, I'd deliberately mentioned the department lounge—a place I had zero interest in.
You hate the lounge too.
You don't like mingling with other students, so just head to the lecture hall on your own.
That was the message.
But...
"Then I'll come too."
"Where?"
"The department lounge. I kinda want to go now anyway."
"……."
The lounge?
"They say all the freshmen have been hanging out there lately. It's a good chance to mingle, and getting face time helps, right?"
I looked at Han Chae-ah's face.
She smiled at me with crinkled eyes.
As if she knew I wouldn't go.
-You never go to the lounge, sunbae.
-If you do, take me with you.
-I don't mind.
I could almost hear her voice.
Look at this girl.
Now she's trying to manipulate me?
Her cute advances nearly made me laugh.
She read my mind, huh?
Fine.
Then.
"Alright. Let's go."
"To the lounge?"
"Yeah. I'm a Korean Lit student too—I should show my face. They might dislike me, but skipping it altogether is worse, right?"
"...Okay."
She looked a bit sulky.
Probably because my reaction wasn't what she'd expected.
She stuck to my side the whole way to the lounge.
"Why are you clinging so tight, anyway?"
"Huh? Why? We walked like this to karaoke too. You had my body all wrapped up like this..."
"……."
That phone call from that day.
Was it because of what I did to her while she was on the phone with her mom?
She was being unusually bold today.
"You sure you're okay with this?"
"With what?"
"Well..."
You're Yeonsung's goddess.
Like an idol—everyone's got eyes on you.
Is it fine walking around with me?
In our department, I'm known as the mad dog.
The kind no one can rein in.
"People might get the wrong idea if we're seen together."
"I don't care."
"What?"
"I know all the rumors about you, sunbae. And I know you're not the type. So don't worry. I'm not someone who gets swayed by what others say."
Hmm.
That wasn't quite what I meant.
"Something's different about you today?"
"You think so?"
She's more forward than usual, which makes her cuter.
But is that unease in her eyes just my imagination?
'What happened on Sunday?'
But the thought didn't linger.
The department lounge was packed with freshmen and returnees since morning when we arrived together.
The awkward, burdensome stares hit me the moment they saw me.
Faces screaming they had no idea why I'd show up here.
Some even looked scared at the sight of me.
Tsk.
This is exactly why I didn't want to come.
Those stares are so damn uncomfortable.
Maybe I should just turn back.
That's when it happened.
"Hey, you should at least greet your sunbae when you see him."
Han Chae-ah's cold voice rang through the lounge.
A chilly tone I'd never heard from her before.
At her words, everyone in the room bowed toward me.
"S-sunbaenim, hello."
One word from her, and they all bowed.
She's got more charisma than I thought.
"Hey. Nice to meet you."
After a brief exchange, an awkward silence settled.
The freshmen, gauging my mood—or rather hers—started whispering among themselves, while a few slipped out of the room.
"Sunbae, why aren't you saying anything? Weren't you going to mingle with the freshmen?"
"……."
"Not gonna grab their chests or demand their panties like you did to me?"
She whispered just loud enough for me to hear, her eyes curving playfully.
"What, embarrassed? The great Jinwoo sunbae?"
This girl.
Now she's enjoying it.
The awkward vibe between me and the freshmen.
"Do that, and you'd be buddies in no time."
"Not doing it."
"Why not? You're such a pervert beast. Asking a girl's panty color right off the bat—total perv."
Who're you calling a real pervert?
I had my reasons.
It was all because of the quest.
"I don't do that to just anyone."
"...So I wasn't 'just anyone'?"
"Nope."
She suddenly went quiet.
"I see. So you don't do that to just anyone."
"Why the sudden attitude?"
She shrugged at my question.
"Just wanted to tease you back for once."
A brief silence.
Just when I thought the teasing was over, she asked.
"By the way, sunbae, you're cousins with Jeong Soyul, right?"
"Huh?"
What nonsense is that?
I nearly shot back without thinking.
That lie from before, when I chased off the guys following Jeong Soyul.
Telling them to scram because she was my cousin.
That's what this was about.
"You really cousins? You don't look alike at all. No way you're blood-related."
"...We are."
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"Seriously?"
I nodded.
Only then did she smile, seemingly convinced.
"Got it. But isn't it about time to go? Class starts in 30 minutes."
"Yeah. But your schedule's different from mine today."
"Same building. Both major classes."
"Planning to stick with me all the way?"
"Why else would I follow?"
The students' stares intensified as she leaned against me, smiling.
A few freshmen were whispering while glancing at Han Chae-ah.
"Are they dating?"
"Chae-ah unnie's taste is wild."
"Didn't expect that from her."
"Should I start hitting the gym now?"
I stood up quickly, not wanting to hear more weird crap.
Han Chae-ah hurried after me.
"They're saying all sorts of nonsense."
"Yeah."
"Even if they built muscle on bodies like that, I wouldn't give them a second glance."
That was your angle.
Han Chae-ah had gone back to her family home for the first time in a while after receiving a text from her mom demanding she come home on Sunday.
"Lately, it feels like you're dodging my calls. Is that true?"
As expected, the nagging started the moment she arrived.
Be a good girl.
Get good grades.
Good grades lead to a job, and a job makes life easier.
Stories she'd heard a million times.
The same script on repeat.
Words so familiar they were tedious now.
"I raised you all by myself, so I know better than anyone how harsh and cruel the world is to women. To survive alone as a woman, you have to be stronger than anyone."
Han Chae-ah came from a single-parent household with only her mom.
Her dad had died in a car accident when she was young, and her mom had raised her alone.
She knew how brutally her mom had lived to raise a child on her own as a woman.
That's why Han Chae-ah tried to be a good girl.
So her mom wouldn't suffer as much.
She earned scholarships to help with tuition even a little and did modeling in high school to make money.
Of course, her mom had stopped her, saying not to sell her body like that.
But she saw it differently.
'This isn't bad.'
Apparently not to her mom, though.
Making money that easily would lead to a debauched life, so she drilled into her to live more diligently and virtuously than anyone.
Yeah.
Be a good girl.
It was stifling and tough sometimes.
But it eased her mom's burden.
Helped the mom who'd raised her alone.
That's how she'd lived until now.
Oppressed by heavy expectations that choked her, but she'd resolved to endure somehow.
She'd never complained once, knowing the sacrifices her mom had made for her.
But why...
Why did her mom's words feel so oppressive today?
She didn't know.
It was suffocating.
Her mom's control was the same as always.
Why did it hit harder today?
Unable to unravel the frustration, she fled the house.
"I-I'm heading back. I thought we'd eat together, but... guess not."
"Where are you going?"
"Home. You said not to stay out too late. So I'm going back early."
"I wasn't done talking."
"Should I wander alone past 10 p.m. then? You hate that the most."
"……."
Her mom didn't stop her as she left.
Back home, Han Chae-ah watched the video of herself crumbling vulgarly for Kim Jinwoo.
All day long.
Reliving how he'd wrecked her at the karaoke bar.
Staring at it intently.
And she realized.
Her change might be...
Because of the man who filmed it.
And on Monday.
The moment she spotted Kim Jinwoo approaching the university gate with a bored look, certainty hit her.
Her stifled heart eased in an instant.
So she greeted him with a bright smile she hadn't planned.
"Sunbae!"