Master
I followed Eunhye to meet the blonde girl named Jihui—the only person I expected might tell me about Aju’s current situation.
And the place we finally arrived at was… a PC bang.
“Is that Jihui girl supposed to be here?”
“Yeah.”
“At this hour?”
Eunhye and I were supposed to meet at eight in the evening. Of course, I showed up late so we didn’t actually meet until after nine…
Anyway, it took us about ten minutes to walk here from there, so it had to be around nine-thirty by now.
Which meant it was almost ten. From this point on, minors weren’t allowed in PC bangs.
“Jihui is a year older than the rest of them.”
“Ah… that makes sense.”
I didn’t know the reason, but it seemed Jihui had repeated a year. That wasn’t any of my business, and honestly I wasn’t even curious.
What mattered was that Jihui was old enough to be in a PC bang after ten.
“Guess every school has kids who stay at the PC bang late. Though with hair that flashy, I’m not surprised.”
“What are you even imagining?”
“Huh? I mean, that Jihui girl. She’s basically a PC bang regular, right?”
“...”
Eunhye didn’t answer. She simply opened the door to the PC bang. Then she glanced back at me and spoke in a calm voice.
“It’s better not to judge people based only on their appearance.”
“?”
Not understanding what she meant, I followed Eunhye inside. The familiar sounds of keyboards clacking, mice clicking, and people chatting through headsets washed over me.
Yeah. My heart felt strangely at ease.
“So we just need to find that Jihui girl, right? The flashy hair color should make her easy to spot… Do you know where she usually sits?”
“...Over there.”
The place was bigger than I expected, so finding one person would’ve been tough. When I asked Eunhye if she knew where Jihui might be, she immediately pointed somewhere.
“Wait, you even know her exact seat? Then this’ll be easy… Huh?”
I turned my head in the direction Eunhye pointed and… froze at the unexpected sight. Sure enough, there was a woman with striking blonde hair where she’d indicated.
That had to be the student named Jihui.
But the scene Jihui presented was a little… different from what I’d imagined.
“The counter?”
“Jihui works the night shift here.”
“...You should’ve told me earlier. I said something rude back there.”
“Did you ask me even once about Jihui on the way here?”
“...I’ve got nothing to say to that.”
Listening to Eunhye’s merciless counter that left me no room to argue, I could only scratch my head while staring at the blonde girl—Jihui—behind the counter.
Working part-time at the counter itself wasn’t really a problem.
But what caught my eye wasn’t just any part-time job.
“Working the night shift and still studying.”
“There isn’t a single student at our school who isn’t studying at this hour.”
“But someone who works part-time and still studies?”
“...Only Jihui.”
Jihui was sitting at the counter studying so diligently that you could see it even from far away. She was even watching online lectures on the counter computer.
“Just asking… does that kid come from a tough home situation?”
“...It’s not exactly comfortable. If Jihui didn’t get part-time pay and scholarships, she wouldn’t be able to pay her tuition.”
“I see.”
I really had said something rude.
I’d judged Jihui solely by her appearance—the girl with bleached blonde hair who always seemed to be sleeping in Daeho’s videos—while attending a school full of model students.
It looked like Jihui was a kid who studied with a sincerity and desperation that rivaled Aju’s.
“So that’s why she was always sleeping in the videos Daeho took.”
“What videos?”
“...Never mind.”
I brushed off the words that had slipped out and turned my gaze back toward Jihui. At that exact moment, she lifted her head too… and our eyes met.
“Ah… are you a customer? Wait, huh?”
It seemed Jihui had assumed I was a customer. She started to guide me, but then she noticed Eunhye standing beside me and froze.
“Teacher?”
“Jihui. Thanks for your hard work today too.”
“Ah, yes.”
Jihui nodded with a slightly awkward expression. Then she glanced at me and…
“Ah.”
Her mouth fell open in realization. What?
“That guy from back then… Aju’s boyfriend?”
“...What?”
What did I just hear? Aju’s what? I’m… Aju’s…?
More importantly—how do you know me?
“I saw you last time. Carrying Aju in a princess hold and running off with her.”
“...That happened?”
Eunhye, who apparently hadn’t heard about that day, glared at me with an incredulous look. I desperately avoided her gaze and stared at Jihui, who clearly knew who I was.
Looking closely, the only flashy thing was her hair color. She had no piercings or accessories, and even just sitting there quietly, she didn’t give off any delinquent vibes.
...She’s an honor student too, huh.
“But why are you with the teacher… Wait! Were you actually the teacher’s boyfriend?! Is that why you came to pick up Aju!?”
“Absolutely not.” / “Do you want to get scolded?”
“Huh?”
Her imagination seemed to be in full bloom too. Me dating Eunhye? Where the hell did that nonsense even come from?
Sigh… Just imagining it gives me a headache.
“Then why are you two together?”
“...You explain.”
When Jihui asked, Eunhye turned to me as if her role was finished.
Honestly, this much help was plenty. From here on, it was my job.
“I have something to ask you.”
“Me…?”
“Yeah.”
“...I prefer younger guys, by the way.”
“That’s not what I meant, so don’t worry.”
And you’re not my type either, kid. My type is mature women with height and a generous chest. Someone underage like you… wait, you’re not actually underage…
Plus you’re pretty tall… and your chest is… also pretty big… Huh?
“...Hey.”
A terrifying killing intent suddenly washed over my body. I recognized this aura. It was the same one I’d faced head-on once before!!
“Watch where your eyes are going in front of my student. Unless you want your head caved in like the old days.”
“...Gulp.”
Is this what PTSD feels like? The fear engraved into my genes from the past was warning me. Snap out of it, it said. Or you might actually die…
“Wow, I’ve never heard Teacher talk like that before… Well, that stare was a little uncomfortable for me too, to be honest.”
“Ahem. I don’t do that to you kids.”
Eunhye cleared her throat and gave me a quick glare. Beside her, Jihui was staring at me steadily.
Receiving the gaze of two women at once, I wondered if I looked like an alpha male to a third party. No, at least Eunhye’s eyes definitely weren’t the kind you give to a man you like, so I didn’t have to worry about that.
“So what did you want to talk to me about?”
When it didn’t seem like the conversation would return to normal on its own, Jihui brought the topic back herself. I silently thanked her and explained why I’d come.
“It’s about what Aju is going through at school. I was wondering if you might know something. I figured there would be things that haven’t reached the teachers—stuff that only circulates among you students.”
A school is a place where students and teachers coexist, but fundamentally, the two groups are almost completely separated when it comes to information.
There are things only teachers know, and there are things only students know.
“Hmm~ I see. I get the picture.”
Jihui nodded with an expression like she’d heard something interesting. Then she looked me up and down, resting her hand on her chin.
“...I’m jealous of Aju.”
“Of what?”
“Nothing. Just something any girl would say.”
“Huh?”
Jihui, who was saying things I didn’t understand at all, sought agreement from Eunhye. But when she heard that, Eunhye only said…
“...I’m not sure.”
“Huh?”
She crossed her arms and turned her gaze away from me.
Jihui tilted her head in surprise, looking back and forth between me and Eunhye before letting out a small laugh.
“...Pfft. Aju really… is blessed. Surrounded by such interesting people.”
“What? What are you talking about? Anyway, about what I said earlier—”
“I know.”
“...What?”
“Why Aju is going through that. Who’s behind it. When it started. I know everything. Actually, there probably isn’t a single person in our class who doesn’t know.”
“...” / “...”
Jihui’s bold statement was exactly what I’d expected, but both Eunhye and I still fell silent.
Well, since Eunhye was the homeroom teacher for that class, she probably had slightly different feelings about it than I did.
“The only one who doesn’t know is Aju herself.”
“Could you… tell me about it?”
“Sure. It’s not hard. But, Oppa.”
Jihui called me “Oppa” like it was the most natural thing in the world. There was no reason to nitpick about it, and it was a hundred times better than being called “Mister” from the first meeting, so I let it slide.
“What are you going to do once you hear it?”
“What do you mean, what? I’m going to fix it.”
“How?”
“That… I’ll have to hear it first and then decide.”
“Hmm~”
Jihui gave an exaggerated nod at my answer, then returned to the counter. She fiddled with the computer there and said,
“I just logged into computer number eleven. Go sit there and launch this game.”
“What? No, I didn’t come here to play games—”
“I know. But… I need to charge an information fee.”
“Information fee?”
“Yep. I was getting tired from studying anyway. So please be my sandbag!”
She said this while turning the monitor toward me, showing me a game.
It was a fighting game where you control robots and battle—the kind that was popular these days…
“Just so you know, I’m Master rank~”
It was a game I played too.
Aju SIDE.
“Riha oppa is late…”
“Did he really go to meet a girl…?”
Meow, meow… (Sigh, then at least make a call…)
“Hahu thinks so too?”
Meow… meow meow. (Listen to what people say… though of course you can’t hear me.)
“Uuu…”
Meow… (Never mind…)
He always said he’d only stay at home.
Liar.
Really… thinking like this makes me… so narrow-minded.
“I told myself I wouldn’t rely on Riha oppa anymore. But the moment he’s gone, I start looking for him… Seriously…”
...
At that moment, Hahu jumped down from the dining table and headed toward the door of what used to be Daeho oppa’s room—now Riha oppa’s room—and tried to open it.
“Hahu? Why that room?”
Meow~ (Just open it.)
“Huh?”
For some reason, it seemed Hahu really wanted to go inside that room. But was it okay for me to open Riha oppa’s door without permission…?
...
..
.
Just a little peek.
“Wait, Hahu. I’ll open it for you.”
Meow… (You didn’t hesitate much at all…)
Riha oppa’s room. Come to think of it, I hadn’t really looked at it properly before. The only time I’d gone in was when I deleted that weird video… ahem. The adult video Daeho had left behind.
So feeling a bit curious, I used Hahu as an excuse and opened the door.
“...”
I stepped into Riha oppa’s room while he was away. A strange sense of guilt washed over me, like I was doing something wrong, but my heart also fluttered a little because I could faintly smell Riha oppa’s scent lingering in the room.
“Huh? Hahu… why the computer?”
Hahu, who had wanted to come in here, was rubbing his head vigorously against the computer. What could that mean?
Come to think of it… back in the day, Daeho oppa and Riha oppa used to go to the PC bang together a lot.
“They played some kind of robot game, I think. They said they went because of the daily bonus you could only get at the PC bang… Oh.”
Suddenly I remembered how Riha oppa had rushed out earlier, and it overlapped with the memory of Daeho oppa leaving with a similar atmosphere. Back then, Daeho oppa must have been…
“Ah… He went to the PC bang.”
Now that I thought about it, I’d heard that the bonus had to be claimed before the day ended. That explained why he left in such a hurry.
“Hehe, in that way he’s still such a kid.”
Now that I understood the reason, I felt relieved and let out a small laugh. I stroked Hahu’s head, grateful that he’d let me know.
“Thank you, Hahu. Thanks to you, I think I can focus on studying again.”
Meow, meow… (Sigh, I’m tired…)
“Hehe, you’re so cute.”
With the weight lifted from my chest, I took my hand off Hahu and returned to the living room to study. As I sat at the dining table and started working again, I suddenly remembered the most recent conversation between Riha oppa and Daeho oppa.
“Now that I think about it, I heard last year that Riha oppa achieved something… What was it again? That, that… what was it called.”
Meow. (Grand Master.)
“Hmm, I don’t really know gaming terms.”
I didn’t understand it well, but I still clearly remembered how happy Riha oppa had been, saying he’d accomplished something incredibly difficult.