Proper Education for a Senior
I grinned as I “accidentally” dumped an entire glass of water straight into Jung Geon-woo’s face.
“Oops, my bad, sunbae. My hand slipped.”
“You fucking piece of shit…!”
Geon-woo shot up from his seat, water dripping down his face, and grabbed me by the collar.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“Whoa, sorry about that. I drank way too much and lost my balance…”
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!”
Before he could finish, his fist came flying at me. To me, it looked like it was moving in slow motion.
“You little—how dare you dodge?!”
“Sunbae, please calm down. Let’s just talk this out like adults.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you, you bastard!”
He swung again. Dodging a drunk’s sloppy punches was child’s play.
“Kyaaah!”
“S-stop it, Geon-woo sunbae!”
The girls were already scrambling away from the table. A few of them looked like they were calling the police.
“I’ve hated your guts from the second I saw you tonight, you little shit!”
He was flailing wildly now, but his fists only cut through empty air. The only casualties were the poor dishes and bowls crashing to the floor.
“Somebody stop him!”
“Hojin, you got this!”
“Why are you cheering for him?! …Okay, fine, I’m on Hojin’s side too.”
When punches didn’t work, he switched to kicks. When those were blocked, he tried to tackle me. But my body might as well have been carved from stone. He thrashed around like an idiot until he was completely out of breath.
“Fuck… what kind of freak are you? You been training or something?”
“I’ve thrown a few punches at a convenience store register, sure.”
“What? Are you seriously messing with me right now?”
“I’d really love it if this whole thing was just you messing around, sunbae.”
“Shut the hell up!!”
He snatched an empty soju bottle off the table.
“Today’s the day you die, kid. You really think you can throw water on your senior?”
“Oh, we’re bringing weapons into this now?”
“Yeah, I grabbed one! What are you gonna do about it?!”
What was I going to do? Exercise my right to self-defense, obviously.
He swung the bottle at my head. I casually caught his arm, spun my body, and executed a perfect shoulder throw.
“Gack!!”
He slammed into the floor with a pathetic grunt. The impact must have stunned him—he didn’t get up for a long while.
I grabbed the fallen senior by the collar and spoke in a scolding tone, like I was talking to a misbehaving child.
“Aigoo~ Our sunbae really had too much to drink tonight~ You can’t just lie on the floor like this! I’ll call you a taxi, so go home and sleep it off~”
I called a cab, got his home address from the others, and loaded him inside. The fact that everyone already knew where he lived told me this wasn’t his first disgraceful performance.
“Fuck… goddamn bastard…”
Once he came to his senses, Geon-woo kept cursing under his breath but still climbed obediently into the taxi and left the restaurant.
“Hojin, are you okay?!”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
The girls rushed over the moment the taxi pulled away, checking me for injuries first.
“I’m fine. He didn’t land a single hit.”
But the restaurant was a total mess, and the mood for a second round was completely ruined. We decided to call it a night right there. After saying our goodbyes in front of the meat restaurant, everyone went their separate ways.
Since Suyeon and I were heading in the same direction, we walked together toward the subway station. The cool night breeze felt refreshing against my heated skin.
“Thanks for today, Hojin,” Suyeon said, smiling at me. “For coming to the gathering… and for taking care of Geon-woo sunbae.”
“…So you really do hate him, huh.”
“It’s not just me. Everyone does. He’s always demanding we call him ‘oppa,’ keeps asking to be introduced to our friends… We didn’t even invite him today, but he showed up anyway. I was so shocked. I have no idea how he found out… Maybe he’s been stalking our Instagram stories or something…”
Suyeon shivered like she had goosebumps just thinking about it.
“Now that I think about it, you don’t really use Instagram, do you, Hojin?”
“Hmm… I haven’t, but I’m thinking about starting.”
“Oh, really? I bet you’d get tons of followers. You could totally become an influencer!”
She grinned and poked me in the side with her elbow. She seemed a little tipsy too.
“You were insanely popular tonight, you know? I’ve never seen the girls look at someone with hearts literally pouring out of their eyes before.”
“Yeah, I am pretty popular.”
“Wow… The fact that you can say that without hesitation is somehow really annoying!”
We stopped by a nearby park for a bit. It was late, so the place was quiet. Suyeon sat on a swing and said,
“Do you remember? Back in middle school, after class we’d come to the playground together.”
“Of course I remember.”
It felt like something from a distant past now. Back when the bullies were tormenting me, Suyeon would drag me off to “play” as an excuse to save me. It only worked because she was friendly enough with those delinquents that she could actually talk to them.
“The timid, cute little Hojin from back then is gone. Now there’s this sly, handsome guy sitting next to me~”
“…Cute?”
“U-uh? N-nothing! Never mind…”
She quickly looked away and started swinging back and forth with more force.
“By the way, what were you like in high school? I never heard about anything after middle school.”
“Hmm…”
I thought for a moment and gave her a safe, made-up answer.
“High school was pretty normal. My parents told me to focus only on studying.”
“Really? That’s surprising. With your face, I figured people would’ve been pushing you to be an idol or something.”
“My glow-up came a little late.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Guys supposedly keep growing even after military service anyway.”
The truth was, I’d still suffered my share of bullying in high school—both big and small.
“What about you? How were you in high school?”
“Me? Um…”
She seemed to think for a second, then slowly brought the swing to a stop. She stared at her shoes, hesitated for a moment, then gave me an awkward smile.
“I was normal too! I didn’t really have anything I wanted to do, so I just studied. Ahaha…”
“Really?”
It was a little surprising coming from her, but she didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I didn’t press.
We chatted about old memories for a while longer until it got too late. We decided to head home. When we reached the subway station, we had to go in opposite directions. She waved at me.
“Different lines, huh. See you later, then.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you free this weekend?”
“I have my part-time job on weekends.”
“Right, you work at a convenience store… Hey, can I come hang out at your store sometime? Heehee.”
“…It’s fine, but I can’t give you free stuff.”
“I know that! Who do you think I am, a freeloader? I just want to see how my friend works.”
The subway arrival announcement started playing over the speakers.
“Well then, Lee Hojin, see you at school!”
She waved as she walked away. I waved back, watching her go.
“Friend, huh…”
I lowered my hand and muttered to myself. To her, the word “friend” probably included everyone in the world. I was just one of many.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked home, happily pondering how I should post about tonight’s events on the gallery.
A few days later, I visited the gym near my house.
“Welcome…?”
The female trainer froze the moment she saw me.
“Hello. I’d like to sign up for a membership.”
“Ah, y-yes! Please come this way…”
Even while she explained the facilities, her eyes never left my face. While I was signing the paperwork, she asked cautiously,
“Are you… by any chance an actor?”
“Huh? No. I’m just a college student who works part-time at the convenience store nearby.”
“Ah… So that’s the concept.”
She seemed to have convinced herself of something in a very strange direction.
“Would you… like to do PT sessions with me as well?”
She looked at my body with sparkling, almost enchanted eyes.
“If you sign up today, I can give you a special discounted rate… and I’ll personally train you, of course.”
“Hmm…”
It was tempting, but I could always sign up for that later.
“I’m good for now. I’ll try working out by myself first.”
She looked visibly disappointed as she finished processing my registration.
I changed into the indoor shoes and headed straight for the workout area. I started with some light warm-up weights, and…
“…Why is this so easy?”
I had never properly worked out before, yet every movement came naturally. It felt like the correct posture and muscle engagement were automatically being drawn in my mind. Was being good at working out also part of a man’s sexual appeal…?
“Wow… who is that guy?”
“He’s handsome and his form is perfect.”
“I was only planning to come until next month, but I just extended my membership.”
“Hey, let’s only come at this time from now on.”
The women around me kept stealing glances and whispering.
“…Hoo.”
After working out for about an hour, I was drenched in sweat. I’d gotten completely absorbed without realizing it.
“With a body like this, I could enjoy working out as much as I want.”
Now it was time for the real reason I’d come here.
I took out my phone and stood in front of the mirror. I struck a pose that made my muscles stand out as much as possible and took a picture. Then I opened Instagram and uploaded it to the account I had created earlier.
I didn’t forget to post it on the gallery either.
The comments flooded in instantly, feeding my dopamine like crazy.
“What are you looking at so happily?”
While I was grinning to myself, a woman approached and asked. She had a refreshing vibe and was wearing leggings.
“I was looking at the gallery,” I answered.
“Gallery…? Oh, like the photo gallery on your phone?”
Not exactly that gallery, but… well, I was looking at pictures, so I let it slide.
“Do you like taking photos?”
“I was taking some to post on Instagram.”
“Oh, you use Instagram? Can I see?”
“Hmm… I only just started, so there’s not much to see yet.”
“Still, you’ll be posting more in the future. I’ll follow you.”
She checked my username and followed me on her own account.
“Wow, for someone who just started, you already have a lot of followers.”
“Huh…?”
“You’re already over a hundred.”
When I checked my account, sure enough, even though I had only created it recently, I had well over a hundred followers. And the number was still climbing in real time.
“…Hmm?”
Right then, a comment appeared under the photo I had just uploaded. It was from the clothing brand account I had seen after clicking on the comments under the short killer video last time.
Hello. We would like to inquire about a possible sponsorship… (see more)