Senior, Please Help Me ♥

For the past ten years, my life had run on the same loop.

Home. The hospital. Home.

Put generously, it was a smooth, uneventful existence. Put honestly, it was a life without a shred of excitement. Even so, I preferred a boring life to one full of upheaval.

I hadn't always been this way. But once your family falls apart and your wife betrays you, I am confident anyone would end up the same.

At any rate, that life had begun, little by little, to change.

First, there was my daughter, Min-ah. She had upgraded from high school student to college student, which meant the high school right in front of our house had been replaced by a university more than an hour away each way. When the commute gets that long, the one who suffers is the student. So I suggested she get a place near campus.

Most fathers wouldn't have. A college student. An adult. All the fresh temptations of youth she'd never been allowed to taste. I'd seen more than a few people lose themselves in those temptations and wreck their college years.

But this was Min-ah. I trusted my daughter. She was cautious. She didn't take up with just anyone. Her wariness was formidable. As far as I was concerned, that was more than enough. Find her a room in a safe neighborhood, and there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

"Dad, I'm all ready."

"You sure you don't need a ride?"

"Then you'd be late. I'll take the subway, don't worry."

But my daughter refused to live on her own. The reason was that she hated being apart from me. Truth be told, I felt the same. Without her, that empty space would have been hard to bear.

"I'll probably be back around eight tonight. Wait for me a little, Dad. Let's eat together."

"Alright. I'll wait, sweetheart."

She had told me that dinner with her dad was her favorite time of day. I had answered that eating with my daughter was my favorite time too.

Min-ah and I shared no blood. And yet we were closer than any father and daughter who did. Raising her had taught me that blood didn't matter. If your hearts are in sync, if you want the same things — that is family. That is my child. I had no need for a child who shared my blood only to defy me and cause havoc. I'd heard far too many stories like that. They existed even among my own friends.

"I'm off!"

She came toward me, smiling. The greeting kiss. The same ritual, every single time.

A peck.

Her lip-glossed mouth lingered against mine, faintly tacky, then slipped away from my senses. A greeting I'd always considered nothing. Now that my daughter was an adult, it had started to feel... a little much.

"Have a good day."

"Okay, Dad!"

The door clicked shut. But I couldn't tell her to stop. She wanted it.

A throb. My groin pulsed.

...I'm going to lose my mind.

My body's reaction. I couldn't admit it. She was my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠daughter. Getting aroused looking at your own daughter was the behavior of an animal. This couldn't happen. I could not become a beast.

I stripped, stepped into the shower, and started dousing myself in cold water. Icy water helped at times like this. The erection that had been stirring shrank away.

Why the hell is this happening...

The condemnation of myself began to fill my head.

Min-ah had bought a new phone — traded in a flip phone that could only make calls ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for the latest trendy smartphone. She was using the messaging app everyone else already used for the first time. It was packed with the kind of cute emoticons girls tended to like.

Tae-min had stuck a little bear sticker on the message he sent her.

...What kind of guy uses emoticons like that?

She was already unused to this sort of thing, and Tae-min — whose image was none too great to begin with — using something like that was never going to look good from her perspective.

"When you deal with Tae-min, start from a position of strength."

Eun-ha — Tae-min's older sister, and the General Student Council President — had given Min-ah a brief lesson in how to handle her brother.

"He knows he's something special, and he uses it. So he's far more accustomed to being asked for things than doing the asking."

"Ah..."

"There's only one way to control kids like that. Find what they want, and starve them of it."

Eun-ha was sharp. But Min-ah had already known that much. The problem was that Tae-min was a senior. Min-ah was the first-year class president. Tae-min was the College Student Council President. She hadn't gotten an answer from Eun-ha on how to overcome the gap that came with rank.

"What if he uses his Student Council President authority to pressure me?"

"Simple. Tell him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you'll quit."

"What?"

"His goal is you. So if you say you'll quit? That creates a deficiency for him, doesn't it?"

"Ah..."

"He'll probably go along with everything you say. I don't know whether you have experience with this or not, but you know how to handle that much, don't you?"

"Yes... I think I can do it."

Min-ah saw no reason to play coy in front of Eun-ha, and answered her honestly. Eun-ha smiled, as if satisfied.

"But... what if Tae-min tries to overpower me physically?"

She was asking to be taught the self-defense jiu-jitsu Eun-ha had mentioned last time.

She's a sharp one.

Eun-ha found herself growing fonder of Min-ah. She disliked kids who only did as they were told. The things you ought to figure out yourself. The things you ought to extract from a superior. And, at the same time, the things you ought to do to keep that superior satisfied. She preferred the ones who could balance all three.

The truth was that no one had ever quite met her standards, which was why she had been controlling most of the work herself as General Student Council President. But someone of Min-ah's caliber... she was starting to think she could delegate a little.

"Contact me after class. I'll teach you some self-defense tools, and how to get out of an emergency."

"Yes, senior. Thank you."

Polite, on top of everything else. Eun-ha found herself increasingly drawn to Min-ah.

Min-ah's first college class was a general education course. There was nothing particularly difficult about it. The one thing that grated on her was that the whispering about her had gotten worse than it had been in high school.

Gen-ed courses were open to students from every major, which meant most of the people in the room were seeing Min-ah for the first time.

It was different from high school. The conversations reaching her ears were more aggressive — sexual harassment, frankly. From Min-ah's perspective, it was plenty irritating.

"Hey. You look even prettier at school."

On top of that, Kim Tae-min, the College Student Council President, was in this class. It was a photography course with no connection to his major whatsoever, so she had assumed they wouldn't run into each other.

He checked my timetable.

Tae-min had gotten his hands on Min-ah's schedule and matched every course except his major requirements to hers. She caught it immediately, and she couldn't help being displeased. All she could do was furrow her brow for a moment, then smooth it out, and let the stress of the instant pass.

Like it or not, she had to get close to this man and control him. That was how she would get close to the General Student Council President.

Kim Eun-ha. When Min-ah had met her, she had felt the difference between them on instinct. And Eun-ha had simply caught that unnameable difference and made her a proposal. Someone she couldn't beat. Besides her father, this was the first. She envied that ability. She wanted to learn it.

Which means I have no choice but to do as I'm told.

There were only two ways to win her over in a short time. First, the General Student Council President had to take a liking to Min-ah at a glance. Second, she had to carry out whatever she was assigned at a hundred and twenty percent. The first was already a pass. The second was what mattered. But Min-ah was confident. She was quick-witted and her mind moved fast. Ordinary work wouldn't be a problem.

The one problem was the man standing in front of her — Eun-ha's younger brother, Tae-min. Stay by his side and control him so he didn't cause problems...

Min-ah ground her molars where no one could see, and swallowed the stress.

"Hello, senior."

Min-ah dipped her head with a slight smile, and Tae-min's face lit up. He took it as a positive signal — that she was willing to accept him.

"You're taking this class too? Talk about a coincidence."

Such an obvious lie... irritating.

Min-ah's brow twitched. But Tae-min, drunk on her initial expression, didn't catch it.

"Do you like photography too, senior?"

"I do! Of course I do! I even have my own camera!"

"Then you must have photos you've taken?"

"W-well, of course!"

Tae-min faltered, just a little.

As if you'd have any photos you took.

Min-ah saw right through him. That was why she was half-teasing.

"Then... would you show me?"

"Uh... ah!! Okay! But it might be a bit hard right now..."

"Show me later, then."

Min-ah smiled. Watching him squirm was enjoyable.

"Okay. Of course."

"You promise?"

The future was already playing out in her head. A brand-new camera would materialize, and the photos would be ones he'd hounded underclassmen into taking.

Teasing him a little when that happens wouldn't be so bad.

"A-anyway, have you had lunch?"

"No."

"Lunch... how about it? There are a lot of places around campus that are better than the cafeteria."

Tae-min asked carefully. This was what he actually wanted.

"Sure, senior."

"Y... yeah! Okay! Thanks!"

Watching Tae-min's face light up with excitement, Min-ah smiled with a little relief. He wasn't as smart as she'd expected. He hadn't read her properly at all, and once the prize in front of him looked within reach, he lunged for it and saw nothing else. Several moves below his sister Eun-ha.

This might actually be easier than I thought.

Min-ah set off after Tae-min with a light heart.

I got to the hospital early. My daughter had eaten breakfast quickly, so I had too.

"Might as well head in a little early."

I tagged my keycard on the unmanned security reader.

"Huh? Did someone come in first?"

Usually it was me or Arin who arrived first. Arin, most likely. This would be the first time I'd seen her since the trip. My heart stirred a little.

We had decided to start seeing each other. Which meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we could no longer remain just colleagues, just senior and junior.

How am I supposed to act around her now...

"Oh, senior, you're here?"

"Uh... yeah..."

Her voice drifted out of her consultation room, pitched a little higher than usual. My heart started to beat a little faster.

"Perfect timing! Senior, could you help me with something?"

"Sure."

I headed for her consultation room. Was it because I wanted to see her face? The beating grew stronger, bit by bit.

"What do you need help w—"

I stepped inside, and the rest of the sentence died in my throat.