The Struggling College Returnee and the High Schooler Facing CSAT
“Aaaah… I hate this…”
I was slumped over completely at the cafe table, grumbling away, when Na-eun, who’d been studying next to me, looked over.
“Oppa, what’s wrong?”
“Studying just isn’t sticking in my head.”
That was it. I was dealing with the exact problem most returning students face.
Stuff that used to go right into my brain before enlistment? Not a single bit now.
And back then, I was dating, going out and having a blast—yet somehow the info still stuck. But now? Nothing.
Honestly, I’d tutored Na-eun and studied alongside her, so I figured my brain would be nice and flexible. But nope—that was just wishful thinking.
Far from flexible, teaching her was purely me dredging up what I had studied back in the day. That realization hit hard again.
“But oppa, you’re good at studying, so you can memorize it all whenever, right?”
“I have no idea where you heard I was good at it… Jisoo Kim’s the real genius. Not me.”
I still couldn’t wrap my head around that guy, Jisoo Kim.
During personal maintenance time in the army, he’s reading academic papers? Guys like that change the world. Guys like me? We’re just average Joes.
“My brother said oppa was super smart and great at studying?”
“…Compared to Seung-min, 70% of the country would be study whizzes.”
“Haha… yeah, fair enough.”
There’s this thing called the national average.
I don’t love the term, but by that logic, everyone above average studies better than Seung-min. What a fantastic theory.
If Jisoo was good at teaching too, Na-eun probably would’ve had him tutor her instead of me.
Why would I bother teaching when the actual smart guy could do it?
“Oppa, you’ll do great, I know it.”
Na-eun clenched her little fists tight, cheering me on.
Even her cheering was adorably cute—my Na-eun.
Buoyed by her cuteness, I sat up straight again.
Yeah, no reason to keep face-planting. Time to study.
Shaking off my mopey mood from before, I drew strength from her encouragement and dove back in.
Every now and then, I’d check on Na-eun.
Just making sure she was studying well.
Sounds bad to say it, but honestly, I’m not the one who needs to cram right now—she is.
She’s a third-year high schooler with only two months till CSAT, while I’m a college student grinding for credits.
Priority-wise, urgency-wise, she’s the one in crunch time.
Luckily, her focus was rock-solid, unwavering as ever.
Like always, Na-eun poured her whole heart into studying at full throttle.
Look at her now—short of a bomb going off, that insane concentration won’t break.
If I’d had focus like that, would I have gotten into somewhere better than Jinhan University?
I seriously wondered.
Shoving the random thought aside, I turned back to the book that refused to stick.
Read, write, read, write, recite from memory without looking, read and write some more…
Repeat that a few times, and hey, it started sinking in.
These days, kids record the prof’s lectures on their phones and have AI summarize them. I tried that—ended up like this.
If it was gonna flop anyway, better to take notes and memorize on the spot like old times.
As I nodded to myself, convinced, Na-eun shoved something my way.
“Seonwoo oppa, a gift for you.”
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Cookies today.”
With her soft smile, the cookies looked pretty tasty.
Chocolate chips dotted here and there—what can I say, insanely appetizing.
More than just “tasty-looking”—something special.
“Thanks. Can I keep taking stuff like this every time?”
“Of course you can.”
Even though our tutoring had shifted to “studying together,” she still brought me snacks.
She wasn’t paying anymore, so this was her way of saying at least take some treats for teaching.
I checked with her mom just in case…
“She’s into baking as a hobby lately, so I just let her be~ Eat up~”
Fair enough. A girl who doesn’t even game has baking as a hobby? Gotta accept it.
Nodding in self-agreement, I took a bite.
Crispy and sweet—her baking skills were legit top-notch.
Seriously, if she worked part-time at a cafe, she’d get tons of attention.
Skills on point, looks on point—the place would be packed.
I’d be a regular too, probably.
Tasty pastries and a cute part-timer greeting you? Skipping that cafe would be the real loss.
Lost in those peaceful, silly thoughts, my eyes landed on the calendar on Na-eun’s desk.
It marked the date for the September mock exam.
Next week. That mock would show her current level.
And her CSAT score would likely dip just a tad below it.
So for Jinhan University, she’d need all 1st grades across the board on that September mock.
I got into Jinhan with all 1st grades on my September mock—I’m speaking from experience.
Though I was STEM, she’s humanities, so she might need even higher.
Still, I believed in her.
She had potential for top schools, pouring every high school moment into this admissions shot.
Yeah, she’d nail it. Of course she would.
Lately, since Seonwoo oppa came back to college, he seemed totally wiped out.
Makes sense. Half a year off after the army, then diving back into intense studying? Brutal.
The best gift I could give him? My September mock scores—and CSAT results.
Up to August, he was my tutor, teaching me with total sincerity.
It’s the least I could do.
With that mindset, I prepped for the September mock.
I knew it: No all-1st-grades there, and Jinhan’s a stretch. Mocks run a bit easier than CSAT—that’s the rule.
So, all 1st grades, no exceptions. Nothing else on my mind.
With that do-or-die resolve—like it was CSAT itself—I took the mock…
And got exactly the scores I’d aimed for.
That evening after the mock, I called Seonwoo oppa over.
He’d just gotten back from university, rocking a new vibe.
Unlike his usual style—total nerd-boy look.
Round glasses, white backpack. Thinking about oppa’s face, it suited him perfectly. Honestly, nothing wouldn’t.
But that wasn’t the point.
“Oppa, let’s grade it together!”
“Don’t you know your scores already?”
“Yeah, but still—let’s do it together!”
He chuckled at my excitement, took the test paper, and started grading.
Heart pounding, I watched. Once done, he held out his hand.
I slapped mine into it.
Smack!
The satisfying high-five echoed, and with his warm smile, he praised me.
“Scores are way better than I imagined. Shouldn’t you be aiming higher than Jinhan?”
Even if I could, I’m going to Jinhan. With these marks, scholarships too—and only three schools nationwide are definitively “better,” so no big loss.
Studying at the same school as Seonwoo oppa. Sharing fun campus life with him. That was my goal.
“Keep this up, and you’ll be walking through Jinhan’s gates for real.”
“Hehe, all thanks to oppa’s great teaching.”
“Me? I didn’t teach that well.”
No. Without you, I wouldn’t have studied this hard.
Thank you, oppa. Because of you, I could push through.
We’re almost there. Just wait a little longer.
A bit more, and I’ll be your underclassman by your side.