University Festival - Part 1
In May 2018, the festival season finally arrived.
Having never even gotten a glimpse of a university festival in my previous life, I was looking forward to this one even more.
Our school’s festival would run for three days starting today, and plenty of singers were scheduled to come and light up the stage.
But what the hell was this?
"What?? They're not selling alcohol?!"
"Th-that's what they're saying...?"
"No way... I wanted to drink at the festival..!!"
Surprisingly, the student bars that festival-goers looked forward to almost as much as the celebrity performances weren't opening at all. Alcohol sales on campus had been completely banned, and anyone who wanted a drink had to buy it themselves off-campus.
"Then what about the girl groups??"
"Huh?"
"Festivals mean idols! When are the girl groups coming?!"
"Not today... I think one team's coming on the last day... here..."
I checked the festival lineup posted on some personal blog.
Day one looked like those people... Sorry, but I had no idea who they were.
Day two: all guys.
And the final day three: one male group plus a female trot singer. And the current undisputed top-tier girl group.
I'd give the female trot singer and the top-tier girl group a pass. They'd definitely amp up the festival vibe. But aside from the last day, was this seriously a university festival lineup?
"Can't even drink... and only one girl group on the last day... Seongmin, is this what university festivals are normally like..?"
"W-well... this is my first time too...."
I could understand the Ministry of Education sending out a notice banning alcohol sales for a healthier culture. But this was a university festival. This wasn't getting dragged to unwanted company drinking after landing a job—this was drinking because you wanted to. This was a chance to fully enjoy your twenties.
"What a terrible festival... So are you gonna keep watching the performance? The songs are pretty good, though."
"Ah, no... not really my taste..."
"Then let's go grab some food."
We slipped out through the not-too-crowded throng of people. After a short walk, we arrived at the Design Department booth, which sold food but no alcohol.
"Sunwoo~!!!!"
"Guh..!"
The moment we arrived, Eunsol charged into my arms like a wild boar. Getting the wind knocked out of me was one thing—the looks from the surrounding guys were far from friendly. Wolves eyeing Eunsol. I deliberately hugged her even tighter so they'd see.
"Sol can't breathe..!!"
"Ah, sorry."
"Uung..!! But why'd you come so late! Do you know how long Sol waited for Sunwoo!!"
"That's why I skipped the performance and came straight here."
"Hehe~ But who's this..?"
"Say hi. This is Park Seongmin, my friend. I've mentioned him a few times, right?"
"Ah, hello! I'm Park Seongmin!"
Did he just get out of the military or what? Park Seongmin, all wound up with military-style energy, bowed at a perfect ninety degrees. In contrast, Eunsol just smiled leisurely and dipped her head slightly.
"Hehe~ I'm Eunsol, Sunwoo's friend. Family name Eun, given name Sol."
"Oh~"
"Ung?"
"You're greeting strangers properly now?"
"Sol's not a little kid anymore, you know?! And he's Sunwoo's friend~ So it's fine."
Eunsol had grown more outgoing since starting university compared to high school. When she was little, she clung only to me and Lee Naye and was so wary of others that I'd wondered if she needed psychiatric help—this was a very positive sign. I stroked her hair as I asked.
"What's good?"
"Everything's good! My friends are amazing cooks!"
"Hello~"
"We've heard so much about you."
"Ha... enough to make our ears bleed... Sunwoo this, Sunwoo that every day..."
"When did Sol ever do that every day!!"
"You did! This Big-Chested... this super chatty friend... Hehe... But well... I can see why... Do you have a girlfriend by any chance? If not, maybe I could... Kyak!! D-don't push me!!"
"Get away!! Stay back!!!"
Eunsol shoved the girl who'd been sidling up far away, biting her lip and glaring fiercely. So her nickname among the girls was Big Tits, huh. Well, it was a nickname that fit.
"Just two things to fill us up a bit, please."
"Sure~ But we take payment upfront..."
"Ah, here."
"Huh..? Wha??"
"Please look after our Sol. She's pretty scatterbrained."
"Kyak!!!"
"Wh-what's wrong??"
"This!"
"Holy crap! Customer~!!!! Sit over here! Right here! This is the royal seat! Royal seat!!"
The most expensive menu item was 20,000 won. Average was around 10,000. But the money I handed over was six 50,000-won bills—300,000 won.
"Hehe~~"
"Aren't you working?"
Unlike her friends bustling around, Eunsol sat beside me with her elbows on the table, chin propped in both hands, staring only at my face.
"Ung. The girls told me to just sit here and keep an eye on you."
"Keep an eye?"
"So you don't go anywhere else."
"Ah... so they landed themselves a proper sucker."
"My friends aren't mean like that! They all really wanted to meet Sunwoo! That's why!"
"Sorry, sorry."
"Sorry! Did we take too long??"
"Haha... Not that it took too long... just that a whole lot came out, maybe?"
I'd clearly only ordered two, but eight people came over, each carrying a menu item in both hands. They even swapped out the small square outdoor table, and the male students connected two long white tables before heading back.
"The rest is for us."
"Don't even think about going home today. Cha Sunwoo—who is he? We're not letting you leave until we figure it all out."
"Huh??"
With solemn expressions, they brought chairs and sat down one by one. Nine girls and two guys. Yeah, this was the university festival scene I'd been hoping for. Even if the atmosphere felt a bit like a congressional hearing.
"What's your relationship with Sol?"
"Friends. We board at the same house."
"Kyak!! Did you hear that?! They're living together! Living together!!"
"I said boarding..."
"That's not the important part. So are you dating?"
"I said friends..."
"Trying to dodge, are we?"
"Hey, they've been hiding it this whole time—you think they'll answer sober? Let's get them drinking first."
"Hey! Bring some soju over here!"
"You go get it yourselves!! Can't you see we're busy?!"
All the girls were here. The guys were hard at work cooking in the makeshift kitchen, and the girls only got up to greet customers or serve when needed before coming right back—that was the system.
Clatter-clatter!
Alcohol sales were supposedly banned, yet bottles started appearing right out in the open.
"Ah! We're not selling this. We just brought it for ourselves to drink. And whatever Sunwoo-ssi drinks is on the house."
"What's with the 'Sunwoo-ssi'? We're the same age. Hey, we can just drop the formalities, right?"
"Whatever."
I wasn't usually a fan of dropping formal speech with people I'd just met. I'd done plenty of socializing in my previous life, and that habit had become second nature. But living again from age seven, I'd become no different from a regular twenty-year-old. If anything, I'd learned to read the room and act appropriately for each situation.
"Alright then, to finally meeting Cha Sunwoo!"
"Cheers!!"
"Clink~!!"
"Cheers!!"
The toast was a bit old-fashioned, but who cared. We clinked glasses and downed the drinks in one go.
"Khh..!"
Yeah, this was it! This was a university festival!
"But Sunwoo, is your friend always this quiet?"
"He's just introverted. Once he gets close, he says what he needs to."
"Ah... do you have a girlfriend?"
"Me??"
"Yeah, you."
"Uh, no..."
"Figured as much. Not looking down on you—I don't have one either, so maybe it's that sense of kinship between the same species?"
"Oh~ Then you two should get together~"
"Shut up."
Thank goodness. I'd almost heard that myself, but another girl next to her caught it instead. But why do you look so disappointed? I patted Park Seongmin on the back as he downed his drink alone. Hang in there—even straw sandals come in pairs.
"But why don't you two meet up at school? If you've been close since you were kids, you'd at least eat together or hang out between classes."
"We see each other every day at home."
"See, see. They really are living together!!"
"It's boarding. And you, stop drinking already!"
"Uung!!! Sol can drink more!!"
Her tongue was already slurring. She was drunk. Eunsol, who got tipsy after three soju-beer mixes, was already on her fourth glass of soju.
"Hey, Eunsol."
"Ung??"
"Aren't you way too picky about people?"
"Sol is??"
"Yeah! When you're with us, you don't even take a single sip!"
"That's because... Sunwoo isn't there..."
"Ha! Total Cha Sunwoo fanatic."
"Ung! Sol is a Sunwoo fanatic~ Hehe"
"Quiet down and eat this. No more drinking."
"Uung..."
I popped a sausage coated in sweet-and-sour sauce into Eunsol's mouth. Meanwhile, I quietly slid her empty glass over in front of me and checked the time.
"Why do you keep checking your watch? Got somewhere to be?"
"No, my cohabitant's coming."
"Cohabitant??"
"Sol's best friend who boards with us."
"Ah~ Naye?"
"You've met her?"
"Yeah, I've seen Naye plenty~ Sol just never introduced you. So what do you think of Sol?"
"Persistent, aren't you."
"This persistence is how I got into this school."
"Haha..."
That was a tough question to answer. Especially since she knew Lee Naye too—made it even more awkward. And right on cue, she arrived.
"Hey, Cha Sunwoo."
"You're here?"
"Naye-yaaaaa~~~"
"She's drunk..!"
"Hehehe~~ It's Naye, Naye~~ Our pretty Naye~~"
"That's why I called you. Figured it'd be too much to handle alone."
"Haa..."
She patted the Eunsol clinging to her while glaring daggers at me.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm giving you a chance to atone for your sins."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you remember? The first time Sol got drunk."
"......"
Back when Eunsol first drank, Lee Naye had pretended not to notice the drunk Eunsol. I wasn't dumping the burden on her—I was giving her a chance to make amends.
"Food?"
"Not yet."
"Then sit here. The sausages are good."
"Only the sausages are good?"
Eunsol's friend across from me asked with a pouty expression. But the sausages really were the only good thing.
"Give me one more of these. Here's payment."
"Yes, customer~"
As if the earlier interrogation never happened, she put on a super friendly face, picked up the 50,000-won bill on the table, and stood up.
"Wait, there's one left."
She was about to clear the plate too, so I quickly snatched up the last sausage and ate it. But was that such a big mistake?
"Uung!!! Sol's sausage~!!!!"
"Uwah!!"
Eunsol, who'd been in Lee Naye's arms, was suddenly behind me, grabbing both my cheeks and yanking my head back. Naturally my neck bent back, my head tipped, and my eyes met Eunsol's looking down at me.
"That was Sol's! Sol was gonna eat it—I've been staring at it this whole time!"
"H-I ordered another one!"
"Uung..!!!"
Eunsol, face full of dissatisfaction, puffed out her cheeks and stared down at me. And in an instant, she gobbled it up. My lips... no, the sausage still in my mouth.
Sluuurp..!!
W-wait a second! How many people are watching right now..!!
"Ah...."
I demurely covered my stolen lips with both hands, while Eunsol roughly wiped her mouth with her forearm and chewed and swallowed the sausage in her mouth.
"Hehe~ Delicious~"