University Festival – 3
From the moment morning broke, someone was draped limply over the dining table.
Not me. Eunsol.
"Aaaah… Soli's tummy hurts…"
"Then go to the bathroom."
"Not that kind of tummy!!"
"That's what you get for drinking that much."
"…Dunno…"
"Soli, dear—here's some dried pollack soup."
"Wow! Thank you!"
The second Yun Jiyeon set the bowl down, Eunsol scooped it up and drained it in one shot.
"Isn't it hot?"
"Nope!"
"I cooled it a little—you drank like that last night too."
"Thank you."
"Thanks, Auntie! But Soli's tummy still hurts…"
"I'll give you more broth."
"Heehee~"
Today was the third and final day of the festival.
And last night, for the first time, Eunsol had come home drunk without me there—completely out of her mind.
The silver lining was that the girls we'd met on the first day of the festival had gotten her home safely. Anyone who might have liked Eunsol had probably been too terrified of Geum Gangsan to even approach her.
"Sorry I'm a little late."
"It's fine~ Naye, you sit down too. Looks like you drank a lot last night."
"Yes."
"…Hmph!! Soli already finished hers!"
"This is…"
"Thanks for the meal!"
"……"
Eunsol shot up from her seat, glared at Lee Naye for a beat, then spun on her heel and swept out of the kitchen without another word.
Naye, who had carefully avoided meeting her eyes and stared only at her soup bowl, set down the spoon she'd half-lifted and rose from her chair.
"I don't have much of an appetite either."
"At least have a little of the broth…"
"I'm sorry after you went to the trouble of cooking. I'll be heading out, then."
Even after both of them left, a chill lingered in the kitchen.
It had been like this ever since the night of the first festival day.
That night, I had no idea how many times the two of them had traded kisses back and forth. If they were going to do it anyway, they could have done more than just kiss. Instead they left a certain someone painfully frustrated, then passed out cold—and the next morning, when they woke up on either side of me, this cold war began.
"Did the two of them fight…?"
"Not exactly a fight… haha…"
Best friends turned rivals.
The freeze between the two closest people in the house was making life hard not just for me, but for everyone under this roof.
"Dried pollack soup again?!"
"Sorry—Eunsol and Naye both came home completely wasted last night…"
"Hiiing… but three days in a row? Morning and night, nothing but dried pollack soup… those unnies are seriously…!!"
The day before the festival, pure coincidence had put dried pollack soup on the table morning and night. Then the next day. Then today. Honestly, even I was sick of it. She could have thrown in bean sprout soup just once.
"Just eat it for today. Mom'll make something else for dinner."
"Fine…"
Kim Sua, who had looked ready to start a war, sat back down at Yun Jiyeon's words and ate quietly. I steered the conversation into safer waters.
"Sua."
"Yeah, Oppa?"
"How's practice going?"
"It's fun~ Thanks to a certain someone."
"Ahem…! But isn't Seongsu-dong a little far?"
"Gangnam, Seongsu-dong—same difference."
"That so?"
Thankfully, Sua was keeping the fact that I'd acquired Lime Entertainment a secret from everyone. She hadn't told the other trainees or anyone at the company either—that her boarding-house oppa was now the owner of the place.
"Thanks for the meal~"
"Already? Eat a little more…"
"I'm full~ And Oppa, come look at something real quick."
"Me??"
I'd just finished eating myself, so I dropped my empty dishes in the sink and followed her to her room. I left the door open—no point inviting misunderstandings.
"What is it?"
"Gimme some allowance, please."
"Did you leave some with me?"
"Aang~!!! Oppaaaa~~~"
"You wanna die?"
"Tch… just give me some!!"
"How much?"
"Hehe~ Just ten thousand won."
"Why only ten thousand?"
"I'm completely out of transit money… ate tteokbokki with the girls yesterday…"
She probably had a rough idea how much money I had, and yet all she asked for was ten thousand won. It wasn't because she knew my finances had taken a hit lately—she was just a good kid. Being Yun Jiyeon's daughter, that tracked.
"Come on. Wallet's upstairs."
"Kyaa~!! Oppaaaa~~~"
"Wh-what's going on?!"
"Mom doesn't need to know~~ Oppa, hurry! Hurry~!!"
"Don't push me!"
Shoved from behind all the way from the living room up to my second-floor room, I opened my wallet—and blinked. Not a single bill of cash inside.
"What the—! You said you'd give me some!!"
"Use this instead."
"Huh??"
"Rarer than a mom-card or a dad-card—the Oppa-card. Works as a transit card too, so use it freely. Buy whatever you need, eat whatever you want. Just return it in a week."
"Kyaa~!! I can really buy and eat everything??"
"Do whatever you want."
How much could a middle-schooler even spend? I handed over the card with a completely light heart.
"Oppa, you're the best!!"
Chup—
She'd gotten addicted to this lately. Kim Sua threw her arms around me and planted a kiss on my cheek.
At this rate I was going to end up in handcuffs for real.
"You are actually going to die!!"
"You like it though~~~"
"Who does?!!"
I bolted after her as she fled the room—and froze for a second at the sight of Eunsol and Lee Naye standing outside each other's doors, locked in a staring contest.
"Uh, so…"
"Hmph!!"
"Hmph."
"……"
"Why are the unnies like that…"
I never imagined those two would end up like this. What the hell was I, that kids who'd been like family would turn on each other over me?
"Oppa, Oppa~"
"Ah! Kiss me again and you're dead…!"
"Okay. But what time does your class start today?"
"Ten. Why?"
"Then give me a ride."
"Where?"
"Where else—school."
"Take my bike."
"Give me a ride! I've been practicing so much my legs hurt…"
"…Five minutes."
"Okay!"
It was a hassle, but I had time, and I'd been short on exercise lately—so I decided to take her. Besides, she was a future idol who would one day make me money. This much service was nothing.
"Kyaaa~~~ Oppa, faster~!!"
"This isn't a motorcycle! How am I supposed to go any faster than this?!"
"Tch… our trainer-teacher said something."
"What?!"
"A man's all about the lower body. Oppa's weak, huh?"
"Haha… hahahaha!! Now you've gone and lit a fire under my competitive streak. Hold on tight. I'll show you what a real man's lower body can do."
"Kyaaaaa~~~~"
"Uoooooh!!!!!"
You wouldn't believe it.
I overtook a car that was passing us. Granted, traffic was a little backed up.
"Oppa, thank yoooou~~~"
"……"
I had burned pure white. Not a scrap of strength left for the ride home.
I sat on the edge of a flower bed near the entrance to catch my breath and soothe my flaming thighs.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
"What the…"
"L-let's go that way…"
"Should we tell a teacher…?"
"……"
Middle-school girls on their way to class gave me a wide berth. This side was a girls' middle school; right next door was a girls' high school. If I kept sitting here, I might be exchanging morning greetings with the police.
"Ugh…! Why did I take a little kid's bait first thing in the morning and end up like this… what the hell am I even…"
I froze in an awkward half-standing, half-sitting crouch.
The middle-school girls started staring at me even more strangely—but my eyes were locked on only one place.
No way, right?
Come on. There's no way I'd run into her by pure chance.
But she looked so much like her…
The first time I saw her was probably 2025. Not in person—through the tiny screen of a phone.
That face, dazzlingly beautiful, and the voice that had comforted a completely worn-out me—I still couldn't forget either one.
I was twenty-seven then. A few years after a forced resignation, I'd quit my second job the moment I found out my girlfriend was pregnant with another man's child.
It had been brutal. I felt like an idiot, I resented the world, I regretted making myself unemployed, and I hated the girlfriend carrying someone else's baby.
What had comforted me was a singer who'd made a late debut at twenty-three.
In a K-pop market ruled by idols, she alone had shone with quiet brilliance.
But maybe she shone too brightly. That fierce light seemed to swallow her whole—she left the world after only three years of activity.
Even so, the songs she left behind stayed on my playlist for a full ten years. If I hadn't regressed, they probably would have stayed there for the rest of my life.
"Lee Hayeon really could sing…"
"Hayeon~~~"
"What?!!"
"Kyaa!!"
"Hurry!!"
"Kyaaaak!!"
My sudden shout sent the middle-school girls screaming past me. And then, as if only the two of us were left standing there, my eyes met those of a girl in a school uniform.
"……"
"……"
I checked her name tag.
Lee Hayeon.
Was it really that Lee Hayeon?
She'd been four years younger than me, so right now she'd be a third-year middle schooler…
"H-hurry, let's go…"
"Yeah."
"Wait a second!"
I called out on pure instinct. No—I grabbed her.
"Kyaaaaak!!!!"
"Sojeong… he grabbed me…"
"Ah—s-sorry, I was just startled…"
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
I let go of her wrist and instinctively reached for my wallet—old salesman habit, ready to hand over a business card. Except my wallet didn't have any business cards in it.
"Did you need something?"
"Ah… well… ah! There's a second-year at this school named Kim Sua. Not sure which class… anyway, she's a trainee singer."
"And?"
"If you ever want to sing, come find us. I'm not saying you have to become a trainee—just come sing whenever you feel like it. Practice room, recording studio, use whatever you want. Or just drop by for a look around. Ah—the company's Lime Entertainment. In Seongsu-dong."
"……"
"Hayeon, let's go…! This guy seems weird…"
I never got an answer. Her friend dragged her through the school gate.
What if she actually showed up at Lime Entertainment?
"Lee Hayeon and Kim Sua… one rapper, one main dancer who can rap—and the game's basically over, isn't it?"
Lee Hayeon didn't have insane high notes or flashy technique—but she had extreme visuals and a voice that melted ears and stirred hearts. Kim Sua, with her unique tone, could handle singing, dancing, even simple rapping, and had nothing to criticize in looks or skill either.
Those two alone would be enough to succeed. No—Kim Sua alone would be enough. Her variety-show instincts had single-handedly dragged a group's recognition almost to the bottom of the first tier.
But that was as far as it went. Alone, Kim Sua had a ceiling. With Lee Hayeon and a proper set of members around her?
They might birth a girl group that ate the entire world.
Of course, in a group like that, Kim Sua's share of the spotlight might shrink a little.
"Whoa… there are so many people today. Twilight really is something…"
Final day of the festival—and with an undisputed first-tier girl group scheduled to appear, the school was packed. But the surprising part wasn't the crowd.
"You're something else yourself."
"Huh??"
"Pulling a stunt like that and still having the nerve to enjoy the festival. Honestly, I figured you wouldn't show your face at school for a few days."
"Th-that's…!!"
"I'm kidding."
"I can tell you're not?!"
"Was it that obvious?"
"I'm regretting it too… why did I even do that?! Haa…"
That Park Seongmin was here at all, swallowing his embarrassment, said everything about how popular Twilight was. I was waiting around hoping to see them in person myself—but it didn't look like today was the day.
"Oh—Naye."
"Come see me for a second."
She hung up without even saying where. Luckily the location came through in a text. Leaving a hopeful Park Seongmin behind, I pushed through the crush of people.
"Is this the right place…?"
It was my school, but I'd never been to this particular room—not one of the lecture halls I used every day.
"This should be it…"
I opened the closed door. Lee Naye, standing by the window, turned to face me.
"Found it okay?"
"Got a little lost. What are you doing here?"
Every light in the lecture hall was off. Aside from the bright festival glow spilling through the windows, the room was pitch dark.
"I needed to talk about Soli…"
"Whew… I was going to bring it up soon myself. Perfect timing."
"Did you… choose…?"
"Are you insane?! If I pick one of you right now, I lose the other."
"Then… neither of us…?"
"That's not it either! I don't want to lose either of you… and… I like both of you…"
"Ha! You think that makes any sense?!"
"Then what am I supposed to do?! That's how I actually feel!"
"You piece of trash…!"
The carefully cautious Naye snapped right back to her usual self at my answer.
And she wasn't the only one who'd arrived. Eunsol walked in.
"Uuung!!!! Why are you meeting Soli in secret!!"
"Naye said she needed to talk… wait, how did you even know to come here?? Did you call her?"
"No."
"I followed Sunwoo when he left. And Naye broke the promise. You clearly agreed with Soli not to meet Sunwoo alone!"
"Y-you followed Sunwoo too?! If I hadn't been here, you two were going to meet by yourselves, weren't you?!"
"That's…! Anyway, Naye broke the promise first! So Soli's going to break it too! Break it!"
"Haa… fine, okay. Then you can meet Sunwoo outside alone once too—hey!!!"
"Mmph… mmph… puha…! Haa… haa… there. Promise broken~ Heehee."
Eunsol's version of breaking the promise was a kiss.
But Naye clearly could not accept a violation of a completely different kind.
"Mmph…! Mm…"
"Uuung!! Naye broke the promise again!!!"
"Puha…! Haa… haa… I told you, didn't I? If you break it, I break it too."
"Naye broke it first!"
"Then you just meet him outside alone the same way! Why are you kissing him?!"
"Uuung…!!!!"
Despite the height difference, Eunsol went up on her tiptoes and locked eyes with Naye dead-on.
"W-wait a second! I'm fine with this, but if you two keep going like this, just make up already—S-Sol!!"
"Eunsol…"
I was shocked. Naye was shocked. Both our gazes dropped.
To Eunsol, crouched in front of me, groping at my lower half.
"Heehee~ Naye can't do something like this, right? You won't be able to break the promise now, will you? But Soli can~ Because Soli likes Sunwoo way, way more than Naye does!"
"Hey, wait…!"
"Ha! You think I can't?"
"Yep. Naye can't. You've never even done something like—kyaa!!"
A short scream, and Eunsol landed hard on her rear.
And now Lee Naye was the one crouched in front of me.
Not just rubbing me through my pants—she'd yanked my pants down. No—my underwear too.
"Watch closely, Eunsol."
"Lee Naye… c-calm down first! This is a lecture hall—ohh…!"
Slurp— suck— slurp—
Naye's soft, pliant lips and tongue wrapped around me and sucked hard.
And Eunsol's wail rang through the room.
"N-no… that's Soli's…! Sunwoo's sausageee!!!!"