MT
Three days passed.
In that time, I finished all my backlogged illustration commissions and video editing. Mind you, I didn't take on any more work. I had some savings, so from now on I planned to only accept commissions when I had the time.
This caused a bit of a problem.
- Yusi: How could you do this to me! Kkangcheol, you traitor! You've made too much money, so now you've gotten lazy!
- Me: Sorry, Yusi. School life has gotten busy.
- Yusi: ??? School? School? You're going back to school?
Yusi knew the general outline of my circumstances. I had confided my personal situation back when I was still holed up in my room.
Back then, I needed anyone at all to vent to. And Yusi had maturely taken in my sudden lamentations.
So I felt emotionally indebted to her. She had been the only outlet I had, aside from family, during my most difficult time.
- Me: I enrolled in university. I figured I couldn't stay at home forever.
- Yusi: ...I think going to school was a good choice. It's a shame I can't commission you as much, though. I'll cheer you on.
At that one line about enrolling in university, Yusi's attitude shifted. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
- Me: Instead, when I do have time, I'll contact you first, Yusi. You're my number one priority, unconditionally.
- Yusi: Don't forget your promise. There's no artist who draws as fucking hot as Kkangcheol.
- Me: Don't worry. Yusi is my lifelong top-priority client.
A big spender and a regular customer. But even aside from reasons like that, if you've received a favor, you have to repay it. No matter what, Yusi's commissions were my unconditional top priority.
After I finished talking with Yusi.
I grabbed the bag I had packed in advance.
"Ugh, I don't wanna go."
Today was the day of the MT.
*
I arrived at the departure location.
"Author-nim—!"
"Guhk?!"
A small impact hit me from behind.
Ah-reum, who had already arrived, had headbutted me.
"...What are you doing first thing in the morning?"
"Ehehe. It's because I'm so grateful to our author-nim."
She meant she was grateful I gave her the virtual avatar for free. Ever since that day, she had been ramming into me every time she saw me.
"Then say it with words. Don't tackle me every time you see me."
Whether or not I scolded her, Ah-reum shoved her phone in my face with an excited expression.
"Look at this! I hit over twenty viewers!"
"I know. Because I'm one of them."
I found out that Ah-reum was streaming three days ago.
It had that corny name, PibadaTV.
I found it fascinating that an acquaintance was streaming, so I was always connected. I also needed to check whether the virtual character I made was working properly.
But Ah-reum only just now learned that I had been watching her streams.
"Huh? You've been watching my stream? You didn't have a nickname."
"That's because I made a new account?"
"What! Tell me your nickname!"
My original nickname was 'Steel,' but after I found out the streamer was Ah-reum, I made a new account.
The reason I went out of my way to make a new ID? Because it's easier to tease her if I stay as just a random viewer!
"No. I'm protecting my privacy."
"So unfair! Tell me, I said tell me!"
"Agh! Don't hang on me!"
Ah-reum jumped and clung to my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck, cutting off my breathing—I choked out a cough.
"I'm not letting go until you tell me!"
"I said I'm not telling you?! Let me enjoy the stream too!"
"You're planning to troll, aren't you? I know what you're up to!"
How did she know? Sharp intuition.
As Ah-reum and I bickered like that, eyes turned toward us. Ugh, I really preferred not to be the center of attention.
As if on cue, some classmates nearby asked us:
"Are Ah-reum and Cheol-jin dating?"
"Are they the Digital Content department's first campus couple?"
Everyone was in the prime of youth at twenty years old. Even those who got in after retaking the CSAT were only one or two years older at most. Naturally, they were very interested in romance.
Some of the guys even shot me subtly jealous glances. That's how pretty Ah-reum was. Of course, she was bound to draw male attention. There was even a rumor that one of them had already confessed and been shot down.
I glanced around with an awkward face. How was I supposed to answer that? Obviously I should deny it, but I was worried Ah-reum might be hurt.
'We're not dating, but.......'
Even so, we were in a relationship where we'd mixed our bodies more than a few times. Wouldn't she feel bad if I flatly denied it? In the first place, even I hadn't been able to define exactly what was between us.
But it turned out to be needless worry.
"Nope? Kkangcheol is just my bestest friend?"
On the contrary, Ah-reum denied it flatly. Her attitude was so resolute that the classmates who had asked were the ones who ended up looking sheepish.
"R-really? You're always together so I misunderstood."
"We got close at the freshman meetup, so yeah. You know we met up once before, right?"
"Ahh, so Cheol-jin went to that one too."
I heard regretful voices around me saying, 'Ah, I should've gone too.' It was a reaction I'd heard several times. Because all the people who had come to that gathering were good-looking and pretty, which meant there were a lot of people who found out about it afterward and kicked themselves for missing it.
But they were misunderstanding something. The fact was, even if they had come to the freshman meetup, Ah-reum wouldn't have stuck around them this closely. For example, the way she treated me was different from the way she treated Seongju Hyung and Ahn Seong-hyeon. Though, granted, she was still friendlier with them than with others.
"Alright, everyone please get on the bus."
On the bus, we naturally sat with our group members.
The person who sat next to me was Ahn Seong-hyeon. I originally planned to sit with Ah-reum, but it seemed like that would draw way too much attention, so I didn't.
- Pi Ah-reum: Hmph. I was gonna play with your pepper on the bus.
- Me: Ah-reum, please.......
- Pi Ah-reum: Honestly, it turns you on. Right?
Well, I did admit that. If Ah-reum had been next to me, I might have ended up fondling around too.
Still, couldn't she maybe clean up her language just a little? Even just half as much as the sweet and innocent act she puts on in front of other friends.
Surprisingly, Ah-reum had a completely different image with anyone besides me. The side she showed me was, frankly, the embodiment of lust—or to put it more crudely, no different from a bitch in heat—but to her other friends, she had the image of a pure, innocent, and cute younger sister.
Was she maybe taking out on me all the stuff that piled up from faking it in daily life? It seemed plausible enough.
"Cheol-jin, you want some snacks?"
Ahn Seong-hyeon held out some snacks. So that's what he had packed in his bag.
I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head.
"I'll just take the thought. I'm on a diet right now."
"Diet? Now that you mention it, you have lost weight."
Surprisingly, my current weight was 97kg. I had finally broken into double digits. Compared to my 130kg days, it was practically like shedding an entire elementary school kid from my body.
"I want to try to get down to 80."
"I see. But is skipping snacks really meaningful? You're gonna drink and eat meat today anyway. Skipping this probably won't make much difference."
"...Huh. You're right."
"It's okay to eat a bit when you do eat. Just work out harder after the MT ends. Eating for one day doesn't mean it turns straight into fat. If you do interval training, it'll come off quick."
Maybe because a gym rat was the one saying it, it was absurdly persuasive. I ended up taking the snack and eating it. Ah, how long had it been since I'd eaten a snack like this?
Just then, someone tapped the back seat repeatedly. I turned around to see what it was, and Seongju Hyung was holding out a can.
"Kkangcheol, you want some too?"
"Ah, thanks, hyung."
I popped the tab and took a sip.
"Huh? Seongju Hyung, isn't this beer?"
"Hahaha. Tasty, right? It's a fruit beer, low ABV."
"No, I mean, who drinks beer on the bus?"
"What's the big deal. It's not like we're the ones driving."
Kim Seong-ju shrugged his shoulders and said it like it was nothing.
Now that I heard it, he was right. We weren't at the wheel, so what did it matter.
Still, beer on the bus... It gave me a subtly mischievous feeling, like I was doing something bad. Kind of like the feeling of sneaking booze onto a school trip. Even though there was no problem with it now that we were adults, it still felt that way.
'Is it because my mental age is low?'
I wondered, feeling a bit sheepish, and just silently chugged my beer.
But it seemed I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Yu-bam sunbae, who was sitting in the next seat over, was looking at us with sparkling eyes.
"Th-that's alcohol? Beer?"
"Ah, yes. Fruit beer though."
"Ooh, Cheol-jin is a very bad person. You're a bad guy."
Maybe because she was raised as preciously as she looked, her reaction was incredibly intense just over a little alcohol. And for someone calling me a bad person, she looked awfully intrigued.
"...Would you like some too, Yu-bam sunbae?"
"I-is that allowed?"
"Well, it's not mine, though. Seongju Hyung, do you maybe have any booze left? Bam sunbae says she wants to try some too."
"Yeah, got one can left. So, wanna drink?"
"U-uuuum."
Yu-bam sunbae stared at the beer can in Seongju Hyung's hand with an extremely serious expression. Why was she agonizing so much over just one can of beer, I wondered.
Soon, Yu-bam sunbae squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them and accepted the beer. And after taking one sip.
"Haa. It's delicious. It's cherry flavor!"
"Bam sunbae, is this your first time drinking?"
"Nope. I've tried it a few times since coming to Korea. But it's my first time drinking outside a store. This is a very naughty thing."
Did that mean she first drank alcohol after coming to Korea? That was really unexpected. I had thought foreigners were way more open when it came to drinking and partying, but Bam sunbae's family seemed to be fairly strict.
But that moment of drinking beer and chattering was brief.
Not long after, silence fell over the inside of the bus.
I had thought a college MT would be really noisy and lively, but it wasn't. Everyone had woken up early and was tired, so they closed their eyes and tried to sleep.
I was just as tired, so I soon fell asleep as well. Hoping earnestly that the MT would pass by smoothly without any incidents.
*
We arrived at the MT location.
When I got off the bus and looked around, there were quite a lot of people besides us. Seeing as they were all around the same age, it seemed they had come for an MT just like our department.
"Oh, look, that's our school's Fashion Design department and Sports Management. They came to the same place as us."
Seongju Hyung acted like he recognized them.
They weren't even holding signs. I wondered how he could tell.
"How do you know?"
"There are a few kids wearing department jackets. And the Fashion Design department... I dated someone from there back in high school."
Seongju Hyung clicked his tongue with an awkward face and added.
"Thankfully, I don't see her. Kkangcheol, wanna go hunting at the Fashion Design department later with Bam? It's a female-dominated department, so there are lots of pretty girls."
My eyes went wide. Why was this hyung suddenly acting like this?
"Hyung, weren't you not really interested in girls?"
The Kim Seong-ju I had seen was a popular guy who knew how to lead the atmosphere and make everyone feel comfortable. And maybe because he was two years older, I had gotten a pretty dignified impression of him.
So this current sight of Seongju Hyung, busy scoping out girls, was extremely unexpected.
But Seongju Hyung just asked back as if wondering what I was talking about.
"Is there a guy who hates women? I'm not gay."
"No, you just didn't have the vibe of someone who'd suggest going hunting. You didn't seem interested in the girls in our own department either."
At that, Seongju Hyung chuckled and gave the reason.
"That's because they're in the same department. I have a rule against touching anyone too close. It gets annoying later."
Seongju Hyung said it with a deep sigh, like someone who'd mastered the ways of the world.
"Ah, well, I'm rooting for you and Ah-reum."
"No, I'm not dating Ah-reum."
"Really? I definitely thought you were going out. Well, then it works out even better. Let's round up the guys later and go hunting at the Fashion Design department."
Seongju Hyung wrapped an arm around my shoulder and whispered conspiratorially. It seemed his mind was already set on going hunting.
"Ah, no. Wouldn't it be better to take some other guys instead of me? Some better-looking ones."
"What's wrong with you? Someone at your level is good-looking."
"What are you talking about? Don't mess with me. I just barely broke out of 100 kilos."
"Whoa, you're serious? This guy doesn't know anything. There are tons of girls who like your kind of soft, teddy-bear style. Bear type."
"R-really?"
Come to think of it, I think Ah-reum called me a polar bear once too. Maybe my looks were better than I thought?
'I did get told I was handsome quite a bit when I was little.'
But now I had gained so much weight that you couldn't see any trace of my old self. I had undergone such an extreme visual deterioration that I couldn't even think about the past.
"Okay. So it's settled, we're going hunting this evening?"
"Huh? Hyung, hold on. Ah......."
Kim Seong-ju smacked me on the back a couple of times and then quickly blended into the Digital Content department group that had set off first. This hyung definitely did it on purpose, knowing I couldn't refuse.......