What Happened During the Group Project
A sudden invitation to join a club.
"...What kind of club is it?"
When I asked, Yu-bam sunbae launched into an impassioned pitch.
"An anime and manga club! It's called Toons!"
"Oh, an anime club?"
A spark of interest flickered—I had, after all, become a hardcore otaku during the five years I'd spent holed up in my room. Noticing my reaction, Yu-bam sunbae eagerly dove into the details.
"It's a club where we talk about anime and manga. Oh, and we go to comics conventions too. Sounds fun, right? I'd love it if you and Soyeon joined, Cheol-jin. Please join!"
Yu-bam sunbae was pitching it with genuine passion.
But the world didn't run on passion alone.
"Ah, I can't."
Soyeon noona answered right away. Her tone was firm, leaving no room for argument.
At the flat rejection, Yu-bam sunbae's face crumpled.
"Why? Why? You don't want to do club stuff with me?"
"No. I can't because I'm already in another club. You know Graphic, right? The department's internal club?"
"Ah......."
"I'm the vice-president right now. I'll probably be president next year."
At those words, I looked at Soyeon noona with a mix of awe and exhaustion. I'd already heard this noona was the second-year class rep and did student council work—and on top of all that, she was a club vice-president too? At this point, was she a machine rather than a person?
"I seeee......."
Yu-bam sunbae hung her head dejectedly.
But only for a moment.
She soon snapped her head up and fixed her gaze on me, radiating pressure. She'd locked onto a new target.
"Cheol-jin, let's do it together! You're a first-year, Cheol-jin. So you aren't in a club yet. We can do it together!"
"Ugh......."
Those mesmerizing teal eyes bore into me, making it hard to think. Not stopping there, she grabbed my arm tightly and kept going.
"Our club's in danger of disbanding. We need to fill our numbers. I have to go back next year once my exchange program ends. I want to have fun with club activities this year. Please help me, Cheol-jin!"
No, this was cheating. How could I possibly refuse? Caught between sympathy and genuine interest, I was completely torn.
But while I sat there frozen, my arm still held captive—
"Waaaaah! Thank you, Cheol-jin!"
Yu-bam sunbae threw her hands up in triumph, eyes glistening with tears.
Hold on, I hadn't said yes yet!
"W-wait a moment. Let me think it over first. You have to give me time to consider it."
"...Tch."
The sound of her clicking her tongue. Pouting lips. The tears had vanished without a trace.
Wait, was that all an act? A hollow laugh escaped me at the thought that I'd been completely played.
What a scary person. At least the part about the club being in danger of disbanding wasn't a lie... right?
"Can't you at least just put your name down for now? I really want to do club activities. I hate the thought of disbanding......."
So maybe that part hadn't been a lie after all.
I nodded awkwardly and said,
"Then I'll just put my name down for now. Active participation, I'll have to think about......."
"Thank you, Cheol-jin!"
Yu-bam sunbae beamed. Seeing a beautiful woman smile like that made my heart melt on the spot. As expected—was it really true that being pretty or handsome was all that mattered?
"But why didn't you promote your club earlier? It would've been way better to do it when there were lots of people around."
"Ah, I completely forgot back then because I was drinking. And then I got drunk right away and fell asleep."
So she'd passed out once and then woken up again. That explained why she was only now pitching the club.
Soyeon noona, who had been quietly watching, spoke up.
"Unni, I'll head off now to help the others."
"Ah, I'll help out too! I can't sleep anyway!"
Bam sunbae spoke energetically.
But I wanted to sleep. After doing it twice with Ah-reum plus cleaning up vomit twice, I was utterly exhausted.
Still, slipping away on my own felt awkward.
Soyeon noona patted me on the back and said,
"You go on in and sleep. You're a first-year, after all."
"Well then, shameless as it is......."
"What's there to feel embarrassed about? You worked hard today. Sleep well."
"Yes, ma'am."
I didn't refuse and swiftly took the opportunity.
'Now I just need to dive into bed and sleep.'
Apart from physical exhaustion, a heavy wave of mental fatigue had washed over me.
*
After the MT ended,
the same daily routine repeated itself as always.
Going to lectures at school, self-studying drawing and video editing at home, and occasionally having physical conversations with Ah-reum, who would often come over to my studio apartment.
About a week later,
a few changes crept into that repetitive daily life.
The first was that my weight had finally dropped to 95kg. I'd started losing weight at 130kg in January of the previous year, which meant I'd lost a whopping 35kg.
I stood in front of the full-length mirror, inhaled sharply, held my breath, and flexed.
"...Still nowhere near a six-pack."
Though I'd lost a lot, my starting point was morbid obesity, so a six-pack was out of the question—I was still a lump of dough. Of course, compared to a year ago, I practically looked like a different person.
But I had no intention of settling here. Since I'd started anyway, shouldn't I at least try to get a six-pack once? After working out for a while, I'd developed a real longing for a sculpted body.
'I'll need to look into gyms soon. I need information, though.'
I'd searched online, but there was no reliable info. Everything felt like advertisements. And personally touring gyms one by one seemed like it would take way too much time.
'Should I ask the Sports Science hyungs?'
There were those hyungs I'd met at the MT. With whatever monstrous social skills they possessed, we'd only seen each other's faces once back then, yet they'd reached out to me first.
- Han Seong-hun: Hey man, don't you wanna build a body like this?
- Jeong Seok-hyeon: What matters is muscle. You know if you lose weight without strength training, everything just sags?
- Park Dong-min: A beginner working out alone could get hurt. Work out with us, hyungs. We'll teach you scientifically. You know hyung's in the Sports Science department, right?
...Was it normal for them to go this far? I mean, no matter how much veterans love spotting a newbie, this felt a bit over the top.
For some reason, it scared me off, so I held off on contacting them.
"Guess I'll ask Seora noona after all."
Since it was kind of unnerving when they responded too enthusiastically, I figured I'd ask her casually instead.
- Yu-bam: Cheol-jin, join the club with me. Noona will buy you something delicious. There's also lots of snacks in the club room.
The second change was joining the anime club. I'd only put my name down for now, but it seemed I'd have to stop by soon. I couldn't just keep ignoring a sunbae from my own department.......
'And honestly, I'm interested.'
When it came to novels, manga, and anime, it was a field I had more confidence in than anyone—and I was crazy about it. The only hesitation was the nagging thought that even joining a club to indulge in otaku hobbies might be too much of a time sink.
So initially, I'd planned to just put my name down. But the more I saw Bam nuna's messages, the more my heart leaned toward actually participating.
- Yu-bam: Aha. So Cheol-jin does want to be active. Wants to build a career. Then that's even better!
- Yu-bam: Our club is very active. All the club friends study hard. They draw well, and there are people skilled in modeling and rigging.
- Yu-bam: We also participate in comics convention booths. This can be used for your career. Helps with your studies.
I'd assumed it was a club where people just watched anime and read manga together and shared impressions, but they were gearing up for unexpectedly active pursuits. That was what moved me.
- Me: I'll stop by sometime soon.
- Yu-bam: Good! You can bring other friends too! No, please bring them;;
It seemed the club was still short on members.
Since I also preferred being around familiar faces, I figured I'd try coaxing some of the people around me. First of all, Ah-reum was definitely an otaku, and Ahn Seong-hyeon had opened his eyes to the otaku path even earlier than me, so those two were confirmed.
*
Though I'd become friends with various people through the MT, the core group I moved around with hadn't changed.
Three guys: me, Ahn Seong-hyeon, and Seongju hyung.
Three girls: Ah-reum, Lee Seo-jin, and Mi-hyeon noona.
The six of us who had been together since the first gathering continued to hang out. Of course, when our lectures split up, we inevitably had to separate.
I used our collective lunchtime to pitch the club sign-up.
"Anime club? I'm in."
"Me too. I've wanted to make otaku mates."
As expected, Ah-reum and Ahn Seong-hyeon joined without hesitation.
I actively ran my mouth to persuade the others.
"You know Yu-bam nuna, the third-year? She told me there are a lot of skilled people there. She said the club sunbaes can teach you design, rigging, modeling, and stuff. Anyway, if you're in the Digital Content department, these are things you'll have to learn eventually—wouldn't it be good to get help from sunbaes?"
"Hmm. If it's like that, sounds good. Honestly, I like manga too."
Unexpectedly, Seongju hyung was also easily persuaded. The fact that the manga hyung had in mind was the 'Wanable' series rubbed me the wrong way a little, but I decided to let that slide for now.
"Anyone who's not feeling it can just put their name down. If you want to switch clubs later, you can just withdraw then."
"Mmm. I'll just put my name down for now."
"Me too."
Mi-hyeon noona and Lee Seo-jin decided to only put their names down. It would've been fun to do it all together. A bit disappointing, but I couldn't force them into something they had no interest in.
We finished lunch and moved to the lecture hall.
This lecture was 'Pop Culture Theory.'
The people taking it were me, Pi Ah-reum, Ahn Seong-hyeon, and Seongju hyung—four of us. We secured the back seats and split up, sitting two by two.
"Popular culture, through the spread of education and the development of mass media......."
Honestly, it was a boring lecture. The content was dull, and the professor's voice was a low baritone, which made me even sleepier. On top of that, the slow delivery made it nothing short of torture.
But then, something was said that snapped me back to full attention.
"Alright, this assignment will be about investigating how foreigners perceive Korean popular culture. The topic is 'The Korean Wave from a Foreigner's Perspective.'"
Up to here, it was fine.
That damn assignment—even when it feels hopeless at first, you somehow end up finishing it once you get started.
The real problems began with the next words.
"Ah, for your reference, it's a group project. The groups will be randomly assigned."
Even this was bearable.
I'd come to university—how could I possibly avoid group projects?
I simply prayed fervently to be grouped with people I was close with.
"Alright, I'll randomize it now."
The names projected on the screen were randomly reshuffled.
Where was I? I quickly found my name.
"......."
And then despaired.
If there was one consolation, maybe it was that I wasn't despairing alone.
"Ah, what the fuck......."
A low curse.
I locked eyes with the owner of that voice.
"Soyeon noona......."
"Haaaa......."
After returning from the MT, Soyeon noona and I had only been exchanging awkward greetings. That incident had happened between us, so talking comfortably had been a bit difficult.
But the reason for our despair lay elsewhere.
"Why, of all people, those bitches......."
Soyeon noona furrowed her brow intensely as she stared in one direction.
When I turned my head, I saw three women glaring back at us.
The sunbaes who had talked behind my back during the MT.