The Burner Account Girl (3)
The dinner venue was quite a distance from the university district. We rode in Bam Nuna's car.
Ahn Seong-hyeon looked around the interior and asked,
"Cheol-jin, isn't this an insanely expensive car?"
"Dunno. I'm not really into cars."
It was Seongju Hyung who answered.
"I think it's one of the new Porsche models from last year."
"Our club president is loaded..."
"No wonder she offered to buy us beef."
"You're thinking about beef after seeing this car?"
I'd thought she was a well-bred young lady, but she was even richer than I'd imagined. What kind of student—an exchange student here temporarily, at that—drove around in a car like this?
The dinner venue was no ordinary place either. I'd assumed we'd go to some local beef restaurant, but we were led into a private room. It was a spacious area with about three tables, large enough to seat more than ten people.
"It's my first time in a place like this."
"Probably none of us has been to a place like this."
Arriving at an unfamiliar place, we were a bit tense and careful with our manners.
'Our family is pretty well-off too, you know.'
But even so, it didn't seem to compare to Bam Nuna. I'd better treat our club president with the utmost respect.
The awkwardness quickly melted away.
Thanks to the story Bam Nuna launched into while we waited for the food.
"The guy had three legs! He was dating three club members at the same time!"
She was spilling the tea on how the anime club had imploded.
"His three legs got exposed and it turned into a total mess. One of the women he was dating posted his personal info on Camta."
Camta—full name 'Campus Time'—was a community site popular among college students.
"His personal info?"
"Yesh. She posted his personal info."
"A-and then?"
The story of the three legs was incredibly juicy.
Everyone listened intently.
"Naturally, the guy got flamed to hell. But he didn't take it lying down—because she spread his personal info, you see."
Maybe from excitement, Bam Nuna's pronunciation was a bit more slurred than usual.
But the story was so sensational that nobody really minded.
"But get this!"
"Get what?"
"The woman got busted too! One of the women dating the guy was also two-timing—with four guys, even!"
"Whaaaat?!"
"And three of those four were our club members."
"Crazy..."
It was a drama beyond any drama. That was why the wildest makjang dramas didn't work these days. Reality was more makjang, so why watch dramas?
Seongju Hyung, who'd been listening quietly, let out a hollow laugh and clicked his tongue softly.
"Tsk tsk. This is exactly why you shouldn't date inside your own circle."
Somehow, the words carried weight, a sense of lived experience. Come to think of it, Seongju Hyung's philosophy was 'don't date a woman in the same building.' By the same token, he also said he absolutely wouldn't become a campus couple.
"What happened after that?"
Areum, her face brimming with curiosity, urged her to go on.
Bam Nuna smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"After that, the club blew up. The people involved left, the one who had a crush on the cheater left, and the people who'd confessed to those cheaters and got rejected left too."
"I-I see..."
"For the record, the two who cheated dropped out of school. And I became the club president."
That was inevitable. How could they show their faces when their personal info had been completely aired out?
Ahn Seong-hyeon shook his head and spoke.
"I'd heard something like that happened at Cheonggwang University... I had no idea it was actually about our club."
"I saw it on the internet once, but I thought it was just a made-up story."
I agreed. I'd seen the story on a community site too, but I'd naturally assumed it was fabricated. Who would believe such an absurd tale was real?
Seongju Hyung, on the other hand, just shrugged with a nonchalant expression.
"Surprisingly, a lot of stories that sound like bullshit turn out to be true."
Why did that sound like the voice of experience? I was curious what kind of life this hyung had lived.
'Maybe it's because he's handsome. Somehow he feels like a grizzled veteran who's been through all kinds of crap.'
I didn't really care to rate a guy's face, but objectively, Seongju Hyung was better-looking than the visual center of your average second-tier boy group. If I got the chance later, hearing his stories would probably be entertaining.
Soon the food arrived, and the staff grilled the meat for us right there. I picked up a piece of the perfectly cooked beef and tasted it; it practically melted in my mouth.
"Whoa. Damn, this is amazing."
"Was the beef I've eaten until now not actually beef?"
"Expensive stuff really is different."
"Thank you for the meal, unni!"
Both the meat and the side dishes were delicious.
I avoided carbs where possible and focused on picking out protein-based dishes.
While we ate, Bam Nuna explained more about our club.
"Currently, our club has eleven members including all of you. We've finally met the minimum headcount."
"Isn't the minimum for a club five?"
"For the club to survive, yes. But for a clubroom, you need more—ten."
Ah, so maintaining a clubroom required ten people.
'There are more members than I thought.'
I'd heard the club was on the verge of disbanding, but I'd assumed that referred to the clubroom. However, as she continued, it became clear that wasn't the case.
"There are eleven registered members. But the number who actually participate is only four."
"What? What about the others?"
"They just signed up—because we were facing disbandment..."
It wasn't just about the clubroom; the club really had been on the verge of disbanding.
"And among the four who do participate, one is a fourth-year—so she doesn't come around much."
"Then it's practically just three people?"
"Now that you're here, it's seven! Let's have fun with activities!"
...I wasn't sure if Seongju Hyung would participate properly. I glanced to the side and saw the hyung smiling awkwardly.
I asked quietly.
"Hyung, are you going to do club activities?"
"...I will do them, but I wasn't planning on going hardcore."
"You're not going to drop out, right?"
"No, not that. I'll just join in moderately, playing it by ear."
I tuned out at that point. Well, he was a very resourceful hyung, so he'd manage on his own.
While we were eating a few more pieces of meat, the other club members began to trickle in.
Bam Nuna stood up to greet them.
"Everyone, it's been so long! Welcome!"
"Uh... we came, but is it okay for us to join?"
"Yeah. We're just names on the roster."
The members who arrived late spoke with sheepish expressions. They seemed to be the ghost members she'd mentioned earlier.
"It's fine. Instead, if you can, please drop by the clubroom once in a while."
"Well, that much we can do..."
Listening to the conversation, I could guess Bam Nuna's goal. She was probably hoping that through a dinner like this, they might join a few activities, even just a little. Though it didn't seem likely to work out.
I privately felt a bit sorry for her. She seemed to have all kinds of activities in mind, but with things like this, I wasn't sure the club could function properly.
'I think she mentioned producing a short animation.'
Practically seven people—no, just six if you excluded Seongju Hyung—could we really produce a short animation within the year? I doubted a college club had anyone with proper technical skills. Even if I did the work of two or three people, there would be limits.
'Well, there are lots of other activities too.'
I quickly pushed the worry aside. It wasn't a problem I could solve by worrying.
The number present so far totaled eight, including me and my classmates. Maybe because the dinner menu was beef, all the ghost members had come.
We exchanged awkward greetings with the ghost members. Thinking we'd likely never do activities together made our attitudes unavoidably stiff.
They seemed to feel the same way and said:
"Don't mind us, just enjoy yourselves. You don't need to stand on ceremony just because we're sunbaes."
"Yeah, yeah. We just put our names down as a favor for some friends."
"You're all from the Digital Content Department, right? I'm Jeong Mi-na, a fourth-year in Digital Content."
Among the ghost members was a sunbae from our own department.
Jeong Mi-na, the sunbae who introduced herself, pointed at me.
"You're Cheol-jin, right? Soyeon's boyfriend?"
"Huh?"
"I'm close with Soyeon too. She bragged about you like crazy—said you've got a great personality and you're good at your work."
People's gazes converged on me. Talk of romance always drew attention no matter where you were.
I quickly waved my hands.
"Ah, n-no. Soyeon noona and I are just close noona-dongsaeng."
"Huh? Really? I was absolutely sure you two were dating..."
The sunbae, who'd said that with a surprised face, stared at me intently before giggling to herself as if she'd figured something out. What was that? I felt a bit uneasy.
"Anyway, you are close with Soyeon, right? Then let's greet each other and get to know each other too."
"Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you, Jeong Mi-na sunbae-nim."
"Ayy, too formal. Just call me Mina nuna. All of you, too."
Mina nuna had fantastic social skills. While the other ghost members just settled into their seats and focused on eating meat, Mina nuna actively engaged us in conversation, seemingly interested in us since we were from the same department.
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.
"Bam~ We're here!"
"Unni, I'm here."
"Ah, hello..."
Three more women entered.
But two of them were faces I knew.
"Seora noona?"
"Huh? Oh, Cheol-jin! What are you doing here?"
My running mate and PT trainer Seora noona walked in. But strangely, I wasn't the only one who recognized her.
"Huh? Ahn Seong-hyeon, you joined the club too?"
"What the—noona, what are you doing here?"
An Seo-ra, Ahn Seong-hyeon.
They had the same last name. Could they actually be real siblings? As far as I knew, Ahn Seong-hyeon was an only child.
"Are you two siblings?"
When I asked, they both shook their heads at the same time.
"She's a cousin noona."
"Us having the same last name is just a coincidence."
Meanwhile, Areum's attention was completely stolen by someone else.
"Waaah! Saebyeok unni!"
Areum sprang up from her seat and ran, arms outstretched, towards Han Saebyeok. It was the Smoking Woman who'd looked after a drunk Areum the other night.
Han Saebyeok unexpectedly accepted Areum's hug. The height difference made it a picturesque scene. Han Saebyeok, with Areum in her arms, looked down at her with a rare, surprised expression.
"You joined the club?"
"Yes! We joined today. Kkangcheol's here, too."
Areum pointed at me.
Because of that, my eyes met hers, so I greeted her.
"Hello. It's been a while."
"......"
Han Saebyeok acknowledged the greeting with a brief nod, then softly stroked the head of Areum, who was still in her arms.
'Why is she only like that to me...'
It was a bit irritating, but she hadn't completely ignored me, so it was hard to say anything. I didn't have the guts to say anything anyway.
"Some of you already know each other! That's great!"
Bam Nuna said with a bright smile. It was plainly obvious she now thought we wouldn't be dropping out of the club.
"Still, let's all introduce ourselves once. State your names. I'm the president, Yu-bam, and the vice-president is Saebyeok here. Saebyeok, say hello."
"Fashion Design, third-year. Han Saebyeok."
Han Saebyeok introduced herself with her usual cold voice and stiff tone.
'So she isn't just like that to me.'
It seemed it was simply her personality. There was no particular malice apparent.
"I'm An Seo-ra. I do participate, but I'm a fourth-year, so I can't be very actively involved. Still, I'll drop by to help from time to time, so feel free to treat me casually."
Having said that, Seora noona pointed at Ahn Seong-hyeon and me.
"I'm cousins with Ahn Seong-hyeon here, and I'm in the Sports Science department. If any of you have questions about working out, ask me. I'm also Cheol-jin's PT trainer."
"PT trainer? Cheol-jin, you said you were doing PT—it was with Seora noona?"
"Yeah, just kind of happened."
With that, we'd exchanged introductions all around.
One person remained.
'This person looks kind of scary, too.'
She was less intimidating than Han Saebyeok, but still gave off a somewhat stiff impression. On top of that, she was incredibly tall—around 175 cm—and her hair was a bright, bleached yellow that gave off a bit of a thug vibe.
But that impression flew completely out the window the moment she opened her mouth.
"I-I'm, Ju Hana..."
A voice so timid it practically curled up and hid even as you listened to it. You could instantly tell she was an extremely shy person.
"Oh, r-right. I'm, I'm a s-second-year in, Fashion Design..."
It was a self-introduction that formed a huge contrast with her appearance and height.
'A kindred spirit.'
I instantly felt a surge of goodwill. Having only seen social butterflies around me lately, a woman who looked like a fellow loner was incredibly welcome. Being in the anime club, she must be an otaku too, right?
'But somehow, her face looks familiar.'
Had I met her somewhere before?