The First Branch

I was meeting someone I hadn't expected, in a café on campus. Joo Chaerin.

"I had no idea you'd gotten into this school. ...What department?"

"Theater and Film. You?"

"School of Media."

The university boasted some of the highest admissions cutoffs in the country. To think Joo Chaerin, who had spent her school years messing around, had ended up at the same school as me......

"Haah... You just doubted me, didn't you. Someone like me, at a school like this? No way. Something like that."

"Doubt you...? I'm not that kind of person. Uh... anyway, it's good to see you again."

She glared at me for a moment with her arms folded. Chaerin was wearing a sheer knit, and crossing her arms only pushed her chest into sharper relief. She went on as if she couldn't have cared less where my eyes had gone.

"I joined that media club you're in, too. I signed up without really thinking about it, and there you were on the roster. Guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

"Y-yeah. Haha..."

I felt as if I were sitting on a cushion of thorns. The more I thought about it, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stranger it seemed. The Joo Chaerin of middle school hadn't been like this. No—more precisely, she hadn't been like this only with me.

"......Right. We're not close enough yet to be running our mouths at each other. Give me your number. Same club now, so I ought to at least have it."

"Uh, yeah."

We had only just finished exchanging numbers when Chaerin asked.

"How are things with Baek Jiyeon? Still burning hot?"

A moment ago she had said we weren't close enough to speak carelessly, and now she was throwing a fastball straight at me.

"You ask that in a café...? Of course. We're a couple."

She narrowed her eyes, picked up her coffee, stirred the ice with the straw, and took a long pull.

"......Really?"

Why is she even asking something like this? Is she testing me? Chaerin's sharp gaze seemed to cinch tight around me.

"I don't know what it is you want to know, Joo Chaerin, but—"

"No. I already know all of it. If something's eating at you, call me anytime. ...And loosen up when you talk to me. Next time, drop the family name. Got it?"

"Got it."

She swept her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hair back and rose from the chair. Only after Chaerin had left could I sit still and let myself think.

In the middle of our conversation, I had stolen a look at her Character Info.

Nothing about it was particularly special, except that her Fate Resistance, unlike Jiyeon's, was 91%.

I had let it slip my mind for a while, but I still understood nothing about the entry. What Fate Resistance was, what made the number change, and what would happen when it reached 0%.

Before I knew it, midterm week had arrived.

I finished my exam early and came home, and ran into Doha coming out of my room.

"Noona? Looking for something?"

"Ah!? Oh... n-no, um...... My workout gear! I was just checking whether it was in your room..."

"Everything we don't use is in the storage room."

She was drenched in sweat, as if she had only just finished a brutal workout.

"Right! That's right.... But you're home early today."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Just today. From tomorrow I'll be late again, because of studying."

"Then I'm off. Rest up~."

As if she had been holding her bladder forever, Noona waddled off at a run toward the bathroom. Sweat seemed to be dripping, drop by drop, between her legs, but I decided not to pay it any mind.

"...Why is she acting like that all of a sudden?"

While I was tidying the room, I stepped on an unidentifiable wetness along the edge of the floor. Noona must have spilled some water. She could have cleaned it up instead of just bolting......

And was she even going to class today? Or had she already been and come back?

Either way, it didn't matter. What I had noticed first was something else. When I ran into her outside my room, Doha's Character Info had been flickering, as if it were trying to tell me the information had been updated.

Even so, I had decided not to check anything on my family, so I didn't open it.

After midterms, I arranged to meet Senior Dohyeok in the club room.

When I stepped inside, I found Mom with him, looking over the filming equipment.

"Mom? What brings you to campus?"

She looked a little flustered to see me. A moment later, though, she smiled and explained why she had come.

"I stopped by for work. The station decided it would sponsor this university's media club...... Wait. Doyun, you're in this club too?"

"Yes. I joined because Senior Dohyeok recommended it."

"Oh my, that's perfect. Listen well to your senior while you're in the club, Doyun. He's a very capable student."

"Haha, you're making me blush. I never imagined you and Doyun were mother and son, Senior. If it's Doyun, please don't worry. I'll look after him properly myself."

"Thank you. I'll be showing my face here often, too."

Mom offered her hand first, in thanks, and Senior Dohyeok accepted the handshake with careful courtesy. From the way they spoke, Mom already seemed to know him. Maybe they were even fairly close.

She took her time looking around the club room, left a word of praise for how well the equipment was kept, and went on her way.

"Midterms are over, so I'll tell you ahead of time. It's about the club project over break."

"A project?"

"Yeah. During vacation the club is going to start real work, in teams of four. This semester the only new members are you and Chaerin. So I'll take the two of you on myself, and we'll fill the last spot later."

The outline was simple enough. A Broadcasting Station, where Mom worked, had been putting forward every kind of plan it could think of to build programs viewers would actually take to, and one of those plans was partnership support for university clubs in related fields. Because of that, the club was now obligated to spend the break buried in program planning and filming.

It had come out of nowhere, but an outside activity like this would matter a great deal later on, so I was all for it. More than anything, the thought that Mom would be pleased put me in a good mood.

"Meet up with Chaerin now and then, and talk about what kind of video would be good to make. That's all for today."

"Understood. If I come up with any ideas, I'll contact you."

Having to keep seeing Joo Chaerin—no, Chaerin—was an ordeal, but I decided not to sweat something that small anymore. I had joined the club wanting to plan something worth making, and I hadn't expected the chance to come this fast.

Another month or so slipped by in days no different from usual.

Jiyeon kept working as a fitting model while staying on top of her classes. We went on seeing each other, dating and making love.

Nothing much had changed about Ejaculation Management. I seemed to have made some progress at holding back, and yet I still couldn't satisfy her in foreplay. She never blamed me, not once, so I decided again to keep my anxiety and my worries to myself.

After the sex was over and I had fallen asleep, Jiyeon would stroke my hair and talk to someone on the phone.

A woman's voice was coming through the phone.

...President Joo Chaebin? Ah... are they talking about work......?

I couldn't catch the details through my sleep, but if it was President Chaebin, there was nothing to worry about.

At some point I realized the Fate Resistance entry on Jiyeon had fallen to 95%. I tried to think why, but I still didn't know what the entry meant, so there was no way to tell, same as before.

I also started to feel that the clothes Jiyeon wore out had grown a little bolder. You could say her resistance to showing her figure had eased, just a bit......

The day she walked into the lecture hall in a crop top, every male student's eyes locked onto her. More and more men asked for her number when she was alone. She always refused them politely, of course, saying she had a boyfriend. According to Jiyeon, turning them down one by one was a serious nuisance.

"Oh, and I've been getting a few more shoot days lately. It's not some other kind of shoot. I turned down that SNS modeling thing I told you about before, for good. The president just wants to see me a little more often, so..."

"Yeah? She must have taken a liking to you......? Anyway, it's work. You don't have to worry about me."

"Thanks, Doyun. ...I'll do my best."

Chaerin and I traded short texts now and then. In the course of those conversations, I learned a great deal about her.

To settle the karma of her middle-school days, she said, she had gone to an acting academy once she started high school and done nothing but study. I had forgotten her too, of course, and she told me she had been badly startled to see me again at the studio.

At this point, hadn't she turned over a new leaf? This was the same Joo Chaerin who used to stuff the stockings and socks she had been wearing into my bag, just because I was dating Jiyeon.

We would be doing the project together, so I figured I ought to open up to her, at least a little.

She asked about my relationship with Jiyeon an uncanny amount. I suspected she might still be carrying the same feelings ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as back then. And yet she seemed to be thinking about something else entirely, and with an incredibly serious look on her face.

She didn't stop there. She pried into how I had met President Chaebin, and who else was involved besides me.

Something about it felt off, so I didn't answer honestly. I stated flatly that my being at the studio that day had been a coincidence, and that there was nothing you could call involvement. I didn't mention Jiyeon, either.

I didn't really understand why Chaerin was trying to meddle in my business with Jiyeon in the first place.

...Chaerin. Aren't you taking this way too seriously, all on your own?

Mom seemed to be preparing for the work, shuttling busily between campus and the company. She got home later because of it, but the two of us were used to that, so it wasn't a problem.

Lately, as if the stress were coming back, she came out to the living room in the small hours more and more often to drink beer alone. When she did, I crept over to the sofa and sat down beside her.

"Is something wrong? Why are you always by yourself...... ugh."

"Doyun? ...It's really nothing. You don't have to worry."

Her unguarded state of dress startled me now and then. Every button of her thin silk pajamas was undone, so she was practically naked.

"Mom. Please stop drinking. You can't even hold your liquor. And put your clothes on properly."

"No. They squeeze my chest. I only show this side of me to my son. You know how strict I am the rest of the time......"

"Don't show it to your son either. You're not that kind of person, Mom. Come on, that's enough for tonight. Go on to bed......"

I had a rough idea of what was weighing on her. It was probably stress over the program's ratings. Even so, there wasn't much I could do. Listen to talk I couldn't make sense of, hold her, and accept her kisses. That was about the whole of it.

I found myself wishing Mom could be happier.

Lastly, Doha had suddenly taken to going out alone whenever night fell, then coming back. At some point she had also stopped working out with me.

A boyfriend, I thought—but she had said since long ago that she wouldn't date a man weaker than herself. And in fact, it still seemed as if she didn't have one.

No question about it: she had to be working out on her own in the middle of the night. Since we were little, Doha was the one person I had never worried about. That hadn't changed.

Mm...... Now that I thought about it, though, it seemed like Noona had come into my room at night while I was asleep. I was sure she had done something to me...... The thought passed through and was gone.

At last, summer began. My first vacation from university was just ahead.

Finals had gone fine, and even at university I had no trouble receiving a merit scholarship.

Dreaming of a summer break spent with Jiyeon, and of the club project coming safely to an end, I fell asleep.