One at a Time
"Would it be better if I assigned the groups myself, or would you all rather team up with whoever you'd like?"
The aging professor had barely finished the question before the class shouted back in perfect unison, as if they'd rehearsed it.
"We'll pick our own!"
"We'll choose ourselves!"
The professor smiled.
"Go ahead, then. Form your groups however you like — but I need five to a team. Not a single person short."
At that, the room erupted into a scramble as everyone rushed to gather their friends. I stayed right where I was. I was an outsider; that was never going to change. They'd bustle around, and I'd end up in whatever leftover team had no choice but to take me.
Before long, most of the groups had formed. As the minutes ticked by, a few people who still hadn't found teammates glanced my way — then immediately looked somewhere else. Given the reputation I had around campus, nobody was about to pull me into their group. If this had been before, I would have smiled bitterly at a reaction like that.
"Ah, fuck. We're the leftovers."
A guy's voice, and a matching one chimed in right after.
"Ugh! We have to work with him?"
I turned my head. One guy and three girls. I'd been living as an outsider since the first day of the semester, so I didn't even know who they were. In the end, we had no choice but to form a group.
Every last one of them looked at me with distrust, like they couldn't stand sharing the same air. You could tell just from the way their brows furrowed. My eyes, though, were busy studying the three girls who'd ended up in front of me. They didn't have the kind of faces you'd see on a celebrity. Even so, they were more than enough to send a tingling heat through my groin.
We formed the group and headed straight to the Cafe. I arrived right on time for my shift, changed into my work clothes, and took my place at the counter.
"Pretty crowded today."
"It is, yeah."
There weren't many cafes near campus, and the prices were cheap, so people came in droves.
"Wow! There are so many people!"
The foot traffic was enough to make you gasp. The little cafe was packed wall to wall.
"Here's your Frappuccino~."
It was a bit much for two people to handle, but the real crunch only lasted a few dozen minutes. Once the crowd started thinning out, I wiped the sweat off and dropped into a swivel chair.
"Heheh. Tired?"
"Huh? No, no. I'm fine."
I waved Lee So-eun off, insisting I was all right.
"It's easy compared to everything else, honestly."
"Is that so? Nothing on your mind these days?"
"On my mind, huh..."
I glanced around to see if anyone was nearby. Even though a lot of people had cleared out, there were still customers sitting at the tables.
"Hmm, friend problems?"
"Friends?"
"That's right~."
We talked through not just friend problems, but all sorts of counseling topics. If I kept repeating this, she'd grow completely accustomed to the idea of counseling itself.
By the time my shift was over, the night had already grown deep.
"What with the cleaning and everything, it's past midnight."
Lee So-eun said it as she tucked a coffee tin back into the cupboard.
"Tired? Want some ginger tea?"
"Oh! I'd love some."
We locked up the Cafe and spent a little leftover time drinking tea together.
"Ah, there's something else I wanted to ask you about. For counseling."
It wasn't time for stage two yet. But I was curious how far I could push things before we got there.
"What is it?"
"Well... you're married, right?"
"I am, yeah."
I wondered for a second if the question was too sudden, then opened my mouth anyway.
"It's about... married life. Between a husband and wife."
"Mm...?"
Lee So-eun flinched, just slightly. She clearly hadn't expected me to ask something like that. I gave her an awkward smile.
"I-is it okay if I talk about it?"
She realized her face had gone stiff and smoothed it out.
"I see. So you're already that age..."
"I am a college student."
I watched her expression as I said it. Contrary to my worries, Lee So-eun took it in stride.
"Well, I'm a married woman now, I guess. Hmm. So this is about sex, then?"
"Ah..."
The word came out of her so bluntly that I was the one who shrank back. I hadn't expected her to be that casual about it. What I didn't know was that, underneath, the time we'd spent working together had given her a fair amount of goodwill and trust toward me.
"My husband and I do it regularly. So what's the problem?"
That wasn't the answer I'd been fishing for, so I scrambled for something else.
"Ah... well... I, um. I do it too much, apparently."
That was the best I could come up with on the spot.
"Too much...?"
"Like, several times in one go..."
"Hmm. So you've got stamina to spare, is that it?"
"Y-yeah, something like that."
I was just glad she'd gotten the gist.
"And that's a problem because...?"
"Ah... well. That's why I feel like there's no woman who can keep up with me. Everyone I've been with says it's exhausting — I wear them out every time."
"Oh my. Aren't you just showing off?"
"Pfft."
The tension from earlier had finally broken, enough that I could even joke.
"I'm not showing off~."
"Sure you're not. So that's what's been bothering you?"
"It is, in its own way."
"I see~."
I didn't miss the way Lee So-eun's gaze flicked, just for a moment, down below my waist. I grinned.
"Curious?"
She gave my shoulder a few playful swats at the dirty joke.
"Hey now, that's going too far. You finished your tea, right? Let's get up."
"Yes, ma'am."
Still, today I learned something. It wouldn't be much longer now.
A week of university life went by without much to speak of. With one exception.
"So who's doing the presentation?"
The group project. We were supposed to put together a PowerPoint on future trends in the mobile phone market. I sat in the corner and listened to the other four talk. When I stayed quiet, the guy made a face at me, not even trying to hide it.
"Hey, say something. You just gonna sit there staring like an idiot?"
He was a scrawny-looking guy with thick-rimmed glasses, and his tone made my blood boil — but they were the group, and they held the power. I was the minority, and I had none. I leaned forward.
"I'll handle the research."
They didn't seem particularly thrilled that I'd spoken up.
Fuck. If you're going to look at me like that, don't even bother asking.
I kept it to myself, of course.
"Do you even know how to present?"
"No, don't give him the presentation. I'll just do it. Have him research."
They were planning to dump all the tedious work on me.
"Actually, forget research. Have him make the PowerPoint. We'll send him the materials."
It took several days before the roles were even settled. And even then, whether they'd actually bother to look anything up was another question entirely. I'd never made a PowerPoint in my life, so I was already at a loss. I couldn't exactly go asking seniors or friends for help, either.
"Alright. Here's my email — send me whatever you find."
"Yeah, that's better."
"Let's do that."
The fact that they wouldn't even have to see me seemed to please them; smiles actually formed on their faces. The moment I was outside and alone, I started muttering.
"Fucking assholes."
The other four clustered together and headed off somewhere without me.
"Go ahead, don't send me anything. I swear, I just won't turn it in."
I kicked a pebble on the ground that hadn't done anything to deserve it.
Working on the group project taught me something new. Hypnosis couldn't be used on more than one person at a time. I had to take a single personality and make it completely mine, across all three stages, before I could use it on anyone else.
I figured that out thanks to Shin Yena, who was sitting right in front of me explaining the materials she'd gathered. I opened the app and showed her the candle flame. Nothing happened.
"What are you doing...?"
She was a quiet girl, the type who never put herself forward. That was probably why she seemed to like moving around in a pack.
"Why the candle...?"
It was only when the two of us were alone that I could learn anything about her. I shook my head.
"Ah, it's nothing. If you stare at this candle for more than three seconds, it turns blue. It's random, though. Guess it didn't work."
I tried a few more times. Still nothing. There were a few things I could infer from that, but the most likely one was simple: hypnosis only worked on one person.
"These are the materials I put together."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Oh, n-no. Just... do your best."
"Will do."
Shin Yena was 155 centimeters tall, cute enough to be a fairy. It was only after she left that I started on the PowerPoint. I tried as hard as I could, but compared to the ones online, mine was crude beyond saving.
"Ah, what am I supposed to do."
The worrying followed me all the way home.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
The door opened, and Lee Dahye, the teaching assistant, stepped inside. She must have gotten a fresh perm today; her hair swayed as she came in, glossy and full. The same woman who kept a blank face with every other student had pupils that trembled the moment she stood in front of me.
"Come over here."
I called over the woman who now obeyed only my words and sat her down beside me. I reached out as if it were the most natural thing in the world, groping her breasts over her clothes as I asked,
"Do you know how to make this?"