The Sweetness of a Morning Off
Second year of university as childhood friends. What is the most heavenly time for a college student during the semester? A Monday off? A Wednesday off? A Friday off? All three are so blissful it’s hard to rank them. No, a true college student shouldn't be comparing them; they should be praying that at least one of those days is free this semester. But in my opinion, the ultimate luxury is a morning off, regardless of the day.
You sleep in, spend the morning lazing about, and then sluggishly head to class in the afternoon. Compared to having the whole day off, it’s a small happiness, but there’s a massive sweetness that comes from that smallness. Just like how it’s more stimulating to have your desires half-filled rather than completely satisfied. I’m currently savoring that sweetness on a Monday morning.
I had planned to wake up just before noon, grab lunch, and saunter over to school, but I woke up early today for some reason. I’m just rolling around in bed, blankly watching short-form videos. A trending challenge video played five times in a row. Then a "try not to laugh" video. Then a couple of similar videos where someone took foreign clips and dubbed over them. They aren't exactly helpful for self-development, but they’re perfect for mindlessly killing time. Before I knew it, an hour had passed while I mindlessly swiped through videos.
A notification covered the screen while I was watching a Japanese prank show. It was the kind of message you’d send to an ex-girlfriend after getting drunk.
The person who sent me these messages from the crack of dawn was Yu Choa.
I replied immediately. The fact that she was texting me when she should have been in her morning class meant there was a high probability she wanted me to pick up a package or run an errand for her.
A cheek kiss, huh... I’d like to receive one, but I know full well she didn't say it with the actual intention of doing it. Choa is just joking. I’m used to it. Back in kindergarten, we used to kiss each other on the cheek while playing house, but that’s a story from a long, long time ago.
I let out a dry laugh.
I sighed and dragged myself out of bed. My plan to lounge around lazily was ruined. If I go to school now, there are still five hours left until her class ends. Even if I eat lunch in between, that’s four hours. I’ll have to kill time by walking around the lake near the school or going to a PC bang, which I never visit unless Choa asks me to.
I showered and got dressed. A navy sweatshirt layered over a white t-shirt, paired with wide sweatpants. I dressed as plainly as possible. If there were someone I wanted to impress, I would have put in the effort, but there’s no one like that. Well, there’s Choa, but if I started dressing up when I usually don't, she’d definitely freak out and be disgusted. During last year’s festival, I wore contacts and styled my hair with wax, and Choa teased me, saying it was creepy.
"Tsk..." I put on my usual black-rimmed glasses and grabbed my bag.
I left my place and went to the unit right next door. Room 704. Choa’s apartment. I punched in the password: 18440001. It’s the fan club membership number of an idol Choa was obsessed with back in middle school. It’s ironic that she still uses this number even though she’s not a fan anymore.
"...What a mess." I rubbed my forehead looking at the state of her room. Clothes were scattered everywhere. It looked like she’d overslept and rushed out in a panic.
"Why is this just lying here?" A pair of panties was dropped next to the bed. They were gray, spandex sports panties. Seeing the cute puppy drawn on the hip, it looked like she was still wearing the ones she had back in high school. I picked them up to put them in the laundry basket.
"Huh?" They were damp. I could feel moisture. Even though it was a small amount, a slippery liquid rubbed off on my palm. It might seem perverted to check this, but I unfolded the panties to find the source of the slipperiness. There was a dark stain on one part of the fabric—the soft, cushioned area that cradles a woman’s genitals.
"Um..." Figures. The idea that she only watches adult videos like they’re dramas was clearly a total lie.
"...Let's just grab the file." I put the panties back in their place, wiped my hand with a tissue, grabbed the file from the desk, and left the apartment.
About 20 minutes by city bus. I arrived at school. It’s spring, but that awkward kind of spring. It’s still a long way until the midterms when the cherry blossoms bloom, but perhaps because the new semester hasn't started long ago, the campus is full of fresh, green vitality. Students who clearly look like freshmen are chattering loudly with an excited tension. I used to be like that, too... Actually, that’s a lie. I was just the same even as a freshman. It might look different from a third-person perspective, but the version of myself I remember from last year was just as reticent as I am now.
I walked deep into the campus from the main gate and arrived at Choa’s department building.
A reply came about two minutes later.
I took the file out of my bag and headed up to the second floor. As I arrived, the back door of the lecture hall at the end of the hallway opened, and Choa stepped out. As soon as she spotted me, she smiled brightly and waved lightly. Her long hair was dyed a matte brown. She was dressed simply in a gray A-line skirt and a beige loose-fit cardigan, looking like she hadn't tried too hard. Even with a simple outfit, her beauty made her look as radiant as if she’d put in all the effort in the world.
It’s hilarious when I think about her at home. A wrinkled t-shirt and dolphin shorts are her standard attire. If not that, pajamas. Or sleeping pants. Not that anyone dresses up at home like they’re going out, but because I’m so used to seeing her looking completely disheveled, her current appearance feels even more awkward.
"Here."
"Thanks, thanks." I handed her the file.
"What time do you finish?"
"11:30."
I took out my phone to check the time. An hour left.
"I'll be at the student union cafe."
"Okay, okay." After watching Choa head back into the lecture hall, I went to the student union building. It was crowded again today. Convenience store, cafe, restaurant, stationery store, and even club rooms—it was bound to be packed. I went to the cafe. There are three cafes in the student union, and I headed to the one I always go to and grabbed an empty seat.
"Your iced honey Americano is ready." I took the coffee and returned to my seat. An hour would pass quickly enough if I just drank my coffee and messed around on my phone. I was blankly staring at some internet news when—
"Siho-sunbae!" A girl called my name and sat down across from me. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"
A girl speaking to me in a friendly manner. I didn't remember her name, but her face was vaguely familiar. I’d seen her at the freshman orientation last month.
"Just killing time." I was truly grateful she’d reached out first, but she was practically a stranger. Still, I spoke as kindly as I could.
"By yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Then, can I kill time with you?" She’d already brought her coffee and sat down with that intention anyway.
"Sure."
I wanted to be alone. Being alone is comfortable. Unless it’s someone I’m really close with, talking to someone I barely know—no, someone who might as well be a total stranger—is exhausting. I have to worry about being awkward and play along with the conversation.
"How’s university life?" Since I couldn't just stare at my phone with someone sitting right in front of me, I put it down and started a conversation on a safe topic.
"It’s fun!" The junior explained in great detail what she found so enjoyable. I nodded along as I listened. Since these were things most college students go through, I could empathize well.
"Professor Kim’s voice is a total sleeping pill."
"True. His voice is soft, and the class is boring, so it’s easy to fall asleep."
"That’s why I just came from sleeping, hehe." The junior scratched her head, looking embarrassed.
"I understand being sleepy in class, but you’d better not sleep in Professor Kim’s class."
"Why?"
"He makes his exam questions based on what he writes on the blackboard."
"What?" The junior clutched her head, realizing she was doomed.
"Well, the midterms are still a long way off." It had only been three weeks since the semester started.
"Do you happen to have any 'genealogy' (past exam papers)?"
"Would I?"
"If you do, please share it with a junior who knows nothing~." She dragged out the end of her sentence, acting cute and fawning over her senior.
"I don't."
"Aww, really?"
"Really, I don't."
"Aww."
"But I can teach you the style of the questions next time." The junior let out a pure exclamation of joy.
"Is there anything else hard about university life?"
"If I had to say... going to drinking parties back-to-back... that’s tough."
"It is tough." I knew exactly how hard it was, having been dragged to drinking parties for seven days in a row by seniors. Back then, I lacked the skill to refuse, so I really suffered.
"But enjoy it while you can. You won't be able to get free drinks if not now." In the first semester of freshman year, second-year seniors often buy meals or drinks, even if their own wallets are thin, just to play the part of a senior. They do it in the second semester, too, but that’s only if you’ve formed and maintained good relationships during the first. By then, seniors don't just take care of juniors because they’re seniors. They only take care of their own people. If you aren't close, even if you’re in the same department, you’re ultimately strangers. These relationships will get narrower and more intimate as the years go by. That’s just my opinion, anyway.
"Then..." The junior leaned forward slightly. She looked up at me with her eyes slightly tilted.
"Does Siho-sunbae buy drinks for cute juniors, too?"
My answer was already decided.
"What are you doing?"
Just before I could answer, someone pressed down hard on the top of my head. I looked up and turned back.
"You came quickly?"
"I finished early." It was Choa.
"A junior?"
"Yeah."
"Trying to act like a senior just because you are one?" Choa put her arm around my shoulders and pulled her body close to me. In the process of pressing against me, her chest pushed firmly into my shoulder. It was a familiar distance.
"Uh... that... who...?" The junior, who had been looking up at me with tilted eyes just a moment ago, asked in a tense voice, like a small animal terrified in front of a predator.
"G-girlfriend...?"
"No."
"No." Choa and I answered at the same time.
"Definitely not."
"Right, definitely not." I nodded and agreed with Choa’s firm statement.
"Then..."
"We’re childhood friends."
"Childhood friends?"
"Yeah."
Explaining anything beyond this would be TMI. While childhood friends are rare in reality, she’d probably get the gist of what kind of relationship that is.
"Were you two having some important conversation?"
"No."
"Then, I’m taking him with me." Choa declared to the junior and grabbed the back of my neck. I stood up from my seat obediently.
"We have an appointment to eat lunch together." Choa gave a pretty eye-smile at my junior. The junior looked up, as if bewitched by that smile, then bowed her head as if she were malfunctioning.
"Y-yes... yes..."
"See you next time." I said goodbye to the junior and followed Choa out of the cafe.
"Ugh, disgusting."
"What is?"
"Your face."
"Picking a fight?"
"Not a fight, I was genuinely disgusted. Seeing you smiling like an idiot was super gross."
"I was smiling like an idiot?"
"'See you next time~'"
No way. I’d been wearing a social smile for the sake of smooth human relations, but I wasn't smiling like an idiot. Of course, you never know. To someone else, I might have looked like I was grinning like a fool.
"My stomach doesn't feel good."
"Then just watch me eat the king pork cutlet."
"Still, I can't pass up the king pork cutlet." Choa grabbed my hand.
"Let’s go quickly. It’s a limited quantity, so if people crowd in, we won't be able to eat it."
Her soft skin. The cool temperature of her hand. They were all things I was used to. And yet, even now, no matter how much time has passed, I still get nervous.