Ominous Signs
The rain had finally stopped, but the damp chill still clung to everything like a bad memory.
Hah... I really don't want to ask, but I have to...
In the fifth-floor hallway of C-Class Dormitory Building 3, a small young man stood fidgeting in front of the elevator. His hair was soaked and plastered messily to his head, and his clothes were filthy enough to make him look like a beggar. Yet none of that could hide his strikingly handsome, almost painfully cute face.
Siwu kept glancing down at his shattered smartphone screen, even though he knew it was pointless. No matter how many times he looked, the device that had stopped working due to someone else's violence wasn't going to magically repair itself. It hadn't even been his fault. That only made the whole thing more infuriating.
Huuu...
Finally, his feet stopped moving. With that pause came a decision.
He needed daily necessities. He couldn't just hide in his room forever because he was scared to talk to women. Even if not today, he'd have to speak to countless strangers while attending this school. If he was going to tremble like a frightened kitten just over asking where the convenience store was, how the hell was he supposed to survive?
Let's go...
With his resolve hardened, Siwu pressed the button for the elevator going down to the first floor. He looked up. The elevator was slowly descending from the upper floors toward the fifth. Someone must be riding it down.
Actually, that's perfect. He wouldn't have to wander around looking for someone to ask. He could just ask this person directly.
As he organized these thoughts, the cheerful ding announcing the elevator's arrival reached his ears.
Ding.
The heavy metal doors slid open smoothly. Without hesitation, Siwu stepped inside.
.........
..........
Just as he'd expected, there was already one person inside. Fortunately, it was only one. If there had been several, it would've been even harder to speak up. Looked like luck was on his side for once.
Siwu firmly pressed the button to close the doors. They slid shut again with a soft rumble.
A woman he didn't know stood beside him. She was wearing shabby sweatpants and slippers, one hand shoved into her pocket while she stared intently at her phone with the other. After observing her for a moment, Siwu finally opened his mouth to achieve his goal.
"Um... excuse me..."
The woman, who hadn't been paying him any attention, instinctively turned her head toward the sound of someone calling out.
"........Huh?"
The moment she fully registered Siwu's presence, she let out a small, surprised sound without meaning to. A reddish blush quickly began to spread across both her cheeks.
There were probably two reasons for her surprise: the confusion of Why is there a man here? and... the sudden appearance of an attractive member of the opposite sex with such beautiful features.
She stared at Siwu's face for a moment, then seemed to feel intense embarrassment. She couldn't even meet his eyes properly, her gaze darting around as she fidgeted in place. Siwu could understand how she felt. It was perfectly natural to feel shy when someone attractive spoke to you.
But he didn't give the flustered woman any time to collect herself and pressed on.
"Is there... a place nearby that sells simple clothes or daily necessities?"
"U-Um... Eh? Ah... If you go out the main gate and go straight to the right, there's a store about five minutes away..."
Ding.
Right as she answered his question in a daze, the sound announced that the elevator had reached the first floor.
"Th-Thank you!!!"
The doors had barely opened before Siwu was sprinting toward the building's main entrance. He had gotten the information he needed without even exchanging names and bolted like he was running for his life.
It had all happened so quickly that the woman was left standing there, completely stunned, wondering what the hell had just occurred. Tonight, she would probably think about it a lot. About the identity of that incredibly cute guy...
Siwu cheered internally, sweeping a hand over his chest in relief.
He felt genuinely happy and reassured that the woman from earlier wasn't a crazy bitch like Koharu or Professor Yoon Arin. It was only natural for him to think this way, considering the two women he'd gotten entangled with right after the world changed were exactly that insane.
Separately from that, his strategy just now had been truly excellent. Keep the conversation short and get straight to the point! Well done, Namgung Siwu!
As if the heavens were matching his mood, the rain that had been pouring down had completely stopped. He wouldn't have to walk in the rain anymore today. He felt grateful for even such a small thing.
Good thing it's close by...
Just as the woman had said, he hadn't walked far at all before the destination came into view. It was a fairly large building that seemed to belong to a hypermarket or something similar. A huge parking lot stretched out in front, and he could see several people coming and going.
Probably people here to buy groceries for dinner, he thought as he headed toward the store.
As he got closer, a large sign greeted him.
[Gyeongseong Academy Affiliated Direct-Operated Mart Branch 12]
Judging by the name, it wasn't run by an outside company but directly by the school itself. Just how massive was this academy? It meant there were at least twelve more stores this big.
Let's just buy what I need and get out quickly...
Siwu was too exhausted to get caught up in any more trouble. He'd already been through so much in a single day. This was a world far too unfair for men, where he couldn't even go to the mart alone without worry. He was too mentally and physically drained to even complain about it, so he simply hurried forward with slumped shoulders.
As he approached the main entrance of the mart building to go inside—
"Hey, there's a guy standing in line over there?"
"For real?"
"Whoa... he's insanely cute..."
"Maybe he's here to visit his girlfriends for a bit?"
"But he seems to be alone... Are there really crazy bitches who would send their boyfriend to the mart by himself?"
Siwu's presence caused a stir among the people around him. As expected, everyone began whispering and gossiping about him all at once.
It would've been better if they were speaking Japanese—he wouldn't have understood and could have ignored it more easily. But the familiar sound of Joseon-eo grated on his nerves.
"How many girlfriends do you think he has?"
"Fifty?"
"Lmao lmao lmao dude shut the fuck up lololol fifty is way too much"
"Just look at his face. You think people would leave him alone?"
"True... he looks so fucking fuckable..."
"Haa... I wish I could just take that cute thing and make him mine..."
The women standing in line behind Siwu began openly exchanging dirty jokes about him as he waited to enter the mart.
Haa...
A sigh escaped him involuntarily. He supposed he had to get used to this. It was the fate of men living in this world, after all.
As he listened to the kind of talk that made him want to cover his ears with both hands, the line moved forward. Siwu suddenly wondered if you normally had to wait in line just to enter a mart. Then he saw what looked like subway ticket gates in front of him, and his question was immediately answered.
That's right. The mart he was trying to use was a special one that only current students or school personnel could enter.
Siwu began to panic. It was only natural to be flustered when ticket gates appeared at a grocery store entrance. Even the PX he used frequently during his military days hadn't had anything like this.
There were many people waiting behind him. Siwu stood there hesitating, unsure what to do and wasting time.
Tap. Tap.
The woman standing right behind him lightly touched his collar with her finger to get his attention. She then pointed with her finger at the plastic card in her hand, and then pointed at the ticket gate again.
"Student ID..."
She added in a small, slightly embarrassed voice, her face faintly flushed as she quietly offered help. She seemed like quite a shy person. He wasn't sure if she helped because he was holding up the line or because he looked particularly pitiful... but thanks to her clear gesture, Siwu immediately understood what he needed to do to enter the mart.
He fumbled hurriedly in the inner pocket of his outerwear.
"Huh?"
He searched his pants pockets as well, groping around for his student ID.
...........It wasn't there.
......
......
"Ughhh... this is such a pain in the ass, seriously..."
Who would've thought you'd need to scan a student ID just to enter a damn mart? It was the kind of small school life tip you could only learn if someone told you or if you experienced it yourself.
Grumbling, he stomped hard on the hard pavement blocks with his feet. It didn't relieve his irritation at all. It was already approaching nine at night. According to the sign, the store was open twenty-four hours, so there was no need to rush, but he wanted to wash off his rain-soaked body and lie down in bed as soon as possible.
It was a relief that the dormitory and the mart were so close. Feeling slightly reassured by these small facts, he turned his steps back toward the dormitory building.
The dormitory building he had left just ten minutes ago was already right in front of him.
Huh? A car?
A single black luxury sedan was parked in front of the dormitory building. Memories from today that he didn't want to recall began creeping back up.
Is it that crazy bitch who raped me?
The terror of having his body helplessly violated tightened around his chest.
"Haa... Haa..."
What should he do? What should he do? His mind went blank again. According to what Senka had said, it seemed the Chancellor had intervened in his situation. But was that not enough for her to give up on him?
He had been too complacent. He had been too stupid. His legs were shaking. It was hard to even stand. His breathing grew rapid.
Clunk.
Finally, the driver's door opened as if they had spotted him from afar. The sharp click of women's dress shoes against the asphalt began to sound. The footsteps grew closer and closer.
The headlights of the still-running sedan started to illuminate the figure in front of him clearly. A neat black suit. In one hand, she carried a large bundle and... the bag he had brought from home.
Finally, his brain fully registered the person before him.
".......Siwu."
"............"
Yoon Arin. It wasn't the crazy bitch he had predicted. But another crazy bitch had come looking for him again after all.
The sound of her footsteps approached right in front of him. Then they stopped.
No thoughts came to mind. Should he run away right now? Why the fuck can't they leave me alone? What the hell did I do so wrong...?
His face, pale white from tension and fear, met Yoon Arin's at close range. Into his mind, which had been dominated solely by fear and tension, another emotion slipped in.
Bewilderment.
Clear, clean tears were slowly rolling down Yoon Arin's face. A sad, deeply sorrowful expression. It was as if... she carried the grief and pity of someone who had failed to protect what was precious to them.
Just a little... he felt the tiniest sliver of kinship with Yoon Arin. He had made that exact same face when his mother passed away.
Thud.
Yoon Arin simply dropped the bundle she was carrying onto the ground. The reason was simple.
She pulled him, who was standing there dazed and trembling in fear, into her arms.
In that instant, he felt both revulsion and terror at the same time. Her full breasts pressed against his body.
......Any moment now...
Like being drunk, a fog would descend over his mind and he would turn into whatever person Yoon Arin desired.
"Huuu... ugh... I'm sorry..."
Yoon Arin was apologizing to him. Why was she apologizing?
............Huh?
His mind was clear. His consciousness was exactly the same as before she had embraced him. Why? Why wasn't he becoming hazy like he had on the train? Why wasn't his mind changing strangely?
...............Is she not using her Individuality?
Now? Why? With what intention?
Still holding him in her arms, he could feel a few droplets falling onto his hair from above, as if she was crying bitterly. The rain had already stopped. But a different rain was falling over his head.
Slowly, he pushed down his fear, tension, and confusion. He lifted his head and looked straight at her face.
Even as tears streamed down, the moment their eyes met, she smiled brightly through her tears. Two emotions that should never coexist were perfectly blended together on Yoon Arin's face.
"Have you eaten?"