Episode 5: The Work Increased (2)
Episode 5: The Work Increased (2)
"I'm home."
"You're back?"
I pulled Eunhwi into a tight hug as soon as she came to the front door to greet me.
"What's wrong? Rough day today?"
I hadn't said much, but it always amazed me how she could tell just by looking at my face.
I quickly changed my clothes and sprawled out on the sofa, resting my head on Nuna's lap. I grumbled and spilled out everything that had happened today.
"Aigoo~ My poor baby must've had a hard day~"
As she stroked my hair, her hand slowly slipped into my boxers.
I gently grabbed her hand and said.
"Nuna."
"Hmm?"
"Are you trying to stay in bed all day tomorrow?"
She flinched, as if the aftermath of our intense weekend hadn't quite faded. I was still feeling it too, but maybe because today had been so rough, my will to suppress my rising desire had completely vanished.
"N... No..."
Apparently genuinely frightened, she immediately pulled her hand out of my boxers. Instead, I pushed her loose t-shirt up and sucked her breast.
"Hah! Sijun... please..."
----
The next morning, on the way to school.
"Hey, it's still sore..."
"Well, whose fault is that?"
Nuna was complaining that the breast I'd sucked the night before was still swollen.
"It did feel good, though... If I ever have a baby, you're just going to steal all its milk, aren't you?"
She didn't seem to have any immediate plans for kids, but when she said things like that, it made me wonder if she was actually serious.
"Have a good day at work. See you later."
"Mm, you too."
We were naturally leaning in for a light kiss when an intruder appeared.
"Aigoo~ Look at you two acting like lovesick twenty-somethings. Getting old is just so sad, I can't take it."
I thought I'd shut the office door, but it must not have latched properly.
"Ah, Auntie..."
"Hello, Professor—I mean, Auntie. I'm off, Sijun! I'll get going now!"
Eunhwi quickly said her goodbyes and disappeared.
"Where's she off to?"
"Home."
"She doesn't have class, so she just gave you a ride? Wow... Aren't you two sick of each other? Haven't you been dating for nearly ten years? I can't even stand the sight of my husband."
Auntie looked at me with pure exasperation.
"Not really."
I just shrugged in response.
"Well, yeah. As long as it's not a one-night stand or something, it's all good."
She might work in the entertainment industry, but Auntie was extremely conservative. Actually, she was famous for being a lovey-dovey couple with her husband.
I heard my cousin moved out because he was sick of watching their public displays of affection.
"So, what brings the Department 4 Head all the way over here...?"
"Oh, because of this."
"What's this? Ah, a contract... You do know there's a wonderful invention called an e-contract, Professor."
"Bullshit. Written contracts are safer."
"Such a boomer, seriously... Everything's going digital anyway."
"Hey, I'm pushing sixty. It'd be weirder if I wasn't a boomer."
I was deliberately trying to get under her skin, but she didn't even flinch.
"I thought you said you couldn't make it in today?"
I took the contract, signed it, and handed a copy back to her while asking.
"I'm just here to drop this off, then I'm leaving. I have a recording session today."
Just as she said, she was nearly sixty, but she was still releasing albums and going on national tours.
"Take it easy on yourself."
"Your Auntie's still sturdy. Bye."
"Okay, take care."
As Auntie walked out of the office, she added one last thing.
"Oh, and look after the freshmen for me this afternoon."
"Ah, Auntie!"
I groaned in protest, but she was already gone.
"Good grief... She's so fast when she wants to be..."
I wrapped up my Department 5 work quickly in the morning and headed over to Department 4.
"Hello, Manager Choi."
"Yes, hello."
As I walked towards Auntie's office, people greeted me here and there, probably having seen me around yesterday. Daehanyedae as a whole was unique, but this department was really something else.
Ding-ding~
"Yes, come in."
"Huh?"
The person opening the door and walking in looked surprised.
"Ah, Professor Choi Mi-ae had an outside engagement today, so I'm filling in for her."
"Ah... right. Sorry. The freshmen are all gathered."
"Yes."
What could I, a mere manager—no, just a TA, not a singer or an actor, just an ordinary person—possibly do here?
'Auntie did just tell me to just sit there...'
As I followed the student who came to get me, I voiced a question that had been on my mind.
"Excuse me, your name is..."
"Ah, I'm Kim Hyeonwoo, Manager Choi. I've been active as Posuta's Woohyun for about a year now."
"Ah, sorry. I'm not very familiar with singers."
Too many idols debuted and disappeared; it was impossible to remember all their names.
It was hard enough remembering the names of the students taking our professor's classes...
"It's fine. We're not a very famous group."
Hyeonwoo's expression as he called his own group unfamous was hard to describe.
"You got into Daehanyedae, so you'll make it big. So... what's the class today?"
"Thank you. Ah... you didn't hear?"
He answered with a smile at my words.
Once you got into Daehanyedae, you'd stand out somewhere eventually, even if it wasn't as an idol.
If you could just tough it out for four years and graduate...
"No... I was just told to come."
It was a bit weird for a TA to be asking this, but it was better to ask beforehand than to stand around cluelessly.
"Dance. The theme is temptation."
"Dance... temptation?"
"Yes. You'll understand as soon as you see it."
I'd asked out of curiosity, but it just made me more curious. I couldn't even keep up with the national calisthenics back in elementary school, so what kind of dance... and what was up with that theme?
I should have looked around some other departments.
Even though I'd worked at the school for four years now, I'd thrown networking out the window ages ago and just rushed home, so there was no way I'd know what subjects other departments taught.
Thud-thud-thump-thump
The closer I got to the lecture hall, the more the vibrations pulsed through the floor.
"Everyone, Manager Choi is here."
"Hello, sir!"
A booming greeting echoed, making me wonder if I was at a university or a military base. I gave a slight nod in return.
"Manager Choi, your seat is over here."
"Yes, thank you."
Another TA from Department 4 came and guided me to my seat.
I was glancing around, trying to get a read on the situation, when someone approached me from the side.
"What's this? TA Choi from Department 5? Or is it Manager Choi now?"
"It's been a while, Professor Kim Ji-eun."
"Still so formal, even after all this time. Did Mi-ae unnie call you in?"
She frowned slightly at my greeting.
"You're a Professor right now. She had a schedule and asked me to come by."
"Will you call me Nuna outside, at least?"
"I'll think about it."
"Jeez! Everyone, gather up!"
The professor made a show of annoyance before gathering the students and starting the lecture.
'Why did she call me if this was the plan?'
Both the professor giving the lecture and the students following along looked incredibly flexible.
'Wow... how can a human body move like that...'
"That's it for stretching."
I couldn't believe my ears.
'That was stretching?'
"What did I say the theme was today?"
"Temptation!"
"Right, so you need a target, don't you? Usually you pair up with each other or our TAs help out, but today, Manager Choi here will be a special treat."
"What?"
She completely ignored my question and went straight back to the lesson.
"Professor."
"What is it?"
Kim Hyeonwoo, the one who'd come to get me earlier, raised his hand, seemingly with a question.
"Do the male students do it to Manager Choi, too?"
"Hmm... go for it! If a guy seduces a guy, I'll give extra points."
"Ooooh!!"
My opinion was utterly beside the point; the male students cheered louder at the mention of extra points.
"And afterward, Manager Choi will score you all, and the one with the highest score gets a one-day 'Date Ticket' with our handsome manager!"
"What the!!"
I was about to shoot up in protest, but the professor had already come around behind me and firmly pressed my shoulders, forcing me back into my seat.
"Why, don't you want to? There are plenty of pretty girls. You don't like dates?"
I wanted to ask what the hell she was saying to someone with a girlfriend, but I wasn't in a position to pick a fight here.
Aside from Auntie and a few close people, I hadn't officially announced that I was dating Eunhwi Nuna.
Although some people probably suspected it.
"No... whether they're famous or not, they're idols. What kind of date is a regular guy like me supposed to have with them?! Professor—I mean, Nuna!"
When I whispered this out of earshot of the students who'd gone into their group discussions, Professor Kim Ji-eun—no, 'Nuna'—just grinned.
"So you'll call me Nuna now? Hey. Those kids go all week without a single day off, they don't even sleep four hours a day, juggling school and their idol work. A date with you is just an excuse—it's a day off where they can skip class and actually have some fun."
"Ah... but why use the word 'date,' of all things..."
"I'm a Professor. I can't just say 'skip class and go rest,' even as an empty promise. I'm just making something up. So please, cooperate for these poor kids, Manager Choi. It's not like your scores go on their transcripts anyway."
As someone who dreamed of unemployment, the thought of rescuing these poor little lambs, who couldn't even sleep properly and had to balance work and study all week, suddenly filled me with motivation.
"Ah, but only one can be first place, right?"
My plan to give them all top marks and gift the little lambs a day of rest was shattered by the devil in professor's clothing.
"Ah... yes..."
"Should I give you a demonstration first?"
As the group discussions dragged on longer than expected, Professor Kim Ji-eun looked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"If you do it, won't the kids have a hard time beating your score?"
"Just stay right there, please."
At my cold response, Professor Kim Ji-eun practically threw the score sheet at me.
Once the preparations were done, I stood awkwardly in the middle of the stage, clutching the score sheet, and watched—felt—the students dance.