Ice Princess (3)
Korea University definitely had a double major system. They'd built it up over the years to give students diverse specs and opportunities in the brutal job market. But there were constraints—like class schedules overlapping between your main major and minor—and even if you pushed through that, you'd be competing against the nation's top brains, all Korea University students. Each subject demanded an insane amount of study. Plus, trying to dig too many wells often left them all shallow. All that made everyone avoid it like the plague.
And in this day and age, where pedigree didn't carry the weight it used to, a shallow double major could actually hurt your job prospects if your specs or depth of knowledge weren't up to par.
'The princess is pulling off that nightmare? Something like that?'
Seonghwan prided himself on studying hard as a freshman, but his grades were more pathetic than he'd hoped. Korea's classist, pedigree-obsessed society ran on relative evaluation, and even in liberal arts classes full of wide-eyed newbies, he didn't have a single A-. Mostly Bs, with the occasional B+. If that was his level in gen-eds, what chance did he have in majors?
'No more free periods for you from now on. Good luck out there.'
Yuri spoke coldly to the classmate in front of her. "Professor's coming soon. I'm gonna prep for class."
"Uh... yeah, okay."
The guy slunk back to his seat, clearly embarrassed. Seonghwan watched his retreat, glanced around to make sure no one was looking, and shook his head just a bit.
That dude had been eyeing Yuri with obvious intent from the start, and everyone else had been watching hawk-like. Now they smirked at his empty-handed return.
In this cutthroat competitive world, male instincts were especially primal. These guys, used to basking in their own superiority and the adulation around them, couldn't help but strut their stuff—flashing their looks and strength—to court a pretty girl.
Seonghwan didn't feel the stares lift until the professor arrived for electronic roll call.
'Gotta check where Yuri sits next time and steer clear.'
No way was he planting himself in the middle of that mating ground.
It was a major class, but day one meant a quick prof intro and syllabus overview: policy and execution, admin roles, etc. "Brief" my ass—the lecture filled the time with outlines of admin structures, org charts, and all that.
'Huh. Guess the girl next to me picked this as her double major.'
Most of it was straight memorization fodder.
"That wraps up today. Oh, and starting next class, assigned seats. TA will come around with the seating chart after I leave to collect names and student IDs. You've got till lunch, so hang tight."
Lightning struck. Thunder rolled.
'What? The hell...?'
Not just Seonghwan—murmurs rippled through the still-seated students.
The prof, anticipating the chaos, added, "I've been named department head this year. Basically chair duties. I've slacked on knowing my students till now, so this heavy responsibility's stressing me out. I'll enforce assigned seats in all my classes for a bit—not just this one. Can't chair a department if I don't know faces, IDs, names, right? Bear with me."
'Fuck. That's your problem, dude. Wait—no, does this mean no more seat wars?'
A student raised a hand. "Professor, if we move now, does that become our assigned seat?"
"Oh! Exactly. I was gonna say—feel free to shuffle. Anywhere's fine. Front row's all visible to me anyway, so no worries. Taller folks or anyone with bad eyes, get the front if you need it—others, yield. Fill those gaps in the middle too. If not, I'll force it."
Seonghwan panicked, scanning the middle. Ambitious types had filled the front solid, but five-ish gaps dotted the center.
'If those stay empty, he'll drag us from the back to fill 'em.'
He eyed an edge seat in the middle and stood—
Then a pale hand grabbed his wrist. Firm.
"......??"
Following it up, Seonghwan met Yuri's face—stern, faintly flushed.
"...What?"
She tilted her chin forward.
'Huh?'
Turning, he saw folks from his row's back shuffling forward, filling gaps. Like him, they'd been lurking in the rear, watching—figuring they'd get yanked anyway, so why not move first?
'...Comrades in arms.'
Seonghwan sighed inwardly in relief. A few who'd half-stood for corner spots sat awkwardly when others snagged them, shuffling to dead-center instead.
"All done moving? Stay put now? TA's coming right after me for the chart. Change your mind, talk it over and tell the TA. Class dismissed."
Prof out, TA in with chart—starting front, jotting names and IDs. Seonghwan felt eyes boring into him.
'...Huh?'
Dozens of guys staring. Like they'd trade their souls for that seat next to her. Intense, burdensome gazes.
Burdened but weirdly smug at having what they didn't, Seonghwan met their eyes head-on.
'Don't just stare—make an offer. Losers beg for trades, right?'
".............."
"...Ahem."
No one brazenly asked to swap—at least not here. They just glared holes through him, silent pressure to vacate.
'Creeps... Am I a suspect or what? Why the death stares?'
Finally cracking, Seonghwan punted it. Leaning to Yuri, he whispered, "Hey, anyone you wanna sit with? I'll swap. That guy from earlier? Same year, might help you out studying together—"
He trailed off. Her face was arctic—cold sweeping from eyes to throat.
'...What? Mood shift?'
Oh yeah—she still gripped his wrist.
"Hey... hand..."
Yuri yanked back, realizing. Her face flushed crimson. Seonghwan thought, Damn, she’s got a cute side.
"Why? Someone creepy? Or that guy?"
".........All creepy. Shut up."
"Heh."
"You too."
".....But I'm older—"
"Shut. Up."
"........."
Grinding his teeth, Seonghwan faced front.
'Ungrateful brat. Cute my ass. I'll just move.'
As he packed, eyeing a nearby seat—Yuri whispered, just for him: "Don't like the attention."
"??"
Quizzical glance. She stared ahead at the approaching TA, face still pink—but kept going, sensing his look. "Hate people staring. Especially guys."
"...."
'Fuck, then what am I? A girl? An object?'
Grinding inwardly, but with her saying that much, no way he'd move. TA arrived, noted their names and IDs, eyed them alternately, then left.
Nothing left to do, Seonghwan grabbed his bag and stood. "I'm out. Guess we're stuck together this semester. Class, group projects, whatever."
Yuri, packing beside him, glanced—then whipped her head away. "Hmph."
'That... rude little...'
Grousing as he turned to leave, Seonghwan caught her shoulder. Her long hair flung wide in the head-snap, baring pale skin—and a tiny crescent scar.
'Huh?'
Tattoo-like, it dipped naturally into her white skin, contrasting her slender neckline—almost seductive. But familiar.
'Wait. What’s that? Huh?'
Standing frozen, staring down—Yuri oblivious, but guys around shot him dirty looks. Like he was leering down her cleavage with ulterior motives. Disgust in their eyes.
'Shit!'
Feeling the glares late, Seonghwan slung his bag and bolted from the room.
Dashing to the building entrance, he replayed that crescent scar.
'That scar... no way?'
Deep in Health Gallery binges, obsessing over gym girl pics—one newbie had exploded onto best posts.
NewbieButtQueen—no massive tits or jacked muscles, face mosaicked, but pale skin, slim neck, killer waist-to-hip flow, perky apple butt. Sweat-soaked sports bra and leggings shots? Comments exploded—gallery praise galore.
Not huge boobs, but way above Korean average; vertical slit navel, tiny waist dwarfing hips that put celeb "hip queens" to shame. Early on, "photoshop" debates raged—till a natural workout vid proved it real.
Gallers speculated she'd been on SNS before—body-matching celebs, hunting her ID. Popularity skyrocketed.
Seonghwan, like any galler, hyped her pics. One HD update: high ponytail, shoulder scar—a tiny crescent. Face blurred, but that stuck. Others fixated on curves; he dug her elegant neckline too.
'No way?...... Come to think...'
Yuri bundled up winter, mild seasons—like hiding treasure. But summer? Thin tees, jeans—body stood out.
'Lower body... like Hyun? She's top 0.1% slender rumors. Yuri didn't rock skin-tights like her, but visible shape was unreal... ass volume too...'
Comparing Hyun and Yuri, fantasizing—Seonghwan shook it off.
'Fuck. She was whining about attention minutes ago—no MBTI swap that fast. Newbie aside, what matches...? '
Too much. Way too much. Pale skin, long slim neck, baggy clothes hiding—but plausible—curves.
Gulping, Seonghwan checked surroundings, pulled his phone—Health Gallery popup.