Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Snap a Photo If You Catch Me
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Mid-March had arrived before I knew it.
The semester had already been in session for three weeks.
A lot had happened over the past two weeks, but school life itself was peaceful as usual.
Or was it not quite the same as usual?
"Ugh..."
There was no one near my seat right now.
Actually...
Quite the opposite. There were tons of people.
They were all clustered on the side where I was sitting.
It looked like they'd left the seats around me empty and surrounded me.
These people knew I didn't like anyone sitting too close, so they'd sat one seat away in front, behind, both sides, and diagonally.
If viewed from above, it would look bizarre: one side of the lecture hall packed with people, and me sitting alone in the center of an open circle.
Like I was under a spotlight.
And to make matters worse, this was an auditorium-style room where the seats sloped upward toward the back, so I could feel countless stares boring into the top of my head.
And the even bigger problem was...
Glance
Whisper whisper
Flinch
Silence
"......"
Whisper whisper, murmur murmur.
Click
Silence
"........."
...Every time I even tried to move a little, the surroundings suddenly went dead quiet.
Even just switching ballpoint pens triggered a wide-area silence spell. It was driving me insane with nerves.
Please, just stop!
I knew my own personality well.
I feared forming relationships, but once I got close, I depended on them easily and got excited when praised—yet I dreaded the whole process.
That contradictory nature.
But after years—no, decades—of being a total loner, what could I do?
How could I change a deeply ingrained personality overnight?
But this had nothing to do with being a loner.
This was straight-up bullying!
The professor carried on with the lecture, unperturbed.
Of course, it wasn't disrupting class or anything.
If anything, it might even be helpful.
Haha, for once the students aren't dozing off and are actually paying attention. But why are they all clustered on one side?
Well, better than sitting only in the back rows.
From the prof's perspective, it was easier—just talk toward one side.
They weren't causing trouble, and they were sitting where they wanted. Who could complain?
I squeezed my eyes shut.
If only I'd left a bit earlier... this wouldn't have happened.
If I'd come early, I'd have claimed the back corner seat.
No, then there'd be a risk of them talking to me on the way in.
...Should I just slip in right before class starts next time?
The hellish class finally ended.
I bolted from the lecture hall faster than anyone.
Scrape, dash dash
"Su-hyeon sunbae!"
"Wait up!"
"Wha— so fast...!"
"Eek!"
That's right.
They already knew I was their senior—and that I was 23.
The rumor had spread through the department after that day I turned the lab into a jungle with plants.
Not just our department, but the entire engineering college.
The gossip that there was a "legal loli" in the Engineering College.
Apparently, you could even touch her a little without getting arrested?
And she's cute? Oh wow!
What a joke. If anyone actually touched me, I'd have them arrested for real.
"Huff, huff!"
Still, this body had built up some stamina, so my running speed was pretty good.
My legs were short, but the round-trip motion was faster than those with long legs.
In other words, short steps, but more of them, making me quicker.
Plus, being small let me dodge chair legs and obstacles nimbly.
Sad, but I had my advantages.
I dodged the juniors pouring out late from the lecture hall door and headed for the women's restroom.
Dash dash dash
'Is the last stall occupied?'
Instinctively, I wanted the end one, but it was already closed—someone inside.
No choice, I opened the next one.
Bang
At first, I'd felt bad about hearing the adjacent stall, but now wasn't the time for that.
Clunk
I shut the door, lowered the toilet lid, and struggled to climb up and sit.
Covering my mouth with both hands, I held my breath quietly.
"Hooo, hooo."
'Why am I in this mess...!'
Fortunately, our department in the engineering college had few female students. The engineering vibe was milder than others, so more than elsewhere, but the ratio was still about 10:1 male to female.
One or two girls, I could maybe shoo away somehow.
Anyone watching might think, "Is it really worth hiding like this?" But they hadn't seen the chaos from the other day.
People draw crowds. If you stay put, more come over wondering what's up.
I ended up trapped for nearly an hour, only freed after letting them snap photos.
If it had been a liberal arts or shared elective, at least Ga-eun would be there...!
Then, I heard someone enter the restroom.
"Su-hyeon sunbae."
"We know you're in here."
As expected, girls had tracked me to the bathroom.
Even compared to other departments, it was a huge number.
That many... maybe I should go out and firmly tell them no.
Of course, I knew they just wanted to be friends and were showing goodwill.
But friendships build slowly and naturally—you can't shove them all in at once, or I just can't handle it!
I got too cocky...
"Is she in here?"
"Su-hyeon sunbae, just talk to us a bit. Please?"
'Sigh... Count to three and bolt.'
Three...
Two...
One...
Bang—
"Su-hyeon sun— uh...?"
"Ah?"
The moment I counted to three in my head and went to fling the door open, I heard a door opening.
Not mine—the one next to me.
"...What's this?"
"Ah, pr-professor...?"
'Huh...?'
"I didn't realize you wanted to talk to me so badly you'd follow me even to the bathroom."
"No, that's not...!"
"Hello, Professor! I'll head out first! Take your time chatting!"
"Hey, you!"
"Shall we go, then? Our lab's short-staffed anyway, and such an enthusiastic girl joining would brighten things up nicely."
"Th-that...!"
A professor was in the next stall.
From the voice, it sounded like Professor Lee A-young. She'd grasped the situation and stepped in to help.
I'd incurred another debt of gratitude...
"She's coming out...! Uh, uh...?"
"What's with all of you crowding the women's restroom entrance?"
The students besieging the area had no choice but to panic.
They'd thought one of the two girls who'd gone in would come out first, but instead one bolted away gasping, and the other was dragged out by the professor.
"You're sophomores now—do you still have time for such childish antics? By second year, you should have foreign language certs and other quals done; third year, major certs; fourth year, internships and interviews. And you're wasting time like this? I made my class grading easy out of consideration for you all— is that why you have free time? Are other profs' classes too easy too? I should bring it up at the next department meeting."
Veteran pressure packed into real-talk nagging!
Nothing wrong with what she said, which made it hurt even more.
"N-no, it's not that."
"Save your excuses for my office, with this student."
"S-sorry!"
The students scattered in an instant after gauging the mood.
"Good grief... Even if her appearance draws eyes, swarming her like this is no different from harassment. You're 21—shouldn't you know better?"
She knew all along.
"Sorry..."
"If I catch anyone treating her like a zoo animal again, there will be consequences. Especially you—I'll be watching. Go on."
"Hiii..."
The caught girl slunk away with a teary face.
"Whew..."
The professor thought she should post a notice telling TAs not to let students excessively stalk or fawn over specific ones.
Students were adults, but that didn't mean anything went.
Disrupting department harmony meant penalties, naturally.
With the area quiet, Professor Lee A-young reentered the restroom and knocked.
"Come out, Su-hyeon. I chased the others away."
The door creaked open gently.
Behind it emerged a cute girl with a backpack half her size, hair a mess from running, eyes misty with injustice.
"Thank you so much, Professor..."
'Hmm... I can see why the students feel that way.'
The professor somewhat understood the hearts of the girls she'd just scolded.
***
Su-hyeon was now poking around near the student cafeteria.
She'd wanted to come with Professor Lee A-young, but sadly the professor had a noon meeting and would eat with the others afterward.
After wiping her sweat and fixing her hair, the professor apologized, suggested eating together next time, and left.
The reason she was still lurking here despite the earlier chaos was simple.
She craved crispy pork cutlet...
If she hadn't eaten it in ages and forgotten, but she'd had it recently with Ga-eun, so now it was stuck in her mind.
Regretting leaving half uneaten back then.
Our school's cafeteria was famous for being delicious, even drawing outsiders sometimes.
Pretty building, tasty food, and good-looking students all around.
Everything but the studying was top-notch. That was our school.
But...
'Took too long hiding—it's peak lunch hour.'
The line snaked out the entrance.
So noisy and bustling.
As she lingered reluctantly,
"Hey, it's Su-hyeon!"
Someone spotted her hiding against the hallway wall and pointed.
'Not from our department.'
The casual speech meant not an engineering student. They knew her student ID and age, so they used honorifics.
Students from other colleges either didn't know details or dismissed rumors, speaking casually.
Or they were older... (but that was obvious at a glance).
That's right.
About two weeks into the semester, I'd become a Korea University celebrity.
Greetings flew at me everywhere, even from strangers acting familiar.
I'd even made the school paper and news.
A group photo captioned "Introducing Gate Environment Design Engineering!"
A lime-green-haired kid stood out smack in the middle.
Me awkwardly throwing a V-sign between unknown students and a TA.
...The photo they'd cornered me into yesterday.
Ride the school elevator, and it pops up on the internal display.
Cropped large around my face.
Not constantly, randomly, but still horrifying.
I should have refused firmly...
Even thinking that, I'd probably fumble and cave if it happened again.
"Su-hyeon-ah, hi!!"
"Hi! Wave! Wave back!"
Unable to resist the girls' clamor, she hesitantly raised her right hand.
Happy shrieks erupted.
"Kyaa! How cute!!"
How the hell should I know, you idiot.
That's what I want to say.
'Urgh...!'
Feeling like she couldn't take more attention, she turned and fled.
Her ears burned.
Wooo—
As she ran, cheers exploded from all directions.
Gah, why...!
***
Su-hyeon now sat blankly on a bench by the pond.
Her expression like her soul had fled.
Her plump hands clutched half-eaten pork cutlet kimbap tightly.
Photosynthesis kept hunger at bay, but still, she wanted pork cutlet.
The campus convenience store was crowded too, but less than the cafeteria.
She'd struggled to reach the kimbap shelf, but a stranger helped her snag one.
Honk honk
The geese honked, and Su-hyeon tore off a piece to toss.
Quack, gobble gobble
A flock of geese swarmed before her, massacring the thrown kimbap.
Su-hyeon tore off a piece for herself too.
Geese bite, my bite.
Too big—her cheeks bulged like they might burst, but no choice.
Bite halfway, and fillings fell, becoming 1.5 bites for geese, 0.5 for her.
Bought as a pork cutlet sub, but skimpy filling—no crispy texture.
"Tasty...?"
Honk honk honk
Eating or attacking? Anyway, they kept pecking, so probably tasty.
"If you like it, that's good..."
Su-hyeon felt vicarious satisfaction watching the geese eat.
After observing for a bit, she sank back into thought.
'Should I... drop out of school...?'
Su-hyeon was once again debating whether to quit school.
For reasons similar to before, yet entirely new—ones she'd never faced in her life.