The Professor's Old Shoes
"I'm home."
"Back from your part-time job?"
"Yeah. Nngh…"
Mother kneaded my arm as she spoke, her voice thick with worry.
"School starts next week, you know. Aren't you pushing yourself too hard? If you're short on tuition money…"
She'd raised two children on her own all these years, and still every ounce of her concern was for me.
"I'm fine. It's not that hard, really."
"Is that so…? Still, don't overdo it."
"I won't. Don't worry. Oh — and take this."
I pulled the envelope of cash I'd prepared from my pocket and held it out to her.
"What's this?"
"Just open it."
She opened the envelope and froze. Inside was a thick stack of fifty-thousand-won bills — far more than she'd expected.
"W-wait. Where did you get this much money…?"
"It's my paycheck."
"What…? Really?"
"Really. I work the whole month, so the pay's pretty decent."
Mother fell silent for a moment, then pushed the envelope back into my hands.
"That's enough. Take it back."
"It's fine, Mom. Just use it."
"How am I supposed to spend money my son worked himself to the bone to earn? Your mother's still plenty capable of working."
Her tone was firm, but I had no intention of backing down either.
"Well, I already gave it to you, so it's not my problem. I'm not taking it back. If you really don't want it, donate it or something. I'm going to my room to rest."
I slipped the envelope back into her pocket, went into my room, and shut the door.
"Cheolwoo! Cheolwoo!"
Her voice called after me a few more times. I ignored it.
With Mom, this is the only way to out-stubborn her.
Time passed faster than I'd expected, and before I knew it, the start of the semester was upon us.
To be honest, there was nothing left for a university to teach me — but this wasn't Mount Olympus.
Like it or not, in South Korea, a college diploma made earning a living a whole lot easier.
After a hundred years, though, university hadn't ranked particularly high on my list of things worth remembering. Which is why even finding my way to campus turned out to be a chore.
"Did I really go here…?"
HANBIT UNIVERSITY
I was currently a third-year in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Hanbit University.
I had a hazy recollection of attending this place, and an equally hazy sense that I hadn't — but with it printed right there on my student ID, it was probably the truth.
Doesn't look like I was much of a student…
A quick search told me that Hanbit University was a four-year school, though not a particularly good one. Apparently, the me of a hundred years ago hadn't been much of a scholar either.
Didn't study. Didn't work a part-time job. What the hell kind of life was I even living?
I wanted to go back a hundred years and beat the living daylights out of my past self.
I was still lamenting the person I'd been when someone tapped me on the arm from behind.
"Hey, Kang. Long time no see. Have a good break?"
Long, wavy blonde hair. A catlike, striking beauty.
Who is this…?
She was calling me her junior, so she was probably a fourth-year — but I couldn't place her at all.
And yet—
"Ah… Hee-yeon. It's been a while. Have you been well?"
Strangely, after looking at her face for a moment, her name and the basic facts about her came flooding back.
Jung Hee-yeon.
A year older than me, a senior in the same department, and one of the few women in our major. Good grades, skilled with her hands, and outstanding looks on top of that — she'd been quite popular in the department.
Were we close…?
I couldn't remember exactly how close, but we'd at least exchanged greetings in passing.
"How was your break? Drown it in booze and games again, junior?"
I answered with a deadpan expression.
"I spent it working a part-time job."
She stared at me, stunned.
"What? The great Kang Cheolwoo, working a part-time job? What's going on?"
"I can't just mess around forever."
"Wait, is that a shot at me?"
A shot? What is she talking about.
She stepped in close and made a gesture of knocking back a drink.
"Semester's started. We're hitting the bars after class today."
Ah…
It came back to me.
Right. This person had been my drinking buddy. One of the crowd that went out for drinks after every single class, day in and day out.
And she wants me to live like that again…?
I'd come back after a hundred years. I couldn't live the same way I had before.
"I'll pass. Who drinks on the first day of the semester?"
Hee-yeon looked at me in shock.
"What?! Why?! If not you, who am I supposed to drink with?!"
"I've got a part-time job now, so I'm busy. I don't think I'll be able to drink as often as I used to."
When I said it with a serious face, she conceded almost immediately.
"Really…? Well… if you're putting it like that, I guess I can't force you."
Then the alarm I'd set on my phone went off.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"I've got class, so I'll head out first. See you later."
"Yeah. Go on, Kang."
I made it to the lecture hall with three minutes to spare.
Campus is bigger than I thought. I should leave earlier next time.
I exchanged a few casual nods with faces that looked vaguely familiar. I didn't know them yet, but their names and faces would come back to me soon enough.
A moment later, the professor entered the lecture hall. An elderly man, his hair gone almost entirely white.
"Welcome. Since this is the first class, we'll do a quick orientation and wrap up early."
Nobody said it out loud, but you could feel the room light up at the news that it was just an orientation.
"Now, to introduce this course…"
Hm…?
Something about the way the old professor moved as he wrote on the whiteboard looked off. Uncomfortable.
Doesn't seem like he's injured…
I was sitting a bit far back for a proper diagnosis, but there didn't appear to be anything specifically wrong with his bones or muscles. In cases like this, the problem was usually something they were wearing — clothes, or shoes.
Hmm…
"…And that's it. If any of you are thinking of switching courses, the add/drop period runs through this week, so take care of that. I'll see you next week."
The orientation ended far faster than expected. A three-hour lecture, done in thirty minutes.
A few classmates approached me. I didn't even need to hear them out. They were going to ask me to go drinking.
Well, I'd have a drink to celebrate making it back eventually, sure.
I did want to have a drink someday — just not today. And more than anything, the old professor's awkward gait kept nagging at me.
Baek Se-hyun came up beside me, his voice bright and eager.
"Cheolwoo! You got another class? If not, let's hit the PC bang. Been a while — we gotta go hard."
I packed my bag, apologized, and went after the old professor.
"Sorry. Next time. I've got something to take care of today."
"What? Work on the first day of the semester? Hey, Cheolwoo! Kang Cheolwoo!"
I ignored Se-hyun's shouting and followed the professor.
Honestly… this is a sickness of mine. A real sickness.
The old professor headed to a vending machine behind the school building that sold coffee. He bought a cup of milk coffee and sat down on a bench.
I bought a cup myself, naturally, and sat across from him.
"Professor. Good afternoon."
The old professor glanced at me, then recognized who I was.
"Ah… Kang Cheolwoo, is it?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Here for the coffee?"
"Yes. The milk coffee here is a real treat."
That made him laugh.
"Haha. It is, isn't it. The milk coffee here really is something special."
The awkward air vanished in an instant. I took a sip of coffee and asked, as naturally as I could.
"Professor, this might be a bit forward, but… did you hurt your leg?"
"Hm? No. I may not look it, but I exercise regularly. Both legs are perfectly fine."
"Ah… maybe I was worrying over nothing. It's just, during orientation, you looked a little uncomfortable when you moved."
The professor's expression shifted to one of mild surprise.
"How did you even notice that?"
"Haha… I've always had a pretty sharp eye, that's all."
The old professor let out a sigh, then pulled off the old dress shoes he'd been wearing and showed me the soles.
This…
From the heels to the bottoms, they were worn down to a mess. The shoes themselves looked like they'd been quality once, but they were so old they hadn't been able to stand against the passage of time.
"I put these on for the first time in a while, but they're so old now that they're worn out all over. They're really uncomfortable."
He set the shoes down beside the bench for a moment, then gazed into the distance, his expression drifting into memory.
"These are the shoes my mother bought me when I was first appointed as a professor at this school. She passed away. This morning, on my way in, I found myself thinking of her, so I put them on… and I've been suffering all day because of it."
He looked down at the shoes and sighed.
"I've taken them to cobblers more times than I can count, but they all say they can't be repaired anymore. Well. It can't be helped."
"……"
He wasn't wrong. Every object has a lifespan.
Even I, in a hundred years of grinding away at the Gods' Workshop, hadn't repaired every single thing that came through the door. Some things truly couldn't be fixed, and I'd had to let them go.
But the shoes sitting in front of me right now had not reached the end of their life. Something of this quality, I could repair without any trouble at all.
These could easily last another ten years. Be a waste to throw them out.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have offered a free service like this. But after hearing that his late mother had bought them for him, I couldn't just sit there and do nothing.
I tossed my empty coffee cup and spoke.
"Professor. If you don't mind, would it be all right if I tried repairing those shoes?"
The professor shook his head.
"What? No, no. I've already been to several cobblers, and they all said they couldn't be fixed. It'll be difficult."
I answered with a look of complete confidence.
"I think I can fix them. If you've already decided it's time to let them go, you were going to throw them out anyway. Consider it a gamble — just leave them with me once."
The old professor hesitated, then nodded.
Well… nothing to lose, I suppose.
"Mm… if you're putting it that way, all right. Come to my office. I'll change shoes and give them to you."
I followed him to his office. He changed his shoes and handed the dress shoes to me.
"Well then, I'll leave it to you. But don't feel any pressure. If you can't fix them, just bring them back. That's fine."
I smiled.