Sunbae's Cute Hands
About a week after the semester began, Monday rolled around again.
Which meant it was the day I'd see Yeonjae-sunbae.
I got dressed, slung on my backpack, and checked myself in the mirror by the front door of my studio. Hmm... does this look like I'm trying too hard? Maybe I should tone it down a little...
After cycling through outfit after outfit — on, off, on, off — I finally landed on something that could reasonably pass for effortless. Long jeans, a black belt, a white T-shirt, and the department varsity jacket over the top.
Truth be told, I wasn't particularly eager to wear the jacket. But we were in the same department, and I wanted to play that up a little.
...So why am I putting this much effort into picking out clothes?
Sunbae has a boyfriend.
Still, I was already dressed. I figured I might as well just go. Even if I'd wanted to change, the timing was tight enough that swapping outfits now would risk making me late.
Not that I was planning to cut it close. I intended to get there thirty minutes before class started. I had no idea when she'd arrive, so I was going early.
...It was absolutely not because I wanted to see her sooner. We were in the same group, that was all. I just wanted to talk about the group project. The actual lectures hadn't even properly started yet, but still. That was the reason.
When I got to the lecture hall, it was empty.
Well, of course it was. I'd caught the bus right away, and the roads had been clear, so I'd arrived a good ten minutes earlier than expected. Forty minutes before class. At that hour, an empty room was the only thing that made sense.
I claimed the cozy, comfortable sweet spot in the far back corner, folded myself over the desk, and let my mind drift back to yesterday.
It had only been five days since we'd started playing together. And yet...
"Taeyang-nim! How am I doing? I'm already level 40!"
Serial was growing at a terrifying pace. At this rate, it felt like she was pouring every waking hour that wasn't real life straight into Elysion. I wasn't even logging into my main anymore except to clear dailies and weeklies.
Thanks to that, I'd been more or less forced to level my Dual Swordsman a lot more — and yesterday, during a boss run, a one-handed sword had felt slightly off in my grip. I was a top-tier swordsman on the server, and I was already getting optimized for dual blades. It was a strange feeling.
Anyway. That wasn't the point.
Serial was level 42. I was 41. Factor in that my hunting speed was faster than hers, and it was obvious she was throwing everything she had into growing. Which was why I was currently mapping out a leveling route just for her.
Where to next... The Magic Mine or the Monster Forest would both be good, but...
Each had its trade-offs. The Magic Mine was great for extra farming on the side. The Monster Forest was better for raw leveling speed.
I was turning the two hunting grounds over in my head when I remembered something I'd overlooked.
The Magic Swordsman storyline.
Serial wasn't just grinding levels — she was working through her class story too. And at around level 40, the Magic Swordsman story sent you to the Tower of Purity, which sat right near the Magic Mine. So she'd be heading to the Magic Mine anyway, given its whole "the tower owns this place" concept.
This time I could have her hunt and start gearing up at the same time. Still, I'd ask first, just in case. She might be the type who prioritized fast levels over everything else.
I was sketching out a dedicated growth path for Serial in my head when I heard someone beside me.
A chair scraped back. The person who made that sound was not the one I'd been waiting for.
"You made it."
"Yeah, I'm here."
It was a little depressing that it was Kim Seunghyeok and not sunbae, but what was I supposed to do? The guy had just gotten here first.
Seunghyeok, for his part, was looking at me with a distinctly sharp glint in his eye.
"Dude."
"What."
"You actually tried with the clothes today, huh?"
I flinched. Guilty as charged — but I went for the excuse first.
"Tried? It's a plain T-shirt and jeans."
"You barely wear jeans. You're always going on about how uncomfortable they are."
I flinched again. He wasn't wrong. I really didn't wear jeans much, because they were uncomfortable. My leg muscles made them too tight. The fit actually looked pretty decent, but I still preferred clothes I could move in.
"...I wear jeans sometimes."
"Sure you do."
Seunghyeok shrugged, gave my head a couple of casual pats, and tossed out a "Give it your best shot~" before getting up from his seat. I cursed him out with my eyes for smacking my head like that, then sank back into my thoughts.
I folded over the desk again and went back to mapping out Serial's leveling guide. A few minutes passed.
Someone poked my shoulder.
I figured it was Seunghyeok again and got ready. And then—
"Wah—!"
I jerked upright to scare him.
"Eek!?"
A thin, cute little shriek burst out on the spot. The owner of that voice was, needless to say, not Kim Seunghyeok.
"...Sunbae?"
It was her.
After a brief commotion, I bowed my head as fast as humanly possible to the students around us and to sunbae.
"I'm really sorry, sunbae."
"It's alright. You were just trying to play a prank on your friend, weren't you?"
She gave the idiot who'd pulled every last bit of aggro in the room a gentle, generous smile and a soft "It's okay~," actually comforting me instead.
...Is she an angel?
No. No, I couldn't just let this slide.
"Sunbae, I can't just brush this off, so please let me buy you a meal."
"A meal...? You don't have to..."
"No, I feel terrible. Please let me."
"Th-that's... nngh..."
She seemed to wrestle with something, but the struggle didn't last long.
"Th-then... today. Buy me something today..."
"Yes. Thank you...!"
"No... I should be the one thanking you..."
I was grateful I could smooth over a blunder with a meal. She was grateful I was buying her food. The two of us, thanking each other for completely opposite reasons, made for a ridiculous pair — and the whole thing was cut short by the professor walking in.
"Alright, everyone mark your attendance on the app. We'll start in three minutes~"
After class, sunbae and I started walking toward the restaurant. She stretched her arms over her head as she spoke.
"Nngh~ This professor's explanations are definitely interesting, but..."
"His voice is just so drowsy, right?"
"Exactly. That's precisely the feeling."
Apparently we were of the same mind about the professor. The explanations were fun. His voice was just... drowsy. Easy to listen to — too easy. It made you sleepy. Was this that "human sleeping pill" thing people talked about?
"But the lecture itself was pretty fun, wasn't it?"
"It was~ He explains things well, and he ran the group work more like we were hanging out than doing an assignment~"
"...It did kind of feel like we were just hanging out, yeah."
How had we handled the group work? We'd watched a video the professor had made himself, and that was it. He'd assigned something related to it, sure, but at this level it was easy.
"Like I said earlier, I'll handle the research and send it over. Would you make the slides? I'll do the presentation in exchange."
"I'd be grateful...!"
The assignment was a two-week one, and sunbae had said she wasn't confident presenting. I, on the other hand, wasn't confident making slides, but research and presenting I could do. A reasonable division of labor, if I said so myself.
We talked about the assignment and the lecture, and before I knew it we'd arrived at the restaurant. And yet...
"Sunbae."
"Yes?"
"Are you really okay with this?"
"Of course~ Do you know how much I love this place?"
"Still..."
"Then I really won't let you treat me?"
She'd even pulled out the hardball tactics, so I was the one who folded. And where were we?
"You're sure Daddy Touch is okay? We could go to a barbecue place or a buffet or something..."
"I told you it's fine~ Come on, let's go in!"
It was Daddy Touch — the same place we'd eaten together barely a week ago.
About fifteen minutes later, the burger sets we'd ordered came out. Sunbae had the White Garlic Burger. I had the Fillet Burger. I took a bite and asked,
"Come to think of it, sunbae, why the White Garlic Burger?"
"This white sauce is so good. That garlic flavor is exactly my thing. Why the Fillet Burger?"
"The macros are solid."
"Is that so?"
"It's a chicken breast patty. The one you're eating is chicken breast too, actually. Did you know that?"
"Oh... I had no idea..."
She took another bite, chewed for a moment, then set the burger down on the tray. After that, she picked up the fries with both hands and started eating them in the cutest way imaginable.
Was it because her hands were small, or was it just a habit? Either way, it didn't matter — even a little thing like that was ridiculously cute.
The more I thought about it, the more I envied him. The guy who had someone this pretty, this kind, this cute as his girlfriend.
I let out a long sigh, and sunbae blinked at me.
"Um... is something wrong?"
"No...? Not really... Why? Did it look like something was wrong?"
"A little? It's fine if there isn't."
She plucked up another fry and made a small sound of delight at the taste.
"Daddy Touch really does have the best fries~"
"I think so too."
I agreed, and reached for a fry myself.
Our hands bumped.
At that soft touch, I yanked my hand back. She pulled hers back too, and started watching my face.
Silence settled over us, right where conversation had been flowing without a pause. After that, sunbae and I finished our burgers while stealing glances at each other.
...It had been so soft, so warm — a small, cute hand, nothing at all like a man's.