Chapter 8. The Conference (1)
‘Huh?’
Lee Sea frowned slightly. It wasn’t the kind of voice or response she’d expect from Jin Yu-ri, and besides, there was no need for her to stand up. With a spring-like bounce, she shot to her feet as if about to dash out, then awkwardly looked around.
“Ah……”
She seemed unsure whether to sit back down. Only then, with hundreds of students and professors all staring at her, did she turn back to Lee Dojin.
“Sorry, Professor. I didn’t hear properly. What page did you say?”
Her tone sounded calm at first glance, but her face was beet red, clearly showing how flustered she was.
And then, unintentionally, Lee Dojin landed a follow-up blow.
“No, it’s not a page. Just give me the basic formula between output and resistance. I figured you’d have it memorized, Jin Yu-ri. If it’s slipped your mind after I called on you suddenly, feel free to look it up in the book.”
“Ah, the formula……”
Jin Yu-ri trailed off, then seemed to regain some composure as she spoke.
“So…… the factors that act as variables between mana output and the caster’s resistance are mainly, uh…… And the way this problem approaches it is—”
“Why’s she reciting the textbook instead of just saying the formula? Is she bragging that she memorized the whole thing?”
“……”
Lee Sea let Yoo Hae-bin’s whisper slide in one ear and out the other, as usual. What concerned her more was Jin Yu-ri’s state.
……What’s wrong with her?
Lee Dojin was at the front of the room, far from her desk. Jin Yu-ri kept her eyes fixed on empty space between them, reciting textbook content—and even that inaccurately, skipping parts or getting them wrong.
Finally, as Jin Yu-ri stumbled through her fifth or sixth sentence, Lee Dojin intervened.
“Jin Yu-ri?”
“Yes? Yes, Professor!”
“I just need the basic formula…… Can you give it to me?”
“Ah……”
The classroom fell silent soon after, and Lee Sea could hear the students murmuring among themselves—questions like, Is she sick today or something? Even Lee Dojin, who had called on Jin Yu-ri assuming she’d know such a simple formula, looked subtly embarrassed.
After a few seconds of silence, Jin Yu-ri answered in a tiny voice.
“……Sorry, Professor. ……I can’t recall it.”
“It’s fine, Jin Yu-ri. No problem. Could you read from the bottom of page 170, fifth line to the end?”
Lee Sea checked, and sure enough, that was where the formula Lee Dojin had asked for was written. With a slightly sharp edge to her voice—but now sunk into a depressed tone—Jin Yu-ri read from the textbook.
Despite the unexpected hiccup, the class wrapped up smoothly that day. As they moved to the next lecture hall,
“Hey, Oppa.”
“……Oppa?”
Lee Sea echoed softly, shooting a suspicious glance at Yoo Hae-bin walking beside her. Yoo Hae-bin, in turn, continued with an exaggerated expression.
“You get it. Do I look like I have an oppa? I mean your oppa.”
“……He’s Professor at school.”
“Right, right, Professor Lee Dojin. Man, you’re so strict about it. Anyway, isn’t the professor kinda nice, in a subtle way?”
“Suddenly?”
Lee Sea turned to glance back at the lecture hall they’d just left. Lee Dojin was surrounded by students even after answering questions, and when he caught her gaze, he smiled brightly. It reminded her of something.
Han Se-ra, her brother’s fiancée. An expression she’d coined and shared with Lee Sea. A magical phrase where the adjective and noun contrasted perfectly, yet fit Lee Dojin like a glove.
Without thinking, Lee Sea let it slip.
“……Nice trash.”
“Huh?”
Yoo Hae-bin’s eyes widened in shock as she scolded her incredulously.
“Come on, even if you two don’t get along, isn’t that too harsh for your oppa?”
“……I didn’t say it.”
When Han Se-ra had first shared it, she was laughing. But over time, the laughter faded, and eventually, she’d sounded faintly hollow, saying the “trash” part outweighed the “nice” too much.
Still, having known her for so long, Lee Sea had a good sense of who Han Se-ra was.
By then, she probably already……
……had no expectations for her fiancé. For Lee Dojin.
But Yoo Hae-bin pressed on curiously.
“Then who said it? The professor I saw…… he’s a bit weird, sure, but seems like a decent guy.”
“……”
As Lee Sea stared silently, Yoo Hae-bin grumbled in exasperation.
“Ah, fine. You can trash him yourself, but no one else can touch your oppa, got it?”
“If you know, then watch it from now on.”
By the time their chit-chat brought them to the second afternoon class, Lee Sea eyed Jin Yu-ri.
……She’s fine now.
Jin Yu-ri was at the front, listening intently, taking notes with impressive systematic precision, raising her hand for every question, and excelling in the practical demo. Lee Sea had known her for four years, so the conclusion was obvious.
Is it really because of Oppa?
It was hard to believe, but based on the facts, yes. Watching Jin Yu-ri focus so fervently, Lee Sea wondered.
She’s not the type with her head in the clouds like some flower field.
Their personalities clashed extremely, but Lee Sea could judge that objectively. The anonymous chatter on National Academy 1’s community boards about age gaps with Lee Dojin—Jin Yu-ri wouldn’t care about that.
Even if she did, it’d be a huge problem. Lee Sea murmured to herself quietly.
It’s not her……
Han Se-ra might be too good for Lee Dojin. If their engagement held and things progressed, Lee Sea couldn’t predict her feelings, but for now, that’s what she thought. Even if not Han Se-ra, if he brought home someone decent as a professor settling down to marry, Lee Sea felt she could accept it with an open mind. Though that remained to be seen.
But Jin Yu-ri? No, not from the start. Not now, not ever.
A frightening image flashed in her mind: Jin Yu-ri married to her oppa, arm-in-arm, that haughty yet glamorous face softened with a gentle smile, calling her not “Lee Sea” but some other title……
“Urk, sniff—”
A sudden groan escaped her. Unlike the previous class, where Yoo Hae-bin had barely paid attention, she now asked,
“What’s up?”
“Don’t talk to me. My stomach’s upset.”
Then Yoo Hae-bin suddenly shot her hand up.
“Professor! Lee Sea says she’s gonna puke!”
All eyes turned to Lee Sea. Pondering how to punish Yoo Hae-bin, she barely smoothed things over. In that brief lull,
Jin Yu-ri was questioning herself inwardly.
Why did I do that?
Her blunder in Magic Dynamics class baffled even her. Her body had moved on its own—shifting seats to avoid eye contact with Lee Dojin. It had frozen up. When called on, her mouth wouldn’t open, her thoughts stalled.
For no reason.
Did I…… see it in a dream?
Come to think of it, he’d appeared in her dreams lately. She didn’t remember details or conversations, but vaguely recalled him leaving a strong impression.
And…… Jin Yu-ri refused to admit it.
I’m not crazy.
Seven years older, adult and minor. Professor and student. Absurd already, and besides, he……
Jin Yu-ri glanced at Lee Sea. Her expression calm—sometimes icy. But to Jin Yu-ri, her refined features were unmatched among peers. If she looked down at Jin Yu-ri like some lowly fool and called her by some other title than “Lee Sea”……
“Urk……”
Just like Lee Sea, Jin Yu-ri’s stomach churned violently, her face twisting. Regardless of their near-delusional worries, the second afternoon class ended.
Nearing six in the evening, as Lee Sea walked across campus, she checked her phone again.
I’ll wrap up quick and come make dinner, so head home first.
Big progress in the research with Professor Seo Sang-wook. They planned to present at next month’s conference, and he’d come home past eight yesterday for final tweaks, so probably the same today.
Just before exiting the school gate, Lee Sea turned back once.
Ah……
Lee Dojin stood at a research building window, waving down at the field. Lee Sea, who’d paused, pulled her hand from her uniform pocket. Awkwardly raising it to chin level, she hurried off toward home.
Watching Sea disappear from view, I felt like asking around—were all little sisters this cute? I didn’t know about others, but none could top mine.
Around then, Professor Seo Sang-wook, fresh from a break, called out.
“Alright, let’s push for a couple more hours.”
We’d secured most experimental data yesterday. Just fine-tuning and finishing the paper left—and according to him, no issue meeting the conference deadline.
April 8th, Thursday. After that, Phantom activities would resume. If it didn’t involve meeting Han Tae-gang, I could be purely thrilled.
Eyeing the scattered papers on the desk, Professor Seo Sang-wook muttered excitedly.
“Just announcing the paper will cause a stir, but revealing you as first author? Plenty will be shocked. I’ve seen it all along, but the doubters calling you a parachute hire—they won’t utter a word. You get what I mean?”
“Of course.”
That’s the point—prove it so thoroughly it’s undeniable. The issue would be awkwardness if it led to meetings with problematic folks or patent/business talks. But for now, time to work hard. We’d hit today’s goal, so Professor Seo Sang-wook said,
“Let’s call it and finish tomorrow.”
Leaving the lab, we parted at the building entrance.
But as I got in the car and neared the gate,
“Professor!”
Someone knocked on the window. Yoo Hae-bin.
I nodded permission, and she hopped into the passenger seat. After some chit-chat……
She suddenly asked curiously,
“By the way, Professor, mind if I ask how you got the nickname ‘nice trash’? Sea wouldn’t tell me.”
“……Sea said that?”
“No, she just said it wasn’t hers.”
……Phew, relief. If Sea saw me that way too, it’d hurt. No intention of explaining to her, though.
“Someone did. Doesn’t concern you.”
“You siblings have the exact same rejection face……”
Grumbling, Yoo Hae-bin got to the point.
“Oh, and Jin Yu-ri doesn’t seem like she needs watching?”
“Yeah?”
I’d judged the same, but her confirmation let me relax more. I’d expected a shift in how she treated me. The Perception Domination skill I’d used on her. Perfect for forcibly intervening in others’ thoughts, but not without side effects.
In short, I could make someone think or not think something, but fully blocking emotions was tough.
Impressions of my actions that day likely lingered in her mind. She couldn’t trace the cause, though, and how those feelings solidified over time? Unknown even to me.
“She looked totally smitten…… Nah, probably not, right? Not that I know what magic you pulled.”
“Probably? She just flinches when she sees me.”
One incident wouldn’t change emotions that drastically. Unless more events piled up—but why would I get tangled with her like that?
“Wanna ride since you’re here?”
“Dropping me off would just raise suspicions.”
“True.”
I drove off with the cheeky Yoo Hae-bin. Right then—
Vrrr—
“Oh? Professor, phone’s ringing.”
She handed me her phone—no, mine. I took it with my right hand, checked the caller……
“……”
“Not picking up?”
“Sigh……”
I let out a deep breath. Because of the name on the screen.
‘Han Se-ra.’