Ye-rin's Puppy-Like Charm (2)
Tuesday arrived. Normally, there were no morning classes, and with only two afternoon lectures, there was no need to rush to campus early. But because of the "date" with Ye-rin, I hurried a bit. After using wax to tidy up my hair—which had grown a little long over the two weeks of time loops—it actually made my face look even more handsome. Dressed in a dandy boyfriend look, I waited for Ye-rin in front of the PC bang.
At 8:50, when she still hadn't shown up, I headed up to the PC bang. But what do you know...? Ye-rin was already settled at a computer, clicking away.
"Oh! Hyun-su! Over here! Here!"
Damn. Is that really the ice queen Ye-rin? Why does she seem so puppy-like?
"I was waiting outside... didn't expect you to be here already."
"Huh... really? You were waiting outside?? I'm sorry."
She looked so apologetic, like she was about to burst into tears, and any irritation I might have felt just melted away.
"I brought the public certificate on a USB for the first time, so I was worried and came at 8 to set it up... Sorry."
It was a perfectly reasonable explanation. If anything, it made her seem even cuter.
"Haha, no worries. So, did the certificate register okay?"
"Yeah. Luckily, it worked fine."
Her shy smile as she said it made me reach out and stroke her hair without thinking.
"Ah?!"
"Whoa!!?? Oh. Sorry. You were just too cute."
Her face turned beet red again. Ye-rin wasn't great at hiding her expressions. How did she ever get the reputation of being an ice queen?
"Hyun-su. At 9, I'm planning to sell all the stocks I have and buy Daewon Automobile."
"All of them???"
"Yeah. All of them."
Yesterday's events must have really hit her hard. She was about to entrust me with all the money she'd saved throughout high school.
"You trust me that much?"
"Mm... I just have a good feeling about you, Hyun-su. Consider the 500,000 won I gave you as tuition. Just keep it."
I stroked her hair again.
"If that's tuition, then I'll help you out."
"Stroking my head is tuition???"
"Hahaha. Yeah. That a problem?"
"But... we're not even dating..."
She fidgeted nervously.
"What's wrong with a little head pat? It's like a teacher patting a student's head. And I'm your teacher, right?"
"True... Okay then. Hehe."
Her giggling smile nearly made me lose my mind. Then 9 o'clock hit. Daewon Automobile opened at -10%.
"Alright, I'll buy a bit after 10 when it drops more. Ye-rin, you watch your stocks until 10 and sell at the highest point."
"Got it. I'll do my best."
I booted up my computer and logged into the stock site. Daewon was fluctuating wildly, but it wasn't time yet. I looked for a game and found Half-Life, jumping into online play. Plenty of time until 10, so I took it easy.
Ye-rin glanced at my screen, puzzled to see me gaming.
How is he so sure? What if it rebounds before 10?
She seemed curious but didn't ask. She focused on selling her Hanseong Electronics and Korea Airlines stocks. Luckily, they were up a bit today, netting about 8.3 million won.
"It's been a while, but this is fun."
I'd always loved FPS games, so it felt great to dive back in. As 10 approached, I checked the stock site again. Daewon had dipped to -20%.
Perfect timing.
"Ye-rin, now! Buy everything."
"O-okay."
We started buying. Sell orders were flooding in, so we filled instantly. I grabbed 50 shares at 47,200 won each; Ye-rin got 175 shares. A flush crept into her cheeks—the thrill of her first real gamble.
"We sell again at 3."
"What? Sell today?"
"Yeah. Gotta buy something else tomorrow~"
"Tomorrow...? What tomorrow?"
"LK Chemicals. Tomorrow."
"No way... You gonna do this every day?"
"Probably buy LK tomorrow and sell the next day."
"Whoa... You're amazing."
"Eh, wait till tomorrow's results before saying that."
She looked at me with utter trust.
"Hyun-su, wanna come to the club with me tomorrow morning?"
"You joined a club?"
"Yeah, Korea University's stock club, Hanju-man. I joined because I'm into stocks."
"No way. Did you get Korea Airlines from them?"
"Yep. The president is a senior who's well-known in stocks, with connections to investment firms... He recommended it."
"Heh. Ye-rin, you should count meeting me as your lucky break."
"Huh? Why...?"
"I'll explain tomorrow. Guess I should join the stock club with you then."
With time left, we decided on a movie.
"There's a movie I wanna see."
She said it outside the theater, looking at me.
"Oh? Which one?"
Sex Is Zero.
"Cough!" I choked suddenly, coughing my lungs out.
"You okay?? Have you seen it already???"
Yeah. With my ex-you... Haha. Guess I always picked good movies back then too.
"Nah, just swallowed wrong... Haha."
She bought the tickets, popcorn, and drinks—since I was broke.
"Sorry for mooching like this all the time."
"No. You're giving me something way better."
"Haven't shown results yet...? Ye-rin, how can you trust me so much?"
"Dunno... I just do."
She propped her chin on her hand, saying it earnestly— the kind of line that drives guys wild, delivered so innocently.
"Aww, you adorable thing!"
I patted her head again. She stayed still, getting used to my touch. Throughout the movie, I played with her hair, but she watched without complaint. Even though I'd seen it before, fooling with her hair made time fly.
"Hyun-su, it was fun, right?"
"Yeah... Really fun. The actors were hilarious."
"Let's eat and head to class~ My treat, teacher~"
"Ye-rin, stop being so cute. Seriously. You're killing me."
"Ahaha. You always call me cute..."
She didn't seem to mind my teasing. Unlike before, when no one approached her, my friendly vibe was working.
We made it to our major class on time. After eating together and entering the lecture hall, a few people stared. I'd only shown up Monday, and now Tuesday with Ye-rin—people were curious.
As we chatted in our seats, someone approached.
"Hey? I'm Yoo Young-hoon. Cha Hyun-su, right?"
It was Yoo Young-hoon.
"We had gen ed together... Remember?"
"Oh, hey. Understanding Stocks, yeah?"
"Right. Good memory. You two know each other?"
Young-hoon had noticed how close we'd gotten since I arrived.
"Nah? Met yesterday for the first time."
"Really? You seem awfully tight for that."
"Do we? You look close with that girl too. Always together."
I pointed, and there was Joo Hee-rin.
"Oh, Hee-rin? We clicked on the first day of school. Same gen ed class."
Hee-rin, overhearing us talk about her, came over.
"What's this? Gossiping without me?"
"Uh... Hyun-su said you and I look close."
"Ohh~ You and Ye-rin look pretty chummy too."
Hee-rin said it with a hint of jealousy.
"Yeah. Getting there."
Before long, we were a group of four chatting in the seats. Ye-rin had reverted to full ice queen mode—no trace of the cuteness from earlier, just pure frost. She was shy around strangers, bad at small talk, but different with me.
"Hey, are you always this quiet?"
"Yeah. Pretty much."
Hee-rin tried talking to Ye-rin, but got a curt reply that shut it down.
After class, Hee-rin suggested dinner if we had time.
"Sorry, I have plans with Hyun-su tonight. See you."
Ye-rin shut it down flat and packed up. Hee-rin looked awkward now.
"Uh... yeah... no choice, huh? Bye."
With that, Hee-rin stormed off.
"Hyun-su, let's go."
Ye-rin was usually considerate, but today she showed no mercy.