Saeteo Day
The recreation for the Business Administration Department kicked off at three in the afternoon inside the auditorium. Once again, Choi Seungah took the stage as MC. Her voice carried the bright, polished energy of a professional host, smooth and engaging. As the stage lights clicked on one by one, bathing her in their glow, every eye in the audience locked onto her. Standing in front of more than a hundred people like that would crush most with pressure, but she seemed born for it. Instead of shrinking, she flashed an even brighter smile, clearly drinking in the attention.
“This segment is all about showing off your overflowing talent and charm, everyone! Points are on the line for each event, plus plenty of great prizes, so please jump in and participate! Sound good?”
“Yeees~!”
The freshmen roared with enthusiasm, completely captivated by her stage presence. She grinned like someone already eyeing the president position, waved cheerfully, and strolled back to the MC spot.
The first event was singing, followed by dancing. The judging was simple: the loudest cheers and applause decided first, second, and third place. If the volume seemed too close to call, Choi Seungah would just pick based on her own judgment. It was a sloppy system, but none of the students complained.
Everyone else was having a blast, screaming their lungs out for their own groups. Our group, however, felt like a funeral.
“Anyone confident in singing or dancing? It’s fine if you lose. You just have to go up there.”
Not a single one of the twelve people volunteered. Usually some guy would step up just to take one for the team, but the boys in our group were oddly timid. None of them made a move.
Did they deliberately put us together like this?
It had to be a special group meant to protect Yoo Soyeon. Not only was she stunning, but the other girls were incredibly attractive too. They must have gathered every girl who might become a target for harassment into one team. On the flip side, they’d only picked quiet, harmless-looking guys to balance it out.
The enemy inside is always more dangerous than the one outside.
It was honestly impressive how perfectly they’d built the groups just from looking at photos. But watching our lead in points slowly disappear made my stomach twist. We’d earned a hundred points for taking first in the group intro, yet other teams were racking up twenty or thirty points per event. We’d already lost the top spot. If we kept sitting on our hands, last place was inevitable. I could live without first, but last place was completely unacceptable.
By the time the fourth event—a comedy skit—wrapped up, the fifth was about to begin. I was ready to force someone onstage if I had to. I waited for Choi Seungah to announce it.
“Okay, this is the final event! To close things out, let’s crown our department’s Mr. and Miss, shall we? Each group, send up your strongest guy and the one most confident in their looks! First place gets a massive hundred points plus a full bottle of liquor!”
It was the highest-stakes event yet, clearly designed as a last chance to turn everything around. The liquor alone looked like it cost around a hundred thousand won. There was no way we could lose this one. With that mindset, I scanned our group members.
“First, anyone confident about your appearance?”
The moment the words left my mouth, every single pair of eyes—guys and girls alike—swiveled toward Yoo Soyeon. Even in plain training clothes, she stood out like a beacon. Just standing there, she looked like she’d stepped out of a fashion magazine. Her arms and legs were elegantly long and slender like a model’s, and her impressive height made her seem far more mature and refined than the baby-chick-yellow Park Naeun beside her. In terms of pure looks, she was easily the top freshman—maybe even among the entire student body. Her only real flaws were that blank expression and lack of energy, but she could probably win just by standing there like a beautiful statue.
“What do you think, Soyeon? Want to give it a shot?”
“Me?”
Her face barely changed, making it impossible to tell if she was interested or not. I was about to try persuading her when Park Naeun jumped in first, practically bouncing.
“Yeah, yeah! Soyeon, if you go up it’s basically guaranteed first place!”
“You think so?”
“Totally!”
Unlike the way she acted with me, Yoo Soyeon offered a small smile once she finished talking with Park Naeun. Despite that elegant, somewhat aloof appearance, she actually seemed quite shy.
“All right, senior. I’ll do it.”
“Perfect. So the girl side is settled.”
With Yoo Soyeon’s agreement, I nearly cheered out loud. The girls’ victory was basically locked in.
The problem is the guy.
When I glanced at the boys, they all suddenly found the floor fascinating. Going onstage with Yoo Soyeon was an honor any guy would kill for, yet our group stayed dead silent. I singled out Park Jundong, the one who’d been bragging about his workouts earlier.
“Jundong, you look like you’ve been hitting the gym. Want to go up?”
“No way. What gym? I’ve never worked out in my life.”
He turned bright red, clearly embarrassed about showing off his body to me earlier, and refused with everything he had. I asked the other guys too, but they all shook their heads—whether from shyness or because they didn’t want to claim they were strong in front of me.
“Ugh, you guys are all so spineless.”
One of the girls watching finally burst out in frustration. When nobody stepped forward even then, Lee Yujin pointed straight at me.
“If no one else will, shouldn’t senior just do it?”
“Me?”
“Yeah! Oppa’s super strong!”
Park Naeun, who had seen my arm-wrestling performance, immediately backed her up. Technically there was no rule against upperclassmen joining, but since this was meant for freshmen, I knew Choi Seungah would slap on every penalty she could think of to make things harder. Still, for a pure strength event, I was confident I could overcome anything she threw at me. Just to be sure, I asked the guys one last time.
“Nobody wants to go? For real?”
“Nope. I think it’d be best if senior went.”
“Yeah, hyung would crush it.”
Now that the opportunity was there, the guys suddenly couldn’t stop praising me. The girls gave them looks of pure disgust. Every year a few couples formed from people getting close in the same Saeteo group, but it looked like our group was doomed. No department couples were coming out of this one.
I turned to Yoo Soyeon.
“Is it okay to go up with me—a senior—instead of someone from your year?”
“Yes, it’s fine, senior.”
Her tone suggested she genuinely didn’t care who partnered with her. I couldn’t tell whether she meant it or was just being polite. She really was the hard-to-get-close-to type. I still had no idea how she and Park Naeun had become friends so quickly.
Guess I’ll just have to take it slow and build things up over time.
In the end, our group decided on me and Yoo Soyeon.
* * *
Two students from each of the ten groups—twenty people total—climbed onto the stage. The earlier events had felt like open individual performances, but this time every group sent exactly two, so each pair gave a quick group introduction.
Groups one through nine were all pretty ordinary. The only odd one was group nine beside us, who had sent two girls instead of a mixed pair. Two guys would’ve been kicked off immediately, but two girls didn’t seem to bother anyone. Choi Seungah even cheered them on with an enthusiastic “Fighting!”
Then it was our turn. Choi Seungah walked right up to me.
“All right, let’s see what the next group has to offer! It’s group ten, the fucking handsomes!”
“Hey!”
Her crisp pronunciation sent ripples of laughter through the audience.
“Looks like we’ve got a beauty-and-the-beast concept going on here, huh? Let’s start with the beauty’s name.”
“Hello. I’m Yoo Soyeon.”
Her captivating voice filled the entire auditorium. The second it rang out, every male student erupted into thunderous applause. She’d only said hello, yet the atmosphere felt like an idol concert. The girls on stage—especially the other contestants—looked visibly annoyed. They were probably regretting coming up at all now that they knew a cheat character like her existed.
Yoo Soyeon wasn’t used to this kind of heated attention. Her pale cheeks flushed slightly.
“Wow, what an incredible reaction! Now let’s meet our beast. Excuse me, but you look way too mature to be a freshman. Are you sure you’re a new student?”
“...I’m Kim Hyunjin, class of 2019.”
She knew exactly who I was but still teased me with that question.
“Whoa, a senior barging into the freshmen event without reading the room? You didn’t force your way up here just because you wanted to appear with Yoo Soyeon, did you? Anyone in group ten with complaints, please wave a carrot!”
“Boo!”
“Get off the stage!”
Our group stayed quiet, but the guys from other groups hurled jeers at me. Suddenly I’d become the creepy senior hitting on a freshman. I shot back defensively.
“I came up because I’m confident in my strength.”
“Ooh, how manly. Then a penalty shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”
“No problem at all.”
“Excellent. Our beast, I hope you steel yourself for that penalty. That concludes group ten’s interview. Everyone, give them a round of applause!”
The applause was noticeably weaker than what Yoo Soyeon had received. Still, I took comfort in hearing Park Naeun’s loud “Oppa, fighting!” from our group.
“The rules are simple. Men, get into push-up position. Women, climb on top. The pair that lasts the longest wins. If your posture breaks or the woman’s feet touch the floor, you’re disqualified. Please prepare carefully!”
Luckily it was a pure test of strength and endurance—no technique required. Even with a penalty like tying an arm or leg, I was sure I could win.
I dropped into push-up stance. Yoo Soyeon carefully settled her hips near my waist, her soft rear and thighs pressing gently against me.
“Am I too heavy?”
“You’re lighter than I expected.”
Despite looking over 165 centimeters tall, she was surprisingly light.
“If I’d known it would be like this, I should’ve let Naeun do it instead.”
The event itself had nothing to do with appearance. It felt like they’d just thrown the “prettier girl means stronger guy” idea together without much thought.
“To me you and Naeun are the same, so don’t worry about it. I’ll get us first place.”
“Yes, senior.”
A faint smile bloomed across her normally expressionless face. It was the kind of smile that made hearts skip a beat.
Every group finished preparing. Once all the girls were properly seated on the guys’ backs, Choi Seungah grabbed the mic again.
“Everyone ready? Then we’ll beeeeegin~!”