Do You Want to Be Like That? (3)
Maybe it was because it was Friday, but Graford City was incredibly crowded. Everyone from the academy and the defense brigade had come out for day trips or overnight stays. On top of that, the citizens who lived in Graford and the tourists who had arrived for the weekend academy tours created a chaotic throng. An academy tour meant temporarily opening parts of the academy to outsiders over the weekend. The purpose was to promote the academy and attract talented recruits. Since the academy was located inside a military protected zone and designated as a first-grade national important facility, civilians normally could not even approach it. That exclusivity made it a highly attractive tourist product. Graford City on a Friday night was filled with people, and even more people who knew each other. I generally did not want to draw unnecessary attention, but there was nowhere else to go. As I mentioned before, because the academy was a military protected zone, there were no notable urban areas nearby except for Graford City itself. Traveling to the nearest other city from Graford took far too long. Of course, Chae Ga-yun might have wanted a situation where we went so far that we had no choice but to stay overnight, but I did not. After all, this meal was simply a token of appreciation for all her help so far.
I drove slowly, searching for a parking spot, and saw that the area in front of the spicy stir-fried octopus restaurant was swarming with people waiting in line. It was a famous place, and despite being an old establishment, they had never expanded. How were we supposed to get in there... For now, I parked the car a little farther down the street and walked toward the restaurant with Chae Ga-yun.
"So that son of a— Ah, sorry. What the administrative director said was..."
Chae Ga-yun chattered nonstop beside me. Her mouth had not stopped once since we left the academy's main gate. Anyone watching would think she was being ostracized in the administrative office and could not utter a single word. Well, she was being ostracized, in a sense. It was not exactly ostracism, but the staff were so scared of her that no one dared speak to the manager. Chae Ga-yun, with her foul mouth and fierce personality, had earned the nickname "Pet." Surprisingly, it was a rather cute nickname, and there was a reason for it. She rejected any half-assed documents outright. There were various versions: "unvaccinated," "rabid," and "with a rag in her mouth." From the subordinates' perspective it was hell, but Chae Ga-yun's work style was incredibly beneficial to the academy. After all, the minor errors that commonly occurred in administrative offices never happened at ours. That was probably how she had risen to administrative manager, right below the director, at such a young age. She was worn out from being buried in work and overtime every day, but in truth, Chae Ga-yun was one of the academy's true powers behind the throne.
"Huh? There are so many people? Looks like we'll have to wait over an hour?" Chae Ga-yun said in surprise when she saw the long line at the spicy stir-fried octopus restaurant.
"Just wait a moment. Academy professors get special seating here."
Having been here twice before, I walked past the crowd and spoke to a staff member inside.
"Oh my, Professor Kyo! Please come in!"
The staff member who recognized my face grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. Who would have thought I would live to see the day I was treated like a regular at a restaurant serving such spicy food. I even had a loyalty card in the inner pocket of my coat right now. Ten stamps earned a free egg custard with one order of spicy stir-fried octopus. When she saw we could skip the line and enter immediately, Chae Ga-yun was so delighted she did not know what to do with herself.
"This makes it seem like you reserved a table in advance just for me, Professor Kyo~"
"They do not take reservations here."
"Ah, yes... I just meant it feels that way..."
Once seated, Chae Ga-yun ordered three servings of spicy stir-fried octopus and two bottles of soju.
"Professor Kyo, you'll have the egg custard and corn cheese added, right?"
"Haha... yes."
I answered the staff member's friendly question with a touch of embarrassment.
"Haa... The smell is absolutely incredible... My mouth is watering..."
Chae Ga-yun took off her coat, hung it on the back of her chair, and smacked her lips. Wearing a sleeveless turtleneck with her hair down, she looked quite different from her usual appearance in the administrative office. Could a person change that much? I had thought she was a dry, plain broom like me, but now I saw she was actually a high-end reed broom.
"By the way, do you come here often?"
"I've been here twice."
"Do you like spicy food?"
"Not particularly... I came once with the other professors and once with my advisory students."
"Advisory students? You don't mean Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha, do you?" Chae Ga-yun rounded her mouth in surprise.
"Does a girl like Yoo Hee-won even come to places like this? From what I've heard, I thought she'd only look at fine dining."
"Hee-won was the one who suggested it first. She said she never gets the chance to eat this kind of food at home."
"Hehe... I see. She's not just a gold spoon but a real diamond spoon. She must live in a completely different world."
"Well... I'm not sure. She never shows off her wealth, so I don't really feel it."
It was true. Yoo Hee-won had the typical personality one would expect from a rich family's only daughter, but aside from that she did not brag about money. If I had not known her background, I would have seen her only as an ill-mannered, poorly raised honor student with bad character education.
When the side dishes arrived along with the soju, Chae Ga-yun picked up the bottle and did something strange. She shook it and tapped the bottom with her elbow... What on earth was she doing?
"This makes it taste better."
"Does it? I've never seen that before."
Chae Ga-yun placed a soju glass in front of me and filled it.
"I'm sorry, but I do not drink. There's driving to consider, and I do not drink in the first place."
"Ehh...? If you're not going to drink, why did you come here? We could've just gone to Kimbap Heaven."
"That's true, but... there are no designated drivers available to the academy, so I'll just have a Coke Peace."
"Are you trying to get me drunk alone so you can do something to me? Hehe."
After throwing out the joke, Chae Ga-yun smiled brightly as she filled her own glass. She had not even had a drink yet, but she already looked extremely happy.
"Then how about this, Professor Kyo? First, we drink."
"Yes."
"Then we go to a motel."
"And then?"
"You sleep on the floor, and I sleep on the bed?"
"It seems like a much better choice to drink a delicious Coke Peace and sleep in a proper bed rather than drink alcohol that does not agree with me and sleep on the floor."
"Haa... Then I guess we have no choice but to sleep in the bed together..."
Chae Ga-yun exaggeratedly massaged her forehead as she spoke, then let out a small laugh as if her own words were funny. She was testing the waters—if it worked, great; if blocked, pass it off as a joke. For some reason it seemed only women with strong personalities kept approaching me. It was a bit much for an introvert like me. Someone might call it spoiled to push away women who approached so blatantly. However, I felt no particular emotions even when looking at Professor Jin Se-yeong or at Chae Ga-yun exposing her armpits while pretending to tie her hair in front of me. That included sexual desire. It was all because of the Mental Barrier that operated as a passive. It always kept me calm and cool-headed, but as a side effect it made it difficult to feel intense emotions. Of course I was not completely emotionless and could feel basic joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, but not to the point where those emotions drove me to act.
Pretending not to notice Chae Ga-yun blushing in embarrassment at her own bold move, I caught a passing staff member.
"Excuse me. Could you bring the Coke Peace first? We need to do a toast."
In the meantime, Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha, who had arrived in Graford, were wandering the bustling streets in their academy gym uniforms.
"Ah... My legs hurt..." Han Min-ha, with her hair completely disheveled, muttered as she trudged after Yoo Hee-won.
After jumping over the academy wall, Yoo Hee-won had immediately flown at ultra-low altitude, practically skimming the ground. It was to avoid detection by the defense brigade's air defense network since it was unauthorized flight. As a result, the flight had turned into an extremely precarious acrobatic maneuver, and as soon as they landed on the outskirts of Graford, Han Min-ha had thrown up as if she were about to expel even what she had eaten for breakfast. Unlike Han Min-ha, who had been battered by the wind during flight and even vomited, ending up looking like a complete mess, Yoo Hee-won looked perfectly neat. Beyond neat, she was brilliantly shining under the neon lights of the bustling street. Even in a gym uniform she was so beautiful that every passerby turned their head at least once.
"She's really pretty. Is she an academy student?"
"Why is she here at this hour? And dressed like that?"
Some of the academy staff even recognized her.
"Isn't that Yoo Hee-won?"
"Huh? It really is?"
Paying no attention to such gazes, Yoo Hee-won spat out in an irritated tone, as if chewing the words.
"Where the hell is this guy?!"
"Hee-won... How are we supposed to find the professor in a crowded place like this? And he might have gone to another city."
"It's frustrating. If he was going to another city, he would've left much earlier. At that time, from the main gate, where else could he go but here?"
"That's true, but... If he was planning to stay out overnight... Hup...!" Han Min-ha hurriedly covered her mouth.
Going out alone with Chae Ga-yun and staying overnight. That was practically pressing Yoo Hee-won's berserk button. Fortunately, because of the loud music on the street, it seemed Yoo Hee-won had not heard it.
"Sigh... Where could he be? He hates spicy food so much that he probably didn't go to the spicy stir-fried octopus place... If it's somewhere for just the two of them, it would probably be quiet..."
"But what exactly are you going to do after finding the professor?"
"I'm not going to do anything! I just want to see what he's doing!"
"I don't see how that's any different... Ah? Wait a minute! Hee-won!" Han Min-ha urgently grabbed Yoo Hee-won's sleeve.
Thinking she might have found Professor Kyo, Yoo Hee-won whipped her head around.
"Where? Where?"
"Can't we get one hot dog before we go? I didn't eat dinner and I'm really hungry. I feel like I'm going to collapse..." Han Min-ha swallowed her saliva while pointing at a stall selling hot dogs and fried food.
"I didn't bring my wallet. And if you're hungry, you can just break down the fat lumps on your chest!"
"Ah... No money..."
In the end, Han Min-ha had to turn away from the stall and follow Yoo Hee-won.
"Did you two come alone?"
"Shut the fuck up and get lost. Don't touch an underage girl and end up in cuffs."
Yoo Hee-won fiercely drove away the men who tried to talk to them, then suddenly stopped and rubbed her chin.
"Hey, Han Min-ha."
"Yeah?"
"I've been thinking, we should check out that spicy stir-fried octopus place once."
"But the professor doesn't like spicy food."
"No. He's the meticulous type, so he might have gone there to get his loyalty card stamped. He could be mixing rice with egg custard there right now."
"You think? He might do that."
Yoo Hee-won headed toward the spicy stir-fried octopus restaurant with quick steps.
"Wait for me...!"
When her pace changed to a jog, Han Min-ha hurriedly started running to catch up with Yoo Hee-won.
A short while later, the two academy students were able to reach a spot where they could see the sign for the problematic spicy stir-fried octopus restaurant.
"There are so many people, seriously." Han Min-ha marveled at the people still standing in a long line.
Even though they had run quite a long distance, Han Min-ha was not panting or drenched in sweat and crawling on all fours. Yoo Hee-won took note of that small change.
"Let's go. If Professor Kyo and the administrative manager are in there..."
"If they are...?"
"If they are, then they are. Let's go."
Just as she was about to take a step, Yoo Hee-won suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and stopped in her tracks. Han Min-ha, who had bumped into Yoo Hee-won's back, stepped back and asked.
"What's wrong?"
Ignoring the question, Yoo Hee-won quickly scanned the surroundings with eyes like a venomous snake.
"What was that just now?"
"What is it, Hee-won? You're scaring me when you open your eyes like that..."
"Shut up for a second."
A faint golden aura began to rise from Yoo Hee-won's body.