The Unstoppable Bobim Bug (2)
After finishing dinner with Professor Kyo, the students all returned to the dormitory. Since the teams had changed, Song Do-yun’s room had been moved right next to Han Min-ha’s, so the three of them walked together down the second-floor hallway, said their goodbyes at the end, and split up.
Song Do-yun slipped into her room without a word. Han Min-ha watched Yoo Hee-won go inside before preparing to enter her own. Just as Yoo Hee-won was opening her door, she glanced at Song Do-yun’s closed one and spoke quietly.
“It’s Friday. Movie?”
“Huh? Ah? Umm… I have something urgent to do today….”
When Han Min-ha hesitated, Yoo Hee-won frowned and growled under her breath. “What could you possibly have to rush off and do on a Friday night after stuffing your face?!”
“No, no. It’s just… I want to sleep early today….”
“You said you had something urgent, but now you’re going to bed early?”
Han Min-ha’s thoughtless excuses had tangled themselves in knots. She couldn’t say a word and simply broke into a cold sweat.
“Shut it. Change your clothes and get over here right now.”
“Ah, um… Then should Do-yun come too….”
“Ugh!”
Han Min-ha had no choice but to obey. When she changed into comfortable clothes and stepped into the room, Yoo Hee-won had already hooked her laptop up to the large monitor and was scrolling through files.
“What are we watching?”
“Anything.”
Han Min-ha settled comfortably on the bed and stared at the screen. Yoo Hee-won was just about to open X-Plus.
“Don’t people usually watch X-Plus on their phones? You can use a laptop for it too?”
That was when Han Min-ha noticed a highly suspicious folder on the desktop. Its title read Kyo Suhyeon (October 2nd).
Kyo Suhyeon (October 2nd)
October 2nd was literally yesterday…? What on earth was that folder?
She tried to get a better look, but Yoo Hee-won launched X-Plus and the desktop vanished behind the player window. If she asked about it, Hee-won would definitely get angry…. Better to let it go. After she’d gone out of her way to invite her over and even show a movie, there was no need to sour the mood. It was probably just files where she’d written down Professor Kyo’s guidance notes. As expected of the top student—she had secrets no one else knew. She’d have to ask to see them later. Hehe.
Her thoughts naturally drifted toward the professor again, and Han Min-ha’s thighs began to tingle once more. She kept remembering the way he had savored the marinated pork wrap after she had sucked the seasoning off it with her own mouth.
In truth, the “urgent matter” she had mentioned to Yoo Hee-won was exactly that. The feeling that kept setting her body on fire needed to be dealt with. But Yoo Hee-won had been so forceful that she had come over without properly relieving it. What was she supposed to do now….
“Want to watch this?”
“Yeah. Looks fun.”
Han Min-ha answered distractedly. Yoo Hee-won started the movie, killed the lights, brought over drinks and snacks, and sat beside her.
“You must really like movies. You’ve got a home theater at your house, don’t you?”
“It’s all right, I guess?”
The movie was genuinely entertaining. Yet Han Min-ha couldn’t focus on it at all. Her body, once ignited, refused to cool down.
“I’m cold. I’ll pull up the blanket.”
Han Min-ha drew the blanket up to her waist and slipped her hand between her thighs.
“Mmm…”
“What are you doing? Why are you waving your arm around like that?”
“Huh? Ah? N-no, it’s nothing. It’s itchy, so I’m scratching. I think a mosquito… bit me…. Autumn mosquitoes are pretty vicious, you know….”
Han Min-ha smiled like an idiot and rattled off every excuse she could think of.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
So Han Min-ha decided to move only her fingers, carefully and quietly.
“Haa… mm… Professor…”
“Ugh, you’re so loud!”
“S-sorry.”
In the end, Han Min-ha had to grit her teeth and endure until the movie finished.
When it ended, she ignored Yoo Hee-won’s invitation to stay longer, hurried back to her own room, and locked the door. Her mind was so frantic she didn’t even reach the bed. Leaning against the door, she frantically did what she hadn’t been able to do properly earlier while worrying about being overheard. ‘Scratching the mosquito bite.’
“Hik…! Professor…!”
Han Min-ha bit down on her forearm and whimpered.
But she had no idea that for the entire two hours the movie had played, Song Do-yun in the next room had kept her ear pressed tightly to the wall, listening.
Oblivious to that fact, Han Min-ha thoroughly “scratched the mosquito bite” until she was satisfied, then let out a long sigh and slid to the floor.
Haah, this is a big problem…. What if I keep thinking about Professor even on the weekends…? Hmm. What am I supposed to do? There’s nothing to do. It can’t be helped. The professor is simply too wonderful, so it’s his fault for being so attractive. If he were any less cool, a student wouldn’t be doing these bad things. A professor who drives his student to such improper behavior should have his homeroom privileges revoked! When I graduate, Professor, you should quit teaching right away. If I become a hero, I can support you all by myself, you know? Hehehe.
It was exactly like a silly adolescent girl secretly writing erotic fanfiction starring her favorite idol. Lost in her own delusions, Han Min-ha grinned foolishly to herself, and Song Do-yun caught every last sound of that laughter.
When I saw the students gathered at the training ground, I was slightly surprised. Dark circles had settled heavily beneath both Song Do-yun’s and Han Min-ha’s eyes.
“You two. Did you take part-time jobs over the weekend?”
“No…. We’re just a little tired….”
Han Min-ha moved her parched lips with obvious effort.
“What about you, Student Song Do-yun?”
“Same here.”
It was the weekend and their rooms were adjacent by team—perhaps they had stayed up all night playing together? Still, the relationship between Song Do-yun and the other two couldn’t have improved that much yet.
“Professor. Those two didn’t leave their rooms once all weekend. They didn’t even eat. I have no idea what they were doing in there,” Yoo Hee-won grumbled, arms crossed and clearly displeased.
“No matter how much it is the weekend, staying up too late is bad for your health. Self-management is an absolute necessity for heroes.”
“Understood, Professor. I’m sorry.”
“Good. Then let’s begin.”
Because Song Do-yun had newly joined the team, we would start from the beginning today and focus on building proper coordination. Han Min-ha’s aura charge, Yoo Hee-won’s lethal ray, and Song Do-yun’s aerodynamics could form an excellent combination if used correctly. To achieve that, they first needed to understand one another’s styles perfectly and practice maneuvering so their paths never crossed.
In cooperative combat, formation and movement were the first and last considerations. No matter how outstanding an individual’s ability, tangled paths could lead to the catastrophe of firing a technique into an ally’s back.
I sat the children down and gave a brief explanation of the maneuvering patterns we would learn today.
“So when an attack comes from this direction, numbers one and two move here, then number three follows up and… Student Song Do-yun?”
“Yes, Professor.”
“During theory lectures, you look at the professor, not your teammates. You can focus on your teammates’ movements during practicals.”
“I’m sorry, Professor.”
Song Do-yun turned her gaze away from Han Min-ha and answered coldly. Han Min-ha tilted her head at her, while Yoo Hee-won watched the pair with a wicked little smile.
Once the theory lecture ended, they moved on to full-scale practice. Han Min-ha firmly adjusted the goggles she wore instead of glasses and called out.
“I’m ready, Professor!”
Watching her, I felt a strange emotion I couldn’t quite name. At the start of the first semester, Han Min-ha had been a gloomy, silent girl who drifted about like a shadow. When had she become so bright? I had no particular feelings about becoming an academy professor, but in this moment I felt a small sense of fulfillment.
“Then let’s begin.”
The three children in gray practice suits activated their auras at once and rose into the air. The moment they passed the standard altitude after shooting vertically above the training ground, they began the complex maneuvers I had taught them. I continued giving instructions through the loudspeaker.
“Student Min-ha, stay left-rear of Student Hee-won. Match altitude. Student Song Do-yun, take the rear. Maintain that formation and make a wide circuit around the training ground.”
Trailing faint purple, golden, and navy auras, the students flew along the perimeter exactly as instructed.
“Good spacing. Now transition to attack formation. Both wings slow down and spread outward. No, Student Song Do-yun. Not that direction.”
Song Do-yun, who had been flying smoothly, suddenly lost her bearings and collided with Han Min-ha.
“Ah, sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Song Do-yun, who had unintentionally wrapped her arms around Han Min-ha’s waist, apologized. Han Min-ha smiled and returned to formation.
“Song Do-yun, can’t you focus properly?” Yoo Hee-won snapped.
“Let’s try again. Wide turn. Good. Now attack formation. Ah, careful.”
Once again Song Do-yun failed to find her path and dove at Han Min-ha from behind.
“Sorry. I misjudged the direction again.”
“Um, it’s fine. Everyone makes mistakes…. But could you move your hand…?”
Han Min-ha pushed away the hand that had slipped from behind, under her arm, and grabbed her chest, her face twisting in embarrassment.