A few days have passed.
There's still no change in my school life.
Only thing different is… I guess I nod at those soccer dudes now?
Played soccer with them once and it's awkward as hell to approach them or for them to approach me.
Maybe if I kept playing, we'd get closer, but I don't really wanna.
So, I'm still living that loner life.
"Central clubs are recruiting! Come listen!"
Starting yesterday or so, they set up booths on the way to the lecture halls.
Central clubs are recruiting freshmen!
I heard other clubs are starting to recruit next week… kinda curious.
If I join, maybe I can escape the loner life?
'Like hell...'
Can't even join the department club 'cause I'm a pussy.
I'm kinda scared.
If I don't find a club now, I'll be a loner for all 4 years… right?
It'd be nice to have a cozy department room or a club room.
But not too many people.
Like a lounge where I can just chill and lie down.
...Like that'd ever happen.
My biggest stress right now is having nowhere to go during breaks.
That's the biggest difference from high school, isn't it?
You can't just camp out in the lecture hall in college.
Usually, there are other classes so you have to leave.
Even if I find an empty classroom, it feels weird.
I just end up staring at my phone and my soul leaks out, like 'What the fuck am I doing here?'
If I lived nearby, I could go home and rest.
"Ugh..."
Whatever.
Guess this is how it is.
Lee Juha still hasn't contacted me.
She said she'd let me know when it's done… but it's not like it's easy to edit.
Lee Juha editing… hmmm… I don't think she can do that shit.
I have a feeling she outsourced it to someone.
Don't tell me she outsourced her fucking scene to someone else? Even for a dumbass…
Whatever, that's that. Where do I go now?
Another three-hour break. Can't be bothered to go to the PC bang anymore.
Should I check out a club?
'KakaoTalk!'
Huh? What the hell.
A sense of dread washed over me.
No one should be texting me. I have a feeling it's one of those bullies.
[Yoo Inha: Hey]
[Yoo Inha: Hey, you]
...Creepy. Well, who else would text me.
There are two bullies who ended up at the same college as me.
One of them is Yoo Inha.
How do I describe her personality?
In a way, she's the most normal, I guess.
Rude, judgmental, and flips her shit when provoked?
But there are so many other crazy bitches that she seems normal for a bully.
But even if her personality is average, her brain isn't.
She had weird curiosities.
Like how long a mosquito would live if you removed its stinger.
Or if getting hit increases your tolerance and how far it goes.
Or how teachers would react if she suddenly stood up in class and just stared blankly.
I can think of dozens just off the top of my head.
Sometimes she'd ask stupid shit like how long a human can fly by flapping their arms…
Or make a scene trying to catch a hornet in the classroom…
That's just the cute stuff.
The most dangerous was when she got obsessed with sexual curiosity.
Everyone thought she was nuts when she tried to grope her bully friends' boobs, asking if they tasted different.
She once did 100 squats to see how big her ass could get and ended up in the hospital with a dislocated hip.
At least she only focused on girls at first.
The crisis came when she started wondering about the male body.
Specifically, what a guy's thing was like.
She was friends with the male bullies, but she probably couldn't ask them to whip it out.
Then she must have realized I was there.
I still remember Yoo Inha's smirk.
Do guy's boobs taste similar? Are guy's nipples sensitive?
How big can a guy's thing get? If you pull it, can it stretch to 30cm?
If you keep touching it, will it stay hard for 24 hours?
I ran like hell.
Just once! Let me touch it just once!
At first, she chased me aggressively, but then she got tired and stopped.
Fuck… I just wanted to touch it, why's he playing hard to
get?
Ass
Asshole… it's not like he wouldn't enjoy it…
She kept muttering with that intense look in her eyes. I couldn't take it anymore.
If I'd held out, Lee Juha would've probably ripped my pants off yelling, 'It's not gonna wear off, just show her!'
Better to cooperate than face humiliation.
One-on-one private time… I remember briefly cooperating.
This is still a secret from the other girls.
Or maybe she blabbed behind my back, fuck.
Was it good?
Not really.
At first, I thought it might be, but this bitch's curiosity kept getting more dangerous…
Whenever it got too risky, I'd run away again.
I guess her basic curiosity was satisfied, 'cause she didn't ask for it after that.
[Yoo Inha: Yo, ignoring me?]
Back to reality.
Thinking about it gives me chills.
If she finds out about the video with Lee Juha… what crazy shit will she think of?
Better keep it hidden.
[Uh, what?]
I stopped walking and replied first.
But she hasn't messaged me once since college started.
Somehow, I don't think it's about her weird curiosities.
Something… hmmm… I have a feeling.
[Yoo Inha: lol You're taking Intro to General Studies, right?]
Shit, I knew it.
She's probably asking about the assignment.
Even if we're in different majors, there are general core classes we have to take.
Especially this 4-credit one that only meets for 2.5 hours, called 'Intro to General Studies'.
I heard some people got Thursday-Friday breaks thanks to this class.
But the problem is the fuckton of assignments. Especially the math and physics ones that make your hair fall out.
I barely understood the math and physics, but there were tons of assignments.
Of course, I managed to find the answer keys after a lot of Googling.
But some didn't have solutions, so I had to search English websites too…
If I couldn't find them, I used math question apps or Q&A sites. Fuck, did I come here to study or Google shit?…
[Yeah, why?]
[Yoo Inha: Did you do the assignment? lol]
Shit, she doesn't usually add 'lol'.
Yoo Inha probably couldn't even Google shit, so she probably didn't do a single problem.
But she can't skip it or her grades will tank.
But she'll probably bomb the tests anyway, so what's the point of doing the assignments?
If I said that, I'd get my ass kicked.
[Yeah, wanna see it?]
Might as well offer to show her.
She replied in one second.
[Yoo Inha: Yessss where where where!]
[Engineering building lounge, 5th floor.]
[Yoo Inha: omw.]
Well, showing one person shouldn't be a problem…
It's a general class with a shit ton of students, so they probably have different graders.
Maybe it's fine as long as I don't copy 100%.
I sat in the lounge and waited for Yoo Inha.
But maybe it's a good thing?
I didn't have anything to do, so at least time will pass…
"Hey, Lee Junhyung!"
Not long after, Yoo Inha walked up with a bright smile.
I was worried she'd call me 'nerd' or 'errand boy', but thankfully she didn't.
Yoo Inha was wearing a white tee, jeans, and a department jacket.
For some reason, I felt intimidated by her.
She's definitely a social butterfly. Probably has tons of friends.
It's not just the fashion. Her face, hairstyle, just the overall vibe screams popular.
Even if she had no friends, she'd still be popular. At least she's not a loser. That's what matters.
Seeing myself in comparison made me feel even smaller.
"Damn, your fashion is so nerdy. What are we gonna do with you?"
Fuck, she starts with insults. I know that, you bitch!
Ignoring my sullen look, Yoo Inha sat down in front of me, laughing.
"How much of the assignment did you do? Half?"
"All of it."
My answer made her eyes widen.
Then she slapped my arm and went, "
contiune
"Oooh!"
"Wow, Lee Junhyung. You're actually useful for something. Found your talent, huh?"
Is that a compliment or an insult?
I sighed inwardly and took out my assignment from my bag.
Fuck, even in college, I'm still an errand boy.
"O
ooooh!"
Yoo Inha exclaimed, grabbing the assignment.
She flipped through the pages with a look of wonder, muttering,
"Wow, amazing. Amazing."
What, you found some ancient artifact?
Yoo Inha immediately took out her notebook, ready to copy.
"Dude, with you around, I don't have to worry about assignments! Sweet!"
What the fuck?!
Well, she's not wrong, but you don't usually say that out loud, do you?
"Oops."
She realized she'd slipped up and gave an awkward laugh.
Well, she's getting better.
Back in high school, she would've said, "What the fuck! Can't you just show me? So fucking smug."
But now, I guess she knows she can't be as forceful… She's a bit different.
"Just kidding. Just kidding.
I'll send you a gift card. Do you go to Star-whatchamacallit?"
What the hell? Is she trying to get away with a coffee?
"...I'll send you chicken. What kind do you like?"
"BHC." (Korean fried chicken franchise)
"Alright, alright. I'll send you that."
Yoo Inha started copying my assignment with a focused expression.
Her handwriting is so messy…
"You know you can't copy it exactly, right? Gotta change it up a bit."
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry."
Yeah, right, like she won't just copy it word for word.
Whatever, there are so many people, they probably won't check each one. I gave up and turned on my phone.
Scribble scribble.
Scribble.
The quiet sounds of copying and occasional erasing filled the air.
Meanwhile, it was getting dark outside.
It wasn't so bad, though. Better than playing games alone at the PC bang. At least this way I'm killing time.
It's the worst when I'm just standing around wondering where to go.
"Ugh… there's so much."
Yoo Inha groaned.
There is a lot. And they assigned it all at once, so it's even worse. But it counts more than the midterm, so we have to do it.
"Just take it with you and copy the rest."
"Should I?"
Yoo Inha nodded and started packing up my assignment.
…She won't lose it, right? If she does, I'm gonna kick her ass! …Though I'm not sure if I can.
"Ugh, I'm tired!"
Yoo Inha stretched and stood up.
The timing was a bit awkward. About 30 minutes until the evening class.
"Hey, I'll buy you coffee. Let's go!"
"I don't drink coffee."
"You can drink iced tea, dumbass."
"Oh..."
Right.
I awkwardly packed my bag and followed Yoo Inha.
The sunset was painting the sky. It was already pretty dark, and the streetlights were starting to come on.
Walking next to Yoo Inha felt strange.
It's different from high school.
Of course, she probably isn't thinking anything.
'What's with this loser?'
The guys passing by gave us various looks.
Clearly, I'm a loser and she's popular. What the fuck is this guy?
I couldn't stand up straight. It's obvious who the loser and popular one is.
"Are there any cute guys in your department?"
Yoo Inha asked curiously as we walked towards the coffee shop.
Cute guys?
Hmm… I think there are quite a few. I saw some during the soccer game. For an engineering department, there seem to be a lot of good-looking guys.
"I guess there are some."
"Are you friends with them?"
"Not really."
"Useless."
Fuck, you just said I was useful!
She hasn't broken her habit of saying whatever the hell she wants.
"Hey, try to hook some up. Let's do a group blind date."
That's unexpected. I thought she'd be going on tons of dates.
Well, I guess it's still early in the semester.
"3 on 3 would be perfect. I'll bring two, you bring two."
"I… I don't know…"
"Yeah, you'd probably kill the mood."
…Fuck. It's true, so I can't even argue.
Yoo Inha pursed her lips, stroking her chin.
"But I can just bring someone like you, right? You two can hit it off. We can be with our own people. You with yours."
"Um..."
I'm basically a bomb disposal unit.
Well, it wouldn't make sense for me to be paired with a super hot girl from another department.
"You gotta get a girlfriend, dude. How long are you gonna stay single? Huh?"
Stop nagging…
Getting nagged all the way to the coffee shop is making me dizzy.
"You can make friends while setting up the group date. Organize it, and get a girlfriend.
Where else can you find someone like me?"
"Um..."
"But your clothes are so fucking nerdy, we gotta fix that first. How do you even find such shitty clothes?"
"My mom bought them."
"..."
Yoo Inha's insults stopped for a second.
"You're old enough to buy your own clothes. That's why you don't have a girlfriend."
"Okay…"
"Don't you know any girls? Any sisters?"
"No."
"Fuck."
Yoo Inha sighed, as if talking to me was a pain in the ass. Then, her eyes suddenly lit up and she went "Ah!"
"Hey. I'll help you with your clothes."
"Huh?"
Why would you help me with my clothes?
"I'll change your shitty condom fashion. Let's call it even instead of the gift card. What do you say?"
Just say you don't want to waste the gift card…
But it was tempting. I was worried about what to wear anyway.
I always stare at other people's clothes on the bus.
Wondering where they buy them.
"Keep the day after tomorrow free. We'll do it all at once."
"Okay…"
"Bring your card. In case there's anything to buy."
"Uh…"
She's not gonna… extort money from me, right? She's never done that before, so I shouldn't worry, right?
"Or maybe… is your face the problem? Should we get a consultation at a plastic surgery clinic?"
…Bitch.