Crunch crunch.
...Surprising.
In the reading room of the central library next to the nursing school building...
It's been two hours since I started studying with Park Ye-young.
We decided to do our own studying because she had some urgent assignments.
Except for the occasional smoke break, she's been concentrating for two full hours.
That's really surprising.
I thought she'd be shaking her legs every ten minutes, unable to focus and just checking her phone...
But thinking about it, I haven't seen her properly since she moved up to her senior year of high school.
I guess she must have ditched the thug life and focused on studying since I didn't hear any news about her.
The girls must have been even more pissed.
Nothing fucks with them more than a gangster focusing on studies and getting good grades.
It's bad enough that she lords over them, but now she's even good at studying...
Then the real nerds have nothing left... all they've got is self-loathing.
That's life, I guess.
Yawn.
I stretched a bit.
It's been two hours, but I've covered a lot in physics.
Since most kids don't study, the professors pick out the exam questions like a cheat sheet...
And even among those cheat sheets, they exclude the unlikely ones, so the study load gets much lighter.
At this rate, I might finish more comfortably than I thought?
"Ugh."
Park Ye-young stretched too, looking tired.
Looks like she wants another smoke.
Smokers are fucking weird. Don't they usually crave chocolate at times like this?
"Want a smoke?"
"Yeah."
At first, I thought she didn't want to smoke, but then she was like, "Fuck it, just follow me," and I got dragged along...
Now, every time she smokes, I just go out with her to get some air.
Park Ye-young, with her hands in her pockets, swaggered outside.
...Imagine that girl becoming a nurse. Can't picture it. I'm worried she might become a nurse who bullies the patients...
Click click.
As soon as she got out, Park Ye-young lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag, "Sss."
Phew.
The smoke wafted over and stung my nose.
Fuck... I moved my ass to the other side.
"LOL."
Park Ye-young laughed as she saw me avoiding the smoke.
Fucking smokers... Is that funny to you?
I looked away and gazed down from the library's high vantage point.
The school landscape from up here... tons of students moving around.
I rested my chin on my hand and watched for a while.
"Hey, pass me the physics paper you brought out."
"Oh, right."
She told me to bring it out earlier since she'd take a look at it.
It's a cheat sheet personally picked by the professor, so it's 100% reliable.
Park Ye-young squinted at the paper. I glanced at her to see her reaction.
"Did you do physics in high school?"
"Me? I did physics and chemistry. Should've done biology, fucking hell."
Physics and chemistry... she picked the hard ones.
Park Ye-young chewed on her cigarette filter while staring at the paper.
"It's a bit different from high school, but... I don't think it's unsolvable? Though I don't know about the really tough stuff... Show me the paper with your solutions."
"Here."
I'd already solved more than half of it.
I'm not sure if the answers are correct, but they should be pretty close.
The problems are similar to examples in other textbooks, so unless I screwed up the process, the answers should be right...
"Hmm..."
Park Ye-young spat out her cigarette and focused again.
She was probably checking my solutions.
After staring at it for a while, she made that "Sss" sound again.
"What the fuck... they all seem to be correct?"
I told you they were all correct.
I've been saying there's no need for help since earlier.
Park Ye-young kept staring at the solutions, doubting her eyes.
"Fuck. They're all correct. Did you really solve this?"
"I just did it in the last two hours."
"What the fuck. I thought you were shit at studying?"
"...When was that?"
"No, fuck, your department is full of retards."
Fuck, that's too harsh!
I shivered and held out my hand. Give me back the fucking paper...
Park Ye-young handed it back, still looking puzzled.
"Did you start studying after you got to college? You didn't do it in high school and now you're doing it?"
"Yeah..."
I wish I'd gotten smarter earlier.
It's a pity, but what can you do? At least I've got my head on straight now. Some people never do...
"Sss... then there's nothing for me to help with."
"How about just helping me with math?"
"Math? Sure, I can help with that."
I still have some confusing parts in math... especially with integrals. It'd be nice to get some help.
There's so much material, it'd be good to understand and move on quickly.
"Dang."
Park Ye-young leaned against the railing and lit another cigarette.
...What the fuck kind of swear word is that?
"I fucking hate studying."
Who the hell likes it?
I turned my gaze away.
Still, it's good that I'm doing well with my studies. I was worried she'd be a distraction...
Maybe it's going better because it's a new environment? I'd never have come here out of laziness.
"Let's go back..."
Park Ye-young threw away her half-smoked cigarette.
Damn... she might cause a fire one day.
She walked off, hands in her pockets.
"But what's the deal with the practicals? Do you start practicals from the first semester of the first year?"
"Huh? No."
Park Ye-young shook her head after glancing at me.
I was worried about her asking me to be her practice partner...
Maybe it's better to end this quickly.
I've got to go to class later, and if she calls me again, it'll be a pain to come back up.
"You get some practice in the second semester of the first year. Usually, you start in your third year, so no."
"But what kind of practice...?"
Park Ye-young smirked.
"Oh, I went to get my nursing assistant certificate right after the college entrance exam. Nursing school takes freaking four years, so I thought about just getting the assistant cert. I figured I'd do it if it seemed easy, but..."
...But?
"I got stuck during the practice. There's checking breathing, drawing blood, and stuff like that... Fuck, I couldn't do those basic things."
Hmm... I didn't know about that.
But she went to nursing school right after the exam?
I didn't see her as that diligent. She was like a madwoman until her sophomore year... why the sudden change?
"I couldn't get the hang of it, so it ended awkwardly. Then suddenly, there was this field practice, and I went, and I fucking fought."
...
I could see that coming.
With her temper, she wouldn't just sit still...
"What... what was the fight about?"
"Fuck, this old bastard was groping my ass, the fucking pig. I was like, 'Hey, hey,' and 'Stop it,' but fuck. So I grabbed his collar and got kicked out, fuck."
...
Is that something you get kicked out for?
Don't you get penalized for that...?
I couldn't respond and just stared blankly. Fuck, it's good to be diligent, but isn't she too angry?
"Fuck, and when I went to help, they just made me do all the menial shit. I can let the menial work slide. But then they suddenly called me out and started fucking with me."
"In a one-on-one fight outside, he'd get his ass beaten like a dog. Fuck, I almost said, 'Let's fucking fight, bitch,' but I held back, fuck."
She seemed to have a lot of pent-up frustration, spitting out her words.
Even just from her voice, you could tell she was full of rage...
"Well... you held it in well... yeah..."
"I did. On the last day, I called that bitch out and told her if we met outside, she'd be dead. The bitch was so scared she was trembling like a fucking retard, lol."
...Damn, you didn't hold anything in!
You fought with seniors and patients, you fought everyone!
Park Ye-young chuckled as she put her hands back in her pockets.
"Anyway, I had a lot of issues during the practice... so it ended there. We'll have practice here too, so I can't fall behind. Gotta practice what I've learned again."
"Yeah..."
She's proactive in a weird way... I can't say anything since she's trying hard with what she's learned...
Park Ye-young sighed deeply.
"But fuck, I think I've been marked by the department seniors. I don't know if I can survive these four hellish years. Damn."
No surprise if you weren't marked, dude...
Even if the discipline isn't as strict as before, there's still some in nursing school.
With your temper, it'd be weird if there weren't any problems.
Maybe you should've switched departments.
Or maybe, if you just hold it in, good days will come. If you meet a good senior at the hospital, maybe things will be fine...
Dermatology or ENT might be okay.
"So, shall we practice while we're at it? I need to practice taking pulses anyway."
"Yeah, sure."
We've studied quite a bit, and there's still some time left before class.
How hard can taking pulses be...
I nodded.
Park Ye-young hummed and led the way.
There are all kinds of people in the world... they all seemed the same in high school...
Nursing Department Annex, Practice Room.
First time I've been to the nursing side... seriously, all you see is girls.
As I passed by, eyes kept glancing at me.
Why... why are they looking at me? I lowered my head and followed Park Ye-young.
"Hey, Park Ye-young."
"Oh, hi."
Every time she ran into classmates and greeted them, I felt myself shrinking.
Those looks saying, 'Who's this guy?'
Park Ye-young didn't care and strode forward like she owned the place.
"Here."
It's empty.
An empty practice room... Park Ye-young looked around.
There was another small room inside the practice room.
She grabbed two instruments and gestured.
...Are we allowed to use these alone?
"Finally, I get to do this."
Park Ye-young was all smiles as she turned on the light.
The smell of disinfectant, something you don't get in the engineering building...
"Sit here."
She tapped the chair with a smile.
For some reason, I could almost see her as a nurse...
I obediently sat down.
Park Ye-young grabbed my arm and immediately put the stethoscope on my arm.
Not a regular stethoscope...
It had all sorts of attachments, looking quite professional.
"Hmm..."
She leaned over, focusing more.
My eyes inadvertently fell into her cleavage.
N... nowhere to look...
I barely managed to shift my gaze. Fuck, be careful...