Chapter 4
“Senior Gyeon Tae-heon!”
Tae-heon turned around when he heard a woman calling his name loudly.
Every time she came running toward him, her high ponytail swayed from side to side.
“Now, you have to keep your promise, right?”
The woman confidently held out her hand and smiled brightly.
Tae-heon stared at her face for a moment before taking out 50,000 won from his wallet and handing it to her.
“If you have any assignments you don’t want to do, contact me, Senior. I’ll do my best for what you pay me.”
She held the yellow bill in her hand and waved it around.
Tae-heon finally let out an amused laugh.
But the laugh that had come out after such a long time felt strange even to him, so he quickly stiffened his lips and stopped smiling.
She really was a strange woman the more he looked at her.
This morning.
When he had been standing there stiffly because he did not know where to go.
Several messages had arrived from an unknown number.
What day is today? Presentation day! Even if we don’t present, we still have to be together as group members, right? So make sure you attend.
The professor said that if you are absent for the fourth time, you will automatically get an F no matter how well you do on the exam.
Wouldn’t it be unfair if I worked hard and got an A+, only for you to get an F because you didn’t have enough attendance?
And you have to give me money too, remember? So make sure you come today! Got it? You promised!
Although he did not know who the sender was, there was no way he could not know.
The moment he read the messages, the woman’s face and voice naturally appeared in his mind.
With slightly upturned eyes like a cat and small but distinct features, the woman was a very noticeable beauty.
When she stayed still with a blank expression, she had a rather proud and sharp image.
But when she smiled, her impression changed surprisingly.
Her cheeks puffed up, and her innocent, childlike smile completely disarmed anyone looking at her.
Anyone who saw that face with such contrasting charms would probably be easily captivated.
Of course, Tae-heon was not.
Having been born and raised among the upper class and frequently interacting with celebrities, he had seen countless beautiful women.
No matter how pretty a woman was, they all looked more or less the same to Tae-heon.
Well, this woman did have a little more charm.
And she was very strange.
“Senior, you came on time?”
There was nowhere in particular for him to go, and there happened to be a brunch restaurant near the school that opened early, so he had eaten some coffee and a sandwich there.
After that, it happened to be time for the Korean history class he took with the woman, so he had simply come in.
The woman greeted him with great delight.
Then she naturally sat next to him, saying that they were in the same group and should sit together.
“First group, Gyeon Tae-heon and Beom Yi-seo.”
“Yes!”
Tae-heon learned the woman’s name for the first time as she energetically stepped forward.
Beom Yi-seo.
He had always thought his own surname was rather unusual, but hers was even more unusual.
“Our group researched Jeong Yeo-rip, who was identified as a key figure in the Gichuk Purge, a major political incident that occurred during the reign of King Seonjo of Joseon. In particular, we examined the political and social background that led to the incident and reviewed various historical interpretations of whether Jeong Yeo-rip was actually planning a rebellion or was simply a political scapegoat created amid factional conflict.”
Beom Yi-seo made what could have been a boring topic interesting by adding a modern perspective.
She was praised by the professor several times and confidently earned an A+.
After returning to her seat, Yi-seo looked directly at Tae-heon and spread out all five fingers with a grin.
She was clearly telling him to hand over the 50,000 won, and another amused laugh escaped him.
“Quite refreshing.”
Tae-heon rested his chin on his hand and looked at Beom Yi-seo with interest.
It had been a long time since he had become interested in someone.
No, in something.
It was the first time since strange things had continued happening around him and his body had started feeling heavy and painful no matter how much he exercised.
Women approaching him had been normal since he was young.
Asking for his number was common, and when they recklessly threw themselves at him, he often became annoyed.
But Beom Yi-seo had approached him in a refreshing way that no one else had ever used.
“At first, I really thought it was because of the assignment…”
She looked over his face and body from head to toe every time she saw him.
Even if he had not wanted to know, it was impossible not to realize it.
She liked him.
She had even taken care of the troublesome assignment for him, and she did not approach him enough to make him uncomfortable.
It was certainly a clever method, so it was true that she caught his attention more than other women.
Well, that was all it was.
After class, he walked across campus, thinking about Beom Yi-seo, who had happily disappeared after receiving the 50,000 won and telling him to contact her again.
Just how poor was her family that she was so obsessed with money?
“Gyeon Tae-heon. How long has it been since I last saw you smile? Did something good happen?”
Then, some familiar faces approached him.
“What good thing?”
Tae-heon touched the corner of his mouth, wondering if he had smiled again.
“Now that today’s exam is over, we’re going to have a drink with the others. You’re coming too, right?”
Two classmates whose names he could not even remember.
He was sickened by their attempts to act friendly while hiding their intention of getting free drinks from him, but Tae-heon simply nodded slightly.
He had to go somewhere and kill time today anyway, and being with several people was at least better than being alone.
Tae-heon attended one more class before walking toward a bar in front of the school.
He tried his best to ignore his legs, which grew heavier with every step.
“Ah, it feels great to have all these cute juniors gathered together today!”
Tae-heon turned his head when he heard the loud voice after entering the bar.
As was typical of bars near a university, it was crowded, but today it was especially packed, with every seat occupied.
Since the midterm exams had ended, everyone had gathered at the bars early.
The man whose voice was particularly loud even amid the noise drew everyone’s attention.
Without the slightest embarrassment, he opened his mouth again with his face red from drinking.
Tae-heon was about to turn away with a frown when he suddenly stopped after seeing a familiar face at the edge of his vision.
Beom Yi-seo.
Sitting at the far end opposite the man, Beom Yi-seo picked up a piece of the fried chicken that had just been served and put it into her mouth without a trace of a smile.
Apparently finding it quite tasty, she lightly tapped the female classmate sitting beside her and pointed at the chicken.
Come to think of it, what department was she in?
As he looked around the people sitting at the table to see if he knew anyone, one of the classmates beside him easily answered.
“Ah, that Agriculture and Life Sciences guy is damn noisy.”
“Agriculture and Life Sciences? You know him?”
“Yeah. Park Young-sung. That bastard is famous. Whenever there’s a gathering with girls, he always joins and keeps hitting on them, trying to get with at least one of them. He even tried to sneak into our department’s gathering at the beginning of the semester.”
“Well, with that face, I guess he has to put in that much effort.”
Through the conversation of his classmates, Tae-heon learned several things.
Department of Smart Systems, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The name of Yi-seo’s department was quite long.
“Professor Lee Sun-hwa still makes the assignments and exams insanely difficult, right?”
At Park Young-sung’s loud words, the people sitting across from him, who seemed to be juniors, nodded along.
Apparently pleased by their reaction, Park Young-sung puffed himself up and raised his voice even higher.
It seemed to be a major class.
“You guys know this, right? That professor gives almost the same questions every year. If you have the old exam papers, it’s an easy class.”
“Wow, really?”
“Of course. But guess what? Those old exam papers are right here in this oppa’s hands.”
Everyone’s eyes lit up at Park Young-sung’s words.
But the person he actually wanted to attract was acting as though she had no interest at all, simply picking at the side dishes.
“Oppa, could you show us those old exam papers? I’ll buy you coffee.”
“Hey now, I can’t give them to just anyone.”
Perhaps excited by the attention from the female juniors, Park Young-sung raised the corners of his lips slyly.
Then he leaned his upper body toward Beom Yi-seo in an uncomfortable manner.
“Yi-seo, you want them too, right? How about this? I’ll even show them to you specially. How about going somewhere delicious with oppa tomorrow?”
“I’m fine. I’m confident I can do well even without those old exam papers.”
Beom Yi-seo did not even look at Park Young-sung as she noisily chewed her salad.
Park Young-sung’s face briefly twisted, but it soon returned to a gentle expression.
“Of course, our Yi-seo is smart, so I understand. But having them would make studying much easier, wouldn’t it? Oppa will buy you a meal and give you the old exam papers too. Wouldn’t that be good for our Yi-seo? Hmm?”
At Park Young-sung’s continued offers, Beom Yi-seo finally turned her gaze toward him.
Her face was filled with obvious annoyance.
“Why are you only offering to buy me food and give me the old exam papers?”
“Huh? Well, that’s because our Yi-seo is such a pretty and cute junior.”
“You’re doing this because you want something from me.”
Beom Yi-seo stared directly at Park Young-sung and asked bluntly.
He rubbed the back of his neck as if he were embarrassed before answering.
“What I want is… well, Yi-seo’s attention and love?”
