Episode 45

-Woojin: I’m busy today, so we can’t meet.

“Ah.”

Seeing the reply which came in several hours later, Seo Yerin felt a sense of disappointment.

The excitement of visiting Kim Woojin’s house settled down, turning into a deeper sense of regret.

As dinner time got closer, the day seemed to be coming to an end.

‘Should I… maybe get some alcohol?’

Wanting to soothe her somewhat lonely heart, Seo Yerin considered asking a friend to grab a drink.

‘Hm? Arin changed her profile picture.’

Noticing that Yu Arin’s profile picture had been changed, she took a quick look at it.

“Oh?”

Without realizing it, Seo Yerin let out a sound. Because there, with a profile photo was the message ‘rolling around at a friend’s house’ was Yu Arin on a similar mattress.

“Woojin’s house…?”

Clearly.

Looking around, it was Kim Woojin’s house. The background was a bit blurry but the unique atmosphere and the bed were the same.

Because she had slept there once.

Thinking back to that time made her face flush, but she soon calmed down.

-Woojin: I’m busy today, so we can’t meet.

After checking Kim Woojin’s message, she looked at Yu Arin’s profile picture.

‘So this was the ‘busy’ thing.’

Grit.

For some reason, gritting her teeth, Seo Yerin’s lips curled into a smile but it wasn’t in a positive way.

Was it because he had shouted on her behalf yesterday but actually spent time with Yu Arin at a tripe restaurant?

Or was it that he originally planned to meet Yu Arin separately?

Various thoughts entered her mind, and Seo Yerin felt a bitterness in her heart, souring her mood.

-Anonymous69: SexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSexSex.

She tried expressing her anger in the Bamboo Forest but that didn’t help.

Eventually, thinking about having a drink, Seo Yerin contacted one of her other friends.

-Sorry, with my boyfriend.

One friend refused saying she was with her boyfriend.

So she contacted another.

-Euk! Euk! Uh! Yerin! What?

A voice that sounded incredibly rushed, along with heavy breathing, eager to hang up.

Why did this situation sound so familiar?

“With a guy?”

Click.

Just in case, the call was ended. It seems she was caught.

‘Everyone’s got boyfriends.’

Out of the four friends who came up from high school, two found boyfriends, and one is presumed to be with Kim Woojin.

She was thinking of asking a friend from the department to meet up. After what happened yesterday, calling people from the same department felt awkward.

‘Ah, should I ask Yiseo to meet up?’

She had gotten quite close to Choi Yiseo, the department representative, and she wanted to thank her for the trouble she went through yesterday to sort things out, so she called Choi Yiseo.

“Yerin?”

The voice on the other side sounded upset for some reason. But Seo Yerin felt that it wasn’t because of her.

Skipping the small talk, she went straight to the point.

“Want to have a drink?”

“…Where do we go?”

The two understood each other well.

It was around 6 p.m. when I met with Senior Min Ju-hee, a bit after some time had passed. We had dinner early, so there was plenty of time to meet someone.

Senior Min Ju-hee was wearing the same jacket with a dragon on it, just like last time. With her long black hair fluttering, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, looking exactly like she was ready to fight.

“Senior, have you had anything?”

When I asked politely, she glanced at me and said,

“It’s comfortable to fight on an empty stomach.”

“I see.”

It felt like I heard something I shouldn’t have, but well, I understood the senior’s determination.

Next to me, Yu Arin was giggling, finding this fun and finally said,

“Ju-hee, try to end it with talks as much as you can.”

Including senior Han-kang who came to meet us.

The second-year female seniors were all supposedly at the karaoke, and senior Han-kang was worried about senior Ju-hee’s rampage.

“If they are willing to end it with talks on their side, then fine.”

Passing senior Han-kang, senior Ju-hee entered the karaoke room. She briefed the karaoke owner on the situation and proceeded to Room 4.

“Turn the music off.”

Her cold voice hushed the previously noisy room.

The female seniors, who had been singing joyfully, set down the microphone and adopted a more serious stance as they composed themselves.

Senior Ju-hee took charge.

“I too want to resolve this via discussion, you understand, right? If it were a presentation, I could handle it alone. But for a short film, the professor specified that everyone except the editor must participate.”

Had she considered completing the project with fewer people and consulted the professor about it?

As expected, she always dealt with things promptly.

“You don’t want to jeopardize your grades either. Do you want to repeat this course next year? Do you think you’ll find a group leader like me if we’re assigned another film project?”

Furthermore, self-assuredness. One could hardly find another leader like Captain Ju.

“I will assign you roles with fewer lines, just handle that. If you do, you’ll at least secure an A.”

Contrary to the tense atmosphere that seemed ready to explode, senior Ju-hee calmly suggested negotiation.

Even senior Han-kang, who followed her, surprisingly supported her.

“What a joke.”

It seemed they were not pleased with the situation.

Particularly, they were hostile towards me for following her.

“You don’t want to proceed because of him?”

“We can always retake the course if we fail. It doesn’t affect us, though.”

I pondered whether I should intervene and stop senior Ju-hee from being so audacious.

“Please. I need to maintain good grades and secure a scholarship.”

I couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Because it was senior Min Ju-hee.

The bold yet seemingly ready-to-fight Min Ju-hee was now bowing her head.

“Although we’re in the same year, I am a year older because I repeated a year. I don’t have the luxury of retaking it.”

So she was a year older than the current second-years; this was new information to me.

Considering her strong nature, I wondered if the others would have a change of heart…

“It’s him who should apologize.”

The seniors pointed to me and declared.

“Throwing cigarette ash on us, badmouthing us behind our backs.”

“And then yelling like he’s right, demanding us to hand over our phones, with such arrogance!”

As they began to spill out curses aimed at me back and forth, their shameless behavior felt nauseating.

Seeing senior Min Ju-hee bow her head, I couldn’t help but feel soft.

‘Scholarship.’

I wondered why she was so fixated on the assignment; it seems she really needed a good grade for the scholarship.

‘If I bow my head here…’

I still didn’t think I did anything wrong. I had no desire whatsoever to apologize to those people.

But then, seeing senior Min Ju-hee beside me, lifelessly bowing her head…

‘Such a cool person.’

Just this once.

I thought that perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad to bow my head for her sake.

“Sigh.”

Just when I was about to reluctantly bow my head and utter an insincere apology.

Thud!

I felt a strong pressure on my head.

As I was turning my head, senior Min Ju-hee, who was about to bow her head, was glaring at me, clutching my head like she would tear it out.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh?”

“You were going to apologize?”

“Ah, yes….”

Seeing her desperate for the scholarship made me think she must be lacking financial support.

Whack!

She pulled my head back, not letting me bow my head. But she applied so much force that my eyes were looking at the ceiling, with both my neck and scalp hurting.

And then,

“These fucking bitches!”

Bang!

As if kicking the table, a rough commotion ensued following her voice.

“Because of the pampering, they really think they are right! Stop now! Fuck! Fucking! Stop it, you bitches!

“You! You!”

“I just bowed my head. Did you really have to hear an apology from a junior too? Before I came to meet you people, I heard all about the situation yesterday, you idiotic bitches!”

The three of them were speechless, like they had nothing to yell back.

“It is the thirsty one who digs the well. I bowed my head to you because I needed the grades. But why would someone who did nothing wrong and needs nothing bow their head to you!”

“J-Ju-hee!”

She was still bending my neck so far back that I couldn’t see, but it seemed like she was about to hit someone with the mic she grabbed.

I saw senior Han-kang rush to stop her.

“S-senior! Please endure it!”

I too grabbed the hand that was holding my head and pulled her back with both hands.

“These damned things! Don’t you dare catch my eye at school! I’ll burn a hole through your head with a cigarette butt this time, you selfish bitches!”

Even though she was being restrained by two guys on both sides, she struggled and kept cursing them out. She really had what it took to be a general.

Eventually, we went out of the karaoke room.

Senior Min Ju-hee released me and, unable to contain her anger, she took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth.

“Lighter, shit.”

“Ahh, calm down, Min Ju-hee.”

When senior Han-kang lit it for her, she deeply inhaled and exhaled the smoke.

Senior Han-kang began to smoke too.

“Ah, sorry, Woojin. You don’t smoke, right?”

“It’s fine.”

I said so, trying to fix my hair.

“Come here, I’ll do it for you.”

Coming out of the karaoke last, Yu Arin pulled my hair and started to tidy it up, so I left it to her.

“But seniors, are your grades fine?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I need to speak to the professor.”

Still, there will inevitably be deductions for the sake of fairness to other groups.

“I’ll have to score well in other areas, like the story and acting. And do well in editing too.”

“I will really do my best in editing.”

“I’ll help with writing the story too.”

Even though she isn’t part of the group, Yu Arin raised her hand for the scriptwriting. The last part is still incomplete, so it needs work to be done.

“The important thing is the casting. There are only Yerin and me for the female roles.”

“Let Woojin dress as a woman.”

“Get lost.”

While responding to Yu Arin’s nonsense, I felt a sense of déjà vu and asked her.

“Why aren’t you smoking?”

“I don’t smoke.”

“…Last time we went to the chicken place, you went out to smoke with Jeong Chan-woo.”

“That was to scold Chan-woo because he asked something weird.”

Sorry, Chan-woo.

“Ah, I feel like crap, I just want to drink. Yah, everyone follow me. Han-kang will buy us drinks today.”

“…Is she part of the group?”

When senior Han-kang awkwardly asked, feeling annoyed, senior Min Ju-hee pulled Yu Arin into a side hug.

“You need to prioritize the pretty girls when you’re hanging out like this! Aren’t we much prettier than them!?”

Getting excited without even thinking about what was being spoken.

But I joined in too.

“I agree with senior Ju-hee. But Yu Arin does look like an expired organic pudding.”

As I said that, Yu Arin laughed and flipped me off.

“Die, you cockroach larva.”

“Yah, you look like something that would never sell in a store, gathering dust and mold.”

“Yah, you resemble the cockroach that accidentally got stepped on and killed.”

“Ackkk! I don’t care! Since it sucks, follow me and pay up! Or just give me your wallet!”

Whether we were fighting or not, senior Ju-hee was extorting money from senior Han-kang, and eventually, he came along to drink with us.

The moment we entered the place which he said was good,

“Ah!? Woojin!”

A familiar voice called out to me.