Chapter 3.3

Sangwoo came out of the library while pretending not to know him. He went down as fast as he could, but Jaeyoung quickly caught up with him. Then, it became like a competition, as they frantically went down the stairs to the first floor .

“Sangwoo, you’re annoyed, aren’t you?”

“Don’t talk to me, cause I don’t want to hear your voice.”

“You brought it on yourself.”

Sangwoo strode out of the building and walked toward his locked bike.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. You’re forcing yourself to do something that even elementary school students won’t do sunbae, I….”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m the only one who’s throwing a fit? You’re talking about that again?”

Sangwoo stopped abruptly, because he couldn’t get past what was said.

“What did I do wrong? If you’re talking about not including your name on the PPT (Power Point)….”

“Shove it.”

Jaeyoung cut him off. He whipped around, but he was standing much closer than he had thought. He expected him to provokingly snicker, but he was unexpectedly serious. Against the dim sky, Sangwoo made eye contact with Jaeyoung who was wearing a red beanie.

“It’s hard to believe, but I wanted to get along with you.”

Sangwoo shut his mouth. It was not the first time he had seen Jaeyoung’s face this up close. However, he had never carefully analyzed it. Until now, he neither knew nor cared that Jaeyoung’s eyes behind the glasses were a little droopy, that he had a straight nose, whether or not he dressed neatly or like a delinquent, and that neither of his irises nor hair were completely black.

“The human is an animal of emotion. If you hadn’t ignored me so much, I would have laughed off the PPT.”

“Then if I apologize, will you quit?”

Jaeyoung looked puzzled and laughed out loud.

“Are you stupid? You’re supposed to be a coding genius. Oh, you don’t know human psychology well because you’re a machine?”

“What do you mean?”

“If it were such a simple matter, would we have come all the way here, huh?”

Jaeyoung’s cryptic remarks seemed more disconcerting than any other problem Sangwoo had ever solved. It felt like he was looking into endless darkness. Sangwoo could only hear the sound of catching the clouds.

“Don’t justify yourself. You’re nothing more than scum, a thug, a sadist, Sunbae.”

Jaeyoung looked amused rather than angry at the words.

“I’m happy to hear compliments from you.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Yeah, you should be careful, too.”

“Crazy bastard,” Sangwoo muttered to himself as he unlocked the bike.

Then, he got on his bike and left without looking back.

return 0;

On Wednesdays, there was a series of classes on “Popular Culture and Cultural Theory. Although there were many reviews on how it was a difficult class, it was the only compulsory humanities and liberal arts class that could be taken during this period. The syllabus was full of unknown terms, because the class was grounded in The Frankfurt School and orientalism. Even after scanning the book ahead of time, the text was not easily understood. It had already seemed like a difficult class for science and engineering students. However, the potential  presence of  the interrupter made it unlikely for Sangwoo to understand anything at all.

Sangwoo entered the classroom 19 minutes before class started and shut his eyes. Naturally, Jaeyoung would be there, but he didn’t want to see the unsightly messenger bag. However, when he opened his eyes, his view was clear. The most perfect seat in the classroom was clean and tidy as if no one had ever sat down on it.

‘What’s going on here?’

He was so surprised that his heart pounded. Sangwoo quickly approached and sat down on that perfect chair. For now, he felt a surge of satisfaction, but because he couldn’t predict what Jang Jaeyoung would do again, he grew anxious.

Sangwoo opened the textbook and previewed what they would learn today. He felt like he was studying for the first time in a long time, because he sat in the correct seat and couldn’t see the color red next to him. As he was reading the book, a white eco bag was placed next to his seat. Sangwoo sighed loudly.

“Why are you sighing this morning?”

He then raised his head to a voice he had expected to hear. It wasn’t Jaeyoung. At first, Sangwoo felt happy by that fact alone. It was a female student in a dark green jumper who looked familiar.

“It’s Jihye, Jihye. You’re the person who helped me move the boxes. We even had dinner together, didn’t we?”

She sat down, speaking cheerfully as if she had read Sangwoo’s expression. Only then did Sangwoo remember Jihye. Last time, her hair was styled differently, so he couldn’t recognize her. Jihye completely turned her body around to Sangwoo and talked to him.

“Are you taking this class too, Oppa? Are you interested in philosophy? I’m taking the class because I’m interested in the theories of French thinkers, such as Lacan and Foucault.”

“I’m not interested. I’m taking it because I have to.”

“Oh really? Well, I have to take a computer class, too. That’s great. I’ll ask you which one’s easier later on, Oppa. I heard that the biggest difference between information processing theory and computer science introduction is….”

Fortunately, the class started at the right time and cut her off.

A professor who isn’t late, comprehensive preparation material, and a perfect seat. Although there was someone next to him who seemed that they would talk all day long even if left to herself, Sangwoo evaluated that this situation was superb.

Suddenly, he was struck with the thought that he hadn’t seen Jang Jaeyoung once today. He was certain that he hadn’t given up yet, and there was something going on. Anyway, he felt like he was breathing a little heavier.

“…so we see the world divided into a superior elite and a general public without power. The view is that the elites are leading the society.”

“That’s the truth. If so, what does it mean to glorify the opposing opinions of the public? What’s the point of them being discarded earlier?”

“We said that it wasn’t a matter of true or false. We need to start with the attitude of approaching sociological theories with correctness.”

Sangwoo was walking in the hallway at the College of Humanities and discussing the contents of today’s class with Jihye. It was not surprising that Jihye was more intelligent than she looked. Sangwoo was encouraged because he did not see bright red at all.

‘This is what normal is like.’

After two days of suffering, he was delighted by the brief experience of normalcy. Jihye sat next to him during two class periods, but unlike anyone else, she didn’t disturb him at all. In addition, after class, Sangwoo explained what she hadn’t understood properly, which was icing on the cake.

“Oppa, where’s the next class?”

“I don’t have any more classes.”

“I envy you…” I still have two more. What should we eat for lunch?” Jihye said as if it were natural for two people who took the same class  to have lunch together. Sangwoo questioned the compatibility of that premise, but he didn’t bother to contradict her, as he was already on his way to the restaurant.

Sangwoo felt anxious walking around campus, because he didn’t know where his enemy would pop up. He kept looking around, and Jihye asked why he was doing that. The moment he was about to answer, Sangwoo saw a group of people pouring out of the humanities college. The only advantage of red padding is that it stands out from afar.

“Hey, quickly. Let’s go.”

“Why?”

“Hurry up.”

Sangwoo arrived at the restaurant and quickly lined up at the Korean food section. Because Jang Jaeyoung came out among so many people, it meant that he had just taken a seminar class with a lot of students.  Come to think of it, he has to retake the “Personality Education for Korean University Students” class. It was clear that their classes overlapped, so he couldn’t bother Sangwoo in the cultural theory class.

Sangwoo felt satisfied while carrying his tray. He had a good idea upon choosing a seat after grabbing his meal. He headed to a crowded area unlike usual. When he quietly looked around at the restaurant, he looked for tables with only two empty seats. Sangwoo sat down with Jihye in these remaining seats. The table was now full, thereby blocking Jaeyoung’s ability to take a seat.

“Oppa, you seem to be in a good mood.”

“Yeah.”

Sangwoo started eating without saying a word. While eating, his gaze wandered over the people who were serving the food. The red padding was in line to get the pork cutlet. He also looked around as sharply as Sangwoo.

Soon, Jaeyoung was pushed into the restaurant. Looking around everywhere, his eyes reached Sangwoo. Sangwoo had a triumphant look on his face, and Jaeyoung went to another area with a strange look of ridicule. It wasn’t a big deal, but Sangwoo felt great pleasure.

“Are you going home after eating?”

“No, I’m going to the library.”

“Then, let’s go to the snack bar before that. I’ll buy you a drink.”

“No.”

“Why?”

Sangwoo stopped  his efficient chopsticks for a second. It was such a complicated story. How can you easily explain why you can’t drink anything at the snack bar?

“It’ll sound strange, but I’m being bullied.”

“What?”

Jihye looked so surprised that Sangwoo closed his mouth. When Sangwoo kept silent, she begged him to tell her more.

“Really, Oppa? That’s a lot. If it’s true, then it’s serious.”

He felt like he shouldn’t have said anything. While thinking about how to explain this, Jihye seemed to imagine dreadful things.

“I don’t know who the hell is doing such things, but there’s a counseling center, a police station, and a lot of people in the world who can help.”

Sangwoo became more embarrassed and just returned to Jihye’s first question.

“He bought all the coffee I drink, so there are no drinks left in the snack shop to buy.”

“What? Sold out at the snack shop? The story of Master Heo.”

Jihye burst into laughter after making an absurd expression.

“What? Just order a box online. What’s wrong when it can be delivered within a day?”

“…….”

He was so shocked. It was as if he had been hit on the head. It wasn’t only the school snack shop that sold “Blackholic,” but it was the only one that had been trapped in his spatial frame. Sangwoo wasn’t stupid, but he couldn’t easily escape his rigid mindset.

In the past, when he received a low score on the school intelligence test, the teacher explained that Sangwoo was a genius in logical computational intelligence. However, his lack of applied reasoning and emotional intelligence had reduced his average score. Sangwoo looked at Jihye from a new perspective.

“You’re pretty smart.”

Ha ha ha. Jihye laughed.

“In what other ways is he harassing you? Tell me everything.”

“…I know it sounds weird again this time, but I have to sit in a particular seat in class to concentrate.”

“Oh! I saw a guy like that in an American TV show. I’m being cautious, but isn’t that what you’re talking about? OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)…”

“The doctor says it’s not a disability. Anyway, that person keeps taking the seat before I do, so I can’t sit there. The farther away I get from that seat, the more difficult it is to concentrate. But when I try to sit closer, I don’t know what to do, because I hate that bas-… no, that person so much.”

“Uhm… Well, then just sit next to him and use a divider like the ones we used in elementary school.”

Allow close physical distance, but block the view. This solution sounded good too. Sangwoo became increasingly trusting of Jihye’s flexible mindset.

“And he keeps shaking his legs in the library and reading his books too loud. The sound of flipping pages is annoying….”

“You can just wear earplugs. They’re cheap.”

Jihye grinned. Sangwoo laughed with her.

“Hey, thanks. I’ll treat you to dinner next time.”

“Really? I’ll be looking forward to it!”

Instead of going to the library that day, Sangwoo decided to shop extensively at the 1,000 won shop. When he finished his meal, he saw Jang Jaeyoung surrounded by friends and eating in another area.

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Footnotes