Chapter 3.4

“Oppa, but I’m not done eating yet.”

Sangwoo walked excitedly. He quickly cleared out the tray by the exit and gulped down a lot of water. He walked out of the restaurant feeling hopeful.

“Let’s go together!”

He heard Jihye’s voice behind him. Her face turned red while her hair was flapping, and she looked like a green monster because of the clothes she was wearing.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why did you call for me?”

“No, it’s just… I’m on my way anyway, so it’d be nice if we went together. I get embarrassed when I eat alone.”

“Oh, that’s strange.”

Sangwoo pondered that. He always ate alone, but he had never thought of it that way.

“Then don’t go to the snack shop. I have a class at the College of Humanities, so please take me on your way.”

“… why?”

Sangwoo felt as if there was a significant age gap, because Jihye sounded like a child being kidnapped.

“It’s good for your health to take a walk after eating. If you don’t want to get sick, you have to do that.”

“You’re right.”

For the first time, Sangwoo had a walking companion. Originally, he was going straight to the 1,000 won shop, but as Jihye said, it didn’t sound bad to take a walk. Even though he does bodyweight plyometric exercises in the morning, he needs to walk daily life to stay healthy.

“Oppa, can I ask you a question?”

“Is that a question?”

“No, it’s a rhetorical expression that I’m about to ask about. Your childhood nickname was Sangchoo, right?”

“…how did you know?”

Jihye clapped her hands while saying: “I knew it.” He stopped walking and laughed, saying: “I cared so much when I first heard the name that it almost popped out of my mouth.”

“Will you get mad if I call you Sangchoo, oppa?”

“Nope.”

Either way, Sangwoo had been called that all his life. It had been a long time since he had given up the useless task of asking people to stop using it. In addition, Jihye was unreasonable enough to insist on calling him “oppa” now, even though he isn’t her actual brother. People misuse titles at will, so paying attention to each of them will only make one tired. People he’s close with, even those he considers to be enemies, call him “Sangwoo,” just like family members.

Coincidentally, as soon as he thought of Jaeyoung, the red padding himself appeared from behind the building. Jang Jaeyoung was walking with two male students. In that short moment, the two made eye contact. Sangwoo immediately turned around.

“…Oppa?”

“I’m going that way. See you later.”

“Yes! Goodbye!”

Sangwoo crouched and quickly walked past the bowing Jihye. He’d paid attention in class, ate well, and even though he couldn’t drink coffee, he was able to go for a walk. However, as soon as he saw the bright red color, his mood was ruined. Sangwoo really hated the color red now.

He was walking for a long time before he looked back. Before he knew it, Jaeyoung, who fell away from his group, was ten steps behind him. His legs moved before his brain could give the order.

‘I can’t get caught.’

It was an instinctive escape. Until now, no matter who made threats or used violence,the world had been firm in dealing with them. In middle and high school, teachers used their authority. Upon reaching adulthood, he used the legitimate system of the law. There was a sudden and unknown error that caused the program to fail.

Since he was discharged from the army, he had never had any reason to run, but Sangwoo was running with all his might, because he didn’t want to see Jang Jaeyoung. Like a flash, he passed by the natural (sciences) college, the institute, and the snack shop. He passed by countless students whose faces he didn’t know. Sangwoo, who had already reached the main gate at some point, turned around thinking that this would be enough.

“Why are you so fast?”

He screamed inwardly.

“Hey, let’s catch our breath. Do I look like… I can run… at this age? It’s not even a sports day, fucking shit..”

Sangwoo wanted to leave Jaeyoung, who was squatting while panting, but he had also ran a long distance at full speed and was out of breath. Sangwoo sat on the sidewalk, putting enough distance between himself and Jaeyoung. He took a bottle of water out of his bag and quenched his thirst.

“Are you crazy? Why are you running?”

“Why are you chasing me? Is that running or not?”

“That’s weird, you know. Because you were running away, I followed without a thought.”

“That’s even more strange.”

They had this strange conversation while panting, and then stopped talking for a long while.

Sangwoo got up and walked away after resting long enough. He had to go to the front of the library to get his bike. Jaeyoung stood up with a look of annoyance and followed him closely. If he walked fast, he also walked as fast, and if he walked slowly, he also walked as slowly. Sangwoo ignored him and maintained his normal speed, because he thought it would turn into a sprint again.

“Your girlfriend is pretty.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“What’s her name, the friend you were eating with earlier?”

“It’s Kim Jihye.”

“Which department?”

“It’s the… philosophy department?

“That’s Ryu, and she’s from the literature department.”

Sangwoo, who was answering like a machine because he was concentrating on walking, stopped. He turned his head and looked at Jaeyoung.

“You even did a background check on her? She’s a nice girl who has nothing to do with me!”

Jaeyoung sneered at those words.

“What background check? You guys came to the restaurant where I work, you crazy bastard. I saw her student ID. It’s normal to remember names like that.”

Sangwoo ignored his words and walked again.

“You, do you know my name?”

“What’s the point of knowing that?”

“You’re smart. Can’t you even memorize three characters of a person’s name?”

“Efficient brains are supposed to erase worthless information.”

“You’re putting me in a foul mood again.”

Jaeyoung grabbed Sangwoo’s shoulder to stop him. As soon as his hands touched his body,  Sangwoo automatically  frowned.

“Task: ‘Try making an acrostic poem with my name.’”

Jaeyoung was speaking nonsense. Sangwoo hit his hand off his shoulder first.

“Reward: ‘I won’t harass you from tomorrow on.’”

Those words were hard to ignore. Sangwoo thought about it for a while and said:

“Question: ‘Do you count it as a success as long as I make the poem? To which degree of harassment?’’”

“Answer: ‘It’ll be considered a success with even the tiniest amount of artistry. The degree of harassment is based on your own standards.’”

Sangwoo thought it over carefully, but the word artistry was too vague. However, he liked the idea that he could decide the degree of harassment, so he decided to try it.

“Provide a rhyme, please.”

“You have to do it, you bastard.”

Sangwoo thought it was common for the listener to rhyme when the three-lined acrostic poem was presented. Looking at Jaeyoung’s reaction, it didn’t seem so. He opened his mouth.

“Jang… The rainy season is here.”

When he said exactly what came to his mind, Jaeyoung had made an arrogant expression with his arms crossed. Looking at that face, he naturally decided on the next verse.

“It sucks.”

The red padding was shining from the sunlight.

“For…ever… if it got extinguished.”

Jaeyoung’s expression was hard to read. His slight frown became a smirk. Sangwoo thought he had made a decent acrostic poem, but it was hard to figure out what Jaeyoung was thinking. He was also the judge, and when he kept his mouth shut, he became quite tense.

“Evaluation.”

Jaeyoung spoke in a dignified manner.

“10 out of 10 for accuracy.”

“Oh….”

“10 out of 10 in terms of the sincerity of emotions.”

“That’s more generous than I expected.”

“Three out of ten in artistic value.”

“…what?”

“Story-wise, 1 out of 10.”

“…….”

“For novelty, out of 10 ….”

If I get 10 points here, is there a chance?

“0 points.”

Sangwoo almost uttered a harsh swear word.

“24 out of 50 points in total. I’ll see you again tomorrow, Sangwoo.”

“As expected.”

Sangwoo strode past Jang Jaeyoung. In the end, he just wasted his time foolishly listening to his nonsense when he knew it would turn out this way. Jaeyoung didn’t follow him, but he heard what he said behind him.

“I think I made a mistake. Now I must know how you operate. ”

“Am I a home appliance?”

“I think you’re similar.”

It was not worth answering at all. Ever since he had eaten, all he could think of was the 1,000 won shop. He unlocked his bike and rode past Jaeyoung.

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Footnotes