Chapter 8

How the hell did he know? No matter how assumptions were made and put together, no proper conclusion was reached. No matter how large a mansion it was, there was no way that CCTVs have been installed throughout the house.

“Damn it.”

Eunchan curled up and bit his lips and looked down.

‘Well. The size is cuter than I thought.’

He had never seen a real woman react, but he had always thought it wasn’t bad. Eunchan muffled his anger as he pondered the words of Lee Yedam, who was belatedly trampling on his pride. After his confused mind calmed down, he was resentful that he couldn’t properly organize the situation and left the house as if he was running away.

“I should have beaten him more.”

Eunchan muttered as he looked down at the still red marks on his wrist. As he rubbed his wrist with one hand and frowned, a loud vibrating sound echoed in the quiet room. It sounded like an alarm that a text message had arrived.

A faint light was leaking from the smartphone lying face down on the floor.

[Information on Tuition Payment for the 2nd Semester of Business Administration, Korea University]

Ah, he forgot. This week was the deadline for depositing the tuition fee for the second semester. Although there was no problem in financing because the student loan money he had applied for in advance was deposited… he let out a sigh as he thought that millions of won would come out of his thin bank account.

“Urghh, I’m doomed.”

Because the income from tutoring was stable, he was only going to focus on raising his grades this semester, but his plans went awry. As he always put tutoring, which can be called a livelihood, as his top priority while balancing tutoring and academics, his messy grades became an afterimage in front of his eyes. It erased the hope that had risen for a while, but he felt bitter.

* * *

School started before he knew it. Back in the second semester without a little time to relax, Eunchan rubbed under his dark eyes. Contrary to himself, whose fatigue and lethargy clung to his shoulders, lively laughter could be heard from all over the campus. Even behind the beautiful tree where Eunchan was standing, familiar faces gathered.

He needed to find a new tutee soon… Eunchan moved his steps mechanically as he watched the other students laughing.

It’s been a few days since he uploaded his profile to the tutoring site, but there have barely been any inquiries, let alone reservations. What if he can’t find anyone forever? Eunchan sighed, fiddling with the phone in his hand. If you just scroll up and down, there were hundreds of newly updated tutoring teacher profiles.

As if sneering at Eunchan, who vaguely thought he would be able to find a tutoring position again, his cell phone was silent the whole time. If it doesn’t work out, he might have to look around for a part-time job at a meat restaurant near school. Although the conditions were poor compared to private tutoring, where the upfront payment and hourly wages were high, there was no alternative.

“Eunchan, what are you doing standing there like that?”

A light pat on his shoulder and a hand on his shoulder, someone spoke to him. Eunchan, who had been immersed in thought, was startled and raised his eyes, and a few of his classmates and a group of smiling Sumin came into view. After greeting his classmates, the embarrassed Eunchan scratched his neck and smiled helplessly.

“Uh… yes. I was thinking about something. Hello.”

“Mmm. Are you going to the compulsory class? Let’s go together.”

With the energetic Sumin in the lead, he walked shoulder-to-shoulder with his classmates. They said that they had already gone out once yesterday to commemorate the start of class, and they complained that they would have to go home after attending. Sumin, who had been silently listening to the complaints, shook her head and suggested to Eunchan.

“It’s dinner time after class, shall we eat?”

Although Lee Yedam’s tutoring session ended earlier than expected, he was planning to keep his promise to treat Sumin to a meal. At the same time, it was also strange to bring up that he had to quit tutoring… Eunchan decided not to talk about tutoring, and nodded.

* * *

“Well, then let’s meet in the next class.”

As he sat next to Sumin and listened to the old professor’s old nagging, the lecture was soon over. The classmates insisted on having a drink to commemorate the opening of the class but thanks to Sumin, who clicked her tongue telling them to calm down, he managed to get out of the group and leave the school.

As a place to eat, he chose a noisy pub near the school without much thought. It was a place that sold hearty snacks and various alcoholic beverages tailored to college students, and it was also a place where departmental meetings were often held. As soon as he sat down, Sumin, who ordered alcohol, talked about what had happened during his vacation with a reminiscent expression on his face. Even Sumin, who belonged to an ordinary class, was living a very different daily life from Eunchan.

While he was listening to Sumin’s story with a light smile, her cell phone rang. Sumin took out the cell phone from her bag and looked at the screen for a moment, showing a happy expression.

“Eunchan-ah, remember I was talking about Min Sunwoo before?”

“Yeah. You said that that sunbae introduced the tutoring job.”

“I got a call saying he was nearby… Shall we go see him together?”

“Huh?”

“Are you feeling a little uncomfortable? Still, he introduced the job, and he has a good personality. This sunbae’s father is KBB Construction’s executive. Um… He’s not arrogant like the other kids. It might be helpful to know him. Later.”

Sumin showed her phone screen. There were several messages exchanged, and at the bottom there was a short sentence from the other saying he would come here now.

Eunchan thought he would never again meet the sunbae Sumin mentioned after today, but he didn’t want to refute her idea, so he nodded slightly. It’s a good thing he’s been wiping his mouth thoroughly.

“Hello.”

Not long after, there was a sudden appearance at the table.

“Hello, sunbae. You came quickly.”

“Yeah, I was school. You must be Eunchan. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot.”

Before Sumin even introduced him, a man who appeared first asked Eunchan to shake hands. Even though they were in the same department, it was amazing that he even knew his name when he would disappear after listening in class quietly. Eunchan took the hand and carefully examined Min Sunwoo.

With dark skin, long eyes, and a hazy overall impression, he was wearing clothes that were not much different from his own, but Eunchan shrunk for no reason because he knew the other person’s background in advance. Although the items worn were similar, the prices were obviously different. Eunchan, who quickly came to the conclusion that he was not particularly suited to such a shabby bar, immediately turned away from his dazed gaze towards Min Sunwoo.

The food they ordered came out, and with Eunchan playing with chopsticks, Sumin and Min Sunwoo had a friendly conversation. Except when a question came to Eunchan from time to time, he simply nodded diligently.

The atmosphere was moderately mellow. Min Sunwoo tilted his glass and spoke to Eunchan.

“Eunchan-ah, I have arranged tutoring several times, but I have heard anyone so satisfied with it as this time. Yedam and his parents. Thanks to you, I have a better reputation.”

“Ah… yes, sunbaenim. Thank you so much for introducing me to the tutoring class.”

It was his turn to say that he quit. The moment Eunchan, who was hesitating, cut off Min Sunwoo’s words and tried to intervene, he continued.

“Let’s look ahead. If this tutoring ends well, I’ll introduce you to a house that will take good care of you next year. The conditions will be fine in many ways.”

Eunchan paused as he spoke about next year in a confident voice. He couldn’t honestly say that the tutoring he had arranged for him was overturned. It might come into his ears at any time, but now was not the right time. It was decided that it would be better to stay still for the sake of Sumin, who was next to him and said that he was doing well.

“Ah… Yes…”

Eunchan smiled embarrassedly and nodded his head slightly. A subtle air flowed between Eunchan, who didn’t respond any more, and Sunwoo, who didn’t say anything more. Sumin, who was moderately drunk, was filling the glass in front of her, regardless of the changed atmosphere.

Feeling frustrated, Eunchan diligently downed the glass in front of him to break the awkward atmosphere that never went away. It was at that moment when he was eating snacks placed in front of him in the middle and joking around with Sumin,

“… Huh?”

This bastard… Why was he here? At the sudden shadow, Eunchan squinted one of his eyes and rubbed his eyelids. It was the same even after repeating the same action two or three times. The figure he saw in front of him stood firm.

“Hello, Teacher.”

The other party smiled softly and bowed his head. As he got closer, the air floating around changed. It was a crowded and crowded pub, but it was as if the atmosphere around the man was deliberately thinned out.

It was Lee Yedam.

“…”

Eunchan, who was staring blankly at him, sighed drunkenly towards Yedam, who was sitting in the front seat. He was slightly drunk, so he couldn’t contain the emotions that were rising.

“Sunbaenim, why is he here…”

“Oh, sorry. I must have forgotten because I was drunk. When I said I was having lunch with Eunchan near the school, he said he would come.”

“I just had something to do nearby.”

Sumin, who sat diagonally, blushed at the sound of his low, soft voice covered in laughter. She seemed quite pleased as she glanced at Lee Yedam’s face without saying a word. He couldn’t let himself be fooled by that fine outer appearance. Eunchan looked only at the table.

“I called him since he said he’d stop by for a while. Is that alright?”

Instead of answering Min Sunwoo’s words, Sumin nodded and placed a glass and spoon in front of Yedam. Eunchan turned away and poked the scallion pancake in front of him with his chopsticks.

“Do you want to order something else?”

The three people’s eyes focused on Yedam’s sudden suggestion. Even Eunchan stopped playing and looked up, as if he was talking nonsense.

“Teacher, you don’t like flour food. Seems like the remaining snacks are all flour pancakes.”

It was amazing to see him quietly spewing out what a lover would say. On behalf of Eunchan, who frowned, Sumin responded enthusiastically. Min Sunwoo, who had an expression not much different from Eunchan’s, looked at Lee Yedam’s face with a suspicious look.

“Wow, Eunchan-ah. Your student, his name?”

“This is Lee Yedam. Teacher didn’t introduce me, so I didn’t get a chance to say my name.”

“Uh, oh, yes. Yedam…”

“Speak comfortably. I’m much younger.”

“Is that okay? Anyway, what Yedam says is great. his face is good—looking too, but she’s got it all. Ooh!”

Yedam smiled faintly at Sumin. Even in the midst of the loud music being mixed, the soft laughter scattered across the table clearly tickled his ears. Eunchan was so bothered that he chewed his lower lip, and for an instant their eyes met, and Lee Yedam gently shook his head and mouthed. ‘I told you you shouldn’t do that.’

At the contact with Lee Yedam, who came to mind at the action, Eunchan fumed and spit out abusive language with his eyes. Unlike Eunchan, who expressed his displeasure, Yedam has a very satisfied face.

One by one, the bottles of wine were lined up on the table. The place that started with a light beer, as time passed, the amount of alcohol that was additionally ordered increased noticeably. Min Sunwoo, who was the one who called him here, barely spoke and only occasionally looked at the phone screen after Lee Yedam showed up.

If that’s the case, why did he call him? Min Sunwoo and Lee Yedam, who acted as if they were close but when they actually faced each other, seemed quite unfamiliar. Eunchan, who felt stifled, tilted the glass of water in front of him to his lips.

But no liquid came into his mouth. It was because the water in the cup was emptied unconsciously every time he drank it. It was a busy time, so no matter how many times he pressed the call button, the employee did not come to his seat. As he looked around, a glass full of water placed a short distance from Lee Yedam came into view.

Eunchan looked at Lee Yedam, who was distracted by his conversation with Sumin, for a moment, then grabbed the glass of water in front of him. Then, with a gulp, he swallowed all the contents through his throat.

“… Uh! This tastes…”

The strong smell of alcohol ran backwards through the esophagus. Eunchan’s straight forehead was wrinkled and contemptuous eyes turned to Yedam.

That bastard… He pretended to eat every drink that Sumin poured with a friendly face, and it was clear that he secretly poured it into the glass of water in front of him. Unlike Sumin, whose face is getting more and more red, he maintained his calm face.

Eunchan quietly stared at Sumin, who diligently poured alcohol, one for Lee Yedam and one for her, without knowing what was going on. Even Sumin who got along well with everyone was quite excited. In the midst of that, he couldn’t break the ice with his sunbae either… he had no choice but to wait and see so that nothing happened until the drinking party was over.