“……Why? Is yawning bad luck?”
Minwook asked quite seriously, as if he believed in superstitions. Woojae shook his head and glared at the bastard eating leisurely across from them. Despite it being 8 AM, that damn fine face without a hint of puffiness was scooping up spoonfuls of food. Woojae deliberately ignored him and spoke to Minwook.
“No, I think we just need to line up here. What do you want to eat?”
“I told you, I don’t eat breakfast. Normally.”
“What do you mean ‘normally’? At least drink some milk. Aren’t you being wasteful? This all costs money.”
Besides, eating breakfast is healthy. Having somewhat old-fashioned thoughts, he pointed at the stacked cartons of milk. Woojae was the type who believed Koreans ran on rice power, so naturally he lined up at the Korean food section. The savory aroma of perilla seed and seaweed soup, bubbling hot from the morning, gently spread to his nose. It was the kind of smell that naturally made one’s appetite surge.
“You took so much. Can you actually eat all that?”
Minwook asked in shock, looking at Woojae who had filled his tray with rice and side dishes. Minwook scanned Woojae up and down once more. Since their eye levels were similar, he must be around 180cm, and though his body looked solid, Minwook never imagined he’d eat this much from the morning. The meal quantity approaching nearly three servings greatly flustered Minwook. Especially since Minwook had gotten into the habit of eating small portions because his father hated leaving food waste.
“From what I found out, they don’t serve lunch here. I gave my little brother allowance with last month’s part-time pay, so I need to eat a lot of what I can get for free. I’ll be fine skipping lunch later.”
So he really is a young breadwinner like they said on the news. Minwook thought to himself, watching Woojae wielding his spoon in front of him. The worn sleeves were evidence that he’d been wearing these clothes for years. The guy who brazenly said he had no money looked a bit different from the photo in that internet article. In that news photo, Woojae looked extremely small and gaunt. It must have been taken around the time he entered high school.
“Hey, Go Woojae. Then did you see that article? The one with you in it.”
“No, using the internet on my phone costs a lot.”
At the firm answer, Minwook shut his mouth tight. If anything, it was fortunate. While there were people praising him, there were quite a lot more malicious comments. Woojae might not care, but usually these tough-looking kids were actually soft inside.
“Eat a lot.”
“Yeah. You too.”
Woojae concentrated on his meal. Since it was food carefully made with good ingredients by skilled personnel, it couldn’t taste bad. After sweeping through the fluffy rolled omelet, bulgogi with mushrooms, spicy-salty squid jeotgal, and well-fermented napa cabbage kimchi, he felt a satisfying fullness as if his stomach would burst. By the time Woojae had emptied all the food on his tray, Minwook had taken two or three sips of milk.
“The way I see it, you’ve got to squeeze every bit out of the school’s money. That’s my philosophy.”
“I think my dad would really like you.”
Minwook, having gotten used to Woojae, threw out a joke with a smile. That’s when he saw ‘that bastard’ who had been eating alone at the opposite table stand up from his seat. Somehow he’d felt a gaze on and off while eating, but when he lifted his head there was nothing. Woojae forcibly shook off the uncomfortable feeling and stood up from his seat.
“You really eat well.”
“This is nothing.”
Woojae casually dismissed the astonished Minwook. While peacefully clearing his tray, some guy bumped into Woojae’s shoulder as he passed by. It was a gesture that could only be felt as intentional.
“……?”
It was a sudden blow. But Minwook seemed more startled than Woojae. The bastard who bumped Woojae’s shoulder passed by without any sign of apology, scowling and spewing curses.
“Ah, fuck. How disgusting.”
“Did monkey fur rub off on you or something?”
And they chattered amongst themselves, leaving only contemptuous glances before departing. Minwook widened his eyes in disbelief, unable to contain his shock. Woojae had just been subjected to blatant racial discrimination. With that personality, isn’t he going to flip something over? Minwook had properly gauged Woojae’s personality even though he’d known him for less than a full day. When Minwook turned around trembling, an unexpected scene entered his view. It was the sight of Woojae wiping up the soup he’d dropped on the floor with a tissue.
“Woojae, are you okay……?”
“About what?”
“Earlier, that.”
“The shoulder bump? I get that a lot. Maybe because my shoulders are broad.”
Woojae seemed completely oblivious that the monkey comment was directed at him. Or maybe he didn’t hear it. For Minwook, who didn’t want to witness a fight on the first day, this was fortunate.
“The first week of the semester is orientation, so there probably won’t be anything difficult in classes. But things like the general meeting or face-to-face gatherings are really awful. Don’t you think?”
Minwook changed the subject as they left the cafeteria. He threw out a topic that freshmen would typically hate, trying to chat. But Woojae’s reaction was subtle.
“When is that?”
His expression showed he’d never even heard of it. In reality, Woojae knew nothing about such things. It wasn’t information posted on the school website.
“It’s different for each department, right? Ours is this Friday. What about yours?”
“I don’t know. It’s not on the department website.”
“That kind of thing doesn’t go on the website. Didn’t you get a text or call? They should be sending them to freshmen?”
Silence hung between the two. And Woojae was the first to break the heavy silence.
“I didn’t get one.”
Didn’t get one. Not at all. How many times had he gone in and out of the Liberal Arts major homepage? He’d made several inquiry calls to the department office too, but had never been informed of such things. Apparently, it was because it was an event organized by the department student council.
“That’s strange. Let’s go to the department office. Come with me.”
Seeing Minwook more flustered than himself, Woojae shook his head. It seemed his name had been left out. He could guess the reason without asking.
“Don’t worry about it. I can go by myself. I needed to go to the department office anyway for my work-study job.”
“There’s something like that too? But isn’t the competition for those things tough?”
“For this kind of thing, poor people are first priority. Who else at this school is as poor as me?”
“You’re really positive.”
“I just don’t really know shame, that’s all.”
Woojae answered Minwook lightly, dispelling what could have become a heavy atmosphere.
Fucking bastards. Woojae wasn’t unaware that someone had just intentionally bumped his shoulder. He just pretended not to notice so Minwook wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. As Minwook said, it seemed there were quite a few people who disliked him. Since moving in, Woojae had thought a lot whenever he lay down on his bed. And he realized that in most situations, he would ultimately have to endure. He decided to compromise slightly with reality.
Woojae chatted as he walked with Minwook toward their dorm room. But at the entrance to Magnolia Hall, someone shoved Woojae and said:
“The Liberal Arts general meeting is Thursday at 7 PM. Assemble at the first-floor lobby of the research building.”
It was the alpha bastard from the room next door. What? Woojae looked with puzzled eyes at the guy who had given him this out-of-the-blue information, but no answer came back. The bastard left only those words and went up the stairs first, slipping into the dormitory. Woojae looked at his broad back with a dazed expression and asked Minwook:
“Did that bastard just talk to me?”
“Seems like it……?”
“How does he know I’m in Liberal Arts?”
“Uh, um…….”
“Isn’t that guy completely crazy?”
When Woojae jumped in surprise, Minwook’s expression twisted slightly.
“……Do you know him?”
“I told you yesterday. That public indecency thing. He’s the bastard I saw then. Do you know him?”
“Wow, that was him? That’s wild. As for me, I can’t really say I know him…… But yeah, there’s no way he wouldn’t have enrolled.”
Must be the son of some impressive family.
“Forget it. It’s annoying. Don’t talk about it.”
Before long, Woojae would regret this. Not knowing that this was the name of someone who would have an enormous impact on his life, he chose not to listen.
***
Seoul First University creates schedules for first-year students. This semester, Woojae’s schedule was filled entirely with liberal arts courses without a single major class. Were they planning to cultivate cultured individuals of this era or something?
Woojae diligently stamped his attendance at lectures that were only orientation. The professors looked at Woojae with strange eyes even before calling roll, but having already received a baptism of piercing stares for several days, he didn’t care. This was because the blatant gazes continued even more intensely from the moment he parted with Minwook in front of the College of Arts.
‘Look all you want. Look.’
Woojae roamed the campus with the feeling of a human astronaut who had crash-landed on an alien planet. When he had free time, he rested in his dorm room, meticulously examined the printed syllabi, and prepared thoroughly for his lectures.
Before he knew it, the last lecture of the first day of the semester ended. Thanks to eating a hearty breakfast, his stomach felt full even though he hadn’t eaten lunch. If he ate breakfast and dinner provided by the dormitory like this, he could reduce unnecessary expenses. Woojae quietly recalled his bank balance and headed to the department office to handle today’s most important task.
“Hello.”
After hesitating whether to knock on the half-open door, he just opened it and went in. Befitting the first day of the semester, the department assistant seemed quite busy. He first saw the sight of them holding the receiver with their shoulder, writing something down with their hand, and earnestly answering, “Yes, yes, yes.”
