“Urgh, ugh……”
“Damn, he’s doing all kinds of things. Really.”
He saw a male student making kimchi pancakes on a perfectly fine floor—whatever he’d drunk—and a female student pounding his back roughly. The tall female student had a fierce face.
“Huuugh, Yeonju-ya, ah, I think I’m going to throw up……”
“‘Think you’re going to throw up’? Think? You already did, you bastard!”
Watching the male student announce he was going to throw up after having already vomited refreshingly, the female student called Yeonju screamed.
“Ah, I want to kill this bastard and go to prison. I want to fucking work a sewing machine in there.”
“……A prosecutor’s daughter says the darndest things.”
“My mom’s the prosecutor, am I the prosecutor?”
“You got cigarettes? If not, go buy some.”
“Give me one?”
“Yeah, I’d appreciate it if you did.”
Several who followed out began having a pointless conversation, leaving the male student vomiting continuously. Woojae stood there dumbly, regretting. Shouldn’t have come out. Fuck. Of all things, it was a dead-end alley.
“What, wow. Amazing. Isn’t that Go Woojae?”
Ha, Woojae let out a small sigh. One classmate whose name he didn’t know, drunk as a skunk, had called out Woojae’s name. Even though he’d deliberately stood in a dark spot, it seemed meaningless. It was a face he’d passed in the dormitory once. Alphas must have good night vision too. At the point where hiding became meaningless, Woojae came out of the alley.
“If I am.”
It definitely wasn’t a question directed at him, but Woojae answered. Yeah, I’m Go Woojae. You fucking bastards. The alpha who had shouted Woojae’s name stepped back as if flustered by his confident answer.
“Ha, a monkey bastard even goes to school, fuck, the world’s gotten so fucking great. Makes me want to stomp on him. Where does he think this is, coming here?”
Another voice was heard. This one was a bit familiar. It was the alpha who had bumped shoulders with Woojae at the dormitory cafeteria. Was he in our department? Woojae stared at the alpha who despised him.
“Hey, why are you……”
“What, am I wrong? How did you know to come here? Who told you?”
Another male student seemed to be restraining him, but he didn’t look like he’d be stopped. The bastard strode up to Woojae, pushing his chest and threatening him.
“Can’t I come? I’m also a Jayu freshman, aren’t I?”
Woojae decided to be brazen instead. He was also a Liberal Arts freshman. There was no reason he couldn’t come here.
“Ha, fuck! Wow, look at how shameless this bastard is. Obviously!”
“Why? Why can’t I? Try convincing me.”
The alpha seeking agreement from others as if he was dumbfounded by Woojae’s reaction was funny. The height difference wasn’t big. Woojae also had decent physical conditions for a beta.
“This bastard’s really climbing up. Pfft, hey, wasn’t that funny? Fuck.”
A bastard who could never attack alone but whose mouth was alive. The alpha who gave more attention to the classmates standing around than to him was funnier. Woojae clicked his tongue and smirked. That probably ruined the drunk bastard’s mood even more.
“It’s noisy so stop it.”
“Hey, Jang Yeonju! Are you taking that monkey bastard’s side right now?”
“I said stop it.”
A female student who couldn’t stand to watch intervened. It was the prosecutor’s daughter who had been pounding the back of the classmate who vomited in front of her earlier.
“Stop what? Jang Yeonju, are you into that bastard?”
“No, but fuck, this bastard……”
“Urk!”
“You didn’t hear me say I want to go to prison, did you, bastard? Want to be the victim?”
She wasn’t the type with a good personality either, apparently, as she grabbed the collar of the alpha bastard picking a fight with her. Jang Yeonju, roughly grabbing the man’s collar, showed no sign of being drunk. What the hell is this situation? Woojae ended up flustered by the fight between others unfolding in front of him. Why are they fighting amongst themselves?
“Hey, Yeonju-ya, guys. Don’t fight.”
Another female student stepped in as mediator and pulled the two apart. Jang Yeonju looked like she’d beat the alpha bastard in front of her to death any moment, but surprisingly readily backed off at the female student’s mediation.
“I won’t fight. Don’t worry.”
“Control your temper, Yeonju-ya.”
“Yeah, sorry.”
Jang Yeonju, who had said she wanted to go to prison, transformed like a docile sheep. Woojae vaguely realized. That in his department, the students were divided between those who were hostile to him and those who weren’t. While Woojae stood dumbly like a totem pole feeling awkward, another male student opened his mouth.
“Whatever, Go Woojae. How did you know to come here? Creepy bastard.”
“I told him.”
At that moment, a low voice very familiar to Woojae answered instead.
“Oh, Gye Sajun……”
Right. It was Gye Sajun. That bastard. Woojae muttered curses under his breath. Gye Sajun, boasting superior height and build even among the large-bodied alphas, pushed through the crowd and stood close to Woojae, saying:
“Can’t he? Go Woojae is also a freshman in our department.”
Whether some power was felt in his low voice, the bastards who had been rebelling as if they’d tear Woojae apart until just now became deflated.
“No, it’s not that he can’t, but honestly it’s a bit… Why would the sunbaes leave him out for no reason?”
Ah, the sunbaes. Woojae raised the corners of his mouth in a smile. He couldn’t hold back the sneer.
“So fucking childish, did you eat your age through your asshole?”
Childish bastards. It left a bitter taste. He shouldn’t have come in the first place. After receiving the confirmation kill, while feeling refreshed on one hand, irritation washed over him. It was perhaps a situation he had to endure. From the moment he applied to this school.
“Look at that bastard? Go Woojae, say that again. What did you say?”
“I said you’re fucking childish. That you seem to have eaten your age through your back hole.”
One bastard came forward and intimidated Woojae, as if he felt insulted that they were his sunbaes. Even so, he was shorter than Woojae. Woojae reproached them in a louder voice. He thought those who avoided eye contact as if embarrassed were at least not hostile to him. As Minwook said, they must have been dragged into it.
“Your words are a bit harsh?”
One bastard wearing the mask of mediator criticized Woojae in a slightly disappointed voice. The word disappointed was also funny. Who the hell is he to be disappointed in me?
“Harsh? My words are harsh? The situation is harsh. Adults ostracizing one person is harsh. Are my words harsh? So fucking funny.”
Laughter kept bursting out. Bastards like you are the same. Woojae spoke loudly with blatant hostility. Then even those who had shown a neutral attitude began sending negative looks one by one. Gye Sajun was watching him. He neither stopped this fight-that-wasn’t-a-fight, nor did he join in glaring at him. He just stood in the middle staring with an unreadable expression.
“Woojae-ya, why did you come so late?”
“……Who?”
At the suddenly familiar tone, Woojae, who had been on edge until just before, asked with a dumbfounded expression. The man who called him had a slightly thin build and wore a thick department jacket with the school emblem. The student number engraved on his arm clearly revealed that he was Woojae’s sunbae. At this Moses’s appearance, the classmates stepped back a bit like the parted Red Sea. Except for Gye Sajun.
“I’m late with introductions. I’m the vice president of the Liberal Arts student council and my name is Jeong Minho. I went abroad to study so I’m a sophomore. Call me hyung. Our kids accidentally omitted your contact info, they said. Hyung will apologize. Come sit over here.”
The answer that came back was unexpected.
***
“Are you a bit stupid? If you’d quietly followed me, you wouldn’t have suffered needlessly.”
“Shut up.”
Woojae snapped at Gye Sajun, who was whispering lowly behind him. It was absurd when he’d attached himself behind. Anyway, Woojae was able to set foot in the general meeting where the after-party was in full swing. Though he didn’t know what Vice President Jeong Minho was thinking.
Inside the bar was classy. Even if he conceded a hundred times, it was hard to call it a beer hall. Do these people even know what a beer hall looks like? Woojae recalled the shabby neighborhood beer hall where he’d worked for about two months before coming here and snorted.
A proper university district beer hall should have cheap shiny sofas, and should be dim because the light in the corner was smashed but never fixed. These rich kids must have wanted to imitate commoners. The clearly expensive-looking tables and sofas were quite funny.
“Woojae-ya, sit over here.”
Woojae followed Jeong Minho who was leading him and inadvertently sat next to him. Gye Sajun, who sat in the seat across from him as if it were natural, made Woojae incredulous. But as he had no way to chase Gye Sajun away from the same freshman position, he had to take his seat while held by Jeong Minho’s hand.
“Woojae should introduce himself too. The other kids all did earlier. Introduce yourself.”
“Self-introduction?”
Woojae pondered briefly at the suddenly focused attention. Having come this far, there was no way to avoid it. What kind of self-introduction do they want? Woojae took in the gazes of several people glaring at him as they were and sprang up from his seat at Jeong Minho’s nod.
“Hello. My name is Go Woojae.”
Dozens of pairs of eyes mixed with curiosity and hostility licked down Woojae as if voyeuristically observing him. Among them were indifferent eyes too. Gye Sajun’s. Woojae felt a strange feeling. Because he thought it was rather more comfortable to look at Gye Sajun.
“Everyone should welcome him. Applause!”
……Clap clap clap, the quiet venue mechanically became noisy at Jeong Minho’s shout. Is it always like this? Woojae sat down creakily. The students busy chattering amongst themselves as if they’d never looked at him felt alien.
“Woojae, do you drink well?”
“So-so.”
Jeong Minho’s question was bizarre. Woojae recalled his delinquent student days when he’d strayed long ago and estimated his current drinking capacity. And starting with Woojae answering that question, a bombardment of alcohol followed.
