SDM 18

Perhaps because it was the first day of the semester, the lecture ended after a brief introduction. Seong-woon stayed in his seat until the other students left. And Sang-hyun, sitting next to him, did the same.

Ah, I should have just mixed in with the crowd and left.

Seong-woon had remained seated thinking Sang-hyun would leave as soon as the lecture ended, but his prediction was totally off.

“Hi, Chae-yoon.”

Seong-woon, who had been too preoccupied with watching Sang-hyun next to him, was startled by the presence of a female student standing in front of him. Meanwhile, the girl also greeted Sang-hyun.

“Hello, sunbae-nim.”

“Hi.”

The female student, who had politely greeted Baek Sang-hyun with a slightly flushed face, stared blankly at Chae-yoon for a moment before continuing.

“You might not remember me since it’s been so long. I’m Lee Ye-won. I’m the class representative for the 2x cohort, Baekdu class.”

“Oh… hi.”

“Yeah. I heard you were returning to school and was going to contact you… but I decided it might be better to talk in person.”

Ye-won pushed up her round glasses slightly and shared a wealth of information that could be helpful for Seong-woon’s college life.

“Actually, this lecture is for juniors who’re a year below us. It’s a required course for the first and second semesters, so not many from our year are taking it. I’ve already spoken to the junior class representative, so if you need a study group, talk to them. They’ll set you up well. And…”

After explaining everything from the location of the department office and how to use lockers to inviting him to the 2x cohort group chat, Ye-won looked quietly at Seong-woon, who was just nodding along, and let out a small “hmm.”

“Um… I enjoyed your drama! We were all worried last year, but it’s good to see you’re healthy now.”

“…Worried?”

“Yeah. You…”

Ye-won hesitated, unable to finish her words. 

Ah, there was some kind of incident at school too, right? That’s why he only attended school for a week before taking a leave of absence.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

“… I-it’s nothing.”

At his words, accompanied by a bright smile, Ye-won’s face instantly turned red. Her cheeks became so flushed they looked like they might burst. She reminded Seong-woon of a manga character, causing him to smile even more. This made Ye-won’s face look like it might explode with blood at any moment.

“Wow…!”

“Huh?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Um… there’s a welcome party the day after tomorrow. Would you like to come? It’s a good chance to get to know your classmates and juniors. Of course… most people probably already know you.”

“Yeah, I’ll come.”

“If you can’t make it, that’s okay… Wait, you’re coming?”

“Yes.”

“…Awesome!”

Gone was the cool and charismatic class representative from earlier. Ye-won jumped up and down in excitement. But her joy was short-lived; overcome by embarrassment, she hurriedly said goodbye and fled the classroom.

Now that there’s hardly anyone left, it should be okay to leave. Let’s just ignore the person next to me. I only need to come for three days and then take another leave of absence anyway. 

Seong-woon stood up, sending a message to his manager.

“…I’ll be going now, sunbae-nim.”

Not wanting to be seen as a rude junior in both school and the entertainment industry, Seong-woon politely said goodbye and shouldered his bag.

“Did you pull some strings to get in?”

“…Pardon?”

“Here.”

It seemed like a mocking comment, but to Seong-woon, who still treated Ryu Chae-yoon as a separate entity, the words had no impact.

“Well, that’s a skill too, I suppose.”

If he laid down grass, that’s a good thing for the school, isn’t it? Whether Ryu Chae-yoon properly passed the entrance exams or bought his way in, it wasn’t particularly important. Shrugging his shoulders, Seong-woon left the classroom first.

It seemed that constantly running into Baek Sang-hyun was somehow related to the quests given by those Reincarnation Management Committee guys, which made him feel uneasy.

It was too much of a coincidence to keep bumping into Baek Sang-hyun every time he completed a quest, wasn’t it? Surely ‘Ryu Chae-yoon’s’ desired connection couldn’t be with Baek Sang-hyun, would it?

A chill ran down his spine for a moment. Baek Sang-hyun, who was kind and gentle to everyone, didn’t even treat Ryu Chae-yoon like a person…

If Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish was to be involved with Baek Sang-hyun, how on earth was he supposed to grant that? It was ironic that Baek Sang-hyun had been kind only to Jin Seong-woon, who was disliked by everyone else.

“…No way.”

“What is it?”

“Oh, hyung.”

“I was shocked seeing the crowd gather earlier.”

“It probably wasn’t just because of me.”

“It was definitely because of you, young master.”

“No, it wasn’t. Baek Sang-hyun also attends this school.”

“…Ah, right. He’s probably a senior this year. The Business School students are lucky this year.”

What do you mean lucky? As if celebrities are that special. They’re just regular people. You’ll get tired of seeing their faces every day.

“From now on, please wear a hat and a mask.”

Despite his thoughts, the blatant stares from all around made Seong-woon agree with Hyeong-seok’s words. He might have received more looks today than in his 30 years as a celebrity.

* * *

Anonymous

What’s going on at the Business School?

Why are there so many people?

💬 14

Anonymous

Baek Sang-hyun has descended

Anonymous

➥OMG

Anonymous

➥Returned from leave?

Anonymous

➥➥Nah, he’s graduating

Anonymous

I heard Ryu Chae-yoon was there too? I wasn’t that surprised by Baek Sang-hyun since I already knew him, but Ryu Chae-yoon’s appearance was really surprising. He doesn’t seem human.

Anonymous

➥Who’s that?

Anonymous

➥➥This guy (photo)

Anonymous

➥➥➥Are you crazy? Did you take that?

Anonymous

➥➥➥➥Yeah, just a basic phone cam lol no matter how I look at it, he doesn’t seem like the same species as me

Anonymous

(photo) I took a picture too. His smile is incredibly handsome

Anonymous

➥What’s with the Business School students?

Anonymous

➥➥The Economics department produced the second Ryu god

Anonymous

➥➥➥I heard Ryu Chae-yoon is the fifth Ryu god? And he’s even a celebrity lol Business School wins for sureㅇㅇ

Anonymous

➥➥➥lol lol lol Science College is done lol

Anonymous

Can I just attend Business School classes?

What can I listen to?

💬 10

Anonymous

Double major?

Anonymous

➥They say Sang-hyun oppa is there

Anonymous

➥➥Crazy lol

Anonymous

I recommend Principles of Accounting, it’s a large lecture

Anonymous

➥Thanks

Anonymous

➥➥Are you serious?

Anonymous

➥➥➥Yeah, of course

Anonymous

There are no seats in Principles of Accounting, can’t I take something else? Any other 4th year classes?

Anonymous

➥You’ll get caught

Anonymous

➥➥Ugh, come on

“What are you looking at?”

“…Nothing.”

The school community forum, which he had joined to get the course information, was already buzzing with rumors. Not only the news of Sang-hyun’s return from break but even Ryu Chae-yoon, who had only appeared for 3 minutes in a drama, was being talked about so much. It was surprising. Of course, it was just a drop in the ocean compared to the mentions of Baek Sang-hyun, but still.

“Oh, it’s already all over the community that you’ve returned to school.”

The manager showed him a community post with screenshots from the school forum. Everyone was crying out for his next project, with occasional mentions of Ryu Chae-yoon as well.

“By the way… you went to check on that Ryu Chae-yoon’s audition last time, right?”

“……”

“He got the role.”

Putting down his phone, Sang-hyun rubbed his strained eyes. He had tried to change his environment, fearing that if he continued to be buried in work, a truly diresituation might arise. But now he wondered if things might be getting worse.

“Seems like there are people cut out to be celebrities. Just look at how famous he’s become from a minor role. I heard he had almost 3 million followers even when he was just a regular person.”

Sang-hyun glanced at his manager, who was showing quite a favorable reaction. Having been in the industry for a long time, the manager had quite high standards and rarely gave such compliments, even if they didn’t quite sound like compliments.

“…Seems like you had a good impression?”

“He greeted people well. Maybe it’s because of the corners of his mouth, but he has a likeable face that looks like he’s genuine.”

It meant he wasn’t stiff-necked. Sang-hyun exhaled deeply, remembering Chae-yoon who had calmly ignored his sarcasm, not even bothering to listen.

Due to the severe insomnia, he couldn’t keep his mind clear. At least when acting, his brain seemed to work as he became someone else. But constantly being in reality felt like his head was filled with fog.

“Sang-hyun.”

“……”

“If you can’t sleep, take some medicine.”

“I’m fine.”

That must be why he’s seeing things. The radiance he used to see only from that person, now visible in Ryu Chae-yoon, is an illusion. The feeling that that person has come back to life when he hears Ryu Chae-yoon speak is just an auditory hallucination. But…

“…Are you going to keep attending school?”

“……”

After pondering for a moment, Sang-hyun nodded. Even if it were illusions and hallucinations, they were something Sang-hyun desperately needed right now. He postponed cursing his deranged eyes and ears for a little later.

“Alright. As for the photo shoot and commercial schedules…”

“Do as you see fit.”

“I’ll arrange the schedule after looking at your timetable.”

The manager parked the car in the parking lot, got out to check the surroundings first, and then signalled that it was okay to get out. They had to be careful because there were too many reporters chasing after him for any scandal material.

“I’ll come tomorrow.”

“I can go to school by myself, so don’t come.”

“No way. There are too many reporters following you right now. It would cause more trouble if you go alone.”

With “Human Justice” breaking all records on Webflix and becoming a global hit, the attention focused on him now was enormous.

When news of his next project didn’t come out immediately, fans went crazy – today, information about his return to school had leaked, so they must be even more frantic – and reporters were following his every move like hawks.

Right now, Baek Sang-hyun was a walking guarantee of views, that is, a cash cow. One proper photo, one incident could change the life of an entertainment reporter and their media outlet.

What if they caught a dating scandal? The agency would pour money to bury it, and if it were made public, the number and price of ads attached to web pages would increase exponentially.

Of course, the problem was that while Sang-hyun would have meals with groups of people, he didn’t have anyone close enough to be considered lovers. Even casual encounters had stopped after that incident a few months ago.

“Don’t watch anything unnecessary, just go straight to sleep.”

Sang-hyun nodded, and the manager watched him go in for quite a while. Because he never showed even the slightest sign of wavering whether on the set or at the company, it made the manager even more worried.

Shaking off the manager’s lingering gaze, Sang-hyun entered the empty house. In the spacious living room filled with expensive interior design, the only place for Sang-hyun to be was in front of the TV. The TV, which was on in the morning, at night, and during the day, usually played the acting of just one person on repeat.

Even now, the paused screen showed the face of a man. A face that anyone could see had been in front of cameras for a long time, a well-maintained body and clear complexion, and despite having been an actor for so long, there was still a pure color remaining in his eyes.

Sang-hyun picked up the remote and pressed play. The clear pronunciation and vocalization that didn’t carelessly skip a single consonant or vowel drove the lines into one’s ears. With a natural expression, he looked at Sang-hyun from the screen and cried out as if pleading.

“Senior! It’s only now, we can save him if it’s now!”

Leaving the video of one person’s continuous acting playing, Sang-hyun lay down on the cold floor. Staring blankly at the screen and then just closing his eyes for a moment was the only sleep allowed to him.