VDN Ch 4

A man in a white shirt with a few buttons undone and black suit pants stood still in front of the crosswalk.

Squeak.

People waiting at the crosswalk glanced at the man. He had a pretty handsome face, but the pink helmet pressed on his head was a bit unbalanced. Nam-woon kept his gaze on the ground to avoid making eye contact with anyone who might be looking at him. The bicycle that Jang-mi had prepared for him had a cute basket in front, and the body was hot pink. Because of its color, it attracted attention wherever it went.

“It’s around here…”

Nam-woon checked the cell phone map while waiting for the signal. As the signal changed and he pedaled as hard as he could, Nam-woon recalled his call with Chairman Seok.

“As an adult, you should know to take responsibility for the tasks you’ve taken on.“

Chairman Seok had coldly replied to his wish to stop operating the loan shark business. Although it seemed like a father caring for his son, there was not a trace of affection in his voice.

“No matter what happens, maintain the current amount coming in.“

The call ended with Chairman Seok’s final, stern command.

Nam-woon parked in front of the restaurant, leaving the squeaking noise of the bicycle behind, and shouted as he entered the restaurant.

“Delivery!”

“It’s on the table. Take it.”

From experience, Nam-woon knew that to pay off debts, one must earn money day and night. He had to restore the interest rates to their original state and the payment to the chairman had to be maintained for several months, so it was up to Nam-woon to fill in that gap.

Nam-woon carefully placed the prepared food in the insulated bag and checked the delivery address. The pungent smell rushed into his nostrils, making him suddenly hungry, so he bought some snacks along the way.

“Is this really Korea University?”

Nam-woon stopped his bicycle near the main gate. 

Tall and beautiful buildings stood tall and several students were gathered on the green campus. Nam-woon, holding the insulated bag, hesitantly entered through the main gate.

 Wow, Universities are really nice. 

Nam-woon opened his mouth and looked around. For Nam-woon, who had never even stepped near a university gate, universities were a place of fantasy, and now that he was here, it felt like a completely different world. After asking around, Nam-woon arrived at a place called the Liberal Arts Building and handed over the food to the student in room 302.

“Enjoy your meal.”

After completing the delivery and swinging the empty bag, Nam-woon recognized a familiar face through the back door of classroom 303.

“Huh? Kwon Seo-oh?”

[To celebrate our opening event, we are giving away one free pass!]

[The settings book feature has been added.]

[Would you like to use the settings book?]

[▶Yes]

The system presented it as if it had options, but there was only the single word: ‘Yes.’

But was it touch-activated?

The system automatically moved to the next screen before Nam-woon could even raise his hand.

[Kwon Seo-oh – Korea University o o]

“……”

I already know that. It was a function whose purpose he couldn’t understand. Nam-woon, who was about to dismiss it casually, paused for a moment.

Oh, so Kwon Seo-oh and the Main Gong will meet here later?

That’s right. Despite appearances, this novel was supposed to be a story about fresh, young university students! But instead of youthfulness, these university students were taking on a genre filled with obsession and passion. What a crazy world.

In the novel, the Gong studied abroad and then returned to Korea to attend Korea University but since it’s still the beginning of the novel, he was probably still overseas.

When I looked into the classroom, there was Kwon Seo-oh, a male student, and a female student inside. Kwon Seo-oh was staring blankly at his laptop screen. At that moment, the male student, whose legs were shaking a little, asked Kwon Seo-oh loudly.

“Hey, Kwon Seo-oh. Are you whoring yourself out to gangsters?”

Nam-woon’s face hardened. 

Kwon Seo-oh, the one who was asked the question, looked surprisingly calm. He gave the man an indifferent look before lowering his eyes back to the monitor. The woman sitting next to him glanced at Kwon Seo-oh with an anxious expression, but the man continued excitedly.

“If not, why do gangsters keep coming to pick you up?”

“……”

“We know everything, man. It’s no use trying to hide it…”

“Senior.”

Kwon Seo-oh held out a piece of A4 paper. The man, who was called “Senior,” said, “Huh?” and looked down at the paper.

“You can’t use Naver Knowledge iN. Please do it again.”

“This isn’t from Naver Knowledge iN^[1]!”

Kwon Seo-oh silently pointed to the bottom of the paper.

「Naegongnyeom」<em>*is a term from Knowledge iN</em>“^[2]

“…This bastard’s damn picky.”

He snatched the paper. Then he quickly turned his head and spoke again. “

Sol, you said you didn’t have a boyfriend last time, right?”

“Me? Oh…”

The student called Sol made an awkward expression and avoided his gaze. But he persistently asked again,

“You don’t have one, right? That’s right, isn’t it?”

It was a question that felt pressuring, as if she shouldn’t have one. In the end, Sol reluctantly nodded

“…Yes.”

“Then, how about I, oppa, buy you dinner later?”

The man, who referred to himself as oppa, grinned. Seeing his slick smile, Sol seemed to feel sick to her stomach, trailing off with

“Ah, well, I…”

Just then, Kwon Seo-oh, still focused on the monitor, blurted out,

“Didn’t you say you had a part-time job today?”

“Huh?”

Sol asked back with a puzzled expression.

“You’re pretty much done with your part anyway, so you can go first.”

“Uh, okay.”

She glanced at the senior sitting opposite her, then subtly got up from her chair.

“Hey, I’m leaving too.”

The man watching quickly began gathering his things from the desk. However, Kwon Seo-oh stopped him.

“Senior, you have to redo that thing from earlier.”

“What?”

In the meantime, Sol quickly walked out of the classroom. The man exploded in frustration.

“Ah, shit. You can just do that yourself!”

Kwon Seo-oh silently focused only on the monitor. The man, even more angered by this clear act of ignoring him, said to Kwon Seo-oh,

“Are you ignoring me right now? Am I a joke to you? Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?!”

Kwon Seo-oh still didn’t look at him.

“I was going to have dinner with Sol, and you suddenly cut in and ruined it!”

Drrrk.

Suddenly, Kwon Seo-oh stood up from his seat. Because of his tall height, the man’s gaze shot abruptly upwards. The man who had raised his head to look at Kwon Seo-oh flinched and stepped back. Kwon Seo-oh looked down at him and said in a low voice,

“Senior.”

“…Yeah, what.”

“With the weather being hot these days, it’s annoying when someone irritates you, isn’t it?”

“So, what about it?”

“I especially can’t stand the heat.”

The man found himself strangely shrinking back.

Why am I doing this? This guy’s the recessive type that doesn’t even emit pheromones. I’m the one who’s supposed to have the upper hand!

The man who had been backing away realized that he was hiding his body at some point and swore, “Fuck!” Just as he was about to lunge at Kwon Seo-oh, he heard someone shouting loudly from outside.

“Oh, teacher, no, professor! I’ve prepared the materials over here!”

An unfamiliar voice was heard close to the classroom. The man quickly pulled away from Kwon Seo-oh and scowled as much as he could. He grabbed his bag and stormed out of the classroom.

Thump!

As he came out of the classroom, the male student, Na Dae-yeol, collided hard with someone standing in front of him. To be precise, Na Dae-yeol slammed his face into the man’s shoulder. Na Dae-yeol was so furious that he didn’t even feel the pain in his face.

Isn’t that bastard the one who called the professor?

He glared at the man and stomped down the hallway. All the while, his mouth wouldn’t stop moving.

“Kwon Seo-oh, you damn bastard, you pathetic loser. All you have is your face, and you’re still acting all high and mighty, you recessive brat.”

“Over here.”

“Always acting like he’s something special, so damn annoying….”

“Hey.”

“….?”

Suddenly, someone blocked his way. Looking closely, it was the man he had bumped into earlier in front of the classroom.

“If you hit someone, you should apologize.”

Na Dae-yeol was already annoyed to death because of Kwon Seo-oh. He furrowed his brow and glared at the man.

The man was dressed in black suit pants and a shirt, with the sleeves rolled up several times, revealing his forearms, which looked smooth yet firm. He was also quite tall. The slim pants wrapped around his long legs suited him well. Although his expression was a bit fierce, he had an above-average handsome appearance.

He must be quite famous at school. Who is he?

Deep eyes set beneath graceful eyelids steadily gazed at him. Under a strange pressure, he met the man’s gaze in silence when the man in front of him demanded again.

“My shoulder hurts like hell. Aren’t you going to apologize?”

But then something odd caught his eye. It was the insulated bag in the man’s hand and the pink helmet tucked under his arm. Na Dae-yeol snickered. This guy was a delivery man.

“Ha, today everything’s just messed up.”

Na Dae-yeol scoffed at the man and put his hands in his pockets.

“So what? Are you going to the hospital? Do you want money?”

“Money would be good. But…”

As he let out a scoff, the man suddenly thrust his face close to Na Dae-yeol’s. Whoa, what the hell. Na Dae-yeol’s face somehow flushed red. Was it because he was so surprised? He turned his head to avoid the man’s gaze, but the man grabbed Na Dae-yeol’s chin.

“What the hell!”

“Let’s see.”

Their position was odd. Na Dae-yeol was unknowingly tense. The man, who had been quietly examining Na Dae-yeol’s face, asked,

“Are you in good shape?”

“Wh-wh-why are you asking that…?”

The man didn’t listen to Na Dae-yeol and muttered to himself,

“Your corneas are clear? There are no blood vessels, either. How’s your eyesight?”