Chapter 23: The Unwanted Spotlight

The weekend that came after the tense weekday was comforting.
Chaewoo had a proper meal out with his uncle for the first time in a long time.

Saying he had some spare cash, his uncle suggested they go to the Italian restaurant Chaewoo used to frequent in high school.

Chaewoo, who had been excited on the way to the restaurant, became disheartened the moment he sat down and saw the prices on the menu.

A single salad for 23,000 won, the main T-bone steak for 66,000 won, and the sea bream cartoccio for 45,000 won.

With drinks, a single meal was more expensive than Chaewoo’s monthly living expenses.

He wondered how he had come to eat such things without a second thought back then.

In high school, he didn’t even know the prices of the food.

He just ordered whatever he wanted based on the pictures.

His uncle’s tanned skin, his own attire, and the atmosphere compared to the other patrons—all of it weighed on him.
And he felt the most ashamed and foolish for being so sensitive to such small things.

Noticing his darkened expression, his uncle told him it was okay and to order whatever he wanted.

After much deliberation, the food he ordered came out in a timely manner—not too slow, not too fast.

“Anything new at school these days?”

“Not really. Just trying my best to graduate.”

“About… that. Ahem. They’re not making any strange demands on you, are they?”

“Them? …Ah.”

Chaewoo paused as he was about to bring the food on his fork to his mouth.
At that, his uncle’s expression immediately hardened.

“Why. Don’t tell me they’re saying anything degrading? I heard they proceed with as little contact with the clients as possible. They say the hospital systems are so good these days that you don’t have to get stressed out from facing them. If anything seems off, just…”

“Nothing like that. Just like you said, Uncle, we just see each other briefly at the hospital and that’s it.”

He lied, not having the courage to confess the truth.

He couldn’t possibly tell his uncle that he had already slept with the client’s son because of his heat cycle, let alone at a hospital.

He might just faint on the spot if he knew the truth.

“Well, that’s a relief then.”

“You worry too much, Uncle. I’m twenty-six now.”

“Big deal. You should gain some weight. You were already thin, but you lost so much last year and you’re still like this. Are you skipping meals again?”

“No.”

“Eat up. That’s how you get taller.”

Chaewoo smiled faintly.

His father and uncle were always disappointed with Chaewoo’s height.

His mother was tall, and everyone on his father’s side was over 180cm, but by a very narrow margin, only Chaewoo was 179cm.

Though he took comfort in the fact that he was taller than average, his uncle thought differently.

He insisted that a vocal performer needed a large build and wanted him to at least get a bit chubby.

“How’s your work going, Uncle? Are you still living in that gosiwon?”

“Work is crazy. I only go to the gosiwon to sleep.”

“Still, take care of yourself.”

“You think I’ll starve myself like you? I haven’t even resolved the lawsuit for my sister-in-law’s insurance money yet. I don’t have time to be stuck in a room.”

After his mother passed away in an accident, the insurance company had refused to pay, delaying the death benefit.

The lawsuit that eventually went to court had been ongoing for over a year.

Just like the other debt issues, his uncle was handling most of the lawsuit as well.

‘It will all work out.’

He wanted to offer the kind of optimistic comfort people often gave, but he had recently realized that such words could only be said when one had a certain degree of余裕.

The conversation soon naturally shifted to another topic.

After the meal, the dessert they had ordered earlier arrived.

It tasted exactly as he remembered.

Now that he looked, even the waiter’s face was somewhat familiar.

It seemed he hadn’t changed at all.

Finding that strangely fascinating, Chaewoo glanced at the waiter several times.

How should he explain this?

His own environment had changed completely and for the worse, but he was strangely moved by the fact that something that hadn’t changed still existed somewhere.

It might be a trivial thing to someone else, but Chaewoo felt as if he had discovered something amazing.

He was glad he came here.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“…It’s nothing, Uncle.”

****

The cozy feeling he had experienced for the first time in a while flew away as soon as Monday arrived.

There were several reasons for that.

First, he had overslept in the morning and barely made it to his morning class.

Then, an afternoon class was suddenly added.

The general education professor had a personal schedule on the original class day and had hastily changed the date.

The problem was that the notice was sent out very late, and Chaewoo had seen it too late because he was in his morning class.

Having arrived at the lecture hall just a minute before the class started without even a book,

Chaewoo panted as he looked for a seat.

When he looked at his usual spot in the very back, he was astounded to see that guy sitting there.

The biggest culprit who not only made him forget the happiness of the weekend but also ruined his mood.

“Beom Euigeon.”

To be precise, Euigeon was sitting two rows in front of what was practically Chaewoo’s designated spot.

What was even more ridiculous was that Euigeon’s group of third-years was also swarming around him.

They must have had a mass migration, following their leader.

Chaewoo’s lip twitched.
The peaceful back rows were needlessly bustling.

Kim Yunso, sitting in the back as usual, saw Chaewoo and shrugged.
Chaewoo mouthed a request for an explanation.

‘What happened?’

‘I don’t know either.’

“……”

“You’re student Seol Chaewoo, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Don’t just stand there, come in. We’re about to start the lecture.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For some reason, the only seats left are in the very back and the very front. Go sit in an empty spot.”

Having no other choice, Chaewoo sat in the front row.

‘Right. It’ll be fine to sit in the front for one day.’

‘The class time was only changed for today anyway, so from next time, I can just come earlier than usual and save a seat.’

He tried to console himself, but an uneasy question raised its head.

What if Euigeon kept sitting in the back like today?

What if he had to sit in the very front, the furthest place from him, to avoid him?

What if, because of that, he attracted the attention of the more proactive students and got involved in some tiresome business when he could barely manage himself?

He really hated it.

Chaewoo swallowed a sigh and turned back out of habit to check the wall clock.

At that moment, his eyes met Euigeon’s, who was sitting leisurely in the back.

“……”

Euigeon didn’t even try to look away; he observed Chaewoo very openly and obviously.

Flustered, Chaewoo forgot to even check the time and turned his head forward.

‘What is that jerk really doing?’

Clenching his pen, Chaewoo secretly trembled with a mix of injustice and annoyance.

It would be fine if he just didn’t react, but once he felt the gaze, he couldn’t concentrate at all.

“…For that reason, it did not receive much attention in the Baroque era’s sensibility. It was devalued as being too monotonous, and only in the modern era did it begin to be reinterpreted. But the evaluation is not always favorable. What do you think, student Seol Chaewoo?”

“Pardon?”

“Ahem, student Seol Chaewoo.”

“…Pardon?”

The professor who was giving the lecture threw a question without warning and stared intently at Chaewoo before even hearing the answer.

“Did your face always look like this, student?”

Wondering if his hair was severely sticking up or if something was on his face, Chaewoo quickly observed himself in his phone screen’s reflection.

“No, I don’t mean there’s something on it. I just never knew your face properly because you always sat in the back. You’re very handsome.”

“Ah…”

“It would be rude to call a man pretty, wouldn’t it? Anyway, I’m envious, you must be very popular. So, I must hear student Seol Chaewoo’s answer even more. I’m curious if he’ll give an answer as wonderful as his face. Everyone, don’t misunderstand. It’s absolutely not because I’m jealous. Haha.”

A few students laughed along with the professor’s joke.
While he stood up awkwardly and answered the question, the students’ attention naturally focused on Chaewoo.
Having not been in the spotlight like this recently, his mind became so scattered that he didn’t even know what he was saying.

After finishing his answer and finally sitting down, Chaewoo turned back, trying to calm his boiling insides.

When he glared at Euigeon while pretending to look at the wall clock, the man twisted his lips into an annoying smile.

He didn’t even avoid his gaze and responded with a look that said, ‘What are you going to do about it?’

‘What is wrong with that jerk?’

Unfortunately, it seemed people didn’t know, but Beom Euigeon was definitely a psycho.

They were all being fooled by his decent appearance.

Had he suddenly decided to change his ways because life had become too boring?

Chaewoo tried hard to find an answer as to why Euigeon had been suspiciously hovering around him lately.

But no reasonable explanation for ‘why Euigeon had gone crazy’ came to mind.

It was too little to be called bullying.

This was more ambiguous… an action that deviated from the original mold.

As if he had finally found the right word, Chaewoo subconsciously wrote the (practically meaningless) word ‘mold’ in his notebook.

Yes, this wasn’t the original relationship he and Euigeon had.
Euigeon was continuously breaking the unwritten rule of not acknowledging each other.

But why?

Did he have something to say?

Don’t tell me he wants to terminate the contract?

If that were the case, he would have made some clear gesture by now, whether by phone, text, or whenever they ran into each other.

Euigeon had not.

If Euigeon didn’t want to say it directly, there were plenty of people who could convey his intentions, like Park Myeong-seon or the lawyer.

Seeing as there had been no contact from them, what Euigeon wanted was at least not the termination of the contract.

Then what was it?

The conclusion to the question fizzled out.

It was because Chaewoo was called on three more times by the professor that day.

As if he had designated Chaewoo as his personal question student, he threw a new problem at him whenever he had the chance.

By the end of the lecture, his throat was parched with thirst and fatigue.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was the most difficult lecture Chaewoo had ever taken.

The very culprit who had created this situation annoyingly packed his bag and left as soon as the lecture was over.