Chapter 151 – Episode 151. Joe’s Story. (One)
[This is Jo Ah-young’s past.]
The first drinking party I had after turning 20.
The opening party, which I participated in with excitement, was less fun than I expected.
“Everyone! Everyone fills up their cups. Do you know that love for siblings is love for country? A toast is always a one-shot!”
…I get goosebumps.
Did you say overrepresentation?
‘Who gives a toast like that these days? I’m all ashamed.’
The male classmate, who was exaggerated because of his age, got up and looked around.
When he saw that people’s glasses were filled, he proudly shouted embarrassing words in a loud voice.
“Together! Verb screw!”
“Verb Sana!”
Also, exaggeration is not for everyone.
Feeling ashamed of myself.
‘Well… That person must have been forced to do it because the seniors ordered him to.’
When I think about it that way, it’s kind of embarrassing.
“Nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you!”
People who don’t know the name like that drank while clinking glasses with each other.
I don’t know why I drink this bitter and tasteless thing.
I was told I was intoxicated by the atmosphere.
As everyone was arguing roughly in line with the exciting atmosphere, before I knew it, my head was dizzy and I was getting drunk.
“Ah Young! Are you really good at drinking?”
“Yes? Me…?”
The bravado of a young twenty-year-old.
He doesn’t seem to have been drinking much, but he must have been excited by the praise that he was a good drinker.
Male seniors gathered around me and kept refilling their glasses, saying I was too drunk, and I got more and more drunk with the illusion that I was really good at drinking.
‘Your face is so hot… I guess it’s okay since there are other female classmates around me.’
I saw the seat next to me.
The female classmate who was originally sitting did not show where she had gone, and Gwadae sat in her place.
“Ah Young. Is your stomach okay? Would you like to go out with me?”
“No… That’s okay. I want you to just sit here.”
Still, it seems that he is trying to take care of his motives, which he says are exaggerated.
The hype, whose name I don’t even know yet, put a hand on my shoulder and helped me when I was dizzy.
“You know I’m a year older, right? Just call me brother.”
“…I’ll just call you by name. Do you mean love of classmate and love of country?”
What is your brother
I shook off the exaggerated hand and straightened my back.
You have to stay alert until you get home.
“Okay. Call as you like I have more questions than that.”
“Huh. What.”
“Do you have a boyfriend right now?”
“No. No? Why all of a sudden?”
“Ah… I’m glad. Actually, I like you a lot.”
…Did Gwadae drink too much?
It’s only been a week since the class started, so how many times have you been telling me that?
“I fell in love at first sight when I first saw it at the OT meeting. Won’t you date me? Not drunk I’m serious.”
Did I drink too much
I forcibly held back what was coming up inside me and spoke as politely as I could.
“Sorry. I have no intention of getting a boyfriend yet. Especially if it’s CC.”
However, on this day, as if luck was not so bad, a senior returning student across the street overheard our conversation.
Unwitting, this senior shouted loudly for her bar to leave.
“Hey! The hype of the first year confesses to the freshman!”
“Already? Wow… They are really fast. Will CC #1 be born now?”
…Crazy.
What is he saying now.
I was dumbfounded and tried to explain, but the hype spoke calmly first.
“Senior! We’re not like that. Don’t tease me too much.”
And whispered quietly into my ear.
“I’ll cover it roughly like this for now, and I’ll explain it separately later. Sorry. Make it embarrassing.”
“No. I’m sorry too. Let’s not be uncomfortable and let’s get along well with good motivation.”
Okay.
Exaggeration must have its own position.
But that day, I should have actively explained.
The next day after the drinking party.
I was rumored throughout the department as a bad bitch who played with an exaggerated mind.
* * *
“Is that him? The one who acted like they were dating and then confessed to him that he was kicked?”
“He said let’s go see a movie first. But I guess there was already someone else.”
That’s what rumors are.
Words that do not exist become true when the majority begin to believe them, and if the words of a person with a position such as Kwa Dae are more persuasive.
Perhaps it was embarrassing that his confession was rejected, he made up words that were not in his favor and spread rumors.
It seems that even the exaggerated influence in the world of a 20-year-old was more frightening than I thought.
‘No matter how much… To bewitched a man. I don’t even have the boys’ numbers yet.’
The female seniors who thought they would be on my side turned their backs on me first, creating rather vicious rumors.
The rumors created by such exaggeration were further inflated by the public opinion created by the female seniors, and from then on I was completely alone in school.
‘Haa… Nothing really happens. What did I do wrong?’
Rice eaten alone at school.
I didn’t expect a great college life, but I never dreamed I would end up in this situation.
Still, I paid expensive tuition and came in, but I don’t want to starve.
I was quietly eating in a corner seat when a woman I thought I had seen came up to me and started talking to me.
“Hey… Is it right for us? Are you eating alone?”
A glamor-style female student with heavy breasts.
Did you say your name was Sujin?
“Is Ahyoung right? I was sitting next to you at our opening party. Do you eat at this time every day?”
“…Huh.”
“Then let’s eat together. There are two other kids with the same name besides me. I hope the four of us can go together from now on!”
I was blown away by the warm hospitality.
But even in my situation, I didn’t want to cause harm to others.
“You know my gossip, right? I am bullied in my class. If you go out together, rumors will spread around you too.”
“Doesn’t care. I don’t believe it unless I’ve seen it with my own eyes. What are those rumors…”
“Thank you from the heart. I’m serious. But I’m really fine.”
I roughly cleaned up the rice I was eating and got up.
The most painful time after the lecture.
With no place to be until the next class, I wandered around the building.
I ate a poor lunch, and I was hungry, and I felt even more miserable.
‘Hungry. Should I just go home…’
Most of the college students at the beginning of the semester were in groups, and I, who was left alone, had nowhere to go.
I arrived at the smoking room after searching for a place where there were no people.
I pulled out a 300 won coffee from the vending machine next to me.
Then, grabbing the coffee that came out and bringing it to your mouth, a sudden wind blew cigarette ash into the paper cup.
Nothing really happens.
“OMG!! Sorry! Are you okay? Not on purpose!”
…What.
This guy’s way of talking is weird.
A man who looked like a tiger came running from the direction the ashes flew.
It seems that he is a returning student who has just been discharged from the military.
“Are you okay? Coffee is again…”
Seeing the cigarette ash floating in the paper cup made me very sad.
Tears seemed to run down my cheeks, and the tears I had been holding back for so long burst out.
“Omg…!! Sorry! I am so very sorry!”
“No! It’s not because of the cigarettes…”
It was embarrassing.
She is draining all her tears and runny nose in front of a man she is seeing for the first time to see if her accumulated emotions have exploded.
“It’s just… I’m having a hard time. It’s not because of you!”
The man hesitated in front of me, wondering what he was so sorry for, and kept his seat.
I squatted in front of him and cried out loud for a long time.
* * *
Fortunately, there was no one else in the smoking room.
After crying for the first time in a long time, I confessed all the words I had been holding back to this man I was seeing for the first time.
Thinking that he was someone I would never see again, the words I wanted to say poured out without a hitch.
“I see… I understand. I had a similar experience.”
“… How can you say that tone?”
“Ah. Sorry. I have that… Weird depression.”
The man listened to me to the end without interrupting once.
And the story he told me after hearing all the stories.
This man also couldn’t adapt to his school life and he said there were days when he went alone.
Even now, most of them go alone after being discharged, but they have their own friends and are living a good life.
“Oh! It’s already time The next class is a little far away, so I have to go now.”
…Yes.
Go ahead.
“Don’t worry too much. College life is just beginning, and there will be many more fun things to do! Be strong.”
I’ve read it somewhere
The biggest consolation when it’s hard is the sympathy of someone who has had a similar experience rather than other words.
I stood up from my seat after staring at the place where the man had left until the class started.
* * *
Perhaps it was thanks to the comfort in the smoking room, from the next day I went to school confidently.
Rumors that I thought would be a big deal were forgotten sooner than I thought, and I soon found a good senior.
“Ah Young. Have you thought about what I said last time?”
“Your sister. Are you talking about the club?”
A high school senior in the same class recommended a club activity.
This senior, whose name is Lee Ha-na, has a pretty face and a kind heart.
“It’s a Pilates club where my friend is, and the atmosphere is good. Why don’t you join them?”
“Uh? I like exercise. I need to go today.”
I joined a club recommended by Hana, and thanks to that, my school life became more enjoyable little by little.
After so many days.
On the way to the photocopying room after class, I saw Hana talking to a man.
‘What? The man across from me…’
The man who looked like Hogu I saw that day in the smoking room was talking to his sister.
Still struggling in front of a woman.
‘What… Why is your face so red?’
Following the man’s gaze, I glimpsed her underwear through the buttonhole of Hana’s shirt.
I didn’t show anything great, just the color of my bra.
‘I’m sorry. Did something like that make your face red?’
…Naive.
That’s why I think it’s even cuter.
Hiding behind and listening to the conversation, it seemed that the man’s name was Lee Jin-woo.
And again after a few days.
I heard the voice of Hana unnie talking to her boyfriend in front of the bathroom.
“Huh. I want to study together at a cafe. Maybe the girl I saw at that time called Jinsu will come too. Do you know Jinwoo? Jinwoo Lee. I plan on calling him too.”
…Lee Jin-woo.
A senior who looks like a hogu is coming to Hana unnie’s cafe.
After talking on the phone, I followed my older sister as she walked away.
“Uh? Ah Young. Are you on your way to class?”
“Yes! Sister. Let’s go together.”
I don’t know why he cares so much about him.
I should say hello and say thank you for meeting me that day.
“Sister. I heard you study together during the test period? Join me too!”
