By Zephyria 
“That would be a good thing, as it would be easier to bring you to me.”
“Even if I’m kicked out without a single penny? What if I’m actually an adopted child, or if the babies were swapped by mistake at the hospital, or if the body is Cha Soo-kyung but the soul inside is some other per—”
I should stop here. Otherwise, he’ll think I’m mentally ill. As I shut my rambling mouth, Kwon Yi-kang turned around to face me.
“So? Was the version of you I’ve seen for a month a lie? Or are you going to become a different person?”
“It’s not that, but…”
“I don’t know whose child you are. I didn’t try to find out, and I didn’t need to. I’m not curious about what your parents possess or how many gold bars you have.”
He said it grandly, but I actually only have two. I made a sad face.
“You are mine. From the moment you held my hand, you were mine. Whether you acknowledge it or not, that doesn’t change.”
Contrary to his forceful words, the movement of his lips lingering over my flushed cheeks was infinitely gentle.
“Even if I’m abandoned with nothing?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I act like a degenerate?”
“Yes.”
His hand wrapped around my neck, and his thumb gently pressed my cheek as his tongue touched my parted lips. The tongue that brushed past as if licking was smooth, and in a way, tantalizing.
“Even if I… do something very bad? Even if I kill someone?”
“Right. As long as you don’t try to escape from me, everything is fine. As long as you don’t like some other bastard, don’t turn your back on me, and just keep leaning on my hand and looking only at me, just like now… I will cherish and love you for the rest of your life. So don’t let your eyes wander to another man. Don’t be swayed by another man’s pheromones, and don’t keep them in your sight or in your heart. …I don’t want to hurt you.”
Kwon Yi-kang whispered in a low voice, applying a steady pressure with the hand wrapped around my neck. Just as the squeezing force gradually intensified and my breath began to grow short, the grip vanished, as if he had been timing it perfectly.
As I let out a small cough from the pain inside my throat, lips overlapped mine as if pouncing, breathing life back into me. My hands wandered up his arms to embrace his shoulders. His trapezius muscles, swollen and hard like an excited beast, throbbed beneath my palms.
∞ ∞ ∞
“Mr. Lee, have some fruit.”
“Thank you. Um… Young Master.”
When I held out a plate of fruit to Lee Kyung-jin, who was sitting on the living room sofa, he took it and called me cautiously.
“Yes?”
“You’ll be heading to school next week… have you registered for your classes? Ah, of course, I’m sure you’ve handled it well, but I’m asking just in case. Please don’t mind me.”
No, I can’t do it on my own. I had even forgotten that I was supposed to go to university starting next week. Why on earth had I completely forgotten this and spent all my time playing around everywhere?
“What is that? Class registration.”
“…You haven’t done it? The registration period should be happening right now.”
“What am I supposed to register for?”
“To take classes, you have to create a timetable and register for courses… Surely you weren’t unaware—no, did you forget?”
Lee Kyung-jin and I exchanged silent glances for a moment. I was flustered by the fact that there was something I didn’t know I had to do, and Lee Kyung-jin was flustered by the fact that I hadn’t done something that was apparently very important.
“Would it be alright if I helped you?”
“Yes. Please help me.”
If I had someone around me who had graduated from college, I would have had the chance to hear what college life was like or how to do things. Everyone around me had grown up uneducated, just like I had. The oppressed and the oppressors were no different.
They often joked that college students these days were easy targets to pick up and sleep with, but they didn’t actually know what college students learned or did at university.
The “college students” they spoke of were mere idlers who were born to the right parents and grew up without worrying about money, throwing money away at a useless place called a university during the day and throwing it away on drinks at night.
“You… do know which university you’re entering, right?”
Lee Kyung-jin asked cautiously, and his face looked somewhat relieved by my answer. We went into the room together and turned on the computer. He went to the academic calendar on the university website and showed me.
“It looks like the semester registration is finished. Did you pay the tuition?”
“I haven’t heard anything. If it’s about paying money, wouldn’t Father have paid it?”
“…I’ve never seen any mail delivered to the Young Master, so the Madam or the Chairman probably handled it.”
Lee Kyung-jin spoke with an uncertain voice, adding a small “probably” at the end.
“Class registration started the day before yesterday.”
“I can still register now, right?”
“That is true, but there probably aren’t any seats left for the good subjects.”
“What are ‘good subjects’?”
“I suppose they are appropriate subjects where you can get a decent grade at a reasonable time.”
What is that? It was an explanation that made no sense at all. When I furrowed my brows, Lee Kyung-jin scratched his head as if he found it difficult to explain.
“You have to choose subjects after figuring out which professors give good grades, whether there are many assignments, or if the exams are tricky. Of course, since you’re a freshman, I can’t expect you to know that.”
So how am I supposed to register for classes? I still didn’t understand.
“Still, if you look at the names of the subjects, there are some that make you think, ‘Ah, this one seems okay.’ You build your timetable around those. Registration is a strategy in its own right. That’s why it’s a bloodbath on the first day.”
Lee Kyung-jin let out a deep sigh, perhaps recalling his own past. I hadn’t even taken a single university class yet, but I already felt a headache coming on.
“I’m paying money to attend school, so they should just tell me what I need to know. Why do they make me choose?”
“That’s because there are major subjects that fit your department and there are liberal arts electives. Since there are credits required for graduation, you calculate and divide them across each semester.”
Ugh, my head hurts. I didn’t know before, and I still don’t know after the explanation. All I realized now was that the university was just taking money for nothing. Despite charging such expensive tuition, they had absolutely no spirit of service.
“It seems complicated at first, but you’ll get used to it after one semester. You don’t have to feel so overwhelmed…”
I am overwhelmed. I received no comfort from Lee Kyung-jin’s words. As I clutched my head, Lee Kyung-jin clicked something and made a humming sound.
“Major added, and the required liberal arts here. I think we just need to fill the rest. Is there any class you particularly want to take?”
“I don’t have any. Can’t I just take the absolutely necessary ones?”
“You can, but it will be troublesome later if you can’t fill your graduation credits.”
That’s something that happens years from now. I can’t even guarantee what will happen next year, so I didn’t want to worry about things even further in the future.
“Just put in one or two appropriate ones.”
I irresponsibly dumped the task on Lee Kyung-jin, and the resulting timetable—aside from art-related subjects—was filled with distant-feeling courses like Basic English, Intermediate English, and Understanding Psychology.
“I heard you are proficient in English because you learned it from a young age. Basic English was mandatory, and there were seats left for Intermediate English, so I added it; it should be fine for the Young Master to take.”
I don’t think it’ll be fine at all.
At this point, the fact that I had mastered Hangeul could be called a miracle. One of the men who managed the district had gathered orphans and taught them how to read and write. He said you need to know things even to steal. You have to be able to read signs to run away. But I had no memory of learning English.
“Mr. Lee.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Just leave it like this for now and let’s go out. I just remembered somewhere I need to go urgently.”
“Is it really alright to register for classes like this?”
“It’s not ‘alright,’ but I don’t think there’s a better option. Just do it. And I’ll go get ready to head out.”
Leaving behind Lee Kyung-jin, who looked at me as if truly asking if I was sure, I hurried into the bathroom.
∞ ∞ ∞
As I trudged out of the building, Lee Kyung-jin, who had been waiting, opened the door for me.
“Did your business go well?”
“…Yes.”
“You seem drained. Did something happen?”
“Just… I already knew, but I’m sad because I had my limits confirmed just in case.”
Before getting into the car, I looked up at the building I had just exited. The massive art academy sign hanging at the top of the building seemed to look down on me mockingly.
“Go to Father’s art museum. I’ve already contacted them.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Perhaps sensing my foul mood, Lee Kyung-jin didn’t play any music and focused quietly on driving. Grateful for his consideration in not asking questions or striking up a conversation, I recalled the words I had heard at the art academy a short while ago.
「Student, does it look easy because the older ones just doodle and get into college instead of doing night self-study? Those kids have been drawing for years. While others were studying, they were drawing while smelling paint. The only difference is that while ordinary kids were digging into books, they were digging into art; the time spent sitting on their butts is the same. How do you expect to draw anything or get into any college with a skill level that lacks even the basics?」
Older ones, my foot. I’m twenty. But what made me angrier was that I couldn’t utter a single word in response to that teacher’s words.
Since Cha Soo-kyung drew, I thought I could just pretend to follow along. I’ve already been accepted to university anyway, so as long as I don’t stand out, it should be fine. I definitely had that lax mindset.