By Zephyria 
The alarm was loud. Without even checking the time, I jumped up, got ready to go out, and quickly left the house.
From the morning, I headed to a PC bang near the university.
Today was course registration day. A crucial day that would determine the success of the next semester!
I could have done it at a PC bang near my house, but since I planned to have lunch and hang out with Seong Hae-min and Min Si-hu afterward, I was hurrying to get there.
Even on the subway, I re-checked the status of my course registration shopping cart. Although I had mixed in some less popular major courses as part of my strategy, seeing that some courses in my cart had failed meant that getting all my target courses wouldn’t be easy.
Of course, I had prepared second and third plans, but succeeding with the first plan was the cleanest.
Because… it was a timetable I had meticulously devised over several days, like playing Tetris, to match my free periods with Do Yun-hyeok’s!
It involved matching Do Yun-hyeok’s schedule as much as possible, fulfilling graduation requirements, considering travel time between buildings, checking course reviews and syllabi, and finally selecting courses I wanted to take!
Therefore, if even one of these courses failed, I might have to give up on several plans I had made with Do Yun-hyeok for the next semester.
‘I absolutely must secure them!’
“You’re here!”
With firm resolve, I arrived at the PC bang to find Min Si-hu, who had already secured seats, waving at me. Min Si-hu boasted about how hard he worked to secure a prime spot for course registration, as recommended by seniors. I sat down next to Min Si-hu and Seong Hae-min.
Min Si-hu, feeling hungry, had ordered a variety of noisy food items since morning. He said he couldn’t resist PC bang food even though we were having lunch later.
Munching on his french fries, Min Si-hu grumbled.
“Why is course registration always in the morning?”
“Old seniors used to do it at 7 AM, so this is pretty mild.”
“7 PM?”
“No. 7 AM.”
“7 AM? That’s insane. Seriously? Who does that?”
“The department office assistant Hyung.”
“That’s shocking, really.”
Min Si-hu exclaimed in disbelief at Seong Hae-min’s words, shaking his head. He didn’t forget to stuff five french fries into his surprised mouth.
I opened a small site in the corner of the screen to check the server time and set it up for quick course registration. Then, I accessed the course registration site and logged in.
As I watched the clock tick closer to the exact hour, I finally started to feel nervous.
“Please, let’s succeed completely…”
“Let’s definitely succeed.”
“Yeah.”
“It would be great if our overlapping courses go through.”
“Me too.”
Seong Hae-min and I nodded at each other. This semester’s timetable included courses we planned to take together. They were quite popular courses, and whether we could succeed was uncertain, but we had also decided on courses to take with Seong Hae-min in our second plan, so there was a fallback.
I re-checked the list of courses I had put in my course registration shopping cart. I had already decided on the order of application based on competition rates and popularity. As I reviewed the course list, I realized that the second semester would start again soon.
“Hey, hey, get ready, get ready! 1 minute left!”
At Min Si-hu’s boisterous shout, I hovered my mouse over the course registration button. I had already entered the anti-bot verification text. Now, all I had to do was click the button the moment the server time hit the exact hour. My tense fingers turned as cold as ice.
The server time quietly counted down. The minute spent waiting rigidly felt like an hour.
“10 seconds left!”
I counted down from ten in my head.
3, 2, 1. Simultaneously with the loud server time alarms ringing out across the PC bang, I clicked the mouse.
“Ah, shit!”
“So many people in the waiting queue.”
“Crazy! My computer froze!”
Groans and cries echoed from various places, even from nearby, but I had no time to pay attention. As soon as the completion pop-up appeared and the screen returned to the shopping cart, I registered for the next course without delay.
My eyes darted back and forth nervously. I moved the mouse and typed on the keyboard like a machine. Click, clack. The sound of mouse clicks overflowed from all directions.
“Hoo…”
After finishing course registration, only two minutes had passed since the start time.
“Is it right that I, a major student, can’t take major courses?! Why doesn’t our department consider major students?”
“You’re out of luck. Just pick up any remaining major courses.”
“Hey, I succeeded in getting 3 days a week!”
“How on earth did you plan your timetable? Let me see.”
“Even if you succeed, it’s a problem. You have a 7-hour gap.”
“You’re just a madman.”
“What does it matter how it is, if I can go to school only three days a week!”
“I’m screwed… The gap period failed…”
“Me? I got all-clear-!”
Only then did the sounds of joy and despair intermingle from various places. People who finished course registration alone and quietly, without forming groups, began to leave. Against their backdrop, I re-checked my completed timetable.
A free Monday, followed by a slightly tight Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, like a checkerboard. And a late Friday morning class. It was a success exactly as planned in my first option.
“Haa…!”
Only after confirming it clearly could I let out a sigh of relief. I quickly sent my completed timetable to Do Yun-hyeok.
“Me: (Photo)”
“Me: Heh heh.”
“Did you succeed?”
Seong Hae-min peered at my monitor and asked. I showed him a thumbs-up instead of answering. Seong Hae-min had also succeeded safely, and we high-fived loudly.
Overlapping courses with Seong Hae-min! He was also a diligent student, so having a reliable ally in case of emergency was reassuring.
And behind Seong Hae-min, Min Si-hu was tearing his hair out.
“Damn it, me! How could I miss a major course-!”
“You’ll have to write a draft.”
“This is driving me crazy!”
The person who had boasted about the prime spot for course registration ended up failing it. Seong Hae-min and I watched Min Si-hu fail his second and third plans consecutively in real-time, sighing with pity.
While Min Si-hu frantically searched for alternative courses after completely messing up his course registration, I chatted with Seong Hae-min. Neither of us played games much, so during our brief free time, we only watched YouTube.
The conversation, which started with overlapping courses, moved on to what we did after classes, and eventually shifted to Lee Beom.
“Lately, I’ve been helping Lee Beom with his questions about two days a week, and I think I’ll continue that until the college entrance exam.”
“You’re amazing, and he’s amazing too. I’m helping him with essays.”
“How’s the essay side? If it’s too much, tell him to focus on the college entrance exam.”
“But he shows potential, so it feels like a waste to give up. If he can meet the minimum requirements, he can apply to places with higher admission rates than his college entrance exam scores.”
“Right. Since he’s diligent, he’ll improve quickly.”
“Yeah. He comes prepared very diligently. I was going to stop if I saw him just going through the motions.”
“He was always a diligent kid.”
Seong Hae-min lowered his gaze. I closed my mouth. ‘Always.’ Even if he pretended not to, Seong Hae-min seemed to miss his friendship with Lee Beom from the novel.
“Actually, a little while ago…”
Seong Hae-min leaned back against the PC bang chair. The springy chair tilted back as if it would fall, then stopped.
“I made a slip of the tongue.”
Seong Hae-min continued calmly. While helping Lee Beom with questions via Zoom, he remembered their study days in the novel world and blurted out, “Back then, at Seoyeon High…”
He realized his mistake right after speaking, but Lee Beom just stared blankly, showing no sign of remembering anything.
“It’s too early to say for sure, but I think he might never remember.”
“……”
“But I guess it doesn’t matter. Even if it’s a memory only we share.”
Bitterness tinged Seong Hae-min’s voice. Yet, it also sounded somewhat relieved.
“Because… he’s the same person.”
“……”
“Even if there are differences from back then.”
I nodded silently.
After all, I was feeling the same thing.
As the time I spent with Seong Hae-min, Min Si-hu, and Do Yun-hyeok grew longer, unlike at first when the differences from the novel felt more pronounced, now I was noticing the similarities first. I realized that their personalities in the novel were influenced by their real-life personalities. The same applied to Lee Beom.
Either way, if Seong Hae-min was satisfied, I was happy.
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Oh, just…”
Min Si-hu, having finished his course registration, poked his pale face in. Seong Hae-min shook his head. Min Si-hu pulled us over, asking us to look at his timetable.
“Is this… your completed timetable? What are you planning to do during this time?”
“You’re going to have a tough time next semester.”
“It’s temporary, temporary!”
Min Si-hu waved his hand dismissively.
Min Si-hu’s timetable, which he claimed to have completed after great effort, was in a dire state.
From the jumbled courses every day to the vast gap periods between the first and seventh classes…
Instead of teasing, Seong Hae-min and I let out gasps of pity.
Min Si-hu, looking crestfallen at our reactions, grumbled that he had to fix it to look more presentable by aiming for canceled seats during the correction period, and tore at his hair.