LIGHTNOVELSTORY #004
#004
After the first class, I couldn’t hide my disappointment. Ha Jin had always been a top student, never missing the number one spot. He was a character blessed with every good attribute—except for his personality. A cheat character who could easily maintain top grades while going out to play every day, thanks to his clever mind. But where did that intelligence go now? Why did it feel like there was only an empty can rattling around in my head?
Business administration wasn’t even my major, so I couldn’t understand anything throughout the class. While everyone was leaving the lecture hall, I sat there blankly, alone. Maybe I should transfer to engineering. Would that mean I couldn’t inherit the Eunha Group? Frantically running my fingers through my aching head, I glanced at Sun Woo, who was still organizing his class notes beside me. In the webtoon, Ha Jin used to mock Sun Woo’s efforts, asking why he studied so hard.
Sun Woo had answered that he needed to get a scholarship, and Ha Jin had laughed even more condescendingly, calling him a “poor bastard.” But now, I realize I’m the poor one, and I’m the one who needs to study harder. Am I paying for Ha Jin’s karma now?
God, you’ve got the wrong person. I’m not that bastard Ha Jin.
As I was calling out to God in my mind, a god-like figure actually appeared before me.
“Ha Jin, what are you doing here? Did you attend class?”
Kim Shin spoke nonsense, as if it were strange for me to be here, even though he was taking this class too. The simple reason I knew he was in this class: Kim Shin had registered for exactly the same schedule as Ha Jin. I guess that’s the kind of effort it takes to be friends with a crazy person.
Kim Shin glanced at Sun Woo and gestured with his head for me to leave. Being penniless, I stood up, hoping to at least get a free meal from him. Until then, Sun Woo hadn’t shown even a bit of interest in me.
The place Kim Shin took me to was their hangout: the tennis club room. It was a spot where Ha Jin frequently appeared in the webtoon. Though it was called a tennis club, it was really just a social gathering for the children of wealthy families, led by Ha Jin.
“Ha Jin, didn’t you see my messages?”
“I don’t have a phone.”
I stared at Kim Shin while answering, contemplating whether I should maintain this friendship with him. When Kim Shin asked, “Why?” with a puzzled look, I kept calculating in my head. The conclusion was simple: he wasn’t a bad character to have as a helper, so I’d keep him around. For someone in Ha Jin’s circle, he wasn’t too much of a wreck personality-wise. In the webtoon, he had even been quite helpful to Ha Jin. His personality was relatively mild compared to others, which is why most readers called him God Kim or Freshly-Baked Kim.
“What happened to your phone?”
“I threw it away because of strange messages.”
“Really? By the way, Ha Jin, what did Jung Woo say to you yesterday? The others said he fell face-first onto the table right after whispering something to you.”
I just stared at Kim Shin without responding.
How would I know? I was possessed after everything was already over.
Kim Shin chuckled.
“Whatever. It was Jung Woo’s fault for whispering.”
Kim Shin was meticulously cleaning the table with wet wipes. It felt surreal to watch someone who looked like he’d never worked a day in his life doing something so domestic.
“Did the Chairman do that to your forehead?”
Hearing him refer to a friend’s father as “Chairman” sent a shiver down my spine. It really drove home the reality that I had become Ha Jin, a member of the wealthy elite.
“Yeah.”
“Why haven’t you treated it? It’ll leave a scar. Want me to apply some medicine?”
“No.”
“It hurts my heart to think of Ha Jin’s face being scarred.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Hmm, Ha Jin, did something good happen today?”
Kim Shin grinned. This guy clearly had no sense of social cues, asking if I was in a good mood despite my curt responses.
“It’s nice that you’re answering properly, unlike usual.”
Ah, this definitely wasn’t how Ha Jin would act. He was always on edge, perpetually irritated, and looked like he was ready to kill anyone who bothered him. Taking Kim Shin’s hint, I fell silent and focused on eating the meal delivered by one of Kim Shin’s sharply dressed employees. The food, which seemed to come from a high-end restaurant, was incredibly delicious.
After finishing lunch, I brushed off the clingy Kim Shin with a single word and headed to the library. With my knowledge of business administration practically nonexistent, I planned to spend my free period looking through some books. I swiped my card at the library entrance like I’d done it a thousand times and found a large table to study. Thirty minutes in, I couldn’t help but curse.
“Damn it. What does any of this mean?”
To someone like me, who had always dreamed of engineering, this was just a sea of black letters on white paper. I tried my best to make sense of it, but the terminology felt like a foreign language. My head made hollow, rattling sounds, and everything seemed dark and confusing. Even a decent engineering student like me could turn into an idiot in this new world of business administration.
Frustrated, I packed up my books and stood. There was no point in staring at something I didn’t understand—divine inspiration wasn’t going to strike. As I walked slowly, I noticed two people, their terrible personalities practically written on their faces, harassing someone who was trying to study.
Who picks fights with someone studying? They’re college students, for crying out loud.
Had I entered a school bullying webtoon instead of a campus one? Ah, Ha Jin shouldn’t think like this. In the webtoon, Ha Jin’s specialty was bullying Sun Woo while he studied—taking his books, deliberately spilling coffee on his laptop. He did all sorts of terrible things.
Wow, what a bastard. Good thing I possessed him before he could do those things.
As I got closer, the two troublemakers spotted me, and their faces slowly lit up. When I was within range, they waved enthusiastically.
“Oh, damn it.”
Yeah, I should’ve expected this. It made perfect sense for these types to be Ha Jin’s friends. Ignoring their greetings, I passed by and warned them in a low voice. Ha Jin was the kind of character who could get away with being harsh.
“Why are you talking in the library?”
“Sorry, were we too loud?”
They immediately became submissive and started following me. I told them to shut up and not to follow me, but they didn’t listen. As I headed out of the library with these two in tow, I caught a glimpse of who they had been harassing—it was Sun Woo.
Sun Woo’s good at fighting, so why is he just taking it?
I clicked my tongue at the protagonist’s incomprehensible behavior.
“Ha Jin, what’s with that wound on your forehead? It wasn’t there yesterday.”
This guy must have been at the scene of yesterday’s incident.
“That crazy bastard Jung Woo must have a death wish. Who does he think he is, approaching Ha Jin?”
“But how did he know to come there? Nobody invited him. After you left yesterday, Ha Jin, we just wrapped things up and everyone went home. What’s the point of us gathering without you there?”
“It’s creepy. How did he even know where to find us?”
“Jung Woo’s getting way too big for his boots. Just because he has some money, he thinks he’s on our level. Nouveau riche bastard doesn’t know his place.”
The two kept chattering as they followed me, but when I didn’t respond, they finally got the hint and left on their own.
* * *
When I returned home after all my classes, I was first moved by the steaming food on the table and then touched again by the first aid kit placed beside it.
“Housekeeper.”
When I showed my gratitude, the housekeeper gave me a cold look.
“Do I have to find it for you every time, young man?”
She pointed to the side of the TV cabinet with a ladle in her hand. It definitely hadn’t been there when I looked earlier.
“I’ll remember.”
I answered, feeling intimidated by her presence, and started eating.
Wow, how long has it been since I had a home-cooked meal?
Living alone in this world was harder than I’d expected. It felt like standing under harsh sunlight with no shade—sometimes, a passerby might create a momentary shadow for me, but they soon left. Standing alone in that shadeless place sometimes felt suffocating.
Back in elementary school, when all I cared about was playing and my only worry was homework, I went on a family trip to Jeju Island. Wearing a tube float, I jumped into the azure sea and urged my parents to come in quickly too. But my parents—my solid fence, my shade—sank into the deep sea. I had to watch as they were swept away by the rip current, while I floated helplessly on an inappropriately cheerful yellow duck tube.
I’m sorry. It was my fault for asking to go into the water.
As soon as the rescue team pulled me out, I cried and apologized desperately. I thought that if I confessed my fault, they might somehow save my parents too. But the beautiful azure water only rippled a few times. The miracle of my parents reappearing never happened.
That’s why this home-cooked meal, made just for me, felt so precious and wonderful. I must have looked pretty pathetic, sniffling while eating, because the housekeeper scolded me from the kitchen.
“Stop sniffling and blow your nose before eating, Ha Jin.”
“Housekeepeeer…”
I immediately got up from the table and hugged her, earning a knock on the head with the ladle before returning to my seat. I instinctively felt that bastard Ha Jin must have been well-behaved with the housekeeper.
Her food was warm and incomparably better than anything I’d eaten before. She watched me eat quietly and handed me a glass of water.
“It makes me so happy to see you eating well, Ha Jin.”
When I looked at her with teary eyes, she clicked her tongue.
“Oh, stop acting pitiful. Someone might mistake you for a lost puppy.”
“It’s really delicious.”
“Then stop eating out and come home to eat.”
“Yes.”
I have to eat at home anyway, now that I’m penniless.
Damn it. Why did I have to possess Ha Jin right after he caused trouble? If he’s supposed to be so wealthy, he should at least have some cash stored away—or even gold bars! There wasn’t even a piggy bank with coins in it.