SMNTCERR, Chapter 24 <100> #6.
10:36.
Bang! Bang!
Someone knocked on the door, and I didn’t order anything. What’s happening? Sangwoo got up from the bed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The other party knocked harder on the door, even though I didn’t know who it was, it was clear that they were hot-tempered and lacked manners. Sangwoo walked closer to the door to peek through the peephole, but at that moment, he heard a loud scream.
“Hey. Chu Sangwoo!”
One more step to reach the door, but Sangwoo hesitated and backed away.
“I know you’re in there, open the door.”
“…”
“Answer, damn it.”
Afraid that even a slight movement might cause a sound, Sangwoo opens his eyes wide and stiffens his body like that.
“I told you to answer, you bastard.”
Suddenly, he hears a muffled cursing sound, which makes it easy for Sangwoo to understand the situation.
He doesn’t go to class, Jang Jaeyoung has followed him all the way to his house, so he knows his address. His bicycle is still parked in the bike rack, so it’s safe to assume that he’s home, and the room number of the owner is displayed at the bike rack.
Sangwoo glared angrily at the person behind the door.
“Leave before I report you for being drunk and disorderly and draw the police on you.” Boom!
The thumping sound is so loud that he worries the door might break.
“Open up.”
“No.”
“Open!”
“I told you no. What the hell is it that someone else has to open the door!”
There is a moment of silence. The hot-headed person on the other side of the door also calms down for a moment. Sangwoo stares at the closed door.
“Hey, you punk. Are you so scared that you have to skip class just because I invited you to watch a movie?”
Those words come with the sound of his own gasping breath, and Sangwoo’s chest moves up and down accordingly.
“Are you skipping class too? You, who would book a seat even if the world is about to explode in the next five minutes?” “It depends.” Thud.
This time, it’s a softer sound. Sangwoo realizes that Jaeyoung is leaning against the door.
“Just one invitation to watch a movie and you act like I’m contagious. And are you really going to drop out of school?” He mutters as if talking to himself.
“Fine, then. How about writing down this reasoning? You, damn it, bully of a sunbae—skip class just because I invited you to watch a movie.”
“Shut your mouth!”
“Is someone going to kidnap you and commit murder, or has someone drugged you and stolen your organs for sale?”
“This is not good! Men doing things together… How disgusting…”
“Have you just come out of the Stone Age? I often go to movies with male friends. I went yesterday too.”
“But not me. I only go to movies with the opposite sex, the one I’ll marry. So stop making loud noises in front of other people’s houses and scram already!” He heard the sound of footsteps cursing loudly and approaching the door.
Then there was the sound of inhaling.
“You dare talk to me like that, you bastard? What do you think I am?”
“You’re the one who started bothering others first. And now you’re saying things like that.”
“It’s only been two days, just two days, and for the rest of the week, I’ve been playing around. Let it go. Since I left my job, this is the first time I’ve done anything useful. Thanks a lot for giving me the opportunity.”
“Is it some kind of disease? Sunbae, why do you have to criticize me so harshly?”
“That’s enough, let’s not talk anymore.”
It may be because the other party had provoked him enough, he could feel the anger in the tone. After leaving the silence for a moment under the door, a thin sheet of paper slipped in, a film ticket.
“Take this and eat it, wherever you want to go. From now on, I won’t go near you.”
“If you’re just going to keep talking like that, then leave right now.”
“That’s all, just go away? You are a nerve-wracking person. And don’t let me see your face again.”
He spoke like a gust of wind, commanding Sangwoo to leave. He was already at home. Where else could he go? At that moment, he heard the sound of footsteps quickly receding, heavy footsteps, and gradually fading away until he couldn’t hear them anymore.
‘Well, that’s good.’
In that instant, Sangwoo felt so angry that he forgot about dropping out of school, hastily changed his clothes without taking a shower to avoid getting delayed, everything that troubled him before Jang Jaeyoung came to find him became blurry, because the other party had come and destroyed everything for a while. Sangwoo felt a strong desire to finish this semester with excellent grades.
‘Don’t let me see your face again.’
This was the second time he heard that sentence. Whether it was back then or now, it was a sentence that was comforting and pleasing at the same time. After hearing that sentence, seven minutes later, Sangwoo changed his clothes, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the apartment. He rode his bicycle until his legs almost broke, straight to the university. When he arrived, the first class was just over. Sangwoo exhaled hot breath and headed towards the Engineering Department.
When Jang Jaeyoung announced that he would leave his life, the shock disappeared. Now, only the recovery from the storm remained. Sangwoo stood in front of Room 303, waiting for the person inside to come out and enter his room where there was nothing to distract him. He opened his textbook with more determination than ever before and began reading the contents inside, as his nervous system released copious amounts of adrenaline.
The anger towards Jang Jaeyoung served as a driving force. Sangwoo stared at the teacher with fiery eyes, and he took notes with a pencil that almost tore the paper apart. He memorized everything he heard, just by looking at the problem, the solution method would appear in his mind. If compared to a game, it was like receiving a continuous power buff. His heart pounded.
Sangwoo couldn’t bear the fact that his daily life was being destroyed by someone like Jang Jaeyoung. On Fridays and Saturdays-Sundays, Sangwoo lived his life to the fullest, with the determination not to become a victim. He sat and read books at the desk for hours without getting up, and during the short breaks between part-time work, he solved the homework problems, his eyes glued to the textbooks. Even if it was just a small doubt, he studied it thoroughly. Nothing slipped through.
When he returned home on Sunday night, he collapsed onto the bed.
The continuous power buff had run out… Sangwoo felt slightly depressed and immensely exhausted, so he tried not to think about anything. But as he lay down and looked at the ceiling, meaningless thoughts flooded his mind, all related to one particular person. Whether it was hands that suddenly appeared, vicious curses spewed by the other party, familiar names used affectionately, or a tongue slowly licking the edge of his lips. It seemed like there was a virus in his brain called Jang Jaeyoung multiplying infinitely.
Even with the lights off… Sangwoo remained in that state, it was a night he felt terrible. return 0;
Week 3, the program is complete, debug error. And it starts working.
8:30, Wake up – Exercise – Take a shower – Eat breakfast.
9:16, Go to school.
9:24, Arrive at the university.
9:30, Enter the classroom – Read and prepare for the lesson – Review the lesson.
10:00, Start the first class.
10:50, Change classrooms.
11:00, Start the second class.
12:00, Went to the cafeteria – Have lunch.
12:28, Went to the convenience store, bought coffee, and took a walk.
12:45, Went to the library, checked out new books, borrowed books, and did homework.
6:00, Went to the cafeteria and had lunch.
6:28, Returned home, brushed teeth, changed clothes, and took a short rest.
7:00, Played games.
9:00, Studied gaming trends and analyzed the direction of the community.
10:00, Studied programming language.
12:00, Reserved a seat in the library and took a short break.
12:30, Went to bed.
Sangwoo came to class at the same time, sat in the same spot, and studied in the same posture. But the subject “Embedded System” felt new and fresh, as if he was attending class for the first time. For Sangwoo, this subject wasn’t much different from the first class he attended because back then, he would often get distracted and lose focus. After finishing the chaotic class where he had to check additional reading materials, the professor called him.
“Student, come here for a moment.”
“Yes.”
He thought the professor might call him for separate training. If it were before, he would have felt like the sky was falling, but now Sangwoo put his books in his bag with an indifferent expression. So many strange things had happened that he felt this level of stress was nothing at all.
Sangwoo stood up from his seat and walked towards the front of the classroom where the professor was holding a microphone.
“Did you call for me, sir?”
Sangwoo spoke in a low voice.
“Why did you miss the previous class?”
The professor rolled up the microphone cord.
‘A senior student whispered to me to go watch a movie, and I got aroused. I was so shaken that I thought about skipping class and not attending.’ Sangwoo lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Where did that student who likes to sleep go?”
“Probably dropped out already.”
The professor finished handling the microphone and handed it to the assistant. Then he glanced sharply at Sangwoo, but Sangwoo didn’t feel anything.
“I have high expectations of you, Student Sangwoo.”
“Do you know me?”
“Are there any teachers in our department who don’t know you?” The teacher smiled so subtly that it didn’t look like a smile.
“Although you disappointed me at first, it’s not too late. From now on, let’s both make an effort.”
“Yes.”
Sangwoo finished saying goodbye and walked to the cafeteria. He had a habit of eating while glancing around to see if anyone was sitting next to him, but no matter how many times he looked around the cafeteria, no one seemed interested in sitting beside him. Sangwoo finished his meal earlier than usual and walked towards the exit.
As he entered the convenience store, the owner immediately shouted.
“Young man! The coffee is here!”
“Oh… thank you.”
“There’s a lot, so feel free to choose.”
Although Sangwoo didn’t control it, his feet automatically walked to the refrigerated vending machine. He reached out and opened the machine, then took out a can of coffee from the fifth row.
‘I have seven cans of this at home.’
He left the store, opened the can, and realized that the pre-packaged product tasted the same as before, but for some reason, he felt it had no flavor. Then Sangwoo understood.
That nothing had returned to normal.
return 0;
One week passed as usual, everything remained in its place, and all the situations were normal. The only thing that changed was Sangwoo himself.
Sangwoo sank into his first bout of depression, but he used his vitality to focus more on studying. However, his life echoed with annoyance everywhere. His concentration decreased, it took him a while to understand what people were saying when he listened. Playing games was no longer enjoyable, and everything became frustrating. When brushing his teeth. When reading a book. When walking, there were moments of pause, like a lagging machine. And in those moments, he had to make an effort to refocus on what he was doing, which was incredibly annoying.
The classroom entrance, the engineering building stairs, the humanities building stairs, the cafeteria entrance, and the library—these places were where Jang Jaeyoung used to appear. Previously, Sangwoo thought he walked slower when passing through these places because he wanted to avoid the other party, but even though he knew that Jaeyoung couldn’t possibly be there 100%, he still couldn’t shake off that habit.
Additionally, there are minor problems such as going to the cafeteria and picking up three chopsticks, wearing clothes inside out, putting on mismatched socks, and sitting still doing nothing for ten minutes, which is a very frightening symptom.
He was like that until the Tuesday before he saw Jang Jaeyoung at the main entrance.
The other party wasn’t wearing a red duck down jacket or a green coat. He came back wearing glasses again and stood smoking in a baseball jacket that Sangwoo had never seen before. In front of Jaeyoung was another male student, both of them standing in the middle of skateboarding and having fun.
Sangwoo wondered how he could encounter Jaeyoung, who was in the middle of a crowd, was it because his constantly changing image was distinctive? Or because of his height? Because of his slim figure? Or because of his goodlooking face when he smiled?
Sangwoo wasn’t familiar with himself thinking like that. Even though he walked past Jaeyoung quickly, just seeing the other party made the boring and slow days come back to life, releasing short bursts of adrenaline. Although it didn’t last long, Sangwoo felt like he had returned to his previous state for a moment.
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Fever Buff: A system in the game MapleStory M that boosts the player’s leveling experience, making the leveling process smoother and helping manage monsters more conveniently.
Lag: The noticeable delay between player movement and server response in a game, which can occur due to insufficient processing power in the server which may process events in real-time’ or the player’s own machine ‘client’.
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