Eighteen’s Bed Novel Completed - Chapter 119

“Yes? What?”

“The thing you left behind. I kept it just in case.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

I didn’t know what I had left behind, but I didn’t want to prolong the awkwardness, so I deliberately didn’t ask and went up the stairs. What I witnessed there was truly the worst. There was something terrible in the room I arrived at.

“Damn it…”

A phone with a shattered screen. I buried my face in my hands.

And the dormitory I arrived at was almost a haunted house. At least by my standards.

“…Is that a mouse, perhaps?”

I definitely saw something pass by in the nearby bushes. It was bigger than a fist. I stopped trying to visualize its shape again in my head, as it made me feel like throwing up. Maybe I should have just lived alone. I suppressed the nauseating feeling, distressed by the view outside the window, and the staff member, seeing my expression, laughed and said:

“The facilities aren’t great, are they?”

“Huh? Oh, no…”

I flinched, not knowing how to react. Young women are a bit difficult, somehow.

Is it because I haven’t had much occasion to encounter them in my life? The only young woman I’d talked to a lot in my life was my homeroom teacher, but it would be a bit awkward to treat her like my homeroom teacher, wouldn’t it? She looks younger than my homeroom teacher.

My mind raced, and I awkwardly avoided words as I filled out the documents.

“It’s not that it’s not.”

“…”

Usually, by now, people would take a hint and stop talking, but this one strangely kept talking more.

“But you’ll soon be grateful for it, you know? This is a double room building, so everyone’s uncomfortable at first, but later everyone wants to come here. Actually, this place has the best facilities among the dorms. The rooms are the largest, and the bathroom and shower are inside, and the graduate school cafeteria is close by.”

“Why the graduate school cafeteria?”

I just asked out of curiosity, but the staff member’s face suddenly lit up, and she approached me. I was a little startled and took a small step back.

“Ah, um…”

“The graduate school cafeteria is the best in our school. It gets the most crowded, so if you go right at lunchtime, it’s super packed. The College of Education cafeteria is good too, but oh, don’t go to the College of Arts cafeteria.”

“…Okay.”

“Lastly, take this. You see the signature line at the very, very end here, right? Sign here and pick up what you left with us.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I help you with anything? Do you need anything else?”

“No, I’m fine.”

She was an overly kind staff member. When I went to the storage room to pick up my luggage, which had already arrived, the same staff member was waiting at the entrance with a cart. Are the staff here always this friendly? I scratched my head in embarrassment and put my luggage on the cart.

Then I frowned slightly as I looked at the room number.

“Why 414 of all numbers…”

Looking at the ominous number 414 written on the door, I pondered my future school life. When I arrived in the room, I was still alone.

Looking at the spot where the name tag goes, it seemed my roommate hadn’t arrived yet. And my roommate didn’t appear even after I unpacked and took a breather.

“I wish no one would come at all.”

It was a small wish. Living with someone else is indeed uncomfortable. Is it because I’ve lived alone my whole life?

After finishing all the tidying, it was just before dinner. But I had no appetite. I had already heard that it gets crowded during meal times, so I didn’t feel like moving.

So I sat in the chair, looked at my phone, and made up my mind.

I found my homeroom teacher’s number on my old, shattered phone and transferred it to the new phone I had bought a few days ago. After a short ring, the familiar voice answered.

-Hello?

“Teacher?”

-Yes, who is this?

“Teacher, it’s Jun.”

-Oh my.

Then I heard something heavy fall. I briefly took the phone away from my ear and waited, then put it back to my face.

“…Hello?”

-Oh my goodness! Jun!

“I’m sorry, did I surprise you by calling suddenly?”

-No, what happened to you? Why haven’t you been in contact, what happened to you!

“I’m sorry, I’ve been a bit out of it lately… but I thought I should call you.”

-You should, of course you should! Teacher was really worried about you. What do you mean calling now? Ha, seriously. Jun, how are your preparations going now? Did you apply for regular admission?

“Uh, Teacher. Actually… I, I got in.”

-Oh? Wait, Jun. What did you say?

“I, I got into Hankuk University.”

-…!

This time, a metallic scream was heard. Fortunately, it wasn’t a sound that hurt my ears.

-What department? Where!

“Political Science and Diplomacy.”

-Oh my goodness… My heavens, Jun!

“Yes?”

-You did well! Ah, ah. Seriously. Ah! I, really, Teacher… ! How worried Teacher was…!

“Ah, I’m sorry. Um, did the vice principal scold you a lot?”

-Is that the problem now! When are you coming to school?

Do I even have a reason to go to school? I scratched the back of my neck and asked.

“School?”

-Your Suneung score report! You need to get your score report!

Ah. Only then did I realize what I had left at school. So this was it.

“Ah! Um, I don’t think I can go at first because I’ll be busy, I’ll contact you again when I have time.”

-You absolutely have to come. Seriously, how much Teacher… Ha, no. Jun, that’s great. I believed you would get in. Right? My words were right, weren’t they?

“Yes, I think it’s thanks to you. Thank you.”

-You, I was so anxious about you. Do you know how many times Teacher called you? I kept hearing that your phone was always off, and seriously…

“…Why? Was something wrong?”

-Ah, well.

The homeroom teacher, who had been speaking like a machine gun, suddenly stopped. There was definitely meaning in that silence.

-No, it was nothing. Ah, but Jun, did you move?

“Huh? No?”

-Um… you don’t know your Suneung score, do you?

Is it because of the Suneung score? The homeroom teacher’s words sounded slightly uncomfortable.

“…No.”

-No wonder, that’s why you were so calm. Jun, you got a perfect score.

A truly unexpected statement pierced my ears. It was something I hadn’t expected to hear, nor had I tried to hear. When I heard something I couldn’t even imagine, my mind went blank. What did I just hear?

“Yes?”

-Your self-scoring was wrong, you got a perfect score! That’s why Teacher was so desperately looking for you. I told you, you could definitely go to Hankuk University even with regular admission!

“A perfect score?”

-Yes! But I didn’t know you would apply for regular admission on your own like this. Phew, what a relief. Political Science and Diplomacy? If it’s Political Science and Diplomacy, you didn’t lower your sights too much. That’s a relief. You applied perfectly. You can just double major in Business Administration. Once you get into university, that’s all that matters. Well done, well done!

And here I thought she said university wasn’t important in life. I was so dumbfounded, I didn’t even think to argue.

“Me?”

-Yes, don’t you believe it? I was surprised too! Your Suneung score is higher than Jisoo’s. If you had come to graduation, you might have given the final speech. Ha, what is this early admission thing. It’s a shame, isn’t it? Actually, I shouldn’t say this. It’s a secret, okay? Actually, Jisoo studied for one year, and you studied for two years, and Jun helped Teacher a lot, didn’t you? So actually, Teacher felt very bad for Jun.

“No, that’s… impossible.”

There’s no way I got a perfect score… The words that followed in my dazed state brushed past my ears.

After that, I didn’t even try to listen properly. When I came to my senses, the call had ended. Was I happy, or was I just feeling unsettled? It was strange. Thanks to that, I naturally had to skip dinner.

A long time passed, and I awkwardly showered in the unfamiliar shower room. I didn’t really have to, but it was because the color of the tiles and the faucet were new to me. Even the new bathroom slippers felt rough.

After showering, I lay down in bed and tried to sleep, but I heard a child crying outside. I soon realized it was a cat in heat, but it still gave me goosebumps, so I covered my ears with a pillow. I turned my head and saw the adjacent bed, with its mattress bare.

“Do I really not have a roommate?”

The dark night, the slightly yellow wallpaper, the flimsy window, the eerie crying. Everything was new.

I squeezed my eyes shut under the blanket. Finally, unable to bear it, I found my earphones and put them on. I deliberately played loud music and closed my eyes.

Then that nightmarish feeling surged again. Like a child searching for its mother’s breast, I bit my finger horizontally again. The second joint of my index finger was torn and scarred. But it felt just like the texture of chapped lips, which sometimes tormented me even more.

“…Damn it.”

And that night, I realized in torment.

That I still hadn’t recovered from the illness that was Go Yohan.

Thanks to that, I went into my first class having pulled an all-nighter. I spent time blankly on the bed without looking at the clock, then suddenly remembered my schedule and hurriedly got up. I was crazy, I was crazy. I rushed to the lecture hall, only to find it already full, and the professor was packing up to leave. I pressed down the breath that had risen to my throat and scanned my surroundings.

There were more people than in a classroom, and it felt more alien. Zing- An electronic sound bothered my ears. I frowned and looked at the podium, and the professor was holding a microphone.

“Then prepare as instructed, and I’ll see you in this lecture hall at this time next week.”

…Instructed?

I quickly turned my head. White A4 papers were scattered on desks. People casually folded the papers and put them in their bags or tucked them somewhere. What was that? I hesitated for a moment, unable to figure it out, then quickly grabbed someone who was about to pass by and asked awkwardly.

“Excuse me, what was instructed?”

“Huh? Oh, just the grade breakdown and the textbook. And probably the assignments?”

“Ah… Can I get it somewhere?”

“You probably can’t get it from the professor. It should be in the course catalog, though.”

“Thank you.”

Course catalog, is that the same website where I applied for classes? As I was thinking, the student glanced at me, bowed their head, and walked away. Why were they being so self-conscious? Thinking that, I too hesitated and bowed my head.

I felt like I was going to die from awkwardness. Looking around, I saw new groups already formed. They were chattering and laughing about some weirdo in their group chat, or strange things that happened during orientation, and talking about the freshman welcome party. I hesitated and tried to approach them, but then stopped dead in my tracks.

“…”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. Is it okay to act so rashly at a time when everything is just beginning? Dying for the group, living for the group. Always being conscious of what others think. Could I be starting a cycle of living like that again? Haven’t I had enough of it?

Just that rebellious thought made me adjust my bag and leave the lecture hall alone.

“Course catalog, was it?”

In the course catalog room in front of the library, I grumbled openly.

“Ugh, seriously.”

What’s there to find? The course syllabus registered in the course catalog was full of blanks. Attendance, assignments, midterms, finals were all listed as 0%, so what was I supposed to understand from this? This is a major course? Can a major be managed so carelessly? Is this really a prestigious university?