Ch.105105. Trust Is Meant to Be Betrayed

February’s end.

After Ipchun, which marks the beginning of spring. We’ve already entered Woosoo (雨水), when rain falls and buds sprout.

“…Achoo!”

Even so, it’s still cold enough that we need to wear thick coats.

“Siwoo, are you cold? Should I turn up the heater?”

Hwa Nabi asked, turning around in her computer desk chair.

“No, it’s fine. Right now, this is more urgent.”

I waved my hand dismissively and pointed at the school homepage displayed on the monitor. As I said, what she needed to focus on now was course registration for the first semester of freshman year.

“What? Why is course registration such a big deal… Can’t I just do it casually?”

“With that carefree attitude, you’ll seriously regret it in two weeks.”

The gateway that every university freshman must pass through, the merciless gatekeeper that never forgives latecomers.

The infamous… first-come-first-served course registration.

As someone with experience, just hearing those words made me shudder. But Hwa Nabi looked puzzled, as if she couldn’t grasp its importance or seriousness.

“Sigh….”

No matter how much I explain at this point, it probably won’t sink in. You have to experience things firsthand for them to really register.

After a few weeks, she’ll gradually adapt, and by then, she’ll realize how amazing it is to have “a schedule with no classes on Mondays and Fridays, with daily lectures ending around the same time as mine,” and how much effort went into creating such a schedule.

“Registration opens in two minutes. First, log in now, then when the registration button becomes available, submit the courses you’ve put in your cart in order.”

“Hmm… Okay. I should register for liberal arts courses first, right?”

“You can do liberal arts later. Start with required major courses. …Oh, but before registering for anything else, you absolutely must register for this liberal arts elective called ‘The Joy of Travel’ first. Got it?”

“Really? Is this course that important?”

“Yes, very important.”

The school website server frequently crashes on registration day because of this one course, which says everything about its status.

It’s a two-hour consecutive class starting at 11 AM, but the professor always ends it around noon. The lectures are fun with hardly any assignments. You just need to write a good report as a substitute for the exam, and attendance alone guarantees at least a C+.

Only a fool would miss out on a liberal arts course that practically gives away 2 credits with minimal effort.

“Above all, it’s great because you only need to attend one hour of a two-hour lecture. You save an hour every week.”

“Is shorter lectures better…? Aren’t we losing out if we pay the same tuition but get shorter classes?”

“That would be true for major courses, but for liberal arts courses, shorter is much better. There’s no exam either, and most importantly, you can eat lunch on time.”

“Hmm….”

Despite my emphatic explanation, Hwa Nabi just hummed, seemingly unconvinced.

This is why freshmen just don’t get it. Once she experiences our university’s common three-hour consecutive lectures, she’ll naturally understand what a blessing it is to eat lunch at noon….

“Oh, it’s 10 o’clock.”

“Refresh, refresh!”

Click. As soon as she hit the refresh button, there was an extremely long loading time, and the website slowed down. This must be because of that famous honey lecture.

“Put everything else aside and register for the liberal arts course first. This one, this one!”

“Siwoo, the website is so slow that I can’t click anything…?”

“Be patient and wait. If you refresh again because it’s frustratingly slow, you’ll get pushed back.”

The website was so painfully slow it could make an observer burst with frustration, but Hwa Nabi managed to click the button. As a result, she secured the last spot in the coveted “Joy of Travel” course.

“Um, Siwoo. This registered correctly, right?”

“Let me see… Yes, well done. Now register for major electives. It probably won’t happen, but if any course fills up, we’ll have to rework your schedule.”

“Okay, got it.”

She briefly replied and continued clicking to register for courses. Though she’d never done this before and could easily make mistakes, she was managing surprisingly well without errors.

“Siwoo, is this all done now?”

“Yes, it’s all done. You registered well.”

A quick glance confirmed she’d followed my plan perfectly. Standing behind Hwa Nabi, I placed my hands on her head and gave her a pressure point massage out of appreciation.

Press, press. Carefully, so as not to damage her soft hair. I applied gentle but firm pressure, and she seemed to enjoy it, shuddering her shoulders and making strange moans.

“Ah, hmmm. Hmmmm….”

“…”

I had absolutely no strange intentions, but somehow the situation became quite awkward. However, stopping midway would make it even more awkward, so I just continued the massage.

…After enjoying the massage with suggestive sounds for a while, she spoke.

“Hmm… By the way, hm. Siwoo, can I ask you something?”

“Huh? Sure, what is it?”

I paused, sensing she had something to say. She stroked the back of my hand on her head and casually asked:

“Have you finished your course registration?”

“Me? I haven’t done it yet. We only have one computer at home, you know.”

“Then, don’t you need to register for courses too?”

“…Oh, right.”

*

To cut to the conclusion, I was able to successfully complete my course registration according to the schedule I had planned.

Explaining the process would be a rather long story… but to summarize briefly:

‘Due to the nature of my department, there were plenty of spots available for required major courses, major electives, and required liberal arts courses, so there was no problem. As for the honey liberal arts course, a vacancy appeared just before registration closed, and I was able to get that empty spot.’

──Anyway. After course registration was completed and schedules were finalized.

Early March, the day of the first lecture of the first semester.

“Ugh… why is the lecture hall so far away?”

Hwa Nabi, walking beside me, complained. Well, our university campus is indeed larger than most others.

In high school, even if the school grounds were large, we didn’t go to many different places, so it didn’t feel as big. University is the opposite. Except for certain departments, it’s normal to move to different lecture halls for each class.

Only people who don’t know better think having a large campus is good. For students like us who have to go back and forth every day, there’s absolutely nothing good about a large campus.

“Are you tired?”

“No, no. I’m not tired, just cold.”

It seemed she wasn’t just saying that; the back of Hwa Nabi’s hand was slightly red.

“I told you to wear gloves, didn’t I? You said you’d be fine and didn’t listen to me.”

“…I didn’t know it would be this cold.”

Her lips pouted as she grumbled. Finding her cuteness amusing, I smiled slightly and took her hand.

I put Hwa Nabi’s cold hand in my coat pocket and gently rubbed the back of her hand to transfer body heat. Her protruding lips returned to normal, and she soon calmed down and walked alongside me.

.

.

.

We soon reached our destination. A tall building located in the center of the spacious campus, a seven-story building that also housed the Business Administration Department office.

“We’re here.”

“This building? It’s bigger than I thought… Oh, Siwoo. What floor is our lecture hall on?”

“Third floor, and the room is called the Seminar Room.”

We took the elevator in the lobby to the third floor, walked down the corridor a bit, and saw a lecture hall with a nameplate that read [Seminar Room].

-Creeak.

As soon as we pushed open the double doors of the seminar room and entered, everyone’s eyes flew toward us.

That was inevitable; while I might look ordinary, Hwa Nabi’s hair color alone was perfect for attracting attention. So naturally, people stared.

“There, seats are empty in the very back.”

“Ah, yes.”

I’ve had plenty of experience drawing people’s attention when walking with Hwa Nabi, so this was nothing. Ignoring the stares, I went to the back row and took a seat.

And coincidentally, just as we sat down, the lecture hall door opened again.

“Hello everyone, good morning, right? Or is it almost lunchtime now?”

With a peculiar speech pattern that was neither casual nor formal, a middle-aged woman wearing sunglasses despite being indoors greeted everyone energetically. Giggles could be heard from students throughout the lecture hall.

“I don’t really need to introduce myself, right? My name was in the course description so you all remember it, and you all know what kind of lecture this will be since you registered for it.”

“Wow… she’s really unique.”

I nodded in agreement with Hwa Nabi’s murmur. This professor does have quite a unique character.

“Seeing everyone smile makes me happy too. Today is the first day, and it’s also orientation day, so I’ll finish as quickly as possible. You won’t give me a bad evaluation just because I end early, right?”

Perhaps because she consistently ranks first in course evaluations among liberal arts professors, she has no hesitation in making such jokes.

“Well, I’ll trust that you’ll handle it well and start by introducing the course curriculum. As you all know, this course is about learning the joy, happiness, benefits, and positive functions of travel, right? All you need to do is understand that, so there won’t be any group projects or midterm and final exams. I’ll generally end lectures early as long as you stay focused.”

“…See, I told you so?”

It was thanks to me that she got into a liberal arts course with no exams that ends early. As I nodded at Hwa Nabi with satisfaction, right at that moment:

“Oh, but this year the curriculum has changed slightly from last year. I wrote it all in the course description, did you all check it?”

…Did she? As I tried to recall what I might have missed, the professor continued her explanation.

“While maintaining the curriculum without group projects and exams, each of you must write and submit a report as a substitute for the exam by June 12th, the last day of class, and present it. The topic of the report is, of course, about the joy and benefits of travel… but here’s one important point.”

“…”

“Since you need to personally experience the joy and benefits of travel, students must actually go on a trip somewhere before writing the report. The report must be handwritten, and you must include at least 15 photos with your face in them.”

“…Huh?”

It wasn’t just me who misheard; murmurs spread among the students sitting in the lecture hall.

“If I just leave it at that, some people might just grab random photos from anywhere and submit them. If you get caught doing that, you’ll get an F. I’m not joking. You might think you won’t get caught, but everyone does. Copy Killer was recently updated to detect images too.”

I belatedly realized something had gone wrong, but the other conditions were too attractive to drop the course. Only a fool would give up a liberal arts course with no group projects or exams that ends an hour early every day.

So, the conclusion is…

“Um, Siwoo.”

“Yes?”

“Where should we go for our trip this time?”

“…”

…Looks like we’re going on another trip.