Ch.220215 – A Day of Bad Luck

Daniel tilted her head as she looked at the familiar scene.

The line of college students stretched through the building and spilled out past the entrance.

Daniel shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight and checked her card balance: only 6,410 won left.

‘I can somehow make it until tomorrow.’

She rushed to get in line for the 1,000 won cafeteria meal like she did every day.

On days when the side dishes were decent, waiting 20-30 minutes under the scorching sun was absolute torture.

‘This feels no different from my school lunch days.’

Only the name changed from school lunch to college cafeteria food.

Time isn’t given equally to everyone.

Her classmates were probably in the department lounge or club room, enjoying the cool air conditioning while playing instruments together, and when their delivery food arrived, they’d sit in a circle on the floor to eat lunch.

Daniel never found out whether they ultimately chose pork hocks or sushi from their narrowed-down options.

Just as the long line was finally ending and she was about to buy her meal ticket, a notification from the “Bark” group chat arrived.

[First-year PD trainees assemble! NoName is at Jahayeon! Let’s go go go!]

“Well, I guess I can skip one meal.”

[Payment canceled.]

She believed her stomach would understand if she got to see NoName’s adorable face in person.

* * *

“Daniel, could you go to the main gate and buy some takoyaki?”

“Me?”

“We can’t go to NoName empty-handed. You have the best first impression among us. You can bring NoName back to us, right? Please?”

“Okay…”

Daniel was in no position to refuse her senior’s request to lure NoName to the Bark studio.

“That’ll be 5,000 won.”

“5,000 won? For just six pieces?”

“Yes.”

Five meals’ worth of money disappeared to the food cart’s price gouging.

“Would you like some too, unnie?”

“No! I don’t really like cheese! NoName, eat up!”

This is an investment.

Daniel firmly decided to think of it that way.

With the incredible performance NoName had shown at the pond, her VTube views would surely be high.

If they could produce one more video featuring NoName, the view-count cheat code, they’d receive a much fatter payment.

Though she couldn’t watch until the end because NoName left to be a maestro, it must have made for great content.

But she overlooked how misfortune always follows unexpected luck.

“You can’t process the payment right away?”

“We usually do it once every two months. We did it at the end of June, so the next one will probably be the last week of August. Why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…”

She joined the business-oriented club to make money.

She had heard rumors that joining “Bark” would make her rich, so she competed against many others to become a trainee PD.

Though not as much as rumored, it was still a significant amount for Daniel.

She was devastated to hear she’d have to wait a month and a half to get paid.

‘There’s still some time until my tutoring paycheck…’

Could she survive the next three days?

She could almost see the takoyaki that had gone into NoName’s mouth.

* * *

Daniel was acutely aware that humans are slaves to their hormones.

After three days of an empty stomach, she was beyond hungry—she started getting irritated at everything.

Even her classmates’ thoughtless comments, which she usually endured, now grated on her nerves.

“Seri, my scholarship fell through! Waaah! I had plans to use that money for traveling abroad… everyone else is going but me. What is this?”

“Congrats on your full tuition. Maybe your income bracket came back too high?”

“No, they said we’re in the 9th bracket! Does that make sense? My mom’s a housewife and my dad’s just a regular civil servant. We don’t even own a proper house in Seoul, but they say we’re 9th bracket!”

“Don’t you commute from Seoul?”

“That’s just a lease… it counts as assets even though it’s not our house.”

“The calculation criteria seem a bit strange.”

“Right? I have a friend whose dad runs a big business, but they’re in the 3rd income bracket, so they get full scholarships plus an extra 500,000 won allowance. I’m so jealous… how much money can you save with a low income bracket?”

“Daniel, do you have any overseas travel plans for summer break?”

Her classmates asked Daniel, who was taking a short break in the department lounge.

While some were debating about overseas trips, she was wondering whether to skip meals today.

The notion that Korea University would have fewer wealthy students because it’s a public school with low tuition was pure prejudice.

It was the university with the highest proportion of top-income students in the country, with 60% belonging to the highest income bracket.

Daniel barely suppressed her boiling anger as she left the lounge.

“I’m busy. Who has time for travel?”

Daniel lost two friends.

Not immediately, of course.

But she knew better than anyone that relationships where she couldn’t fit in would eventually drift apart.

“Daniel seems to be in a bad mood today… is she sick?”

Friendships where you only receive and can’t give back never last long.

* * *

“I’m sorry. I really have something urgent today, so I can’t attend.”

“Again…? Can’t you just come, take a photo, and leave?”

“My schedule today is a bit…”

“Alright. We’ll be there until 5 PM, so can you try to stop by before then?”

“I’ll try.”

Daniel skipped the group meeting with a lie that would be exposed in a few hours.

Classes that ended 30 minutes early and used the remaining time for group meetings were perfect for her.

She could maintain minimum credits while still making it to her tutoring job, saving time.

The costs of meals and cafes during group meetings were already substantial.

Rather than attending meetings where she’d awkwardly sit without ordering anything, it was better not to go at all.

Still, to avoid inconveniencing her group members, she pretended to attend, but a small variable disrupted her plan.

[Piano Department ’47 Park Jun-yong]

[Daniel, I hate to say this now, but that motorcycle I lent you for your tutoring job? I need it back. Can you return it?]

They had been close as club seniors and juniors, and seeing how Daniel was always on the outside, this senior four years her senior had kindly lent her his motorcycle.

Park Jun-yong had generously lent his motorcycle, considering her difficult family situation.

But Park Jun-yong confessed to Daniel, and she rejected him.

The result manifested in the worst form: motorcycle confiscation.

Daniel knew she had somewhat exploited his feelings.

But without doing so, she couldn’t maintain a decent life.

Taking public transportation meant leaving at least 30 minutes earlier. Attending group meetings would be impossible.

She leaned her tired body against the window in the back seat of the bus.

Once misfortune arrives, it comes in waves.

[Tutoring Mom]

“Hello?”

[Hi, teacher! Today Hyunseung came back from swimming and doesn’t seem to be feeling well. I wanted to reschedule today’s lesson for tomorrow!]

Again, again, again!

Daniel’s hand gripped her phone tightly.

Words she wouldn’t normally say came out unfiltered.

“Then I’ll count this as one session used…”

[Teacher, how can you say that? I’m not asking for free lessons, just to postpone it!]

“It’s difficult for me when you don’t notify me in advance and tell me just 30 minutes before the session.”

[I didn’t take you for someone so money-hungry! You should think about providing proper service for your salary! And are you teaching our Hyunseung properly? We hired you because you’re from Korea University’s Music Department…]

Both the group meeting and tutoring job fell through.

‘At least the payment date is sooner…’

Money she would have received two weeks later could now be received tomorrow since the tutoring job ended.

So Daniel decided to spend her remaining 1,410 won on a triangle kimbap.

“Welcome to CU!”

* * *

Summer days were long.

Fearing her precarious emotions might explode, she fled from Woo Da-yeon and NoName to a quiet park.

The final dagger in Daniel’s worn-out heart came from her mother.

[I’m out of money. Send me 500,000 won, Daniel.]

She trudged to a bench under a maple tree with lush green leaves and lay down in the shade.

She could feel the damp summer moisture of the wooden planks through her thin white cotton t-shirt.

Her long hair drooped down, the ends touching the dirty ground.

Suppressing her surging emotions, she called her mother.

“I don’t have money.”

Predictably, a stream of curses followed.

Most were about how much her mother had sacrificed for her, how she couldn’t even do this much despite attending Korea University’s Music Department, and threats to sever their parent-child relationship.

Her mother’s tirade continued until her father took the phone.

[Are you living well?]

“It’s hard. I feel like I’m dying.”

[My pretty daughter says it’s hard. Should daddy give you some allowance?]

“You don’t have money. Please stop saying such pathetic things.”

[I’m sorry…]

“That’s why daddy keeps… *cough cough*!”

[Huh? Why does daddy what?]

“Never mind. Just forget it.”

Daniel deliberately left her sentence unfinished.

She felt it would be unfair to take out her stress on her father when others were the source.

She could understand how miserable it must be for a provider to be unable to provide anything.

Just “understand.”

Daniel resented her mother who led her down this path and her father who was of no help in life.

After ending the brief call, she sat up straight again.

As she stretched, her joints cracked loudly.

On the outdoor advertisement in the sky, various news stories were being broadcast with captions.

Bribery allegations in the hundreds of millions, stock manipulation in the billions.

Even in Switzerland, they were paying billions per person to recruit young talents who weren’t even adults yet.

These amounts seemed unreal to her.

Rather than such things, Daniel dreamed the modest dream of winning the lottery’s third prize and having just 2 million won more in her pocket.

She’d had nothing but misfortune all day—couldn’t some luck fall her way?

But Daniel didn’t even have money to buy a lottery ticket.

“I’m so hungry…”

Her stomach felt like it was sticking to her back.

Just as Daniel was turning toward the dormitory with a deep sigh of resignation.

“Are you hungry?”

A voice from in front, slightly below her.

NoName appeared with a rustling black plastic bag and looked up at Daniel.

“I got some spicy seafood stew for one. Want to eat it?”

NoName held out the plastic bag.

Daniel blinked her large eyes repeatedly, her face filled with confusion.

“I thought today was just a run of bad luck…”

“…?”

NoName tilted her head with a bright smile.

“It’s nothing. Thank you, really…”

Daniel couldn’t hold back the tears she had been suppressing all this time.

The mental fortress she had built so carefully crumbled completely in the face of pure kindness.