episode_0007

After a few days passed since the uniform inspection.

During this time, there wasn’t much for the student council to handle. Mostly because academic schedules tend to be concentrated in the summer and fall…

Nevertheless, with plenty of time on hand, I spent it working part-time, coordinating schedules, and engaging in productive activities.

And today was a day to show up at the student council room.

Thump, thump—

The fourth-floor corridor was not bustling with noise.

Occasionally, sounds like “Before Akard existed,” from the anime club or “I miss Louise!” could be heard.

Additionally, faint moans and Japanese phrases like “Kimochi!” and “Yamete” flowed from the nearby movie appreciation club.

I don’t know about the anime club, but the movie appreciation club seemed like it needed a surprise inspection.

How can movie appreciation turn into Japanese adult videos…

“The end is near, the end.”

With a dry mouth, I walked towards the student council room.

Perhaps to ventilate, the door was left open. Sounds of movement could be heard from inside.

There weren’t many people. Even if we counted generously, there were two, but from what I saw, there was only one. So, it was easy to guess who it was.

With light steps, I entered the student council room.

The wind breezed in through the open window. The scent of green tea mixed in the air.

Thinking it must be green tea today, not black tea, I raised my head.

Park A-yeong, sitting on the sofa next to the window, reading a book, came into view.

Seemingly unaware of my presence, she casually flipped through the pages.

“Ahem.”

As I cleared my throat to announce my presence, Park A-yeong’s gaze finally lifted from the book to me.

Her blue eyes, filled with curiosity, quickly turned into a welcoming expression upon seeing my face.

“Jinwoo! Hello! It’s been ages!”

“Hello to you too. But weren’t we just in class together until a moment ago?”

Ages? Really…

After exchanging brief greetings, I sat across from Park A-yeong.

“?”

Her expression changed oddly.

“Why are you sitting in the front row?”

“Should I sit in the back then?”

Park A-yeong shook her head.

“Subin has an assigned seat here.”

“There’s an assigned seating concept?”

“Yeah. I sit here, the president sits there, and Jinwoo, you’re supposed to sit next to me. We talked about this last time, remember?”

“When did we talk about this, Miss?”

“Of course, it was the day Jinwoo was fooling around during student council duties.”

“…Right.”

If there were any complaints, they should have been taken to the student council…

I stood up and took the seat next to Park A-yeong.

Sending a look that said, “Is it okay now?” she responded with a satisfied expression.

“You’ll get scolded next time if you sit in the wrong place.”

“Just for that?”

“Of course. Assigned seats are a very cool and noble tradition passed down through the generations in the student council. If you sit in the wrong place, you’ll get scolded.”

It’s tempting to call back the graduate who made this tradition and give them a piece of my mind…

Muttering to myself, Park A-yeong brought out a tea set.

If the teacup with a Renaissance background from last time was impressive, this time it was set in the Goryeo period.

Simply put, this also looked ridiculously expensive.

“The utensils change depending on the tea…”

“Yeah, but it all ends with the teacup.”

“Usually, there isn’t even one.”

Park A-yeong awkwardly smiled as she poured hot green tea into the cup. She mentioned using expensive tea leaves, giving the tea a delicate green color.

“A-yeong, did you make this tea?”

“I’m not talented in this area. The president brewed it before leaving.”

“The president was here?”

“Yeah, she was here until just now. She went down to the library for the Golden Bell event next week. Probably discussing with the teachers by now.”

“I see.”

Indeed, the president seemed like a president.

Going around being summoned for meetings and discussions.

I tilted my head slightly and raised the corner of my mouth like a troublemaker.

“But while the president is working hard, the vice president was just sitting in the room reading books and having fun?”

“No, not having fun. She was studying.”

“Ayoung, can you read the title of the book you’re holding out loud for me?”

She hesitated and spoke in a hesitant voice, “I… I want to do something bad….”

“Yeah, Ayoung, studying because you want to do something bad…. You’re just lazing around even though you want to study….”

Park Ayoung’s face turned red.

“Oh, no…. Even though it might be confusing because of the book title, the content is completely different! It’s about a sense of responsibility!”

“…”

“Why the lack of reaction!? Quickly nod your head to show that you understand! I’m really getting upset! Are you going to sulk!? I won’t talk to Jinwoo for a while!?”

With a sense of injustice, tears welled up in her eyes. I stopped there and tried to comfort Park Ayoung.

“It was a joke.”

“Hmph!”

“Because of that kind of reaction, I feel like teasing you more. This is Ayoung’s fault…. So, loosen up your expression since you don’t think so.”

“Hmph!!”

Maybe I went a bit too far with the joke.

I took out a sour candy from my pocket. It had a lemon flavor that was universally disliked by all ages.

The taste given when offering it, saying, ‘Do you want to be secret friends with an uncle?’ was a lemon flavor.

“Peel it….”

See, the effect is already showing.

I quickly peeled it and placed it on Park Ayoung’s palm. As soon as it was offered, she promptly popped it into her mouth.

“My anger won’t subside with just this.”

“Of course not. If Park Ayoung, the vice president who watches over the student council room, feels better with just one of these, that wouldn’t be right. Here, have another one.”

“Yum…. Tasty…. Oh, no, I mean, hmph! Of course, as the vice president who watches over the student council room, I should eat two.”

The squishy ball moved in her mouth. Watching her contentedly, the atmosphere suddenly softened.

Naturally, I peeled another sour candy and organized the positions of the student council members in my head.

“The president is in the faculty office, the vice president is in the student council room. Not sure about the treasurer….”

I shrugged.

If you don’t know, asking someone who does is the solution.

“Vice President Ayoung, has your anger subsided?”

“A little…. If you give me another sour candy, it might subside more…. Ugh! It’s not because I want to eat it! I’m not a pig!”

“Of course, I know. For now, take another one. Can you answer while eating?”

“Yum…. Feel free to ask.”

With her permission granted, I asked immediately.

“Where did Subin go?”

“Subin?”

Park Ayoung touched her chin and then let go of her lips.

“She’s probably at the billiards club?”

“The billiards club…?”

“I mentioned that the first-semester club plan was strange the day before yesterday. She’s probably received the plan by now and is calculating the budget.”

“Subin calculating the budget….”

Her role was in accounting after all.

However, due to her consistently carefree and playful demeanor, a somewhat indifferent response came out.

Did she notice that?

Park Ayoung smiled mischievously.

“Our Subin may have a playful and mischievous image, but surprisingly, she’s very good at budgeting. Among the club leaders, she’s rumored to be excellent at it.”

“Lies.”

“Believing is optional!”

“If you said that much, it must be true….”

It seemed that Subin had a different side outside of the student council….

Thinking this way, I felt like I encountered the essence of the student council members rather than their outward appearances.

Both the president, vice president, and even the treasurer.

While pondering this, a fundamental and crucial question suddenly arose.

“While the president, vice president, and even the treasurer are working diligently in their respective roles…. What am I doing? Why are my outward appearance and essence the same?”

I hadn’t been assigned a seemingly reasonable role.

Originally, I joined the student council based on the suggestion that they needed extra hands.

But looking at everyone efficiently handling things, it didn’t seem like they lacked help.

Unable to answer that valid question, Park Ayoung opened her mouth without a reply.

“Isn’t that so?”

“If you don’t know, who else will know….”

“No, even I heard the president saying that they are short-handed to the point of wearing out their lips… With all the recent workload and a serious shortage of hands, it seemed…”

“…Then what was the position you were planning to give me when you brought me here? You should know that. Answer quickly…”

“Um… about that…”

Chin – my head involuntarily bowed.

“Just a moment, Jinwoo, why do you look so gloomy! I don’t even have a snack to cheer you up!”

“Spit it out again… Spit it out sweetly.”

“Uh! Should I really spit it out again? It’ll be all slimy from saliva and taste bad! It’s not aesthetically pleasing! I’d rather buy a pack of My Chew! Just try to calm down for now!”

A brief pause in the clash between Park Ayoung and me –

The sound of footsteps coming at the right time.

Confident and imposing aura.

Park Ayoung and I stopped our confrontation and looked towards the source.

There was indeed a violent-looking female student entering.

Forcing her eyes that were slightly dropping down to stop, she opened her mouth.

“President, you’re here?”

“Mm. I am, but it’s been a while since we last met.”

“I’ve been a bit busy.”

Thud – the president sitting on the chair cleared his throat.

“Continue with what you were talking about. Did you mention something about exchanging saliva and how Ayoung wants to drink your saliva like water today?”

“That wasn’t the topic…”

“You’re kidding. I don’t believe you guys engage in such inefficient acts as exchanging saliva. You’d probably prefer deep kissing if anything.”

“That wasn’t it either.”

Stopping the president’s sudden outburst. After explaining the situation, we returned to the original topic.

“So, what is your position? Were you discussing it?”

“Yes. By any chance, do you know? I heard that the person who mentioned being short-handed was you, Mr. President…”

“I did mention it was lacking, but I didn’t say we were short-handed.”

“I see?”

“I simply said it would be nice to have an extra pair of hands. The student council lacks manpower. I vaguely mentioned that we lack men.”

…”

I glanced at Park Ayoung, momentarily speechless.

Her expression twisted in shock. To think that the shortage of hands was a kind of sexual innuendo…

That was the feeling.

Sighing, I spoke.

“I have no intention of becoming a body for the student council.”

“Oh really? Do you think I brought you into the student council to use you as a body?”

“Exactly! President! Bravo! President! There’s a difference between me and the incompetent vice-president! I came here believing only in the real president!”

“The vice-president isn’t that incompetent.”

“She’s not incompetent! She just… didn’t quite follow your words literally… interpreted them in her own way! But ultimately, the student council became more chaotic… (omitted).”

“You’re saying that was not good.”

Han Hyojin delivered the final blow to Park Ayoung’s already diminished pride.

“Anyway, Do Jinwoo, your position is… not a delivery person but… um… roughly a cabbage cutter, a job of turning trash into wood.”

“What kind of loosely defined position and task is that… especially when it might involve copyright issues…”

“It’s usually best to have a suitable position and task.”

“No, how is turning trash into wood a suitable task!”

As I protested, Han Hyojin pinched his ear.

“It seems a bit challenging; let me correct that.”

“No…”

As I was about to argue back,

An innocent shout came from outside the door.

“I like being a cabbage! It’s similar to Senior Do Jigang’s name and cute, isn’t it!? Besides, in my role, my arms and legs can stretch like rubber!”

Ah…

From timing to content, everything.

This is driving me crazy.

Rubbing my temples due to a headache, Han Hyojin slammed the desk twice.

“With this, we conclude the NEW Student Council’s unilateral First Meeting. If you have any complaints or grievances, go home and complain to your daughter or something.”

Damn.

It was the day my position was decided to be a cabbage cutter.