Free Web NovelThe dazzling panorama of the campus was captured once again. The buildings of Yeonhui University, filmed by drone, were enough to draw admiration. It was a presentation more than sufficient to create a sense of romantic longing for university life.
[50th Yeonhui University Entrance Ceremony]
A banner, even brighter and more vivid than the blue sky itself, fluttered at the main gate. Na Yuna gazed at it, her eyes shining.
“....”
It was a different expression from the Yuna of before. There was a clear hint of anticipation, as if something truly new might begin.
-fck TT_TT anyone who did three retakes knows this feeling
-same... I retook three times too so this hits too close;; I cried back then haha
-Han Yeoreum is seriously so good at acting... even without lines you can tell exactly what she’s feelingㅜ
Wearing a light gray scarf, Yuna hurried her steps to attend the ceremony. Inside, there were already groups who had grown close among themselves.
A freshman who had turned around to talk to a friend in the back row glanced at Na Yuna for a moment.
It was a strange look. The bleached-haired freshman scanned her up and down, as if measuring her.
But only briefly. Soon, as if losing interest, she turned back to her conversation.
“Please move further in and sit closer.”
“Ah....”
Yuna had intended to sit at a comfortable distance, but at the voice from beside her, she had no choice but to sit closer to the same freshman.
“They said there’s a cheer squad performance later, right?”
“That’s literally why I came.”
They laughed endlessly, as if everything was amusing. Having missed the orientation because of her part-time job, Na Yuna awkwardly stared straight ahead.
She fiddled with her phone a few times—no messages came from anywhere.
She had worked so hard to get here.
And yet, even here, it felt like a place that didn’t suit her.
* * *
The club members, dressed in flashy cheer uniforms, were making their final preparations in the waiting room.
“Don’t drink too much water! Just wet your throat!”
“Where are you going?”
“Bathroom—!”
Seo Eden, wearing the white gloves that symbolized the cheer squad, let out a tense breath.
“First time on stage today, right?”
“Yes. I’m finally going up.”
Only official members were allowed to step onto the stage.
The chance to dance to music under everyone’s gaze was not something that came often.
“Hey, it suits you. Future captain, huh? Yeah?”
Seo Eden smiled shyly at the compliment. His goal was to successfully finish this first stage and someday become the captain of the squad.
He was about to play the music again and rehearse in his head—
“How can this happen?!”
A loud shout came from outside. Seo Eden hurriedly ran out.
“W-why... are you fighting...?”
People wearing the same cheer uniforms were grabbing each other by the hair.
“You crazy bitch, let ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ go!”
“Crazy bitch? Crazy bitch?!”
-lmao what is this mess
-obvious, fighting over a guy LOOL
-the way she wrapped her hair around her hand LOLOLOL she’s a total fighter wtf LOLOL
Seo Eden rushed over, trying to separate them.
“Hey! That’s your senior—!”
“Senior? Who cares about that!”
“Noona, are you okay? Your face is hurt—what do we do...?”
“You bastard. Noona? Noona?”
The woman who had been pulling hair screamed again.
“Say that again! Fucking noona? When did you two get so close?”
“What does it matter to you if we’re close! Are you insane?”
“Seongsik. Stop....”
“I’ve been your girlfriend for two years!!!”
The woman clutching the long hair burst into tears.
“You crazy bitch.... You said you only loved me... You said you just bought that bastard food a few times because he kept whining....”
-???
-what is this????
-what?????
The woman fixing her disheveled hair avoided their gazes. The younger man standing beside her froze, stunned.
“Noona. We’re dating, aren’t we...?”
“Seongsik. Technically, I never said we were dating.”
“When I said I liked you, you said okay!”
“I just said I knew.”
-what the fck LOLOLOLOL
-what is this LMAO
-who said this was predictable?? what is going on;; T_T
At that moment, a man a few steps away slowly collapsed to the floor.
“Seongsik... were you... playing with me too...?”
“Hyung....”
-???
-how far is this going??
-this is public broadcast LMAO isn’t someone getting written up for this LOLOL
“We agreed to forget the kiss when we were drunk.”
“But how could you....”
Then someone covered their mouth with one hand.
“Oppa, when you asked what I put on my lips, wasn’t that because you were interested in me?”
“...Me?”
“You said those pretty lips! You asked what you had to do to have them! Was that all to seduce that bastard Seongsik...?”
“...That color just seemed like it would suit me. If I made you misunderstand, I’m sorry....”
All of them, wearing the same team uniform in this very moment.
“...Excuse me.”
Seo Eden muttered blankly.
“When I asked, you all said you weren’t involved with each other....”
Everyone cleared their throats, pretending not to know anything. At that moment, a loud voice rang out through the microphone.
“Next, we have a special performance to celebrate the entrance ceremony!”
Just as everyone expected—
“Aaaah!”
“Are you insane?!”
“Wow....”
The celebratory performance was a complete disaster. Even while dancing, they kept competing, and it eventually escalated into a physical fight.
“Stop! Stop! I said stop...!”
And in the middle of everyone getting tangled up and fighting, Seo Eden tried to break it up—
“Ghk...!”
...only to be struck by a flying fist, taking an uppercut and collapsing in the center of the stage.
What he saw through his fading vision was the bright ceiling lights.
“...Haha....”
The first stage Seo Eden had long dreamed of. Bright lights, countless people, and the roar of the crowd—his fantasy had, technically, come true.
“You lunatics....”
With tears in his eyes, Seo Eden lost consciousness.
Even then, the sounds of fighting and the screams of shocked freshmen only grew louder.
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The incident from Yeonhui University’s entrance celebration performance spread widely that day.
It appeared not only on Yousta card news, but also on “Bamboo Forest” and “Ever Time.”
* * *
“Hey, look at this.”
“Crazy... even my friends all know.”
Near Yeonhui University, in a bar. Freshmen and upperclassmen had gathered together. Everyone was talking about the incident.
“Hey! Seriously, don’t date within campus—kids—!”
Someone shouted loudly, and everyone burst into laughter. But Jeong Heejeong, wearing a white fur ball cap and a pink scarf, couldn’t laugh.
A junior sitting across from her had been laughing, but when their eyes met, they awkwardly composed their expression.
“But don’t we have quite a few decent seniors in our department? I checked a few profile pictures—.”
Even in this situation, the freshmen sitting at the same table as Na Yuna hadn’t given up their romantic ideas about campus relationships.
The bleached-haired freshman who had made eye contact with Yuna at the ceremony smiled and reached out.
“Unni, are you not having fun?”
“Huh?”
“Why aren’t you talking—?”
It sounded friendly, but also a little hostile. An ambiguous tone. But since she was smiling brightly, Na Yuna had no choice but to continue the conversation.
Everyone at the table was watching them.
“No, it’s not that.”
At Yuna’s flat response, the bleached-haired freshman shook her head as if it was boring. Someone picked up their phone and started scrolling through seniors’ profile pictures.
“You know this guy, right? You’ve all seen him?”
“He looks like he has a girlfriend.”
“100% he does. A few days ago he had music on his profile, and now it’s changed again. Feels like his girlfriend made him change it.”
The bleached-haired freshman stared directly at Na Yuna. Yuna responded mechanically, trying to prevent herself from becoming the topic again.
“Oh, really?”
But the freshman didn’t miss that brief moment and pressed further.
“Why? Do you like younger guys, unni?”
“...Huh?”
“You seem kind of interested. Do you like younger guys, older guys? Or same age?”
Once again, the topic of conversation became Na Yuna.
The freshman pressing her was an early admission student who had already bonded with others through group chats.
She was the most socially dominant among them—every word she said drew attention.
“Yuna unni, how old were the guys you dated before?”
-there’s always someone like that LMAO T_T early admission kids form cliques in group chats, act like kings at the start, then rotate dating each other and ignore everyone by second year
-in small departments that’s literally hell
-I can literally feel the atmosphere—cold air every time the door opens, soju smell, greasy fried chicken, and that stale cigarette smell LMAO
-omg I feel like I just entered university, chills
As the painfully realistic freshman dialogue continued, the reactions exploded.
But no matter how much they probed, the response was always the same.
Na Yuna didn’t seem to care much about other people’s feelings. She had no intention of trying hard to answer, nor of trying to be funny.
Maybe that irritated the bleached-haired freshman.
“Hey. Let’s stop talking about this—.”
Since Yuna wouldn’t become the joke, she decided to make her one.
“Yuna unni might get hurt!”
Her laughter-laced voice was practically an unspoken demand to laugh.
But Na Yuna didn’t.
At that moment, there was a commotion near the door.
“Oh—Yungyo!”
“Yungyo, you’re here?”
Go Yungyo entered, with long straight hair and a calm face. Anyone could tell—her grooming was on another level. From head to toe, she radiated presence.
Even the bleached-haired freshman’s expression changed. It was as if she was ranking people in her head to decide who to get close to.
“Guys, if you want meal invites, ask this unni!”
“This unni is a princess, so she won’t take you just anywhere—.”
Yungyo’s peers joked around her. Yungyo smiled, not denying it, and took off her scarf.
Even the way she casually placed her bag on the table looked stylish.
“For reference, even if they’re freshmen, guys are just convenience-store triangle kimbap.”
Her cynical remark drew laughter mixed with jeers.
“How old are you?”
“Ah, twenty-three. She took a leave and came back.”
Hearing her age, Na Yuna tucked her hands into her sleeves.
This was what the twenty-three she had dreamed of looked like.
Not... this.
* * *
“Unni, where are you going?”
As Na Yuna stood up, the bleached-haired freshman immediately asked.
Yuna answered with a tired expression.
“Just a call.”
“Eeeh, your boyfriend—?”
“My parents.”
Yuna grabbed her padded jacket and left the bar. The bleached-haired freshman stared at the back of her head until she disappeared, sipping her drink. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Yuna went behind the bar and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
She was tired. Drained. frёewebnoѵēl.com
This kind of gathering was supposed to be part of the campus fantasy.
But now that she was here, it felt like wearing clothes that didn’t fit.
She took a deep breath and exhaled smoke.
“Hey, did you see that earlier?”
Voices came from around the corner. Probably students from the same department.
Yuna quietly continued smoking alone.
“Jeong Heejeong—!”
“Didn’t think you’d come back after leave.”
“Ah, hyung. Since we broke up, I had to. Time to live my own life.”
Having had two campus relationships meant being entangled in all kinds of rumors—a very exhausting badge.
“She’s cute though. Still feels like a freshman.”
“True.”
“So, is Heejeong dating again this year or not?”
“Of course—.”
At the unpleasant conversation, Na Yuna’s brows furrowed.
Smack!
A dull sound rang out.
“You pathetic bastards—getting even more pathetic by smoking?”
“Ah, that hurt like hell!”
“Mind your own business before talking about others. You can’t even date even if you wanted to.”
It was Go Yungyo.
With a mocking laugh, she sneered sharply. But no one could talk back to her.
She was someone at the top of the hierarchy.
“I think the girls inside are talking about you guys.”
“Huh? What did they say?”
“Who knows. Go try talking to them. You think they’ll give you the campus romance you dream of?”
Yungyo lightly kicked the guys’ shins with her foot and jerked her chin. The area fell quiet again.
In the silence, Na Yuna finished her cigarette.
Footsteps approached.
“Ah.”
“....”
“Hi.”
Go Yungyo turned the corner and noticed Na Yuna first.
“Hello.”
“Why are you being formal? Just speak casually. We’re the same age.”
“It’s our first time meeting.”
“You’re so polite.... What do you smoke? Give me one.”
Yuna silently handed over the pack. She even lit it for her.
“We’re sharing cigarettes now, so drop the formal speech.”
Exhaling smoke, Yungyo smirked.
“But what are you doing here alone? I saw smoke and thought something was on fire.”
“It’s more comfortable.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
They smoked in silence.
Yungyo spoke again first.
“Do you know Jeong Heejeong?”
“Only by name.”
“They said you retook the exam three times.”
She tossed it out casually.
“Then don’t ever do a campus relationship. Especially those guys from earlier—they’ve got rotten personalities. You’ll regret it if you date someone while drunk on campus hype and end up taking leave. I took leave too, but... anyway, it’s a waste of time.”
“Weren’t you close?”
“With Jeong Heejeong? No way.”
“You were defending her.”
“Not defending. Just couldn’t stand the way they acted.”
“I see.”
“Why? Did you want to say something too?”
“Not really. It’s not my business.”
Then, on the first floor of the building, there was a small window.
“Hey. You use Yousta, right?”
“I just made an account. I don’t really use it.”
Inside the open window was a restroom.
Jeong Heejeong, holding her pouch, had heard everything.
“Still, give me your ID. You heard earlier, right? How great it is to know a senior like me.”
Heejeong looked into the mirror.
She saw herself blinking with a slightly downcast expression.
She pressed the sides of her freshly glossed lips firmly.
She didn’t want to look like she was about to cry.
So she smiled at herself.
“Huh? Unni—.”
“Mm. What is it?”
At that moment, a freshman pushed open the restroom door. She seemed very drunk.
Excited, she grabbed Heejeong and chattered happily.
Heejeong smiled and played along.
As if she hadn’t heard anything at all.
