Free Web NovelIt was March—the season when everything begins anew.
The start of the semester, club recruitments, MTs and OTs, freshman gatherings... everyone’s calendars were packed to the brim.
But here was someone whose only scheduled plan was a TOEIC academy.
Sitting at a café table, the third-year student stared at her laptop screen and let out a sigh.
‘The weather’s nice....’
Until last year, when spring like this came around, something inside her chest would always feel ticklish. She couldn’t quite put it into words, but if she had to sum it up—
Anticipation. A vague sense of anticipation.
‘So why do I feel nothing now?’
Through the café window, freshmen passed by in groups. Their faces shone brightly.
‘I used to be like that too....’
The third-year student watched them with a faintly bitter gaze.
By now, she had developed a chronic condition that everyone eventually caught.
The so-called “What am I going to do after graduation?” disease.
A related variant was “Should I even use my major?” disease.
Bzzzt.
Just as she considered slacking off, her phone—face down on the table—vibrated.
[Hey T_T this is insane LOLOLOL I got in TT_TT]
It was a message from a close classmate. She had been accepted into an external program that had recently finished recruiting.
Meanwhile, every single application the third-year had submitted had been rejected.
Maybe that was why—despite not wanting to—her eyes instinctively checked who had hosted the program.
‘A major corporation....’
The habit of comparing herself to others deepened the weight of her sigh.
It felt like her lungs were filled with something heavy.
She pressed her lips into a thin line.
Typing: Holy shit congrats T_T I told you you’d get in!
When would she be able to congratulate someone sincerely, from the bottom of her heart?
The thought crossed her mind.
‘Maybe that day will never come.’ ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
She opened social media—the thing she couldn’t quit even if she tried—and updates from her middle school, high school, and university acquaintances flooded her screen.
Youstagram
Finally got a job! Guess I’ve got blue blood now (๑¯∇¯๑)
344 likes
45 comments
-That’s insane LMAO give me your business card later
-Sunbae T_T congratulations...!
Shinhyun Supporters 11th cohort meeting done! Everyone worked so hard~ It’s a shame we only got excellence award, but our teamwork was the best♥︎
212 likes
88 comments
-Right LOLOLOL maybe it’s because Jihyeon is so cute LOOOLL let’s stay in touch forever
˪︎Unnie of course!!
Her Youstagram feed was filled with proof that everyone was steadily moving forward into the future.
Getting accepted somewhere, starting something, achieving something...
‘Everyone except me.’
At that moment, a cheerful voice rang out beside her.
“Hey! What are you doing!”
The voice cut through her earphones, and she turned her head. It was a friend of the person sitting next to her.
“Why are you so late?”
“Sorry, sorry. What were you watching?”
“Oh, this? A drama.”
“That one with Han Yeoreum? A lot of people are watching ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) it.”
It was March. It wasn’t common for college students to keep up with a weekday 10 PM broadcast.
But 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 was undeniably popular.
People talked about it everywhere, and once episodes aired, clips flooded every social media platform.
“Wanna eat spicy stir-fried octopus tonight?”
“Again? We had it the day before yesterday.”
“So you’re not eating it?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Their conversation carried clearly to the third-year student.
On her SNS feed, a clip from <EmBubu> appeared.
At some point, spicy stir-fried octopus had become wildly popular. Delivery orders were booming, and people were making plans to go eat it more and more.
‘Not like I have any plans, though.’
The freshman days that once felt like they would last forever had disappeared in an instant.
Everyone had gone off to find their own paths.
It wasn’t like high school anymore, where everyone stayed in the same class.
Some took leaves of absence. Some studied abroad. Some dropped out.
Now, the only updates she got about her classmates were the occasional profile picture change.
‘Ah, I’m gonna be late for the academy!’
She hastily packed her laptop and rushed to her TOEIC class, barely keeping up through the lecture.
Hours later, she returned to her empty home and collapsed in front of the door.
“Ah... I’m hungry.”
That spicy stir-fried octopus she saw earlier on social media came to mind.
After hesitating for a moment, she opened a delivery app.
“Wow, this is insane.”
The spicy stir-fried octopus was still ranked number one in delivery popularity.
After a brief struggle, she ended up ordering a single-person set.
When it finally arrived after a long wait, it was still piping hot. The moment she opened the packaging, a sharp, spicy aroma spread through the room.
“What should I watch... while I eat....”
At some point, talking to herself had become more natural than talking to friends.
She opened Intube and scrolled. Han Yeoreum appeared on her feed.
“I remember 〈ParCheHi〉 being really fun.”
Come to think of it, she had watched 〈ParCheHi〉 around this time of year.
Feeling a strange wave of nostalgia, she chose 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 as her dinner companion.
The title itself felt like it described her perfectly.
A third-year who kept getting rejected everywhere—she was, quite literally, disqualified youth.
* * *
On the screen, Go Yungyo appeared, living alone in an apartment spacious enough for two.
—I really hate people who cling to love.
Go Yungyo headed into the bathroom to wash her face. The light flickered—it seemed the bulb was dying.
After glancing up at the ceiling, she walked to the utility room and soon returned with a light bulb in hand.
—Why can’t people do anything on their own?
Standing on a chair, she replaced the bulb alone, with the ease of someone who had done it many times before.
After confirming the light worked, she cracked an egg onto a heated pan. The pleasant sizzle filled the air.
—Whenever I look at Jeong Heejeong, I’m reminded of my mom. Women who can’t live without love are all the same.
Go Yungyo was good at doing everything on her own.
Even though both were alone, she was different from Na Yuna.
Na Yuna felt like she was drifting, while Go Yungyo felt like she was charging forward—unstoppable.
—Sometimes I feel sorry for her, more often I get annoyed, and sometimes she just seems pathetic....
Inside the elevator, Go Yungyo pulled out her phone to check her unread messages.
A notification popped up—someone had changed their profile.
Seo Eden and Jeong Heejeong’s profiles sat side by side.
[In Spring] – April Project
[With You] – April Project
“...Wow....”
Heejeong had matched Eden’s profile music.
Yungyo opened SNS and checked Eden’s account.
They were already following each other, and Heejeong had liked every single one of his posts.
—It’s not even anything special. It’s just... love.
Watching Heejeong’s blind devotion, irritation quietly stirred inside Yungyo.
As she stood on the bright campus, taking a call from her mother, a certain resolve spread across her face.
—Drinking and singing, absolutely not. Even if you have fun, maintain your dignity. Act like a proper girl. If you behave like that, your father will—
“Why?”
Her voice was sharp as she stared at a cheerleading recruitment notice.
—Why? So when you get married later, we won’t be embarrassed—
As expected.
—That damn love.
Jeong Heejeong was the same. So was her mother.
The more Yungyo looked at them, the more she wanted to rebel.
Why did life have to be completed by love?
—Anyway, don’t mix with boys and stay out late. That kind of thing gives people something to talk about. Just because others do it doesn’t mean you should—
“I’m hanging up. My class is starting.”
She cut the call and stared at the notice with eyes filled with long-suppressed emotion.
—I wanted to throw myself into something and prove it. Why is being a good girlfriend or a good wife so important? I can do just fine on my own.
Click!
She took a picture of the notice.
—I wanted to show my mom and Jeong Heejeong, who stake their lives on love.
That day, she had a class with Na Yuna, Go Yungyo, and Seo Eden.
When she entered the lecture hall, she saw Heejeong smiling brightly as she talked to Eden.
—Don’t stake your entire self on something so trivial.
“Hi—.”
For once, Yungyo spoke to Seo Eden first.
Her bright smile made Heejeong’s expression falter.
Something about this felt... off.
“I’m thinking of joining the cheer squad. I saw the recruitment notice earlier!”
Her tone had changed. She even tapped Eden’s shoulder playfully.
A siren went off in Heejeong’s head.
“Hahaha. Cheer. squad?”
“Yeah—. My friends showed him a video of me dancing, and then... oh, we can talk about clubs later, just the two of us. That’s okay, right?”
“No!”
“Why not?”
“I... I want to join a club too! Let’s talk about it together!”
As expected.
If Heejeong joined too, their relationship would collapse before it even began.
At the same time, Yungyo wanted to rebel against her mother—and deny the kind of love Heejeong represented.
—It’s nothing special. It’s just... love.
This three-way monologue scene quietly gained popularity.
[DramaFilmActor TALK]
[The monologues in Youth Disqualified! are so well written. Nothing hits hard, but it’s quietly sad.]
The best part is how everyone relates to different characters... I really understood Yungyo T_T
Anonymous 1: So true T_T LOLOLOLOL I related to Yuna
Anonymous 3: Damn, when Heejeong gets criticized it kinda hurts... it feels like me. When you’re lonely, you just want to run into love like that, but people don’t understand, so you cling even harder
Anonymous 12: Heejeong and Yungyo are just parallel lines... one clings to love because there’s nothing to rely on, the other stands alone for the same reason. They can’t understand each other T_T
Anonymous 25: Yungyo’s narration this episode was so good. “It’s just love” really hit freewёbnoνel.com
In a dark room, the third-year student watched every missed episode through clips on her phone.
What was supposed to be a one-time watch turned into something else entirely.
From the most viewed clips to the least—she watched everything.
The relatable lines kept tugging at her heart.
‘Especially Han Yeoreum’s monologues....’
The voice carried the exact anxiety of someone who had fallen off track.
It matched her own perfectly.
INTUBE
[〈Youth Disqualified!〉 Han River Stage Performance] 04:55
She clicked the video to hear that voice again.
Na Yuna’s bright smile filled the screen.
For a moment, it felt like she had returned to a day at the Han River.
To a time when it felt like anything was possible.
After listening to the song, the heavy feeling weighing her down disappeared.
It was 1 AM, yet it felt like early morning—like hope was quietly filling her up.
“Ah, I can’t do this right now. What time is it—shit. I need to sleep.”
Even if she kept getting rejected, she would keep applying for internships.
She would try supporter programs. Work harder on her applications. Study TOEIC seriously.
And if she finally got a job—
Instead of eating alone at home like today, she wanted to reach out to the friends she had been avoiding.
Let’s go eat together.
Like when they were freshmen.
That day’s Han River song—sung by Han Yeoreum, Choo Gaeul, and So Dami—was now in her playlist.
9. [Letter Written Alone] ▲10
And it wasn’t just her.
The main OST of 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 was steadily climbing the charts.
* * *
It hadn’t even been a month since 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 started airing.
But among all dramas in the same time slot, it was showing the clearest response.
“Short break!”
I dropped into the chair set up in a corner of the set.
“Yeoreum, want to go rest in the car?”
“No... I’ll stay out here.”
I shook my head lightly at Manager Choi’s suggestion.
The shoot had continued into the evening, but I wasn’t that tired.
“Hey! Han Yeoreum! Come look at this!”
“Yeo-reum—!”
The two of them dragged their chairs over instead of going to rest.
Even during breaks, we kept sharing scripts and matching our timing.
“This part—”
“If we play this too seriously, will it feel too heavy?”
My body was tired, but my mind felt strangely light.
Even though I still had to go record narration after filming.
“I think Gaeul should smile just a little, like it’s nothing. And Dami should be editing photos while talking.”
The shoot for the scene where we gradually open up to each other was approaching.
Since it was important, Gaeul and Dami were deeply analyzing their characters.
“Right? That’s what I thought too.”
“Photo editing... hmm... photo editing....”
Not wanting to fall behind, I pulled out my own script.
Even if this project didn’t become another massive hit like my previous works—
this was enough.
A quiet smile formed on my lips as I looked back at my lines—
Bzzzt.
[Sir: Yeoreum]
...Why do I suddenly feel like this peace is about to break?
[Sir: There’s a bit of a problem with Unfair Trade]
I quickly checked the message.
[Sir: This has never happened before... a fight broke out]
...What?
