CBR 12

Jaewon’s aesthetic eye was fairly objective, but even so, he was just a single individual. Careless judgment was a strict tabu. Selecting an investment item is like a treasure hunt. To discover a good stock, one had to find and analyze as many listings as possible. In particular, since the male protagonist usually went with a two-top system, it was right to look for a few more candidates.

Sensing that tomorrow would also be a busy day, Jaewon went to sleep early. The next morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, he reached for his cell phone, but his eyebrows narrowed when his hand caught a flip phone instead of a smartphone. Looking at the device reminiscent of a relic of the era, he was puzzled and soon let out a sigh.

“Fuck, it really is the Paleolithic Era…”

Coming to a world without smartphones, Jaewon felt like he was truly going to die. Neither the stock price checks nor the account balance checks he had done every morning could be done. If he had regressed to the past instead, he would have bought up future hit stocks, but since he was inside a damned novel, no matter what he did, it was just producing pieces of scrap paper.

Even though he used to start an energetic day looking at the soaring stock price graph at opening time every day. Having been deprived of his life’s joy, he pulled his legs into his pants with a solemn face. Then he finished preparing on time and left the house. There were too many schedules to process to be mired in sorrow. Even if the end of the world came tomorrow, it was his creed that he would sell one apple tree today.

On the way to school, students in school uniforms were swarming. Jaewon scanned the surroundings with hawk eyes, but neither a male student riding a bike nor a female student falling or dropping her books was to be seen. Expecting at the very least a dispute or commotion to break out among the students, nothing happened.

“Is your name Han Bit-nari?”

“I changed my name.”

“Improper attire. 2 penalty points for the tie, 1 point for the name tag.”

“Ah, why! As long as I have the name tag, it should be fine!”

“Improper attitude, 1 point.”

“Wow, seriously, that’s too much. Why is Oppa only like this to me? Do you like me?”

“Yeah.”

“…!!”

At the school gate, a sweet-and-sour romance was in progress. As Jaewon passed through the school gate, he closely inspected the student guidance council members, but there was no one hiding their beauty behind glasses or bangs. Having harbored expectations for a brief moment, he withdrew his gaze coldly.

‘Is there no item of the model student type.’

Instead of going straight into the classroom, Jaewon walked around the campus. He checked if there was a dog hole large enough for a person to pass through on the wall and kept a close eye on the surrounding terrain. While he hid his body moderately among the thickets of the flower bed, the preliminary class bell rang. As if scared by the clear ringing sound echoing, the school gates closed, and the student guidance council began catching tardy students.

“Go do one lap around the playground doing the duck walk.”

“Gasp… Teacher, can’t you let me off just this once? My cat really turned off my alarm, so I couldn’t wake up. Really. Do you want to see a picture of my house cat?”

“One extra lap for every single word you say.”

“Ugh, sob sob…”

While the cruel punishment was being handed down to the lazy sentient being, Jaewon fixed his gaze on the wall where the dog hole was poked through. By nature, one who possessed the qualities of a protagonist was not supposed to go to school safely on time. Jaewon waited with patience in the mind of a fishing cat standing in front of a mouse hole. However, his patience, thin as tissue paper, quickly ran out, and it was at the moment he thrust his head into the dog hole to conduct a search.

Thump.

Something fell nearby. The moment he confirmed that it was a backpack, Jaewon’s eyes flashed brilliantly, and springing forward like a coil, he snatched the bag quickly and hid it behind his bottom.

Plop.

In the spot where the backpack had fallen, a male student jumped down. Even though he dropped from a fairly high place, the way he landed lightly was as skillful as a stuntman.

‘Technical score 10 points, artistic score 10 points.’

While admiring his waste-free movements, Jaewon glared intently. The tall male student possessed an unusual body line. A slender and firm body like an athlete made it impossible to take one’s eyes off him.

‘Leg length, thickness, lines, all excellent. Butt perfect, it’s a pity that the waist feels a bit thick, but it’s all muscle, and the shoulders are a Honam Plain, so it’s sufficiently offset. Overall proportion very splendid.’

Jaewon, who had been going up scoring him from his toes, gasped upon seeing the male student’s face.

‘It’s a face that would make a blind person open their eyes.’

A face that seemed chic yet indifferent overflowed with Janus-like charm due to a urban mood with a kitschy edge, giving off a seductive and sensual impression that made it a must-have for you who dream of romance. In particular, his expression of appearing indifferent to everything was implying that he would be obsessive toward his woman.

“Are you Kim Dojun by any chance?”

Sensing a jackpot, Jaewon cut to the chase and threw the question. At that, the male student, who had been scanning the ground with a scowl, slowly raised his head. The moment his eyes met those full of murderous intent, Jaewon shuddered.

‘Even his eyes that threw away sociality are perfect.’

His heart, which had cooled down while commuting among a school of squids and cuttlefish, began to beat hot. For a handsome man to roll in on a vine right from the morning, today’s market conditions are very good. Excited, Jaewon approached him while exhaling rough snorts.

“What are you again?”

However, the male student growled threatingly at Jaewon. For some reason, his temper seemed very uncomfortable. He looked ready to hit him if things went wrong. Jaewon, who hated getting hurt more than anything in the world, stepped back to secure a safety distance. Hesitating for a moment, he decided to try approaching the male student a bit more passionately.

“I only asked because you’re so handsome, there’s no need to be that prickly.”

It was a blatant courtship to the extent that the dandelions in the flower bed would shrink back, but the male student only knitted his brows. While Jaewon was flustered by the lukewarm response, he began looking around to find something. It seemed he was dismissing Jaewon’s words as nonsense and going about his business.

‘A haughty bastard. He stimulates the desire for conquest.’

His appetite whetted all the more, Jaewon smacked his lips, reached behind his back, and picked up the hidden bag. Just as he was about to naturally become the benefactor who found the lost item, whispering voices could be heard from beyond the wall.

“Hey, can’t we just go and get caught? The Dean of Students said if we climb over the wall one more time, he’ll give us a stiff neck.”

“No way. My homeroom teacher said if I get caught being late one more time, she’ll call my mom. Then there’s no tomorrow’s sun for me.”

“Ah, man, I’m scared…”

Quickly locating the source of the conversation, he was able to discover a female student climbing up the wall like a energetic salmon not far away. A female student climbing the wall because she was late and a friend beside her nagging. Feeling a strong green light, Jaewon approached swiftly like a silverfish with his back pressed against the wall.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Mom! You scared me!”

Omitting unnecessary procedures and starting the conversation, the female student shrieked in surprise. At her fussy reaction, Jaewon nodded his head with satisfaction. She was close to the idea of a female protagonist, right down to the point where her drive was overflowing while her guts were as small as a mouse’s.

‘Even if she isn’t, there’s nothing to lose. I’ll entangle them for now.’

“Wh-Who?”

“There’s no time to introduce ourselves, so answer first. Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Uh… I don’t? Sir?”

“Then I’ll make one for you right now, so wait.”

“Pardon?”

Having spoken dependably, Jaewon immediately engaged in action. Returning to where the male student was, he was still searching near the flower bed.

“Student over there!”

Even though he shouted quite loudly, there was no response. Jaewon raised his voice repeatedly to call him, but the male student acted as if he couldn’t hear anything.

“Handsome kid over there!”

He tried calling him by reinforcing specificity, but there was still no reaction. Jaewon was confused. To suspect hearing loss, there had been no problem at all when communicating earlier. While staying still in fluster, the student guidance council seemed ready to move slowly as if they had finished handing out corporal punishment. Jaewon grew urgent.

“Breathtakingly handsome bastard over there!”

“What.”

The male student who had consistently ignored him answered the call only then. On his unbothered face, there was not a single point of shame looking up at the sky. At that natural attitude, Jaewon was momentarily lost for words, but now was not the time to care about minor things.

“Are you looking for this?”

When he held up the bag, the male student’s complexion turned completely. As expected, he seemed to extremely dislike people touching his belongings.

“Hand it over.”

“Come and get it then.”