CBR 30

“So you just take whatever bread I buy you and eat it tamely.”

Jaewon turned the bag over so the word “Bumpy” on the surface was clearly visible. Kim Dojun, staring blankly down at the bread, chuckled.

“Is that how you’re going to play it?”

“You’re thankful and moved, right? I know, buddy.”

“What should I do, though? This isn’t what I wanted to eat.”

When he spoke, lowering his eyebrows as if regretful, all traces of laughter vanished from Jaewon’s face.

“No. You wanted to eat soboro today. You appeared in my dream last night and said so.”

“You dreamed about me?”

“Should I just go stick my nose in a bowl of dishwater?”

Jaewon said it without even catching his breath, but Kim Dojun didn’t even pretend to listen, tilting his ear toward his own stomach and asking:

“Huh? What was that? You want to eat red bean cream bread?”

“Damn it all…”

“You heard him? Off you go, honey.”

Having a rather affectionate conversation with his internal organs, Dojun looked at Jaewon and changed his voice to speak gruffly. Jaewon silently rubbed the bridge of his nose, then let out a sharp breath with a reddened face. He hated all forms of busywork, but among them, he hated futile effort the most. Bending his legs sloppily like a street thug, Jaewon braced both hands on the desk.

“No, honey, you little punk. Then what about this?”

He shook the bread right in front of Kim Dojun’s eyes so it made a flapping sound, but Dojun merely wore an expression full of psychological distance, like a passerby watching a fire across a river.

“Naturally, you should eat it or sell it.”

“Sell it? Without a permit from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety?”

“You can do it. You’re the kind of guy who’d sell the Bible to Allah.”

Looking at Jaewon with eyes full of trust, he patted his shoulder as if encouraging him.

‘A bastard to be fried in sulfur fire!’

Jaewon had anticipated this kind of situation ever since the unequal treaty was forcibly concluded, but now that it actually turned out this way, he couldn’t help but feel enraged. For someone who could tolerate injustice but never injustice to his own wallet, it felt like having his Achilles tendon sliced.

‘Still, he’s handsome.’

Oddly enough, just looking at Kim Dojun’s face, he felt his anger subside. Well, after all, the virtue required of the guy wasn’t good manners, but visual appeal. Jaewon soon regained his reason and spoke calmly.

‘Don’t play scams, you little punk. Bread is just an excuse, you’re making me do this to screw with me, right? Do you even know that if you mess with food, you’ll be born as that very ingredient in your next life?’

“Me? Of all people, would I try to screw with a taffy seller? I’m doing this because I really want to eat it.”

“Are you a pregnant woman? Then I’ll go fetch some.”

“No, fucking seriously…”

The relaxed expression on Kim Dojun’s face twisted. At the rapidly menacing atmosphere, Jaewon was startled. He thought it was a pretty reasonable proposal, but apparently not for him. When Kim Dojun lifted his back off the chair, his upper body muscles moved threateningly. The fabric wrapping his shoulders and ribcage pulled taut, and the seams looked ready to burst.

“A guy says he wants to eat something, and you can’t even go buy that one thing?”

“Pardon?”

Abruptly, he shouted with ferocity. At lines one might hear on a marital clinic program, Jaewon felt apologetic by reflex before snapping back to his senses. By now, everyone’s attention in the classroom was focused on them, and realizing the situation, Jaewon’s complexion turned as white as a sheet of paper.

“Did I ask you to buy caviar? Did I ask you to buy bird’s nest soup?”

“Oh, oh gods…”

His vision turning hazy, Jaewon stepped backward with a pale face. However, Kim Dojun didn’t stop, carrying on viciously like a female mantis.

“I’m just asking to eat a single piece of bread sold at the cafeteria, is that really so hard?”

“C… Calm down, you fucking bastard.”

“Are you even human after acting like that?”

“I’ll buy it for you, so please shut that mouth!”

As Dojun put on a masterclass in emotional acting, Jaewon shouted while breaking out in a cold sweat. Easily subduing the lunging Jaewon, Kim Dojun looked down at him with a derisive expression.

“That’s how you should’ve come out from the start.”

He shook Jaewon’s both wrists around as if playing with a toy and then tossed them aside. Limp like a paper doll from the merciless touch, Jaewon collapsed powerlessly.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you going already?”

Kim Dojun coldly urged Jaewon, who was sitting slumped like a little mermaid who had lost her voice. Gazing blankly at the arrogant jerk making a chin gesture, Jaewon staggered up and left the classroom. With his mental state thoroughly threshed, he stumbled and grabbed the wall before going a few steps.

‘What on earth is going on here?’

Originally, Bae Jaewon was a human born lacking any sense of shame. Lacking a baseline of “how could he,” he used all means and methods for most things, and up until now, there had never been a human willing to go one step further right beside him. Everyone valued their own face and dignity too much.

To such a person, Kim Dojun was a new species encountered for the first time. When meeting a nuisance, people usually avoid them because it’s filthy or filthy and annoying, but him willingly rolling around in the mud together threw Jaewon into a panic. A protagonist’s pride is everything—to be playing a chicken game of ruin with an extra like himself was driving him out of his mind.

‘Should I cut losses?’

Feeling a fleeting temptation and torn with conflict, Jaewon soon shook his head. Even if he tried to doubt Kim Dojun’s qualifications, his face and his standing in school were orthodox itself.

‘Still, this won’t do.’

What Jaewon feared most was a hitch in his plan. He needed to take measures regarding Kim Dojun, who kept repeatedly breaking the brushes of his grand blueprint. However, no proper countermeasure came to mind. It wasn’t that there was no way; it was Jaewon’s personal problem.

Legendary investor André Kostolany defined “investing is a psychological game,” emphasizing that the stock market is mass psychology itself. Therefore, stock market analysis should in principle be based on psychological analysis, and one must analyze the psychology of groups rather than individuals, he said. While Jaewon, whose abilities were specialized in economic activity, was skilled at handling groups, his coping capacity in interpersonal relationships was remarkably lacking. This was because he had never formed close relationships with individuals where no interests were intertwined. He was stingy about spending time on things judged to be unproductive.

Lost in agony, Jaewon soon unfolded his notebook with a firmly resolved expression. His swift fingers flipped through the pages until stopping at a section where students’ names were listed in a row. It was the list of female protagonist candidates he had collected while roaming the entire school. He had only secured the roster while pursuing a natural, fateful meeting between the protagonists, but this was no time to be taking it easy. Even by force, he had to bring about a meeting and plunge the guy into the quagmire of love.

Having made his judgment, Jaewon immediately put his plan into action. Lying in wait in the corridor, the moment a target was spotted, he snatched them up like a bear discovering spawning salmon.

“A curse has fallen on this student’s face!”

“What is this crazy human?”

“You’re originally smart and clever, but lately your surroundings have been distracted so studying isn’t going well, right?”

“H-how did you know?”

Needless to say, studying never goes well for students. Jaewon captured the innocently snared student and grabbed his next target.

“Say, do you happen to know where Class 6 is?”

“Huh? This is Class 6?”

“I see. Thank you. By the way, your gaze looks really nice. Your spirit seems clear.”

“What is even going on?”

“Can you come over here and share some of your energy? Life’s been hard for me lately, you see.”

Jaewon diligently stretched out his tentacles of evil toward the students. The pure youths had no means to defend themselves against a skilled swindler, and thanks to that, he was able to proceed with collection smoothly.

“This friend looks like they have high ancestral merits. Is there perhaps a national merit recipient in your family?”

“No.”

“Then you at least need to accumulate virtue. Let’s go. I’ll specially give you an opportunity to do a good deed.”

“??”

Having forcibly captured the students like a dark shaman, Jaewon led them to an open lot. Looking fondly at the plain and youthful-looking female students, he opened his mouth.

“Hello. Everyone must be busy, thank you so much for coming.”

“What is this, you’re the one who dragged us here.”

“Why am I even here? I have no memory.”

“We don’t have much time, so I’ll get straight to the point and move on.”

The students murmured with confused expressions, but Jaewon continued speaking without a care. His tone of voice was sweet and gentle, but his gaze was as sharp as a beast’s.

“What does it mean to become a protagonist?”

Baffled by the out-of-the-blue question, the students exchanged glances with one another. Expecting such a reaction, Jaewon smiled benignly.