NOVEL NEXT Chapter 220
Daniel tilted his head and gazed at the familiar scenery.
A line packed with fellow university students twisted and turned through the building’s interior, spilling out beyond the entrance.
He shaded his eyes from the bright sunlight and checked his card balance, which showed only 6,410 won left.
‘I should be able to scrape through until tomorrow.’
Today, he hurriedly ran to join the line for a school meal that cost only a thousand won.
On days when side dishes were even halfway decent, waiting could stretch to 20 or 30 minutes, making it a real pain to run under the sweltering sun every day.
‘At this rate, I feel like nothing has changed since my cafeteria days.’
It’s just that school meals have become university meals now.
Time isn’t handed out equally to everyone.
While her fellow students were likely enjoying the cool air conditioning together in their study room or club room, playing instruments and sitting on the floor, sharing takeout for lunch, Daniel had no idea what they ended up choosing between the last narrowed-down options of pig’s feet and sushi.
Just as he spotted the end of the long line and was about to grab his meal ticket, a message popped up in the ‘Bark’ group chat.
[First-year aspiring PDs, gather around! NoName just arrived at Jahayeon! Go go go!]
“Yeah, I can skip one meal,” he muttered.
[Cancelling payment.]
He believed his stomach would surely understand if he met NoName in person.
*
“Hey, can you run to the front gate and grab a takoyaki for me?”
“Me?”
“You can’t show up empty-handed to NoName. You have the best first impression among us, so you can definitely bring her along! Please!”
“Alright…”
Having been asked by his senior to lure NoName to Bark Studio, Daniel felt he couldn’t refuse.
“It’s 5,000 won.”
“5,000 won? Just for this? Six pieces?!”
“Yup.”
Daniel felt his money fly away as though it were the price of a regular five meals.
“Do you want any, miss?”
“No! I don’t really like cheese! Just let NoName eat a lot!”
This is an investment.
Daniel made a firm decision on that.
If NoName played as wonderfully as she had shown by the pond, the view counts on V-tube would surely soar.
If they managed to put out one more video featuring the cheat code that is NoName, the pay would definitely be more substantial.
Although NoName had to leave to go play the role of a Maestro in the middle of it all, Daniel was sure they ended up with some great content.
But he overlooked the fact that unexpected luck is always followed by misfortune.
“They won’t do the settlement right away?”
“Well, we usually do it once every two months. We did it at the end of June, so the next one will probably be the last week of August. Why?”
“Oh, nothing…”
The only reason Daniel joined a corporate-style club was to make money.
He had heard rumors that if you get into ‘Bark’, you could make a fortune, and with that in mind, he passed through fierce competition to become an aspiring PD.
The amount itself wasn’t as staggering as the rumors said, but for Daniel, it wasn’t a small sum either.
Hearing that he wouldn’t receive payment until a month and a half later left him feeling despondent.
‘There’s still a little bit of time left until the tutoring payday…’
Could he hold out for the next three days?
The takoyaki that had just entered NoName’s mouth felt like it was dancing in front of him.
*
Daniel was acutely aware that humans are slaves to hormones.
Three days of fasting had gone beyond mere hunger, and he now found himself getting irritated at everything.
The thoughtless comments of his fellow students, which he would usually ignore, now pierced his ears.
“Hey, Seri, I didn’t get the scholarship this time! Waaah! I was planning to use the money for a trip abroad if I got it… Everyone else is going, but I can’t and what’s up with that?”
“Congratulations on the full tuition. Isn’t it because of your income bracket?”
“No, my family is in the ninth percentile! How is that fair? My mom is a housewife, and my dad is just an average public servant. We don’t even have a proper house in Seoul!”
“Wasn’t that place you commute from rented?”
“Yeah, but it counts as an asset even though it isn’t our house.”
“That seems a bit odd in terms of assessment criteria.”
“Right? I have a friend whose dad is a big businessman, and he’s in the third percentile, getting a full scholarship plus an additional 500,000 won as pocket money. How can I not be jealous…? What kind of money can you save if you’re in a low income bracket?”
“What about you, Daniel? Do you have any plans for traveling abroad during the summer vacation?”
While some students were wrangling over whether to travel abroad, Daniel was fretting over whether he’d go without food today.
It was a complete misconception that Korea University, a national school with low tuition, had relatively few rich kids.
In reality, it was one of the universities with the highest number of top-income students in the country, with 60% in the top ten percent.
Daniel barely managed to suppress his bubbling anger as he left the study room.
“I’m busy. When would I have time to travel?”
Daniel felt like he was losing two friends at once.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a loss right now.
But she was well aware that if she couldn’t fit in and just floated around, there would come a day when they would become strangers.
“Daniel looks really down today… Is something wrong?”
A friendship where one party just receives without giving anything in return could never last.
*
“I’m sorry. I really have something urgent today, so I don’t think I’ll be able to attend.”
“Not again…? Can’t you just come and take some pictures?”
“Yeah… Today’s schedule is a bit…”
“Alright. We’ll be hanging out until five, so you can stop by before then, right?”
“I’ll try my best.”
A few hours later, realizing that her lie would be exposed soon, Daniel skipped the study group.
Classes ended early in just 30 minutes, and the remaining time was perfect to substitute it with the group meeting, which was just right for Daniel.
It allowed her to catch at least some credits while still heading out to tutoring, saving her time.
Moreover, the cost of food and drinks during group meetings wasn’t negligible either.
It was better not to attend at all than to go to a study group, not eat anything, and just sit there watching.
Still, to avoid causing trouble for her group mates, she pretended to attend, but a small variable emerged in her plans.
[Dept. of Piano, 47th batch, Park Jun-yong]
[“Hey Daniel, I hate to bring this up now, but I’ll need to borrow that motorcycle I lent you for tutoring back. Can you return it?”]
He was a senior, four years older, who had looked out for her since she seemed to be drifting away in their student club.
He had willingly lent her his motorcycle, thinking of her tough family situation.
But Park Jun-yong confessed to Daniel, and she didn’t reciprocate.
The outcome materialized in the worst form of the motorcycle being confiscated.
Daniel was aware.
She had somewhat taken advantage of his feelings.
But she needed to do it; otherwise, she couldn’t continue living a somewhat normal life.
Taking public transportation meant she had to leave home at least 30 minutes earlier. There wasn’t a chance of getting to the study group.
She sat in the back seat of the bus, leaning her exhausted body against the window.
Once bad fortune arrives, it doesn’t just stop there; it keeps crashing down like a wave.
[From the tutoring mom]
“Hello?”
[Hi, Ms.! Hyun-seung went swimming today and doesn’t seem well, so I’d like to reschedule the lesson for tomorrow!]
Again, again, again!
He held his mobile phone tightly, his grip tightening.
Words that he wouldn’t usually say tumbled out.
“Then I’ll deduct one session from the total…”
[No, Ms. What kind of talk is that? It’s not like I’m asking for a free lesson; I’m just asking to push it back!]
“Not giving me advance notice makes it awkward for me when you tell me just 30 minutes before the tutoring starts.”
[Ms.! I never thought you would be so focused on money… You should think about providing proper service and earning your salary! And is Hyun-seung actually getting proper lessons from you? I heard you got into the Korean University Music Department but… ]
The study group has now crumbled, and tutoring has crumbled.
‘At least the deposit date is coming up fast…’
Normally, she would’ve received money two weeks later, but since the tutoring got canceled, she’d receive it tomorrow instead.
With that news, Daniel made up her mind to spend her remaining money, a total of 1,410 won, on triangle gimbap.
“Welcome! This is CU!”
*
The summer sun was long.
To avoid this precarious feeling that could explode at any moment, Daniel ran to a quiet park, fleeing from Woo Da-yeon and NoName.
The final blow to her battered heart came from her mother.
[Send me 500,000 won. I’m out of money, Daniel.]
Under a green maple tree with leaves plentifully flourishing, she trudged to a shaded bench and lay down on it.
She could feel the dampness of the summer air through her thin white t-shirt, as the rough wooden bench pressed against her skin.
Her long hair sprawled around her as its ends touched the dirty ground.
Swallowing her emotions that threatened to overflow, she dialed her mother’s number.
“I don’t have any money.”
Unsurprisingly, the abuse began pouring forth.
It was mostly questions like how much she had sacrificed for her and complaints about how could she not manage this little even after graduating from the prestigious Korean University Music Department.
If it was going to turn out like this, she could just sever ties between parent and child entirely.
The tirade didn’t stop until her father took the phone to intervene.
[How are you doing?]
“I’m struggling. I feel like I could die.”
[What should I do if my pretty daughter says she’s struggling? Should I send you some pocket money?]
“I know you’re broke. Please don’t say such pitiful things.”
[Alright… I’m sorry…]
“So just stop, Dad! CoughCough!”
[Huh? What’s wrong with Dad?]
“Never mind. Just forget it.”
Daniel didn’t feel the need to finish her sentence.
She thought it would be unfair to vent her frustrations on her father when he was unable to do anything for them as the head of the family.
She understood how miserable it was to be utterly powerless.
‘Understanding’ was all she could afford.
Daniel felt resentment towards her mother, who had led her down this path, and her father, who was of no help in life.
After ending the short call, she stood back up again.
Stretching out wide, her joints crackled like crack, crack.
The advertisements hanging in the sky displayed various news headlines.
Charges of bribery in the hundreds of millions, stock manipulation in the trillions.
They even said that in Switzerland, they offer tens of billions per person just to attract even a single child prodigy who hasn’t even reached adulthood.
At that moment, the amount seemed absolutely surreal.
She wished, instead, for just 200,000 won from winning the lottery just to have a little more cash.
Today had been filled with only misfortune, so wouldn’t a slice of luck be nice?
Yet there wasn’t even enough money in Daniel’s wallet to buy a lottery ticket.
“I’m starving…”
Her stomach felt like it was glued to her back.
Just as Daniel was about to turn toward the dormitory, exhaling in deep resignation.
“Are you hungry?”
A voice came from slightly in front of her, a bit lower down.
With a crumpling black plastic bag, NoName looked up at Daniel.
“I brought one serving of nakgopsae. Want some?”
NoName then held out the plastic bag.
Daniel’s face was overtaken by astonishment as her big eyes blinked repeatedly.
“No wonder today was so unlucky…”
“…?”
NoName tilted her head, smiling brightly.
“Never mind. Thank you, really…”
Daniel couldn’t hold back the tears that had been building inside her all this time.
The walls she had carefully built around her heart collapsed under the pure gesture of kindness.