Chapter 40: The Bait’s Starting to Bite, You Know?

I mean, even if someone pushes me off a cliff, I can fly anyway.

Anyway, just like that—like roasting beans over lightning—we made plans in a flash and spent the day.

Today is Dialectology class day.

As expected, the moment I step into the lecture room, I can feel all the eyes sticking to me.

But by now, I’ve gotten used to those stares.

They say humans are creatures of adaptation—guess that’s exactly what this is.

“Oh, hello, sunbae!”

As soon as I sat down, I heard a familiar voice.

It was Si-hyun.

She greeted me with a rather cheerful tone and lively energy.

Did something good happen?

Her voice sounds extra bright today.

“Oh, hey.”

“Sunbae, don’t you think it’s about time you dropped the honorifics with us?”

Just then, Nam Soo-yeon leaned in from beside Si-hyun and spoke up.

“Hmm… you think so?”

“Yes. It just feels like there’s still this wall between us.”

Si-hyun looked a little disappointed as she spoke.

Clearly, me being more open with classmates but still keeping my distance from underclassmen had left her feeling a bit hurt.

Honestly, yeah, I have kept that wall up way too much.

Maybe it’s time I start getting closer to the juniors too.

I mean, I’m officially the head of a national agency now.

What good would it do to be known as the senior who keeps others at arm’s length?

And I know the juniors in front of me right now are actually really decent people.

“Alright, I’ll do that. I mean, I will.”

“Oh!”

“Anyway, did you all finish the assignment?”

“We did, but… I’m not sure we’ll get good grades.”

“It’s okay. Professor Kim Jin-young doesn’t grade regular assignments too harshly.
As long as it’s done properly, you’ll get a decent score. But…”

“…Group projects are the real problem.”

“I heard from some other seniors… they said the group projects are super brutal?”

“I mutated doing this exact one last semester… And now I’m doing it again.”

“Wait, really!?”

Si-hyun’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah. Right after I finished organizing the paper and was about to turn it into a PPT, I stepped out for a quick breath of fresh air at dawn, Got hit by a mutation beam—bam! Next thing I know, three months had passed and I had to retake the whole semester.”

“Ahh…”

Well…

“If the topic’s similar, maybe I can reuse what I did last time. Though… I have no idea how the groups will turn out. Professor Kim Jin-young always assigns them randomly.”

“Random sounds kind of scary…”

“Can’t be helped. It’s all up to the professor.”

“Please, let me be in a group with someone I know…”

Soon after, the professor walked in.

“Ha ha. Been doing well, everyone? I checked the assignments, and it looks like you all did pretty well… But I think it’s about time we went over the group project.”

And just like that, Professor Kim Jin-young brought up the group project the moment class started.

About half the class let out a collective groan.

The professor gave a bitter smile at their reaction.

But that didn’t stop her from going through with the group project.

She explained it as a valuable experience—since we’ll all have to collaborate with others in the future anyway.

“So, once again, I’ve assigned the groups myself. Let’s start with Group 1. Yoon Seo-hyun, Lee Si—”

There was no doubt.

I was the leader of Group 1.

And one of my group members was Si-hyun.

Soo-yeon ended up in the same group as Han-gyeol.

Of course, Si-hyun wasn’t the only one in my group.

The professor told us to move and sit with our group members.

This was the same as last semester too.

At the very least, she wanted us to get familiar with the people we’d be working with.

“Hello.”

And then, I met the rest of Group 1.

There was me, Lee Si-hyun, two Chinese international students whose names I didn’t catch.

And one more junior I was seeing for the first time today.

A male student from the class of ’17.

His name was Kim Min-seong.

The two Chinese students greeted me in awkward Korean.

And the junior also said hello, a bit shyly.

“Uh, h-hello…”

He looked like the type who wasn’t great with people.

And yet, I got the feeling he’d be really good at group projects.

He seemed like someone who was used to getting things done on his own.

It’d be hard to expect much from the two international students.

But with me, Si-hyun, and Kim Min-seong.

It felt like we could make it work somehow.

“I’ve done this group project before last semester, So I’ll walk you through the general guidelines and what we need to prepare. Don’t worry too much or feel pressured.”

“Yes.”

“And also—this is really important, If you’ve ever worked with PowerPoint before, raise your hand.”

“I can do it.”

The moment I brought up the topic of PowerPoint.

Kim Min-seong, who had seemed a bit awkward before, suddenly looked different.

Yeah, my instincts weren’t so bad after all.

He’s 100% one of those group project veterans forged through endless assignments.

“Great. Then Min-seong, you’ll handle the PowerPoint. Si-hyun, you and I will work on research and writing the paper together. I’ll show you how the paper should be structured.”

“Okay!”

“Everyone else, please help with the research and send me what you find. I’ll go through it and use it with Si-hyun to write the paper.”

“Okay.”

The two Chinese international students looked at me with some kind of curious gaze.

Well, I’m used to that kind of look by now.

Not that I expect them to actually pull off proper research.

There’s a language barrier to begin with.

And I’m willing to be understanding about that.

If they even just pretend to show a bit of effort, I’m happy to carry them.

Anyway, I’ve still got all my dialectology research materials saved in my cloud storage.

Honestly, I could do the whole thing by myself.

But this time, I’m not planning on shouldering a tree trunk on my own.

“I’ll do the presentation, so just keep that in mind.”

“Okay!”

“We’ve got plenty of time before the deadline, But cramming everything in at the last minute will just make it worse, So we’ll start this week.”

“The professor already gave us the topic, So I’ll tell you what sources to look at. Just summarize what you find in those.”

“Got it.”

As I walked the group through the project.

I could see a sense of relief in their expressions.

And honestly, I felt the same.

I trust that this group will get things done.

Especially Kim Min-seong—he’s solid.

He’s got the right attitude.

Totally different from that one guy from class of ’16 I worked with before.

That guy looked me dead in the face and said.

“I don’t know how to use PowerPoint.”

What was his name again…?

Oh right, I think it was Seong Yoon-hwan.

Hopefully I won’t run into him again.

I was a bit petty back then, so I do hold a grudge.

When I got home, I found Yoon Seo-ah looking half-dead.

What now?

Why does she look like that again?

“Hey, you dead or something?”

“Don’t touch me.”

“What, getting famous tiring you out already?”

“Nooo! Ugh… Why is everyone being so annoying!?”

I poked her once, and she exploded like a volcano.

I grinned at the sight.

“Tough, huh? I told you so, didn’t I?”

“Still, no one dares to mess with you, right?”

Mess with me?

Who would?

“Wait, is someone messing with you or something?”

“Not directly. But ever since the magazine came out, a bunch of people have been low-key trying to test the waters.”

“People? You mean guys?”

“Girls too. I mean, I usually try to get along with everyone in the department, But ever since summer break, cliques started forming. So there are definitely some who don’t like me.”

“…Yep.”

Totally understandable.

It’s not easy to be friendly with everyone in college.

Especially in departments with a higher ratio of girls.

Not as extreme as all-girls schools, but still.

There’s that old saying about how if three girls hang out, three different group chats will spawn from it.

Our department was like that too, and Business Administration wouldn’t be an exception.

Then there’s the inferiority complex factor.

When people see someone doing better than them, they get hostile without even realizing it.

As much as I hate to admit it.

My little sister probably does come off as a perfect girl to others.

She got all the good genes—pretty face, good grades, athletic.

Still, that’s that.

What’s wrong is still wrong.

“So who’s trying anything?”

“No one’s actually done anything yet, But I can feel it coming. There were always people who didn’t like me and played petty politics, But after the magazine? That stuff just kicked into high gear.”

“Ahhh. So what are you gonna do?”

“What else? I’m just gonna ignore it. This isn’t high school—what, they think bullying still works or something?”

“I mean, it’s possible with freshmen. But yeah, good call. Those people talking behind your back aren’t doing anything useful with their lives anyway.”

“If anyone even tries to touch me physically, I’m calling you.”

Honestly, that’s probably for the best.

If that brooch activates the wrong way and targets them, that could be… bad.

“…That’s why I gave it to you.”

“Oh right. Didn’t you say it could cause cardiac arrest or something?”

“Yeah. Anyway, if you sense anything weird, call me right away. I can’t exactly use brute force right now, But I can at least make sure they don’t say a word afterward.”

“Okay.”

“So in exchange, you’re buying dinner tonight.”

“Sure, I can do that. What do you want to eat?”

“Chicken? Pizza? Anything you’re craving?”

“Hmm… not really in the mood for greasy stuff…”

“Then just order udon or something.”

“Got it.”

Still, I can’t help but think.

She’s definitely going through a lot right now in her own way.

“But do you really think they’d physically try something? If they saw the magazine, they should know you’re my sister, right?”

“Unnie, the world is big, and there are plenty of crazy people.”

“…Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

“Writers break logic all the time. There are probably people out there dumb enough to mess with a dragon. This is Earth, not a fantasy world. And some of them might even try to use the fact that you’re a government agency head against me.”

“That’s the kind of thing we call ‘not thinking at all.’ I literally said at the press conference what would happen to anyone who messes with my family.”

“…But emotions don’t always follow logic.”

“I know. You’re right. Hey, do you even know why that person doesn’t like you?”

“It’s kinda crappy to say, but… The guy she likes keeps hitting on me.”

“…Ah.”

I understood instantly.

If there’s an emotion that can override logic, It’s love—or more specifically, jealousy.

People might even go after someone who has a dragon for a family member.

“So I told that idiot to stop talking to me. Said I wasn’t interested in dating.
And then the clueless moron said it right in front of her. And he doesn’t even know she likes him. It’s a whole mess.”

“Are you seriously starring in a love triangle drama after just one semester?”

“Right!? That’s what I’m saying…”

She sighed as she said it, clearly fed up with the situation herself.