Semantic Error

Sangwoo couldn’t concentrate on his Chinese class at all. The interrupter sitting next to him constantly twirled his pen with his fingers and shook his legs nonstop. In addition, even if he forgot about these annoyances for just a second, he tapped Sangwoo with his elbow. Because of that, the 50-minute class felt like five hours.

It was to the point where he felt grateful when the class ended. Sangwoo stood up without even looking at Jaeyoung, who was immersed in inking the edge of the desk with a pen. He headed to the next class faster than anyone else.

‘I tried to let it go, because I thought you weren’t normal, but I changed my mind. Look forward to next semester.’

The change of mind couldn’t possibly mean that he would attend the same class to disturb him so that he couldn’t pay attention? The ominous feeling rose up inside, but he tried hard to deny it. It won’t be like that. It’s a coincidence that the subjects overlap.

After  running to the next classroom, it was frustrating to see, once again, a bag placed on Sangwoo’s preferred chair. This time, it was a navy backpack. Unfortunately, there was someone in this class as well, who knew that this was his optimum seating position.

Sangwoo calmed down by taking deep breaths and sat next to that seat and opened his book, but he was so angry that he couldn’t see the letters. The page where he placed his fist was wet with sweat. He couldn’t believe he had to see the devil every Monday morning. Because of this, he couldn’t even concentrate in class!

While cursing inside, the owner of the backpack arrived. Sangwoo was not interested in whoever it was, but this time, his head turned automatically.

Red padded jacket, red jersey, red hat, and Coca-Cola!

His enemy sat down with both a messenger bag and a backpack hanging on the chair. Sangwoo only looked at him blankly for 30 seconds. Jang Jaeyoung smirked after taking a sip of Coke. Sangwoo thought it was not right, so he left his seat, but he still couldn’t miss class. He moved and sat down at the seat farthest away from Jaeyoung.

The class started shortly after that. While calling attendance, the professor put his glasses on when it was Jaeyoung’s turn.

“Jang Jaeyoung, you’re majoring in visual design. Will this class be okay?”

“I really like math, professor.”

“But even so, engineering math?”

The professor was excited, but Sangwoo was overwhelmed. He held his head in his hands in despair, so lost four minutes of class. It was hard to concentrate after that too. Because he wasn’t in his typical, optimized seat, the viewing angle of the professor was different. Maybe it was because of his mood, but he couldn’t seem to hear his voice well either. It was the worst, because the atmosphere was more disordered than usual.

At the end of class, Sangwoo ran out of the classroom like a bullet. He had never felt such intense anger before. In most situations, he remained calm and maintained his composure, but he felt like he had been stabbed in his Achilles’ heel.

It was fortunate that he didn’t talk to him, but now he felt like he would get a rash just being around the guy.

It took a long time for his tension to ease that day. He sat down two minutes earlier than usual at the Korean food section. Nevertheless, Sangwoo was feeling anxious.

“Oh, there’s a seat right there!”

“Just then?”

The awful foreboding didn’t disappear. Jaeyoung, who was walking around with a tray, passed numerous empty tables and sat next to Sangwoo, who had chosen to eat at a seat in a corner.

i) Go to another seat: he follows and the same situation happens. Waste of time.
ii) Stay still: nothing happens. 

After a simple simulation, Sangwoo ignored him and ate.

“Hyung, hyung, hyung! What brings you to the school cafeteria?”

“Right. It’s been a while since you’ve seen this bastard.”

“I heard that after you cursed at the professor, so you couldn’t graduate. Is that true?”

“No motherfucker, who said that?”

And he saw a surprising sight. Even though he chose a seat in a quiet location on purpose, the table was filled simply because Jaeyoung sat next to him. Because of the people who filled his surroundings and the excessive noise, Sangwoo ate without knowing whether the food went into his mouth or his nose.

After finishing his meal, he checked the time, and it was 12:22, six minutes earlier than usual. Sangwoo quickly got up with an empty tray, quickly disposed of the leftovers, and drank five glasses of water from the sink. He didn’t feel well, because he ate in a hurry and felt like he had an upset stomach.

Sangwoo came out through the back door and stopped by the snack bar. After finishing each day, he drank Blackholic brand canned coffee. The reason why this product was preferred, was because it was the cheapest and had the optimal quantity of liquid.

There were three beverage refrigerators located past the snack, ramyun, and ice cream sections. Sangwoo stood in front of the third refrigerator and looked at the fifth shelf.

“What? Where is it?”

No matter how hard he looked, the location of his preferred canned coffee was empty. Sangwoo was not the type of person who was used to unexpected situations. After standing in front of the refrigerator for a while, for the first time in his entire college career, he approached the middle-aged woman who manages the snack bar.

“Are you not stocking “Blackholic” anymore?”

“Oh, student! That’s….”

She avoided Sangwoo’s eyes as if she were at a loss.

“Some student bought everything yesterday afternoon.”

Sangwoo felt like the sky had collapsed. He didn’t have to ask which student did that. Knowing the cause clearly, the important thing was the follow-up.

“Then when will it be restocked?”

“It doesn’t sell well, so I think it’ll take about two weeks?”

He was forced to pick up a can with a design similar to “Blackholic” and stagger out of the snack shop.

Has he ever had such a shitty day in his life. Had there ever been a day when things didn’t go as intended? To be sure, there had not been such a day.

As he walked, Sangwoo felt numb. There was a road where he always drank coffee after eating. An 11-minute walk through a trail in the mountain behind the school always boosted his energy.

Sangwoo walked slowly and recalled the unpleasant things that happened today. There were many strange things. How did Jang Jaeyoung know Sangwoo’s timetable? And how did he find out which seat was his? And what kind of coffee he was drinking? Just like a stalker.

“You can’t go in this way.”

“Why?”

“The theater department is using it.”

The entrance to the road Sangwoo always uses was blocked. It was not a strange situation, but it was suspicious that this happened today, because it had never happened before.

Sangwoo had no choice but to walk another way. He took a sip of his coffee, but it was so sweet that he involuntarily frowned. After passing the futsal site, a worker who was resting in front of the construction site spoke to Sangwoo.

“Student, why are you coming out that way today?”

He didn’t know what he was talking about, as it was their first meeting. It was a day when so many strange things had happened. Sangwoo poured the rest of the coffee down the sewer and walked to the front of the College of Natural Sciences.

“…….”

It would not be a coincidence that the second trash can, which he always used, was full. Sangwoo had only thrown away cans in that trash can so far, because he had no worry about it being full. Throwing cans into the third trash can didn’t feel good, because the can hit the opening and fell out, so he had to pick it up and throw it away again. Sangwoo headed to the library trembling.

‘He can’t torment me here.’

The library had a reservation system, so Sangwoo, who always reserved seats at midnight, had no chance of losing his seat. Sangwoo walked in like a fierce storm, sat in front of his computer, reserved the books he needed, and checked out some books on the“new  arrivals” bookshelf. He sat down on the rightmost seat of the fourth desk he’d reserved in advance in the study room. It wasn’t crowded around this seat, because it was next to the theology section where students did not come often. There were no obstructions, as there were no windows. Sangwoo had never sat in any other seat.

His heart sank for a moment when he saw a bag lying on the seat next to his, but fortunately, it was a white eco bag, not the backpack or the leather messenger bag he had seen today.

Sangwoo opened a computer science textbook and started studying. He went to the bathroom once in the middle of his studies. When he returned to his seat, there was a can of coffee on his desk.

i) Did I buy it? Nii) Can I see the owner looking for his goods? iii) Is it useful to me? Y (Reason: ‘Blackholic’)

He went through three levels of algorithms and reached out for the can. At the moment he was about to drink after opening the lid ring, he saw a Post-it note with the words, “a new development, property of Jang Jaeyoung” written on it.

Sangwoo frowned as if he had seen a disgusting bug. Then, that guy’s hand popped up from behind his shoulder and took the can. Sangwoo’s eyes rolled up and were met with the eyes behind the large glasses.

“We meet again.”

“…….”

Jaeyoung hung his backpack and leather messenger bag on the chair by the desk with the white eco bag. It was difficult to even believe what he was seeing. There was a bastard who carried three bags purely to fool others. He took off his red fur hat, put it on his desk, and left.

Sangwoo broke his mechanical pencil lead twice, because he put too much pressure while writing. One is more concerned with cockroaches when they are invisible than when they are in front of them. Jang Jaeyoung did precisely that to Sangwoo. Even if he wasn’t sitting right next to him, he couldn’t study, because Sangwoo paid attention to what Jaeyoung was doing with that shocking red beanie on his desk.

Jaeyoung soon returned with some books: History of Sex, The Nature of the Orgasm, and The Beauty of Nudity. He tilted his chair back, bobbed up and down as he turned the pages, and whenever he saw a picture, he examined it very closely.

“Pathetic bastard….”

He tried hard not to look over at him, but he could hear the frequent sound of turning pages. In addition, he kept tapping his leg and shaking his desk. If there were one more student, he would have joined forces to confront him, but Sangwoo was the only one there. It was an eight-person desk, but his intentions in sitting so close to Sangwoo and shaking the desk were obvious.

Expression of anger = defeat

Ignore = Win

When he was in high school, Sangwoo had a fight with some attention whores, so he was well aware of how to respond. No matter the level of attention-seeking, it’s just a similar type of psychology as Burberry Man (a flasher), who took off his pants hoping to surprise his opponent. Jang Jaeyoung wanted Sangwoo to lose his composure and collapse by getting angry while cursing.

However, even though he knew this, his patience continued to bottom out.

Sangwoo tried to endure it somehow, but when the desk shook and the mechanical pencil lead broke, he automatically rose to leave. When Sangwoo organized his pencil case, closed the textbook, and put them roughly in his backpack, Jaeyoung got up and stretched. He followed behind as if it were a natural thing to do. Sangwoo wasn’t even surprised at this point.

Sangwoo decided to ignore him. However, while going down the stairs, with his anger building up, he almost bumped into Jaeyoung in front of the building. He couldn’t keep it in anymore, so he faced Jang Jaeyoung.

It seemed like a duel in the wilderness. Just looking at their faces, Sangwoo, whose expression was distorted, would look like the villain, while the relaxed Jaeyoung, would look like the hero. However, the situation was quite the opposite. When Sangwoo faced the villain who tormented him, a wind current passed through them as if directed in a game. Sangwoo wanted to take out his weapon and stab him like the main character of an RPG game.

“Are you insane?”

The weak attack did nothing to the enemy. Rather, Jaeyoung seemed satisfied to hear that.

“Sunbae, are you a stalker?”

“Stalker? Hoobae-nim, this is obviously your area of expertise, isn’t it?”

Jaeyoung covered his mouth while yawning, and put his hands in his pocket.

“Everyone knows that you do the same thing at the same time and place every day. Did you think you wouldn’t be seen if you’re wearing black? You stand out way more than you think.”

“How did you know my timetable?”

He took a familiar-looking note from one of his three bags and threw it at Sangwoo. It was the note left behind in the meeting room with Sangwoo’s timetable. As Jaeyoung took a few steps closer, the height difference, which was not so noticeable from afar, became clear. Sangwoo looked up at him with his eyes wide open so as not to lose his advantage.

“This won’t make you graduate. Why are you wasting your time?”

“Since it is somewhat amusing to me, I’ll be troublesome. You shouldn’t have bothered me.”

“What would you gain by tormenting me?”

“It’s simply…  a matter of feelings.”

Jang Jaeyoung who was smiling mischievously, seemed like a real villain. Sangwoo felt goosebumps on his arms. Was it wrong to assume that he was a man of limited reason? Jaeyoung was just saying things that he couldn’t understand. Don’t you usually do harm to others for a desired goal? What does one do if the person is simply a sadist who enjoys tormenting others?

“What should I do to make you stop?”

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“Who knows? I haven’t thought about that yet. Start acting obediently. You’ve been so rude and haven’t even apologized.”

“You must have done something wrong for an apology to be required.”

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Footnotes

1. This probably just means that Sangwoo is being paranoid, as he can’t predict Jaeyoung’s actions. As per the words of Julius Caesar himself: “as a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.”
2. Hoobae is the Korean word for ‘junior.’ It is used to address someone of lower rank, or grade, in this case. The -nim added at the end is an honorific. In this case, it’s used in a more mocking way, like saying dear hoobae (dear junior).