LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 10.1
“Alright, Daram-i will handle everything for Acorn Village. What about the 23rd class? Jihyuk seems to agree. Mommyammi?”
“…Sure,” Mommyammi muttered reluctantly when Baek Sang-ah called on her.
“Then it’s settled! We’re going to Acorn Village again this year!”
“By the time I graduate, we’ll have only ever gone to Acorn Village~!”
And just like that, the meeting ended.
…Is this how class rep meetings usually go?
Where should we go? → Last year’s spot! → Save some money! Misappropriate funds! → Let’s do it!!
‘Is this… normal?’
Sure, I agreed to it, but something feels off about all of this. Is it just me? This almost feels like we gathered just to eat lunch.
Baek Sang-ah, as if reading my mind, spoke up.
“I’m sure the 23rd class has realized by now—our meetings are really just an excuse to eat together. No need to overthink it.”
“Ah! I figured as much!”
“That’s our Jihyuk! Quick on the uptake. I like that about you!”
The jajangmyeon arrived, and oh, it tasted heavenly. Food paid for with someone else’s money always hits differently. It was so sweet, I almost mistook it for a watermelon from Mudeungsan.
As I was savoring my noodles…
Rustle.
“Hmm?”
Mommyammi, who had been silent until now, suddenly began her usual antics.
Squirt—
“What the…”
She pulled out a packet of Churu from her bag, squeezed it into her bowl of jajangmyeon, and stirred it in.
‘Did she die of Churu deprivation in her past life or something? Why would anyone do that in front of people?!’
While I stared at her in shock, she shot me a glare.
“Never seen anyone eat Churu before?”
“Not like that.”
“…What does it matter how someone eats?”
Fair point. What someone eats isn’t really my business. But still, isn’t this too much? Am I the only one who finds this weird? No one else is saying anything about her bizarre eating habits.
Slurp.
‘Wait a second.’
Now that I’m paying attention… everyone’s adding something weird to their noodles!
Baek Sang-ah, the great white shark Su-in, was mixing in canned mackerel.
Yang Hwa-bin, the black sheep Su-in, was sprinkling dried hay on hers.
Ha Ti-ho, the fox Su-in, and Kim Daram-i, the squirrel Su-in, were casually tossing in dried mealworms!
‘I see it now.’
Watching their culinary choices, I had an epiphany.
In a world of one-eyed people, the two-eyed man is disabled.
So, what does that mean for me?
‘So, I’m the disabled one here!’
Damn it!
It was my job to take the empty jajangmyeon bowls outside the Creative Building, home of the Design Department. Since I’d gotten a free meal, it only made sense for the rookie to handle cleanup.
But of course, Mommyammi had already disappeared without a trace.
‘Classic dine-and-dash.’
Eating someone else’s food and vanishing? She’s no better than a freeloading raccoon. No, actually, raccoons have the decency to look cute while doing it. Mommyammi? Just a furry cockroach.
‘I hope she tries to toss the Churu cap and accidentally spills the whole thing instead.’
I was just about to head to my next lecture when it happened.
“Daram-ji Thunder!!”
“Gah?!”
Someone jabbed me hard in the lower back. Whipping around, I looked down—far down—to see a pair of twitching brown squirrel ears and a small figure standing there.
“Kim Daram-i, senior?”
“Jihyuk~ Did you enjoy lunch?”
“Yes! Thank you very much!”
“Pfft! It’s not like I paid for it~”
So the culprit was Senior Kim Daram-i. Too bad. If it had been Mommyammi, I’d have hit her with a Dempsey Roll on the spot.
Being a squirrel Su-in, Senior Kim Daram-i was as small as you’d expect, and her poke didn’t carry much force. She grinned, revealing her slightly protruding front teeth, and laughed with a sound like, “Kkik-kkik-kkik!”
First her Daram-ji Thunder move, now this bizarre laugh—was this all part of her “quirky” act, or was she naturally this weird?
“How’s college life so far?”
“It’s only been a couple of days, so I’m still adjusting. But it’s not bad.”
Not bad at all. After all, there’s Eum-ah… and Eum-ah… and, well, even more Eum-ah!
“Glad to hear it~ We were worried about you since humans have a tough time adapting here. This is a Su-in university, after all. Most of the humans who enroll end up dropping out.”
“What’s the record for the fastest dropout?”
“Hmm~ If I recall… about a week?”
“Wow.”
“But I think you’ll stick around for a while, Jihyuk~!”
Kim Daram-i giggled again, attempting to cover her teeth with her small hands. Of course, her hands were too tiny to fully hide them. Did she realize that? I was curious, but before I could ask, she started fluffing her curled tail and changed the subject.
“Oh, right! I actually stopped you for a reason. There’s something I thought you might not know.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s a school rule here: if you’re caught having sex, you get expelled. So, be careful~!”
“…Excuse me? Expelled for… sex?”
Wait, what?
‘That’s not in the rulebook.’
When I got into this Su-in university, I memorized every single school rule. Living among Su-ins felt like a survival game, and the rulebook was my survival guide. But there was no mention of an expulsion policy for sexual activity.
“Is that really a rule?” I asked skeptically.
“Yup~! Each species has different-sized genitalia, and during mating season, male Su-ins can get aggressive. Every year, there are incidents where female students get hurt—or worse. That’s why the rule exists~!”
“B-but… I’m human.”
“Can an ant handle a human’s… you know?”
“…Wow. You really have a way with words, Senior. Natural-born teacher, huh?”
“Thanks for the compliment!”
Logically speaking, she had a point.
Ah, Eum-ah… What are we going to do? If such a rule actually exists, things could get complicated!
As her face flashed through my mind, I felt myself grow sullen.
Noticing my mood, Senior Kim Daram-i gave my slumped shoulder a reassuring pat.
“It’s a rule meant to protect small animal Su-ins like me, so just be careful, okay? Especially during MT~!”
“Yes, ma’am…”
With that, Senior Kim Daram-i walked away, leaving me alone.