Choi Hyo-bin had walked from his home in Sillim-dong to Daehan Sports Academy in Bongcheon-dong that morning. 

The long distance had drained his energy, and the physical waste angered him before the swim practice. 

The hallway was silent when he reached the building. He pushed the classroom door open and tried to avoid attention.

Half the class were keeping their heads down while he checked the room from the entrance. The front desk looked empty, so he relaxed his shoulders and assumed the man had not shown up. 

Then the professor moved in his seat, and Hyo-bin finally saw him.

He mumbled an apology as he bowed low and kept his eyes on his shoes. And the professor kept his eyes on him. Hyo-bin walked to the back row and found his friend from the swimming team, Park Soo-bin. He took the empty seat next to him.

Soo-bin leaned closer.

"Why are you late?" he asked.

"I walked," Hyo-bin said.

Soo-bin raised his brows.

"Why did you walk?"

"I gave my last bit of cash to my drunk dad," Hyo-bin said. He was trying to keep his voice low.

Soo-bin turned fully toward him.

"Why didn't you call me, Hyo-bin?" he asked. "I'd pick you up."

"I can't ask you for help every day, Captain. And walking is good sometimes," Hyo-bin said.

"I'd come pick you up by car. Your place isn't exactly around the corner, and it's freezing outside. You're gonna cry about being tired at practice tonight again," Soo-bin said.

"Yeah, yeah, Soo-bin. Tell my dad if you want, I think it will be more useful," he said.

"Lunch is on me. You're not dying of hunger today," Soo-bin said.

Hyo-bin chuckled.

"Thanks, Soo-bin-ah¹. So… did I miss anything fun?"

"Nah. He hasn't even started lecturing yet," Soo-bin said. "Just wandering around, chatting up random people."

"Perfect," Hyo-bin said, rolling his eyes. "He hasn't even started class, but he already tried to kill me with his stare."

Soo-bin laughed.

"Ya, I'll pick you up tomorrow. We can go to school together, okay?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Hyo-bin said. "It's dumb to drive all the way from Gangnam to my place and then back to campus."

"It's fine," Soo-bin said. "My dad's paying for gas, so we might as well use it. At least that way he actually does something as a dad. I don't want you showing up to practice tired, Hyo-bin-ah."

When the professor walked to the front desk and took his seat, their conversation ended. He looked at the class and spoke loudly.

"Alright," he said. "When I call your name, tell us which topic you picked. You'll have five weeks to present it, so you can't use practice as an excuse."

He scratched his head with his pen while he checked the list.

"Kim Min-ji."

Min-ji answered from her seat.

"I'm taking the topic on social class and access to university sports facilities."

"Alright," the professor said and wrote it down.

He moved to the next name.

"Joo Sun-woo."

Sun-woo lifted his head.

"I'll take the one about mental health pressure on student athletes."

"Very good choice… Jung Hae-jin."

Hae-jin raised her hand.

"I'm taking the topic about the media image of college athletes and how it's different from their actual campus life."

"Got it," the professor said. "Maybe this way you'll give us some examples of your unbelievable behavior in MeTube interviews," he said.

Laughter was rising from the class while Hae-jin was sitting down in his seat. 

"Seo Seung-ho."

"I'm choosing the topic on social class and how it shapes an athlete's identity," Seung-ho said.

Hyo-bin spoke from the back row before the professor answered.

"Talking about social class like he's not part of the problem," he said.

Soo-bin rubbed his temples before Seung-ho turned around.

"Aissh², Hyo-bin, why did you do that?" he asked.

Seung-ho turned around while he squeezed his hands into fists.

"You saying that to me?" he asked.

Hyo-bin kept his eyes on him.

"Pretend I did. What then?"

Everyone went quiet suddenly, but the professor stepped in.

"What's the problem back there?" 

Seung-ho faced forward.

"I don't have a problem, sir," he said.

Hyo-bin continued while he looked at his notebook. He really wanted him to have a problem.

"So your project's gonna be about how rich kids have it easy in sports, right?" 

Soo-bin felt like he had no choice but to step in.

"If you don't cut it out, I'm gonna beg the coach myself to make you do twenty extra laps," he said.

Seung-ho acted like he hadn't heard and kept his voice low.

"You were crying in the pool yesterday. Wasn't that enough, Choi Hyo-bin?" he asked.

"The bruise on your chin says otherwise, bitch," Hyo-bin said.

When the professor raised his voice, Seung-ho had already stood up and Hyo-bin had pushed himself out of his seat.

"You two. Up here. Now!"

Everyone was watching them while they walked up to the front and stood a little apart from each other. The professor looked at both of them.

"I don't know what your issue is," the professor said. "The whole department is talking about you two now. I don't understand if you wanna get expelled. Whatever. I'm giving you a chance to fix it."

Neither of them answered.

The professor tapped the paper once.

"Seung-ho's project topic is now your project topic. Both of you. And in five weeks, you're presenting it together."

Seung-ho looked at him.

"Professor, is that really necessary?" he asked.

"Two third-year athletes learning where and how they should behave? Yeah, I think that's definitely necessary," the professor said.

Hyo-bin frowned.

"I didn't ask for this, sir. I don't wanna work with him."

"This isn't a discussion," the professor said. "Your project is assigned. Go sit down."

Both of them bowed to the professor. 

Seung-ho turned his back and walked away while Hyo-bin kept his eyes on him. Then returned to their seats and muttered in low voices.

The five-week project started right then.

—

¹ 아 (-ah) A casual Korean vocative particle attached to the end of a name ending in a consonant. It signals an immediate shift from formal distance to a shared, personal space. In a narrative, it functions as a bridge of intimacy, indicating a bond where social barriers have been lowered and comfort has been established.

² 아이시 (aish) A common Korean exclamation of frustration or annoyance.