A former Emperor, current law major top-ranker is about to interrogate me.
My head felt faint.
The cafe we arrived at moments later still held the cozy ambiance of the morning.
Students with laptops flipped open sat by the window tables, and the soft hiss of a coffee machine steaming milk hummed in the background.
I quietly placed my order and was handed my iced Americano.
Thinking I’d finally be able to catch my breath—
Cedric sat down right across from me and stared straight into my eyes.
“……What.”
I quickly grabbed my cup and took a gulp.
The ice-cold beverage rushed down my throat with enough force to give me a brain freeze.
Cedric watched me slowly, like an apex predator sizing up its prey.
An inexplicably suffocating sensation settled over us.
In this absurd silence, I finally understood firsthand exactly how the politician standing before the judge in the movie must have felt.
Cedric slowly lifted his own cup and took a sip.
Amidst the nerve-wracking stillness, he finally opened his mouth.
“I’ve got a question for you.”
I flinched, instinctively tightening my grip on my cup.
“……Wh-What is it?”
Cedric narrowed his eyes, studying my face closely.
“Did something happen to you?”
I blinked at those words.
“……What are you talking about?”
Cedric let out a brief, humorless chuckle that sounded like a sigh.
“I’ve stuck by your side for over 20 years. You really think I wouldn’t notice?”
……I’ve known your face for all of two days.
“……Seriously, nothing’s up.”
I muttered, averting my gaze, but Cedric looked far from ready to let it go.
Tap, tap, tap—
The tips of his fingers drummed rhythmically against the table.
At that sound, I flinched.
That was Kim Semo’s habitual tell whenever he suspected someone was lying to him.
……Semo?
Before I could stop myself, I raised my head and locked eyes with him.
“It’s weird. Is something going on at home?”
……His face was still entirely different, of course.
Blinded for a second by that dazzling imperial visage, I slowly closed and opened my eyes.
Anyway, home?
There’s a final boss at home.
A platinum-blond, muscular final boss who doted on me hand and foot from morning till night.
And then…….
Yesterday’s memory flashed across my mind.
The presence that had filled my entire field of vision.
“……Massive pecs…….”
I muttered mindlessly.
“……Pfft—cough!”
A sudden coughing fit erupted from across the table.
As I lifted my head, Cedric looked as though he had choked on his drink, hacking repeatedly.
“What’s wrong?”
“……What did you just say……?”
“Massive pecs?”
Only after the words left my mouth did it dawn on me.
……Did I seriously just say that out loud?!
Cedric’s coughing fit worsened.
His face flushed completely bright red as he slammed his cup down.
‘Cough, cough!’
I blinked in sheer panic.
……I really did say it with my actual voice.
“……Get your head in the game.”
Giving me a deeply suspicious look, he muttered as if exhausted.
“Tone it down a bit. You’re going to rot your bones away at this rate.”
I went blank for a moment.
……Cedric seems to think I’ve completely lost my mind from watching too much adult content.
Correcting that absurd misunderstanding head-on would be even more humiliating, yet leaving it alone felt like things were just spiraling further out of control.
Stuck without anything to say, an awkward silence dragged on.
Cedric sat across from me, wordlessly drumming his fingers against the table, while I nervously fiddled with my cup out of sheer habit.
To avoid making eye contact, my gaze stayed strictly glued to the menu board or the cup on the table.
Without a single word passing between us, about ten minutes seemed to tick by.
Amidst that stifling quiet, the cafe door finally chimed open.
It was the sound of Gongi and Ian arriving.
Gongi had her bobbed hair tied up in a half-up style, while Ian was wearing glasses with her hair pinned back by a claw clip.
Both of them were dressed comfortably.
“Hi!”
“Was the movie good?”
I nodded at Gongi and Ian’s questions.
Ian headed over to the counter to order a drink, while Gongi sat down across from me and looked around.
“Why is it so chilly in here? Are you two having a secret tryst or something?”
“What are you even saying?”
At my cold response, Gongi’s eyes curved into crescent shapes as she laughed and fluttered the hem of her jacket.
“It’s starting to get warm. Ah, I hope the school festival gets here soon.”
“Isn’t midterm season before that?”
At my words, Gongi froze instantly, her eyes trembling as she gave me a devastated look.
“……Sometimes you’re so brutally realistic it gives me the creeps, Yoon Seohyun.”
I felt a sudden pang of guilt for pouring cold water all over her excitement.
Right then, Ian returned with her drink and playfully pressed the cold can against Gongi’s cheek, whispering something with a grin.
Gongi lit up and grabbed the canned drink.
‘Does she seriously drink canned soda even at a cafe?’
However, before their conversation could go any further, my ears suddenly went muffled, followed by a persistent ringing in my head.
Instinctively wincing, I brought my hand up near my ear.
At that exact second—thud.
Someone reached out, grabbed me by the head as if pulling me in, and pressed me against their shoulder.
“……Hey, thanks.”
It was Cedric.
His touch felt strangely familiar.
Reminding me of things Kim Semo used to do, it strangely made me think of Semo, while also leaving me oddly grateful.
Closing my eyes and leaning against him for a moment, I could feel the ringing in my ears slowly subsiding.
As my head cleared up and I opened my eyes, Gongi and Ian were staring down at me with very peculiar expressions.
“…….”
“…….”
An awkward silence stretched out.
For some reason, Gongi’s cheeks were faintly flushed, while Ian’s lips stretched wide into a mischievous, knowing smirk.
“……What?”
I asked, frowning in confusion.
Gongi crossed her arms and flashed a deeply meaningful smile.
“Nothing, just thought it looked unexpectedly affectionate.”
At those words, I instinctively jerked back and pulled away from Cedric.
My sudden movement made Cedric intake a sharp breath, and Gongi wore a vaguely disappointed expression.
“Forget it, let’s just decide on our project topic.”
As I hurriedly changed the subject, Gongi whined and let out a sound of frustration.
“Ugh, I seriously hate this. Assignment hell.”
At the same time, a new message popped up in the group chat. It was an announcement from the class president.
[[Class President] Political Science and Diplomacy students, here is the information regarding the political science assignment. It will be conducted in teams of four. Over the semester, you will analyze the political system of a specific country and propose reform plans from your respective perspectives. Freely assign the given roles among your team members. One person must write the report from the perspective of a politician, one as a legal professional, and the remaining members from the perspectives of citizens and journalists. Also, this class will be replaced with movie watching and report writing. Please note that the report will be included in your performance evaluation.]
Looking at the sheer amount of workload Ludger had assigned, I let out a deep sigh.
I wasn’t even surprised anymore. Cursing just came naturally at this point.
That fucking bastard—why did he have to become a professor and increase the workload?
