Chapter 28 – You, Have Been Read – Part 2

Chapter 28 – You, Have Been Read – Part 2

“Oh, that’s great! Building camaraderie!”

Oh Jeonghoon glanced at Lee Mina, who was smiling brightly. Woojin felt his gaze.

Soon after, when the Professor entered, the noisy Lecture Hall quieted down.

Professor Choi (Intro to Economics) called out attendance.

“Jin Sewoon.”

“Yes!”

“Lee Mina.”

“Yes!”

As Professor Choi called out names, he involuntarily flinched for a moment.

Because it was Shin Woojin’s turn to be called.

He asked questions with eyes full of curiosity, which were not those of a university freshman.

His mind was truly exceptional.

Conversely, if he could be properly tamed and placed in the lab, it seemed he could become a good helper.

“Shin Woojin.”

“Yes.”

After calling attendance, Professor Choi spoke before starting the class.

“I think we need to catch up on the material due to the last cancellation. So, I won’t be taking questions today. Please concentrate.”

The students liked the Professor’s words.

Because if they didn’t ask questions, the Professor would often call on them and ask instead.

The lecture began, and Woojin quietly stood up from his seat.

He held his stomach, as if uncomfortable, and with a slight frown, quietly exited through the back door.

The Professor didn’t think much of the sight.

He simply thought he was going to the Bathroom.

On the contrary, Woojin wasn’t just leaving the Lecture Hall; he was completely exiting the building where the Professor was.

The uncomfortable expression he had shown the Professor was nowhere to be seen.

As always, Woojin walked leisurely, observing his surroundings as if sightseeing, feeling the voices of the relaxed people, the rustling of leaves, and the gentle breeze.

What Woojin liked most was peace.

How many minutes had he walked?

Woojin arrived at the Cafeteria.

After ordering, Woojin nodded, looking at the steaming ramen in front of him.

Skipping class.

It was something he had always wanted to try, and today, he had meticulously (?) planned and executed it.

Just then, Woojin overheard someone carrying a cafeteria tray passing by him.

“Hey, aren’t you going to get caught by the Professor?”

“Eat quickly and then put on a mask.”

Woojin nodded again.

It seemed that skipping class was something everyone did, just like he had seen in the media.

Woojin, who was nodding, felt like…

he had taken another step closer to ordinariness.

“Hoo~ Hoo~”

Slurp!

“Ah…”

Woojin took a bite of the ramen and was slightly impressed.

It tasted much better than the ramen he usually cooked himself.

He had heard and read that ramen cooked by someone else tastes better.

And now, combined with skipping class.

The secretion of CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) due to the unconscious anxiety of possibly getting caught skipping class, and the appropriate increase in ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic Hormone) that follows.

From CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) and ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic Hormone) to the Endorphins released to soothe them, and Serotonin, which governs pleasure, plus Dopamine.

The ramen eaten after skipping class was truly a feast of hormones.

Woojin muttered,

“So this is why people skip class to eat ramen.”

Soon, Woojin, who had finished even the broth, thought,

He should skip class sometimes.

‘It would taste even better if I hadn’t eaten before.’

Of course, for Woojin, who was aware of the leptin produced in the fat cells, there was no such thing as overeating by starving and then eating all at once.

It was very different from when he ate food just to survive, trapped in the warehouse.

Soon, Woojin returned his dishes and headed for the lecture hall, scrolling through Oh Jeonghoon’s social media.

Social media is a means to learn a lot about a person’s information.

So, social media is similar to a drunk classmate at a department gathering saying they can see something called a Status Window.

You could tell what the other person liked, their frequently changing current interests, what they wanted, and what they wanted to appeal.

However, even after looking at Oh Jeonghoon’s social media, Woojin felt nothing special. It was because he had already read him.

As Woojin quietly opened the door to the lecture hall and entered, the professor said,

“That’s enough questions for now, please refocus.”

Woojin sat down and quietly listened to the professor’s words.

About 10 minutes passed?

Woojin’s eyes widened slightly.

He had skipped class, eaten ramen, and returned. Seeing that the professor said nothing, the plan was successful.

And now, class was in session.

Currently, due to food intake, a lot of blood in my body is concentrated in my stomach and intestines.

Conversely, the amount of blood flow to the brain decreases, reducing oxygen and causing drowsiness.

In other words, a food coma.

He thought that what was planned had come.

Opportunity belonged to those who pursued it, and opportunity had come as meticulously planned.

Woojin carefully lay down and closed his eyes.

His chest gently rose and fell, and Woojin truly fell asleep.

Professor Choi was slightly flustered, like Professor Lee of Introduction to Business Administration, but he didn’t wake Woojin.

* * *

After class, Woojin took the shuttle bus with Lee Mina and Oh Jeonghoon’s group down to the downtown area.

They then entered a street vendor tent that Oh Jeonghoon called a hotspot.

It was a bar frequented by people Woojin’s age.

Five of them sat around a table and ordered drinks and snacks.

Lee Mina asked Woojin, who was drinking cold water,

“Woojin, you were sleeping earlier. Didn’t you get any sleep last night?”

Oh Jeonghoon answered as if he knew everything.

“You couldn’t sleep because of stocks, right? Everyone’s like that when they first start. You’ll get used to it gradually. Did you lose a lot? What stocks did you mess with?”

Woojin put down his water glass and began to prod Oh Jeonghoon a little.

“I saw the stock price of the stock manipulators, so…”

Before Woojin could finish, Oh Jeonghoon sighed.

“Oh dear… Woojin, you shouldn’t touch those. It’s not a game where people like us can ever make a profit. The stock manipulators are so ruthless that…”

“I made a profit.”

“Huh?”

“I made a profit.”

Oh Jeonghoon opened his mouth, looking disbelieving.

“But how did you know it was the manipulators’ stock?”

“I saw traces of accumulation.”

Oh Jeonghoon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Woojin.

Seeing traces of accumulation was a very difficult thing to do.

Even he couldn’t recognize it well. Not even the Finance Director.

And he saw a profit…

People who always claim to have seen a profit rarely show their accounts.

Having seen many people boast like that, Oh Jeonghoon was able to smile again.

“Can you show me your account?”

Woojin immediately logged into MTS on his cellphone and showed his account.

Suddenly, Oh Jeonghoon’s eyes widened.

He was truly surprised.

There were no traces of stop-loss orders.

Profit, profit, profit.

That wasn’t all.

‘Fuck… what is this?’

Everything was bright red, and no matter how hard he looked, there was no blue.

But what was even stranger was…

The seed money was 300,000 won.

This mock stock investment competition was supposed to start with 10 million won.

But with 300,000 won, like a lucky number, as if playing a prank, he had made seven million seven hundred seventy thousand won, reminiscent of a jackpot’s 777.

Oh Jeonghoon’s group was equally surprised.

As they became interested in the mock stock investment competition, they naturally gravitated towards Oh Jeonghoon, who seemed good at stocks, and became friendly with him.

But seeing Woojin’s profit…

“Woojin, but this isn’t a mock investment, is it?”

At his words, spoken from beside Oh Jeonghoon, a question first appeared on Woojin’s face.

“It’s not?”

“Your expression makes it seem like you really didn’t know? This isn’t a simulation, you’re doing it for real, aren’t you?”

“Hahahaha! I thought Woojin had a quirky side. This is really amazing! Hahaha!”

Woojin’s mind raced.

That means all the profits so far are now his money.

Lee Mina said,

“Then the prize money is 3 million won… so you really earned more than the prize money?”

“That’s right!”

“Wow… What should I even call this? Hahaha!”

“Woojin, how did you do it? Do you have some kind of secret method?”

“That’s amazing. How much profit did you make in such a short time? Can you tell me your secret?”

Woojin’s gaze, unlike his chattering friends, was directed at Oh Jeonghoon, who was smiling while drinking water.

Of course, it was an observation that happened in an instant.

A fake smile.

He must be feeling his friends’ attention drifting away from him, Oh Jeonghoon.

Oh Jeonghoon was quiet, and his friends asked,

“How do you study stocks?”

“I look at 19 indexes, commodities like gold, silver, copper, and WTI crude oil, foreign exchange rates for each country, and news or tabloid articles. I filter out what’s unnecessary and use that as my own basis for judgment.”

“Wow… You look at all that?”

“Yes.”

“That’s incredible, really. I knew it ever since you battled the professor! Hahaha!”

Despite his friends’ repeated compliments and the loud commotion around him, Woojin was solely observing Oh Jeonghoon.

His hands, which had been on the table, were now under it.

This is a phenomenon that occurs when confidence drops, a case of hiding one’s hands.

Woojin asked,

“Jeonghoon, how much profit did you make?”

“Huh? Me? I think I made about 15% profit.”

Contrary to his words, the non-verbal cues his face showed indicated he was lying.

And, conscious of Lee Mina, he soon rolled up his sleeves to make his watch clearly visible.

Oh Jeonghoon said,

“Wow… Woojin must have a talent for stocks. That’s amazing! Eight hundred is enough to buy my watch. I had to beg my dad to get it.”

Woojin slowly nodded his head.

He was trying to change the situation, the flow, to appear superior. That was typical of Oh Jeonghoon.

Naturally, it was difficult to have any effect on Woojin.

Woojin was only thinking of crushing Oh Jeonghoon’s self-esteem and spirit to regain peace.

Then.

A familiar voice came from behind him.

“Shin Woojin, you liked places like this too?

It was none other than Lee Hyerim.

Woojin, who had received a call from Hyerim, said he was going out for a drink, and when she asked if she could come, Woojin got permission from his friends.

“Hello. I’m Woojin’s friend Lee Hyerim.”

“Hello. You’re really pretty.”

“Hello! I’m Lee Mina!”

Lee Hyerim, who had greeted everyone, said to Woojin,

“I didn’t know you liked this kind of atmosphere.”

“Jeonghoon said this place is a hot spot.”

“This is our second time, right? I’m Oh Jeonghoon.”

“Ah, yes.”

Lee Hyerim swept her long hair back.

The first time she saw him, he was spouting nonsense and buttin in on Woojin’s conversation, and even the clothes he was wearing were dirty.

If he was going to wear luxury brands, he should have, but he was covered in counterfeits.

Ah, the cheap luxury watch he was grandly wearing did seem real.

She was someone who extremely disliked people who tried to package themselves in a way that didn’t fit their situation.