SLC 3

When he encountered a problem, Kim Jinkyung’s first reaction was always to study it, dig into it, and find a solution. Following advice from a friend’s sister who raised cats, he’d thoroughly researched feline traits and behavior. Since a black panther was still part of the feline family, he assumed there wouldn’t be much difference.

Cats disliked strong citrus scents, having their territory invaded, sudden forced touch, loud noises, chocolate, and so on.

‘That should be enough.’

Standing before the tall gate, Kim Jinkyung adjusted his bag. He’d even put on perfume for the first time and packed chocolate in his bag. Since cats disliked loud noises, he’d also turned his phone volume up to the maximum and set multiple alarms.

He just had to make everything seem like an accident, naturally unlikable.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the doorbell. The sound of the intercom camera activating followed, and once again, the lock opened almost immediately.

He checked his watch. He was 10 minutes early. He’d wanted to arrive right on time, but his ingrained punctuality had betrayed him.

“Hello.”

He greeted the secretary who’d taken him home last time, or more accurately, the one who’d lectured and threatened him the entire way. The secretary bowed briefly, then raised his eyes and stared at him.

“……”

“…Why are you looking at me like that?” Don’t shake. You didn’t do anything wrong. Jinkyung asked as calmly as possible.

“It’s nothing. Well, you’ll see soon enough. Let’s go.” The secretary led him inside.

The man was waiting in the study.

“He… hello.”

When Jinkyung greeted him, Mok Seongha briefly acknowledged his presence. Jinkyung set his bag down and began pulling out the papers he’d prepared. As dreadful as this tutoring job was, work was still work, and he’d spent the entire night preparing study materials.

“Before we start, I made some problems to assess your current academic level. Here…”

Before he could finish, the man frowned.

“Hey.”

The cold, low voice hit him like a hard snowball.

“Yes?”

“Go wash up.”

“…What?”

The sudden command startled him.

“Take off your clothes, too.”

“What? What? What?!”

Looking irritated, Mok Seongha put his pen down on the table.

“I said, go wash!”

“Yes!”

Jinkyung jumped up and ran out. Outside the door, Secretary Kang was waiting, holding a towel and a change of clothes as if he’d known this would happen.

“If it were anyone else, they’d be dead by now. You’re lucky you’re his tutor, he probably spared you out of respect for a teacher.”

It was the kind of comfort that wasn’t comforting in the slightest.

“Even that amount of scent is an assault to the Young Master.”

At those words, Kim Jinkyung felt a bit guilty.

“Wash three times.”

“…Yes.” I’ll wash four.

Jinkyung answered weakly. When he returned after showering, Mok Seongha was reading through the printouts Jinkyung had prepared.

“I finished washing.”

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

It felt like their roles of teacher and student had been reversed. Mok Seongha flipped through the papers and asked,

“Is this a test?”

He pointed to the printouts Jinkyung had set down.

“Ah, yes. Please treat it like one and try solving it.”

“How long?”

“20 minutes. We’ll just do a short math test today.”

The man accepted the printouts with a serious face. His hand moved quickly as he worked the pencil. Jinkyung quietly sat and waited while he solved the problems. Mok Seongha was completely focused.

At least the perfume smell should be gone by now.

Feeling guilty after hearing the word “assault,” Jinkyung raised his wrist to his nose and sniffed.

“Don’t worry. There’s no scent.”

“…What?”

“I mean there’s no smell at all. Not yours or anything else.”

“…Oh… okay.”

Then does that mean he can still smell his scent? What kind of scent is he even talking about…?

Jinkyung subtly leaned toward his shoulder and sniffed again, but he couldn’t smell anything at all.

“What?”

The man asked without even lifting his head.

“Ah, it’s nothing. You have 15 minutes left.”

Mok Seongha started moving his pencil again.

“I’m done.”

He handed the papers back. His handwriting was unexpectedly good.

Kim Jinkyung quickly checked the answers, and when he finished, he was speechless.

“What?”

“Ah, well… I think it’d be best to go over the high school material step by step from the basics.”

It was a level where he needed to rebuild his foundation starting from middle school. The test Jinkyung brought today contained only the easiest questions, those 2-point problems usually printed on the very first page of mock exams.

“The exam’s only a few months away, and you’re saying I should study 3 years’ worth of material?”

…You’d need 6 years’ worth, actually.

“It depends on which university you’d like to aim for.”

If it was a school that accepted up to waiting list number 700, one that made people ask three times just to confirm the name, or one that accepted late applications after the deadline, then maybe it’d be possible.

“Seoul National University?”

“……”

This lunatic.

Jinkyung barely managed to keep the words from slipping out.

“I’m joking.”

“Ah… haha.”

He awkwardly laugh but quickly closed his mouth when he realized it wasn’t a laughing matter.

“What’s the next best school after that? Korea University?”

“There’s… no such school.”

“Well, I haven’t really thought about what university I’ll go to. It’s not like I want to go. As long as it’s a 4-year college in Seoul, that’s fine.”

“Then whose idea is it?”

“The chairman’s.”

That reminded Jinkyung that people called the man ‘Young Master.’

The title didn’t suit him at all. But if there was a ‘young master,’ that meant there was also an ‘old master,’ right? And if there was a chairman, did that mean he also turned into a black panther when touched by water? Was his entire family made of animals?!

No, impossible. He must’ve been mistaken. There’s no way someone turned into a panther when they got wet, that kind of thing only happened in fantasy novels. But maybe he could check, just to be sure. He could pretend to spill some water… just a little, and act like it was an accident.

Jinkyung glanced at the glass of water.

The man set his pencil down. Jinkyung, startled, covered his face with both arms and blurted out, “I’m sorry!”

“For what?”

“…What?”

“You said you were sorry.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Mok Seongha glanced briefly at the glass of water in front of Jinkyung. As if reading his thoughts, he let out a soft, amused chuckle.

“That little bit of water wouldn’t do anything. I’d have to be soaked from head to toe.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Weren’t you planning to splash it? You were looking back and forth between the glass and me.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

Jinkyung’s pupils shook. He scolded himself for even thinking something so stupid, but the ship had already sailed.

“I was just… thirsty.”

He made an excuse and gulped the water down.

“So you get thirsty when you look at me?”

“Y-yes!”

“Why?”

The man tilted his head slightly.

…Can’t you just let it slide for once?

It was only the third time Jinkyung had met Mok Seongha, but he could already tell, this man was obsessive and had a nasty personality.

“Ah, um, well…”

He’d meant to explain the connection between thirst and fear, but his tongue froze, and no words came out right. In the end, survival instinct pushed him down the coward’s path.

“…It’s because… I really like men. I’m sorry.”

He swore to the heavens he’d never once seen a man and swallowed in desire, never once treated one as a sexual object. His crushes had always been fleeting and one-sided. But to live, he had no other choice.

Mok Seongha inhaled, tilted his head, and pushed the glass of water toward him.

“Drink.”

“Y-yes. Thank you…”

Jinkyung drained the glass like he was being tortured.

“Drink.”

The man filled it again.

“No, it’s fine…”

“You’re thirsty. Didn’t you say you like men?”

…This is the grave I dug for myself.

Kim Jinkyung emptied another glass.

“Here, drink again.”

“…..”

He remained silent and drained the next cup too. Only after the water pitcher was completely empty did the man finally smile.

“Now that you’ve quenched your thirst, let’s continue what we were talking about.”

Jinkyung felt miserable.

Not enough to want to die, but miserable all the same. The man, saying they’d continue, called for Secretary Kang and told him to list all the universities in Seoul he could think of.

“Seoul National University?”

Of course, the secretary immediately said Seoul National University.

…They’ve all gone insane.

“Yes, Seoul National. A prestigious school. It’s very hard to get into,” Jinkyung said, trying his best to steer the conversation toward something more realistic.

“Yon-Ko University?”

“Where’s that?”

The so-called young master asked with a straight face. Jinkyung nearly coughed up blood.

“Yonsei University’s in Sinchon, and Korea University’s in Anam. Haha. They both have other campuses too, but they’re very good schools.”

“Then name the universities in Seoul.”

“Yes, understood.”

Secretary Kang began listing schools one by one. Every single one was elite, the kind of place that could use its subway station name as a badge of pride, and a nightmare to get into.

Jinkyung started sweating as he gave a brief, simplified explanation of the college entrance process.

“To enter one of those universities, you’d need at least these scores on your CSAT.”

He wrote down the required grades for each subject. He thought showing actual numbers would be clearer than saying things like “you have to study hard.”

“What’s this? First place, second place, you’re telling me I have to be first?”

“No, that’s not it. Those are grade levels, not rankings. Ha…”

Jinkyung sighed and decided to be honest.

“With only one tutoring session a week, getting into any of those schools would be extremely difficult. It might be better to attend cram school daily or enroll in a boarding academy instead…”

“That’s impossible,” said Secretary Kang before Mok Seongha could answer.

Confused, Jinkyung turned toward them, and Mok Seongha asked, “Then what?”

“Huh?”

“How many times should I study, then?”

“You should study every day, like eating meals.”

“I meant how many tutoring sessions.”

“The more, the better…”

At that moment, Jinkyung realized he’d made a huge mistake.

“Haha, I mean, of course tutoring is helpful, but self-study is just as important, so…”

Bite your tongue. Bite it and die.

“How many times a week can you come?”

Mok Seongha cut off his rambling with. Jinkyung barely managed to answer in a tiny voice, “2 times.” He’d dug his own grave, but at least he didn’t want to go deeper than basement level 2.

“Make it 5.”

What is this, a full-time job with a five-day schedule?

“I can’t. I have school too…”

“Then 3.”

“2.”

“Then 4.”

“3 times. I’ll come 3 times,” he said with a near-crying face.

Secretary Kang left the room to draw up a new contract.

In the end, they briefly discussed the lesson plan for the day, and Jinkyung slung his bag over his shoulder. Just before leaving, a thought crossed his mind. He reached into the front pocket of his bag, pulled out the chocolate he’d brought, and held it out to the man.

“Um, this…”

“What is it?”

“Please have some.”

Mok Seongha stared at the chocolate with a look that said, ‘Why would you give me this crap?’

“Please, take it,” Jinkyung said and hurriedly handed it over before turning to leave.

“I’m not eating it.”

The chocolate hit his shoulder and fell to the floor.

Thank God. So he really does hate it.

Jinkyung slipped the chocolate back into his pocket, bowed his head, and left. That was when Secretary Kang caught up to him and handed him an envelope.

“What’s this?”

“Your tutoring fee.”

“I already got paid last time.”

“Yes. That was for last week. This is for today’s session.”

The payment he’d received last week was already generous enough to count as a full month’s wage. Jinkyung took the envelope and checked inside. The amount was exactly the same as before.

Wait, did that mean that much was the rate per session?

“Um, this is too…”

He was about to say it was too much when Secretary Kang handed him a revised contract with the updated tutoring schedule. Seeing the number of weekly sessions written there, Jinkyung quietly slipped the envelope back into his pocket.

I’ll take what I can get.

Comforting himself with the weight in his pocket, he walked all the way home. The next lesson was on Wednesday. He decided to prepare in advance, so the next day after class, he stopped by the bookstore to pick out the textbooks himself.

He also bought chocolate, an almond chocolate bar this time. Since it was going to get thrown anyway, he chose one he liked.

On his way home, arms full of books, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

“Kim Jinkyung!”

“Oh, Jinyoung-sunbae.”

It was Go Jinyoung. Jinkyung stopped and greeted him politely.

“Hello. What brings you here?”

“I had some business nearby. What about you?”

“Ah, I was just heading to the bookstore.”

“The bookstore? Why?”

“For that tutoring job you introduced me to.”

“Ah, right, that one.”

It had been arranged during a drinking party, a connection passed through Go Jinyoung’s friend’s senior’s cousin’s next-door neighbor.

Jinkyung had since sworn never to accept any introductions made over alcohol again.

“How’s it going? I heard it’s a really rich family.”

“Haha… yeah,” Jinkyung answered awkwardly.

“The pay’s good, right?”

Seeing Jinkyung’s lukewarm expression, Jinyoung narrowed his eyes curiously.

“Yeah. They pay a lot.”

“Then what’s with your face? Is the kid a brat? Oh right, you said he dropped out and got a GED? One of those loner or shut-in types?”

“No. Not at all.”

He might’ve grown up spoiled, considering how everyone called him ‘young master,’ but he didn’t seem like a shut-in or an outcast. …He was rich, tall, and handsome enough that people probably trailed after him everywhere. …Except for the part where he turned into a black panther.

“Then what, is he just another rich jerk? Kids from wealthy families can be like that. They think the world revolves around them.”

Go Jinyoung spoke as if describing someone else, but his own nickname was Jinyoung Antoinette. Back in freshman year, he’d earned it after telling a classmate searching for a studio apartment, ‘Just ask your parents to buy you a nearby apartment. Even a 99m² one’s a bit small, but you can live alone in it.’

Jinkyung weakly laughed.

“So why’d he take the GED anyway? Did he get expelled?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t ask.”

“Come on, can’t you just tell by looking at him?”

“…Haha…”

Jinkyung thought of Mok Seongha stomping on a man covered in blood. You couldn’t just tell by looking, you could feel the danger radiating from him like the edge of a blade.

“Anyway, do your best. I heard that family’s loaded. People say there’s no one in Korea doing business who hasn’t borrowed money from them at some point. Who knows? Maybe if you get him into college, they’ll buy you a car.”

…Or maybe they’ll take one of my organs instead.

Jinkyung thought with another strained smile.

“Anyway, good luck.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“If you really get that car, treat me to something nice. And if that family’s got a pretty sister or older cousin, don’t forget to introduce her to me.”

“Haha… sure.”

After exchanging farewells, Jinkyung and Go Jinyoung went their separate ways.