A Relentless Senior (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
Do Han went to the library after class.
Starting next week were midterms, so he’d decided to stop fooling around and get serious about studying.
Since he’d already learned all this material at the university he’d dropped out of, investing just a few days would be enough to ace his grades.
He’d been sitting at a desk with his book open for a while now.
His mind was so utterly occupied by someone that he couldn’t focus at all.
Ever since meeting Jae Sung last night, he’d been like this.
He couldn’t calmly watch Jae Sung go on and on about Sa Rang, even though he’d thought he was fine with it.
Deep down, he’d wanted to snap back, “Lee Sa Rang doesn’t care about someone like you either!”
He could easily guess—and then some—what kind of feelings had driven Sa Rang to go on that blind date.
He couldn’t shake the image of her face from his mind: expressionless, indifferent, when Tae Hoon had offered to set her up, and she’d simply agreed without a hint of excitement.
That image had gnawed at him so badly that he’d blurted out nonsense, begging her not to go—but on the other hand, he’d also thought it might be a good thing for her, since her date seemed like a decent guy.
He’d hoped she’d finally forget all the hurt she’d received from him once she met Jae Sung.
Caught in this tangled mix of jealousy and well-wishing, he’d been having a drink with Tae Hoon when an absurd situation unfolded.
“Isn’t that totally out of your style?”
“You said you weren’t into ‘nice girls,’ right?”
His blood boiled so fiercely he nearly wanted to slap that recklessly chattering mouth shut.
Do Han, forgetting entirely where he was, slammed the pen in his hand down onto the desk.
The loud clatter echoing through the quiet space finally reminded him that he was in a library.
Receiving sharp glares from those around him, he stepped outside briefly.
Do Han went up to the second-floor lounge and bought a canned coffee from the vending machine.
Every table was packed, so he walked to the end of the corridor.
There, as he searched for an empty bench, he spotted Sa Rang.
She was sitting alone on the last bench.
Do Han hesitated for a moment, then walked over and sat down beside her.
Hearing someone approach, Sa Rang turned her head absently—and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
She greeted him and took a sip from the carbonated drink she’d just bought from the vending machine.
“Where’s Kang Ji Woo? Are you alone?”
“I just came back with Oppa Tae Hoon. He said he was going on a date.”
“You’ve got no loyalty.”
“Oppa Tae Hoon said his dream during exam season was to stroll through the library plaza arm in arm with his girlfriend.”
“What kind of dream is that?”
“He said when he was studying alone in the library, you, Sunbaenim, always did just that—and he’d been so envious.”
“What?”
Sa Rang stared at him with eyes that clearly said, “You—you’re the one I’m talking about.”
Understanding her meaning, Do Han awkwardly cleared his throat out of embarrassment.
“How does that feel?”
“What do you mean?”
“How does it feel to go on a date with your girlfriend right in front of everyone else who’s studying? Do you deliberately walk arm in arm in front of the library just to make people jealous?”
“I didn’t think much about it.”
“Oh, so when you’re with your girlfriend, you don’t think about anything else? Because you’re so happy?”
Do Han’s face practically read, “Why is she being so annoyingly cute today?”—making Sa Rang force an awkward smile.
“I don’t really know. I’ve never been in a relationship before.”
Do Han, burdened by his own guilt, couldn’t say a word.
The atmosphere grew awkward, and Sa Rang quickly fell silent too.
“But…”
It was Do Han who broke the silence.
He looked like he had something to say but frowned as if deeply displeased about something.
Sa Rang, wondering if she’d overstepped, tensed up immediately.
As she cautiously stole glances at him, he finally spoke.
“Why do you call Tae Hoon ‘Oppa’ but me ‘Sunbaenim’?”
His eyes clearly accused her: “We’re the same age—why treat people differently?”
She was flustered—and briefly recalled a time when he’d asked why she’d called him “Oppa” when confessing but switched back to “Sunbaenim” afterward.
Did he want her to call him “Oppa”?
If he wanted to hear “Oppa” from her so badly, why didn’t he just accept her confession?
Suddenly feeling wronged, Sa Rang answered him curtly.
“It’s just more comfortable that way.”
“I’m uncomfortable with it. Hearing you so formally call me ‘Sunbaenim.’”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Her implication—“Why should I care whether you’re comfortable or not?”—hit Do Han like a punch to the gut.
He couldn’t retort, because she was absolutely right.
Meanwhile, Sa Rang rather enjoyed his stunned expression.
She nearly laughed, quickly biting her lip and turning her head away from him.
Down below the railing, people bustled through the first-floor lobby.
The library was so crowded it really felt like exam season had arrived.
Here and there, couples holding hands came in to study together.
Naturally, she thought of Jae Sung, whom she’d met yesterday.
“I went on that blind date yesterday.”
“I know.”
“Do you also know it didn’t go well?”
“…Yeah.”
Sa Rang offered a faint smile and took a small sip of her carbonated drink.
“So you’ve already heard everything. You probably even know why he didn’t like me, right?”
She turned her gaze toward Do Han, but he said nothing.
Still, from his expression alone, she could tell he knew the reason.
“I guess I’m just not the type guys like. After all, I’ve been rejected twice now.”
Since the first of those two rejections had been him, Do Han’s chest stung painfully.
He already felt guilty every time he saw Sa Rang—and now Jae Sung’s rejection piled on top, making him feel as though he’d committed an unforgivable sin.
“It’s just that Han Jae Sung has weird tastes.”
“You said he was fine before.”
“He was fine in freshman year—but something’s off about him since sophomore year.”
Sa Rang stared blankly at him, surprised by his uncharacteristically harsh gossip.
Uncomfortable under her gaze, Do Han looked straight ahead and drank his coffee.
“And you two don’t suit each other, either.”
He finally turned to look at her and spoke with difficulty.
“You deserve better.”
Do Han didn’t know how to comfort her.
He hated seeing Sa Rang so disheartened after being rejected twice by men.
He wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault—that those guys were the problem.
That Lee Sa Rang, kind and pure and genuine, was perfectly lovely just as she was.
But the moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
He worried even this might wound her.
He shifted his gaze forward again and just drank his coffee aimlessly.
“If you think I’m wasted, why don’t you keep me yourself?”
Her mutter caught him off guard, and Do Han spat out his coffee.
Still coughing painfully, he couldn’t even process the coffee spattered everywhere.
Sa Rang simply stood up and tossed her empty can into the trash without another look at him.
He looked up at her with a bewildered expression.
“That was just me talking to myself. Please pretend you didn’t hear it. I’ll head back first, then.”
Do Han watched her walk away without a hint of hesitation, his mind blank.
He was still coughing.
“Where does he see a bear?”
He couldn’t agree with Jae Sung’s comment that Sa Rang was “bear-like” and therefore unappealing.
What kind of bear was that boldly forward?
Not even foxes were that audacious.
Completely enchanted by Sa Rang, Do Han couldn’t pull himself together for a long while.
***
***
***
Do Han and Tae Hoon left the lecture hall after their exam.
“Whew. I stayed up late studying at the library last night.”
Tae Hoon seemed wistful, probably because it was his last exam.
Having just finished their midterm, it already felt like they needed to start preparing for finals.
“Studying? More like dating, right?”
Tae Hoon’s shoulders slumped as if resigned to poor grades, and he shot Do Han an annoyed look at his sarcastic remark.
“You ruthless bastard.”
“Why are you cursing at someone who’s just minding their own business?”
“Were you even human?”
“What?”
Do Han frowned, baffled that Tae Hoon’s post-exam frustration was spilling onto him.
“How can you possibly focus on your book with your girlfriend right next to you? You’ve been dating nonstop this whole time—how are you scoring better than me? Are you even human?”
“That’s just an excuse for failing your exam because you have a girlfriend.”
“For a human being, that’s completely normal! You heartless bastard.”
“What’s so normal about it?”
Do Han was just as frustrated.
Even if you were in the library with your girlfriend, your eyes are on the book—so why wouldn’t you be able to study?
He couldn’t understand Tae Hoon’s logic; his focus was never affected by who was beside him.
Tae Hoon decided to explain slowly to him.
“You’re sitting next to someone you’re dating.”
“So what?”
“Someone you like is literally right beside you.”
“So what’s your point?”
Thinking it might be easier to talk to a wall, Tae Hoon suddenly raised his voice.
“It’s natural to want to touch them!”
He barely managed to swallow the vulgar curse threatening to burst out.
He was so exasperated he wondered if this guy was really a man.
“Don’t you want to hold her hand? Don’t you just want to take her somewhere private? How can any words possibly register when your girlfriend’s spinning around in your head?”
Having only recently started dating Ji Woo, Tae Hoon was especially tormented.
He just wanted to take her somewhere they could be alone—exams be damned.
Wasn’t that normal?
Was something wrong with him?
Was he the only pervert here?
Tae Hoon was about to lose his mind from injustice.
“Are you even in high school? You can’t study just because you want to hold your girlfriend’s hand?”
“What?”
“Kim Tae Hoon, you’re so naive.”
Do Han looked genuinely surprised at his friend’s unexpected innocence.
That only made Tae Hoon more irritated.
“Hah. Why am I even talking to you?”
It was pointless to explain anything to Do Han, who’d never once been serious about a girlfriend.
Did he even understand what it meant to genuinely like someone—or feel heartbroken after a breakup?
Do Han had never seemed visibly happy from being in love or visibly pained from a breakup.
They’d never once seen him especially joyful or deeply saddened.
He was so emotionally dry it wouldn’t have been surprising if someone said he wasn’t human.
As a friend, Tae Hoon had always felt sorry for Do Han.
Sometimes he seemed warm-hearted—but just when you thought that, he’d instantly turn cold again, making it impossible to read him.
“Never mind. Exams are over—let’s go play some billiards.”
Tae Hoon checked the time, deciding there was no point arguing further.
Playing billiards to blow off steam and then grabbing dinner sounded perfect.
“You were acting like you were rushing off to your girlfriend—what’s with the sudden billiards?”
Just moments ago, he’d been passionately arguing about the relationship between love and studying—and now this?
Do Han let out an exasperated sigh.
“Ji Woo just said she’s heading home after her exam. She stayed up all last night and plans to skip dinner and sleep.”
“You sound disappointed?”
“Yeah. That’s how humans react in these situations.”
Now Do Han narrowed his eyes, since Tae Hoon was openly questioning his humanity.
“So, are you coming or not?”
“I’m coming.”
Do Han answered without hesitation.
If he said no, he knew Tae Hoon would launch into a long lecture about friendship.
Feeling slightly better thanks to that, Tae Hoon fell into thought as they walked toward the school gate.
“But about Sa Rang…”
Just hearing her name made Do Han’s chest react strangely.
First came an irrational pang of guilt—then his heart started beating faster.
“I guess I really should set her up on another blind date.”
“She didn’t even ask for one—why bother?”
“Don’t you know any decent guys around you?”
“No.”
Tae Hoon frowned at Do Han’s immediate, unconsidered reply.
“Why’s Jae Sung making such a fuss about liking some fox-like girl? I thought they’d suit each other well.”
“They don’t.”
“What? You said they did before.”
“I changed my mind after seeing them together.”
“Then what kind of guy do you think would suit Sa Rang?”
Tae Hoon pouted, annoyed by his friend’s sudden change of heart.
As they opened the billiards hall door waiting for his answer, they spotted Sa Rang at a table inside.
“Oh? There’s Sa Rang.”
Surprised to see her here, Tae Hoon wondered who she’d come with.
Shifting his gaze, he noticed a well-built guy beside her.
He seemed to be the physical education major Ji Woo had mentioned before.
They looked happy together.
“I guess I don’t need to set her up after all.”
As freshmen, they both looked refreshingly youthful and sweet.
While Tae Hoon watched them fondly, Do Han’s face hardened instantly.
It had been that way ever since he saw Sa Rang with Yoon Jae.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Most Commented This Week
Who Spent the Night with the Tower Master (Completed Main Story)
I Decline the Ex-Boyfriend of the Regretful Male Lead (Completed Main Story)
Long Live the Emperor, Minus Me (Completed Main Story)
After Linking the Villainess and Male Lead (5 Chapters Left to Complete)
Captured into the Bedroom of the Enemy Emperor (1 Chapters Left to Complete)
I Became a Supporting Character in a Martial Arts Novel (Completed Main Story)