This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 317

“I heard it from Baeksulhwa.”

Something feels off.

“Uh… is that so?”

“You said we decided to gather everyone for a party at the end of the year, right?”

Is there perhaps a group chat among the women who visit our house?

“Ah… yes.”

“So when is it going to be?”

“Um, well… I’m thinking around the 24th.”

“The 24th?”

“Yes, so I was wondering if you have any plans around that time?”

“I probably won’t have any special plans on the 24th. And… even if I did, I’d skip it. Year-end is for family after all.”

“That’s true.”

“Anyway… it’s the 24th, huh? I’ll remember that.”

“Yep.”

This didn’t make sense otherwise.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“You said we decided to gather for a party at the end of the year, right?”

Chae-rim may not seem like it, but she communicates a lot with the seniors, so that’s plausible. But where did Yoonseo hear about it?

Could there really be a group chat I don’t know about?

If that’s true, I might feel a little left out.

Well… I don’t quite understand why I’d be excluded.

“Still, where did you hear that?”

“Why? Can’t I know?”

“That’s not it… but…”

I was also planning to bring it up with Yoonseo, so it wouldn’t be a problem if I already knew, but I was just curious.

Looking at the atmosphere, it seemed like I shouldn’t dig any deeper.

“So when is it?”

“Probably around the 24th?”

“The 24th? That’s exactly four days after I take my special license examination.”

“Wait, what? Did your schedule come out?”

“Yeah, I got a call last night saying the exam is scheduled for the 20th next month, so I’ve got to prepare well.”

“Next month on the 20th? The article made it sound like it could happen any time, but it seems like it takes a lot to prepare for.”

“Exactly.”

Maybe the wait was longer than I thought, which didn’t sit well with me.

I hadn’t seen Yoonseo in pufferfish mode in quite a while.

That didn’t mean I didn’t understand why the Association was acting like that.

From the Association’s perspective, they really couldn’t help it.

Unlike regular exams, it’s a special exam for one person, so if they slack off in preparation, not only would the integrity of the exam be questioned, but they’d also face all sorts of controversies.

Of course, even if the exam is easier than the usual ones, it doesn’t change the fact that Yoonseo caught one of the Tricky Faces…

Well, people tend to think only what suits them.

The Association, with its long history of dealing with people, surely understood this, so they likely want to give at least a month’s preparation.

Having grasped the general dynamics, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to voice this out loud.

Once Yoonseo was in pufferfish mode, saying it would only earn me unnecessary glares.

So instead of voicing it, I chose to subtly change the topic—

“So, are you confident?”

In response, I got a smile that looked like she was questioning if that was a serious question.

“Of course.”

“Really? I heard you have a written exam, right?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Oh, so you’re confident in the written exam?”

“I can make up for it with the practical scores.”

“Geez, you’re really something.”

It’s great that she’s filled with confidence, but at this rate, she’s practically declaring she’ll give up on the written exam.

“Don’t do that. Start studying from now. I’ll help you as much as I can.”

Sure, there isn’t much one can do in a month, but it’s better than doing nothing.

“Hmm, should I? Then?”

The problem is what and how to dig into…

“Let’s ask the Senior.”

“Uh… the sister?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Why else? Have you forgotten? The senior is the top student in the Seoul region this year.”

The title of top student doesn’t just come out of nowhere.

No matter how high the practical exam ratio is, if the written scores are pitifully low, there’s no way they could claim that top spot.

What this means is that the senior recorded impressive scores in both practical and written.

So asking the senior could reveal some insights in some form.

“Ugh.”

For Yoonseo, who had seen the senior as a rival since middle school, it seemed to bother her that she’d have to ask someone else for help.

“How about asking Chae-rim’s sister instead?”

“That seems… not quite right?”

“Why?”

“That’s because… what Chae-rim knows is…”

It’s outdated.

I swallowed the words I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud.

Fortunately, it seemed Yoonseo understood my intended meaning from what I’d said so far and nodded knowingly.

Thus, with Yoonseo’s attendance at the year-end party confirmed, I had managed to promise help regarding her exam preparations, when Bora approached me.

“Hey… Dogun.”

“Yeah?”

“Um… about the contest we submitted before…”

“Oh, that? Didn’t they say the results would take a little longer to come out?”

I vividly remembered that.

Could it be that they contacted us early?

The possibility was certainly there.

Bora had some serious skills, and the organizers wouldn’t want to miss out on her for anything.

Thus, even if they had preemptively contacted her, I didn’t think it’d be too odd. But unfortunately, it didn’t seem so.

Considering I had barely asked, Bora wobbled her head a couple of times as if to agree with me.

“Yes, a few days ago, they added a notice saying the results will be released on the 22nd in the morning.”

“On the 22nd?”

“Yes… I thought you might be curious, so…”

Did she come to tell me?

Anyway, the results coming out on the 22nd means that the party scheduled for the 24th will serve as our New Year’s party and a combined celebration for Yoonseo passing her special license exam, as well as congratulating Bora for her competition entry.

Plus, I hadn’t done much more than congratulate the senior when she passed with the top scores, so it might be the opportunity to celebrate that as well.

“I guess I need to prepare seriously for this…”

“Huh? For what?”

“Oh, we agreed to gather for a New Year’s party.”

“Ah…”

“And since Bora’s contest results come out on the 22nd, we should celebrate that too.”

“Uh…?”

What was that strange reaction?

That inquiry came so naturally because Bora’s reaction seemed rather odd.

It was as if… she hadn’t thought about that at all?

“Um… would I be able to attend that…?”

“Are you saying you weren’t going to come?”

“Oh, no! What I meant was… um…”

“Ah, if you have prior commitments, that’s…”

Just as I was about to say there’s no need to force yourself to participate.

“No, I don’t!”

Bora cut me off mid-sentence in a rush.

“Oh really? That’s a relief.”

Considering this point, I had intentionally set the date for the 24th at a vague time.

I thought that if we got too close to New Year’s, coordinating with everyone would be challenging.

Especially since Chae-rim was likely to be excessively busy.

After all, she’s serving effectively as the Acting Association Chairman right now.

So when the end of the year comes, she’d have a mountain of agendas to carry out.

“Anyway…”

I’d brought it up with the four people I originally planned to invite to the party.

Now all that was left was to prepare for the party.

And along the way, help Yoonseo prepare for her written exam too.

“First, let’s decide on the party location…”

“Let’s do it at home.”

“At home…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to do it here…?”

For now, the party location was decided as home, with 3 votes for “home” and 1 for “other.”

We decided that the menu for what we’d eat at the party would be prepared together on the day.

“Oh, and also…”

“Wouldn’t a gift exchange be fun too?”

“A gift exchange?”

“Yeah, and then see if you can guess who brought what gifts.”

As we were gathering all the things we might need for the party, a rather shocking piece of news came with the announcement of Chae-rim’s Vice Chairman inauguration.

It turns out that Chae-rim has been appointed as the instructor for the sparring part of Yoonseo’s upcoming special license exam.