Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 6

O.T., or Orientation, is supposed to be a preparation for university. But for new students, it’s more than that. It’s their first taste of university life. It’s a chance to feel the atmosphere and maybe experience new things like parties and drinks as young adults. It’s normal for new students to be excited about O.T.

Woo-jin, being mentally over forty, wasn’t excited about student drinking games. ‘I’ve had enough of that at work,’ he thought. But he *was* excited about O.T. It meant taking a first step he missed in his first life. ‘Heh, hee hee!’ He chuckled softly. But even this excitement couldn’t make him feel fully awake.

The trip from Woo-jin’s house to university was long – easily over an hour by train. He was already tired, and sitting still on the train was even more boring than he expected. ‘Ugh, so far,’ he thought. ‘Maybe I should live closer?’ Woo-jin looked at the train map above the seats, sighed, and shook his head. He didn’t want to ask his mother for money to move out or buy a car. Too soon. ‘If only I had a smartphone, this would be less dull…’ He glanced at his old flip phone and sighed again. It wasn’t just for fun; he really missed having a smartphone. Back in the 2030s, smartphones did everything. ‘Maybe I should get an old, cheap smartphone…’

*Rattle- Rattle-* The train moved along the tracks. It was early weekend morning, so the subway car was quiet. Woo-jin was glad to find a corner seat. He closed his eyes. Since going back in time, he felt like he couldn’t waste a single second. But right now, with nothing else to do, sleep seemed like the best use of time. ‘Maybe I can sleep for half an hour,’ he thought. But he couldn’t stay asleep for long. Only about ten minutes passed. ‘Hmm?’ Before he could really drift off, he heard voices that caught his attention.

“Hye-jin, are you sure we’re on the right train?” one girl asked, her voice a little shaky.

“Yes! Relax. I checked the map three times. We’re fine,” replied another.

“Ugh…! I’m so nervous! O.T…! It’s O.T. today!”

Hearing the two girls talking excitedly, Woo-jin opened his eyes a little. He woke up because he heard “O.T.” ‘O.T.? Are they going to my university?’ he wondered. Of course, other universities might have O.T. today too. But considering the train line and the time, it was likely they were going to the same place. ‘Probably not in my department though,’ he thought. Woo-jin glanced at the two girls who had just gotten on the train, trying not to be too obvious. They weren’t super beautiful, but they were cute, young-looking, and full of energy. Woo-jin watched them for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head. ‘They’re so young,’ he thought, feeling a bit like an uncle. He suddenly felt a little awkward. ‘Damn. Can I even date someone here? I should try to find a girlfriend at university.’

Woo-jin had been single in his first life, but it wasn’t because nobody liked him. He wasn’t ugly or mean. He was tall and in good shape. He had dated before, like most people. But he was always too busy with work and his goals, so relationships never lasted. ‘It’ll be okay,’ he thought. ‘I’m starting to feel like I’m really in my twenties again.’ At first, it felt strange to have a younger mother and be back in this younger world. But day by day, it felt more normal. Woo-jin decided to relax and go with it. He figured his old, tired spirit would slowly become young again. ‘Humans can get used to anything,’ he thought.

But then, a moment later. Woo-jin, still thinking silly thoughts, was surprised again. ‘!’ The girls’ voices, which he’d stopped paying attention to, suddenly came back to him. Close by.

“Um, excuse me?”

It was definitely someone talking to him.

“Yes? Me?” Woo-jin asked.

“Yes, you!”

Woo-jin turned his head quickly and looked right at the girl who was speaking. She stepped closer and asked carefully, “Are you maybe a freshman in Spatial Design at K University?”

Woo-jin was so surprised, he almost forgot to breathe.

Woo-jin was so shocked by Hye-jin’s question, his eyes widened. ‘Unless she can read minds, how could she know?’ he thought. But then she explained, and he calmed down. ‘Whew, for a second I thought she was like me – someone who came back from the future!’ The reason Hye-jin knew his school and department was simple. His orientation name tag was sticking out of his pocket. On the corner of the big tag, the words ‘Department of Spatial Design’ were clearly printed. It was the same kind of name tag Hye-jin had.

“Wow, you have amazing eyes! How did you even see that?” Woo-jin asked, relieved and amused.

“I don’t know, I just noticed it,” Hye-jin said, a little shyly.

Woo-jin chuckled, looking at the two girls in front of him. They introduced themselves as Im Hye-jin and Yoo Se-young. They were both twenty, unlike him. And yes, they were both students at K University. Even better, Hye-jin, the one who spoke to him, was in Spatial Design too!

‘That’s why she talked to me,’ Woo-jin thought. ‘If I knew someone was in my department, I’d be happy to talk to them too.’ There were over a thousand new students at K University each year. But Spatial Design only had about fifty. So, being in the same department was a big deal.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” Hye-jin said, looking a little shy. “I don’t usually talk to strangers like this…”

Woo-jin smiled. “I get it. You probably don’t know anyone in the department yet. It’s good we met. You won’t be lonely at O.T.”

Then Se-young spoke up. She wasn’t in Spatial Design, but her department, Video Design, was in the same building. “Anyway, you wouldn’t have been bored at O.T. even if you didn’t meet us,” she said.

Woo-jin frowned slightly. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Se-young grinned. “You don’t know anything, do you?”

Woo-jin was surprised. *Talking about information with someone who’s lived through it all…* ‘No one knows this university better than me,’ he thought. But he waited to hear what Se-young would say. He was curious.

And surprisingly, Se-young told him something he really didn’t know. “For the Design departments, O.T. is… well, it’s like a battle.”

“A battle? What kind of battle?”

Se-young smiled. “Let’s just say, your first semester’s tuition might depend on it…” She paused, then continued, and Woo-jin’s face started to change as he listened.

Woo-jin knew a lot about K University. He had studied the Design Department in his past life, even before he went back in time. He never actually enrolled, but he had thought about it many times. Even when he was over thirty and still missed university, K University was the first place he thought of. But Se-young’s story was new to him.

“Every year, each department at K University gets three special scholarships. One is a full scholarship, and two are half scholarships.”

*(T.O. means the number of available spots.)*

“And it’s a tradition in the Design Department to choose who gets these scholarships at O.T.”

“So, these scholarships are just for new students?” Woo-jin asked.

“I think so. They could give them to older students, I guess. It’s up to the department head. But they never have.”

Se-young explained that the Design Department at K University holds a competition at O.T. every year to pick the scholarship winners. The top three in the competition get the scholarships.

‘Even half tuition saved is a lot of money,’ Woo-jin thought. This information was definitely tempting. Saving money on tuition meant saving time he’d have to spend working.

“What kind of competition is it?” he asked. “Do we have to do design projects?”

Hye-jin answered, “Maybe, but we don’t know exactly. They say it’s different every year. And each department and professor in charge does it differently.”

Woo-jin was a little disappointed they didn’t know more, but he was also excited. Scholarship or not, the design competition sounded interesting. ‘This could be fun.’ He briefly thought his competitors were young enough to be his nieces and nephews. But he pushed that thought away. He wasn’t a designer in his past life. So, in design skills, he was starting from the same point as everyone else.

“How did you know all this?” Woo-jin asked.

Se-young glanced at Hye-jin. “Her sister is in the Design Department too. But a different part of it.”

“Oh, I see.”

Even after the scholarship talk, Se-young and Hye-jin told him more about the department. Like the weird professor everyone talked about. And the special slang they used in Design.

“My sister told me to avoid Professor Kim Ki-hwan’s classes if you can…” Hye-jin said.

“Really? Isn’t he in *your* department?” Woo-jin asked. “How does your sister know? She’s in Visual Design, right?”

“Yeah, but she took some classes in our department before,” Hye-jin explained.

“Ah, okay.”

“She said when she took his class, she was never home,” Se-young added.

“Was it that bad?”

“She said she pulled an all-nighter almost every other night,” Hye-jin said.

“What’s an all-nighter?” Woo-jin asked, pretending not to know.

“It means staying up all night to work,” Se-young explained.

“Ah…”

Of course, the scholarship was the most interesting thing, but Woo-jin was still interested in these stories. They were all new to him. He knew about K University from the outside, but these inside stories were fun.

“Thanks for the info,” Woo-jin said.

Se-young smiled. “No problem.”

Hye-jin added, “Hey, Woo-jin-oppa,” (using a Korean term for older brother/male friend).

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t we just talk casually now? We’re classmates anyway.”

Hye-jin said she was shy, but she was definitely talkative.