Chapter 107: Please Take Care of My Assignment (4)

After Jin Sehyun was dragged away like that, Cha Seongbin began poking Do Seohan in the side, watching him closely.

The way he sneakily poked him made it obvious he wanted to tease the youngest.

“I think you’re definitely professor material.”

“Why?”

“You look smart, like you’d be perfect as a professor~.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

-Why does Cha Seongbin sound like a parent who wants their kid to become a professor lol

└It’s totally that “My kid looks so smart~” vibe lol

└Did Cha Seongbin give birth to Do Hamjji or something?

-In the meantime, Mam-Seohan summed it all up with just one “You’ve got to be kidding me” lolololol

└He really looked like he couldn’t believe it lol

└Do Hamjji gives a ^~^ smile to all his hyungs but only a -_- face to Cha Seongbin

└Lmao the temperature difference is killing me

└That reluctant expression lololol

-I just think they’re cute whenever they’re together ㅠㅠ

Bantering like that, the two arrived at research lab C-05 East.

Just like before, the professor’s assignment was waiting for them the moment they arrived.

“I’ll read it!”

Scurry—

Seo Haim once again ran over first, grabbed the mission sheet, and came back.

[‘Please Take Care of My Coffee’ Measuring Mission]

[Students of Dusty University’s Chemistry Department dream of running cafés as a side business.]

[Without using measuring tools, make exactly 350ml of coffee using only the sense in your fingertips.]

Underneath was a note that a margin of error of about 20ml was acceptable.

“Running a café as a side business?”

“But why exactly 350ml? Not 300ml or 400ml?”

“Because a Tall-size coffee is about 355ml.”

“Seohan, how do you even know that?”

There was someone here who was living their second life after getting hit by a truck while working at a café part-time.

And a measuring mission, no less?

Having basically lived in a lab for a time, he felt confident.

He could pour water to the correct volume even with his eyes closed.

Just as Seohan was about to confidently raise his hand, Kang Siwoo turned to Ha Junseo.

“Shouldn’t you be the one doing this, hyung?”

The man who used to slam down six espresso shots into his iced americano every day.

Recently, he had cut it down to four shots, but still couldn’t give up his three coffees a day.

“There aren’t many people in the world who drink more coffee than you, hyung.”

-Ah lololololol

-Coffee master Ha Junseo

-Honestly, at Ha Junseo’s level, shouldn’t he be able to make coffee blindfolded?

Ha Junseo replied to that.

“Sorry, but I only drink it. I don’t really know how to make it.”

“Oh.”

“I just drank whatever was given to me.”

In the end, the measuring mission fell to the youngest, Seohan.

Holding the bottle in one hand, Seohan looked into the camera and asked,

“I just have to do it within 15 minutes, right?”

“They said the number of tries doesn’t matter. Take your time~.”

“You’ll probably get the hang of it after about five tries.”

Everyone encouraged him, but no one was expecting much.

But then—

The guy who was always so clumsy when cooking spun the cup, dissolved the coffee powder in hot water, poured water a few times, and returned to the camera almost instantly.

[3 minutes! Mission complete.]

“Huh?”

The production crew was visibly flustered at how Seohan had finished the mission at instant ramen speed.

Even the camera, which had planned to zoom in on Seohan struggling after several failures, suddenly had nothing to film.

The most surprised of all was Dusty.

-???? It’s over?

-How did he succeed? Was it a fluke?

-Why is Do Seohan good at this…?

-He just poured water once and that was it, did he really get the volume right?

He did.

[355ml… Mission success.]

“I told you it’s a Tall-size coffee.”

Seohan said with a proud shrug.

Ha Junseo kept patting Seohan’s back like he was unbearably proud.

“What is this, why are you so good? Were you a café owner before?”

He never had that much starting capital.

Seohan tilted his head slightly and replied.

“It’s all about the feel, the feel.”

Thanks to the sense he had developed from working in a research lab and at a café, he quickly cleared the second mission.

Ding—

“The next assignment’s here.”

[ Dusty University of Arts, Building B-09. Time limit: 20 minutes. ]

[ Complete the third assignment in the music room. ]

Just as the notice for the third mission appeared, someone they had forgotten about returned.

Clatter—

“Oh, Jin Sehyun!”

“Sehyun, you’re back?”

Jin Sehyun, who trudged into the lab ten minutes later, had grown noticeably haggard in that short time.

Seohan grabbed his arm and asked,

“Hyung, what did you hear in the makeup lecture?”

With a vacant look, Jin Sehyun spoke.

“To… develop the qualities needed as a next-generation global idol…”

To…?

“I took a course in ancient Latin…”

“…Sorry?”

Why on earth?

“Latin—ack! Ah-hahahak!”

“Dusty… te amo…”

Ah, I didn’t see that coming.

The sheer unexpected globalness left Seohan speechless.

-Latin lololol Choco Haim’s laughter is killing me

-Do next-generation global idols have to learn Latin too? Ah ffs lololol

└Doubles self-produced content has lost its mind

└Jin Sehyun’s completely out of it

└Being a global idol is too hard

-For the record, what Jin Sehyun said in Latin: Dusty, I love you

└Insane

└Ha… I’ll pledge to Dusty for life

└Te amo… clatter tap… te amo… clatter tap… te amo… clatter tap… te amo… clatter tap… te amo… clatter tap…

Of course, Latin wasn’t the important part right now.

Seo Haim, clutching her stomach with laughter, belatedly checked the hint.

“Ah, this is too funny. Now I’ll look at the hint.”

“Hint!”

[ Contains the letter ‘ㅎ’ in the name ]

The moment they saw that, Jin Sehyun snapped his head around.

“This is definitely Do Seohan, I’m telling you!”

“No, hold on a sec.”

There were more people with ‘ㅎ’ in their names than he thought.

Seohan waved his hands, refuting Jin Sehyun’s claim.

“Hyung, your name has ‘ㅎ’ in it too.”

“Junseo hyung’s does too.”

“So does yours.”

“Oh, right?”

Ha Junseo, Jin Sehyun, Seo Haim, and Do Seohan.

These four had effectively become the professor candidates.

The first person to be eliminated from the list of candidates—

Cha Seongbin smirked slyly and stepped back.

“Well, I’m definitely not it~.”

“Sorry, but no one suspected you in the first place.”

“Why?”

“You just don’t have a professor’s face.”

“…That’s harsh.”

At Jin Sehyun’s blunt remark, Cha Seongbin started hopping around, begging.

“Why? Let me be a professor too~.”

“No way.”

“Make me your honorary professor!”

“Ugh.”

The one cringing was, of course, Seohan.

Cha Seongbin, spotting that look, sidled up and began teasing the youngest.

“Then do you want to be the professor?”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’ll be the student, and you be the teacher!”

“I don’t care, you’re getting an F.”

“…!”

“You’re repeating the year, repeating.”

-I’ll be the student, you be the teacher lololol Why would you say it like that, Seongbin lololol

└Do Seohan immediately handed out a fail

└I swear Seohan enjoys this

└Does that look like someone enjoying it?

└He clearly hates it lololol

└They’ll probably grow attached at this rate

└He already looks a little resigned

Just then, while the two were exchanging nonsense,

the speaker crackled again.

[Attention, students of Dusty University. This is a special announcement.]

“What is this, making me nervous.”

Having already been dragged away once for a next-generation global idol-worthy Latin lesson, Jin Sehyun’s face turned pale.

The second mission had already been cleared faster than expected.

Given the situation, the professor urgently added more interference.

[The professor has assigned a team project.]

[The Spinning Assignment: Spin around with your head on a bat 10 times simultaneously, then have one person throw a shoe and another catch it safely to succeed.]

“Out of nowhere?”

“Aaaaah!”

And that wasn’t the end.

[Notice: Exam coverage extended.]

[The invincible line, ‘Shall we test up to what we’ve learned?’ has been deployed.]

[One midterm assignment has been added.]

“I want to drop out.”

Seohan’s eyes lost focus.

.

.

.

.

The professor’s interference failed to work.

The members cleared the hastily added midterm without incident and moved on with light steps.

Were they… light?

-The kids’ energy is dropping lololol

-I think they did it in one takeㅠㅠ Why do they all look like water-starved greens? Totally wilted ㅠㅠ

└Siwoo, it’s here

└Kang Siwoo’s love for plants is already famousㅠㅠ

└Please give our Do Hamjji some water quickly

Seohan trudged along with a slightly dazed look.

Beside him, Ha Junseo had been making strange sound effects for a while.

“Heu-eng… heu-eng….”

“Hyung, are you tired?”

“This campus is too big. Must be a good school.”

It felt like an outdoor shoot.

“Too far…”

The place they arrived at after dragging their heavy feet together was the music room, where a listening assignment awaited them.

It was the one that required the most time investment among the three, but Cha Seongbin’s perfect pitch shone here.

[Success.]

So it works?

After quickly finishing nearly ten listening exercises, Cha Seongbin stepped down from the piano with a smile.

“That was easy.”

-Cha Seongbin’s main-job moment is making me swoon….

-Ha, what do I do, I’m starting to see Cha Seongbin as an oppa ㅠㅠ

└He’s not your oppa

└Shut up

-The best thing about Cha Seongbin: he’s usually so playful and sly that you can’t tell, but sometimes his genius vibe slips out and drives people crazy

└So true

└Cha Seongbin putting K-pop in order

Stretching, Cha Seongbin added,

“Shall we check the hint?”

“Let’s check it right away.”

There had been three announced assignments in total.

As the missions neared their end, the last hint was quite straightforward.

[Maknae line]

“Maknae line?”

This narrowed the professor candidates down to three.

Ha Junseo slapped his thigh and spoke.

All the previously confusing hints came together in his mind to form one conclusion.

“Ah… it’s Do Seohan.”

At this point, Dusty started thinking the same thing.

-Is it really Professor Seohan?

-Our maknae’s an acting idol

-Do Seohan really fooled us well;;

The maknae line only had three people…

Seo Haim didn’t suspect anyone.

“I’m really bad at lying.”

“Anyone can tell.”

Seo Haim as a professor?

That school would go under.

For that reason, Seo Haim, the second-youngest, was first to be eliminated from suspicion.

“Sehyun was the first to get a makeup lecture, right?”

“This is 100% Do Seohan. He’s smart.”

“I think it’s Seohan too.”

As Jin Sehyun protested, all eyes turned to Seohan.

He waved his hands in denial, but it seemed hard to suppress the shifted public opinion.

-The hint’s too obvious

-All the hints so far match lololololol

-Good work, Seohan

Meanwhile, one person still trusted the maknae.

With a serious expression, Kang Siwoo said,

“Seohan’s too pure to do something like that.”

-Ah lolololol Siwoo lolololol

-I think our leader’s just wearing rose-colored glassesㅠㅠ He treats Do Hamjji more like a baby than the fans do ㅋ큐ㅠ

Kang Siwoo added confidently,

“He can’t lie or deceive people.”

“That’s right.”

“He also couldn’t send someone away or…”

-As he was speaking, Kang Siwoo recalled Seohan threatening reporter Lee Doyeon over his family matter.

Our Seohan.

He’s too softhearted to ever threaten anyone.

…didn’t…?

Huh?

“…Didn’t do it?”

Unlike before, his voice had lost its confidence.

-Why did Kang Siwoo’s pupils suddenly start shaking lololol

-Has his rock-solid trust been broken

-Why does his serious thinking face look so cute ㅠㅠ

-Yeah, this totally means it’s Do Seohan lololol

But this time, even Seohan had something to say.

“Wait a second.”

“Let’s save the excuses for after we graduate.”

“No, I’m sure!”

With a confident voice, Seohan declared,

“I’m definitely not the professor.”

“Proof?”

“Because the professor is right over there.”

Seohan pointed at someone.

“Me?”

It was none other than Jin Sehyun.

Seohan remembered how the first thing Jin Sehyun did when accusing him was to rummage through his own pocket.

That was suspicious.

Young-and-rich-tall-and-handsome. The moment he saw the first hint, he dug into his own pocket?

Seohan wiggled his fingers as he approached Jin Sehyun.

“Hyung, give me your pocket.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got a wallet in there, right?”

“What are you talking about.”

Jin Sehyun stepped back in surprise, but Kang Siwoo, who was right behind him, grabbed him.

Grab.

“Uwaah! Wait a minute!”

“Let’s just do a quick ID check~.”

Smiling brightly, Cha Seongbin came over and began rummaging through Jin Sehyun’s pocket.

It didn’t take long.

Whip—

Out came a luxury wallet from Jin Sehyun’s pocket.

It was just a prop wallet, of course, but it still matched the first hint.

“A wallet came out?”

“It… it really was Jin Sehyun?”

“I told you it was Sehyun hyung.”

There was another reason.

Seohan spoke with absolute certainty.

“If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t know, but I was sure Sehyun hyung would use the makeup lecture on himself.”

“Ah…!”

To clear himself from suspicion first.

If it were Jin Sehyun, he would absolutely use the makeup lecture to tie himself down.

That’s why Seohan had been watching him since the very first interference, the makeup lecture.

But it wasn’t an easy hint to notice.

In fact, straightforward types like Ha Junseo and Seo Haim had fallen for the bait Jin Sehyun had prepared.

They’d made the mistake of crossing him off the suspect list right away.

If nothing else, his ability to redirect suspicion was excellent.

Unfortunately, with all the other hints matching, Seohan had almost been named as the professor for real.

With a proud look, Seohan turned to Jin Sehyun.

“You’re the professor, right?”

“……”

“Knew it. Got you.”

At those words, Jin Sehyun’s face twisted.

There was no point in lying now.

He had done his best…

Jin Sehyun reached out with a regretful expression.

“No! I could have dragged Seohan to graduate school!”

Even in a comedy skit, let’s not say terrifying things.

Seohan recoiled in horror, stepping back.

“Student, you’re still not thinking of coming to grad school?”

“Would I?”

Quick step-step-step—

Leaving Jin Sehyun behind, the members rapidly backed away.

Waving her hand, Seo Haim added cheerfully,

“We’re graduating~”

“Don’t go!”

“Professor, you can stay in school forever!”

The jimmy jib camera pulled back, capturing the members’ faces.

“Bye!”

Please Take Care of My Assignment, Part 2 (End)

[Why is Stardust’s self-produced content so fun?]

I’m not even a fan, but the kids are so cute I end up watching.

I feel like I might stan them just from their self-produced content lol

-Our kids are cute, right ㅠㅠ Please love them a lot

└They really are cute. It’s nice how the ones with good chemistry during Starf days debuted together lol

└How about idols who release self-produced content so fans won’t get bored during hiatus

└Doubles only understands fans at times like this

└The place where no one works except the self-produced content team

-Did you watch Dusty Corp. too?

└No!

└Watch that too! The kids are seriously so freaking cute

└You can see Mam-Seohan’s PPT skills there

└He acts exactly the same as he did with Joon from Romantic Management lololol

└At this point, isn’t Seohan’s personality just self-absorbed?

└Ma… maybe a little?

└lolololololololololol

└But our Hamjji is humble musically

└The least humble musically: Cha Seongbin

└But when you see his skills, you can’t help but nod

└True that

└Yeah, nodding like “Right, our kid’s a genius…”

The self-produced content had reached Episode 2, and the response this time was just as good.

It caught on with the general public, even hitting #1 on real-time trending videos.

“Good thing we didn’t go with a weird concept.”

Seohan once again breathed a sigh of relief.

If they had gone with the MZ freshman concept like the hyungs had said…

It would’ve been instantly screenshotted and plastered on Stargram.

‘Horrifying.’

Dusty Campus had racked up even higher views than their last self-produced content.

Maybe that’s why texts started coming in from all over.

Even from Lee Dokyung, who he wasn’t exactly dying to hear from.

And from Ray, who seemed brighter now that things with The Core had calmed down.

Seohan replied to each one in turn with short thank-yous.

Tap-tap-tap.

After clearing his backlog of messages, he flopped onto the sofa without thinking much of it.

Ding—

The alert went off again almost immediately.

“Mm… who is it now.”

He’d just been about to close his eyes for a bit.

Still lying down, Seohan groped along the sofa for his phone.

Catching it by the edge, he picked it up to check the alert.

A short text from someone.

The content was similar to the ones he’d been getting just moments ago.

-I enjoyed your self-produced content

└Yes, thank you ve…

Seohan instinctively started to reply—then froze.

“Huh?”

He rubbed his eyes and looked at his phone again.

No way.

This…

When he checked the sender, he almost dropped his phone.

“What the—!”

“What’s wrong?”

[Tiple’s Sung Jihoo sunbae]

Sung Jihoo?

A senior who, aside from a greeting the day they exchanged numbers, had never contacted him.

He’d seemed busy, so Seohan hadn’t wanted to text first—but now, Jihoo had messaged him directly.

Ding—

At the sound of another alert, Seohan clapped a hand over his mouth.

-Let’s meet up when promotions start

-We could grab a meal too.

Was this real life?

“What the heeckkkkk!”

Seohan screamed and sprang up on the spot.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep