Rudin Greenwood: How about this design?
Rudin Greenwood: (Picture)
Rudin Greenwood: There's also this
Rudin Greenwood: (Picture)
Rudin Greenwood: Actually, I think this design is also very innovative
Rudin Greenwood: (Picture)
Rudin Greenwood: This one might look plain at first glance, but it has the advantage of being endlessly adaptable and creative
Rudin Greenwood: (Picture)
Rudin Greenwood: And this one, although it's very limited in terms of the body type it suits,
Rudin Greenwood: I think it can show off its best beauty if it meets the right owner
Rudin Greenwood: (Picture)
Rudin Greenwood: If you don't like any of these, I'll send you some other designs
"Hah, this leech…"
Calevik checked the chat room of the FDS app and threw his phone into the corner of the sofa. He already had over a thousand unread messages on his social media apps, and now this leech-like, persistent Pussycat was adding to the headache.
He lay down on the sofa and stared at the ceiling, then turned to lie on his side. The doll dress displayed on a torso on the table caught his eye.
The person who made this was that Pussycat fairy- the cleaner, who he thought would never appear in Calevik's life again. But he had suddenly appeared as a transfer student in the same department and was now making a fuss about choosing a design for the clothes they would make for the team assignment.
The timid and seemingly weak Pussycat would shrink at Calevik's mere glare. Were Pussycats always so physically weak? He had only walked a little faster, but he was panting as he tried to keep up. Yet, when he talked about academics, his eyes would change, and he would assert his opinions quite boldly.
Those eyes… yes. They looked exactly like 'Professor Kwangbeom's,' which made his spine tingle, albeit momentarily.
Calevik hated Kwangbeom. Other professors knew about Calevik's family background, so they generally didn't interfere or nag him even if he was not diligent in his school life.
But Kwangbeom seemed strangely obsessed with him, which was tiresome. The reason Calevik tried to attend Kwangbeom's classes as much as possible was, ironically, because he didn't want to receive personal attention from him.
While the entire house was quiet, a vibration was felt from the corner of the sofa. A phone call was coming in. Calevik, in a swift and streamlined movement that was the opposite of his lazy posture, immediately got up and picked up his phone. Bernard's name was on the screen.
"What is it?"
Bernard replied in a hurried voice to Calevik's curt words.
"Madam is on her way to visit your residence without prior notice. She is expected to arrive there in 10 minutes…"
Calevik didn't listen any further and pressed the end call button. He threw his phone back on the sofa and strode across the wide living room into the dressing room connected to the bedroom.
Looking at the clothes filled with all sorts of flamboyant patterns in the closet, Calevik pondered what kind of outfit 'Madam' would find unbearable for even a minute.
He chose a hot pink zebra-patterned silk shirt that clung tightly to the body, like something you would see in a host bar, and tight silver pants with a cooking foil feel that revealed the silhouette of his lower body. Looking at himself in the full-length mirror, he was extremely satisfied because he looked indescribably vulgar.
With time to spare, he put a lot of wax on his hands and made his hair stick out haphazardly. With the addition of the awful hairstyle, he looked like a crazy delinquent to anyone who saw him. Calevik grinned, baring his teeth at his reflection in the mirror.
At the same time, the doorbell rang. Calevik unlocked the front door with the smart pad attached to the bedroom wall and went out to the living room. A woman who had just passed through the middle door and entered inside was shocked as soon as she saw Calevik.
"You still haven't come to your senses. No, it's gotten even worse."
The woman was 64 years old, but anyone who actually saw her would never dare to think of her as that age. Even if you generously overestimated, she would be in her mid-50s, ten years younger than her actual age.
Tall and slender, with a body honed by decades of various sports and Pilates, clean and elastic skin that was the result of an annual skincare membership worth tens of millions of cables, and elegant luxury clothes that, even without a logo, were worth several months' salary for an average office worker.
The culmination of all those things in a stylish harmony was Charlotte Emma Alstadt, the wife of the chairman of the Alstadt Family.
"Doesn't the fashion design department teach even the basic principles of color coordination? Every time I see you, I feel like my eyes are being assaulted."
Charlotte frowned, sitting on a one-person sofa as if it were her own home. Calevik sat at an angle to her, leaning back and crossing his long legs.
"I don't know, since I hardly attend classes. Why did you come without contacting me?"
"Can't a mother visit her son's house?"
"Didn't we agree to avoid family role-playing, since we both find it disgusting?"
Charlotte stared intently at her youngest son, who was dressed worse than a back alley bum. A familiar word leaked out from between her lips, twisted with contempt.
"Hmph. This is why you shouldn't take in black-haired beasts…"
Before she could finish speaking, Calevik threw his head back and laughed loudly. Charlotte, startled by the sudden burst of laughter, glanced at him suspiciously, wondering if he had taken drugs or something.
After a moment, Calevik abruptly stopped laughing and stared intently into Charlotte's eyes.
"Speaking of the Alstadt Family's purebred gene ratio, which my mother is so proud of."
Calevik raised one corner of his lips in a sneer and then lowered it as he continued.
"As you know, I am at least ninety percent or more."
"How dare you…"
"Your mother's precious four children, on the other hand, have Isenburg blood mixed in, so they're probably only about half."
"Shut up!"
Charlotte grabbed the nearest thing and threw it. Calevik silently watched as the pretty blue doll dress that the leech-like Pussycat had made with all his heart and soul was thrown to the living room floor, rolled around, and stopped.
"Ninety? Ninety percent? It sounds very plausible. But what can you do? The remaining ten percent is nothing but inferior, filthy, defective genes."
"..."
"Don't be mistaken. You are nothing but a disgrace and a source of shame to the family."
Charlotte, with an icy face, spoke coldly as if spitting out a sharp knife. Calevik, maintaining a steadfast attitude like a rock, responded with a languid smile.
"Then throw me away. Take away my house, car, and unlimited credit card and kick me out onto the streets."
Had she not considered that? Charlotte made a deflated sound.
"You're a vermin that I can't even associate with."
"Or you could just send an assassin. You have a lot of money, Mother. Isn't it that hard to find an assassin who can cut my arteries without anyone knowing? Ah, or perhaps you don't want to leave behind the dishonorable history of an Alstadt Family member being mysteriously murdered."
Charlotte closed her eyes for a moment. She must not fall for the provocation that was trying to drive her out of his territory as quickly as possible.
She had come here today with a certain purpose. In order to achieve that, she had to somehow coax this beast-like son with his explosive temper and dirty bloodline.
"Attend the Alstadt Corporation's 100th anniversary event."
Charlotte opened her eyes and said, as if reciting a line from a script, without even looking at Calevik.
Calevik seemed to know why she had bothered to come all the way here. If she had delivered the message through someone else or notified him by phone, he would have scoffed at it, so she had made a surprise visit, bringing her precious self.
"I've been making excuses for your complete lack of participation in family events until now, but this time it's impossible. It's a gathering of everyone who has even a drop of Alstadt blood."
"..."
"If you are, as you say, a human with at least ninety percent pure Alstadt genes, then attend this event and prove it."
Calevik audibly snorted and answered without hesitation.
"I refuse."
"What was that?"
"I won't go to that ridiculous event."
"You ungrateful wretch, don't you know the grace of being lavishly fed and raised until now!"
Calevik's expression froze in an instant at Charlotte's raised voice. He stood up and walked towards Charlotte. He rested his hands on the armrests of the sofa and bent over, looking down at her intimidatingly, his eyes narrowed.
"Why don't you just kill me."
"Get out of my way, you rogue."
"Why do you keep alive a filthy seed that you hate so much?"
Charlotte's eyelids fluttered. Calevik, with a sneering smile, brought his lips close to her ear and whispered.
"I don't care. I'm actually looking forward to it."
Because he had lived a life with no regrets even if he died right now.
Because, as she used to say, he was a useless being who should never have been born.
The reason he was living simply because he could torment her just by the fact that he was alive.
Calevik straightened up again and stepped back. Charlotte gritted her teeth as she looked at Calevik, who was giving her a chilling smile, baring his teeth.
"You're a crazy psychopath."
"So, if you don't want to hear the same thing every time, get rid of me as soon as possible. Don't tell people to come and go to your disgusting, nauseating party."
Charlotte stood up abruptly and spat out with a disgusted face.
"It was a mistake to bother saving someone like you. The dirty and vulgar blood that flows through your body will never be cleansed until you die."
She walked out of the front door without looking back, as if escaping from a terrible demon's lair.
Calevik, with a blank face, headed back to the bedroom. He took off everything he was wearing in the dressing room and went straight to the bathroom. He lathered up the shower ball with plenty of soap and scrubbed and scrubbed his body for a long time, as if he had dirt on it.
After a long shower, Calevik dried his body and put on a plain T-shirt and training pants again.
He dried his hair with a towel and entered the living room, where he saw the doll dress thrown on the floor. He sighed lightly and placed the torso back on the table where it had been.
Calevik went straight to the kitchen and took out chicken breast and tomato sauce from the refrigerator. With familiar hands, he boiled the noodles, added the sauce and chicken breast, and stir-fried them, quickly making pasta.
Calevik put the pasta in a bowl and sliced lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and bell peppers to make a salad. He sat alone at the table and devoured the food. He thought he wouldn't have an appetite after seeing that unlucky face, but it was decent enough.
While Cale hired people for cleaning and laundry, he always cooked his own meals.
After finishing his meal and loading the dishes into the dishwasher, he returned to the living room and checked his phone, which had been buried in the corner of the sofa. Among the many trivial contacts, he saw a message from Rudin Greenwood.
Rudin Greenwood: Still no reply after seeing it…
Rudin Greenwood: I'll try a different approach.
Rudin Greenwood: If you like the design I'm sending now, don't reply. If you don't like it, tell me you hate it.
Rudin Greenwood: (Photo)
Rudin Greenwood: If there's no reply, I'll assume you like it and proceed.
Rudin Greenwood: Sorry for contacting you so much today, but I'm not doing this because I like it either.
Rudin Greenwood: And don't worry, I won't pretend to be friendly under the guise of team projects, whether at school or anywhere else.
Petty. So petty, like cosmic dust, that he was speechless.
The designs, the team project, the Alstadt Corporation's 100th-anniversary event, and even the woman who had been putting on a disgusting act of pretending to be his birth mother to the whole world for a full 18 years.
Cale couldn't find even a speck of meaning in the entire world surrounding him.
He didn't reply to Rudin's messages until the night passed and the next night arrived.
by misacchi
Rudin, who was diligently searching for menswear designs in books and online, suddenly looked at his phone.
Despite sending several photos and messages, Calevik Roshaff Alstadt remained silent. What on earth was he thinking?
"Why even bother coming to school if you're going to be like this! What a waste of tuition!!!"
Rudin, unable to bear it any longer, burst out in frustration. He had believed that even if difficult things happened after transferring, he could solve them with hard work and effort, and even if the superior species ignored or harassed him, he could just endure it. But he never expected such an obstacle from the very beginning.
In any case, Rudin had to get good grades. He stared blankly at the last photo he had sent to Cale, along with the message, 'If I don't hear back, I'll assume you like it and proceed.'
If Rudin were to make these kinds of clothes, and Calevik were to wear them himself….
The thought alone was so fantastic that he could drool.
Calevik, as Rudin had experienced him so far, was an incomprehensible, outrageous, and crazy person, but his face and physique were so perfect that no one could dislike them. Just standing still or sitting crookedly looked like a pose taken during a photo shoot. Not all Tigercats were handsome and had good bodies, so it couldn't be attributed to Cale being a superior species.
Anyway, since he was on a team with Cale, Rudin had to wait for his reply to finalize the design, so there was nothing he could do right now. Deciding to practice his hobby of fashion illustration, he took out his sketchbook, water-based markers, and colored pencils and sat down at the round table he used as both a dining table and a desk.
He thought about drawing clothes from the Kelmes S/S collection fashion show that had appeared in an article recently, but Rudin reflexively thought of the man who wore those ultra-luxurious items, including Kelmes, in the most awful combinations imaginable.
Was there a way to make the clothes and shoes he wore look more presentable?
"The first time I saw him, he was wearing a leopard-print turtleneck knit with…."
Unconsciously muttering, Rudin boldly drew a flamboyant turtleneck knit with an orange pattern on a black background in his sketchbook. He added appropriately damaged destroyed black jeans and matched them with black worker boots, completing a sophisticated outfit with a clear leopard print as the focal point.
"Yes. This is right."
Rudin, wearing a satisfied smile, recalled the pants Cale had worn with that knit.
"The bottoms were red and khaki plaid slim-fit overalls. Ha, this is a bit difficult. Does he have some kind of Christmas fantasy…."
Given the design characteristics of the outfit, it seemed best to go for a genderless feel. Rudin combined it with a loose-fitting black thin t-shirt with a relaxed neckline and drew an illustration of the overalls with one buckle undone and hanging down. After putting on black loafers and a black beret, it became a passable coordination.
"And what he wore today was a checkered round-neck knit…."
Rudin quickly sketched a black and white checkered round-neck knit, then added straight-fit raw denim with folded hems and casual sneakers mixed with white and black. He felt good because that alone completed a perfectly neat look.
Rudin decided to boldly discard the huge, bright red cowhide basketball shoes and the world map patterned pants from Cale's outfit today. Leaving aside the basketball shoes, the world map pants were truly hopeless, and they looked strange even when coordinated with the most basic white or black plain t-shirt. Since Cale, who was 191 cm tall and had a shoe size of 290, wore them, he could at least walk, but anyone else would have had the pants dragging all over the ground and their shoes coming off.
"They look pretty good when worn separately like this. Should I make them into doll clothes?"
Rudin, staring blankly at the three illustrations he had drawn without a break, decided to make the first and last designs into men's doll clothes.
He had only sold clothes for female dolls at 'Ruby Doll Boutique' until now, but drawing men's clothes was surprisingly fun, so he wanted to try making them. Of course, he would have to modify them to avoid design plagiarism.
It was a bit unpleasant that the model he imagined in his head whenever he drew fashion illustrations was Calevik Roshaff Alstadt. But he was an amazingly ideal human being with no flaws in his appearance, so as an aspiring designer, he couldn't help it.
Rudin muttered excuses to himself that no one could hear or would be interested in.
***
Cale, who had been absent from both Monday and Tuesday classes, finally appeared at school just before the third period on Wednesday. Because the crazy professor Kwangbeom had sent a message saying, 'If you are absent without a valid reason, I will visit your home today,' after he missed the second period class, he had no choice but to come to school, even if late.
Today, he wore a yellowish-brown suit with wide vertical stripes and a small floral print flower shirt. It was the worst outfit imaginable, one that anyone with no knowledge of fashion would unanimously consider the height of tackiness.
However, the fit, which revealed a wide and thick chest, a sleek waist, a firm hip, and solid thighs that made the shirt stretch taut without a single wrinkle, was as perfect as ever.
Before entering the lecture hall, Cale, who had approached the vending machine in the central hall on the 7th floor to get a drink, heard a very faint and subtle breathing sound coming from somewhere.
Feeling something was strange, he approached the vending machine in the far corner. Cale, who inadvertently looked into the gap, was startled and doubted his eyes.
"What, it's you."
Rudin Greenwood was stuck in the narrow gap between the vending machine and the wall. He looked up at Cale with an embarrassed expression, his face gloomy, his body curled up small, and his delicate breath coming out in gasps.
"Oh, hello."
Was this the time to greet him so calmly? It was a mystery how he had gotten into such a narrow space that seemed like it would be full even if Cale put in just one leg. Cale's brow furrowed.
"What are you doing?"
"This is just…, an effort to regain peace of mind…."
"What are you talking about?"
"Being in a dark and narrow place like this makes me feel comfortable."
Rudin smiled awkwardly. At that moment, a sharp fragment of memory buried deep in the abyss suddenly surged up and pierced Cale's mind.
'Mom, why are you in there? Are you playing hide-and-seek?'
'Haha. No, Mommy just likes dark and narrow places like this. It makes me feel comfortable.'
She would often go into the space between the closet and the wall in the small house where he and she lived when he was young and curl up there for a while.
And the words she said to Cale every time were…
"Do you want to come in too?"
Yes, that was exactly it.
"What?"
Cale glared fiercely at Rudin Greenwood, who had uttered exactly the same words as his mother, word for word.
"Uh…, it might be a bit much for your build…."
Rudin, smiling sheepishly, lowered his gaze. Just then, he heard footsteps from behind, and a group of students gathered. Cale unconsciously stood diagonally, blocking the gap between the vending machine and the wall where Rudin was.
"You're here, Cale!"
"Hey, it's so hard to see your face."
"Are you getting a drink? I'd appreciate it if you could get one for me too!"
As always, Cale, who did not answer anyone, nonchalantly scanned the back of his phone on the vending machine and pressed the water button. Leon, a Lioncat wearing neat dark brown slacks and a beige shirt, said to him.
"How's the menswear design team project going? Your teammate seems to be suffering a bit."
Cale did not answer, but Lion quietly watched his brow furrow slightly. Bertha, a Jaguarcat female student, tilted her head.
"Why? What happened?"
"A little while ago, when you went to the bathroom."
Leon explained the situation.
As soon as the second period ended and it was break time, Highcat Mikhail and Servalcat Cresus approached Rudin. Mikhail, who had suddenly approached Rudin, who was reading the notes he had written on his tablet, hit him hard on the back of the head and shouted loudly.
'Put those ears away, you inferior bastard!'
Rudin, who almost buried his nose in the tablet, looked at him with a bewildered expression. Mikhail frowned even more fiercely.
'You keep turning them this way and that way and twitching them all class! What are you, a rabbit? It's too distracting to concentrate!'
Rudin, who briefly flattened his cat ears and bit his lip, retorted with an aggrieved expression.
'You can just not look at them.'
'What, you bastard? How can I not look when my eyes are fine!'
'You're not a herbivore, so how can you have such a wide field of vision? If you want to look at me from your seat, you have to deliberately turn your head to the left.'
Mikhail's usual seat was two spaces to the right and two rows behind Rudin. As Rudin said, unless Mikhail deliberately turned his head or gaze towards the left corner, Rudin would not be constantly in his line of sight when he was looking at the blackboard or the professor in the center. Cresus, who heard that, sneered.
'Huh, what is it? So you're saying Mikhail is interested in you and keeps looking at you? Isn't this a completely crazy stalker?'
'When did I say that? I just….'
Before Rudin could finish speaking, Mikhail bared his sharp fangs and growled lowly in a phlegmy voice.
'If you don't want to die, move to the very back right now. Otherwise, I'll bite off those unlucky ears of yours.'
They weren't even children, what kind of low-quality bullying was this? Cale, who heard Leon's story, seemed to know why Rudin was stuck between the vending machine and the wall to regain peace of mind. However, it was still a mystery why he was standing in the gap as if hiding Rudin.
"Wow, he's really going through a lot."
Bertha widened her eyes. Julian, a Cheetahcat standing next to her, snickered.
"He deserves it. There's a saying that pine caterpillars should live on pine needles. In my opinion, he's just asking for trouble by being greedy beyond his means."
"Well, that's true too. Calevik, if you're uncomfortable being on the same team as that Pussycat, come to our team before it's too late. We're still three people. We haven't finalized the design yet either."
As if he hadn't heard Bertha's words at all, Cale nonchalantly opened the lid of the plastic bottle and drank the water. His throat was burning, and he felt extremely disgusted to the point that he couldn't stand it anymore.
It wasn't because Rudin Greenwood was being discriminated against because of his species. If they found out that he wasn't the heir of the Alstadt Family, he could only imagine how their attitude would change, and it was so disgusting that he felt like he was going to throw up.
He had never been happy to live as 'Calevik Roshaff Alstadt' for a single moment. His happiness had stopped forever at the age of five, when he was 'Cale Henders.'
Five years old is very young, but it is not an age when you know nothing and remember nothing, as adults think.
A five-year-old child who was deprived of his mother's smile, scent, and the happy times he had with his mother overnight and forced to live a new life among complete strangers can remember much more than the world expects.
A five-year-old child who had all the experiences he has had denied as vulgar, his beloved mother insulted as a dirty and ugly being, and was forced to be injected with the manners and culture of the upper class every day, and lived in an environment where even his half-siblings and the family's employees cast cold glances and treat him like an invisible person, endlessly chews and ruminates on the memories that were uniquely precious to him, in a struggle to avoid being deprived of them.
by misacchi
Cale hated the whole world. He was annoyed by this country, where there was an implicit hierarchy between the nine species, and the humans with their vile national character that took species discrimination for granted. If he could, he wanted to detonate a huge bomb and destroy Feladia at once.
Even if he lost his life in the process, he felt like he would have no regrets.
"It's time for class to start. Let's go in."
Leon took the group and left. Cale, who had emptied the 500ml water bottle in an instant, threw the empty bottle into the recycling bin.
When Rudin Greenwood carefully crawled out of the narrow gap between the vending machine and the wall, there was no one in the central hall.
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After the break, Kwangbeom and Loebe, who had entered the third period class, immediately discovered two scenes that had changed from the previous period, as if they were looking for the differences in a picture.
First, Calevik Roshaff Alstadt was occupying the backmost seat by the window, which had been empty in the previous period. And Rudin Greenwood was right next to him.
Professor Loebe initially thought that they had decided to sit together because they were on the same team, but he quickly discarded that hypothesis when he saw that they were not even making eye contact, let alone talking, as if they were complete strangers.
Then, had Rudin Greenwood moved his seat to do something else during class? It was a matter of course that students' concentration decreased as they went to the back. Had Rudin's passion, who had always sat in the front row and glared at the blackboard with burning eyes, cooled down in the meantime?
However, that hypothesis was also proven wrong within a few minutes of the class. This was because Rudin Greenwood's concentration had not changed at all compared to when he was sitting in the front.
However, his posture was funny. He took off his shoes, climbed onto the chair, knelt down, and listened to the class with his neck stretched out like a crane. Due to his Pussycat characteristics, he seemed to be unable to see the blackboard well because he was smaller in height and size than the other students. It was questionable why he had bothered to go to the very back in the first place.
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Professor Loebe, who played a video about the changes in menswear fashion trends and had the students watch it, stood in the corner of the lecture hall and quietly watched the students. Before long, he saw Mikhail Schneider and Cresus Valdemar whispering. They turned around and looked at Rudin, who was standing up from his seat to watch the video, and chuckled with satisfaction.
Huh, really. Professor Loebe, who was perceptive and quick-witted, seemed to roughly know what had happened to Rudin between the second and third periods. After the video ended and he turned on the lights in the lecture hall, he said.
"Rudin Greenwood. You always sat in the front row, and you did so in the second period as well, but why did you suddenly go to the back?"
"Ah, well…, that's…, I was thinking of sitting in a different seat for once…."
Professor Loebe, who glared at Rudin, who was answering awkwardly, frowned as if angry and sternly scolded him.
"Do you think I don't know that you moved to the back to do something else during class?"
"Ah, no, I'm…."
"Come back to your original seat right now. If you move to the back again even once after this, I will deduct points from your attitude score."
"Yes, yes!"
Since university classes did not have assigned seating, Professor Loebe's words were nothing more than a trumped-up charge. However, Rudin's expression, who was unfairly scolded and hurriedly packed his belongings and returned to the front, was brighter than when he was in the back. On the other hand, Mikhail and Cresus pouted and were displeased.
As Rudin was putting his tablet and textbooks into his bag after class, he sensed that Mikhail and Cresus were about to approach his seat. Rudin quickly slung his bag over his shoulder and scurried towards Calevik in the very back. He said to Cale, who had a blank face from barely enduring the uninteresting lecture.
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"Um, well, if it's okay, I'd like to talk about the team project for a moment…."
Rudin had a frightened expression, as if he were stuck in the gap between the vending machine and the wall. Calevik, who made a deflating nasal sound, walked towards the back door of the lecture hall without saying anything. Rudin trotted alongside him as if he had received permission.
Looking at the lecture hall while waiting for the elevator, Rudin let out a big sigh of relief when he didn't see Mikhail and Cresus. Calevik, who glanced down at his perked-up ears, which were standing stiffly as if nervous, nonchalantly spat out.
"You said you would never act friendly under the pretext of a team project, whether at school or anywhere else."
Rudin, who seemed embarrassed even by his own thoughts, hesitated for a moment before answering.
"There are exceptions when my life is at stake."
"What life are you talking about with just those guys."
Rudin, who had a complex expression mixed with resentment, resignation, and self-loathing, pouted his lips.
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"It's easy for you to say that because you're a Tigercat."
The superior species, Tigercats, would never experience the fear of being threatened by another species. Explaining a Pussycat's fear of superior species beastmen to him would be like describing the taste of meat to someone who had never eaten it.
Nothing was easy. Rudin sighed and reflexively thought of another headache, the team project. Then, realizing that the teammate was right next to him, he perked up.
"By the way, I really want to talk about the team project. Is now a good time?"
As if it were welcome news, his lush tail stood straight up. Calevik, feeling the exact opposite, grimly looked down at his softly colored tail. He had plenty of time. If necessary, he could skip the next class. What Calevik lacked wasn't time, but the will and responsibility to do the team project.
"I told you I wouldn't do it."
Rudin hung his head at the blunt reply. His tail also lost its strength and fell to the floor. Calevik got on the elevator that had arrived on the 7th floor. Seeing Rudin quickly follow him, Calevik felt a familiar sense of déjà vu.
"Then I'll do everything, so can't you just put your name on it?"
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It was asking him to freeload, something Kwangbeom hated the most. Making Kwangbeom angry was tempting, but it was unpleasant to ride on the back of that little Pussycat transfer student and get points for free. Calevik preferred a dignified failure to an uncomfortable high score.
If he refused, that guy would have to do it alone anyway. A solo project would be much easier than an awkward team project.
"No."
At Calevik's cold reply, Rudin bit his lip and clenched his fist. What kind of brat was this? He didn't like this, he didn't like that, so what was he supposed to do? If he could join another team, he would kick this crazy guy away.
"Can't we work together? I won't take up much of your time, and we'll only discuss the bare minimum. I'll adjust the time and place to suit you. It's my first team project, so I really want to do well…"
Calevik's gaze was drawn to the tail, which was moving gloomily and timidly, unlike before. He was a really annoying and persistent creature. He wanted to pass him on to someone else, but seeing the state of things today, it didn't seem like anyone would easily accept him.
Of course, there were many who would gladly listen if Calevik asked, but there was no reason to go that far. Besides, if he did something he didn't usually do, a scenario where people misunderstood the relationship between Rudin and Calevik would spread in about twelve different versions, which would be tiring in its own way.
"…I'm hungry now, so let's talk later."
Calevik reluctantly replied. Professor Kwangbeom was the type of person who would come all the way to his house, so he hadn't eaten breakfast because he was in a hurry to wash up and come out. Rudin blinked cautiously and looked up at him.
"Then, would you like to eat with me? I'll buy you lunch to celebrate being on the same team."
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Calevik felt a severe itch on his face, as if he had been told by an elementary school student that he would buy him a meal. Rudin, glancing at his frowning face, cautiously watched his expression and continued.
"Actually, I was so impressed because the school cafeteria here is really delicious. I haven't tried the A set meal yet, but I can buy that for you if you want. It's… as a way to do well on the project together in the future."
The A set meal was the most expensive meal at the FDS school restaurant, costing 49,000 cables, and was a Western-style menu with beef tenderloin steak as the main course. It was known to be delicious, but of course, it wasn't of a quality that Calevik, who grew up in a wealthy family, would be satisfied with. Rudin belatedly added awkwardly.
"Of course, you usually eat more luxurious food…"
Calevik stopped abruptly. Without looking at Rudin, who had stopped with him, he said,
"I don't eat it."
"Huh…?"
Rudin, his cat ears perked up at the unexpected words, looked up at Calevik. Calevik, his face, which looked as if the goddess of beauty had carefully sculpted it, was filled with disillusionment as he muttered.
"I don't eat anything made by others."
"What does that…"
Leaving Rudin, who was wondering, Calevik strode away with wide steps. Watching his receding figure, Rudin tilted his head.
The more he talked to Calevik Roshaff Alstadt, the more difficult he became to understand. He was a really strange person.
***
Every Friday, there was a required liberal arts physical education class.
FDS was a university that valued intelligence, character, and physical fitness, and it organized physical education as a required subject every semester. Since most of the students were superior species from wealthy families, the subjects were mainly sports enjoyed by the upper class, such as horseback riding, fencing, and golf.
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The required liberal arts subjects for the first semester of the 3rd year of Fashion Design were 'Swimming' and 'Yoga', which alternated every Friday.
When Rudin saw the subject name 'Swimming' while excitedly applying for classes, he was very embarrassed and his ears and tail stood stiffly in the air.
This was because Snicats had weak hearts, and strenuous aerobic exercises such as running or swimming could cause shortness of breath. After successfully reaching adulthood, it was much better than when he was a child, but his body was still not as strong as that of an average person. Except for midsummer, completely immersing his body in cold water could put a strain on his heart, so he had to refrain from doing so.
At FDS, liberal arts subjects were not included in the grades and were only marked as 'Completed' or 'Not Completed', so fortunately, Rudin's inability to swim would not affect his scholarship. However, Rudin was worried that other students would find it strange if he did not participate properly in class.
After consulting with the school, he decided to practice basic swimming strokes in a children's lukewarm pool. Since Rudin had a history of heart surgery when he was a child, he was fortunately able to coordinate his activities with the instructor without revealing that he was a Snicat. It was fortunate for Rudin that a children's pool was available because of the FDS employee welfare benefit that allowed immediate family members to use the school's athletic facilities.
Today was the day of his first swimming class.
Rudin went to school with knee-length 5-part swimsuit pants already on under his jeans. After class, he was going to wait until all the other students had washed up and left before taking a shower.
Rudin was a male Snicat, so he was uncomfortable bathing naked with other men. He also felt a little embarrassed to show his unattractive, thin, and slender body to others.
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This experience was very unfamiliar to him, who had completed middle and high school through homeschooling and graduated from university online.
by misacchi
In the locker room, Rudin gently rubbed the 5cm long scar left in the middle of his chest with his hand. Suddenly, he remembered what Garnet had said in the morning.
'Everyone is different and must be respected as they are. So never be ashamed or intimidated by being you. No matter what anyone says, you are our precious and proud youngest.'
Garnet, like a school teacher, rattled off textbook-like words to Rudin, who was worried about swimming class. Even though they were soulless, model answer-like phrases, his heart warmed and courage bloomed when his beloved brother stroked his head and said them.
Sure, he was a mutant Snicat that everyone is uncomfortable with, but he was lucky enough to be born into a good family and raised with overflowing love. This surgery scar was also an honorable medal. He must not forget that his whole family cherished and cared for him to help his weak and imperfect body grow safely.
Breathing words of courage into himself, who was constantly shrinking, Rudin clenched his fist and made a determined face. Anyone who saw him would have thought he was going to a battlefield, not a swimming pool.
Rudin wrapped a large beach towel over his bare upper body and went to the indoor pool. Many students had already arrived and were free swimming, or sitting on the resting chairs placed around the pool and chatting.
Of course, Mikhail and Cresus were also among the students waiting for class. As soon as they found Rudin, they approached him as if they had been waiting and pointed their fingers at him.
"What, your legs are as thin as chopsticks? And you don't have any hair."
"Are you really an adult male? I can't believe it, so show me your ID."
"While you're at it, you can take off that towel too. You're not wearing a bra, are you?"
Rudin was dumbfounded to see them throwing out unpleasant sexual harassment and giggling as if it were very funny. How could such low-quality guys be at a prestigious university like FDS? Rudin put weight in his voice and tried to sound stern as he said.
"How old are you guys, then?"
"What? We're twenty-two because we've never repeated a grade."
"I'm twenty-six years old. I'm not asking you to use honorifics, but I wish you would show at least some respect."
"Huh, twenty-six years old?"
Mikhail and Cresus looked at each other in surprise when they heard Rudin's age, and then soon smiled viciously.
Mikhail came close to Rudin. The bushy gray hair stretched from his chest to his swimming trunks, which was somewhat disgusting to look at. Mikhail, who persistently followed Rudin as he took a step back without realizing it, whispered, reeking of cigarette tar.
"Respect is only for people. You're just a cat, right?"
"What did you say?"
"Try swimming, meow."
Mikhail and Cresus simultaneously lifted Rudin's arms and legs. Rudin struggled, but he couldn't escape from them. They picked Rudin up and threw him into the pool.
Splash!
Rudin fell into the water, creating white foam. His unprepared body sank down, and water poured in through his nose and mouth. Rudin struggled helplessly, feeling suffocated and his heart shrinking.
Then someone snatched Rudin's body. As soon as his face came out of the water after being rescued by him, Rudin burst into coughs as if he were having a seizure.
"Ptoo! Hack…, cough…"
The person who rescued Rudin put him on his shoulder, easily held him in one arm, climbed up the ladder, and came out of the pool. He sat Rudin on a chair, picked up the towel that had fallen on the floor, and wrapped it around Rudin's shoulders.
Rudin trembled all over and coughed for a long time. Tears and snot poured down, making it difficult to see who had rescued him.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Lioncat Leon Mathias Krueger, who had turned away from Rudin, swept back his dripping bangs and glared at Mikhail and Cresus. Mikhail shrugged with a brazen expression.
"Hey, this isn't a wavy sea, it's an indoor swimming pool that's not even 2 meters deep. It's funnier that he's overreacting like he's going to die in a place where his feet can reach."
"Yeah. This is just a joke. Can't friends joke around?"
Cresus also added, as if he were wronged. Leon, with cold eyes, let out a hollow laugh.
"Friends? Do you even think of him as a friend?"
Mikhail flinched as Lioncat's oppressive energy poured down. However, his light mouth could not overcome its usual inertia and blabbered on its own.
"That's just a figure of speech. Why are you protecting him so much? Do you like him or something?"
"Wow, is this a coming out? Respect! Respect!"
Mikhail and Cresus provoked Leon and joked, but no one laughed with them. Leon, who had been glaring at them with contempt for a while, silently turned around, approached Rudin, and lowered his body.
"Are you okay?"
Rudin, who was still coughing and spitting out water, looked at Leon with bloodshot eyes. With his water-soaked cat ears drooping and tears welling up in his big eyes, he bowed his head deeply to Leon.
"Oh, thank you…"
Leon was about to say something to him when the swimming instructor came in and gathered the students. Rudin also pulled himself together and stood up from his seat at the very end of the line of students.
He sniffled and tried to swallow his sad feelings. He could have asked the instructor for understanding, saying that he accidentally fell into the water and was not feeling well, and then taken a break, but he did not want to show such a weak side to the instructor and his classmates from the first class. It was desirable to attend the class with as much composure as possible in order to repay Leon for his kindness in saving him.
It wasn't that Rudin had done something wrong and was being bullied. As his brother had said in the morning, there was nothing wrong with Rudin being Rudin, in other words, the fact that he was a Pussycat. The more he suffered, the more pleasure he would give to those despicable Mikhail and Cresus.
Did they think he would quit school because of this? He would never lose to those bastards.
After a firm resolution, Rudin quickly wiped the tears and water from his face with a towel and tightened his shoulders, which were trembling.
The Cheetahcat instructor, who was a former professional swimmer, had the students do warm-up exercises and then divided them into intermediate and advanced levels. The intermediate level was for students who only knew how to do freestyle and backstroke, and the advanced level was for those who had learned breaststroke and butterfly.
"The intermediate level will swim in pool A, and the advanced level will swim in pool B. Advanced students can freely practice their swimming strokes until I come and check their form later. The intermediate level will learn breaststroke today. And there's one beginner student here, right? Who is it?"
Rudin Greenwood was the only beginner in this class. Rudin, who was standing at the very end, quietly raised his hand, and the instructor smiled and said.
"The student will practice with a kickboard for beginners in the children's pool. I'll teach you how."
Rudin nodded. It was a little embarrassing, but there was no other way. Unlike the superior species, many Pussycat beastmen were afraid of water, and Rudin was even more so because he was a Snicat.
After a while, the students scattered to pool A and pool B. Rudin went to the children's pool, which was about 1 meter high, with the instructor.
"I heard you had heart surgery when you were a child?"
"Yes."
"And it's your first time taking a swimming class?"
"That's right."
Rudin nodded at the Cheetahcat instructor's question. The instructor thought for a moment and then said.
"Then it would be good to go with a routine of practicing for 15 minutes and resting for 10 minutes. Being in the water consumes more energy than you think, so people with weak bodies like you shouldn't overdo it. I'd like to recommend that you don't be greedy from the beginning and gradually increase your practice time as you get used to swimming. What do you think?"
"Okay. I'll do that."
Rudin learned how to float in the water and how to practice kicking using a kickboard from the instructor. The dogmatic Rudin accurately kept the practice time of 15 minutes and the rest time of 10 minutes while looking at the clock, even though the instructor did not tell him separately. The children's pool was maintained at a lukewarm temperature of 32 degrees, which was perfect for Rudin.
During the break, Rudin wrapped a towel around his body and sat on a chair, watching the advanced students in pool B swim.
The most outstanding student among them was undoubtedly Leon Mathias Kruger. As he watched him perform a top-notch butterfly stroke that even a dolphin beastman would cry at, the intermediate students who were watching from around him made a fuss.
"Wow, Leon is really cool. How can he be so good?"
"You don't know? He was the school's representative swimmer in high school. He even won a silver medal at the National Sports Festival."
"Really? But why didn't he go to a sports university and suddenly come to FDS?"
"Swimming was a hobby since he was a child, but his record was so good that the school told him to go to the competition."
"A national sports festival gold medal as a hobby? A professional would be pissed if they heard that."
"There's no other way. The superior species are cheat characters whose height and physical strength cannot be compared to ordinary superior species. Leon can probably do anything well besides swimming."
"Ha… He's a Lioncat, he has a handsome face, a good body, a rich family, and he's good at studying, and he's also good at sports? He really has everything."
"I agree. He even has a good personality. He must be a flawless human being that God made by mistake."
Rudin recalled the incident when Leon had saved him earlier. To Leon, a national sports festival silver medalist, deliberately dropping a person into the pool and bullying them might have been considered an insult to swimming.
Whatever the reason, Rudin was sincerely grateful to Leon because if Leon hadn't quickly pulled him out, Rudin could have really drowned, had a cardiac arrest, or turned into a cat. Rudin thought that he should definitely give him some small gift in return later.
After a 10-minute break, Rudin re-entered the children's pool, stretched out his arms, and grabbed a kickboard. He took a deep breath, put his face in the water, straightened his body, and practiced kicking.
Before long, he heard a commotion from outside the pool. Rudin lifted his head and saw that all the students' eyes were fixed on one spot. Following their gaze, Rudin involuntarily gaped.
Calevik Roshaff Alstadt, the king of absenteeism whom he had expected to skip class again today, was walking out of the locker room toward the pool.
He was wearing professional-grade speedos that barely covered his privates and hips. As expected of a fashion terrorist, the chaotic colors and garish patterns of the bizarre design were jarring, but unlike usual, the small amount of fabric made it unnoticeable.
Instead, everyone's eyes were drawn to his bare body.
The firm, voluminous pectorals of his chest, the intricately woven latissimus dorsi of his flanks, the perfectly chiseled six-pack abs, the biceps of his arms that looked as if they had been sculpted, the firm, toned glutes of his buttocks that seemed impenetrable, the long, slender, yet powerfully extended quadriceps of his thighs…
Calevik was different from Leon, who was known as "a flawless human born from God's mistake," in many ways. He was a poor student, lazy, and seemed somewhat crazy. His personality was unspeakably bad, his fashion sense was atrocious, and his social skills were non-existent, making him close to a hopeless case.
But looking at that incredible face and body, Rudin felt as if all those flaws were melting away like ice under the scorching sun, leaving his skull numb.
This is definitely not because I'm a shallow person who's only attracted to faces and bodies, it's just because of the human instinct to pursue aesthetic beauty and be drawn to what looks good. Calevik, shouldn't you seriously consider wearing only swimming trunks even outside, instead of clothes? Rudin muttered words that no one could hear.
As Calevik made his dramatic entrance, drawing everyone's attention and admiration, the first thing he did was stand blankly in front of the Cheetahcat swimming instructor, listening to a lecture about being late.
While Calevik half-heartedly listened to the instructor's lecture on the importance of punctuality, he suddenly noticed Rudin in the children's pool, holding a kickboard and staring at him with a blank expression.
When their eyes met, Rudin quickly plunged his face into the water and splashed his small feet comically. Triangular yellow sponge earplugs were stuck in his cat ears, which were half-protruding from the water. Does he really think that will keep water out of those big ears? Calevik frowned slightly, looking puzzled.
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"…So, just because it's a general education class that doesn't affect your grades doesn't mean you can be late like this. Calevik Roshaff Alstadt, are you listening to me?"
"What is that doing?"
Calevik, not even bothering to answer the instructor, pointed to the children's pool with his second finger. The Cheetahcat instructor turned to look in the direction he was pointing and replied with a serious expression.
"That student is learning to swim for the first time, so he's practicing the basics."
"Isn't that the children's pool?"
"That student is weak, so it's dangerous for him to go into cold, deep water like the regular pool. Why, Calevik, do you want to learn the basics in the warm children's pool too?"
"No."
"Then hurry up and warm up and get in the water. Intermediate students practice in Pool A, and advanced students practice in Pool B."
After speaking, the instructor went to check the students' postures. Calevik, instead of going straight into the pool, plopped down on a chair and lazed around, watching his classmates swim with a bored expression.
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After some time, Rudin came out of the water. He wrapped a towel around himself and sat down a little away from Calevik. Rudin was staring at the advanced pool with his mouth half-open, seemingly unable to take his eyes off something.
Without thinking, Calevik followed Rudin's gaze, and his brow furrowed slightly.
There, Leon Mathias Krueger was swimming smoothly.
"Hey, did you see that Pussycat transfer student? He's got pink nips, pink nips."
"What's 'pink nips'?"
"Come on, don't pretend you don't know. I'm saying his nipples are pink."
"Ew, you pervert! Why were you looking at that?"
"Because I have eyes. Ugh… I'm not even gay, but it felt so weird. I was thinking, 'How can a guy have such fair and delicate skin?' and then I saw a glimpse of pink nips through the towel… Sigh…"
"Hahaha! Stop it, you dirty bastard!"
"No, this is pure curiosity about a different species of beastmen. Are all Pussycats like that?"
"I don't know. Maybe, since their paw pads turn pink when they turn into cats."
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"Hmm… I suddenly want to go on a blind date with a Pussycat."
"Because you want to see pink nips? Wow, you're disgusting."
"Hey, be honest, you want to see them too. It's not just any pink, it's a light strawberry milk color and looks so soft. If you were to gently touch it with your tongue…"
"Ugh, you're crazy. You're about to start writing smut."
"Really? If I wrote about fake dating that transfer student, I'd never run out of material…"
The Leopardcat and Pumacat, who were chatting excitedly while sitting on the lounge chairs, felt the cold eyes of predators surrounding them from both sides.
Not just one pair, but four.
"Ahem… Should we practice swimming?"
"Y-yeah. Let's race to the other side. Go!"
The Leopardcat and Pumacat plunged into the water and quickly swam away. The two pairs of eyes that had been glaring at them lost their target and met in the air.
Leon Mathias Krueger, the owner of one of the pairs, smiled kindly again.
"People say all sorts of things, don't they?"
Calevik Roshaff Alstadt, the owner of the other two eyes, didn't reply, looking off into the distance as if he didn't care. Leon chuckled and moved to sit next to Calevik.
"Actually, before class started, Mikhail and Cresus forced the transfer student into the pool. He was defenseless and couldn't swim, so I quickly pulled him out."
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Calevik's expression barely changed. Instead, a faint look of bewilderment appeared, as if he didn't understand why he was being told this.
"He swallowed a lot of water and coughed for a long time. He was trembling and tearful, probably because he was so scared. It's not his fault he was born a Pussycat, but it's sad to see him being bullied like that. And it looks like he had some major surgery, because there's a pretty big scar on his chest."
Unlike Rudin, Calevik's firm chest, full of muscles, was smooth and without any scars.
He had undergone two life-threatening major surgeries when he was five years old, and following his adoptive mother Charlotte's strong insistence that "an Alstadt Family member's body cannot bear scars," he was forced to undergo expensive laser treatments.
Whenever Calevik saw his flawless body after the treatments, he felt nothing but emptiness. As long as he lived under the name of Alstadt, even the scars on his body could not be his own.
"Calevik, want to have a little competition for fun? How about a 200-meter individual medley?"
Calevik, who had been staring straight ahead without responding to Leon's words, picked up his goggles after a moment and stood up from the chair. Seeing this, Leon grinned and raised his hand to call the Cheetahcat instructor.
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"Teacher, Calevik and I are going to have a competition, so please be the judge. A 200-meter individual medley."
"Okay. Then stand in front of the lane with the touchpad."
The instructor called together the students who were scattered around. Rudin, who had been practicing in the children's pool, also came out of the pool and stood at the edge of the group of students.
"From now on, two of your classmates will be competing in a 200-meter individual medley. The format is 50 meters each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in that order. Observing others swim is also a good way to learn, so please watch closely and cheer them on."
Leon and Calevik stood on the starting blocks of lanes 4 and 5. The two men, the tallest in the department and with sculpted, muscular bodies, looked like professional athletes competing.
"Calevik's competing with Leon? I can't believe it."
"Right? I wonder if that lazy bum even knows how to float."
"He's an heir, so maybe he got private swimming lessons somewhere."
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"Hey, even if he did, how can he compare to Leon, who's won awards at the National Sports Festival three times in a row? He'll either get completely crushed or just crushed."
Rudin could hear the murmurs around him. Like them, Rudin couldn't imagine Calevik swimming. He had never seen him do anything "diligently" before.
He's always absent or late for school, doesn't do his assignments, doesn't reply to messages, and even when Professor Kwangbeom talks to him, he just tries to answer as vaguely as possible and leave as quickly as possible.
And that kind of person is doing swimming, a sport that's the epitome of passion? And even competing against a proven strongman like Leon?
Rudin imagined Calevik saying, "I'm just going to give up. I'm too lazy," and stepping down from the starting block and disappearing outside as soon as Leon started after the "Ready, go!"
"Take your marks."
At the instructor's calm voice, Calevik and Leon crouched down in a ready position. The murmuring around them quickly quieted down. Rudin felt nervous for no reason and gripped the edge of the towel around his body tightly.
Beep!
The instructor's whistle, replacing the sound of a gunshot, echoed through the air.
As the two men plunged into the pool, everyone watching gasped. It was shocking that not only Leon but also Calevik simultaneously displayed perfect diving forms that could be used as textbooks for swimming competitions.
"What, Calevik's pretty good, isn't he?"
"Yeah. It's amazing that he even knows how to do the butterfly, and he's only about a meter behind Leon."
As the people behind him said, Calevik was keeping up with Leon quite well. Rudin unconsciously tightened his grip on the towel. He was just watching, but he didn't know why he felt so anxious. He didn't even know exactly who he was cheering for.
"He's already turned!"
"That was so fast!"
Leon, who had swum 50 meters and reached the other end of the pool, kicked off the wall with a dolphin kick and quickly surfaced. It was time for the second stroke of the individual medley, the backstroke.
Watching Leon swim back to the starting point, alternately rotating his long arms while lying on his back, Rudin thought it was as if he had a motor attached to his back. Nevertheless, he found himself looking at Calevik more often than Leon, who was likely to win.
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Not only Rudin but also others felt the same way. The reason was simple.
Some of the spectators had attended high school with Calevik at the same foundation. Others had spent at least two years of college life with him. But none of them had ever seen Calevik participate in school activities so enthusiastically. So, how could they not be amazed by his current appearance?
"Oh! He's catching up!"
As they passed the 100-meter mark and entered the breaststroke, the distance between Calevik and Leon began to narrow.
The breaststroke is a very difficult stroke that requires precise coordination of the arms and legs. Leon, a perfectionist, was well aware that while he was a textbook example of breaststroke technique, he had the disadvantage of being slower.
He also knew that the man with the tiger eyes, who was closely following behind him, would never miss that gap.
"Oh my god!"
"They're only an arm's length apart now!"
By the end of the breaststroke section, the distance between the two had narrowed considerably. After the final turn, a storm of a sprint unfolded in the freestyle section. Until about 40 meters were left, everyone thought that this thrilling race would continue to the end.
"Aaaah!"
"H-he's overtaken him!"
The moment Calevik started to surge forward, cheers erupted from all around. As if being behind Leon until now had been a strategy for this final dash, he overtook Leon at a terrifying speed and moved relentlessly towards the finish line.
Beep!
"Calevik Roshaff Alstadt wins!"
The instructor, who was the judge, shouted along with the sharp whistle sound. The spectators all gave a standing ovation. Calevik, who finished the race a full 3.26 seconds ahead of Leon Mathias Krueger, took off his goggles and caught his breath. Leon, after checking the scoreboard, shrugged and smiled awkwardly at Calevik.
"You're amazing as always. You haven't lost a step."
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Calevik didn't reply and climbed up the ladder. His gaze briefly lingered on Rudin, who was still gripping the end of the towel tightly with both hands, before quickly moving away.
Calevik took off his swimming cap and casually shook the water out of his hair. He walked over to a corner of the pool and lay down on a sunbed-style chair. The instructor, shaking his head at the sight of him covering his body with a large, long towel and pulling it over his head, gave up and said.
"Okay, everyone, the mock competition is over, so let's get back to practicing."
Watching the students who had gathered around return to the pool one by one, the Cheetahcat instructor let out a light sigh.
In fact, he had known Calevik's skills from the beginning.
Years ago, he had practiced at the private Alstadt Sporex, the largest and most expensive comprehensive sports center in the capital, Cairn, to prepare for the national team trials. At that time, there was someone among the members there who only swam as a hobby, despite having the outstanding skills to sweep gold medals whenever he participated in various competitions.
Someone who was seven years younger than him but unofficially held records that he, a professional, could never reach. Someone who had all the physical conditions and talents that he could never obtain even if he was reborn, and yet didn't seem to want anything, not even glancing at the scoreboard. Someone who just thinking about him filled him with inferiority and self-loathing, and whom he hoped never to meet again.
That person was Calevik Roshaff Alstadt, a noblesse member of the center.
No one can dare to teach someone who has skills that they can never surpass. Therefore, the Cheetahcat instructor will never be able to teach Calevik how to swim.
Not today, and not ever.
Leon Mathias Krueger, who was resting in a chair, stared intently at Calevik, who was lying on a sunbed with a towel over his face.
'That Calevik' had put his heart and soul into the competition. What could this mean?
The humiliation of being defeated in front of everyone by someone who had been a silver medalist at the National Sports Festival for three consecutive years was not as great as he had expected. Everyone else didn't know, but from his days as a junior member of Alstadt Sporex to the present, Leon had never broken Calevik's record in swimming. So, he didn't have high expectations this time either.
Rather, he was quite excited that he had managed to draw out Calevik's hidden side for even a moment. It was unusual that he had accepted the offer to compete so readily, and even more so that he had put so much effort into it. What had moved his infinitely dark and heavy heart?
At that moment, Rudin, who was holding a kickboard in the children's pool and diligently kicking his white, slender legs, suddenly caught Leon's eye.