Chapter 106: Please Do My Assignment (3)
The very first task that had to be completed in just 10 minutes. Naturally, our footsteps quickened.
It wasn’t like they had actually rented out a real university, but to at least make it look the part, there were signs posted on each classroom door here and there.
We looked around at each sign one by one, searching for Building E-05.
“Building E should be this way.”
Seo Ian, unexpectedly skilled at finding directions, went down a flight of stairs in one go and found Building E-05.
E-05 was located at the end of the hallway on the first floor.
Although it had the grand name of “College of Fine Arts” attached to it…
“Oh, is this it?”
[Department of Fine Arts, Dusty University]
It was just a high school art room.
Of course it was—because they had only rented an art room.
Seo Haim’s eyes cooled instantly, disappointed that it wasn’t the grand set she had been hoping for.
In a voice full of disappointment, she muttered softly.
“Mmm~ art room.”
“It’s the Department of Fine Arts.”
“Fine arts room…”
Doubles’ budget must have been completely used up back at the first filming location.
Still, in an attempt to make it look the part, they had set up several statues.
Though honestly, they strongly felt like those statues might have been self-made, given how clumsy they looked.
Considering all that, the reality show team had worked hard enough.
Ha Junseo looked around behind the lockers where the statues were placed and spoke.
“So, what’s the assignment we’re supposed to do here?”
It didn’t seem like we’d be sculpting something within the 10-minute limit.
We looked around eagerly, searching for the mission.
That’s when Seo Haim pointed to the edge of a table.
“Oh, isn’t that it?”
“Oh!”
The answer was lying right there on the desk.
Seo Haim was the first to dash over and pick up the large printed sheet.
First task.
[Prompt Game]
[Choose someone to call and get them to say the given phrase within the 10-minute time limit.]
“Prompt game?”
Since the setting was an art room, I thought the mission would be at least somewhat related, but it was totally unexpected.
Ha Junseo stood on tiptoe to read the sheet over Seo Haim’s shoulder.
“First, I think we need to choose the right person to call.”
And on top of that, the prompt we had to hear was critical.
Cha Seongbin’s eyes sparkled as he asked Seo Haim,
“What’s the phrase?”
“Uh… so…”
Flutter—
Seo Haim flipped to the back page to check the prompt.
And then.
“Huh?”
[Students in the Department of Fine Arts, blessed with faces as sculpted as their art, may rarely have the chance to hear harsh words in life. However, accepting criticism at times is also part of an artisan’s spirit. We cheer for the students.]
Although it came with an elaborate explanation, the conclusion was this:
[Prompt: What are you doing?]
“What are you doing?”
Kang Siwoo tilted his head with a slightly baffled look.
“That’s not something you hear often.”
“That’s way too hard.”
My mind went blank at how unexpectedly difficult the prompt was.
“Should we just grab someone and spout nonsense?”
“I dunno. If it were me, I’d probably say, ‘Why are you like that?’ first.”
Yeah, that’s true.
People might say, “Why are you like that?” but “What are you doing?”…
There’s no way we can get that within 10 minutes.
Jin Sehyun added with a serious face.
“If you’ve lived a fairly upright life, you’re not hearing that within 10 minutes.”
That hyung was thinking the same as me.
At that, Seo Ian’s face fell into a frown.
“Triple-speed dance… is this the moment?”
“I think it might be, hyung.”
“Ah… no…”
I figured it’d be best to warm up my body just in case.
Just as some members were already starting to give up, Seo Haim shot her hand into the air.
“I think I can do it!”
“Oh? Really? Who are you going to call?”
Ha Junseo’s eyes widened.
Seo Haim began rummaging for her phone and scrolling through her contacts.
Seo Haim’s hand, which had been scrolling quickly, stopped at…
“I’ll try calling my noona.”
Noona?
“Hey, wait a second.”
At that moment, Jin Sehyun grabbed Seo Haim’s arm with wide eyes.
“Why?”
It wasn’t a problem to choose his noona as the person to call—there was something else.
“Why is your noona’s name saved as ‘Choco’ in your phone?”
Seriously?
[Seo Choco]
It was real.
Seeing the name saved at the top of the phone screen, I covered my mouth.
I muttered under my breath, unable to believe it.
“That’s like me saving my hyung’s name as Do Minjun.”
“Why?”
“He hates that nickname the most.”
“Wow… your names really do sound similar.”
“Puhaha!”
Do Seojun… Do Minjun.
Only one syllable off.
I once called him that—like the male lead from that one drama—and almost didn’t live to tell the tale.
His younger sibling’s concept is also “from the stars,” so what’s the problem?
Still, I think it’s better than calling someone Seo Choco.
Choco?
That really sounds like a poodle’s name.
“Why are you changing the name our parents gave her on your own?”
“That’s harsh.”
“Wow, I think you need to issue a public apology for this.”
As the criticism poured in, Seo Haim waved her arms around.
“No, wait a second. I’ve been wronged!”
“How have you been wronged?”
“My noona took my phone herself and saved it like that!”
Huh?
But why?
“She said… make sure to mention it when this airs…”
“……”
“I think lately… she’s started to enjoy it.”
Cha Seongbin couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.
“She says it makes her feel a little like a celebrity?”
“Pfft.”
That’s some serious passion—changing her name for the sake of airtime.
So she’s actually the type who enjoys attention…
They really were a family I couldn’t quite figure out.
Anyway, Seo Haim chose his real noona as the target for hearing the prompt.
“I don’t know if I’ll succeed, but I’ll give it a try.”
The first attempt—against his noona.
Ring ring—
After a few long beeps,
Click.
A familiar voice came through the receiver.
A short, curt word.
—Why.
Could he really get a “What are you doing?” out of that calm voice?
At that very moment, when everyone’s attention was on them—
Seo Haim immediately shouted in his signature, aegyo-filled tone.
“Noona, you know I love you lots, right~?”
—What are you doing.
[Three seconds! Success!]
“Huh?”
“Did you succeed right away?”
How… three seconds?
Cha Seongbin couldn’t hold back and collapsed forward laughing.
“Hey, was it really three seconds?”
“If you count from the moment she picked up, yeah.”
“This is killing me. Wahahaha!”
—What, what?
She must have been quite startled to hear all the laughter.
From the other end, Seo Choco’s voice rang out.
—Are you filming right now?
“Yeah.”
Immediately, in a soft, gentle tone, she spoke again—so different from that cold voice from a moment ago it was hard to believe it was the same person.
—Hello~ members of Dusty!
…Who are you?
Seo Haim’s face quickly soured.
“……”
—Thank you for always loving our Haim… please cheer for us until the day Choco Haim gets a PPL deal~!
“Noona, you’re so embarrassing.”
—Gotta grab that sponsorship…!
Seo Haim’s expression twisted further.
Every time I see it, that family really is like a sitcom.
It must be so fun…
Still, it ended on a rather heartwarming note.
Seo Haim mumbled into the phone.
“Uh, noona. I’ll call you when I get home.”
—You don’t have to.
“Okay!”
Click—
And just like that, the first mission was over.
Without even coming close to the 10-minute limit, the task ended in a flash.
Maybe they hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly—the reality show PD’s eyes seemed to waver slightly.
But there were still many missions left.
“Congratulations on your success!”
One of the staff members ran over and handed us a slip of paper.
It had the explanation for the next task, along with a hint about the professor.
[College of Arts, Dusty University, Building C-03. Time limit: 15 minutes.]
[Please complete the second assignment in the laboratory!]
“I’ll look at this later.”
Leader Kang Siwoo flipped past the assignment description to check the hint.
The first hint could be an important turning point in figuring out the professor’s identity.
The members’ eyes sparkled.
“Hurry, open it.”
“I don’t think the first hint will be decisive.”
This time, Jin Sehyun’s precise analysis was correct.
Kang Siwoo unfolded the slip, but his face hardened at the surprisingly vague explanation.
“What?
[Young & Rich, Tall & Handsome]
“T… this is the hint?”
This kind of thing is a hint?
I muttered under my breath with a serious face.
Something felt off.
“There’s no way the professor would be like that.”
If he had earned a Ph.D., studied abroad, and even completed military service, he couldn’t possibly be “young.”
Rich… that was possible.
Tall & handsome, huh.
“Sss. I’ve never seen him before.”
It felt like a hint slightly twisted from reality.
Ah, but that wasn’t the important part.
Leaving realistic accuracy aside, we first had to figure out who among the members fit the description.
Ha Junseo, chin resting on his hand with a thoughtful look, spoke.
“I think this could apply to all of us.”
“Not you, Junseo hyung.”
“Why?”
“You’re not young—ack!”
Thwack—
Seo Haim, who had been teasing Ha Junseo, immediately got smacked on the back.
Fair enough.
Back to the main topic—
“What do you think this hint means?”
“Rich…? The only rich one here is Siwoo hyung.”
Honestly, that’s true.
But maybe it wasn’t such straightforward financial status.
As Jin Sehyun was seriously thinking, he suddenly turned to me.
“Hey, wait.”
Huh?
“Who’s the youngest here?”
“Me…?”
“Who’s the tallest?”
“Is that me?”
“Then it’s you guys.”
In an instant, six pairs of eyes were staring right at me.
I quickly reached out to defend myself.
“No, wait a second.”
“Isn’t it Do Seohan?”
“Sounds like it.”
Rustle rustle—
Jin Sehyun suddenly started rummaging through my pocket and asked,
“Seohan, do you have a lot of money?”
“I don’t.”
This framing is insane.
I’m telling you, it’s not me!
“This kind of setup makes me think it’s Sehyun hyung!”
“It’s not me.”
“Professor Jin Sehyun!!”
Instead of deducing from the hint, everyone was getting swept up in all kinds of incitement and fabrication.
“I think it’s Junseo hyung.”
“Why me all of a sudden?”
“You’re just always suspicious.”
“It’s Seo Haim.”
“No, Haim can’t lie.”
“Couldn’t it be the leader hyung? He totally tricked me back during Touch Me.”
“No, this is definitely Do Seohan~. Our Seohan’s an acting idol.”
“I said it’s not me!”
Amid the chaos of everyone biting and tearing at each other—
Bzzt—
Just then, like when we first entered the set, the speaker crackled.
Everyone looked up at the ceiling in surprise.
[Ah ah—, Doppler Effect Department student Jin Sehyun.]
When Jin Sehyun’s name was suddenly called, his face froze in shock.
“Huh?”
[Doppler Effect Department, Dusty University student Jin Sehyun, you have been selected for a makeup lecture.]
The moment those words ended—
Creak—
The door opened, and some men in suits walked in. Seo Haim flinched and stepped back.
“W-what is this?”
So this is how it worked?
The men quickly approached and grabbed both of Jin Sehyun’s arms.
“W-wait a second!”
There was no time to explain.
Drag drag—
“A makeup lecture?!”
And just like that, Jin Sehyun was dragged away.
His bewildered face filled the screen in a close-up, and a caption popped up over it.
To be continued in Part 2
[[On air] These guys seem a bit crazy]
Stardust Dusty Campus Summary
Jin Sehyun’s Doppler Effect
Do Hamjji’s shy moment
Seo Haim’s phone call chance
Not a single boring moment ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
They’ve gotten even cuter than during Dusty Corp. ㅠㅠ They must’ve gotten even closer in the meantime.
—Ah, when I saw Jin Sehyun’s Doppler Effect, I thought, “Has he lost it?” ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Guess he was still holding a grudge from last time ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└It really was an unexpected answer. The moment Doppler Effect came up, I spat out the water I was drinking.
└Doubles, are you watching? Put Sehyun on variety shows too.
└The three biggest weirdos in Universe Dust: Cha Seongbin, Jin Sehyun, Ha Junseo.
Cha Seongbin: Loud guy, always crazy.
Jin Sehyun: Smart guy, subtly crazy.
Ha Junseo: Ah ah six-shot, just crazy.
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Just crazy, they said ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Dusty members’ specialty: can’t deny it.
└In my eyes, our youngest Hamjji isn’t far behind either.
└While the older hyungs are throwing strikes, Seohan is landing little jabs.
—Choco Haim calling Seo Choco right after hearing the prompt was so cute and funny.
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The fastest person to get a “What are you doing?” from is definitely family.
└Ah ㅋㅋㅋ it only took 3 seconds ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└But why does she call herself Ms. Choco ㅠㅠ
└At this point, academia agrees she enjoys it.
└She really does enjoy it.
—I don’t care about the rest, but Do Seohan’s National Language, Math, Investigation Department joke was the funniestㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The words themselves weren’t funny, but the way his pupils shook right after he said it… the atmosphere going cold… and Hamjji sulking—so cute I punched the wall ㅠㅠ
└For real, I smashed my keyboard the moment I saw that.
└Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ why so intense.
└He really makes it obvious he’s the youngest—so damn cute.
└Even from 100 kilometers away, you can tell he’s Universe Dust’s youngest.
[So who’s the professor?]
Ha Junseo’s been unusually quiet, so it’s suspicious.
Or maybe Kang Siwoo?
—I’m guessing either Kang Siwoo or Jin Sehyun.
└Yeah yeah, Ha Junseo can’t lie either.
└But Jin Sehyun got dragged away for a makeup lecture.
└It’s Kang Siwoo then.
└Kang Siwoo!!!
—Why is no one suspecting Do Hamjji?
└There’s no way such a soft hamster could be a scary professor.
└But why does Byo-Seohan act like a baby yet fear the professor?
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s what I’m saying.
└Kid… you’re a middle school graduate…
└Theory: Do Hamjji is on his second life.
“It really was a hard one.”
After Dusty Campus Episode 1 was released, Ha Junseo asked me as we checked the comment section.
Back then, when everyone else was off the mark—
I was the only one who found the professor.
“Hey, how’d you guess it?”
I nailed it in one shot.
Folding my arms proudly at Ha Junseo’s question, I said—
How did I guess it?
“I could just see it right away.”