The Top Student Hides Her Regression
Chapter 12
In my memory, Seo Jae-gyeom was late as naturally as breathing.
Whether it was coming to school or meeting up with friends, he always did whatever he wanted.
‘Hey, why isn’t Seo Jae-gyeom here? Didn’t he say he was coming?’
‘Call him.’
‘He’s not answering… Oh, there he is.’
‘Jae-gyeom, why are you so late?’
‘Just because.’
Even when the school gates were closing right in front of his nose in the morning, I had never seen Seo Jae-gyeom run.
His friends never got mad at Jae-gyeom when he showed up an hour late. The teachers were the same.
Maybe only Seo Jae-gyeom’s girlfriends, who changed every two months, might have gotten angry with him. But even that never made him change.
This was probably one of the reasons his girlfriends changed so often.
Yet today, of all days, Seo Jae-gyeom had arrived at the school gates on time.
…Together with Jisu.
“Hey, Jae-gyeom! Is the sun about to set in the east today? To think I’d actually see Seo Jae-gyeom arrive on time!”
The PE teacher, who was monitoring students at the gate, slung an arm around the shoulders of the incoming Seo Jae-gyeom, acting friendly.
With an openly annoyed expression, Seo Jae-gyeom slapped the PE teacher’s arm away.
Despite the rude attitude, the PE teacher laughed heartily and clapped Seo Jae-gyeom on the back.
Frowning, Seo Jae-gyeom hitched up Jisu’s backpack, which had slipped down in the process.
“It’s really heavy.”
“That’s ‘cause of my workbooks.”
“Yeah.”
“Seo Jae-gyeom, are you coming to the academy today?”
“No.”
“Just how many times are you gonna skip in a month……?”
“The math teacher’s belly sticks out so much I can’t concentrate.”
Even at Jisu’s typically adorable chiding, he gave indifferent one-word answers, but that was probably just because he was sleepy.
After all, Seo Jae-gyeom had come out early specifically to walk to school with Jisu.
“Don’t look at his belly, look at the board~”
“How can I not look? It’s right in my field of vision.”
Casually chatting back and forth, Jisu and Seo Jae-gyeom walked past the school gates.
I quietly lowered the arm I had raised to call out to Jisu.
‘Let’s not butt in for no reason.’
Squeezing myself between them right now would only make things awkward. I deliberately slowed my pace. I stalled for time, fiddling with my hair and tightening my backpack straps.
“Hello…….”
This should be enough distance.
I was lowering my voice and slowly slipping past the PE teacher when—
“Oh! Da-hye!”
“…Hello.”
“Da-hye! Why do you have no energy from the morning! You’ve gotta fight on!
Fight!
”
“…….”
“Kang Da?”
At the PE teacher’s booming voice, Jisu and Seo Jae-gyeom, who were walking ahead, turned around.
Seeing my flushed, flustered face, Jisu’s expression also colored with embarrassment.
As our eyes met, my gaze shifted to Seo Jae-gyeom standing beside her.
Seeing me, Seo Jae-gyeom clicked his tongue.
‘? What’s his problem.’
Clicking your tongue at someone, isn’t that a bit too much?
“Kang Da!”
Pulling away from Seo Jae-gyeom, whom she had been walking side by side with, brushing arms just moments ago, Jisu dashed over to me.
“When did you get here?”
“…A few seconds ago…?”
“Why didn’t you call me!”
“Ah… I didn’t see you. I didn’t know you were in front of me.”
“Seo Jae-gyeom and I just ran into each other on the way. ‘Cause our houses are close.”
Jisu emphasized several times that they definitely hadn’t come together, that they had just run into each other on the way.
Seo Jae-gyeom stayed quiet without stepping in.
With his head tilted at an angle, Seo Jae-gyeom’s gaze fell upon me. It was the look one gave to an annoying, exhausting chore.
=Isn’t that a bit too much: Part 2.
‘And here I thought he was being a little nice yesterday.’
He went right back to normal overnight.
Well, that’s just how Seo Jae-gyeom was.
Fickle and selfish.
Not that I couldn’t understand.
‘He was walking alone with the girl he likes, and I got in the way.’
From his perspective, how annoying must that be?
When I stayed silent, Jisu watched my reaction cautiously.
“Kang Da, are you mad…?”
“No! Not at all! Why would I be mad? You two can totally walk together.”
“Still…….”
“Really, it’s fine. I’m in a great mood right now.”
Even though I waved my hands telling her not to worry, Jisu’s expression didn’t brighten. Watching Jisu squirm with anxiety as if she had committed some grand betrayal against me, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
Could it be that Jisu liked Seo Jae-gyeom too, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything because of me?
If the reason they liked each other around this time but never got together was entirely because of me…….
Then wouldn’t that make me a total villain?
“I’m sorry…. I was so thoughtless.”
“What are you talking about? It’s nothing like that.”
“Still.”
“Kang Da-hye.”
Seo Jae-gyeom cut off Jisu’s repeated apologies.
Seo Jae-gyeom’s irritation-filled gaze swept over me from head to toe.
“Do I need your permission to walk to school with Han Ji-su?”
“…No.”
“Right, of course not. Since you’re not my girlfriend. Nor could you ever be.”
“Right… yeah.”
“Good. Glad you know. Then would you mind going ahead?”
“Okay….”
It really felt like I was the villain after all…….
Sensing Seo Jae-gyeom’s prickly mood, Jisu also kept her mouth shut, nervously reading the room.
It was awkward and there was nothing specific I could do, so I was just about to leave when—
An umbrella came down over my head from behind.
The descending canopy cast a shadow over my vision. The morning sunlight was bright all around, but suddenly a shadow fell over me alone.
What is this? Dazed, I looked back.
The guy who had suddenly shielded me with an umbrella in such radiant weather smoothly raised the canopy, revealing his face.
No. Looking again, it wasn’t an umbrella.
It was a parasol.
Holding a lacy parasol that was absurdly tiny and ill-fitting for his large frame, Jeong Eun-seong looked down at me.
Tilting the parasol slightly to meticulously block out the sunlight, Jeong Eun-seong said deadpan,
“Hi.”
“Hi….”
You sure know how to make an entrance like <Temptation of Wolves>…….
Is that parasol a prop just to maximize your dramatic entrance……?
“Is that parasol yours…?”
“Yeah.”
Giving a half-hearted reply, Jeong Eun-seong lowered the parasol. Unbothered by the stares around him, he began folding the parasol’s ribs one by one.
Thanks to Jeong Eun-seong suddenly appearing with a parasol, I completely forgot what we were talking about.
“What the…?”
“Isn’t he that trainee…….”
From the PE teacher to the students arriving for school, everyone was staring at this eighteen-year-old high school boy who had shown up carrying a sky-blue lace parasol.
“Wait, what kind of guy uses a lace parasol…….”
“Aren’t all parasols like that, though?”
“I’ve never bought one, so I don’t know…….”
Whether people whispered or not, Jeong Eun-seong neatly packed the folded parasol into his bag and spoke.
“Ultraviolet rays are the primary cause of skin aging.”
“I see….”
“It’s so easy to get called handsome just by being tall with good skin. Even when you’re not handsome at all if anyone actually looked closely.”
As he said that, Jeong Eun-seong’s gaze locked right onto Seo Jae-gyeom.
“…….”
“…….”
Did Jeong Eun-seong just call Seo Jae-gyeom ugly?
“Aren’t you going? Are you going to keep standing under these intense UV rays?”
“Uh, yeah, gotta go….”
Completely bewildered, I followed Jeong Eun-seong for now.
Ha. Behind Jeong Eun-seong and me as we walked away, Seo Jae-gyeom let out a scoff of disbelief.
Though he seemed like the type to stride off on his own, Jeong Eun-seong unexpectedly waited for me. As we changed into our indoor shoes and walked up the stairs together, Jeong Eun-seong spoke.
“Do you really want to like a rude bastard like that?”
Zero Jae-su. Putting heavy emphasis on the ‘Jae,’ Jeong Eun-seong sneered.
“He’s got no manners, but he sure has quite the Jae-ju. Walking around pretending to be handsome when he’s ugly. The fact that a guy like that gets called handsome makes the world so Jae-misseo.”
“…….”
Are you a rapper instead of a vocalist?
Feeling awkward, I made an excuse.
“Well… he isn’t usually that rude, but he’s a bit on edge today.”
“Hmph!”
Jeong Eun-seong didn’t even pretend to listen.
If I defended Seo Jae-gyeom any further with long-winded excuses, I felt like I’d get dissed next, so I quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, why do you hate Seo Jae-gyeom so much?”
It had only been a few days since he transferred here, so it didn’t seem like he could have had any particular trouble with Seo Jae-gyeom in that time.
In my memory, Jeong Eun-seong and Seo Jae-gyeom hadn’t fought around this time either.
Even just now, Seo Jae-gyeom looked completely uninterested in Jeong Eun-seong.
‘It looks like Jeong Eun-seong is burning with one-sided hostility all on his own.’
At my question, Jeong Eun-seong replied with an unchanging expression.
“I—”
“Yeah, you?”
