The Top Student Hides Her Regression
Chapter 15
Seo Jae-gyeom didn’t answer my question.
He just ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated expression.
At this point, I was getting annoyed too.
“Seo Jae-gyeom, you’re being weird today. Don’t make this difficult, just spit it out. What’s the problem?”
I pressed him as he kept his mouth shut. After being prodded a few times, Seo Jae-gyeom let out a sigh and finally blurted it out.
“Today… they said the Vice President is coming.”
The Vice President.
That meant Seo Jae-gyeom’s father.
A wealthy man who fathered Seo Jae-gyeom out of wedlock and thought dropping by whenever he remembered fulfilled all his parental duties.
“It’s been months since he last visited, so Mom’s on edge. She’s been nagging me to come home early since earlier.”
“…Then by any chance, when you out of the blue said you were going to the snack bar earlier…”
Was it to talk to your mom on the phone?
At my question, Seo Jae-gyeom nodded.
“Yeah.”
“And that’s why you’ve been so touchy all day?”
“…Yeah.”
Figures…….
Without hiding my conflicted feelings, I looked around the Counseling Room.
Heaps of test papers.
Unfriendly answer sheets with only the bare answers scribbled down, and a single teacher’s edition textbook tossed to us for reference.
And an eighteen-year-old boy whose nerves were frayed over complicated family drama.
‘Come to think of it, around this time, Seo Jae-gyeom suddenly skipped school for a few days, claiming he was going on a trip.’
So this was why.
“Seo Jae-gyeom.”
“…Yeah.”
“If something’s bothering you, just say so. Tell people you’re in a tough spot because of this and that. Don’t go around making everyone else collateral damage.”
“…….”
“What you did to me today was taking your anger out on me. What did I do wrong?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Right. Make sure you never do it again.”
Nodding, I slipped off my school uniform cardigan and draped it over the chair. I pulled the nearest stack of test papers toward me.
I gestured with my chin toward the seat across from me at Seo Jae-gyeom, who was standing stiff as a totem pole.
“Is your handwriting neat?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll grade Class 1 first and pass them over, so you write down the explanations for why the incorrect answers are wrong beneath each missed question. I’ll finish my part first, and from then on, we can split the rest in half and work together.”
“…….”
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to sit?”
We don’t have time.
Sitting down a second sooner means getting to go home a second sooner.
To Seo Jae-gyeom, who was sluggishly taking a seat across from me, I pushed over a test paper I had already finished grading along with the textbook.
“Why are you just sitting there? Do you not have a red pen?”
I urged Seo Jae-gyeom, who wasn’t making a move. Staring blankly at me, he threw a question back.
“Is that it?”
“What?”
“Aren’t you mad?”
“Mad?”
“You said I took my anger out on you. You said you caught the stray sparks. But you’re just letting it slide like this?”
“Well…”
Obviously, I wasn’t thrilled about it.
“I heard your situation, I understood where you were coming from, and I got an apology.”
What more should I do? Make him kneel on a mat of thorns and beg for forgiveness?
“Not flying into an excessive rage over trivial matters is the mark of a cultured person, you know.”
And honestly, it didn’t really bother me that much. Whether you throw a tantrum or not.
That was what I meant, but Seo Jae-gyeom’s gaze wouldn’t leave my face.
His brown eyes stared intently into mine.
“What?”
“…Since yesterday, you seem different. Like an adult.”
Because I am an adult.
“Is it because you’re trying to act like it’s no big deal after getting rejected by me?”
“Give me a break.”
What, is your heart suddenly fluttering?
“Don’t go falling for me just because I look a little different. It’d be inconvenient.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then what?”
“Just… it feels strange.”
“Everything’s strange to you. Hurry up and do this.”
I opened Seo Jae-gyeom’s motionless hand and slipped the ballpoint pen into it.
“Look at this and write the explanations.”
Opening the textbook for him, I added,
“The reason I look different is that before, I liked you, so I was nervous around you. But now I don’t.”
“So what?”
“So my behavior became natural. People get stiff when they’re nervous, you know. You ought to look kindly upon that.”
“Look kindly on it?”
“No. I mean you should pity it. Like, ‘Wow, she must’ve liked me so genuinely to act like such a fool. She’s normally like this.’”
“…….”
“Conversation over. Let’s hurry up. You need to get home.”
“…Fine.”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“I’ll show you a completely changed me…♪”
“Pffft!”
“?”
A sudden spit attack…?
“Are you trying to be a comedian? How can you not keep a serious mood going for even one minute?”
“I’m completely serious right now. I’m practicing for the music performance evaluation.”
“Stop joking around, seriously…!”
“My singing is funny to you? I’m going to get a perfect score in vocal performance, you know.”
“If you get a perfect score, I’ll give you everything I have.”
“Don’t regret it later.”
Boy you gotta be aware~~~~~♪
For a while, the only sounds in the Counseling Room were the swish of my red pen drawing circles or striking lines, and the rustling scratch of Seo Jae-gyeom writing something down.
The noisy hallway grew quiet, and by the time the sunlight streaming through the Counseling Room window had baked into a deep orange hue…
Seo Jae-gyeom suddenly spoke up.
“Kang Da-hye.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“Right. Thanks to you, innocent little me got stuck here too. Take this debt of gratitude with you to the grave.”
“Not just that. About this morning, too.”
“This morning?”
“I acted childishly.”
“Ah.”
I thought I already got an apology for that earlier.
“Forget it. From your perspective, it was understandable to be annoyed. You woke up early just to walk with Jisu, and then I popped out of nowhere and ruined it.”
Just as much as I used to like you, your feelings for Jisu matter too.
I nodded in understanding.
At that, Seo Jae-gyeom denied it.
“I didn’t wake up early today because of Han Ji-su.”
“Then why?”
“Mom was making a racket since morning, so I woke up.”
“Ah.”
“Does it make sense to wake up early just because you like someone?”
Seo Jae-gyeom said firmly that he had neither the intention nor the ability to do such a thing.
“Right… you really don’t seem like the type to do that.”
Go ahead and live your life always putting yourself first like that.
Having made it my routine to wake up early every weekend just to see Seo Jae-gyeom, I gave a halfhearted response and looked at the clock on the wall.
Even though I thought we were rushing, an entire hour had already passed. Seo Jae-gyeom’s phone had been vibrating nonstop for a while now.
Though he tried to pretend otherwise, his anxiety was plain to see.
Ugh.
“Seo Jae-gyeom, you just go ahead.”
“What?”
“I said go on ahead. I’ll finish the rest and leave.”
“How can I do that? You’re only stuck here because of me. It’ll be over quickly if both of us do it.”
“We’ve been working together for an hour and there’s still this much left. If we finish all this, you won’t be eating dinner—you’ll be having a midnight snack. Just hurry up and go now.”
“…….”
“It’s not free. Buy me coffee next time.”
I’m not pulling some cheap trick to get a date out of this excuse, so just send a mobile voucher. So I can drink it alone.
I forcibly snatched the test papers and the ballpoint pen from Seo Jae-gyeom’s hesitating hands.
Even so, he lingered without leaving, only finally managing to get up from his seat after his phone vibrated once more.
“Thank you. Really.”
“I know.”
“I’ll buy coffee and candy too.”
“Candy?”
“Next week is White Day.”
“Ah.”
Was it?
I just nodded without much enthusiasm.
“Sure, buy me a big one.”
You’re probably not even coming back until White Day itself once you leave now anyway.
By then, you’ll have completely forgotten about a promise made so thoughtlessly.
“Hurry up and go, scoot.”
I chased out Seo Jae-gyeom, who kept looking back, and closed the door.
Turning around, I saw a mountain of ungraded test papers still waiting.
“*Sigh*.”
Let’s think positively. I needed to study Geography anyway.
Of course, thinking positively didn’t magically turn an hour’s worth of work into ten minutes.
After what felt like a hundred years…
“…Whew. Now only Class 10 is left.”
It was right as I was leaning back in my chair and shaking out my tired hands.
Rattle.
“Kang Da……”
Jisu opened the Counseling Room door and peeked her head in.
“Huh? You didn’t go to academy?”
“Yeah…”
“Why?”
“Juuust because.”
Pouting, Jisu walked into the Counseling Room.
“They told you to do all of this?”
Seeing the mountain of test papers, she made a disgusted face and sat down where Seo Jae-gyeom had been sitting earlier. Although she offered to help, her movements were somehow sluggish.
Mumbling with her lips in a way that made it obvious she had something to say, Jisu finally spoke up.
“Kang Da, by anyyy chance…”
“Yeah.”
“Are you mad at me because of Seo Jae-gyeom?”
“Huh?”
What kind of nonsense is that?
“Weell… even at lunch today, it felt like you were mostly talking to Woo Do-yeon. And you didn’t come visit me once during break today. You haven’t replied to my Kotalk either……”
“Ah.”
That was just because I was studying during break…….
“It’s not like that. I guess I didn’t tell you. I don’t like Seo Jae-gyeom anymore.”
“You don’t like Seo Jae-gyeom anymore?! Why?!”
“Just…… something more important than Seo Jae-gyeom came up…?”
“What is it?”
“Math. I’m going to win the Fields Medal.”
What Doyeon and I talked about earlier was that too. Doyeon said I could watch her leftover online lectures. As I spoke, Jisu stared at me intently.
“Hey, Kang Da.”
“Yeah.”
“Could you maybe not get too close with Woo Do-yeon?”
