The Top Student Hides Her Regression
Chapter 24
I hurled the book straight at the rising pile of costumes.
“Die!”
Only after throwing the book did it hit me that instead of a ghost, it might be a giant rat—or worse, a cockroach, though I really didn’t even want to imagine that. But whatever it was, it needed to be exterminated all the same!
“Aargh! Ah! Ack!”
The pile of costumes skillfully dodged my barrage of whatever was in my hands.
Grabbing both of my wrists, the pile pulled me straight into its embrace.
Losing my balance, I tumbled down right on top of the costume pile.
My nose slammed right into a firm, resilient human chest. The fresh, cozy scent of fabric softener—like laundry sun-dried on a midsummer day—drifted into my nose.
“Why do I suddenly have to die…?”
Supporting the back of my head and my back with large hands, the person holding me spoke in a raspy, sleep-heavy voice. With that murmur, the chest against my cheek vibrated gently.
The voice was familiar.
“…Jeong Eun-seong?”
“Yeah.”
“What are you doing here…? I thought you were a ghost!”
“Why tell a ghost to die? It’s already dead.”
“True…”
“Get up first. I can’t breathe.”
“Ah. Right.”
Murmuring an apology, I scrambled to my feet. In the process of finding my balance, I inevitably had to brace my palms against his torso.
Ah. This was awkward.
As I flustered, Jeong Eun-seong spoke nonchalantly.
“Just push against me.”
“…Sorry.”
Apologizing once more, I braced my hand against his flat lower abdomen.
Once I pulled away, Jeong Eun-seong finally pulled off the blue dragon robe he had been draped under and the apron perched on his head.
Running a hand through his messy bedhead, he asked me:
“Why are you here?”
“Me… to write a book report. Why are you here, Jeong Eun-seong?”
What time did he think it was? Shouldn’t he have gone home or to his agency by now?
At my counter-question, Jeong Eun-seong hesitated.
“You told me to read the materials.”
“Materials?”
“For Drama Club.”
“Ah.”
But he only needed to do that before club time this Friday.
“I might not be able to come to school on Friday. There’s an event at the agency.”
“It’s not like the agency is going to take responsibility for your entire life—why won’t they even let a minor go to school?”
The moment the words left my mouth, I winced, realizing it sounded like I was carelessly badmouthing someone else’s company, but Jeong Eun-seong was unfazed.
“Anyway.”
So he had tried to read through it all today…
“Then why were you sleeping there?”
“What can I do if reading makes me sleepy?”
Replying curtly, Jeong Eun-seong began tidying up the costumes scattered around him.
Befitting someone who had been out cold, his hair was disheveled and his expression languid. The skin revealed beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his transitional uniform looked warm to the touch.
I looked at the printouts he had been lying on. The booklet Jisu had neatly bound was already turned halfway through.
“It’s full of archaic words, so I understood even less.”
Seeing where my gaze landed, Jeong Eun-seong grumbled.
For saying that, he sure read a lot.
I felt bad for how hard he had tried, but now it was time to deliver the bad news.
I said to Jeong Eun-seong, who was smoothing out the pages he had creased from sleeping on them:
“We’re locked in.”
“What?”
“We’re trapped. Song Yeo-reum locked the door from the outside and ran off.”
“Song Yeo-reum?”
“The girl I fought with in the Cafeteria last time.”
Still, what a relief. To have Jeong Eun-seong right here.
Why?
Because even if I didn’t have my phone, surely he would.
“Jeong Eun-seong, you have your phone, right? Mine’s in my locker. Can you call the Teachers’ Room with yours and ask them to unlock the door…?”
“I don’t have my phone.”
“…Why?!”
“A noona in the debut lineup got caught dating, so the agency confiscated all the trainees’ phones. They said they’d check our Kotalk and Chasebook and return them on Friday.”
“Crazy!”
Even if they were trainees signed to the company, taking someone else’s phone and snooping through it was an invasion of privacy. No, putting that aside for now…
“Then what are we supposed to do?!”
“What do you mean? If we wait a bit, the administration office custodian will come by on patrol and unlock it.”
“He already went home… It’s past seven.”
“…What?”
“He already came and went earlier while you were buried under there. He told me he’d hook the padlock on, and that I should return the key to the Teacher on night duty when I leave… but Song Yeo-reum locked it and ran.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Then the duty Teacher will open it.”
“I doubt it… The Teacher will probably just do their work in the Teachers’ Room. I don’t think they’d bother doing a haunted house walk through pitch-black hallways.”
“I’m going crazy!”
Only then did Jeong Eun-seong seem to realize the gravity of the situation.
Alternating glances between the wall clock, the door that only rattled without opening no matter how hard he pulled, and the flowerbed below the window (for the record, we were on the second floor), Jeong Eun-seong stomped his foot with a thud.
His irritated glare turned to me.
“Why don’t you carry your phone with you?! Do you know how dangerous the world is these days?!”
“You didn’t bring yours either…”
“Mine was taken away!”
“???”
Is there a difference?
“It’s fortunate Song Gyeoul only locked the door and left, but what if she came in and attacked you?! There are so many weirdos out there these days, and you’re fearless enough to leave your phone behind?!”
You should keep it glued to your body! With a speed-dial set to 112 at a single press! Jeong Eun-seong fumed.
Unbelievable. For someone preaching about how important a phone is, he gave his up to his company without a fight. I got irritated too.
“As a girl, I know way better than you how many weirdos there are in the world, okay?! And her name is Song Yeo-reum!”
Not Song Gyeoul!
“Like I care! What are we going to do now?!”
“I don’t know!”
“Open the window and shout or something! Loud enough to reach the Teachers’ Room!”
“You should be the one shouting, Jeong Eun-seong!”
“Why me?!”
“Lower frequencies travel further!”
“How would you know that?!”
“Why wouldn’t I know?! We learn that in science class!”
“Because I was asleep!”
“What an achievement!”
“Well, sorry!”
“If you’re sorry, hurry up, open the window and shout!”
“Science! Science!”
Sliding open the window with a rattle, Jeong Eun-seong blasted a shout into the night.
Caw… caw……
His vocal projection instantly proved why he was set to debut as a main vocal, but naturally… there was zero response from outside.
Having screamed his lungs out, Jeong Eun-seong’s ears slowly flushed red.
I’m embarrassed too…
Standing beside him, I made a timid suggestion.
“Should I shout with you?”
“Is your voice loud?”
“No. My vocal cords are made of glass.”
“Forget it, then.”
Replying sullenly, Jeong Eun-seong shut the window. He sat on a chair in silence and picked up the materials he had been sleeping on.
Come to think of it, I feel kind of bad.
After all, he diligently read the materials because of what I said (even if he fell asleep reading), and he didn’t give up his phone voluntarily either—yet he was trapped here because of me.
Feeling sheepish, I struck up a conversation.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“What?”
“I mean… don’t worry too much. Someone will see the light on in the club room and come turn it off anyway. And if all else fails, Mom will come looking for me when she gets home later and sees I’m not there.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
Jeong Eun-seong’s sentence cut off abruptly. What? Blinking in confusion, I offered another suggestion.
“…If you’re bored, want to listen to music or something?”
“How are we supposed to listen to music without a phone?”
“Ah. Right.”
“Forget it. I don’t really like singing that much anyway.”
“What kind of aspiring singer doesn’t like singing…”
Then, silence for a while.
We had nothing more to say, and I wasn’t that close with Jeong Eun-seong anyway. It felt better to save my energy rather than open my mouth pointlessly.
While lost in those thoughts, the sun set completely.
The air turned chilly.
It’s definitely cold now that evening’s here.
Should I wrap myself in the crown prince outfit Jeong Eun-seong had been sleeping under? With that thought, I wrapped my arms around myself.
Glancing at me as I huddled up, Jeong Eun-seong asked:
“Cold?”
“Yeah.”
“…….”
“I wish our club room was on the sixth floor instead. Not awkwardly on the second floor.”
“Why?”
“They say warm air rises. Because it’s lighter.”
“Do you learn that in science class too?”
“Yeah.”
Jeong Eun-seong wore an expression that looked as if he was hearing this for the first time in his life.
“Why is warm air lighter? Did it lose weight by sweating heat?”
“I forgot the reason too. You study it and let me know.”
Replying half-heartedly, I reopened my book. I was checking through the draft of my book report for any grammatical errors when—
Something draped over my shoulders.
Having taken off his uniform knit sweater and draped it over my shoulders, Jeong Eun-seong quickly turned his head away, avoiding my gaze. He mumbled:
“You said you were cold.”
“…….”
“I’m tall, so I’m fine. Since warm air rises.”
“…….”
“I passed 180 centimeters yesterday.”
