The Top Student Hides Her Regression
Chapter 38
“Liar.”
“Nothing really happened.”
“Just tell me. Kim Gaeun already told me everything yesterday.”
“Gaeun did?”
“Yeah. On Kotalk.”
“…Then isn’t that enough?”
Why is he asking me again? I looked up at him, puzzled. Meeting my gaze, Seo Jae-gyeom lightly ran his hand over the basketball.
“I want to hear it from you too.”
Ah, so you’re the type who likes reading the same event twice from different perspectives?
“Fine, then.”
Seo Jae-gyeom had helped get rid of that middle-aged creep, after all, so he had a right to know.
“Let’s go inside first.”
I tugged on Seo Jae-gyeom’s elbow. Letting himself be pulled along without resistance, he followed me as I tucked us into the corner between the front door and the chalkboard.
When I looked around, Seo Jae-gyeom leaned down on his own and tilted his ear toward me.
“This and that happened, and it ended like so.”
“Crazy.”
“Yeah. Totally crazy. But thankfully the academy director came out, and Jung Eun-sung helped a lot too…”
“Hey, Da-hye-ya.”
“Yeah?”
A sudden chill stopped me in my tracks.
Why is he calling my name so gently all of a sudden?
‘Da-hye-ya.’ Isn’t that what Seo Jae-gyeom calls me whenever he’s pissed off but forcing himself to be polite?
Like when I lost my mind and confessed to him in the past, for instance.
I pulled my face away from his ear and stepped back.
Only then did I see his expression.
…Aren’t we standing way too close right now?
From an outside perspective, it looked as though Seo Jae-gyeom had me trapped between the wall and his body. At this rate, if someone fired a gun at me, he would take every single bullet for me.
Practically caging me in with his body, Seo Jae-gyeom glared down at me.
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“Huh?”
“I was the one helping you before. So why did the transfer student suddenly pop out of nowhere to help?”
“Not the transfer student—Jung Eun-sung.”
He’s been here almost a month. How long are you going to keep calling him the transfer student?
“Why did Jung. Eun. Sung. suddenly pop out to help?”
“Well… because I happened to be in touch with Jung Eun-sung at the time.”
“You message Jung Eun-sung privately?”
“I usually don’t, just yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Jung Eun-sung said he had some questions about Korean history.”
“Bullshit.”
“Huh?”
“Does he not have a tutor? Why is he asking you?”
I don’t have a tutor either, you know.
As for Jung Eun-sung… well.
He probably has tutors for singing and dancing, at least.
“Anyway, that’s what happened. You would’ve been at the academy at that time anyway. As long as someone helped, it’s fine, isn’t it?”
“Then why hide it? Why say nothing happened?”
“Because it wasn’t my business, that’s why.”
“You don’t talk to me unless it’s your business?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“All the other girls tell me everything about their friends.”
“What other girls?”
“…The girls I dated before.”
“Your standards are surprisingly low, aren’t they?”
Where on earth did you find such blabbermouths to date?
Clearly, Jisu is the best out of everyone you’ve ever liked. Keep liking only Jisu from now on, please.
I shook my head in dismay. Seo Jae-gyeom, sporting a pouty scowl as if at a loss for words, said,
“Contact me next time. I can help you way better.”
“It’d be better if there isn’t a next time for something like that.”
“That’s not what I meant…!”
“Da-hye-ya, give me a hand!”
Right on cue, our homeroom teacher walked in, bringing the conversation to an end.
“Whoa, Jae-gyeom-ah. That’s a bit overwhelming.”
Seeing how close Seo Jae-gyeom and I were standing, the homeroom teacher smacked his forearm to peel him away from me.
Yeah, back off a bit.
This kind of close physical contact is only allowed once we’re twenty, okay? Let’s keep it PG-13.
“You know we’re holding class president elections next period, right? I want to get the seat changes out of the way then too, but I still haven’t finished making the ballot box.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll help you.”
Giving a slight push to the arm of a visibly discontented Seo Jae-gyeom, I stepped out of the classroom. Walking down the hallway together, the homeroom teacher gave me a wink.
“Teacher didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”
“Ayy, no way.”
“Then again, was Da-hye on Team Eun-sung rather than Jae-gyeom?”
“I’m on neither.”
“Why? They’re both handsome.”
“There’ll be way more handsome people once I go to college.”
“Sob.”
I had only said that to sound like a typical teenager who hadn’t been to college yet, but my words caused the homeroom teacher to cover his face with his sleeve and let out a dramatic lament.
“…You’re not crying, are you?”
“Uh, no, Da-hye-ya. You’re right. When you go to college, there are tons of guys handsomer than Jae-gyeom and Eun-sung rolling around everywhere. You can do group projects with Kim Suhwun, eat cafeteria food with Lee Jehon, and go on MTs with Song Daegi. So study hard, okay~?”
“…….”
Teacher, you big liar!
“Every time your score goes up by one point, your classmates’ faces change!”
I cut off the homeroom teacher’s false propaganda.
“By the way, are we holding the class president election right after lunch? Jung Eun-sung isn’t at school yet.”
“Eun-sung isn’t here yet? He said he’d arrive before fifth period.”
“Ah. Then he’ll probably make it.”
Class president election, huh.
Because I had good grades and was diligent, I was always appointed temporary class president at the start of the semester, but I had never actually served as the real class president.
It wasn’t because I didn’t want to.
I just couldn’t because no one ever voted for me.
Those things are…
Only for the popular kids……!
‘Honestly, I’m not the type to be popular with kids.’
I wasn’t noticeably pretty or well-styled, nor was I good at having fun. It wasn’t like I had the bubbly personality to mingle with everyone, either.
I was closer to a wallflower.
Sob…!
It’s fine…! Because I love myself…!
‘Though thinking about my student records, having class president on there at least once would be nice.’
Whenever there was a class president election, the names that routinely came up were Seo Jae-gyeom or Jisu.
I recall that during this election as well, the first person the kids nominated was Seo Jae-gyeom. Seo Jae-gyeom declined, saying it was too much of a hassle.
My name had never once come up.
Swallowing my disappointment, I sifted through my memories of the past.
Who ended up becoming the class president for the first semester of our second year again?
“I nominate Park Suhwan.”
…Right, it was Park Suhwan.
Ugh. I hate that guy.
Ah. Who is Park Suhwan, you ask?
He’s the boy Do Hajun just nominated.
Yeah, that guy sitting over there, styling his side hair with both hands. The boy the guys are totally obsessed with. The guy boys like way more than girls do.
To my eyes, he was short, narrow-shouldered, had an unpleasant gaze, and while his voice was deep, it sounded like he was intentionally forcing it even lower. I really couldn’t see how he was handsome at all, but the boys constantly praised him as insanely good-looking.
And they did it by comparing him to others, no less.
Like this↓
‘Jung Eun-sung is handsomer than Suhwan?’
‘Isn’t that obvious?’
‘Hey, pick then. 150 cm Jung Eun-sung vs. 180 cm Park Suhwan.’
‘…….’
‘See, you can’t choose, can you?’
They made ridiculous comparisons like that and snickered, claiming even the girls couldn’t choose Jung Eun-sung.
Jung Eun-sung was 180 cm tall, and Park Suhwan was maybe 168 cm at best, so why go out of your way to make such an absurd comparison?
And what’s more, come second semester?
Even if Jung Eun-sung were 120 cm tall, the girls would still pick Jung Eun-sung.
Why?
Because after he became class president, he acted all “too cool to care” and slacked off, completely ruining the class atmosphere.
He didn’t even restrain kids like Do Hajun when they were being noisy, and he forgot the homework the teacher told him to collect, getting 0.5 points docked from our entire class’s grades!
And after all that, he made excuses while trying to look chic, never offering a proper apology!
How did I manage to forget about him until now? I must’ve blocked him out because I hated him so much!
[Ranking of People I Dislike]
Park Suhwan
Do Hajun, Jung Eun-sung
“Park Suhwan!”
“Park Suhwan!”
“Hey, hey, stop it. If you guys make too big a fuss, people will get annoyed.”
Park Suhwan held back Do Hajun’s cheering clique. Catching my lukewarm stare, Park Suhwan tossed his head to flick his bangs into place.
‘Right. That bluffing vanity is what I hate.’
Would you die if you went a single day without touching your hair?
Acting chic.
Acting like he’s looking down on everyone from above.
Acting like he alone understands the ways of the world!
Throwing cold water on everyone when we’re trying to rally together, slacking off during Sports Day because he doesn’t want to mess up his look, hanging back in the rear just flipping his bangs!
When will he realize that doing that doesn’t make him look cool, it just makes him look ridiculous?
It’s totally obvious you’re only doing that because you’re bad at sports.
Working your butt off even if you’re bad at it is way cooler!
‘Still, wouldn’t it be way better for me to be class president than him?!’
But since no one else thought so (= no one would vote for me), I couldn’t just insist on running by myself.
What can I do if the kids’ choice is Park Suhwan?
It’s just that I lack popularity……
‘Then as of today, my class president duties are over.’
I’ll just focus on studying.
First, math.
I was just thinking that, scanning through the problems in the workbook open on my desk, when—
“I nominate Kang Da-hye.”
“Huuuh…?”
Who nominated me?