The Top Student Hides Her Regression
Chapter 7
Seo Jae-gyeom was the type who only cared about what caught his interest.
No matter how great something was, if it didn’t suit his taste, he wouldn’t spare it a single glance; the divide between what drew him in and what didn’t was stark.
In the eyes of someone like him, Kang Da-hye was…
‘Boring.’
Sure, she was pretty, but that was all. She styled herself so blandly that her looks barely even registered.
Above all, it was painfully obvious that she had a crush on him.
Constantly walking on eggshells around him, nervous as hell.
Feigning ignorance while she awkwardly scrambled for his attention got old fast.
Putting all that aside…
He simply wasn’t interested.
To Jae-gyeom, Kang Da-hye was nothing more than ‘Han Ji-soo’s friend.’
Even though he had known Da-hye longer than he had known Ji-soo.
‘Hey, isn’t Kang Da-hye pretty?’
‘Yeah, sure.’
‘Ah, Seo Jae-gyeom. Why so half-hearted?’
‘Because I don’t care.’
‘She’s crazy smart, too. Should I ask what cram school she goes to?’
‘Kang Da-hye doesn’t go to a hagwon.’
‘Then does she have a private tutor?’
‘Nope.’
‘Then what does she do?’
‘She studies by herself at the Youth Reading Room in front of Heights Ville.’
‘What the hell? You said you weren’t interested, so how do you know all that?’
The girls Jae-gyeom hung out with transformed into entirely different people the moment they stepped past the school gates, sporting idol-level makeup and outfits. But whenever he ran into Kang Da-hye outside school, she was almost always in her uniform.
‘Kang Da-hye, where are you going?’
‘Ah. The library.’
Even to casual, polite questions, her answer was almost always the library or the study room.
Was reading books all she did because she had no money?
Since books at the library were free.
‘It fits, though. A library and a timid, boring girl like Kang Da-hye.’
Jae-gyeom had thought, despite often reading books himself.
But there was one thing Jae-gyeom didn’t know.
Kids who are always reading usually have the loudest, most chaotic minds.
The cafeteria.
Today, as usual, the entire table surrounding his classmate Woo Do-yeon—front, back, left, and right—was completely empty.
Watching Woo Do-yeon nonchalantly eat in an isolated island that everyone clearly left bare on purpose, several girls glared at her, whispering that she was ‘acting pretty.’
‘They wouldn’t even be able to squeak a word if you put them right in front of her. They only chime in because the atmosphere is on their side.’
Seo Jae-gyeom knew the kids bullied Woo Do-yeon out of an inferiority complex.
He also knew every rumor surrounding her was utter nonsense.
But that didn’t mean he had any intention of stepping up and defending her.
‘Are you people brainless? Believing bullshit like that.’
He remembered how a casual comment he made early on had only resulted in Woo Do-yeon getting cursed out even more.
Even though Jae-gyeom himself was the one who asked if they lacked brains, he had walked away untouched while Woo Do-yeon took all the flak.
So, letting out a sigh, he took a seat far away.
“Ugh, why does the lunch suck so bad today!”
The pathetic atmosphere grew worse when Song Yeo-reum and her clique—having skipped all morning classes only to show up at lunchtime—strolled straight into the cafeteria without waiting in line.
“Look at her shoveling it down while trying to act pretty.”
Taking a seat someone had naturally vacated for her, Song Yeo-reum openly began insulting Woo Do-yeon.
“Ah, they’re at it again.”
“Yeah. Fucking loud.”
“Jae-gyeom, wanna play basketball?”
“Sure.”
I should just scarf this down and leave.
If I’m hungry later, I can just hit the snack shop.
That was what Jae-gyeom was thinking as he shoveled food into his mouth.
Then, Kang Da-hye walked quietly over and sat directly across from Woo Do-yeon.
An empty eight-person table where Woo Do-yeon had been sitting alone.
That single act shifted the entire atmosphere.
Sitting at the adjacent table, Song Yeo-reum, who had turned her whole body to torment Woo Do-yeon, let out a scoff.
“Kang Da-hye, what the hell are you doing?”
Her tone made it clear she found Kang Da-hye’s actions utterly ridiculous.
Indeed.
Kang Da-hye, what are you doing?
As far as Jae-gyeom knew, Kang Da-hye was terrified of Song Yeo-reum too.
Back in middle school, Jae-gyeom had often seen Kang Da-hye, who was broke to begin with, get extorted out of what little money she had by Song Yeo-reum, a thousand or two thousand won at a time.
When he felt like it, he stepped in to help, but more often than not, he looked the other way because it was too bothersome.
‘Did getting rejected by me make her lose her mind? Or is she doing this on purpose to get my attention?’
During class, she bickered with the transfer student all day as if putting on a show for him, and now she’s confronting Song Yeo-reum.
Isn’t she going to get dragged off and beaten for nothing?
With that thought, Jae-gyeom kept his eyes fixed on Da-hye, Do-yeon, and Yeo-reum, ready to step in if things went south.
But Jae-gyeom’s expectations were completely shattered.
The walnut pastry Da-hye threw landed dead center in Song Yeo-reum’s soup bowl. Soup splattered across Yeo-reum’s hoodie and the back of her hand, making her shriek.
“Hey!”
Leaping up from her seat, Song Yeo-reum hurled her lunch tray toward Kang Da-hye.
Clang!
With a sharp sound, side dishes scattered across the floor in every direction. The cafeteria staff wrapping up food service turned around in shock.
“What’s going on!”
Hearing the commotion, the teachers who had been dining separately in the staff area came rushing out.
“Song Yeo-reum! What are you doing!”
A male teacher in his fifties, leading with his protruding belly, roared.
“Why are you standing there like that! Did you throw that on the floor? Huh?!”
“Ah, I dropped it!”
Replying sullenly, Song Yeo-reum muttered a curse under her breath, just quiet enough so the distant teacher wouldn’t hear.
“Watch what you’re doing, will you?! Go get another tray, now! And apologize to the staff cleaning it up!”
Having nothing more to say after being told it was dropped, the teacher merely cleared his throat and retreated inside.
The moment the teacher went back in, Song Yeo-reum stormed toward Kang Da-hye, looking ready to murder her.
Seeing Song Yeo-reum close in on her, Kang Da-hye stood up as well.
Even amidst the chaos, Seo Jae-gyeom noted just how remarkably upright Kang Da-hye’s posture was.
“Hey. Kang Da-hye, step outside.”
“No. Why should I?”
“Why? Just step outside for a second. I won’t hit you.”
“I said no.”
“Why, you crazy bitch? Scared?”
“Yeah. I’m scared. I’m terrified, so I’m staying right here. What are you going to do about it?”
Going to wait at the school gate after class and drag me to the playground? Like you did to my friend in middle school?
Kang Da-hye added.
Kang Da-hye didn’t give Song Yeo-reum a single opening to speak.
As if delivering rehearsed lines, Kang Da-hye continued smoothly.
“I remember. Back in second year of middle school, when you shoved my friend into the cleaning locker in the classroom and kicked it. The other kids were too scared of you to tell the teacher. You knew that and laughed in our faces, telling us to report you if we wanted since you were a juvenile offender protected under the law. But you’re not a juvenile offender anymore.”
“What…?”
“Don’t get it? It means if you hit me, you won’t get off easy either. Whether you get expelled or end up in juvie, I don’t really know. I’ve never lived such a trashy life myself.”
But Song Yeo-reum, you don’t have the guts to handle consequences like that, do you? Kang Da-hye smiled.
“You can’t even swear loudly for fear a teacher might hear you.”
“Hey….”
“The only reason you can act all high and mighty right now is that everyone avoids you so they don’t get tangled up in your mess. Not because they’re scared of you, but because you’re disgusting. If things actually get serious, you’ll be the first to chicken out. Because you’re scared of ruining your own life, too.”
“You crazy…”
“While I’m at it, should I say more? You hate Doyeon because your ex-boyfriend said she was pretty. We decided to call that ‘jealousy,’ didn’t we?”
Rattling off her words in rapid fire, Kang Da-hye looked like someone who had simulated this exact scenario dozens of times.
Like someone who had spent their life brooding over how they should have done this back then, or should have said that, hundreds of times over.
Faced with Kang Da-hye—a girl she had always considered a pathetic loser—firing back right in her face, Song Yeo-reum couldn’t counter, reduced to stammering curses.
The cafeteria was quieter than it had ever been since Jae-gyeom entered this school.
The kids who used to deliberately look away whenever Song Yeo-reum bullied Woo Do-yeon were now completely captivated. Even students on their way out after returning their trays stopped at the entrance, listening to Da-hye.
It made sense.
Hating Woo Do-yeon was an atmosphere manufactured by a few, but loathing Song Yeo-reum was something shared by every single person in the room.
Lightly pushing away Song Yeo-reum, who was standing right in her face, Kang Da-hye told her to back off, then said:
“You said your dream was to become a celebrity, right? Be careful. The world’s going to change from now on, and school bullies won’t be able to become celebrities anymore.”
“What kind of bullshit is that…”
“Instead of wasting time like this, go apologize to the kids you’ve bullied so far. Praying they won’t expose you after you debut.”
“…….”
Is today the last day of Kang Da-hye’s life?
Did she drink?
Or is she transferring today?
How is she planning to survive school after this?
Everyone was thinking the exact same thing.
Kang Da-hye, clenching and unclenching her fist hidden behind the chair, cast her gaze behind Song Yeo-reum.
Kang Da-hye threw one final hook at the girl in the flashy hoodie who tagged along with Song Yeo-reum every day.
“And you. Any twenty-two-year-old guy dating a high schooler is not normal, so break up with him already. Before you end up pregnant before graduation and cast on <Teen Parents>.”
“Ha!”
Jae-gyeom finally burst out laughing.
Damn. This is entertaining.
