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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: One Method
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The second quarter ended with the whistle blowing.
As the game wrapped up, the players went looking for something to drink.
Girls holding drinks swarmed toward Jun-woo all at once.
They thrust their drinks at him like fans offering tribute to an idol.
Startled by the sudden rush of hands, Jun-woo stepped back.
"Drink mine."
"Drink mine instead."
"No, this one."
Jun-woo picked out an ion drink from the bunch—the kind he liked.
The girl whose drink he'd chosen couldn't hide her ecstasy.
The others looked utterly disappointed.
No matter how they felt, none of them was the one I wanted.
I found a spot in the corner, tired out, and cracked open the ion drink.
"Teacher, here..."
Across from me, A-jin was handing Kwang-hyun the same kind of ion drink I was drinking.
He took it gratefully.
The two of them looked at each other and smiled brightly.
The sight made my stomach churn.
Staring at my drink, Jun-woo murmured.
"I..."
I like this drink too.
"What're you staring at like that?"
Jong-min came over and snatched the drink from Jun-woo's hand, chugging it down.
"......"
After gulping down the cool drink refreshingly, Jong-min glanced over to where Jun-woo had been spacing out.
"They look pretty close, huh."
'Even other people can tell.'
Jun-woo flinched and looked at Jong-min.
"What? You jealous?"
"Of what?"
"That Kang A-jin is with the student teacher."
Jong-min had nailed it, but Jun-woo didn't let it show.
"So what if she's with the student teacher."
"You're jealous."
"Get lost if you're gonna talk nonsense."
Jun-woo shoved Jong-min away, annoyed.
"You think Kang A-jin likes the student teacher?"
Damn, he was sharp.
Jun-woo couldn't hide his expression for a second.
Seeing it, Jong-min looked smug, like his hunch had been spot on.
"Knew it. Man, everything Kang A-jin feels shows right on her face."
"That's not it."
"Sure it is. She's gonna get on your nerves."
"Not really."
I tried to play it cool and deny it, but it bothered me a ton.
Not her eyes—it was Kwang-hyun's loving gaze on the adorable her.
"If it bothers you that much, there's one way to fix it."
"I said it doesn't."
"Yeah? Okay. Sigh. I'm gonna hit the bathroom."
Jong-min stood up and dusted off his butt.
Jun-woo scowled at the flying dirt.
Then, just as the dust settled, he grabbed the hem of Jong-min's pants.
Jong-min looked down with an expression like, why are you grabbing me?
"What?"
"What?"
"That... what was the method?"
Where did that come from?
Jong-min found Jun-woo—who'd just started crushing—adorably pathetic.
He let out a hollow chuckle, acting all superior, and opened his mouth.
"Confess, dumbass."
"What?"
"What else is there? That's the surefire way."
Jun-woo looked thoroughly disappointed at the clichéd advice even an advice column would give.
"Forget it."
"Kang A-jin's been looking even prettier lately. You haven't noticed the guys subtly talking about her? Keep this up, and some other dude's gonna swoop in!"
"What water? Where's she pretty?"
But I could feel it too.
She'd stopped wearing those thick glasses that made her eyes look tiny, and after getting her braces off, her protruding teeth were gone.
Her thick bangs had grown out, so she swept them back and pinned them with a clip.
Her face was fully revealed now.
Her skin glowed, and her confident smile was lovely.
Plus, she laughed a lot, giggling at the littlest things, so guys subtly enjoyed chatting with her.
The student teacher must see how she's getting prettier by the day.
No, even without him, other guys would notice too.
My heart started racing with anxiety.
Part of me wanted to snap those glasses back on her and jam the braces right back in!
* * *
It was already 2 p.m.
Instead of eating at a restaurant, lunchboxes were delivered.
Starving from the late lunch, everyone scarfed down their food.
With full bellies and the warm weather, it felt like we could fall asleep right then.
A-jin ducked under a tree to escape the blazing sun for a bit.
Just as her eyes started drooping sleepily, Yoo-jin approached in an awkward stance.
She looked like she had a favor to ask.
"A-jin..."
"Yeah, Yoo-jin."
"Um, can we switch partners for couple dodgeball?"
"Why? You're paired with Jun-woo."
"Well..."
"Everyone else would kill to be paired with him."
"That's... I mean."
Yoo-jin hesitated to spit it out.
Instead, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
A-jin reassured her with a look that said it was okay.
"What is it? Tell me."
"I'm dating Ji-hoon."
A-jin was totally caught off guard and shocked.
Her mouth fell open wide, making Yoo-jin even more embarrassed.
"No way! For real? Since when? No wonder you two were all cozy sitting together."
"About a month."
"A whole month! That's a while. How'd I not know?"
A-jin playfully glared at Yoo-jin, annoyed at how perfectly she'd hidden her relationship.
'But then I'd end up paired with Park Jun-woo again?'
* * *
"Guys don't get out even if they get hit, but if a girl gets hit, both are out immediately."
The kids, impatient with Kwang-hyun's unnecessary explanation, urged him to just blow the whistle already.
They'd already taken their positions, focused solely on the whistle sound.
Their faces were as serious as warriors heading into battle.
The girls clutching the boys' waists from behind showed tension in their expressions.
A-jin was gripping Jun-woo's waist too.
She'd agreed to Yoo-jin's request, but now she worried she'd mess up and just get yelled at.
Especially his cold attitude all day bothered her.
He hadn't joked around or chatted much.
It was the same as how he treated other friends, but he'd never been this distant with her, so she wondered if she'd done something wrong.
Just then, the whistle blew, and the game started.
Because she'd grabbed too lightly, she let go of one hand dodging a ball.
Separating meant out.
"Hey! Grip tighter."
He glared at her dropped hand and snapped curtly.
'Is he really mad?'
"S-Sorry."
A-jin gripped his shirt harder than before.
Balls flew wildly; boys inside the lines scrambled to catch them; girls screamed and ran.
One by one, couples got eliminated, until soon only two teams per side remained in the lines.
Jun-woo and A-jin had survived through sheer tenacity.
To get this far, he'd taken quite a few hits protecting her.
Each time, sighs of pity and envy erupted from all around.
And Cho-hee was there too.
From another class, she couldn't help it, but seeing A-jin protected like a princess behind him twisted her gut.
If she'd had the ball, she might've smashed it into A-jin's head.
-Thwack-
Right then, as if karma for her bad thoughts, a ball slammed into Cho-hee's temple and bounced off.
"Ah! Shit!"
It hurt, but getting hit in the head was humiliating.
Cho-hee glared at her partner, blaming him for not protecting her properly.
"Y-You okay?"
Ignoring her flustered partner's apology, she stormed out to the attacking side.
From there, she could see A-jin plastered right against Jun-woo's back even clearer.
'This is so annoying.'
She glared holes into the back of A-jin's head.
Finally, her chance to throw came.
'I'm gonna tear you apart.'
With her decent athleticism, dodgeballs were no big deal.
She wound up in a perfect pitcher's stance—one that'd make headlines if she threw the ceremonial first pitch—and hurled the ball with all her rage.
The spinning dodgeball rocketed toward A-jin at top speed.
"Uh... uh."
In that moment, the ball looked like it was coming at A-jin in slow motion.
Totally flustered as it headed straight for her face, she froze.
"Ow!"
A-jin slid across the sandy ground.
Jun-woo had twisted his body quick to dodge, but frozen A-jin couldn't follow and slipped from the momentum.
He'd dodged the ball, but scraping the ground skinned his hand.
A-jin grimaced looking at her palm.
Both hands were scraped raw, red welts beading with blood.
"You okay?"
Jun-woo asked, startled.
"You okay?"
Kwang-hyun hurried over too.
"Yeah."
A-jin, embarrassed from falling flat, gave an awkward smile.
"Does it hurt bad?"
Kwang-hyun helped her up and checked her scraped hand.
Sand and blood were mixed in a gross mess.
"Looks like it hurts a lot."
"It's fine."
Kwang-hyun held her hand worriedly.
Embarrassed, A-jin slipped her hand free.
"It's not fine. Let's go to the nurse's office."
What the hell are you doing right in front of me?
Jun-woo shot the two a look full of displeasure.
He glared at Kwang-hyun for showing too much favoritism as a student teacher.
Then he blocked Kwang-hyun as he tried heading to the nurse's.
"I'll take her. You have to referee, right, sir?"
Emotion laced Jun-woo's words.
Kwang-hyun noticed, his eyes changing slightly.
A strange tension hung in the air.
All her friends were staring.
A-jin felt burdened by the focused attention.
"Sir, I'll go with Jun-woo. You have to referee."
A-jin urged Jun-woo to hurry.
Jun-woo felt like the winner; Kwang-hyun, the loser.
As the two left the gymnasium, the game resumed.
The kids dove back into the match like nothing happened.
But one person among them, Cho-hee, couldn't focus.
Unintentionally, she'd created another chance for Jun-woo and A-jin to be alone together.
Her anger boiled over.
* * *
Jun-woo sat A-jin on the bed and pulled over a wheeled chair to sit.
The nurse wasn't there, so he'd handle first aid instead.
When he pressed the antiseptic gauze to her palm, A-jin winced.
"Ah, ow."
"Hang in there."
He blew gently to ease the sting, carefully wiping the wound.
His care seemed to dull the sharp pain.
"Thanks."
"......"
She'd been worried about his coldness all day, but his warm, concerned eyes put her at ease.
Maybe that's why she felt doubly grateful.
He'd stayed silent at her thanks, but as he applied ointment, he spoke.
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"I should've blocked it better..."
"No. I couldn't keep up."
"......"
"I'm just bad at sports. You took a ton of hits for me today, huh?"
He gave a slight smile.
A-jin pouted, feeling sorry and embarrassed.
Truth was, he felt really bad.
Like he'd failed to protect her.
The gashes filling her palm seemed all his fault, so even after applying ointment, he couldn't look away.
'Looks like it's all covered... Why's he still staring?'
She felt the heat from his hand holding hers.
'Oh, right. He's been holding my hand the whole time.'
Suddenly awkward, A-jin pulled her hand away first.
"Thanks."
"I'll wrap it."
But Jun-woo grabbed her hand again, saying it wasn't done.
She got curious why he'd been so cold all day.
A-jin asked cautiously.
"Were you mad at me?"
His hand paused mid-wrap at her question.
"You've been so distant with me. All week."
"When was I?"
He'd thought he hadn't let it show, not wanting to seem petty.
Guess he'd unconsciously revealed his feelings.
Jun-woo denied it.
"Did I do something wrong? You know I'm clueless. Just tell me."
"Nothing like that."
"Good. That's a relief."
She hadn't messed up.
I'd just been jealous of her and the student teacher on my own.
"But what do you talk about with him so much?"
I was curious.
All those conversations whenever they got a chance.
Questions like that bruised my pride, but I had to know.
"With sir? Nothing much. Oh! Earlier it was about the school festival."
"School festival?"
"Yeah. He said a singer's coming this Saturday and invited me to come hang out."
"Saturday?"
This Saturday was the day we planned to watch a movie together.
I felt a sudden pang of hurt.
"So you said you'd go?"
"Uh... Of course..."
Her hesitant answer made my hurt explode.
Jun-woo snapped.
"Hey! You forgot we planned to watch a movie? Our promise comes first, doesn't it?"
She looked startled by his heated voice, her eyes going wide.
"Yeah, so I said no. Our promise comes first."
I should've held back a bit longer. Just a little, and I could've salvaged some pride.
Instead, I sulked like a petty boyfriend mad at his girlfriend.
Embarrassment heated my cheeks.
"Of course our movie plans come first. Kinda sucks missing the celebrity... But what are we seeing?"
A-jin smiled sweetly, soothing my pouty face.
She had me wrapped around her finger, and it pissed me off.
But I felt good.
She'd said our promise came first.
'You're sneakily cunning, you know that?'
