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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: How Long Do You Think You Can Keep Deceiving?
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“Why did you lie? You didn’t report it.”
Jun-woo demanded of Cho-hee.
Cho-hee no longer looked forward to him calling her out.
Instead, she only felt anxious.
What kind of interrogation would it be this time? What kind of look would he give her?
Their relationship wasn’t improving; it only kept going awry, leaving her frustrated and irritated.
As expected, the conversation started with more questioning.
A heavy sigh slipped from her lips.
“What are you talking about? I did report it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“I went to the police station the day before yesterday.”
“The police station?”
A subtle change flickered across her previously expressionless face.
The mention of the police station caught her off guard for a moment.
“I checked the records. There wasn’t even a similar case.”
Of course there wouldn’t be.
Because she hadn’t reported it.
“That’s……”
This time, no excuse came to mind.
Should she just deny it outright?
Her mind raced.
Then he raised his eyebrows sharply and said,
“You! How long do you think you can keep deceiving like that?”
“What……”
“It was you who did it, right?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
No way out.
She had no choice but to deny it.
“How could you do something like that?”
“Something like that?”
“To Kang A-jin, of all people. Isn’t she your closest friend?”
“Who said she isn’t? I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her brazenness finally made his voice rise.
“You’re the one who got those guys to take pictures of her!”
She absolutely couldn’t admit it.
Pretending to be wronged, Cho-hee’s eyes welled up with tears.
“Have I lost my mind? To do something like that? What do you take me for? Just because I said I like you, you think you can treat me however you want?”
“I’ve never treated you poorly. I’m just asking for the truth.”
“I didn’t know either. I’m upset too. About what happened to A-jin.”
“Then why didn’t you report it? There’s only one reason you didn’t, isn’t there? Because you did it.”
She couldn’t refute the truth.
But she absolutely couldn’t admit it, no matter what.
“Fine! I didn’t report it. I was afraid I’d get in trouble too. I know those guys, so how could I report it easily? It was scary!”
This was pretty good.
It seemed like a solid excuse.
Cho-hee desperately hoped he’d buy it.
“You’re saying you pretended not to know to avoid getting hurt yourself? When your friend went through that?”
“What power do I have? I’m just a high school girl too. It feels like it’s my fault A-jin went through that, so I’m tormented by guilt every single day. But what can I do about being scared? What am I supposed to do when I can’t step up?”
Cho-hee burst into tears.
Whether she was caught up in her own acting or overwhelmed by resentment toward Jun-woo, who only thought of Kang A-jin, her tears kept flowing.
She hoped he’d pity her.
She hoped he’d warmly embrace her and tell her not to cry.
But unfortunately, Jun-woo didn’t react to her tears.
He calmly continued with what he had to say.
“Someone heard you ordering those guys. So stop thinking about lying.”
“Who heard?”
“Choi Jong-min. He overheard you talking to them.”
A chill ran down her spine.
She had run into Jong-min at the theater.
But she hadn’t thought he’d overheard her call.
“He said that? That I did it?”
In times like this, she needed to act even more indignant without showing panic.
“Yeah.”
“Really? Then let’s go ask him. Fine.”
Cho-hee huffed and turned around.
“What are you doing?”
Jun-woo urgently grabbed her.
“You said Jong-min heard. I need to ask him.”
“You’re going to confront him?”
“Confront? I just want to clear up this injustice.”
Cho-hee shook off Jun-woo’s hand gripping her arm.
* * *
“Hey! Choi Jong-min!”
She immediately went looking for Jong-min.
The sudden loud voice drew all eyes in the classroom to her.
Even A-jin was puzzled by her sudden appearance.
“You heard me talking to the studio guys, right?”
Jong-min was so taken aback by her abrupt confrontation that he just stood there with a dumbstruck expression, unable to say a word.
“Huh?”
“You heard me. Are you sure? What did I say? You heard, so tell me properly.”
“Uh, that’s……”
Cho-hee didn’t even give him a chance to respond.
In the meantime, Jun-woo, who had followed her, tried to stop her.
“What are you doing in front of everyone? Let’s go outside.”
Jun-woo grabbed her wrist and pulled, but Cho-hee angrily shook off his hand.
“Let go! Isn’t this what you wanted? To prove it!”
“Cho-hee, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”
As the argument dragged on, A-jin approached and asked.
She’d never seen Cho-hee this worked up, and it worried her.
“These two are treating me like the bad guy.”
“What do you mean? Let’s go out first. Everyone’s staring.”
The kids were watching the four of them with keen interest, like some spectacle had appeared.
A-jin first dragged Cho-hee out of the classroom.
“What’s going on? What exactly happened……”
“They think I sent you to the studio as a substitute on purpose. To get you in trouble!”
“What?”
“Do I look crazy? To do that to you……”
“Of course not.”
Cho-hee burst into tears, claiming she was wronged.
Since Jong-min had heard the call, it was obvious her actions would be exposed.
She had to get Kang A-jin fully on her side, at least.
* * *
“Han Cho-hee’s got some fire.”
Jong-min shook his head, thinking back to what just happened.
“You’re sure you heard it right?”
Jun-woo asked once more to confirm.
“Yeah, I’m sure. She said to force her to strip and change into it.”
Jun-woo fell deep into thought for a moment.
How could he tell A-jin about Han Cho-hee’s true nature without hurting her?
Lost in thought, Jong-min held out his phone.
“I have something to show you.”
“What?”
“This.”
Jong-min played a video saved on his phone.
It was from the school trip day, inside the ferry heading to Jeju.
The video was noisy with kids, and then the camera angle swung 180 degrees.
There was Cho-hee heading somewhere.
“This part’s important.”
Jong-min shoved the phone screen closer to Jun-woo, urging him to look closely.
Jun-woo focused on the screen.
Han Cho-hee climbed the stairs, then suddenly yanked on a rope tied to the deck.
A thud followed, along with a scream.
The scream sounded familiar.
“Who fell?”
“Yeah, seems like it. After Han Cho-hee pulled the rope, there was that thud.”
“No way……”
“What? Do you know who fell? Oh right, you went up to the deck that day, didn’t you? Was it you?”
“No.”
It wasn’t me.
But I think I know who it was.
Jun-woo checked the timestamp on the video.
Around this time, the person who tripped over the rope Han Cho-hee pulled was A-jin.
“This girl is really scary.”
“Huh?”
“The one Han Cho-hee tripped was Kang A-jin.”
Jong-min’s jaw dropped in shock at Jun-woo’s words.
“Aren’t they best friends? Did they fight?”
“No. Only the idiot Kang A-jin thinks Han Cho-hee is her best friend. Hey, send me this video.”
“Sure.”
Jong-min immediately sent the video to Jun-woo.
At that moment, A-jin timidly approached Jong-min.
“Um……”
“Can we talk for a sec?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Cho-hee’s really upset right now. What exactly did you hear, and how?”
“Well, it was a phone call, and it sounded weird. She said stuff like making her wear strange clothes, forcing her to strip.”
“You heard it clearly?”
“It wasn’t completely clear, but……”
“I don’t know what misunderstanding there was, but Cho-hee’s really upset right now. Seeing her cry like that, she seems super wronged.”
A-jin had suspected Cho-hee before too.
Had she really not known it was a shady shoot?
But seeing her sob so heartbrokenly made A-jin feel sorry for even doubting her.
Frustrated by how much A-jin trusted Cho-hee, Jong-min tried to show her the video he’d taken.
“Oh! Check this out.”
“What?”
“This is what I……”
But for some reason, Jun-woo blocked Jong-min.
Not yet, he signaled.
She might think they were just sowing discord with flimsy evidence, so they decided to wait until they had more solid proof.
And they needed to figure out how to tell A-jin about Cho-hee without hurting her too much.
“We must’ve misunderstood.”
As he spoke to A-jin, Jun-woo signaled Jong-min not to show the video.
Reading his eyes, Jong-min nodded back and told A-jin,
“Come to think of it, I must’ve misheard. It was so noisy there.”
“Yeah. Sorry, but please help calm Cho-hee down. She’s really upset.”
“Okay, I’ll apologize to her.”
A-jin returned to her seat with relief, while Jun-woo watched her, lost in thought.
* * *
The necklaces on display in the showcase sparkled brilliantly, emitting rays of light.
It felt like they were tempting me to take one.
Jun-woo tried each displayed necklace on her neck one by one.
Not a single one looked out of place.
“Looking for something in particular?”
As he gazed contentedly at the necklaces, a store clerk emerged from inside.
“I’m just browsing necklaces.”
“Come on in. We have plenty inside.”
He stepped inside following the clerk’s guidance, but being in a jewelry shop for the first time made him tense.
“A gift? For a girlfriend, maybe?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet, huh? Planning a confession? Mind if I recommend some?”
The clerk’s friendliness felt burdensome.
It seemed like all the women around were staring at him.
“I’ll take that one.”
Eager to buy and leave quickly, Jun-woo pointed to the necklace that had caught his eye the most.
“Our most popular item—you’ve got good taste. One moment.”
The clerk fetched a new one from the stockroom and started packaging it.
“She’s lucky to receive this. From such a handsome guy confessing and all.”
The clerk’s praise only added to his discomfort.
He just wished she’d wrap it faster.
“What? He’s buying a gift! Whoever it’s for, I’m jealous.”
The women nearby whispered.
His face burned.
“A friend? Or someone older?”
The clerk’s nosy questions annoyed him.
“Please hurry up.”
“You must be dying to see her reaction. She’s so lucky.”
Her chatter seemed to slow her hands even more.
The unnecessary wrapping only made him more urgent.
“Now, just the final ribbon……”
“That’s enough. Just give it to me.”
The visible packaging was plenty.
Jun-woo snatched the gift box before she could wrap more.
“Wait, but the ribbon is the soul of the packaging……”
He bolted out of the store like he was fleeing.
