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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Revealing Her True Face
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The two of them had first met five years ago.
Cho-hee, who had been the target of jealousy and envy due to her immense popularity, hadn't made many female friends.
It was a sensitive time of puberty, and it was also easier dealing with boyfriends.
The one friend who treated her without prejudice was A-jin.
A-jin liked Cho-hee for her pretty face, and Cho-hee found the innocent A-jin adorable.
Even though she grumbled and was sensitive, A-jin knew the warmth in Cho-hee's heart.
She loved animals and doted on children.
Whenever there was something delicious, she'd bring it and feed it to her. If there was a pretty piece of clothing, she'd give it to her. She'd even pour out all her unspeakable worries to her.
They had gone in and out of each other's homes like their own for five years, like sisters.
But why had she done that to me?
Why did she start hating me?
No, had she hated me from the beginning?
Had she ever truly thought of me as a friend, even for a single moment?
Every moment became a lie, a pretense.
Please just say you were wrong.
Please stop making excuses and just be honest.
A-jin looked at Cho-hee with desperate eyes.
But Cho-hee kept making excuses until the end.
“Han Cho-hee. Stop it. Your excuses aren't working anymore.”
“…….”
“Anyone can see you were waiting for me and pulled that rope. You spilled the chocolate on purpose too. Thinking back, there were so many strange things. How could it all be you and not a single coincidence?”
Tears threatened to burst out, but she held them back tightly.
She had cried it all out yesterday, so she vowed over and over not to cry today.
Cho-hee's face gradually changed.
It was as if she had given up.
She erased her gentle expression and revealed her sharp gaze.
“Ha… So what? You called me out early in the morning just to go over this?”
Cho-hee had completely bared her true face.
“Yeah, I did it. I pulled the rope, and I spilled the chocolate.”
A person could make such a shameless face.
A-jin was dumbfounded.
“Han Cho-hee!”
“You know what? The day you met that guy, I locked you in the bathroom.”
Cho-hee acted as if there was nothing left to hide, completely brazen.
“Hey!”
She was so shocked she couldn't even close her mouth.
Is this really the person I knew?
“So what? What do you want me to do? Apologize? What? Kneel down?”
Cho-hee drooped her eyelids long.
It was the expression she made when arguing with someone she truly despised.
I must be a person she despises that much.
“If you hated me so much that you wanted to torment me like that, why did you hang around with me? Why bother hiding it all this time….”
Tears were about to burst. She really didn't want to cry….
“You're such a pushover. Who else is as easy as you? You don't get upset like other girls, you don't mind if I break promises, and I don't have to worry about you getting anxious when I meet guys.”
“Hey! Han Cho-hee!”
“I did nothing wrong. It's your fault for being such a clueless idiot all this time. You're so oblivious and dumb, that's why everyone sees you as a joke.”
“What?”
“But don't feel too bad. Hanging out with me at least raised your level a bit.”
“You…!”
No matter how oblivious I was, this was going too far.
Even if I really was that easy to push around, she shouldn't have taken advantage of me.
Using people like that is unforgivable.
Her hand, trembling with rage, finally couldn't hold back and struck Cho-hee's cheek.
No, it was more like a full swing.
It wasn't a slap sound, but a thud.
Cho-hee staggered, clutching her struck cheek and glaring at A-jin.
She wasn't a stranger to being slapped, but she never imagined it would be from Kang A-jin.
Dumbfounded turned into stunned.
“You're crazy!”
Cho-hee screamed and raised her hand.
She was about to slap A-jin back.
At that moment, two male students approached them.
“What's going on, Cho-hee?”
Cho-hee hurriedly lowered her raised hand.
“Oh… No. I guess A-jin had a lot built up against me.”
Cho-hee clutched her slapped cheek and sniffled as if about to cry.
A-jin was dumbfounded.
It seemed like she was putting on an act in front of the boys.
Her expression changed so drastically—it was impressive.
The tears vanished, and a laugh almost escaped.
“Did she hit you? Hey! Are you insane?”
As expected, the male students fell for Cho-hee's act and turned on A-jin.
“Do you have some inferiority complex toward Cho-hee? Well, yeah, you'd be jealous. Sigh. Look at her.”
“Hey! Who do you think you are to lay a hand on her? Want to get hit too? I wouldn't mind messing up a face like yours, but what if you scar that pretty face!”
“Exactly! How dare you. You lowly maid.”
The male students hurled insults at A-jin.
With Cho-hee and now these boys, A-jin's dizziness worsened.
“Stop it. I'm fine.”
Cho-hee stopped the male students.
She knew now it wasn't for her sake, but for image control.
She had grown accustomed to that fake face.
A-jin sneered, mocking her inwardly.
Then one male student tapped her shoulder and scolded her.
“Laughing? Were you just mocking her? You think you're on her level just because she hangs out with you?”
A-jin was pushed back by the male student's hand.
“You're not on the same level.”
At that moment, someone appeared and grabbed A-jin's shoulder as she was pushed back.
It was Jun-woo.
He couldn't just sit there worrying about A-jin, who had gone off with Cho-hee.
His appearance startled A-jin and Cho-hee, and even made the male students flinch.
“You think so too, right? Does that ugly girl even compare to Cho-hee?”
One of the male students tried to act friendly and spoke to Jun-woo.
Jun-woo lowered his gaze toward that male student.
“You're not on the level to talk to me.”
The male student backed away, flustered by his stern expression.
“Huh?”
“She's not on the level to hang out with trash like you.”
Jun-woo pulled A-jin close to his side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
Cho-hee's face flushed red.
Not just from the slap.
The word “trash” shocked her, and seeing A-jin in Jun-woo's arms made her blood boil.
Jun-woo glared at Cho-hee.
It was a cold, piercing gaze.
There was restraint in it too.
He desperately wanted to dump all these recycling-bin-worthy trash where they belonged, but he held back for A-jin's sake.
“Hey! Calling a girl trash?!”
“Did you just call her a ‘maid’?”
“Huh? Oh, that’s because she hit Cho-hee.”
“She deserved it.”
Jun-woo glared at Cho-hee once more.
His gaze was so sharp she couldn't lift her head.
“What are you talking about? What did Cho-hee do to deserve that?”
One of the male students shook his head, calling it nonsense.
Jun-woo lowered his eyes to look at that male student again.
“Do you like Han Cho-hee?”
The male student shyly replied.
“Huh? Is there anyone at school who doesn't like Cho-hee?”
Jun-woo smirked.
“You suit each other. Trash with trash.”
“What? Trash? You've been going on about trash this whole time!”
“Please, just stick with your own kind. Don't go polluting clean waters.”
“Park Jun-woo, you think your words can end this?”
Cho-hee snapped sharply.
She was guilty, but she hated being treated like trash by him.
Jun-woo curled one corner of his mouth in a sneer.
He was incredulous that she dared to snap back.
“Consider yourself lucky it's just words. If I had my way, I'd make sure none of you could even approach her. That's why I told you to stay away ages ago.”
“You bastard!”
An enraged male student mustered courage and grabbed Jun-woo's collar.
But Jun-woo's hand swatted it away immediately, sending him staggering back.
“Argh, seriously!”
He had tried to look cool in front of Cho-hee but ended up looking ridiculous.
The male student charged at Jun-woo again.
“Hey, why is everyone crowding there?”
At that moment, the supervising teacher appeared from afar.
The charging male student and the one watching from the side both retreated, grabbing Cho-hee and fleeing.
Jun-woo and A-jin remained there.
The supervising teacher saw Jun-woo but didn't approach, just heading into the school building.
Once the teacher was gone, Jun-woo turned to examine A-jin's face.
He was worried if Cho-hee had hit her too.
“Did she hit you?”
A-jin shook her head.
“Did you hit her?”
She nodded.
Jun-woo gently stroked her hair.
“Good job.”
Only then did the tears she had held back burst out.
“I hit my friend—what do you mean good job!”
“She's not your friend.”
Jun-woo kept praising her.
He was grateful she hadn't just taken it lying down.
* * *
A-jin spent the whole day with dazed eyes.
Jun-woo had watched over her.
Of all times, she wasn't his partner.
It irritated him for no reason.
Worried about her skipping lunch and not eating even the snacks he bought before self-study started, he went to the convenience store.
Not knowing what she'd like, he bought lunch boxes, bread, and drinks of various kinds.
“Where'd you go?”
Choi Jong-min asked in the hallway.
“To the convenience store.”
“Lunch boxes?”
“Yeah.”
“What? You got a ton. You treating today?”
“No.”
“Then you're eating all this alone?”
“No.”
“Then what? Give me one.”
Choi Jong-min grumbled about what the hell and reached into the bag.
Jun-woo twisted his hand out, saying no.
“Ow! Agh! Hey!”
“No! Don't touch.”
“Why?”
“It's for A-jin.”
“Kang A-jin’s eating all that? Give me one.”
“We don't know what she'll eat.”
“Friends before girlfriends, huh.”
“Let A-jin pick and take what she wants.”
At Jun-woo's words, Choi Jong-min grinned widely.
“But what do we do? Kang A-jin went home.”
“She went home?”
“Yeah. She told the homeroom teacher earlier and left.”
He wanted to take her home.
She might zone out and get hurt, or miss her bus stop while spacing out.
He had wanted to see her get home safely.
Jun-woo looked regretfully at the convenience store bag.
“Then I'll gratefully eat it all!”
Even that got snatched by Choi Jong-min.
* * *
A week had passed, but she still couldn't believe it.
She asked herself dozens, no, hundreds of times a day why Cho-hee had done that to her.
But it wasn't a question she could answer.
Unable to accept it, she had once called Cho-hee late at night.
She had poured out her tears to the groggy Cho-hee who answered, demanding why.
It was probably the first time she mixed in harsh curses.
Cho-hee just listened to her rage and hung up without a word.
She seemed so insignificant that she could be ignored.
Feeling like she was suffering alone made her frustrated and angry.
She couldn't sleep alone for a while and slept with her mom.
Even last night, she kept waking up and finally sought her mom's embrace as dawn approached.
She left home with a tired face.
Opening the apartment entrance door, she saw a school uniform from their school.
A-jin smiled faintly.
“Did I keep you waiting long?”
Jun-woo turned his head at her voice.
It had been a week of going to school together with him.
She told him she got off the bus early on purpose, so he didn't need to come pick her up.
But he said innocent people like her were scarier if they strayed once, so he had to keep watch.
He said her expression looked like it could vanish any moment, making him anxious.
“No.”
“I told you to just stay on the bus all the way.”
A-jin wrinkled her nose, telling him not to worry unnecessarily.
“Did you get some sleep?”
He was just worried about her hollow eyes.
He seemed concerned she might have had nightmares again.
“There are lots of people if you board here.”
But she was only thinking of his worries.
“How many hours?”
“Didn't you hear me? I slept fine. I had some dreams, though.”
“Okay.”
He seemed relieved at least that she had slept.
He nodded and didn't ask more.
“So, how long are you going to keep picking me up?”
He turned his head at her question.
He stared at her hollow eyes for a moment before saying.
“Until your dark circles are gone.”
“Who says I have dark circles?”
A-jin poked under her eyes.
“But… can you just keep coming?”
He asked again.
“Huh?”
“Just keep going together.”
His eyes sparkled like stars, even though it wasn't night.
They shone so beautifully she couldn't refuse.
Her heart fluttered.
Heat rose to her cheeks for a moment.
She hurriedly avoided his gaze.
“I-I just didn't want to inconvenience you.”
“It's not inconvenient for me.”
“Th-then do whatever you want.”
Her steps quickened for no reason.
A-jin sped up her short strides, and Jun-woo, puzzled by her sudden hurry, followed with long strides.
