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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Do You Have a Boyfriend?
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“Is that what they mean by ‘my legs are about to break’?”
A-jin couldn’t hold back her admiration as she looked at the lunch spread on the table.
Korean dishes, Western cuisine, Japanese fare—every delicacy from land, sea, and air filled the ten-person table.
“Break? Nah, I’m sorry it’s nothing much.”
A-jin made a face that said she absolutely couldn’t accept that three people couldn’t even finish this spread.
Jun-woo, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised at all. It was the usual spread for guests.
Still, he could tell A-jin was an incredibly special person to her.
It was the kind of setup reserved for when his grandparents visited or his aunt from America came over—people they truly cherished.
For A-jin to get that treatment.
It put him in a good mood.
“Wow. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Then just eat what’s in front of you.”
Jun-woo answered A-jin’s question indifferently.
Heejin wrinkled her nose, saying he really had no tact.
“Doesn’t he know how to say things nicely?”
“No, it’s fine.”
A-jin gave an awkward smile at Heejin’s question.
He might be indifferent, but he was kind more often than not.
“Don’t girls all hate guys like this? I worry if he’ll ever get a girlfriend.”
Heejin sighed as she said it.
It felt like she was undervaluing her own son.
At the mention of girlfriend, A-jin and Jun-woo glanced at each other.
‘Should I say it?’
‘No.’
They had a conversation with their eyes.
“What about you, A-jin? Got a boyfriend?”
A-jin quickly averted her gaze from Heejin’s question and answered.
“Huh?”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Oh, well...”
The two exchanged another look.
‘We should say no, right?’
‘Yeah.’
“So you do. Of course, someone as lovable as you couldn’t not be popular.”
Heejin jumped to her own conclusion and looked disappointed.
It somehow felt like the two of them were excluding her.
A-jin looked apologetic.
“No, I don’t.”
Heejin’s eyes sparkled at A-jin’s words.
She seemed to have found hope.
“Really? Why not?”
“Mom, why do you keep asking stuff like that? You’re embarrassing her. You can tell just looking she doesn’t have one.”
To look like she doesn’t have one.
He tried to chalk it up to them keeping it secret, but it didn’t sit well.
“My son may be clueless about people, but if you brought home someone like A-jin, I’d marry you off right away.”
A-jin spat out the water she was drinking in surprise.
She coughed and sputtered, even giving examples.
“You okay?”
Heejin handed her tissues in worry, while Jun-woo silently wiped the water she’d spilled on her clothes.
A flash of realization crossed Heejin’s eyes as she watched them.
A meaningful smile formed on her lips.
* * *
“Ji-yeon, did you go see a movie with Jun-woo oppa?”
One of Ji-yeon’s classmates held out her phone and asked.
Ji-yeon had posted a photo she’d secretly taken of Jun-woo over the weekend on Stargram.
It looked just like a natural couple pic—Jun-woo looking off somewhere, Ji-yeon making cute eyes in front of him.
“You saw?”
“Did you go to a movie?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s your relationship with oppa?”
“What relationship? We just sometimes go to movies.”
“Are you dating?”
“Not yet... just kinda flirting?”
Ji-yeon had always been a big liar.
Nothing was confirmed, but she’d bragged a lot about being a gold spoon or owning several luxury bags.
If Cho-hee packaged herself with kindness and warmth, Ji-yeon did it with flaunting and glamour.
Ji-yeon was a bit more attention-seeking.
* * *
Ji-yeon’s body flew back and slammed into the wall with a thud.
“Ah! Shit. What the hell!”
Ji-yeon spat curses, saying it hurt.
Cho-hee leaned against the wall in front of her, bringing her face close.
She glared at Ji-yeon with narrowed eyes.
After a brief staring contest, Ji-yeon spoke first.
She twisted her lips in disbelief, mixing in a mocking laugh.
“What are you doing?”
Cho-hee, who had been glaring silently, finally spoke.
“Why are you acting like such a slut?”
“What did I do?”
“Why are you always hanging around Park Jun-woo like that!”
“Ha! This is ridiculous. What’s it to you, unnie? Are you his girlfriend or something?”
Cho-hee let out a scoff at Ji-yeon’s question.
Ji-yeon stared at her, wondering why she was laughing like an idiot.
Cho-hee’s mocking expression suddenly changed.
Her eyelids drooped halfway, her pupils lost focus, and her lips twitched like a predator’s.
Under that sinister, sharp gaze, Ji-yeon finally seemed a little scared.
“You’re really getting on my nerves.”
“What did I do? I mean, are you his girlfriend or what? You said you weren’t back then.”
“Who spells it all out?”
“It’s a lie, right?”
“Think what you want. But I just don’t like how you’ve been acting lately. That’s a fact.”
Cho-hee had been there when Ji-yeon threw herself at Jun-woo in the cafeteria.
She’d seen Ji-yeon’s Stargram too.
She was just as annoying as Kang A-jin.
Cho-hee stroked Ji-yeon’s face.
Ji-yeon shoved her hand away, saying it gave her chills.
“Why, why are you doing that?”
“Let’s just get along quietly. Gotta keep that pretty face pretty.”
Cho-hee threatened her with her own looks.
They both knew from experience that their faces were their biggest weapons.
Ji-yeon scurried away, leaving Cho-hee alone on the stairs. She leaned against the wall.
And let out a long sigh.
Her parents had finally divorced.
Mom couldn’t hold out against Dad’s persistent demands and stamped the papers.
If she weren’t feeling so shitty, she would’ve ignored a worthless girl like that.
Cho-hee lifted her head and exhaled another heavy breath.
* * *
It was the day the mock exam scores came out.
Kyung-hee’s face was filled with more pride than ever.
“We’ve got first place in the class again.”
The kids didn’t look surprised at Kyung-hee’s words.
At Seowon High, the top of the whole school was always a given.
Second place, though—that was always a brutal battlefield, blood everywhere.
A-jin felt relieved that he’d held onto first.
She’d worried his grades might drop because of dating her.
But it was needless worry.
What she really needed to worry about was the report card right in her palm.
They were both dating, but all the fallout hit her scores.
She didn’t care much about grades, but it left her feeling down.
“What’d you get on the mock exam?”
A-jin just smiled foolishly at Jung-hwa’s question.
Implying it was a foolish score.
Then, someone from behind grabbed her hand.
A-jin flinched and turned, but Jun-woo spread her hand open and plopped a banana milk on top.
He walked past indifferently.
Was it okay to do this in front of her friends?
Happy but flustered, she alternated glances between the banana milk and his retreating back with wide eyes.
“What? Why’d Jun-woo give you this?”
Yoo-jin next to her said.
“Right? And why only you? There’s three of us here.”
Jung-hwa chimed in.
What excuse should she make?
“What’s going on with you two?”
Jung-hwa and Yoo-jin narrowed their eyes suspiciously at her like flounders.
A-jin smiled foolishly again.
“Maybe ’cause I bought him milk last time? Paying me back.”
Would they buy that foolish excuse?
“Ah!”
“But why’d he give it so cool? It’s making my heart flutter.”
Yoo-jin nodded like it made sense, while Jung-hwa clutched her cheeks, saying it was cool.
They bought it.
A-jin was stunned at how easily they believed it.
“I’m so curious who Jun-woo’s girlfriend is.”
“Yeah. She’s gotta be super pretty, right?”
They said it like of course she would be.
A-jin flinched and looked off at distant mountains for no reason.
“Of course she’s pretty. Isn’t that obvious? Like attracts like.”
It felt like she had to be pretty.
“She’s gotta be smart too. Smart guys hate dumb girls, right?”
These kids had some harsh biases for their age.
A-jin looked even farther away.
“But why’d Jun-woo come to our school? Shouldn’t he have gone to a foreign language high or a science academy?”
“I heard a rumor...”
“What?”
Jung-hwa lowered her voice, and Yoo-jin and A-jin leaned in close.
“He came here ’cause it’s closest to home.”
Yoo-jin looked disappointed at the mundane fact,
while A-jin thought it could be true.
“No way! With college entrance on the line, he’d pick that casually?”
“It’s true. My mom’s always gossiping. She dug everywhere to find out how Jun-woo studies...”
“How does he?”
“Just EBS lectures.”
“No way! You get perfect scores every time just from that?”
He was famous for not going to hagwons or getting tutoring.
“Nah, among moms, Jun-woo’s mom is super hot topic. For not caring at all about her son’s education. There were rumors she was hiding study secrets on purpose, but turns out Jun-woo really does it all alone. He’s a real genius. Why compare me to a genius like that? Some people spend nothing and ace it, others blow money and still fail. Ugh! Then just give birth to a genius. I’m seriously gonna age on my mom’s back!! As soon as I’m an adult, I’m moving out.”
Jun-woo lacked for nothing.
Handsome, smart, great family.
But she...
A-jin felt glum comparing herself.
* * *
The bus was crowded, so Jun-woo positioned A-jin in front of him, shielding her from others.
He leaned his head down slightly toward her.
“You haven’t even said it was delicious once.”
“Oh. It was.”
A-jin replied listlessly.
He noticed her expression and asked.
“Something wrong?”
“No.”
She said no, but he didn’t seem convinced.
He tilted his head to meet her eyes and asked again.
“Feels like something’s up.”
She felt bad for worrying him and forced a smile.
But it came out awkward.
“You look down.”
“Really? Nah. Probably just tired. I’ve been staying up late talking on the phone lately.”
“Then wanna skip tonight?”
“No. Let’s do it.”
This time she smiled brighter.
Only then did he relax and stop asking about her mood.
Instead, other voices filled her ears.
“It’s Jun-woo oppa!”
“He’s so handsome. Look at that build.”
“He got first again this time.”
“Wow! Nothing lacking at all. God-tier perfection!! I wanna get off when oppa does.”
“That’s way past our stop.”
“I’ll loop back.”
The first-years were whispering about him.
It was soft enough Jun-woo couldn’t hear, but to her it sounded like shouting right in her ear.
A-jin looked at his reflection in the window.
Even without rose-tinted glasses, he was objectively too handsome.
Her own reflection, on the other hand, was too plain.
Did they really match?
* * *
Screech, thud, screech, thud.
As soon as Cho-hee entered the bathroom, she checked every stall to make sure it was empty.
Then she answered her phone.
“Auntie. How’s Mom? Did she eat?”
-No. She won’t budge.
Cho-hee rolled her eyes in annoyance and snapped.
“It’s not like she was ever around anyway—just stamped some papers. Why make such a fuss over a divorce?”
-He’s still your husband.
“A husband worth throwing your life away for? He’s probably thrilled now that he’s divorced and with that bitch. Why’s Mom the only one acting like this, stupidly?”
-Cho-hee. He’s still your dad. Don’t hate him.
Biologically linked, sure, but a dad she wouldn’t care if died.
Maybe better if he’d never been there.
“Dad? I never had one. I kinda wanna party now? No more ties. Hope he drops dead somewhere I never see him, even passing by.”
-Don’t talk like that. Just study. I’ll look after your mom.
“Thanks. Skipping self-study today, heading home early.”
She hung up and slammed a long sigh to the ground.
Her weak mom pissed her off more than her dad.
She was fuming at the bathroom tiles when the door opened.
Cho-hee looked up in surprise.
A-jin walked in.
Did she hear?
She hadn’t said Dad cheated and left.
She’d lied that his photographer job meant frequent overseas trips.
If Kang A-jin found out about her family, she’d laugh at her misfortune.
Then pity her, saying she turned out rotten because of it.
The thought alone was unbearable.
“Did you... hear?”
“Hear what?”
Her expression said she hadn’t.
Cho-hee knew Kang A-jin’s faces best.
