-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Transfer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Strictly speaking, Cho-hee was the victim.
But bearing the accusatory gazes was solely Cho-hee's burden.
In the midst of this major incident, the children's eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
Kyung-hee, experiencing something like this for the first time, was flustered and didn't know what to do.
Even after Cho-hee slipped away and she tried to calm the rowdy kids, there was no way they'd settle down.
What on earth was all this about?
Unable to believe what she'd heard, A-jin tried to follow the escaping Cho-hee.
But Jun-woo held her back, and she couldn't go.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to follow her.”
It was pure instinct.
Her pale face looked ready to collapse in the rain—she couldn't help but chase after her.
“If you go, then what? What are you going to do there?”
“That's...”
She wouldn't welcome her even a little.
On the contrary, she'd sneer and ask if seeing her like this felt satisfying.
But leaving her like that seemed too dangerous.
As if reading her thoughts, Jun-woo shook his head.
“If you follow, she'll only feel more miserable. Just let her be alone right now.”
In the end, A-jin couldn't follow Cho-hee.
* * *
Cho-hee's scandal spread through group chats to the entire school.
It might have reached everyone who knew her.
Sure enough, all the curiosity and blame zeroed in solely on Cho-hee.
Rather than pity, they were desperate to see the photo.
But no photo of Cho-hee existed anywhere.
No matter how they searched her name on portal sites, tried similar names, or changed languages, not a single image turned up.
To keep anyone from seeing her photo, Cho-hee hadn't reported Min-hyuk.
Reporting it would require submitting the photo, so she'd given up.
She simply saw it as payback for screwing Min-hyuk over and accepted it humbly.
In the counseling room, Cho-hee sat facing Jin Mi, her mother at her side.
Cho-hee's mother spoke.
“I won't send her to school until the transfer.”
Cho-hee's mother was confident, almost defiant.
She urged Cho-hee not to feel defeated since she was the victim.
Jin Mi forced a smile, lifting just the corner of her mouth.
“Ma'am, she still needs attendance recorded. She's transferring next Monday.”
“Just mark it as field learning.”
“Yes. Go ahead and do that. I listed the transfer reason as simple relocation.”
“Good call. Please remind the students not to let rumors spread outside the school.”
Jin Mi let out a soft snort.
From the department store incident to this one, Jin Mi found the mother-daughter pair laughable.
Their brazen attitude was beyond belief.
She was fed up with a student from her homeroom constantly stirring up trouble.
Jin Mi held back a full sneer, maintaining some decorum.
“Of course. No reason to spread it. An unseemly matter like this getting out would hurt our school's image too.”
Cho-hee's mother bristled at Jin Mi's subtly dismissive tone.
“Unseemly matter? Teacher, you have such a polite way with words.”
“Then what should I call it? I really didn't want to go this far, but it's embarrassing... Do you know about Cho-hee's behavior problems? Dating college guys is the least of it—she's been seeing adult men ten years older. Do you know who bought her bag and shoes?”
Jin Mi recounted rumors from the kids as if she'd witnessed them herself.
“Teacher, did you personally see her with those men? Isn't it common for kids these days to carry a designer item or two? She bought them herself.”
“If you bought them for her, that's even worse. Designer goods for a student?”
“No, teacher. What outdated mindset is this? What, are you jealous because you don't have any?”
Jin Mi pursed her lips in disbelief.
“Jealous? If she'd acted like a student and kept proper behavior, would photos like that even exist?”
All the irritation Jin Mi had built up from Cho-hee's past issues finally erupted.
The agitated mother shot to her feet, jabbing a finger at Jin Mi.
“Did you see the photo yourself? Kids gossiping is one thing, but shouldn't a teacher trust her student?”
“What did you call me? Ma'am, how dare you point at me?”
“A teacher like you. No wonder she doesn't learn anything. Good riddance. Better to transfer than learn from you. The kids left in your class are the ones I pity.”
“No, ma'am, mind your words. Basic character comes from home upbringing.”
“What? So you're saying it's because I failed at raising her?”
Cho-hee's mother and Jin Mi's voices rose higher.
Countless pairs of eyes pressed against the long window in the counseling room wall.
For a moment, Cho-hee felt terror from those stares.
Every single pupil looked like a camera lens.
“Mom, let's go.”
With trembling hands, Cho-hee grabbed her mother's arm and pulled.
* * *
Cho-hee entered the classroom.
She needed to pack her things from the locker.
The bustling classroom fell instantly silent as she stepped in.
Mouths stayed shut, but eyes darted busily.
As she turned her back to pull items from the locker, whispers erupted from everywhere.
Tiny sounds, but loud enough to carry.
What kind of photo was it?
Where was the photo taken?
How many times has she slept with guys?
I heard she does compensated dating.
No wonder she had all those luxury items.
I knew it. Things like that.
The murmurs sounded like camera shutters clicking.
Dizzying and clamorous.
Fearing someone might be snapping her picture, Cho-hee whipped her head around.
In an instant, all those gazes vanished.
How dare these nobodies judge her.
Sneering in contempt, Cho-hee slammed the locker door shut.
Then she stormed out of the classroom.
Stunned kids' voices—“What's her deal?”—echoed after her.
Cho-hee sneered once more.
“Cho-hee.”
Someone called her then.
It was A-jin.
“You okay?”
She really knows how to provoke a sneer time after time.
This time, Cho-hee sneered right at A-jin.
“What? Asking if I'm okay? Yeah, peachy. So skip the lame pity and get lost.”
Showing weakness in front of Kang A-jin would be humiliating.
She's too dim to shake off unless spoken to harshly right away—she'd just keep clinging otherwise.
So she spoke harshly, but A-jin didn't leave.
She trailed persistently behind, still talking.
“You're transferring...”
“...”
“Starting today?”
“...”
“Where to?”
Even without a response, she kept it up.
Chasing at her heels like a puppy.
Is she actually an idiot?
“Far away?”
Tired of it, Cho-hee turned to face A-jin squarely.
“Why do you care?”
Tears glistened in A-jin's eyes.
Pity, huh.
No way she's upset about the distance.
No matter how nice you are, you can't play saint that well.
“Just...”
“Why? You want me gone far away?”
“What?”
“You keep asking where. Hoping I'll vanish completely, right? Since I'm the dangerous one to you.”
“That's not it. I'm just worried about you.”
“Worried? Worry about your own sorry self.”
The tears pooling in A-jin's eyes grew thicker.
Eyes brimming with hurt and sorrow.
“How can you be so cruel right to the end? Was the Han Cho-hee I knew completely fake?”
“What was the Han Cho-hee you knew like?”
“Well...”
“Not every day was a lie. At least until you started acting foolish and clinging to Park Jun-woo.”
Fatigued, Cho-hee let her eyes droop.
“Do you know why I hated you?”
“...”
“Because you're too damn nice. Look at you now. Shouldn't you be thrilled instead? I bullied you. Everyone else is cheering and dancing, so why come here with pointless worries?”
“Cho-hee...”
“Save your worries for yourself. Don't go getting screwed like a moron.”
“Han Cho-hee!”
“Why keep calling me, it's annoying. Me ending up like this is all your fault.”
“Why is it my fault? Don't pin your screw-ups on me.”
Tears finally plopped from A-jin's eyes.
Wronged, she wailed at Cho-hee.
Seeing A-jin yell and berate her instead brought Cho-hee a strange comfort.
“I should've known when you were hopping from guy to guy. I knew it'd come to this someday. With trashy behavior like yours, you deserve it! Serves you right. Should've gotten punished harder.”
Cho-hee silently stared at A-jin screaming at her.
After gazing at her a moment, she turned away, leaving a faint sneer.
A brief glint flashed in her eyes as she did.
* * *
And so Cho-hee left the school.
To the end, she never apologized to A-jin.
Petty pride or believing she didn't even qualify to apologize—who knows—but Cho-hee never uttered a single “sorry.”
“Where'd Han Cho-hee go?”
Jun-woo asked when they reached her house.
“Probably Suncheon.”
A-jin replied.
She wasn't certain, but it felt right.
“Why Suncheon of all places?”
“Her grandma lives there.”
“No contact?”
A-jin gave a bitter smile at his question.
“Why would she contact me?”
Her eyes looked unbearably sad.
Jun-woo draped an arm over A-jin's shoulders, drawing her into his chest.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Sorry for worrying you.”
A-jin had insisted there was no reason to grieve, hating Cho-hee and hating her more.
She'd forced herself to believe it.
A-jin thought she was carrying on as usual, but those watching closely saw otherwise.
Jun-woo saw everything.
Stroking her hair, he said,
“Not sure if I should say this, but I'm kinda relieved Han Cho-hee transferred.”
“Why?”
“I was anxious.”
“Anxious?”
“Worried she'd bully you again anytime. What if I wasn't there beside you...”
“Sorry for making you worry.”
Thinking of Jun-woo fretting in her stead because of her own fragility filled A-jin with guilt.
She gazed at him pityingly.
But he smiled, insisting he was fine.
“Thinking back now, it seems Han Cho-hee really liked you a lot.”
She'd suffered so much from her.
Liked her?
A-jin furrowed her brows in disbelief.
“When I walked you home, I think I spotted Han Cho-hee sometimes. Felt like imagination then, but looking back, it was her hanging around here.”
A-jin's furrowed brows smoothed out long, then sagged downward.
Tears welled swiftly in her round eyes.
A-jin buried her face deep in his chest.
She wanted to hide her tears.
“Maybe she wanted to apologize.”
“No way... She said she wasn't sorry.”
“Just my take, but Han Cho-hee liked you more than me. She was jealous of me, not you.”
Her shoulders shook.
The tiny sobs she couldn't stifle sounded all the more heartbreaking.
She rubbed her face to keep from staining his uniform with tears.
But Jun-woo said it was fine, opening his arms wide so she could lean fully into his chest.
A-jin wept in his embrace for a long while.
The final tears for Cho-hee, shed without a trace of regret.
