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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Beginning of Evil Deeds!
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"Can't you do anything right?"
It was Jun-woo.
He had just come up to the second floor at the perfect moment and spotted her spilling her cup.
He clicked his tongue at her clumsiness and yanked out a bunch of tissues before approaching her.
"What..."
A-jin pouted in embarrassment for no reason.
"I'll do it."
"Forget it. Just hold onto that properly."
Jun-woo wiped down the table, then took the laptop from A-jin's hands to check if any drink had gotten on it before setting it on a chair.
Then he headed back down to the first floor.
A-jin found his unexpectedly kind demeanor refreshing, seeing him in a new light.
A moment later, he came back up to the second floor.
He was holding two drinks in his hands.
She wondered who else might be coming.
"Here."
But he handed one of the drinks to her.
A-jin blinked in confusion but accepted the drink he offered anyway.
"What's this for?"
"You spilled yours."
"I'm fine. No need to waste money buying another one."
"So you're not gonna drink it? Give it back then."
He reached for the drink in her hand.
"Ah, no! Who said I wasn't gonna drink it?"
A flustered A-jin twisted away to guard her drink.
She wrinkled her nose as if to say there was no such thing as giving and then taking back.
Amused by her reaction, he flashed a slight smile.
He wiped down the sticky table one more time with a wet wipe and set his laptop and A-jin's laptop on it.
Then he placed the drinks as far from A-jin as possible.
"Why put them over there?"
"If you spill on my laptop, are you gonna pay for it?"
"Come on! You think I'd spill again?"
With an expression insisting she wasn't *that* much of an idiot, she turned to grab her pencil case from the chair.
But in doing so, her elbow knocked her own laptop.
The laptop screen toppled like a domino, bumping Jun-woo's laptop screen, which in turn hit one of his drinks. It nearly spilled everywhere.
Luckily, his quick reflexes averted a major disaster.
"You're such a klutz, seriously."
He furrowed his brow, revealing his irritation, and A-jin ducked her head apologetically.
"S... sorry."
After all that hassle, they finally got started on the assignment.
The flashy neon signs and lively crowds visible outside the window stood in stark contrast to the quiet café.
The second floor of the café remained peaceful, and the two of them focused intently on the work without much conversation or loud noises.
He fluently translated his researched materials into English and jotted them down in his notebook.
A-jin gaped in awe at the sight.
"Wow, you're doing this without a translator? You're seriously smart. No wonder you're top of the school."
"You guys are the slow ones. Just use a translator."
"We're slow?! We're normal. *You're* the abnormal one."
He let out a chuckle and kept working on the assignment.
Feeling awkward with her idle hands, she glanced around, wondering if there was anything she could help with.
"Is there anything I can do? Want me to look up some more sources?"
"Just sit still—that's helping."
Stung by his indifferent tone, A-jin shot him a sulky glare, as if he'd dismissed her.
After that, he stayed focused on the assignment, while she browsed the internet before glancing at him again.
He might be annoying, but damn if he didn't look cool when he concentrated.
*Is this why girls like him?*
She found herself staring at him, lost in thought without realizing it.
"Type this up for me."
At that moment, Jun-woo handed her his translated notes.
She felt like she'd been caught peeking.
A-jin took the notes in a fluster.
"Huh? Oh. Sure."
"Why are you so startled?"
"Me? I'm not."
A-jin played it cool.
Jun-woo eyed her curiously, finding her odd.
"I type super fast."
Worried he'd notice her staring, A-jin quickly changed the subject.
The lively clatter of keystrokes filled their space for a good while.
Then his phone rang.
"Hello."
—Dude! I got shot down.
It was Jong-min.
Even over the voice alone, his disappointment was palpable.
It was probably Cho-hee turning him down.
Feeling guilty since it felt like her meddling had caused this, she pitied Jong-min.
Jun-woo hung up, grabbed his bag, and stood from his seat.
"Sorry, but I gotta head out first."
"Why? Something wrong?"
"It's nothing big... You can handle the rest alone, right?"
"Yeah. Of course."
He kept it brief, and A-jin didn't press further, not wanting to put him in an awkward spot.
"Ah... Hang on, let me see that."
Jun-woo paused on his way out, realizing he'd forgotten something, and came back.
He took A-jin's laptop, checked it over, and only then left the coffee shop.
* * *
Jun-woo stepped out of the café.
Cho-hee watched him emerge from the alley by the restrooms.
She kept her eyes glued to him until he vanished completely down the main street, then looked up at the second floor of the coffee shop.
"Annoying."
She glared at A-jin, who was peeking out the window.
Then she entered the coffee shop.
Hiding on the stairs between the first and second floors, she watched A-jin.
"All done."
Having finished typing everything up, A-jin saved to the USB one last time and stretched her arms.
"Drank two cups and now... Ugh."
Muttering about needing to go urgently, she hurried to the restroom.
With no idea what was about to happen.
* * *
Jun-woo arrived at Love Park.
No need to search—Jong-min was right there in a gazebo near the entrance.
Jong-min rolled around on the gazebo floor like a heartbroken soul in agony.
"What are you doing? So pathetic."
Jun-woo looked at him pitifully.
"Bro... I'm done for."
"Why?"
"Cho-hee said she likes someone else."
She'd told him to get rejected, but he hadn't expected her to outright mention liking someone.
Jun-woo felt a pang—could the person she liked be him?—but he wasn't sure if spilling the truth was the right call.
Still, since he'd clearly been rejected too, he figured pretending not to know would be best for Jong-min.
"Say something."
"Like what?"
"Keep pushing? She likes the guy, but they're not dating, right?"
"Just give up. She said she's not interested."
"Nah. A guy can't quit after one rejection."
"You're crazy..."
Would Jong-min feel betrayed if he found out later?
Jun-woo agonized but ultimately didn't tell him the truth.
Unsure how things might play out between Jong-min and Cho-hee, he decided playing dumb was the safest bet for now.
* * *
The next day, Jun-woo asked A-jin about the assignment he'd left her to finalize for printing.
"Where'd you save it?"
At his question, A-jin pulled the USB from her pencil case and handed it to him.
"Here."
Jun-woo plugged the USB into his laptop and checked the files.
Click. Click. After a few mouse clicks, he tilted his head oddly.
"Huh? It's not there."
"What?"
"Gone."
A-jin crowded close to him, insisting there was no way.
"No way. I moved it and even reopened the file to check."
"But it's not there."
"Did you open the wrong one? Or is it not reading?"
A-jin grabbed the mouse and checked again, but not a single assignment file in sight.
Panicking, she whipped out her own laptop.
Even if there'd been an error deleting the USB files, the original on her laptop had to be there.
Prone to carelessness and having lost files more than once or twice, A-jin had double- and triple-checked the save.
Confident, she opened the folder labeled "Assignment."
But no file there either.
Her flustered face drained of color, turning pale.
"No way... There's no way. I definitely saved it. Where'd it go? Did I save it in another folder?"
A-jin frantically opened every folder, hunting for the missing file.
"What? You guys didn't do it?"
Jung-hwa noticed the weird vibe and asked.
"It's presentation day today. Ten points on the performance eval."
Yoo-jin chimed in from the side.
Even with six teammates for a pair project, they all tensed up, worried about blowback.
"N-No... I definitely did..."
Tears welled up in A-jin's eyes.
She felt terrible for her teammates—especially Jun-woo.
Jun-woo, who had been watching quietly, took her laptop.
"Give it here."
"Huh?"
"Your laptop."
A-jin handed it over with a teary expression.
He clicked the mouse a few times, plugged in the USB, and transferred the files.
As the transfer window popped up, A-jin leaned in close with wide eyes.
"What? It's there?"
He looked burdened by her face in his space, yanked out the USB, and stood up.
"I'll go print it."
As he left the classroom, A-jin brought her laptop back and checked.
A folder window was open, containing their assignment file.
A-jin stared at the screen in disbelief.
"It definitely wasn't there when I looked."
"You should've checked better."
Jung-hwa and Yoo-jin relaxed now that the file was found.
"Sorry."
"Nah, it's not like you owe *us* an apology."
Part of her was embarrassed for showing her inner panic.
Either way, relieved the file was safe, A-jin smiled and followed after Jun-woo.
He was at a printer in the corner of the library.
"What? How'd you find it? It was totally gone. Where was it? Did you save a copy somewhere?"
A-jin stuck right by his side, firing questions nonstop.
She was buzzing now that there'd be no mess for the others.
And dying to know how the file had magically reappeared.
When he didn't answer, she squatted down to meet his eyes and peered up at his face.
"Where'd you find it? Where did I save it?"
Only then did he furrow his brow with drooped eyes, looking annoyed.
"You're so noisy."
He showed his irritation, and A-jin wilted, wondering if she'd messed up.
"Sorry, I was just really curious."
"I set up an auto-backup."
"Auto-backup? That's a thing?"
"Yeah. Figured you'd pull something like this."
"Hey! Saying it like that makes me sound like a total screw-up."
"Aren't you?"
"Of course not!"
His words pricked her pride, and A-jin bristled.
"But it's weird. I definitely saved it in the assignment folder..."
"Guess it didn't save."
"But no... I even reopened the file to check..."
A-jin stayed crouched, mulling it over, while Jun-woo gathered the printouts and stood.
She rose to follow—and since she was so close, her forehead bonked right into his chest.
"Ow!"
Rubbing her forehead, she looked up at him.
Jun-woo couldn't help but chuckle.
She was cute.
Her round eyes peering up at him, the way she'd scampered over chattering nonstop, her flustered face...
He flicked his index and middle fingers lightly against her forehead with a *thwack*.
"You think that'll crack it?"
The playful touch caught her off guard.
A-jin touched her forehead again, eyes wide in surprise.
*What... all of a sudden?*
