Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Top Student of the School Hides Their Regression
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"Look, check this out. It's the daily menu for Korea University's pickpocket club pop-up bar."
"How much do I have to pay here for two kimchi pancakes and some hwachae?"
"I'm not eating it."
"Me neither."
Treating the customers so poorly.
Rude Korea University jerks. No wonder you're solving root formulas in clubs!
Seo Jae-kyeom set down the mechanical pencil he was holding and grumbled.
"Why do they have to turn it into a problem instead of just asking for a simple calculation? And please, no more of that salt water concentration nonsense."
"Tell them to stop pulling blue and red marbles out of their pockets too."
"Exactly. It's weird."
"Weird? The Wings of Weirdness."
"……."
I didn't just drop 'The Wings of Weirdness.' It was the Student Teacher.
And when we looked over, he went into the second verse.
"Grow back, oh wings. Fly. Fly. Let's try flying one more time."
"……."
Typical Korean Literature major...
I couldn't let that slide.
I replied in all seriousness.
"The First Alligator said math is too hard..."
"I know it's a love that won't come to me in this lifetime, yet I'll keep thinking of it alone..."
"So stay beautiful forever..."
"Da-hye, stop it."
"Do you qualify to become the Student Teacher's junior?"
"Don't major in Korean Literature. You'll starve."
"I'm aiming for the Nobel Prize in Literature!"
"What?"
The Student Teacher and I laughed while Seo Jae-kyeom pouted.
"You memorize that stuff all the time?"
"It shows up a lot on mock exams. You end up memorizing it after seeing it constantly."
"I couldn't memorize it..."
"Oh dear..."
Yeah, you should've studied Korean more.
"Jae-kyeom, you got this wrong. This quadratic square matrix here..."
While the Student Teacher grabbed Seo Jae-kyeom to explain the four-point problem, I munched on snacks and looked out the window.
The sky had been overcast since morning, and now it was raining.
Unlike my house, where I'd douse the indoor drying laundry with fabric softener because it might smell on days like this and place dehumidifiers in every corner, Seo Jae-kyeom's house—with the AC humming lowly—was comfortable and fresh.
Watching the raindrops pour into the garden through the clean floor-to-ceiling windows from the refreshingly cool living room...
'This must be what... buying ambiance with money feels like?'
I probably couldn't enjoy a life of contentment in poverty. Sorry, ancestors.
Still, vacation had been smooth so far.
Mom had recovered enough to reopen the store, and the Student Teacher's respected senior thankfully remembered the Kang Tae-ju chaebol heir impersonation case and said he'd track down the Shaman from there.
If no issues arose, the Shakespeare Shaman incident would be wrapped up before vacation ended.
Seo Jae-kyeom's mom would be shocked to learn the Shaman she relied on was a fraud—and a woman—but better to be shocked now than get scammed and shocked later, right?
'But still.'
I debated whether to mention this.
I talked to the Student Teacher about it on the phone yesterday? He told me to call whenever convenient, so I did.
But do you know the Student Teacher's ringback tone?
Noona, you're too pretty...
No matter what they say, to me you're life's everything...
My heart tells me the end is near~~~~♪
No matter what anyone says...
It's a song from at least five years ago. When did he set that? Turns out it was February the year before last. His senior must've graduated then.
Calling him a 'young guy' when I first met the Student Teacher was spot-on in some ways.
I shook my head.
While I did, Seo Jae-kyeom and the Student Teacher were discussing the ratio of handsome male students at Korea University.
Surprisingly, Seo Jae-kyeom brought it up first.
"Are there a lot of handsome guys at Korea University?"
"Handsome faces only?"
"No. Tall, handsome, and fit guys."
"There won't be any handsome guys at college."
I chimed in while munching snacks. I said 'won't be,' but I know. There aren't.
None.
Seo Jae-kyeom scratched his eyebrow at my firm answer.
"Don't all the senior guys at college look like Kim Soo-hwan, Ijeh Hon, or Song Dae-gi now?"
"If Song Dae-gi had a common face, he wouldn't be the school promo model."
He's class of '05 and still promoting the school.
The Student Teacher smirked and jumped in.
"Don't worry, Jae-kyeom. No matter which university you go to, you'll be the handsomest there."
Seo Jae-kyeom replied with determination in his eyes.
"Which university? I'm going to Korea University with Kang Da-hye."
"How?"
"Walking?"
The Student Teacher and I said it at the same time.
Sorry, but you bombed music with a 50... And it seems like you've given up on more than just 1- or 2-point questions because you didn't feel like doing them.
Getting into Korea University isn't easy.
Even in my past life, I was number one in school for three years straight but couldn't meet the CSAT minimum and didn't get in.
"Walking right into Korea University☆"
"Kang Da-hye..."
The Student Teacher chuckled at Seo Jae-kyeom's classic 'Even Brutus?' betrayed look.
"Alright. Then a simple test. Let's do this and get back to studying."
[TEST] When taking a test, you initially check answer 2, but the more you look, the more you think, "Wait, is it 3?" It happens when you're confused. What do you do then? - Stick with 2. - Change to 3. "We'll count one, two, three, and answer together with the teacher."
One.
Two.
Three.
"Study so you never get confused in the first place."
"You should've studied so it doesn't confuse you from the start."
"Stick with 2."
"……."
"……."
The Student Teacher and I looked at Seo Jae-kyeom at the same time. The Student Teacher shook his head.
"Jae-kyeom, your mindset isn't there yet."
I pulled a pen from my pencil case and laid it out between Seo Jae-kyeom and me.
Drawing a line to Seo Jae-kyeom.
————-—-line————-—-
"Don't come any closer."
Seo Jae-kyeom's fisted hand trembled.
As expected.
Our Jae-kyeom.
Korea University it is—by walking.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Jae-kyeom was truly regretting it.
The past where he'd carelessly bombed a 50 out of laziness had come back to...
Smack him right in the back of the head.
And meanwhile, Kang Da-hye wasn't even paying attention to him as she looked at her phone. A smile played on her lips as she typed messages away.
"Kang Da-hye, who are you KakaoTalking with?"
"Lee Seo-jun."
"You're messaging Lee Seo-jun separately?!"
"Not all the time."
"Why... why? Why message him?"
"I can message sometimes..."
"Why?!"
"He messaged me; I can't just ignore it."
"You ignore my KakaoTalks!"
"You send useless stuff."
"Does Lee Seo-jun send useful, informative stuff?!"
"Yeah."
He'd accidentally bought two copies of the same workbook by mistake and was giving me one. Kang Da-hye replied calmly as she packed her bag.
She asked the Student Teacher, "Aren't you going, Teacher?" and said she'd head out first then.
While Da-hye did that, Jae-kyeom was seething with rage toward Lee Seo-jun.
Wow, I never pegged Lee Seo-jun for this, stabbing me in the back like that?! That sly fox $%(#)#($#%.
Unbelievable, seriously???
He knew it was petty and underhanded to badmouth him behind his back like this, but Jae-kyeom couldn't see straight.
He yelled.
"He must like you!"
"Huh."
"Lee Seo-jun likes you. That's why he's sending ridiculous lies like buying two workbooks."
"……."
"It's all an excuse. An excuse to talk to you!"
It looked so obvious.
Silence fell, and Jae-kyeom's face slowly turned red.
Unlike Jae-kyeom, who was mortified by his own words and didn't know what to do, Kang Da-hye was unfazed.
She pocketed her phone and said.
"Seemed like it."
"It seemed like it?"
"Lee Seo-jun... cried when I died."
"When did he cry?"
"It's nothing."
"……."
"But Seo Jae-kyeom."
"...Yeah."
"You know what I'm thinking right now, right?"
Whether Lee Seo-jun likes me or not, who gave you the right to blurt it out? Kang Da-hye scolded him with her eyes, bowed to the Student Teacher, and went down the stairs.
All that was left was Jae-kyeom wallowing in self-loathing and the Student Teacher.
The Student Teacher had been watching Da-hye and Jae-kyeom bicker with his chin propped up, smiling brightly.
He'd been lingering at the house instead of going home today and suddenly said.
"Jae-kyeom."
"Yes?!"
"You like Da-hye."
"……."
That was it.
The reason Jae-kyeom, who usually insisted on walking her home all the way to her doorstep, had stayed upstairs today.