Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: School Trip Day
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School trip day.
What was Jeong Eun-seong's reaction when he saw me?
"Kang Da-hye, why the long face?"
"……."
I knew it would be like this.
Jeong Eun-seong doesn't care what I wear. He'd probably overlook me even if I showed up draped in a sackcloth.
I'm the one who pays attention to his every move.
He has no idea that I didn't need to dress up like this. And this is Ga-eun's outfit, no less…….
I threw such a fit about not wanting skirt leggings or crop tops that Ga-eun, whose tastes are closest to mine, lent me some clothes.
I'll just say they were neat enough to fit 11-year-olds' standards from back then and not look bad to my future-self eyes.
It's embarrassing.
Jeong Eun-seong, who perfectly caught my awkward, embarrassed vibe, bent down to look at me.
"Tired?"
"No."
"Hungry?"
"No."
"Didn't study enough?"
"That's definitely not it."
I finished everything this morning.
"Then why are you pouting?"
Good grief. He doesn't notice the outfit change but picks up on the face change just fine. Do you only see my face?!
Gyeong Se-in, watching with hopeful eyes and clasped hands, chimed in from the side.
"Eun-seong! Isn't Da-hye pretty today?!"
See this! Look over here! She spun me around like a doll.
Say I'm pretty quick! She was practically beaming telepathy at him, but Jeong Eun-seong, along with the other friends gathered round waiting for his reaction, stayed indifferent.
"Not really…."
"Not reaaally?!"
"There was never a time you weren't… pretty."
He tossed out the words like he was grudgingly doing her a favor, then turned and walked off.
Yeon-hee, who had been standing silently, shouted at the air.
"Shut the school down!"
"Right? That's what I'm saying."
Ga-eun, grinning ear to ear unlike her usual slightly frowning expression, grabbed Yeon-hee's shoulder.
No matter what we said behind him, Jeong Eun-seong was already far away.
I glanced once at him washing his face at the sink despite surely having applied sunscreen, then at Seo Jae-kyeom coming over with the homeroom teacher carrying boxes.
"Kang Da-hye!"
Seo Jae-kyeom spotted me and raised his arms loaded with luggage high.
"Did you put on sunscreen? They say the sun's brutal today!"
What? Isn't that heavy?
"You didn't? Good thing I'm here!"
One thing was clear: Seo Jae-kyeom didn't seem to care much about my outfit either.
"Shut the school down!"
Yeon-hee shouted it again, her campaign gaining steam.
"Heh heh heh…."
"Heh heh heh…."
I had no idea what they were aiming for, but it was obviously a failure, yet the friends seemed in high spirits.
Fine… if you're happy, I'm happy too.
"Let's play Truth or Dare tonight."
Ye-su-a whispered to me as I seriously studied the schedule the homeroom teacher handed out.
"Won't you crash early and pass out?"
"Don't be weak. We're doing it, Truth or Dare."
"Fiiiine."
Truth or Dare, and no one ever tells the truth anyway…….
I dragged out my response while glaring at the Day 2 schedule on the sheet.
Before regression, Jeong Eun-seong's cheek scar happened during the survival experience on Day 2.
A lot had changed since regression, even the trip location, but the survival activity schedule stayed the same.
I couldn't let my guard down.
"So, when do we head out?"
"Ugh…."
On the bus to the school trip, who sits next to who is a big deal for teens.
I sat next to Do-yeon.
Reason: Planned to listen to English listening test MP3s together.
But it failed.
Reason: The bus had karaoke.
With Jeong Na-jun belting out tunes like a future lead vocalist without a shred of shame, I ended up falling asleep…….
"Da-hye, you up?"
"Yeah… where are we?"
"Rest area. Getting off soon."
"Oh."
I dazedly watched the class kids giggling and snapping pics of a friend who'd fallen asleep with her head thrown back and mouth open.
"Who put a jacket over me?"
"That was me."
Ye-su-a popped up grinning and urged me to get up quick for chicken skewers.
The homeroom teacher grabbed the mic from the front seat.
"Only 20 minutes at the rest area! Hit the bathroom first, then snacks after. Got it? If the line's too long, skip it!"
"But I don't wanna skip the chicken skewers……."
"Snap a pic of our bus number before you go! Call the teacher if anything happens!"
Just in case they leave without me, gotta keep my phone close.
I was spacing out when a hand suddenly shot out from the seat ahead.
Seo Jae-kyeom, who must've been sitting there unnoticed, twisted around to look down at me.
"Kang Da-hye, rub this on me."
Sunscreen.
"Why me?"
"I haven't washed my hands."
"Me neither."
We'd both been trapped on this bus for two and a half hours.
"It's fine. Wipe it on my face."
"Huh…? With what?"
Is he sane?
While I gawked, he popped the sunscreen cap and squeezed out a massive glob onto his cheek like he'd never used it before, then closed his eyes and thrust his face forward.
"……."
"Hurry."
Looks like he'd switched strategies to shameless denial, pretending ranks and all that didn't exist.
"Kang Da-hye, my hands really have stuff on them……."
He held out his closed-eye hand. Cheese powder on his fingers. What'd he eat?
No choice, I applied it.
More like roughly smeared it, but anyway.
"Done."
"Did a good job?"
"Nope."
"Heh."
Seo Jae-kyeom opened his eyes, his face ghostly white.
…Did I overdo it?
That thick, even regular lotion would block UV. No sun hitting the skin.
"I'll grab food!"
Grinning like Peking opera makeup, he bolted off the bus.
I watched his back awkwardly, then locked eyes with Jeong Eun-seong across the way. He looked away first and got off the bus.
…No matter how I think about it, he's been weird lately.
Fine one moment, then suddenly gloomy.
"Heh heh…."
"Heh heh…."
I awkwardly told the friends grinning at me.
"Shall we get off too?"
"Kang, what you wanna eat?"
"Um… water…?"
"That's just swallowing spit!"
Tornado potatoes at the rest area! Gyeong Se-in insisted, wearing a UV-blocking hat that covered her whole face, fresh from some recent drama.
Then Jang Ji-won popped up behind us and dashed to the Class 5 bus parked diagonally ahead.
"Babe!"
Latest Jang Ji-won update, which no one's asking for.
Jang Ji-won got back with Park Su-hwan after that.
Yeah, right.
She forgave him again…….
♀️
Good thing Yeon-hee didn't trash Park Su-hwan while accepting Ji-won back, or it'd have been disaster.
Post-reunion, she'd have snitched everything like, "Babe, you know? Yeon-hee hates you so much~" to leverage "So treat me right!"
And not two days later, Park Su-hwan's cheating texts to a girl from the next school over got exposed, breakup again.
Now she's dating some short guy from Class 5 who acts superior.
That's her.↓
'You know director Joo No-bong's [Snow Country Cold Tea]? The train in that movie keeps passing through tunnels nonstop, like passing through a coffin. That's why the English title is Snow Pipe.'
(Reference: The English title is Snowpiercer.)
She claps along to her clueless boyfriend's bluffing, thinking My man's so smart. That's her routine lately.
Today too, she begged the teacher to ride the Class 5 bus with her boyfriend, failed, sat alone by the teacher the whole way without a peep, and now bolting to the Class 5 bus the second we stop.
"Why the sour face? Carsick? Go, babe! Drink the cola Jiwonie bought ya!"
"……."
No, during the whole "Jang Ji-won Out" phase, I thought she'd gotten her karma.
But after, she keeps pouring herself into boyfriends, getting dumped, repeat. I can't understand why she's self-flagellating like this.
Nothing more I can do.
Not till she realizes it herself.
Yang: Ji-woong, you don't even know how pathetic you look right now?
Woong: …
"But I've been wondering. Like last time when she begged to pair with Park Su-hwan for Da-hye, why does Ji-won always chase after her boyfriend? Can't the boyfriend come to her?"
Gyeong Se-in's innocent question made Do-yeon burst out laughing.
We chatted while hitting the bathroom, and time was running short.
"Chicken skewers…."
"We'll grab some on the way back."
Consoling disappointed Ye-su-a, we headed to the bus when Jeong Eun-seong wedged between us holding a bag stuffed with chicken skewers.
"Chicken skewers!"
Ye-su-a's eyes lit up at the spicy sauce dripping ones. Jeong Eun-seong hesitated a bit before handing one to Ye-su-a.
"Here. …Ye-su-a."
"Gasp."
What's this? Calling her by name right?