Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Drunk in the Boys' Room
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Jihan
What's your room number? Gonna come hang out lol 22:14
Joking, but actually a girl from your school passed out in our room.
Seems like she's from your class.
Come pick her up. 22:15
"Me?!"
I hurriedly sent a reply.
Who's from our class?
Jihan
It's a girl. 22:16
It had to be Jang Ji-won!
Of course it was!
Everyone else in our class was either here or had gone back to their rooms to sleep, and the only group hanging out separately was Park Su-hwan's crew... but they wouldn't message me to come pick up a guy!
Why was Jang Ji-won over there?!
I was going insane. I ran a hand through my hair.
Jeong Eun-seong, who had been peeking at my KakaoTalk next to me, looked equally serious. He whispered.
"What do we do?"
"We have to go get her."
Jang Ji-won was in another school's dorm—worse, a boys' room. If this got out, it would be chaos. The school trip might even get cut short and we'd all have to go home.
No, wait—was Jang Ji-won okay?
For now, I messaged this Jihan guy—aka fake Su-hwan—asking for their room number.
"So, Jeong Na-jun! Do you like anyone?! No?! Then out of our class, even if none of them are your type, but still! If you had to date just one! Ju~st one?!"
I tapped Ye-su-a's thigh, who was grilling him under the guise of truth or dare.
I showed her the KakaoTalk as her eyes flashed toward me.
"...Crazy."
"Yeah. Totally crazy."
"Wasn't she supposed to be at her boyfriend's room? Why's she there?"
"No idea..."
"What do we do?"
"I'll go get her."
"You, Kang Da-hye? What if you get caught by the teachers too?"
"They're probably all drinking together by now... or showering and sleeping. I'll sneak over. If I get caught leaving, I'll say I'm going to the convenience store."
"I'll go with Kang Da-hye."
Jeong Eun-seong grabbed his phone from beside me as I sighed.
"Okay, but don't tell the others for now. It's not good news."
"Yeah."
I nodded and stood up.
Of course, slipping out unnoticed from this room where everyone was sitting in a circle together was impossible. The moment Jeong Eun-seong and I stood, all eyes turned to us.
Ga-eun asked.
"Where are you two going?"
"Oh, just to the convenience store real quick."
"Just the two of you?"
"...We need to buy some stuff."
I trailed off on purpose. Ga-eun nodded.
"Okay, hurry back. Want some wet wipes? I can lend you some."
"No, it's fine."
She must have taken my 'need to buy stuff' as an extension of the urgent bathroom signal from earlier.
Jeong Eun-seong and I bumped shoulders as we put on our shoes.
Right before opening the door, my eyes met Seo Jae-kyeom's as he alternated glances between me and Jeong Eun-seong, the two of us sneaking out alone.
"......"
Seo Jae-kyeom's expression...
"Wait, why have I been the only one answering this whole time?!"
Jeong Na-jun shouted at just the right moment.
He pointed at Jeong Eun-seong, who was already opening the door to leave.
"Eun-seong! Do you like anyone?!"
"Yeah."
Jeong Eun-seong gave a curt reply and shut the door.
"Jeong Eun-seong, do you like anyone?"
The fake Su-hwan's dorm was in the annex. It was a clear sign of the hotel's efforts to keep the two schools as separated as possible.
"Ooh~"
"Kang Da-hye~"
Some kids from another class, loaded up with snacks from the first-floor convenience store, gave Jeong Eun-seong and me knowing looks as we passed by.
I ignored their stares completely as Jeong Eun-seong shot back.
"Yeah, I do."
"How come I didn't know?"
"'Cause I never told you."
And I was always good at hiding my feelings anyway, Jeong Eun-seong added. He hesitated before asking.
"Your girlfriend?"
"Nah."
"So it's just a one-sided crush?"
"Yeah."
"......"
Trainee from the same agency or something?
Q. Kang Da-hye, have you ever even considered it might be you?
A. Honestly?
Like, really honestly?
Truth-or-dare level honestly?
Um... well...
'Truth be told, I've thought about it a few times before bed.'
I stopped myself—those kinds of delusions made me sound way too much like Do Ha-jun.
The type to get ahead of myself just because someone was being a little nice.
Losing all objectivity, collecting crumbs of Jeong Eun-seong's casual kindness as 'proof he likes me.'
Wasn't that exactly what happened with Seo Jae-kyeom before I regressed? My feelings overflowed, I confessed, and it all fell apart.
What if I was just misreading things on my own?
If I was wrong, I might not even be able to stay close to Jeong Eun-seong like this.
And if I was right, then what?
I had to study, and he was a trainee.
I'd regressed for a reason— I couldn't forgive myself if my grades tanked over some romance.
Best not to think about it at all.
"Must be her."
"Yeah."
We passed a pink-lit photo zone where two swans touched beaks to form a heart shape and entered the annex.
In the annex lobby, someone I pegged as a teacher from their school was on the phone and eyed us suspiciously.
"Oh, do what you said you'd do~"
"Get lost~"
We pretended to be siblings from a family staying there— I kicked Jeong Eun-seong's leg and slipped past.
"This the place?"
"Yeah."
We knocked on the door of the room number fake Su-hwan had given. Soon, there was a clatter inside, and he peeked his head out.
"You actually came."
He grinned like a total goofball at me, then sobered up when he spotted Jeong Eun-seong behind me.
Soon, the guys from earlier that afternoon brought out the sleeping Jang Ji-won.
"Pfft..."
I took her in—she was snoring through her nose, totally out of it—and checked her over.
Good, she wasn't hurt or anything...
"...Did you guys give her booze?"
"No way!"
Fake Su-hwan waved his hands, dead serious.
"I was hanging out next door and came for a charger, and there's this random girl passed out in our room. I was shocked. Clearly not from our school... But I checked her phone, and you were saved in her friends list."
"......"
"Sorry for messaging without asking. But I didn't have a choice."
Couldn't exactly tell our homeroom teacher. Fake Su-hwan grumbled that he was stuck too.
"You don't know who brought her here?"
"No clue."
"Where are your other guys?"
"Some next door, some sleeping."
"Ugh."
Jang Ji-won, seriously...
"Got it. Thanks for letting me know. Now delete my number."
I told fake Su-hwan and hoisted Jang Ji-won up.
"Haa..."
Memories from my college days before regressing came flooding back.
During sophomore MT, we put a drunk freshman girl in the room next door, checked back an hour later, and she was gone. Phone off.
Panicked, we spent hours combing that dark mountainside MT village. No trace.
Kept calling—no answer. Woke up the sleepers—no one knew anything.
MT got halted, everyone searched for hours.
One drunk classmate twisted her ankle tripping around the dimly lit paths behind the village, another barged into neighboring buildings mid-party asking around and got into a fight, and eventually we were crying, wondering if something terrible had happened...
Turns out she woke up, missed her boyfriend, and took a taxi home.
That boyfriend was a senior from our department, seven years ahead of me.
Why no phone? She was scared we'd be mad.
Two years from now, Jang Ji-won would turn into that kind of college student...
"Seriously, argh..."
"Here, give her to me."
Jeong Eun-seong, who'd been watching, took Jang Ji-won from me. As we left, fake Su-hwan said.
"If there's any trouble, hit me up. I'll try to figure out who brought her."
"Yeah, thanks. Appreciate the heads-up."
You're definitely better than the real Park Su-hwan.
You've got a name, so calling you fake Su-hwan forever feels off. If we run into each other again, maybe Curvy Su-hwan?
Though never seeing you again would be ideal!
I sighed and turned back with Jeong Eun-seong.
"Let's go."
I'd done it all now.
"Ugh, so hot."
We laid the dead-to-the-world Jang Ji-won down in our empty room.
"Seriously hot. Argh."
I plopped down on the floor, twisting my hair up with my hand and fanning myself.
Too exhausted to even turn on the light. But some light filtered in from outside, so it wasn't pitch black.
I focused the breeze on my bare neck, then my eyes met Jeong Eun-seong's.
In the darkness, he was staring blankly at me.
"Why stare like that? Fell for me or something?"
It was a joke, but he didn't reply.
Embarrassed, I fiddled with my phone for no reason. Messaged Ye-su-a that we'd gotten her back safe and stood up.
"C'mon, let's go."
Time to finish the school trip.
That's when Jeong Eun-seong blurted out.
"Don't go."
"Huh?"
"Don't go. Stay here."
"Uh..."
"I'm sleepy... Can't we just sleep together?"
Me?