Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Scaring Off the Stalker
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Han Ji-su
Kang Da-hye 22:07
22:07 I'm at work right now.
Han Ji-su
Still? 22:07
I've got some important stuff left to do!
22:08 What about you?
Han Ji-su
I just got out of cram school too. 22:08
Han Ji-su
Seo Jae-kyeom didn't show up again today lol.
Waste of money >.< 22:09
Seo Jae-kyeom's with me right now, that's why.
I swallowed the words I couldn't say and flipped my phone over. It felt like I'd unintentionally created a secret with Ji-su.
Even after I told her I didn't like Seo Jae-kyeom anymore, Ji-su still habitually shared updates about him.
'Come to think of it, Ji-su really pushed me and Seo Jae-kyeom together hard.'
She was the one who first suggested I sit with Seo Jae-kyeom instead of her during math class...
Now that I'm out of the picture, could Seo Jae-kyeom and Ji-su end up together this time around?
If so, I'd have to congratulate them.
So why was I with Seo Jae-kyeom past ten at night?
"Kang Da-hye. Is this outfit really okay?"
"Yeah."
I glanced at Seo Jae-kyeom whispering beside me.
I'd told him to dress as adult-like as possible, so he'd come in a shirt and slacks. It didn't make him look incredibly mature, but at least he passed for a freshman college student.
The kind of popular college guy with a bad personality who'd probably date a pretty upperclassman before March was out.
It was nice to see this version of Seo Jae-kyeom—a college student I'd never seen before regression and wouldn't see again—like this.
He noticed me sizing him up and lifted the corner of his mouth.
"How do I look? Old enough?"
"Just about twenty. Perfect."
Perfect age for grown-up swagger without overdoing it. He laughed as I added the explanation.
"I think this is the first time you've and I've been alone like this, Kang Da-hye."
Saying that, Seo Jae-kyeom handed me one of the two banana milks he'd just paid for.
"This is the one you like, right?"
Strictly speaking, I preferred coffee milk...
"Yeah."
I stuck a straw into the Tetra Pak banana milk and looked outside.
The convenience store's glass wall reflected me in uniform sucking on a banana milk next to Seo Jae-kyeom in casual clothes doing the same.
We were at the convenience store diagonally across from Iba Cram School.
"You sure this'll work? This is helping Kim Ga-eun more than helping you."
"Helping Kim Ga-eun helps me."
"Why?"
"Because solving this issue is my top priority right now."
"You're not even that close to her."
"We got close a few days ago."
"What does that...?"
"Shh. Here she comes."
That's the guy, I whispered, grabbing Seo Jae-kyeom's wrist next to me.
He flinched a bit and shut his mouth, staring at the cram school building and the middle-aged man sauntering toward it.
Question here.
What exactly had I asked Seo Jae-kyeom to do?
'There's this crazy old guy stalking Ga-eun at cram school. But she can't tell her parents. Pretend to be her big brother and scare him off.'
Guys like that ignore girls but listen to other guys.
If an adult man tells him to stay away from my little sister, he'll listen. Even if just out of fear of getting beat up.
'Does that creep come every day?'
'Not every day? Ga-eun doesn't go every day.'
'What if he doesn't show on the day I'm staking out?'
'Can't you come the next day?'
'What? So it's not just once.'
'...Want the chocolate back?'
Take this and do it twice. I remembered Seo Jae-kyeom's serious face at my mix of sheepishness and shamelessness.
'I was kidding. You eat it. I'll help until the creep shows.'
Luckily, he appeared on the first try.
I spotted the guy peeking at the cram school entrance and messaged Ga-eun inside. Soon, she came out with a tense expression, like usual.
The creep immediately followed. His smile looked even grosser from afar.
Confirming the guy approaching Ga-eun, Seo Jae-kyeom bolted out of the store.
I tossed my empty banana milk in the trash and followed. I hid behind an illegally parked car right in front and peeked my phone through the gap.
[Video Recording Started] "A grown girl out this late every time..."
"Hey, mister."
Seo Jae-kyeom strode over heavily and draped an arm over the guy's shoulder.
The creep panicked at the sudden buff young guy. Seo Jae-kyeom looked down at his shiny bald head like it was a bug and nodded at Ga-eun.
"Hey, is this the creep following you after cram school?"
Ga-eun hadn't even answered, but Seo Jae-kyeom nodded like he knew. That huge build and youthful skin gave off total thug vibes.
He glanced my way then suddenly grabbed the guy's collar.
"!"
I nearly jumped up.
Damn, Seo Jae-kyeom's badass!
Pulling the guy in with one hand, he whispered something in his ear. Whatever it was, the creep's face went white instantly.
The guy flailed.
"I-I just thought of her like a daughter... good intentions... No, student, you can't treat an adult like... Do you know how old I am?!"
"What dad gropes his daughter walking alone at night?"
"Gropes?! Misunderstanding!"
"Don't care if it's a misunderstanding or bullshit. Stay away from her. If you come back thinking you cleared it up... Bang...!"
"O-okay! I won't! I won't...!"
[Video Recording Ended] 'Hmm. Can't use this.'
If I showed this to anyone, Seo Jae-kyeom would get hauled off first.
'Didn't expect him to get so into it.'
Still, it worked perfectly.
The creep who'd ignored Ga-eun's obvious disgust tucked tail and vanished after one threat from Seo Jae-kyeom. Without even glancing her way.
Confirming the guy gone, Seo Jae-kyeom turned to Ga-eun.
"Hey, you okay?"
I stood from my hiding spot and ran over to them.
"What'd he say?"
"Said he won't come back. Told him I'd kill him if he shows again."
"And?"
"What else could he say but okay."
Seo Jae-kyeom shrugged. Like someone who'd never faced this kind of threat in his life.
Compared to him, Ga-eun...
She let out a hollow laugh and muttered.
"...It ends this easily."
I could read the emptiness on her face.
Yeah, right? Kinda anticlimactic?
I'd expected this, but seeing it myself still felt hollow.
I pocketed my phone.
"Anyway."
Time to solve the other problem.
I looked at the spaced-out Ga-eun.
"Kim Ga-eun."
"...Yeah."
"Apologize to Do-yeon at school tomorrow."
"Huh...?"
"No long talk. How'd you feel when that creep stuck to you earlier?"
"...Well."
"It sucked, right?"
"Yeah."
"If it sucked for you, think Do-yeon liked it?"
"......"
"You ditched Do-yeon and that's why the rumors started, you said. Because you left an opening. I could say the exact same to you right now. How'd you feel if someone said that to you in this situation?"
Now that you've felt it, you get it. I didn't want to say it, but...
I hoped this would make her realize something, even a little.
Ga-eun didn't reply, but I knew she understood.
I hugged the teary-eyed Ga-eun.
"Sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry to me for. Wasn't lecturing you."
"...Yeah."
Good, as long as she got it.
The rest is up to you.
"Heading straight home? I'll walk you. Seo Jae-kyeom, you?"
He nodded at my question.
"I'll go too."
"What's up with you."
"...I'm not that heartless, you know?"
With Ga-eun in the middle, the three of us walked side by side.
Ga-eun's apartment complex wasn't far.
"Go on in."
"Yeah."
Ga-eun, who had hesitated, spoke up.
"Thanks so much today. Da-hye, and you too, Seo Jae-kyeom."
"Yeah. If that creep shows again, call me. ...Actually, no. I'll pick you up after cram school for a while."
"Huh."
That sound was me, surprised.
Seo Jae-kyeom being this nice...?
Did you regress too or something?
After Ga-eun went in, I asked him.
"You feeling okay?"
"I'm not trash enough to ignore this..."
"Really...?"
"You did like me, right?"
"Wasn't your personality I liked."
"Wow."
"Hehe."
"How could I just stand by in a situation like this? Even for a stranger."
"Oh..."
"And."
Seo Jae-kyeom's blank gaze fixed right on me.
"If I pick up Kim Ga-eun, I get to see you too, right?"
"?"
That's what matters?