Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Playlist Party
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Today, when I opened my eyes in the morning.
Eun-seong felt as if he had awakened from a long sleep.
'I only slept two hours.'
He had been locked in the practice room until 3 a.m. under the pretext of receiving end-of-month evaluation feedback.
He should have been exhausted from sleeping so little, but strangely, his mind was clear and his mood was exhilarated.
Glancing at the clock, he saw there were still 17 minutes until the alarm.
Normally, he would have pulled the blanket up to catch even a bit more sleep.
But oddly, today he wanted to get to school early.
He wanted to check something.
What?
He didn't know.
"Oppa, you're up early."
"Yeah."
"Breakfast?"
"I'm good. Did you set something out for me?"
"I already ate."
Even as he washed up, dried his hair, and put on the uniform hanging on the hanger from yesterday, his heart pounded strangely.
An inexplicable fluttering excitement.
"Oppa, leaving already?"
"Yeah."
In the end, Eun-seong left home 20 minutes earlier than usual.
[This stop is in front of Gogo High School. The next stop is Jungjung Middle School......]
The commute, now familiar after three days, was utterly ordinary.
Familiar roadside trees, familiar apartment complexes, familiar convenience stores, PC bangs, and math academies.
Just as his excited mood began to settle back to normal.
"Ah."
He realized he had forgotten to drink his milk in his rush to leave.
A fifth-year top idol senior, who would gather the male trainees in the underground practice room during breaks to dispense unwanted advice, had said:
'Don't regret it later—take precautions now. Set a schedule: stretch three times a day, chug two liters of milk daily, and get to bed early!'
......It was about height.
The one piece of advice from that senior worth listening to.
Eun-seong, already 6 cm taller than the senior, couldn't fully empathize with his desperation, but he agreed he needed to grow a lot more.
So he stocked the house with white milk and drank it whenever he could.
Even if he skipped breakfast, his routine was to down one 500ml pack before heading out—but today, in his haste, he forgot.
"......"
Eun-seong's current height was 179.7 cm.
Just 0.3 cm more, and the first digit would change, but it wasn't easy.
Eun-seong was inwardly very bothered by his awkward height, so he glanced at his watch and stopped by the school store.
"Handsome student, what can I get you?"
"Milk, please."
"Milk? Chocolate milk?"
"No, white milk."
"We only have the small ones for white milk......"
"Five, please."
The store owner watched in amazement as Eun-seong lined up the milk cartons like yogurt and gulped them down one by one.
"Your hands are huge, kid. The milk looks cute in them."
"Yeah."
As he crumpled the five now-empty small milk cartons and tossed them into the recycling bin before leaving.
"Ah, but Seo Jae-kyeom is seriously so handsome."
"Yeah. The handsomest guy in our school."
"What are you talking about? The handsomest guy among all the boys I know."
...Is there someone more handsome than me at this school?
His steps toward the exit naturally halted.
Turning around, he saw four girls sitting at a long cafeteria table next to the store.
Among them, one with long straight hair caught his eye.
I've seen her somewhere before.
Eun-seong narrowed his eyes.
While he stared at the straight-haired girl, who was on a call and not joining the conversation, the others continued without noticing him.
"Kang Da-hye likes Seo Jae-kyeom."
"Meh?! For real?!"
"You didn't know? It's so obvious."
Girl 1 scoffed as if wondering how anyone could miss it.
"Whoa... But isn't Seo Jae-kyeom into Ji-su?"
Girl 3 shouted exasperatedly next to Girl 2, who had her mouth open.
"No, who even is Kang Da-hye? Am I the only one who doesn't know?"
"The pale, skinny girl in Class 2. Top student of the school."
"She's the top student?"
"The homeroom teacher mentioned it last time....... She only got one problem wrong across all subjects the entire year last year."
"I didn't hear that."
"Does it show that much that you don't study?"
"Wanna die?"
"But she likes Seo Jae-kyeom?"
"They don't match at all."
"Well, she can like whoever she wants~."
Despite her words, Girl 1's face was full of mockery, as if dying to ridicule Da-hye's crush on Jae-kyeom.
Girl 2 asked again.
"But Seo Jae-kyeom likes Ji-su, right? Isn't Kang Da-hye friends with Ji-su?"
"Exactly. That's why Seo Jae-kyeom hates her."
"Did Seo Jae-kyeom say it himself? That he hates Kang Da-hye?"
"He didn't say it, but it's obvious if you watch."
"It's plain as day," Girl 1 asserted confidently. Girl 3 picked up.
"Whoa, but doesn't she have any pride? If the guy I like liked my friend, I'd never let it show."
"Not pride, just no tact."
"Those study-only types usually lack tact anyway."
"True. Just looking at what she wears, she doesn't seem stylish."
"Still, she's got some guts to show it."
"It's not showing; it's just obvious."
"Maybe she's doing it on purpose?"
"To keep Ji-su from getting Jae-kyeom?"
"Ah, the big picture?"
"So cool."
They chattered excitedly among themselves, then paused to eat their bread.
Girl 1 restarted the conversation.
The topic was still Kang Da-hye.
"Did you see her bag? I thought she was an elementary kid."
"It's probably the one from elementary. My friend went to the same elementary and middle school as her—says it's been the same since sixth grade."
"For real? Doesn't it get holes? Change it already."
"Whatever. Probably can't afford it."
"You all, stop it."
At that moment, the straight-haired girl ended her call, her face hardening as she snapped at them.
The others flinched at her serious expression. The straight-haired girl said.
"That's too much. What are you doing? You know Da-hye's close to me—why badmouth her in front of me?"
"No, it's just......"
"Ji-su, you and Seo Jae-kyeom seem to be getting along, and she's......"
"Why are you judging that for me? I'm not interested in Seo Jae-kyeom."
Only then did Eun-seong remember.
This Ji-su girl was the one from our class yesterday at lunch, waiting for her friend.
And Kang Da-hye.
'Our class.'
He recalled the homeroom teacher introducing her at the start of the semester: the undisputed top student since enrollment, so ask her if you're behind due to different school curricula.
'She seemed super smart back then.'
Why was she hearing crap like that behind her back?
With a sigh, Eun-seong tossed the milk carton into the bin.
The girls finally noticed him and turned in surprise, but Eun-seong was already leaving the cafeteria.
'No tact. No pride. Carries an elementary school bag.'
Trashing someone verbally is way too easy.
Honestly, whether Kang Da-hye got trashed or not was none of Eun-seong's business, but maybe the harsh words stuck because they were so vivid. They kept echoing in his head.
Mulling it over, he entered the fourth-floor hallway where the second-year classrooms were.
"Agh!"
A phone rolled to Eun-seong's feet.
An old model, scratched all over. He picked up the smartphone.
'...Unrequited Love Playlist?'
98 songs.
Raising his head, Eun-seong saw Kang Da-hye, face beet red with teary eyes.
A surge of annoyance hit him.
He didn't know why.
Why are you crying every time I see you?
'Every time I see you?'
Not knowing why he thought that, Eun-seong opened his mouth.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Really? Da-hye knows a lot of good songs? That's unexpected."
"No! I don't! I don't!"
"Nah, I saw it. You were having a solo hit song party."
"Really? Da-hye, don't party alone—invite us next time."
"Huh?!"
"Then Da-hye can pick the songs by performance evaluation time."
Ignoring my frantic waving denial, the teacher turned toward the piano keys.
I whipped around and glared at Jeong Eun-seong.
-Are you insane?
I scribbled furiously on a torn notebook page and passed it to the friend behind me.
"Pass this to Jeong Eun-seong."
I watched with blazing eyes as the note reached him.
Jeong Eun-seong, who received it, flipped the sloppily folded note front and back once.
Then tossed it backward into the trash.
"......"
"......"
"Teacher. Kang Da-hye's glaring at me."
"Da-hye, teacher's right here. No matter how handsome Eun-seong is, look forward during class?"
"......"
At that moment, the frustration of forgetting everything from high school, the embarrassment over my teen angst playlist—none of it crossed my mind.
All that filled my head was burning revenge against Jeong Eun-seong......!
I ignored Seo Jae-kyeom, who had brushed me off hours ago, eyeing me and Eun-seong alternately with displeasure from across the room.
'Just you wait.'
This meant war.
Next period.
"Anyone want to come up and try a practice problem?"
"Teacher. Jeong Eun-seong wants to."
The period after that.
"Got it? Who'll read the next paragraph?"
"Teacher. Kang Da-hye wants to."
"Anyone willing to give up break time and carry this to the office?"
"Teacher. Jeong Eun-seong raised his hand. I saw it."
"Teacher. Kang Da-hye's on her phone."
"Teacher. Jeong Eun-seong's not studying—he's drawing."
"Teacher, Kang Da-hye's......"
"Teacher, Jeong Eun-seong's......"
"Kang Da-hye! Jeong Eun-seong!"
Finally, at lunch, the homeroom teacher stormed into the classroom red-faced and called me and Jeong Eun-seong.