Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Parents' Day Trap
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"How?"
"There's that day next week when parents come to school."
Where our kids eat, what the facilities are like—they tour the whole school, observe classes, and have consultations with the homeroom teacher.
"You mean do it when Mom and Dad are here?"
"But if they just deny it even then, saying it never happened, isn't that that?"
"That's true, though."
I glanced around and lowered my head.
Whispers. Murmurs.
"...What do you think?"
"I'm for it."
The friend who first tipped us off about this raised her hand.
"Nothing to lose. Let's give it a shot."
"Yeah. We can try it and figure something else out if it doesn't work."
"I'm in too."
We've got to flip the table and make a scene right in front of their parents if we want them to stop pulling that crap from now on. Su-a, who'd passed the lookout role to another friend, plopped down on the bench and chimed in.
"Then we'll hash out the details in the girls' group chat?"
"Can't use KakaoTalk."
Ga-eun grimaced and jerked her chin toward the field.
"We've got one traitor in our midst."
"Hmm..."
"Hmm..."
The reason no one could argue back against the harsh word 'traitor'...
"Etchi! Hwaiting~"
All the girls from Class 2 were gathered on the vine-covered bench, but one was sitting alone up in the stands.
Eyeliner sharp enough to rival Bang Eun-ji's, blush like Peking opera makeup. Lips smeared bright red like a GGV part-timer from back in the day.
Wearing a hoodie way too big for her, with just three fingers poking out from the sleeves...
"Do your best, boyfriend!"
Cheering on her boyfriend playing basketball.
"How long is she gonna wear that hoodie? Isn't it hot? It's May already."
"It's her boyfriend. He told her she needs it because her body's weak, that it calms her down. Makes her feel like she's in his arms."
"Her boyfriend isn't even that big."
"Who knows..."
Jang Ji-won.
Girlfriend of one of Park Su-hwan's crew.
Best friends with Yeon-hee, but she doesn't even care that her friend is crying here—she's too busy cheering her man.
"My milky-skinned husband!"
"......"
"......"
Yeon-hee made excuses.
"It's her first boyfriend ever. I was worried she'd never get to date before graduation. You only get one shot at wearing the uniform."
"Oh, so that's why she shares everything from our group chat with her boyfriend?"
Ga-eun snarked.
Yeah.
That's why Ga-eun calls Jang Ji-won a traitor.
Like when Do Ha-jun got hit back by Do-yeon after chucking dodgeballs at the girls' faces and it turned into a fight. Or when the boys were jumping around the back of the classroom, accidentally smacked Yeon-hee making her cry, and didn't apologize.
Or all those times the girls' group chat blew up with stuff too private for the whole class KakaoTalk.
She showed it all to her boyfriend. And he'd throw it back at us like, 'You girls did that, right?'
'My boyfriend says you're all too worked up, that you should do this instead~'
And Jang Ji-won would just parrot that crap without thinking.
Ga-eun had already been gunning for her over it.
"So what do we do? Make a group chat without her?"
"Wouldn't that be bullying her too much?"
"But if we include her, it'll leak."
"Yeah. Last time we were trashing Do Ha-jun, she was the only one keeping quiet, so I checked—and she was live-streaming our convo to her boyfriend."
"Maybe it's not us excluding Jang Ji-won—maybe she's the one excluding us?"
"But still."
"We're not saying exclude your friend Yeon-hee forever—just handle this one thing separately. We tried to include her, but she didn't show. She's not even here right now."
"Ack!"
"Ugh!"
Right on cue, a collision broke out among the basketball guys.
"Hubby! You okay?!"
Jang Ji-won bolted over at light speed to help up her fallen boyfriend.
"Argh, why'd you butt in, Jang Ji-won! Get out!"
"You're killing our flow!"
"Why not! My husband's the one who fell!"
"......"
"......"
A chilly silence fell over the watching girls.
Even the ones who'd defended Jang Ji-won shook their heads.
"Fine. Let's do it without Jang Ji-won."
"Agreed."
As the girls steeled their resolve, I was lost in a different thought.
...Maybe we could even use Jang Ji-won to our advantage.
I suddenly remembered something from around this time. Hearing 'hubby' made goosebumps prickle all over, dragging the memory back to life.
'Hubby?!'
Isn't that, like, 30 years ago vibes—not 10?!
I handed tissues to Yeon-hee, who was crying again from secondhand embarrassment, and said,
"For now, let's check if their parents are coming to the observation class first."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Park Su-hwan."
"What."
"Are your parents coming to Open House next week?"
"Why?"
"Homeroom teacher wants to know who's coming."
Total lie.
Thankfully, Park Su-hwan answered without suspicion.
"Nah."
Why!
"Got it."
I played it cool, pretending to note it on my phone. Actually, I was typing crap like aw why notㅠㅠ wanna eat chicken with you meow.
Park Su-hwan scratched his side-head,
"Kyaa, ptooey."
pretended to spit and left the classroom.
The friends who'd been pretending to listen while goofing off exchanged glances. The kid in the second row shared intel.
"Park Su-hwan's mom might not even know about Open House. At the start of the semester, he put down his tablet number or whatever instead of his parents'. So they don't get contacted."
"That works?"
"Guess so."
"Whoa."
His brain really turns fast—for bad stuff.
"They say he fakes his report cards too. His mom's unemployed, so she wouldn't know anyway."
"Crazy."
Disrespecting the mom who gave birth to him.
But not escaping this time.
"We know Open House is a thing, so his parents might show if they hear..."
"Anyone know where Park Su-hwan lives?"
Ga-eun raised her hand at my question.
"Same apartment as him."
"Know which building?"
She nodded.
"Then I'll give you the parent notice for Open House. Can you post it on your building's bulletin board?"
"Yeah. There's one in the elevator—stick it there."
"Better yet, slip it in an school envelope into Park Su-hwan's mailbox."
"Don't know the unit number... but I'll find out today."
Ga-eun nodded solemnly.
That evening.
💬 KakaoTalk — Kim Ga-eun Stuffed it in Park Su-hwan's mailbox but he intercepted it 20:21 — Kim Ga-eun The elevator one looks ripped too
> ㅋ So I brought an extra 20:28
— 20:46 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The next day.
Park Su-hwan came to school huffing and told the homeroom teacher his parents would be coming next week.
"? Alright."
The clueless teacher nodded.
Later, from their chatter, his mom came home with the notice asking what it was, he snapped 'none of your business,' and got chewed out big time by his dad.
So Park Su-hwan's dad was coming to the observation class.
Oho.
'Do Ha-jun's parents will definitely come too.'
I remember his mom. She wore a pink tennis skirt super similar to our school uniform.
The rest went smoothly.
The problem was Jang Ji-won's boyfriend.
(He has a name, sure, but do we need it? 'Jang Ji-won's husband' works fine.)
"Jang Ji-won's boyfriend's the USB owner?"
"Yeah. Saw him pull it from his bag earlier."
The girls gathered at my desk sharing updates all turned to stare at Jang Ji-won and her husband.
"Argh! ...You scared, punk? Just kidding~"
Pretending to smack Do Ha-jun with a raised hand, then patting his head laughing. Jang Ji-won clung to her husband's side, acting cute.
"So cute~"
Su-a silently mimed poking her own eyes out beside me.
"Her parents have to come."
"But her mom's gone back to the countryside."
"Yeah. Some family member's sick."
"Can't we at least get the dad?"
"How?"
"Exactly."
"That punk's parents have to show."
Ga-eun ground her teeth.
Seo Jae-kyeom (=my desk mate) walked in, saw the gaggle of girls at my spot, and paused.
"Should I come back later?"
"Yeah."
"Got it..."
"Boyfriend, you know this Saturday's our 200-day anniversary?"
That's when Jang Ji-won dropped some juicy intel that perked up our ears.
"You know?"
"Uh. Yeah."
I eyed her beaming face and her boyfriend's awkward one, then told the girls,
"Should be fine. Let's stick to the plan."
Yeah. If things go like before the regression, after the weekend... definitely...