Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Exposed Confessions
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Seo Jae-kyeom had somehow gotten hold of my KakaoTalk.
The whole story went like this.
The fact that our class friends had dug up Jang Ji-won's husband's KakaoTalk in the multimedia room had spread throughout the entire school.
A few overly diligent people who heard about it thought they might find something juicy too, so they rummaged through the multimedia room computers.
...And in the process, they stumbled upon Ji-su's KakaoTalk, which she hadn't had time to close because she rushed out on teacher errands.
To emphasize again, Ji-su is super popular. She's pretty, well-off, and smart.
Han Ji-su's KakaoTalk? How could you not be curious?
'......So they went snooping and ended up seeing my chats with Ji-su from a few months ago.'
And now, those kids were looking at it, Seo Jae-kyeom's friends were looking at it, and even Seo Jae-kyeom himself was looking at it.
Me analyzing every single one of his reactions, agonizing over it, plotting with Ji-su on how to win him over.
Bonus: Everyone now knew I'd liked Seo Jae-kyeom.
Oof...
Wow...
Could I headbutt this wall and regress one more time?
My friends beside me glanced at me nervously. They hadn't even known until just now that I'd liked Seo Jae-kyeom.
They all looked flustered.
But I was the most flustered of all.
I had no idea how I'd even made it to the classroom.
It wasn't until I mechanically opened the door that I realized I didn't want to open it, but it was already too late—the door was open.
Seo Jae-kyeom was leaning against the window, looking at his friend's phone. His friends from the other class were snickering beside him, but they forced themselves to stifle their laughter when I walked in.
"Hey, Da-hye~ You should've just told us~"
"Yeah~ We could've helped if we'd known~"
"We had no idea you were suffering all alone like this~"
"It's the crime~ of loving too much~♪"
"What's going on? What's the story?"
One of Seo Jae-kyeom's friends whispered into the ear of one of my puzzled classmates.
"Shut up, you guys think this is funny?"
"Yeah, kinda?"
The girls in my class shot dirty looks at Seo Jae-kyeom's group, but it was no use.
"By the way, I messaged her 20 minutes ago and no reply yetㅠㅠ Did she reply to you, Ji-su?"
"Guess she doesn't like me..."
I quoted a message from myself that I didn't even remember sending, grinning slyly.
"Ah, cut it out!"
While Ga-eun snapped on my behalf from the side,
I just stood there like an idiot, unable to say a word.
Seo Jae-kyeom was the one who broke the mood.
He tore his eyes away from the phone, frowning as he spoke.
"So, what? What do you want me to do about it?"
"Huh?"
His unexpected reaction made his snickering friends freeze.
Seo Jae-kyeom shoved the phone into his friend's chest.
"Can't you read the 'No entry from other classes' sign? Suddenly everyone's waltzing in here."
"No, that's not—"
"Get lost. Don't piss me off."
He dragged his chair out with a screech and sat down. His friends, looking chastened, slunk out of our class one by one. Even as they left, they patted my shoulder playfully, winking.
I stood there frozen.
"Kang Da-hye, let's go brush our teeth."
Do-yeon grabbed my hand with the same blank expression as always.
"Lend me some toothpaste."
"Ah, uh..."
I half-zoned out while brushing my teeth and came back to the bell ringing.
Once I stepped out of the classroom, I really didn't want to go back in, but I forced myself. I sat down at my desk, pretending to be casual.
...Right next to Seo Jae-kyeom.
Seo Jae-kyeom said nothing, just stared into his textbook, completely ignoring me.
I tried to play it cool too, but my palms were sweating.
I had no idea what to say.
Should I apologize?
What the hell would I even apologize for?
Ji-su?
Why hasn't Ji-su messaged me?
"Ugh, why does this class smell so bad! Open a window!"
The Literature Teacher came in soon after, dragging the Student Teacher along, but I barely registered them. I sneaked a glance at my phone under the desk.
"Starting today, this Student Teacher will be with you for a month. Normally, your homeroom teacher should introduce him, but she's swamped, so..."
"He's hot!"
"Teacher, why do all the hot guys end up in our class? Thank you so much!"
No message from Ji-su.
That's when I slipped my other hand under the desk to send a KakaoTalk.
"Da-hye, what are you doing! Don't tell me you're on your phone!"
!
"No! This is presentation time, so I was just double-checking my script!"
Right. The presentation.
From the day the teacher assigned the works, I'd gone to the National Assembly Library, researched, and memorized my script so thoroughly I could recite it on the spot.
...But right now, I couldn't remember a thing.
My mind was blank.
All my nerves were focused on Seo Jae-kyeom next to me and the kids staring at me right now.
I couldn't face my friends...
'No. Calm down.'
Deep breath.
Don't cry. No tears. Crying won't fix anything.
The last time I'd been this flustered?
The day Mom had her accident.
What did Jeong Eun-seong say? When I was fretting and blaming myself, he said something that already happened won't un-happen.
The KakaoTalk is already out there. No take-backs. Can't turn back time twice.
Might as well own it boldly.
"Alright, then Da-hye, why don't you go first? You look like you've prepared hard."
The Literature Teacher, oblivious to what happened, smiled and pointed at me to the Student Teacher.
"Teacher, this is the girl I told you about, Da-hye. She got perfect scores on the midterms."
I grabbed the script tucked between my textbook pages.
As I walked forward, everyone was staring at me. They were just looking, but it felt like they were mocking me.
Seo Jae-kyeom had his chin propped up, gazing out the window.
Wow...
Wow...
I really couldn't look at my friends' faces.
What were they thinking right now?
"Da-hye, start whenever you're ready!"
"Ha..."
It's fine. Nothing embarrassing about it. Well, actually it is embarrassing... Whatever. What can you do? I didn't commit a crime.
Ugh, screw it.
I flipped over the script whose greeting I couldn't even remember.
If I'm this mortified, might as well be honest and spin it.
'Is this smart? Trying to salvage the awkwardness by blurting stuff out and just making twice the black history?' The thought crossed my mind.
But I couldn't get any more humiliated than this, so I just went for it.
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
"I'll begin the presentation..."
After a mosquito-sized greeting,
"Last year, I confessed to a guy and got rejected this year."
I blurted it out.
"?!"
The class's eyes widened at the out-of-left-field comment unrelated to the presentation.
Yeah, this is what you're all curious about, right? I'll tell you straight from my mouth.
Kang Da-hye's Confession and Rejection Saga Unfolds.
"I really liked him. So I consulted with a friend a ton. Finally mustered the courage to confess... but it didn't go well."
"......"
"......"
"You can probably guess from the timestamps? Confessed last year, rejected this year."
The classroom was dead silent. No other presentation could've grabbed their attention like this.
Kang Da-hye's Confession and Rejection Saga—immersion level max.
"Truth is, that guy's in this class right now. And who is he?"
I paused and looked at Seo Jae-kyeom.
As I stared silently, everyone's eyes turned to him. Seo Jae-kyeom, who had been looking out the window, noticed and glanced around.
I waited for their eyes to shift back to me before continuing.
"You all just looked over there, right? Of course you did. I would've too."
"......"
"A writer advertised his novel in the newspaper exactly like this. Namely..."
I pulled out an episode I'd seen while researching—thought 'What a funny guy' and moved on—and used it here.
After that, my body, having practiced dozens of times, took over and delivered the rest flawlessly.
"Finally, I've completely moved on from that boy, so if anyone has feelings for me, don't lose hope. That concludes my presentation."
"Pfft!"
I thought turning halfway and bailing would sour the mood and tank it,
but luckily, the Literature Teacher laughed and clapped.
With the teacher laughing, the kids who had 'What the?' faces started chuckling one by one.
Reaction wasn't bad...
...Did I salvage it somehow?
"What! Da-hye! I really thought it was true and got shocked!"
It was true, though.
"What, did you rehearse with Jae-kyeom or something?"
Nope.
"Teacher loves this author too, but I never imagined you'd spin it like this."
The Literature Teacher wiped tears of laughter and gave a thumbs up.
"Da-hye gets full marks!"
Five points is big, but was it worth my dignity...?
"Da-hye, you'd be great at acting later. You don't get stage fright speaking in front of people."
Nope. Terrified.
"Kids, do presentations like this! Not reading off the script staring at the floor!"
I bowed to the still-laughing teacher and class, then returned to my seat.
On the way, my eyes met Seo Jae-kyeom's.
I struck first.
"You said you wanted to be friends with me. That still stand?"
"...Yeah... I guess...?"
"Then can you forget about that KakaoTalk? Please, I'm begging you."
I bowed my head like this.
Seo Jae-kyeom shook his head.
"I was gonna ask if you were okay."
"Ah."
"Looks like you handled it on your own?"