Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Bang Eun-ji's Awakening
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Bang Eun-ji from sophomore Class 6 had an experience one day that completely flipped her self-evaluation.
It happened while she was hospitalized after getting hit on the head.
She was lying there in a foul mood after dealing with that lady who said, "I'm grateful you testified, but don't try to hang around with my daughter at school."
Then, an unexpected visitor arrived.
"Bang Eun-ji."
It was Kang Da-hye.
The only person who came to visit her besides her boyfriend.
And what Kang Da-hye said split Bang Eun-ji's mind wide open.
"I'll throw this away."
Kang Da-hye picked up the adult magazine her boyfriend had given her with two fingers, then paused on her way out of the room and left those words behind.
It was as if she'd agonized over whether to say it or not, hesitating in a way that was unlike her.
"You have a boyfriend, right?"
"What's up with him?"
"Is that loser really the best you can do?"
"......"
"I know it's none of my business, but while you're resting, please just think it over one more time. Is a college guy dating an 18-year-old objectively a good person?"
Wasn't she just dating him to fill the void in her self-esteem, which had tanked from hanging out with Song Yeo-reum, and to soothe her unfulfilled loneliness?
"I'm only saying this because you seem smart enough to get it. You have good judgment."
"...Me?"
"Yeah."
Kang Da-hye replied firmly, holding the magazine far away from her body as she left the room.
Soon after, there was a loud thunk! as she dumped it in some trash can.
Hearing that, Bang Eun-ji muttered a curse.
"Why's she trash-talking my boyfriend? She doesn't even know him."
She's crossing the line.
But strangely, the corners of her mouth twitched upward.
She's worried about me.
And.
She says I have good judgment.
Her grades were rock bottom, her friendships a mess.
The most common things she heard at home were, "That's just like you," or "Again? You're such a money pit."
Even her own mom, who gave birth to her, only ever said stuff like, "You've lost some weight, huh? At least your skin's nice," never anything about her being smart.
Good judgment? First time she'd ever heard that.
But hearing it for the first time in her life felt good.
Maybe.
Do I really have good judgment?
She remembered it clearly and mentioned it to her boyfriend when he came by that afternoon.
"Nah, that's not it~"
He was looking for the magazine and snickered with an "Ehehe," dismissing it outright.
"...Why not?"
"Be honest, you're not that smart, Eun-ji. What rank are you in class?"
"...Then why are you dating me?"
Up to that point, Bang Eun-ji didn't sense any real problem. Just a slight annoyance at having her praise shot down.
"Because I'm pretty?"
If he'd agreed there, she would've just laughed it off with an "Oh, whatever."
But her boyfriend denied it this time too.
"Nah, you're not that pretty. If I had to say, you're average at best."
"Lose some weight and you'd be cute. Not right now, though." He said it while pulling juice from the fridge.
Bang Eun-ji, now genuinely offended, pressed him.
"Then why are we dating? Because I'm young?"
"Eun-ji, 18 isn't that young to act all high and mighty about. I've dated girls younger than you."
"......"
"Ah, seriously, where's that magazine? I swear I left it here. Did you throw it out?"
Watching him suck out an aloe chunk stuck between his teeth with a slurping sound, why did Kang Da-hye's words pop into her head?
You have good judgment.
Her boyfriend, cutting her down by saying she wasn't smart, pretty, or even that young anymore.
And the girl cheering her on, saying she had good judgment and could think for herself.
Which one was real affection?
Kang Da-hye didn't even like her that much.
So was her boyfriend even worse than Kang Da-hye, who didn't like her?
What the hell is this guy?
"Why aren't you answering? Did I piss you off?"
"...Oppa."
Bang Eun-ji, deciding on the spot, looked at her boyfriend, who was still slurping away.
"Let's break up."
"What?"
It was an impulsive decision, but somehow it felt liberating.
"Get lost, you old creep."
She had no room for a guy like him, too busy tearing her down when he should've been showering her with "You're pretty" after "You're pretty."
She kicked him out of her life.
Returning to school turned out better than expected.
Apologizing to the kids who looked at her like a bug was embarrassing and humiliating, but the shame didn't last.
She even apologized to Do-yeon, who said:
'I don't want to forgive you. Thinking about what you and Song Yeo-reum did to me still makes my blood boil.'
'...I get it.'
'But I'll accept the apology. It's just too tiring to keep caring about you. ...We can never be friends, but maybe we don't have to be enemies either.'
That was more than enough.
Unlike what she'd feared deep down, Song Yeo-reum didn't show up at her house to assault her or anything.
She heard through the grapevine that Song Yeo-reum's parents had lost their jobs, were selling the house and moving, the family shop had gone under, and she was getting bullied at her new school.
I didn't even know her mom ran a shop.
She didn't know if all the rumors were true, but if Song Yeo-reum didn't have the bandwidth to bother her anymore, that was a win.
Good thing I cut ties.
Yeah. She had good judgment.
That praise she'd heard for the first time—she kept replaying it whenever she had a moment.
One time, she asked Kang Da-hye about it.
'But why did you think I have good judgment?'
She wanted to know the specific reason behind that praise that had made her feel so good.
Kang Da-hye's answer was simple.
'Because when something felt off, you walked away without getting hung up on sunk costs.'
'Sunk costs? Double eyelids?'
'...Look it up later. And.'
'Yeah?'
'I thought you never read books, but you do.'
'Books? Oh... that. Ha.'
That super embarrassing one?
'Doesn't matter what book. The point is you sought it out yourself to improve.'
She was packaging it like that?
"Ha."
She grumbled that it wasn't a big deal after all, but the corners of Bang Eun-ji's mouth curled up again.
Kang Da-hye thinks better of me than my own mom does.
That's why. She couldn't tolerate anyone badmouthing Kang Da-hye now.
"Guys don't like girls who are too tough."
After the sports festival ended.
She'd made plans to go to her new friends' houses and teach them makeup. Pumped up, Bang Eun-ji was heading out with them after grabbing her pouch from the lockers.
"Hey, look at those girls."
Friend 1 stopped, staring at something. Jang Ji-won and Park Su-hwan were hugging and spinning around in the empty hallway. Friend 2 recognized them and covered her mouth.
"No way, are they dating?"
"Whoa."
"They're crazy... Isn't she obsessed with guys?"
How could they date someone like that? Her friends were shocked.
Meanwhile, Bang Eun-ji tuned into something else entirely.
Their conversation.
"Oh, back then I was just caught off guard, so I couldn't counter! It didn't even hurt that much. Big wind-up, total whiff. Jeong Eun-seong looks like he couldn't fight to save his life."
"Right. Still, Eun-seong went too far. Punching out of nowhere."
"That fucker's an orphan whose parents died young. Probably never learned manners."
"What do your parents do?! Boom~ You're dead~" Park Su-hwan giggled as he added.
"I thought Kang Da-hye was smart, but she falls head over heels for a pretty face who does a little nice stuff... Doesn't even realize he's just using her. Hands over her homework, helps him cheat on tests. Fat chance he'll date her."
"Kang Da-hye helped Jeong Eun-seong cheat?!"
"Probably? Can't say for sure, but it was basically that."
"No way! Su-hwan, how'd you know?"
"You can just tell."
"You're so smart. Right, she got dumped by Jae-kyeom too."
"Jae-kyeom's even worse. Why would a catch like him date Kang Da-hye? She's just a use-and-discard ending."
"So."
"Yeah. Kang Da-hye ends up a single mom raising her kid in a goshiwon."
"...Are they talking about Kang Da-hye from Class 2?"
Bang Eun-ji's three friends exchanged dumbfounded looks.
"How do you even help cheat? Guys and girls take tests separately..."
"And if she helped Jeong Eun-seong, he'd be in the top 30."
"They're insane."
Yeah.
Insane.
"Those bitches..."
Fuming, Bang Eun-ji sprang into action.
"Hey!"