Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Class A Surprises
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"...Ah."
Without warning, our eyes met, and I froze for a moment.
"Move."
A shadow fell over my head from behind.
"Why are you blocking the way?"
This irritating low voice was unmistakably his.
I reached out to close the classroom door without turning around, but Jeong Eun-seong, who had appeared behind me, casually blocked it.
He glanced back and forth between Seo Jae-kyeom, who had already turned his attention back to Ji-su, and me standing there dumbfounded, then asked,
"That's her?"
"What do you mean? Anyway, Jeong Eun-seong, why are you here? This is Class A."
"I'm in this class too."
"Think again."
"Whoa. Look at Kang Da-hye straight-up ignoring me."
Do-yeon giggled and headed to her seat first.
Caught off guard by Jeong Eun-seong's steady gaze, I added an excuse.
"No... I know you're good at English."
These days, his agency was teaching him foreign languages too. I remembered his pronunciation being really good.
"But... were you good at math too...?"
"No. I don't even know what 1 plus 1 is."
"Then why are you here?"
"There were too many math-haters, so Class C was full. I'm at least A in English."
"And the other kids in Class C are all C in English too...?"
"Yeah."
"......"
The math-haters of the world have united...
"So, that's her? The star of your playlist?"
"No, she's not."
"What do you mean no? It's obvious."
Your standards are rock bottom. Jeong Eun-seong snorted as he sized up Seo Jae-kyeom, who was playfully pointing at the workbook Ji-su had her nose buried in with his large palm.
"So, what class is she in? Who's she?"
"...She's in our class... Class 2."
No matter that he'd just transferred a few days ago, how could he not know Seo Jae-kyeom?
Doesn't he stand out the moment he walks into a classroom?
"What's her name?"
"Seo Jae-kyeom."
"...That's Seo Jae-kyeom?"
"You know him?"
"He's not better looking than me."
I'm better. Jeong Eun-seong declared.
Speechless, I looked up at him.
He met my gaze confidently, as if asking what the problem was.
Fine, you're the best.
"And the one sitting there must be Ji-su, the one you're close with."
"You don't know Seo Jae-kyeom from our class, but you know Han Ji-su from another class? Smitten already?"
"It's not like that... Sigh. Whatever."
"What?"
"You don't need to know. Then what about her? She's in our class too?"
"Do-yeon? Yeah, Do-yeon's in our class."
"You two close? You were pretty loud earlier."
"Ah..."
Right. She must have been in the cafeteria at lunchtime too.
She probably saw the whole thing with Song Yeo-reum.
Just in case, I asked,
"Jeong Eun-seong, you don't believe that rumor either, do you? The one about... Do-yeon."
"Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Jeong Eun-seong cut me off curtly.
"I may not know 1 plus 1, but I've got a brain."
I must have smiled at that.
Jeong Eun-seong looked at me with a weird expression.
"You like that I don't believe that nonsense?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"It's not even a rumor about you."
"Doesn't matter."
"You're just... so weird."
Pot calling the kettle black.
I've known Jeong Eun-seong for over 11 years, so I feel close to him inside, but he'd only known me for less than a week, and he'd been sniping at me all day.
I scowled and pressed him.
"Hey. What are we really doing about the music performance?"
"What do you mean? Sing a song you're good at."
"I don't have any songs I'm good at."
"Then do one with tough lyrics. Mess it up while you sing it perfectly alone."
"Oh."
That's actually a decent idea.
I nodded at the plausible suggestion, but Jeong Eun-seong kept staring at me intently. Not like there was anything on my face, but he was scrutinizing every inch, so I scolded him.
"What, am I pretty?"
"Huh!"
"Don't confess. I won't accept."
"Jeez. Hey, my standards are high."
Jeong Eun-seong held his hand horizontally and raised his arm above his head.
"My eyes are up here."
Annoyed, I smacked his arm.
"My eyes are even higher!"
"Doesn't seem like it."
Jeong Eun-seong nodded toward Seo Jae-kyeom again.
"They're rolling around on the floor over there."
"What!"
"Your eyes."
"Argh...!"
"Heh heh heh..."
Jeong Eun-seong, who had been laughing, suddenly turned serious.
"Anyway. I'd never, ever, ever like a weirdo like you."
"I haven't even confessed and you're rejecting me..."
"Not even if the sky falls. So relax."
"I can't relax!"
Just then, the math teacher—Na Mun-gwa, who taught Class A math—walked into the classroom and picked up Jeong Eun-seong's words.
"The moment you relax, you drop to Class B! Da-hye, what are you doing? Sit down already."
"Teacher..."
To Na Mun-gwa, whom I was seeing for the first time since regressing, regressor Kang Da-hye's historic first question.
"Where's my seat...?"
"......"
"Here..."
Seo Jae-kyeom raised his hand with a sullen expression from behind.
"You said to sit together, Kang Da-hye. Don't you remember...?"
"......"
"Pfft."
I ignored Jeong Eun-seong's snicker.
'Who's calling who weird? The guy who doesn't know 1 plus 1.'
Why doesn't he know 1 plus 1?
1 plus 1 is...
Cutie pie!
"Quadratic equations where the coefficients are rational numbers, x squared..."
"You're fearless."
Seo Jae-kyeom's whisper overlapped with Na Mun-gwa's explanation, which I couldn't understand at all.
I stared at the blackboard with my brow furrowed and mouth agape, then flicked my eyes toward Seo Jae-kyeom.
He smirked as our gazes met.
"Back in the cafeteria. With Song Yeo-reum."
"No way. I was scared out of my mind."
Honestly, I was still scared their group might chase me down and beat me up. I planned to leave through the back gate on the way home.
"If they try to mess with me, stop them, okay? Be a witness if I have to call the cops. Got it?"
"Haha."
I'm 100% serious, why are you laughing?
"Seo Jae-kyeom, why haven't you helped Do-yeon all this time? If someone like you had just said a word, things wouldn't be this bad."
"Well... it would only make things worse if I got involved?"
"You know that's just an excuse, right?"
"Yeah."
"......"
I couldn't argue since he admitted it so readily. As I turned my gaze back to the blackboard, Seo Jae-kyeom said,
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"What I said earlier. I didn't need to be that harsh."
"Eh, whatever."
You did choose the most brutal way to tell the truth.
"Actually, there's a girl I'm interested in too. But when you butted in, I got annoyed for a second. Felt like you were getting in my way."
Honest, huh.
He never said stuff like this to me before regressing.
"So anyway, excluding option 4 for now..."
I couldn't recognize more than half the symbols the teacher was writing on the board. I copied down the entire explanation half-heartedly and responded,
"Got it. You like Ji-su."
Yeah.
Seo Jae-kyeom likes my friend Ji-su.
During joint classes like this where the three of us sat together, even when sitting with me, his gaze often drifted to Ji-su. During breaks, he'd rush to her like he'd been released from chains.
Whenever that happened, I couldn't squeeze between them until Ji-su called me, so I'd just tidy my desk awkwardly.
Back then, it hurt a lot.
Sometimes I'd feel inferior, wondering why I couldn't be as great as Ji-su.
Now?
Whatever.
It'd been 11 years by my count since I liked Seo Jae-kyeom.
No.
I kept liking him until senior year of high school, so 10 years ago.
Seo Jae-kyeom's eyes widened slightly at my calm words.
"You knew?"
"How could I not?"
"Well. Han Ji-su is pretty."
Meaning I'm not.
"This won't make things awkward between you and Han Ji-su, right?"
"Why would it? I'm over you now anyway."
Surprised by that, Seo Jae-kyeom even turned his body to look at me.
I nodded while scribbling notes furiously, nearly lunging forward.
"For real?"
"For real."
"If you say so, I'm grateful... but can you really control your heart like that?"
I'm already over you.
To me, you're already a person from the past.
"It won't be easy. But it'll all be over once we hit 20 and go to college. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"
That's exactly what happened.
After bombing the college entrance exam and my own problems hit, I stopped thinking about Seo Jae-kyeom.
Even if feelings for Seo Jae-kyeom lingered, their expiration date was at most 2 more years.
"Bear with it until the entrance exams, even if it's uncomfortable. We'll be in different classes in third year anyway, and once we're in college, we won't see each other anymore."
"Won't see each other?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa."
"What."
"Kang Da-hye's cold. You won't even say hi if we bump into each other around the neighborhood?"
"We won't bump into each other."
"Talking like you've experienced it."
Seo Jae-kyeom's mutter seemed heavier than usual. Over it, the teacher's voice overlapped.
Much more important than the grumbling of Seo Jae-kyeom, whose connection had a 2-year expiration date.
"Okay, let me explain again. Quadratic equations where the coefficients are rational numbers..."
What even are coefficients, teacher...?
I know Cheongsan-ri's wall coefficients... but that won't cut it...?
"So, who wants to solve this problem?"
Math is truly hopeless.
As I chewed my lip,
My eyes met Jeong Eun-seong's.
He grinned and slowly opened his mouth.
"Teacher, Kang..."
Eek!
I grabbed Seo Jae-kyeom's hand as he was saying something and raised it high.
"Teacher! Seo Jae-kyeom says he'll give it a try!"
One minute later.
Seo Jae-kyeom returned with a pissed-off smile and asked,
"So, planning to switch from me to him now?"