Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Why!
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"Why!"
Whew, you scared me.
"Lower your voice."
Everyone's staring.
"Why... why...!"
"Why are you yelling like that......"
This was exactly why.
Did I maybe promise Seo Jae-kyeom in my past life that we'd take tutoring together if we met in the next one, and he just doesn't remember?
He looked that betrayed.
I'd seen a video on YouTube once where someone tricks a dog into thinking it's going for a walk but takes it to the vet instead. The dog's face was exactly like that.
Like it was about to shout, Even you, Brutus...!
But.
It feels awkward.
I know Seo Jae-kyeom's mom isn't the type to let me pay her.
I know that tutoring fees worth hundreds of thousands of won—which my family has to scrape together for—are pocket change to them. And that she'd probably think it looks worse for her to accept money from me.
But tutoring is expensive, and group lessons are even pricier. Is it right for me to butt in without paying a single cent?
Shouldn't I at least bring a box of fruit or something?
The fruit my mom carefully picked out and sent would probably just be treated like defective goods they don't know what to do with at their house......
And even setting aside the tutoring fees, Seo Jae-kyeom's mom herself makes me uncomfortable.
The person my own mom calls 'madam' can't possibly be someone I'm comfortable around.
It feels like the hierarchy between our parents affects me, their kid... or so I thought this morning when I read and ignored Seo Jae-kyeom's KakaoTalk message.
Whatever. It just feels awkward, period.
And the decisive factor.
"Actually, I decided to take the summer special lectures after all."
I'd decided not to and hadn't even told my mom, but yesterday she brought it up.
'Weren't you going to take the special lectures over summer break? Why didn't you sign up?'
'Oh, that. I decided not to.'
'Why.'
'Just... didn't seem necessary.'
'What do you mean not necessary? You were praising your math teacher for teaching so well. Said it helped a lot.'
'I did, but......'
'You need to work hard. Even if your grades drop, Mom can't help you. I don't have the money to send you to cram school.'
'I know......'
Why bring up cram school like that? So ominous.
In the end, I decided to take the special lectures. Not all of them, just math.
Seo Jae-kyeom's face twisted into double the betrayal at my words.
"Special lectures?!"
"Yeah."
"You said you weren't!"
"I changed my mind."
"Why!"
Is changing my mind not allowed...?
"Were you always the type to change your mind that easily?!"
"I've only changed it once right now......"
"How does your mind just change like that!"
Why is he acting like this?
Anyone would think I'd converted religions or something.
"If you want tutoring, go do it yourself... You're supposed to work hard and get into Korea University, right?"
I was soothing the huffing Seo Jae-kyeom when someone behind us suddenly spilled their pens everywhere with a clatter.
Jeong Eun-seong, who had just set his bag down in the seat diagonally behind me, was staring expressionlessly at his overturned pencil case.
"When did you get here?"
"A while ago."
Sullen expression.
Others might think it was his usual blank face, but I know better.
This is.
A pissed-off face.
Probably because he'd been around Seo Jae-kyeom all morning and it soured his mood.
Jeong Eun-seong picked up his pens, stabbed a straw into the milk he'd brought, and held it out to me. I took it reflexively and told Seo Jae-kyeom,
"Thanks for thinking of me. Anyway, I'm not doing it."
"Why...!"
"Slurp."
"...Fine. Tell me if you change your mind. Got it?"
So persistent... Seo Jae-kyeom slumped his shoulders and trudged back to his seat. Watching him go, Jeong Eun-seong asked,
"What was that about?"
"Oh. He wanted to do group tutoring over break."
"And you turned him down?"
"Yeah. I'm taking special lectures."
Do Ha-jun: Special lectures? With my money lol ...This guy's switched from KakaoTalk to texts even after I told him not to message me.
Does my word mean nothing?
Suppressing the urge to punch him, I asked Jeong Eun-seong,
"What are you doing over break?"
"Filming."
"Where?"
"Paris."
"Ooh, nice."
Seo Jae-kyeom went recently, didn't he? Said there were a lot of pickpockets. When I mentioned it, Jeong Eun-seong nodded.
"That's why I'm getting an anti-pickpocket bag."
"Does it work?"
"Dunno. But staying alert is the most important thing, right?"
"Start practicing now."
Practice not letting your guard down. I warned Jeong Eun-seong,
"From now on, every time you let your guard down, I'm taking one pen from your case."
"Pens gonna stop you?"
"Then carry ten thousand won bills in your pocket. So I can pickpocket them."
"Pfft."
He made a face like it was the same thing, then pulled a notebook out of his bag. He grabbed a pen and scribbled something in the corner. Curious, I leaned over to look.
"Hey, don't look."
He blocked me with his arm and hunched over, ripping off the corner with the writing, folding it neatly, and hiding it under his pencil case.
"Pickpocket this."
"Alright. I'll steal that before lunch."
The school top student hides her skills.
Top of Korea University's Pickpocketing Department.
Dream job: Go to France and steal back the Jikji Simche Yojeol.
Practice starts today.
"Jeong Eun-seong, you good at French?"
"Nah. You?"
"Not really."
I've improved a lot since regressing, though.
"I know bonjour, merci, Joan of Arc, croissant, about that much."
"You know everything."
Jeong Eun-seong said it deadpan.
"Go there, say 'bonjour' and order a croissant. Pay. Say 'merci' and leave. If someone asks your name, say Joan of Arc. No problems surviving."
"You gonna live off croissants forever?"
"They're tasty."
"True, but."
"Think harder. You know more words."
"Croissant...?"
"Whoa. You could live there."
"Whoa."
Confidence surging. I clapped for him.
Lee Seo-jun, who'd been listening to our conversation from the side, looked down and smiled. Mocking me too? I glared, and his face turned red as he asked,
"But Kang Da-hye, why'd you pick French as your second language?"
"Oh, that."
I just followed what Seo Jae-kyeom chose... Can't say that honestly, so...
"To read an untranslated novel by my favorite author."
"Which one?"
"Un peu de soleil dans l’eau froide."
A Bit of Sunshine in Cold Water.
This book still won't have a translation 11 years from now? Well, technically there is one, but it came out in 1969 or '97 or something. Not sold in stores.
Might as well master French while studying it as my second language and read the original. I'll have it down in 11 years.
What? You've been studying English for over 11 years and still haven't mastered it?
Oh dear...
Not me. (划线)
————-line————
"Un peu... what?"
Lee Seo-jun tilted his head. I wrote it down for him. Jeong Eun-seong watched intently from behind, then copied it into the corner of his torn notebook.
"So you're reading this?"
"Yeah. I'm going to Paris in my second-year summer break to buy it."
"Why second year?"
"Need to save up money first-year summer."
"You're so specific. Planning that far ahead."
"Seo-jun, does three years from now feel like the distant future...?"
Ten years is just a gulp away......
"Kang Da-hye, where are you going?! Paris?!"
"Study room!"
"What~?"
"Kang Da-hye, you drinking chocolate milk alone? Give me some."
Our class's #1 and #2 happened to pass by and spoke up.
"Oh, was Eun-seong talking? Sorry."
They backed off after seeing Jeong Eun-seong's blank stare.
Seizing the moment, I swiftly pickpocketed the paper hidden under his pencil case.
Thud. Jeong Eun-seong covered it a beat too late. Useless.
"Kukuku!"
One step closer to reclaiming the Jikji!
Should've lived more nimbly!
Sneering at Jeong Eun-seong, I unfolded the paper.
[Whoever reads this Idiot] "......"
I trembled with rage, and Jeong Eun-seong smirked.
"What's 'idiot' in French?"
"Dunno..."
"You seem to know."
"I said I don't."
"Aw."
This jerk. I slammed down on Jeong Eun-seong's hand on the desk. He just laughed like it felt good.
I crumpled the note, threw it at him, and snatched his notebook.
Knew he'd written it wrong. Check this out.
"Idiot is you, Jeong Eun-seong. It's not On peu, it's Un peu."
I scratched lines over his writing. Not sure if this was writing or drawing. Under the messy scribble, I added,
Un peu de soleil dans l’eau froide ↑ Writer of this is illiterate Can't even write an A with a sickle Jeong Eun-seong, who'd been watching me scribble, retorted incredulously.
"Isn't not knowing how to write A normal if you're holding a sickle?"
"Hm."
With or without sickle, can't write A Idiot anyway "The one calling idiot is the idiot..."
That was when.
A friend burst through the front door, shouting,
"Hey, Song Yeo-reum's at the school gate right now!"