Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Confirming Our Friendship
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"Why...?"
I asked because I genuinely didn't know, but he glares at me.
"Why do you let her butt in? You told me not to butt in."
"Who, Seo Jae-kyeom?"
You butted in too anyway...
Jeong Eun-seong narrowed his eyes and shot back.
"You said not to butt in unless you're boyfriend material, so is he your boyfriend?"
"No, he's not."
"Why only boyfriends anyway? You can butt in if you're friends!"
"Are we friends?"
Do you think of me as a close friend? This time I really didn't know, so I asked, and Jeong Eun-seong looks shocked.
"Aren't we friends?"
"...We are?"
"We're not?"
"We are?"
"We're not?"
Agh.
"Jeong Eun-seong. I asked first."
"I'm older."
"We're the same age."
"You're an early birthday kid. Technically, I'm a year older."
"My mental age is 29."
"Mine's 39."
"Don't lie."
"You being 29 is true, but me being 39 is a lie?"
"No..."
I regressed!
I can't exactly say that. Frustrated, I thumped my chest.
"Fine. Let's count one, two, three and answer together."
"Okay."
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
"......"
"......"
"Kang Da-hye, you're so immature."
"That's my line."
39? 3+9=12, isn't it?
We glared at each other, then simultaneously turned our heads away.
A few seconds of silence passed, and I spoke up again. Even to my own ears, my voice sounded much softer.
"...How did you know I'm a February baby?"
"Just happened to know."
"......"
"Not allowed?"
"No..."
It's just surprising. I'm not someone with birthday ads plastered at subway stations or bus stops like you.
The awkwardness made me clear my throat pointlessly.
Jeong Eun-seong seemed awkward too. He looked down and fiddled with his shirt hem.
Come to think of it, earlier I used that shirt to wipe my tears.
Tears were coming, and there just happened to be a big shirt perfect for wiping them right in front of me...
"Is it... really damp?"
"No... it's fine."
"......"
"......"
"I think of us as friends too... I just assumed we were, but wasn't sure how you felt."
"I think we're super close too."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie about this?"
"True."
"......"
Hee hee.
"I figured you'd be close with the trainees."
"Way closer with you."
Jeong Eun-seong's voice was firm and gruff as he cut me off. His face was expressionless now, like he'd never looked shocked. Almost to the point where I wondered if he was upset. But his ear tips were red, so he didn't seem angry.
"Ah. The air's so dry."
He announced it so loudly the classroom rang, then rummaged in his pencil case and pulled out hand cream.
Dumping pens all over the desk just to get that out, he squeezed a huge glob onto the back of his hand with exaggerated motions.
"That much...?"
"Ah."
"Oh..."
"Ahem. Whatever. Want some?"
"Sure..."
He smeared some from his hand onto mine.
Squish.
"Thanks...?"
"Yeah."
Silence.
We focused on rubbing in the hand cream wordlessly. As he roughly massaged his hands, Jeong Eun-seong grumbled.
"Ah. The air's really too dry."
It's summer right now...? High heat and humidity season. I thought to myself while diligently applying the cream. Somehow, it felt like the surroundings had gone quiet.
I looked up to see Yeon-hee, Jeong Eun-seong's desk mate, grinning widely and glancing between us.
"...Want some hand cream too, Yeon-hee?"
"No, no."
Yeon-hee waved her hands with a beaming smile.
"Put lots on, Da-hye!"
"Heh heh heh heh..."
Ga-eun quietly smacked the back of Su-a's head as she let out a sleazy laugh from over there, telling her to cut it out.
The kids watching us all had similar expressions.
What's with this atmosphere?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Yeeaaah~ The one super close with Jeong Eun-seong~"
"Yeeaaah~"
"Super duper close~"
"It's not like that."
"Closer than the trainees~"
"Yeeaaah~"
"Closer than friendship, farther than love~"
Gyeong Se-in, swinging her raised arms side to side while singing, checked for reactions.
"Should I stop?"
As if. Do-yeon picked up the song seamlessly.
"The. Awk. Ward. Re. La. Tion. Ship. Is. Get. Ting. An. noy. ing. So. I'll. Leave."
For the record, Do-yeon isn't that great at singing either.
"Ba~by~ Come to me now~"
The friends finally snapped out of their teasing when Jang Ji-won, fuming mad, smacked my shoulder on her way past.
"Is she crazy? Hey!"
"Let her go. She's probably shaking with rage right now."
I shook my head at Jang Ji-won, who stormed off without a glance back.
In the midst of all the Do Ha-jun confession teasing, I was gonna bury it by going 'You two look great together~' and flip the script, but it failed, huh?
"She probably thought she had the perfect scheming lady-of-society plot to mess with me, but it didn't go her way. Must sting."
"Still!"
"It's fine. We've got something way more important than Jang Ji-won right now."
"What?"
"Finals starting in three days."
"Ah."
Ga-eun's mouth fell open like she hadn't even considered it.
Yeah. Friend.
Exams are next week.
"Do Ha-jun's timing was seriously..."
"Like Da-hye said, maybe a high-level sabotage? Trying to rattle her mentally and mess up her studies?"
The friends nodded seriously at Gyeong Se-in's hypothesis, deeming it plausible.
"Yeah. Better than him actually thinking he could date me."
"He bolted home right after, right?"
"Scared the homeroom teacher might discipline him?"
"Agh."
Haa...
I shook my head, shoving the infuriating memory of Do Ha-jun out of my mind.
"It's fine. That much won't shake my mental game."
"Yeah. Let's head home and study."
"I'm taking the bus here."
"Me too."
"Da-hye?"
"Ah. I'm walking."
We parted at the fork in front of school.
Nothing much to say after that.
I studied all weekend.
Jeong Eun-seong called midway to teach me something... (Exams are right around the corner, and he still doesn't know gerrymandering. Big trouble.)
Then finals started on Monday.
I aced them all again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Isn't literature insane?"
"Whoa... Teacher's spitting facts."
How can Korean lit be harder than a foreign language?
Literature was really hard.
Good thing the literature teacher hinted it'd be tough.
Amid the wailing kids, I held up my test paper like a baby lion cub, trembling with rage.
"Kang Da-hye, what'd you get?"
"100."
"Insane..."
"Why."
"Everyone's saying it was hard, and you get 100? What does that make us?"
"Does it help if I say I didn't just ace lit?"
"No!"
"Oof."
No need to check rankings.
All perfect, so first place again.
The report card a few days later just confirmed what I knew.
As for Han Ji-su, who'd boldly declared she'd give her all against me.
...21st place.
Worse than Do-yeon, and even Ga-eun who'd improved a lot.
There's a story behind it.
'On the last day, right before the exam, a boy in Ji-su's class pranked and knocked off her eraser.'
It rolled under the teacher's desk.
That eraser was like a good-luck charm to her, and of all times...
"How do you know Han Ji-su got 21st? They didn't even post scores this time."
"Her desk mate peeked at the tags."
"Whoa, she really..."
"Right?"
She's acting calm, but she's probably dying inside.
Best to pretend not to notice in cases like this. Saying anything just annoys more.
I checked my unanswered KakaoTalk to Ji-su and turned my attention around.
"Seo Jae-kyeom. Why the long face?"
"My rank tanked... I thought I did well..."
"'Cause you bombed music with a 50."
"Oh. Right."
"It's fine. You can still hit Eagle Scout U or Tiger U without music."
"I wanna go to Korea University?!"
"That's gonna be tough... Jeong Eun-seong, math score?"
"56."
"You got that?"
"I always solve some..."
Second semester, no Jeong Eun-seong in Math A class for sure?
Nah. Who knows.
Too many math dropouts.
Time flew by like that, and summer break began.
And on the last day of school.
We heard Song Yeo-reum had attempted suicide.