Gyaru Junior Choi Su-yeon (2)
Dyed blonde hair and lightly tanned skin. Choi Su-yeon was the very stereotype of a light novel gyaru, one of the delinquent girls in her second year at Jinsu High Education Academy. But she was a little different from the rest of the delinquent crowd.
Unlike the first-through-third-year delinquent girls who formed their own chaotic animal kingdom alongside the third-year delinquents led by Han Seong-jin, Choi Su-yeon never crossed a certain line. Even when I recalled how she was described in the original work, she might have hung out with the other delinquent girls, but not often. Whenever her friends stepped into adult territory, she always found some excuse to sit it out. There were no scenes of her bullying other students, and she was never present for that kind of thing. She didn’t drink or smoke, either.
Among the male delinquents she ranked first on the list of “juniors we absolutely want to fuck,” yet despite her flashy appearance she quietly kept up ironclad boundaries. Naturally, the person Choi Su-yeon liked was Gong Yeong-bae, the original protagonist of Love in School.
But all of that became meaningless the day she reluctantly joined a delinquent gathering and caught my eye. She ended up getting taken by force, and her ending played out exactly as I remembered it. Of course, I had no intention of doing anything coercive now, so Choi Su-yeon was still living a life quite different from the other delinquents.
No one in the story ever figured out why she, whose basic personality differed so much from the rest of the delinquent girls, still ran with their crowd. It had only ever been shown through her inner monologues. But I knew the reason. I also knew the secret she was hiding.
When our unexpected meeting happened in this place, Choi Su-yeon stared at me with a face that mixed surprise and clear displeasure.
“Huh? You two know each other?”
In the brief, awkward silence that followed, the convenience store manager—who had no idea what was going on—simply looked back and forth between us, tilting his head.
The first to break the silence was Choi Su-yeon.
“Yes, he’s a third-year senior from our academy… I heard he’s working the afternoon shift?”
“That’s right. You’re Choi Su-yeon from second year, yeah? Looking forward to working with you.”
Choi Su-yeon had definitely shown a slightly sour expression at first, but it vanished in an instant. She flashed a bright smile and slipped into perfect acting mode.
“Yes! I feel so much more comfortable knowing it’s someone I already know! Please take good care of me from now on, Senior!”
Whether it was natural talent or not, Choi Su-yeon changed her expression in the blink of an eye and faced me with a smiling face even though she probably didn’t like me much. The manager, clueless about the situation, was simply delighted to have gained a new worker.
“Whew, what a relief. It felt wrong leaving a girl here by herself, so I’ve been helping out, but I was starting to get tired. Ah, and… Han Seong-jin, was it? Since we’ll be working together from now on, I’ll speak casually, okay?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Then Seong-jin, starting today you’ll learn the job from Su-yeon. Su-yeon, organize the tasks and teach him properly. If anything’s unclear, ask me. The store manager is bringing the contract tomorrow, so check the details again before signing. And don’t forget your health certificate.”
“Yes, Manager.”
After that, while the manager stayed at the counter, I followed Choi Su-yeon around the fairly large convenience store and received my job training. Most of it was stuff I already knew, of course.
As the training continued we gradually moved far enough from the counter that the manager couldn’t easily overhear us. That was when Choi Su-yeon finally brought up a non-work topic.
“I never expected to run into you here, Senior Seong-jin.”
“Same here. I didn’t know you worked part-time at this store.”
“And I definitely didn’t think you even knew who I was.”
Thinking about the future that originally awaited Han Seong-jin and Choi Su-yeon, a bitter smile rose to my lips. After all, the day Han Seong-jin first learned of her existence was the day she lost her virginity.
“Why? Did you think I didn’t pay attention to anything outside my own circle? You hang out with Jeong Ji-ah’s group, don’t you?”
“Wow… You actually remembered. When the seniors were hanging out with Ji-ah’s crew I was absent most of the time, so I figured you wouldn’t remember me at all.”
“What, did you want me to remember?”
“Hmm, I wonder?”
Choi Su-yeon gave me an unreadable smile. Seeing her act as if she were disappointed she couldn’t join the delinquent gatherings more often—when in reality she didn’t even like hanging out with them—reminded me once again how terrifying a woman’s acting ability could be.
I knew the mild attitude she was showing me right now wasn’t because she liked me. She simply didn’t want to cause any unnecessary conflict.
This time I threw a question at her.
“But it’s weird. You’re only a second-year—how are you working part-time? Most places won’t hire minors.”
She flinched. Choi Su-yeon’s shoulders shrank for a split second and her eyes began darting around. Of course, since I already knew her secret, whatever answer she gave didn’t matter. But laying the groundwork for the net I was about to cast over her was necessary.
“Ahaha, there are some circumstances, so I already talked to the academy about it. There’s no problem, so you really don’t have to worry about that…”
“What if something happens to a second-year girl working in a neighborhood with bad public safety like this? If it’s a money issue, I can ask Yuri to look into it. I mentioned we could submit a faculty meeting agenda for supporting students in difficult situations—”
I deliberately called her “Yuri” by name alone to emphasize how close I was to Lee Yu-ri. And just as I expected, Choi Su-yeon reacted immediately.
“Ah, you can’t!”
She practically jumped to stop me.
“Is something going on there?”
“It’s nothing, Manager!”
After awkwardly brushing it off, Choi Su-yeon took a deep breath and looked at me.
“Senior. About me working here… Could you please not tell the academy?”
“Why? Is there some situation you can’t talk about?”
“It’s… it’s a woman’s secret! Everyone has one or two secrets they can’t tell anyone, right? Trying to dig up every single one isn’t very considerate!”
She tried to dodge the question, but the reason was obvious. The crowd Choi Su-yeon usually ran with were the second-year delinquent girls. According to the original story, whenever her group met up with the male delinquents from Jinsu High or other academies, she would make excuses like “I have a date with my college boyfriend” or “I’m doing papa-katsu with an office worker uncle” to slip away.
In reality, those were the times she came here to work part-time or secretly met Gong Yeong-bae. She was worried that if her crew found out, she’d get marked as an outsider. And there’s the age issue on top of that.
I kept my expression neutral and stared at her for a moment before answering.
“Then if I keep your secret, what will you do for me?”
“Me? Umm…”
Choi Su-yeon flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, then twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she answered.
“Ah, I know! Earlier you called her ‘Yuri,’ right, Senior Seong-jin? Were you talking about the student council president?”
“That’s right.”
“Gasp! Then are you two… in that kind of relationship…?”
“We’re not at that stage yet.”
At my answer, Choi Su-yeon pictured the two completely mismatched people in her head, then suddenly had a different thought.
‘Not at that stage yet…? That means at least one of them wants it to happen, right? Huh…?’
Choi Su-yeon secretly liked Gong Yeong-bae. She also knew that student council president Lee Yu-ri was his childhood friend and that the two of them subtly cared about each other. The corners of her mouth slowly began to curve upward.
‘Wait a second. Isn’t this a chance? If I play my cards right, I might be able to knock one of them out of the picture.’
After quickly finishing her calculations, Choi Su-yeon beamed.
“Senior! I just thought of something I can do for you in exchange for keeping my secret!”
“Oh? What is it?”
Suddenly smiling from ear to ear, Choi Su-yeon looked at me. She was the type who loved scheming, so there was no way she wouldn’t bite the bait I’d casually dangled.
“If you keep my secret, I’ll act as the bridge that connects you and Yuri senior!”
‘She took the bait.’
Watching Choi Su-yeon swim straight toward the net at full speed, I laughed inwardly.
“You’ll connect me and her? How? Are you close with her?”
“Not really. Yuri senior pretty much hates girls like me.”
“I know that.”
“Ho-we-ver! Yuri senior is still a woman! And women know a woman’s weaknesses best! For the sake of your love, I can research date courses that capture a girl’s heart, romantic spots, delicious restaurants—everything! If you just trust me, I can become the bridge of love between the two of you!”
Her plan was to connect me with Lee Yu-ri, eliminate a rival, and at the same time divert my attention so a thug like me wouldn’t start eyeing her. A very Choi Su-yeon idea.
“Hmm. That’s actually a pretty good idea.”
“Hehe.”
Choi Su-yeon thrust her large breasts forward and proudly puffed out her chest. In her mind she probably thought she had cast the perfect net for me, but unfortunately the one caught in it was her. Not me.
“But even if you tell me all those places, it won’t mean much if I go alone to check them out, right?”
“That’s true! So you take Yuri senior to the spots I recommend and spend some deep one-on-one time—”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I don’t know the area and I don’t know what’s around. What am I supposed to do if you just throw me a few random store names? Planning a date course by myself is awkward, and I can’t just drag Yuri there right away. She barely has any free time because of student council work.”
“Ahaha, that’s true. But Senior, you’re pretty handsome and manly, so you can just push through those small obstacles with force—”
“I need a practice run.”
At my words Choi Su-yeon smiled and clapped lightly.
“Aha, a practice run! Yes, practice runs are a great idea!”
“And I need one person to do it with.”
“That makes sense. You could probably just grab any of the girls you usually hang out with and ask—”
“I’ve already decided who’s doing the practice run with me.”
“Oh my, as expected of Senior Seong-jin! You have so many girls who would come running the moment you call them. I’m jealous.”
“You.”
“Just as I thought! I also thought that…”
Choi Su-yeon had been mechanically agreeing without really listening, but she finally processed what I’d said and shut her mouth. She tilted her head and stared at me.
“……?”
“?”
“Who… is going to help?”
“You.”
“…… Yes?!?!”