The Gyaru Junior, Choi Su-yeon (3)
‘T-this isn’t what I had in mind…?’
Choi Su-yeon broke out in a cold sweat, panicking on the inside. Who was Han Seong-jin? He was the boss of the delinquents at Jinsu High Education Academy, a notorious thug whose reputation stretched far beyond the school grounds into the entire surrounding area. While Su-yeon herself technically belonged to a second-year delinquent crew, it was only because she needed the “delinquent Choi Su-yeon” label for protection. She had never actually enjoyed that lifestyle or thrown herself into it. Naturally, she didn’t care much for the real delinquents either, and the girls who hung around her crew weren’t true friends—just convenient allies.
Yet here was the most hopeless third-year thug of them all, asking her to do a practice run of a date course with him. She had planned to toss him a few half-hearted suggestions and slip away, but things had spiraled in a completely unexpected direction. Flustered, Su-yeon began to stammer.
“S-Senior? Ahaha… Of course I’d love to help if I could, but as you can see, I have a part-time shift in the afternoon—”
“That part-time job? I’m starting there today too. We’re both on the Monday-to-Thursday schedule, so Fridays and weekends are free, right?”
“Oh, right! Silly me! But I’m actually super boring to be around. You’d probably regret taking me. Wouldn’t it be better to bring one of my friends instead? Someone who can actually match your vibe—”
“Nah. Just listening to you talk right now is already pretty entertaining.”
“Ugh… Do you really have to go with me? I’m genuinely bad at making time…”
“If it’s that hard, I’ll offer you an alternative.”
At that moment, Choi Su-yeon’s eyes sparkled.
‘Heh heh heh. The art of negotiation! You start with a condition the other person could never accept, pretend to compromise, and then reveal your real goal! Just because I look like this and hang out with delinquents doesn’t mean my brain is trash too! Alright, let’s hear what he’s got!’
“Sure. What do you need me to do?”
“You know how we have regular weekend meetups with the crew, right?”
It wasn’t some wholesome social gathering. It was more like a mafia assembly where male and female delinquents from first through third year at Jinsu High gathered in an empty lot, drank, smoked, and then played king’s game—with the king already decided in advance. The “game” paired up boys and girls, after which they’d head off to motels, PC bangs, DVD rooms, or empty apartments for one-on-one hookups or full-blown orgies. A modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah.
Su-yeon had never attended one herself, but she knew exactly what went on there from the endless filthy stories her delinquent “friends” loved to share. How they’d taken on three guys at once until their stomachs hurt, or spent all night with the hot guy they’d had their eye on. She’d heard it all until she was sick of it.
Her expression stiffened for a split second, but Su-yeon quickly schooled her features and answered as if it were nothing.
“Yeah, I know about them.”
“Looks like we’re having one the weekend after next. I’m planning to announce that I won’t be coming to any more of those meetups.”
“Oh, I see. But what does that have to do with—”
“Just come with me and pretend to be my girlfriend for one night. If I say I’ve got a girlfriend now and I’ll be stepping back for a while, the other guys will have to accept it. So? You in?”
“Where do you want to go for the date course!? Daehak-ro? Hongdae? Garosu-gil? Itaewon? Just say the word! I’ll escort you personally anywhere and plan the perfect route!”
After finishing her shift that night, Choi Su-yeon opened the door to her empty apartment and flopped face-first onto the bed.
“Ugh… damn it. What the hell is this? That delinquent bastard should’ve just done what he usually does—ordering his underlings around and shaking people down for money. Why the hell is Han Seong-jin working a part-time job? And of all places, why my store…?”
Having been roped in by Han Seong-jin and ultimately accepting his original outrageous condition of “practice date course escort,” Choi Su-yeon let out a long, heavy sigh. Ever since she had started living alone in this one-room apartment, she had rarely dealt with any real stress. Today was the exception. And when she thought about being stuck with him in the same space for at least four six-hour shifts every week from now on, it seemed the stress wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.
To forget about the mess she was in, Su-yeon pulled out her phone and sent a message to someone.
The recipient was Gong Yeong-bae, the third-year senior she secretly had a crush on. She had even added a heart emoji to show her affection, but there was no reply for a long time.
“Is he busy…?”
It wasn’t the first time Gong Yeong-bae had taken forever to reply, so she was used to it, but a small wave of disappointment still washed over her. His response finally came about twenty minutes later.
When Su-yeon read Gong Yeong-bae’s reply, her heart sank even further.
‘I even sent him a heart, and he was talking to another girl? He could’ve just lied and said he was showering or studying… Why does he have to be so unnecessarily honest?’
After that, Su-yeon exchanged a few bits of pointless small talk with him as a way to relieve stress. But soon the thought that she would soon be able to separate him from her greatest rival lifted her mood again. When she thought about that future, enduring something as ridiculous as a practice date course with Han Seong-jin seemed entirely bearable.
‘That’s right, Choi Su-yeon! You can do this! Once I get rid of Lee Yu-ri, who has that childhood-friend cheat code, it’ll be my victory!’
From what she could tell, Han Seong-jin was the only one paying attention to Lee Yu-ri, and Yu-ri obviously hated delinquents like him with a passion. Su-yeon did feel a tiny prick of conscience for trying to push together such an ill-matched pair, but a girl starving for love couldn’t see anything beyond her own desires.
Finally freed from the after-school cleaning punishment, I was able to head home at 3 p.m. once classes ended. Of course, instead of cleaning duty, I now had a part-time job that would take far longer and required actual seriousness.
Lee Yu-ri, who still didn’t know I had started working, glanced at me as I packed my bag and spoke up.
“Must be nice, not having to clean anymore.”
“It is. I used to clean the classroom more often than my own house. Just looking at it now makes me sick.”
“So… you’re heading straight home now?”
“Yeah. I decided to start living properly from now on. I won’t be wandering off anywhere, so don’t worry.”
“Who said I was worried?! I was just…”
“Just what?”
“N-nothing. Just go home already. I still have student council work to finish.”
“You work so hard. Take care, Miss Student Council President~”
As she walked down the hallway leading to the student council room, Lee Yu-ri gazed out the window toward the sports field where students were leaving for the day. She murmured quietly to herself.
“…There’s no one waiting for me anymore.”
At some point, walking home with Han Seong-jin had become so natural that she now felt a faint sense of loneliness.
After getting home, unpacking, and changing into casual clothes, I lay on the bed for a short rest before heading to the convenience store at the right time. On the way there, groups of obvious delinquents—both guys and girls—were clustered in the alleys, pointing at the store and chattering loudly. I checked the time on my phone and let out a small chuckle.
‘Right on schedule for the cigarette-begging attempts.’
Between 3 and 4 p.m., right after academy classes ended, was when delinquent groups most frequently tried to mooch cigarettes from nearby convenience stores.
“Senior, you’re here?”
When I arrived at the store, Choi Su-yeon greeted me with a bright smile. It looked pretty professional right now.
“You’re early. Is the manager not here today?”
“Since we hired a new part-timer, the manager went back to their regular hours. The store manager said they’d come after dinner, so we can just handle things until then.”
“Got it. I’ll take care of restocking the shelves. Can you handle the cash register count?”
“Sure~”
We immediately got to work. While I was pulling snacks and drinks out of the storage room and arranging them on the shelves, I remembered the delinquents I had seen on the way over and called out to Choi Su-yeon.
“Hey, Choi Su-yeon. Got a question.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t the minors come here trying to get cigarettes?”
The moment she heard that, Su-yeon let out a long, exhausted sigh. She clearly had plenty of experience dealing with them.
“Don’t even get me started. Right around the time I start my shift, more than ten groups show up in an hour. Plenty of them throw a fit the second I ask for ID, and the really nasty ones don’t even bother hiding it—they straight-up threaten me. The person who worked here before quit because of the stress.”
“They threaten you?”
“Yes! They say their senior is the boss of Eunbong Technical High or whatever and that I should just hand them over if I don’t want trouble on my way home at night… That’s why the last worker left.”
“Huh. They come from Eunbong Tech? Do other schools do the same?”
“Yeah. This area is big, but it’s not so bad that one person can’t handle it. The reason they schedule two people for the afternoon shift is because of those punks. That’s also why the manager was working evenings until yesterday.”
“Really? Perfect. For the time being, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“…?”
Although Choi Su-yeon was part of the delinquent crowd, she had never truly run wild with them, so she didn’t really understand just how far Han Seong-jin’s influence reached. All she knew was my name, my face, and the fact that I was the top dog at Jinsu High. Whether it was good luck or bad, the chance to prove that my working at this convenience store was actually a huge benefit for her came very quickly.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes? …Ugh.”
Several male students with wildly dyed hair and all sorts of hairstyles walked into the store. The moment Su-yeon saw them, her face twisted like she had bitten into a bug.
“Three packs of Esse Prime and Marlboro Red.”
“Weren’t you guys here a few days ago? IDs?”
The second Su-yeon finished speaking, the boys began radiating a threatening aura.
“Fuck, here we go again with this annoying shit. We’re adults, alright?”
They immediately started speaking informally, surrounding the counter and pressuring her.
“We’re not saying we won’t pay. Just give us the damn cigarettes. Looks like that scrawny bastard who was here until yesterday is gone too. If you don’t want any trouble, just ring us up quietly, yeah?”
In a neighborhood known for its poor security and frequent visits from delinquents, they were openly threatening the clerk. If Su-yeon had been alone, she would have been completely helpless.
But these guys had picked the wrong day.
I stepped out of the storage room, putting a little weight into my voice.
“What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?”