The Disciplinary Committee's Athletic Girl, Jeong Eun-ji (3)
After the argument with Jeong Eun-ji—which could be called light if it was light, or massive if it was massive—Lee Yu-ri stood leaning against the wall near the first-floor entrance, covering her face with both hands. She looked deeply troubled.
Jeong Eun-ji kept pressing her. ‘You can’t seriously like Han Seong-jin, right?’ And every time Jeong Eun-ji mercilessly tore into him, Lee Yu-ri felt as if she herself were the one being insulted. Her mood grew worse and worse.
Did she really like Han Seong-jin?
After that conversation with Jeong Eun-ji, she could finally be certain of her own heart.
She liked him.
Even she could hardly believe it, but she had fallen for Han Seong-jin—the most notorious of all the delinquents she used to despise and loathe so intensely. Even after hearing about the outrageous things he had done back in middle school, she couldn’t bring herself to stop liking him.
If she had told last year’s version of herself about this, that girl would have called it crazy talk. But the Lee Yu-ri of now… she liked that delinquent, Han Seong-jin.
Whether it was because of her last shred of pride or simply because she was too embarrassed, she still couldn’t bring herself to say the words “I like you” out loud. But the moment she clearly acknowledged that she liked him, other things began to weigh on her mind.
First was Jeong Eun-ji, who hated Han Seong-jin even more than she herself once had. They had been friends for three years ever since entering the High Education Academy, yet this was the first time they had ever spoken harshly to each other. If she kept showing up with Han Seong-jin from now on, how would Jeong Eun-ji react? Would they end up in a huge fight? Would their friendship be over?
And the second thing that bothered her was an even more irritating problem than Jeong Eun-ji.
‘That sly little fox.’
It was Choi Su-yeon, the girl one year below her. She had learned about her after once seeing her walking with Gong Yeong-bae and confronting him about it. Even back when she still liked Gong Yeong-bae, Choi Su-yeon had openly shown interest in him and made it obvious she was trying to butt into the romance. Yu-ri already disliked that delinquent crowd, and the fact that the girl kept trying to interfere made it impossible to like her.
‘But why is she suddenly all over Han Seong-jin?! She’s definitely trying to mess with me!’
Ever since the rumors about her and Han Seong-jin had spread throughout the academy, Choi Su-yeon’s presence around him had subtly increased. Unaware that Choi Su-yeon’s feelings had completely moved on from Gong Yeong-bae, Lee Yu-ri was convinced the girl was deliberately causing trouble just to spite her.
She hadn’t even given Han Seong-jin an answer to his confession yet. They had only just stepped into something that barely qualified as a fling, and now another obstacle was appearing—the very same meddler who had interfered before. She had never imagined it.
And because of that, she kept growing more impatient and anxious.
‘Linking arms with him so casually, acting all cute… She used to do the same thing with Gong Yeong-bae. Is that all she knows how to do—seduce guys with her body? But Han Seong-jin already said he likes me. I have to win this!’
Even as she tried hard to calm herself down, the moment she pictured Choi Su-yeon’s face, a creeping sense of unease rose inside her. Even as a fellow girl, she had to admit that objectively, Choi Su-yeon was incredibly beautiful. Her skin was flawless, her eyelashes were long, her breasts were enormous, and her waist was tiny. Unlike herself, who had no idea how to do makeup, the girl wore flashy makeup and knew how to accessorize with earrings and all kinds of jewelry.
The fact that a girl so pretty that virtually no man could resist her was clinging to Han Seong-jin was enough to make her blood boil. And on top of that, she had even dyed her hair the same blonde as his—if they stood together, anyone would think they were a couple…
“Damn it! Ow, ow, ow…”
In her anger, Lee Yu-ri kicked the innocent wall, then immediately grabbed her foot from the impact. The fact that she had hurt only herself while trying to vent made her even angrier. Fuming, she stormed back to the classroom.
She needed to secure Han Seong-jin more firmly, if only to avoid having to look at Choi Su-yeon’s face.
The moment she saw him, she sat down beside him and declared,
“Han Seong-jin, come over to my house this weekend and let’s study together. To prepare for the pop quiz.”
Since they had already studied together for a pop quiz before, there was no way he would refuse. And since Choi Su-yeon was only a second-year, she would have no excuse to follow the third-years around. ‘Perfect. Flawless!’ Lee Yu-ri thought with satisfaction as she waited for his answer.
But then…
“Me too… I want to join! If we’re going to ask each other about things we don’t know and teach one another, three people would be better, right?”
Her friend Jeong Eun-ji had jumped in.
Realizing that her precious alone time with him was about to be ruined by an unexpected third party, Lee Yu-ri inwardly cried. ‘Why are you doing this…?’
It was obvious what Jeong Eun-ji was thinking. Since I had acted like such trash earlier, she probably couldn’t leave me alone with Yu-ri. Thanks to that, I now had an excuse to spend time with Jeong Eun-ji, and I could also stoke Yu-ri’s jealousy. But for now, I had to act reluctant. That way, she would dig herself even deeper into the trap on her own.
“Hey, why the hell are you coming? I already made plans to study with her alone.”
“If the goal is studying, does it matter how many people there are? Or do you actually have some other purpose besides studying?”
At those words, Lee Yu-ri awkwardly turned her gaze away.
“Yu-ri, it’s fine, right? We always studied together around exam time anyway. You were the one who suggested we do it again this time.”
“Y-yeah… that’s true…”
Watching Lee Yu-ri answer through gritted teeth, it was clear she was quite upset.
To provoke Jeong Eun-ji, I touched her Achilles’ heel.
“You suck at studying anyway. Why are you even tagging along? You should just go practice track and field during that time.”
Jeong Eun-ji wasn’t exactly known for good grades. But the problem was that the person pointing it out was me. She already hated being teased about her low test scores, and now the biggest idiot of all had said it…
“W-what did you just say?! Did you—did Han Seong-jin just tell me I’m bad at studying? You? To me?”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
“Then what about you?! You’re worse than me, so who are you to criticize?!”
“I just didn’t study. You studied and still failed. So I’m an unscratched lottery ticket, while you scratched it and got a dud.”
For a second, Jeong Eun-ji’s face flushed so red I thought it might explode.
She slammed her fist on my desk with a loud bang and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Don’t make me laugh! I can’t believe I’m hearing this crap in my lifetime! You really think you can beat me? Everyone knows you’re such a meathead that you probably take tests with your fists!”
“Nah, I just didn’t bother when I could’ve. Unlike you.”
“This is ridiculous… No matter how bad my grades are, they’re still better than yours! If I score lower than you, then I’m a dog! A dog!”
“Oh yeah? Wanna bet on it?”
“A bet?”
“Whoever gets the lower score on this April pop quiz has to do whatever the winner says. Obviously nothing too crazy. How about it?”
“You—Han Seong-jin—want to bet on test scores? You?”
“Yeah. You said if you score lower than me, you’re a dog, right? If I win, get ready to wear a dog collar.”
Jeong Eun-ji’s face twisted like she had bitten into something foul.
“Ha? Why the hell would I—”
“Scared?”
Perfect reaction.
Jeong Eun-ji was someone who trained like a demon for track and field, aiming to become a pro athlete. People who set their sights on the brutal world of competition usually had incredibly strong competitive spirits and a burning desire to win. And the moment she heard my magic words—“Scared?”—Jeong Eun-ji…
“What? S-scared…? Scared?! You’re calling me scared?! Fine! If I lose, I’ll wear a dog collar, bark like a dog, and crawl on all fours! But if you lose! I’ll gather all your delinquent lackeys, strip you naked in front of them, and make you bow down to me!!!”
“I just said nothing too crazy.”
“What you said wasn’t crazy?! Shut up! We’re doing it no matter what! I’ll humiliate you so badly you’ll have to drop out if you can’t handle it!”
Jeong Eun-ji accepted the hellish bet, breathing heavily.
“Yu-ri, you heard that, right? You’re the witness. Me and Jeong Eun-ji are making this bet. No matter who wins, no backing out—”
“Ugh, I don’t care! Do whatever you want between yourselves!”
Lee Yu-ri, thoroughly irritated, snapped at us and stormed back to her seat.
“What’s up with Yu-ri today…? Is it that time of the month?”
“Nah, it’s probably because of you.”
“How is it because of me?! She’s been spouting nonsense and pissing me off since earlier!”
……
Lee Yu-ri hated the world right now.
First, she hated Choi Su-yeon, who kept following her around and interfering.
Second, she hated Jeong Eun-ji, who had cluelessly barged in when she just wanted to be alone with Han Seong-jin.
Third, she hated Han Seong-jin too. He had said he liked her, had even set up a place for just the two of them, yet he hadn’t strongly refused when someone else intruded. He had half-heartedly gone along with it and even started a bet. What was she supposed to do?
And finally, she hated herself for being unable to properly express her feelings and set the stage.
Even though she had clearly realized she liked Han Seong-jin, she still couldn’t express it properly. That was why she had ended up facing Jeong Eun-ji’s unintentional interference.
She kept wondering if things would have been better if she had just told Jeong Eun-ji outright, ‘It’s a study session as an excuse for a date, so let’s do it another time, just the two of us.’
‘This is so annoying… Why isn’t anything going right… I was planning to study together with him at home on the weekend and finally tell him I l-like him…’
For the first time in her life, Lee Yu-ri felt endlessly stupid for only knowing how to study.
‘No, the real problem is Han Seong-jin! He said he likes me, so why hasn’t he done anything since? I… I even make him lunch boxes every morning and tell him to eat well! Of course he eats it all deliciously and always thanks me, but still!’
Having found someone else to blame, Lee Yu-ri’s target solidified on Han Seong-jin.
‘Stupid jerk… Starting tomorrow, no more lunch boxes!’
That was the greatest revenge Lee Yu-ri could think of.