Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Cha Hee-ra
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Hardly had we met her when the next day rolled around, and we dragged Cha Hee-ra outside against her will, launching our grand diet project right then and there.
"Hic...! Sob... Haah... Hngh... Haa... Haa... Hngh!"
She'd waved us off dismissively, saying she hated exercise itself and that the results were obvious anyway, telling us to buzz off and have fun without her.
But using future knowledge that she was far poorer back then than I'd realized, I slipped some cabbage leaf bills into the pocket of the girl who was making no secret of her reluctance, and she grudgingly followed us out to start exercising blindly.
Just a few bucks, and she hopped right onto the express train to hell, sweating bullets.
Seeing Hee-ra noona staggering around like she could collapse any second, unable to stay still from the exhaustion, I couldn't help but chuckle.
It was kinda funny when I thought about it.
In the future, she was famous for blowing over half her massive earnings on luxuries.
But right now?
A single thousand-won bill brought a happy smile to her face, and she tucked it carefully into her bag like someone might steal it.
They say people who go from rags to riches value money more than anyone and either avoid extravagance altogether or keep it in check. Was that wrong?
I wanted to know the reason, but with the person herself right there yet totally checked out, what was the point of pondering? It was meaningless.
Shaking off the thought, I checked on Hee-ra, who after just three minutes of running looked half-dead, sprawled out and gasping ragged breaths.
One thing was clear: this was an unscratched Powerball ticket. But how was I supposed to get her perfectly dieted and turn that pretty face into something stunning?
The thought excited me even as it felt like a hassle.
At least, unlike with Na-young, I wasn't alone in this.
"Unni! Just a bit more! A little longer, then we rest!"
Na-young had collapsed once early in her diet too, kicking and screaming that she wouldn't get up even if it killed her.
A slightly nostalgic past I had no desire to return to.
"Ugh... No... I can't anymore..."
Na-young was trying hard to change Hee-ra noona's life—the same joyless, depressive days of giving up on everything, just like mine had been—but Hee-ra noona wasn't cooperating.
If anything, she sprawled out flat in an even comfier position on the soft, clean grass.
And true to her fame for having huge breasts even among Koreans, her curvaceous chest stood out prominently.
I'd heard women lose breast fat when they slim down too... but that rack wasn't going anywhere?
The problem was her current figure was blinding in the worst way.
Forget the fat body; the gut was on another level, drawing a deep sigh from me.
"Want me to grab you some water?"
"W-water...! Please... I beg you..."
"Sure. One sec."
I'd come prepared with ice water, but it was all gone. So I headed to the convenience store.
"Hmm... Sports drink might be better than plain water?"
Deciding on a sports drink for superior hydration over regular water, I turned toward the register.
That's when banana milk caught my eye by chance, and I snatched it up.
Before regression, it was pricey enough to make me wince, but now I didn't have to agonize over the extra few hundred won compared to other drinks.
One wasn't enough—I grabbed two, three... no, all six on the shelf.
"Noona. Banana milk or sports drink—which one?"
Still face-down on the ground, drawing stares from all around, I offered Hee-ra her choice.
"Both..."
I handed over both.
Typical pig move.
Gulp, gulp.
She cracked open the banana milk first and chugged it.
Still thirsty, she tore into the sports drink next and downed half.
"Ahh... Finally living again..."
Thirst quenched, she flopped back down with a blissful smile.
"Noona. People are staring. Lie on the bench."
"Yeah... okay."
Hee-ra noona mumbled lackadaisically.
Already ugly and fat enough to be hideous, she was drawing eyes just existing—now flat on the ground without a care, the stares only intensified.
Anyone who didn't crave attention would feel mortified.
What on earth had happened to make her abandon life like this?
"Na-young-ah."
"Yeah..."
Na-young was utterly deflated, her target refusing to budge.
"Here."
I stuck a straw in some banana milk for her, and she sucked it down weakly.
"How's it going? Any progress?"
"No... All that hard exercise today is canceled out by those drinks."
Whoops. Shouldn't have bought them.
"Unni, back to exercising."
"No way... Just a bit more rest... Or we've done enough for today, let's quit..."
"No! You promised Ji-hoon when he gave you the money. No quitting till I say so. You agreed!"
"Haa... True, but it's too hard..."
"Still, get up!"
"Ugh..."
Na-young forcibly hauled up the reluctant Hee-ra noona and resumed the workout.
I watched them for a bit before turning to my future smartphone, glowing with bright light.
'When I was little, I got some unnamed illness that left something on my face, and because I was fat, I got bullied for it.'
This was from a future interview with Hee-ra noona on some network.
People from our school, our class—even the bullies who'd led the torment—were jealous when the once-ugly Hee-ra suddenly appeared stunning on TV.
So they dug up and spread her old photos from her fat, ugly days online, calling her a fake human who'd completely remade her face.
Even without solid proof, reed-like people jumped at the chance to trash her and tarnish her image.
Plastic surgery. Big deal. Honestly, if she weren't a girlfriend or wife, it wouldn't matter.
I couldn't fathom the selfish haters who hyped her up as pretty and cool one minute, then turned to venom the next.
'Almost every Korean woman gets some work done, so why blast me for it? Not saying I did, though.'
Unlike Hee-ra noona in front of me, huffing with her massive flab jiggling, the screen version was slender, beautiful—a totally different person.
Her sharp features were the epitome of girl crush.
'As you can see.'
Hee-ra noona continued.
'The hospital confirmed no knife touched my face. They staked their name on it.'
A renowned clinic flatly denied any surgery, putting their reputation on the line.
Not just her face—the huge breasts, wide hips, ant-waist. No part showed artificial intervention.
That's the story behind her rise from Korean natural beauty model to global star.
"Hmm... Nothing else comes up."
Hee-ra noona rarely spoke of her past.
The only bit she shared was that she'd been fat, ugly, and bullied for it.
"Just school violence, then?"
Back then, even knowing how serious bullying was, reactions were shrugs: "School'll handle it," "They'll take measures."
Perpetrators got off lightly, leaving victims no escape—which might explain why Hee-ra noona had given up on life.
But why did I feel like that wasn't the whole story, that there was some key reason?
"I can't do more!"
A bellow shattered my speculation.
"Unni! Don't you want to be pretty?!"
"I'll never be like you anyway, so I don't wanna. I'm good like this!"
"What? Good like this?! No! Do it! You have to!"
"Eek?! You're weird! You are! And do you even know me? Why are you so desperate to make me exercise?!"
We were strangers from the start, even if money made her go along.
"Then give back the fifty thousand from Ji-hoon."
"...!"
Hee-ra noona's hefty body froze stiff.
"N-no! I exercised hard, didn't I? This is mine fair and square!"
We were doing this for her, even paying her, but her attitude sucked.
"Ugh...!"
Na-young couldn't counter; it was logical.
She glanced at me with teary eyes.
Like, help.
"Jeez..."
Unlike Na-young, she had zero willpower, making slimming her down a chore.
And Hee-ra noona was already marked as my woman.
Her problems were mine.
"Na-young-ah. It's no use. Can't force someone who hates it."
"B-but... Ji-hoon-ah...!"
Expecting backup, she panicked at my words.
Hee-ra noona smirked smugly.
"Let's just give up, okay?"
"Ugh..."
I pulled the deflated Na-young into a hug.
"I withdrew this cash to reward hard work, but back in the bank it goes."
I pulled out my fat wallet and opened it.
Green cabbage leaves gleamed inside.
"W-wait...!"
"Why?"
"Th-that money... You withdrew it for me?"
"Yeah. Not anymore."
Hee-ra noona's pupils shook nonstop.
"No... No way. I'll exercise! I love exercising!"
"Really?!"
Na-young lit up like it never happened.
"Y-yeah... I'll do it..."
Her eyes kept flicking to my wallet.
"Oh, for real? Good. Now these bills can find their owner."
"Y-yeah. Ha, haha."
She laughed awkwardly, swallowing hard.
She wanted it bad.
"Then unni! Let's get back to working out hard!"
"Ah..."
Hee-ra noona sighed at Na-young's words.
For some reason, the trainer's resolve was stronger than the exerciser's.