Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Cha Hee-ra
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She didn't go out for exercise solely because of the 100 million... but even so, Hee-ra kept at it consistently.
The result of drastically cutting back on her food intake and dieting while clutching her starving stomach.
"Wow... Unnie, you get prettier every day...!"
"Y-yeah... H-ha ha..."
Chae-yeon couldn't stop gushing, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
Hee-ra felt shy hearing such a pretty girl call her pretty, but at the same time, her nose was practically piercing the sky.
And who could blame her?
"Heh, heh heh."
She paused her workout for a moment, slipped away from the group, pulled out the hand mirror she'd tucked into her bag, and grinned broadly at her reflection.
A hand mirror—one of the essential items for girls her age—was something Hee-ra had never really bothered with in the past.
She'd thought she was so ugly she didn't even want to look at herself, so she never felt the need to carry one around. Not that she ever had anyway.
But as she started getting prettier bit by bit, she naturally began carrying one just like any other ordinary girl.
Hand mirrors are typically used for makeup or fixing your hair.
Hee-ra used hers purely to look at her face.
"Heh heh heh... I really am pretty..."
The girl in the mirror bore no trace of the ugly Hee-ra from before.
Some blemishes still faintly lingered on her face, and bits of fat she hadn't shed clung here and there, but her newfound beauty made her look nothing more than a plump, smiling girl.
"Does Ji-hoon have some kind of divine insight?"
She wondered how he'd known that with just a little polishing, she'd turn into a gem.
A fact unknown even to the parents who gave birth to her—or herself, for that matter.
Maybe he was possessed by a spirit or something? And that's how he knew?
Hee-ra felt a spark of interest in superpowers for the first time.
"Pfft."
Suddenly glancing into the mirror, she let out an involuntary laugh.
Even in this half-finished state, she looked this good. She could hardly wait to see what she'd be like once fully polished.
With just a bit more effort, she might reach a level where she could stand beside Na-young without feeling intimidated—even if not quite matching her.
"Thank you..."
She murmured while gazing at Na-young, who was currently guiding their classmates through workouts.
She also expressed her gratitude toward Ji-hoon, who was hanging alone from the pull-up bar off to the side.
These two had not only opened a path for someone like her—who'd thought her life was utterly ruined—but filled it with flowers. She felt an immense, unpayable debt.
She wanted to repay them somehow, but they already had everything. She couldn't even imagine what to offer.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced.
Ji-hoon had once said that once she lost the weight and got pretty, she'd become his woman, just like Na-young.
One man with two women—that's called a harem, right?
Honestly, having two women tangled up with one man drew side-eyes from others, and even the parties involved might not welcome it.
But to Hee-ra, who had been burned one too many times by people, it strangely didn't seem so bad.
Because unlike others, they looked past her exterior and saw the real her inside.
"Na-young said it was okay too... Hmm."
Na-young often hinted—subtly or not—that she'd be fine with Hee-ra unnie. And from what she'd seen, Ji-hoon was the type to give equal, abundant love to both her and Na-young without favoritism.
For these reasons, Hee-ra had fallen under Ji-hoon's spell and become the second fish trapped in his pond.
"Should I confess first? Or wait for him? Until he makes the move?"
She propped her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
A guy with a promise, not a bad person at all, and above all, loaded with money—Ji-hoon was the perfect catch.
Hee-ra had already become his woman in her heart. Now she pondered how to fully become his.
She'd gotten pretty now, and like the heroines in dramas, she wanted him to confess first.
"Uh... H-Hee-ra! I like you!"
Scratch that.
Now even the "c" in confess made her cringe.
At school, Hee-ra stared coldly at some boy—whose face and name she didn't even know—confessing to her.
His flushed cheeks and ragged breaths from excitement.
He probably thought he was mustering great courage.
But Hee-ra found him repulsive.
Back when she was ugly, he'd just whispered behind her back. Now that she was on the verge of becoming drop-dead gorgeous, these guys swarmed in, thinking it was their chance.
Handsome, average, ugly—it didn't matter.
Did they think her past made her an easy mark?
That because she'd been bullied for being ugly, they could have her on the cheap?
Pathetic.
She let out a long sigh, about to reject him outright.
"Hey... fuck. What the hell are you doing?"
A thick, irritation-laden voice came from behind.
"Eek...!"
"You wanna die?"
"N-no... S-sorry."
"Get lost, asshole."
The boy bolted without looking back at the command to scram.
"You okay?"
In his place appeared Ki-yeok Kim.
Once the guy Hee-ra had truly loved—even when he joined friends in tormenting her, her feelings hadn't changed—until recently, when they'd suddenly soured completely.
No trace of affection left whatsoever.
She couldn't even fathom why her past self had crushed on such a loser.
Oblivious to her feelings, he flashed what he thought was a sweet smile and offered his hand.
'Urgh... gross.'
If this had been before, she might've forgotten all his past crap and fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
She'd once dreamed of him making even one such face at her. Now it just made her want to puke.
Hee-ra swallowed her nausea and slapped his hand away.
"I don't need it."
She brushed past him, stepping onward.
"Hee-ra, where are you going?"
He'd laughed and tormented her mercilessly before, but now that she was pretty—quite pretty, even—he'd flipped his expression and was hitting on her.
How could a person change so drastically?
And twice over, no less.
Her delicate brows twisted in disgust as she ignored him and headed back to class.
The problem was they were in the same class.
Ki-yeok half-threatened the guy in Hee-ra's adjacent seat to move and plopped down himself.
During breaks and even throughout class, he didn't glance at the blackboard from his stolen spot—instead, he stared solely at Hee-ra's face.
"Hee-ra, didn't you used to like me?"
This repulsive creep knew all about it, huh.
"I think you're okay now. Wanna date?"
"Gross..."
The word slipped out unbidden.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?"
"Nah, none. Breaking up with her today."
"......"
"Oh, I do have one? You're gonna be her."
Hee-ra's expression soured more by the second, but Ki-yeok couldn't hold back his laughter, amused for some reason.
"Haa... I'm a... guy..."
Wait.
She was about to say she had a rich boyfriend at least four years older when a brilliant idea hit, and she clamped her mouth shut mid-sentence.
This was annoying, sure... but it could be fun?
Of course, she had zero intention of dating that fucker, but he'd been squirming lately to win her heart and atone for his sins.
What if she let him pour in all that effort, take everything he offered, then showed him snuggling into another man's arms?
Right in front of a rejoicing Ki-yeok, thinking his efforts had borne fruit—embracing Ji-hoon and kissing him.
Just imagining it washed away more than half the pain she'd endured her whole life.
If Ki-yeok flipped out and tried revenge? Ji-hoon would handle it.
Yeah, he'd definitely take care of it.
For his woman's sake.
"Hee-ra?"
With no reply for a while, Ki-yeok grabbed her hand.
"Eek...!"
She recoiled as if touched by slime and yanked her hand free.
"No."
Her face twisted as she shook her head.
"H-ha ha. Sorry. Won't joke like that again. Okay? Don't be mad."
A joke? Just a joke?
To her, it'd been soul-crushing.
Unbelievable.
Even as Ki-yeok chattered on beside her, Hee-ra ignored him completely.
Eventually, he couldn't hold back his anger and yelled—but he was the desperate one, not her.
Sure enough, Ki-yeok soon apologized for shouting and offered a chocolate as atonement.
She still had fat to lose and should hold back, but since it was from Ki-yeok, she popped it in her mouth anyway.
It tasted better than any chocolate ever.
Learning she'd eaten it, Ki-yeok ramped up the gift offensive.
"I like it..."
But the heart of the girl he wanted was already elsewhere.
"Huh? Suddenly?"
Ji-hoon questioned why she'd confess in a sauna, sweating buckets.
"Why? You said if I got pretty, I'd be yours. Was that a lie?"
"No... it's not that. Just a bit sudden."
"...Yeah, I guess."
Even Hee-ra thought confessing in a sauna—scorching hot or not—was a little off.
But for petty revenge on Ki-yeok.
More than that, watching those two get all lovey-dovey made her chest tighten to the point of madness.
She wanted that kind of relationship with him, and fast.
"So... you don't want to?"
With his answer delayed, Hee-ra felt anxious.
For even a moment of such foolishness.
"As if. Noona."
Ji-hoon wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.