Chapter 7
Chapter 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Na-young Han
-----------------------------------------------------------------
During the mornings and afternoons before heading to school, I exercised with Na-young, and after dinner at night, I sat in front of the computer doing FX margin trading.
Time passed like that, and vacation arrived.
My daily routine didn't change much even during vacation.
Aside from still exercising with Na-young, I holed up in my room, endlessly staring at the computer screen.
Mom must have thought I was addicted to games, so she nagged me, but I apologized and turned off the computer.
But the moment she left the room, I turned it right back on, logged into the exchange, and repeated bets through the night to rack up profits.
"Ughhh!"
I stretched my stiff arms high toward the sky and let out a weird groan.
Then I flashed a satisfied smile.
"Profit rate 10500%......"
What had been just 100,000 won had ballooned to 9 million won at a 10500% profit rate.
It stung that over a million won had gone to painful fees, but since I hadn't put down a deposit in the first place, there was nothing to be done about it.
Still, this was an insane profit rate on its own. If Mom weren't home after quitting her job because of the lottery, I probably would've been screaming in excitement already.
"Heh, heh heh......"
At my age, seeing my balance— which had only 100,000 won such a short time ago— now nearing 10 million, laughter kept bubbling up uncontrollably.
No matter how absolute the cheat sheet of the Future Smartphone was, trading still required effort like any good cheating.
I proudly ruffled my own hair in vigorous self-praise.
"Yawwwn......"
Even on vacation, staying up through the pre-dawn hours when the markets fluctuated most had piled up fatigue to the breaking point.
On top of that, my jaw ached from unconsciously grinning so much.
I carefully set down the smartphone— which stayed at 100% battery without needing charges for some reason— and lay down on the bed.
The moment I did, my eyes began to droop as if they'd been waiting.
I could've fallen asleep any second now.
"Ji-hoon... ah...?"
Na-young peeked her head through the slightly open door.
"Na-young?"
Today was a day with big market swings, so I'd suggested skipping exercise just this once to make more money, but I had no idea why she was here.
"I-I was bored... and had nothing to do, so I came over... Was that bad...?"
I'd even told her last time she could come play anytime, so I couldn't exactly turn her away now.
"No, it's fine... Yawwwn."
I forced my drooping eyelids open and propped myself up on my elbows.
Yawns kept bursting out nonstop, and I barely suppressed the urge to flop back down regardless of whether Na-young was there or not.
"Here... Mom peeled these apples for you to eat."
Na-young came into the room and held out a plate piled high with what looked like Mom-peeled apples.
"Thanks."
I grabbed one and bit into it.
It was tasty, but I was so exhausted I just chewed and swallowed haphazardly.
"Na-young, I'm really tired from not sleeping well... Mind if I crash?"
"Sh-should I go...?"
I shook my head at her question, laced with disappointment.
"No... Stay if you want to......"
There wasn't any real issue with her being in the room, so I saw no need to kick her out.
I lay back down on the bed and closed my eyes.
Before long, I was out cold.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "......"
Na-young blankly stared at Ji-hoon Lee, who lay comfortably asleep, breathing steadily and evenly.
Soon, she felt an irresistible impulse surging within her.
"Ji-hoon... ah?"
She called out to him once in a voice trembling with tension, but there was no response.
"Asleep...? Are you really asleep?"
Just to be sure, she called again, but all that came back was the sound of steady snoring.
Na-young swallowed hard.
Confirming he wasn't faking it and was truly asleep, she now stood right beside the bed where he lay.
This was wrong— doing something like this to someone innocently sleeping away.
And with her own face, so ugly it disgusted even her, it felt even more unacceptable. But somehow, she felt Ji-hoon would forgive her.
Clinging to that belief, she slowly reached out her hand.
Soon, her hand rested on Ji-hoon's forehead.
"It's hot."
More than warm, his forehead felt feverishly hot under her palm.
Was he sick? Did the fever come from pain?
She'd never seen him cough, but fevers could come without coughs. Na-young fidgeted restlessly, unable to stay still.
After agonizing over what to do...
"A-a wet towel...! A wet towel...!"
Right— people put wet towels on foreheads for this.
Na-young bolted out of the room in search of a towel.
Ji-hoon's mom, who had left the front door open for Na-young to come in, must have gone out somewhere; Na-young was the only presence in the big house.
"This'll have to do...!"
No towel in sight despite searching, so she soaked the one hanging in the bathroom, wrung it out with all her might.
She'd squeezed out as much as possible, but it still dripped heavily.
Still, it should be enough. Na-young grabbed the towel and headed back to Ji-hoon's room.
Like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumb trail, droplets fell from the towel, marking her path from the bathroom to Ji-hoon's room.
She'd gone to the trouble of wringing it out before placing it on his forehead, but the water soaked it, trickled down his face, and drenched the pillow and blanket.
"Ah...!"
With a short sigh, she took the towel back to the bathroom, properly wrung it out this time, and placed it on his forehead.
"There... that should do it......"
She hadn't realized just wetting a towel and putting it on a forehead would be this hard.
But thinking of Ji-hoon waking up refreshed from her efforts made her feel good.
"Ji-hoon......"
She murmured his name in a tone brimming with affection.
He was deep asleep, unable to hear or respond, but that was fine.
But there was one thing— just one truth she wanted to hear from him.
"Ji-hoon. Those words you said to Mom back then... Were they for real?"
Her grotesquely ugly face had made mockery and rejection from family, adults, and peers an everyday reality.
She'd heard it so much she'd grown numb to it. But hearing those words even from the mother of the boy she liked felt like a massive nail hammered into her heart.
It hurt so much she couldn't even cry. Then the words that followed left her reeling in shock.
'I like Na-young too much to just be friends.'
He said he liked her— her, whom she'd thought would live her whole life alone, unloved by anyone.
Why? Why would he like a girl who looked like this? She was dying to know.
Honestly, even if Na-young were a guy, she wouldn't give someone like herself a second glance.
"That was... a joke... right...?"
Tears fell.
It was a reality too joyful and unbelievable.
That was why she kept desperately denying his words, which might have been sincere.
"It was a joke, right...?"
She wanted an answer to that.
Even knowing the truth would lean toward it being a joke, she couldn't let go of that "what if" thread.
"I'm sorry... Ji-hoon......"
Even if it was real, Na-young would push him away.
Because liking a girl like her would only bring him loss, no doubt.
So.
"I like you. Ji-hoon."
She couldn't say she liked him while he was in a state to hear it.
Normally, she kept those words tightly locked deep in her heart, only to blurt them out in moments like this. Tears fell at the reality of it.
With the wet towel on his forehead, his face looked much more at ease.
Her gaze stayed fixed on his lips, showing no sign of moving.
Right now, she could steal a kiss, and as long as she kept quiet and composed herself, no one would ever know.
But Na-young couldn't do it.
Dreaming of an impossible future where he held the same true feelings as her, letting them blossom into lovers, Na-young left the room.
"......"
As she left the room, Na-young clutched a certain cream.
It was the foot cream he'd insisted was a magic cream to restore pretty faces, one she had to apply excessively three times a day at least.
At first, she'd thought he was just teasing her, but after reluctantly slathering it on his hand multiple times and seeing the marks on her face gradually fade, she realized it worked.
But so many remained despite some fading that she'd given up hope, never applying it even once at home.
"I wish I could get pretty......"
Even if her face cleared up, it probably wouldn't make much difference.
It was surely pointless effort.
Still, for the first time, Na-young spread the cream on her own face.
A tingling, stinging sensation spread across her entire face.
The feeling made her hate applying it, but if it made her pretty— or at least gave her a normal face— she could endure it.
Then maybe she could stay by Ji-hoon's side a little longer.
Further, maybe she could stand proudly beside him.
It might sound trivial to others, but to her, it was a desperate wish. Thinking of it, she stood before the sink.
"So ugly......"
The fat girl with the deathly pale face in the mirror was truly hideous.
No matter how kindly she tried to see it, she couldn't.
How could Ji-hoon look her straight in the eyes with a face like this? How could he keep calling her pretty, even if it was just empty words?
And what was she, getting happy over those lies?
She cupped water in her hands and washed her face clean.
Tears that had flowed mingled with the water and washed away.
After thoroughly washing her face, Na-young dried it completely with a towel and returned to Ji-hoon's room.
"Ji-hoon... I'm heading out. Sleep well."
Na-young lingered a while longer gazing at his sleeping form before finally turning away.
To make her huge body slim like the other girls, she planned to exercise alone today without skipping.