Chapter 46: Kim Ga-eul’s Time of Suffering (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 46: Kim Ga-eul’s Time of Suffering (End)
“Hehe.”
Kim Ga-eul was in a remarkably good mood.
To be honest, she had almost fallen into despair when she was rejected after making a lunchbox specifically to eat with him. However, it seemed his excuse about having a prior engagement wasn’t a lie, and above all, he had eventually accepted it as if he had no choice.
Kang So-hyun.
She kept calling him a “loser” because she felt somewhat embarrassed, but deep down, he was someone she wanted to get close to.
Strictly as friends, of course!
She was grateful that he had forgiven her even though she had bullied him, and that he had acted so considerately to help her make friends.
She did have feelings for him, but they were strictly platonic—the kind of affection you have for a friend you want to be closer to.
“Hihi, but it doesn’t seem like he hates me, right?”
In fact, she thought it was only natural for Kang So-hyun to push her away.
No matter how kind a person was, who would actually like the ringleader who had bullied them and constantly put them down?
She had acted confident, but while preparing the lunchbox the night before, she’d had a very specific nightmare. In the dream, he had cursed at her, saying, “Hey, just because I’m being a little nice, do you really think I’m your friend? Read the room. Go back to chasing after Cheon Yu-hak like you love to do. Oh, did you switch to me because he dumped you?”
Switching? No. She still liked Cheon Yu-hak.
Of course, ever since that last incident, he had become somewhat scary, and her body would freeze up whenever she looked at him, but feelings held for several years didn’t disappear that easily.
Regardless, she thought she had done well just by not being hated for now, but judging by his attitude, it seemed he didn’t dislike her as much as she’d feared.
— “Ah, hey. Don’t look so gloomy. Fine. I’ll just eat twice, big deal.”
“Who would offer to eat two lunches just because someone they hate is disappointed? This is going better than expected, right?”
But why?
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why he didn’t hate her.
If it were her, she would have immediately asserted her innocence and buried the other person so deep they couldn’t even lift their head.
Suddenly, as she looked in the mirror in the restroom, a thought occurred to her.
The mirror reflected her quite pretty face.
Her reddish-brown short hair, makeup that was carefully applied without being too flashy—if she had to find a flaw, it was that her eyes looked a bit sharp, but overall, she looked quite good.
No, she could even be called beautiful. In fact, hadn’t quite a few guys shown interest in her at the beginning of the semester?
“Is my face his type?”
Or maybe that was it.
Since the start of the semester, she had been occupying his desk and somewhat aggressively(?) closing the distance between them.
Perhaps she had inadvertently taken on the role of the “bully who is kind to the geek” that often appeared in the manga he probably read?
“What am I saying? I really must be a crazy bitch.”
…But then again, if “the loser is hiding his power” is a real thing, couldn’t “the bully becoming friends with the hidden-power loser” also be a real thing?
It was surprisingly a classic trope.
“Heh, so that’s how it is.”
It didn’t seem like a bad position to be in.
It was almost the time he had mentioned, so she figured she should stop fixing her makeup and head back.
Returning to the classroom in a great mood while indulging in these delusions, she was suddenly faced with a bewildering situation.
“…Huh?”
The lunchbox she had prepared so diligently to eat with Kang So-hyun had vanished without a trace.
“Where… where did it go?!”
She had only been fixing her makeup for a few minutes.
Unless the lunchbox had grown legs and run away on its own, it meant someone had moved it in that short span of time.
Giggle.
“Ah.”
She was quite sensitive to the atmosphere around her.
Thanks to Lilac and Kang So-hyun, public opinion of her had improved slightly, but there were still those who viewed her poorly. Even those who didn’t weren’t close enough to stop a prank being played on her.
Even Kang Han-hee, who was relatively close, wasn’t in the classroom. To those who hated her, this must have seemed like the perfect opportunity.
It was even possible that students from a completely different class were the culprits.
‘No, it’s still okay.’
She forced the negative thoughts out of her head.
If they had just hidden the lunchbox, she just had to find it before Kang So-hyun finished his business.
— “Fine, I get it. I’ll be expecting something delicious, so stop pestering me.”
She had bragged so much; she couldn’t just tell him she’d lost it.
* * *
Now, what should I do about this?
“Ah, the frozen stuff is better. This hasn’t gone bad, has it?”
On my way back from the meeting with Professor Cathy, I saw some guys who looked like total extras stuffing their faces with a lunchbox.
I mean, they’re human, so I don’t care if they eat, but the problem was that the container they were eating from had a very familiar design.
I remembered it almost perfectly because Kim Ga-eul had bragged about it so much this morning.
Could this really be a coincidence?
“Hey, but isn’t she going to cry?”
“Honestly, so what if she cries? It’s annoying how she tried to jump on the Lilac line after things didn’t work out with Cheon Yu-hak.”
“And really, is it a big deal if she misses lunch for one day? If she’s that upset, she can just go to the cafeteria.”
“True.”
Well, shit. No matter how I looked at it, the testimonies coming out of their mouths made it impossible to deny that it was Kim Ga-eul’s lunchbox.
If I had caught them before they started eating, I would have snatched it back or done something, but the lunchbox was already nearly empty.
In other words, the first lunchbox Kim Ga-eul had ever made in her life had already been tragically consumed by these bastards.
“Hey, let’s stop. This tastes like crap.”
“Yeah.”
The guys proceeded to dump the little bit of food that was left into a nearby flowerbed and tossed the container carelessly beside it.
These guys really don’t know the value of food.
And do they think they’re the ones who maintain the flowerbeds? What are they going to do if it starts to smell like rot?
I debated whether to pretend I didn’t know or to tell Kim Ga-eul, but the deliberation didn’t last long.
Or rather, I couldn’t afford to deliberate.
A moment later, I saw Kim Ga-eul running toward us from a distance.
She must have run into those guys, as her face was deathly pale and she looked quite shaken.
The sight of her running while trembling was quite striking.
“Ah.”
And soon, her expression crumpled as she discovered the discarded lunchbox and the food scraps.
She collapsed weakly onto the ground and soon her body began to shake.
…Huh? Is she crying? For real?
“Again.”
Hmm?
“If I make it again… no, there’s no time, so if I just buy something and fill the container…? No, it’s meaningless if I didn’t make it myself.”
She was so flustered she had started talking to herself.
“Seriously. Dammit. Why today of all days… I’d rather they just came and hit me.”
No, Ga-eul, surely a lunchbox terror is better than being beaten?
I couldn’t just keep watching forever, so I approached. Sensing someone, she turned around and was startled to see me.
“Oh? Uh? No, that is…”
“What happened?”
I already knew the situation, but I couldn’t exactly not ask.
“Ah, that. Actually. No, it’s nothing. The reason the lunchbox is like this is… well…”
It seemed the shock was greater than I’d expected.
“Calm down. I’m not blaming you. Tell me slowly.”
Thinking I should soothe her, I patted her shoulder. Only then did she seem to calm down a bit as her trembling subsided.
“Well, I stepped away for a moment to fix my makeup before eating with you, loser, but the lunchbox was gone.”
“Right.”
“But I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it. So I asked the other kids, and they said they saw someone… hic… carrying it this way… sob…”
Oh boy, she’s crying again.
I thought she’d finally calmed down, but recalling it seemed to bring all the emotions back up.
“So I ran here, and they had eaten it all… and said it tasted bad. So…”
Wow, those are some truly nasty girls.
I figured they might have crossed paths, but how could they think to snatch someone else’s lunchbox and then be so toxic about it?
After sobbing for a while, Kim Ga-eul spoke up tentatively.
“I’m sorry. You said you were looking forward to the lunchbox.”
Ah, so that’s why she’s crying?
“It’s okay.”
In a way, it might sound a bit cold, but I only said I was looking forward to it because she kept telling me to; I wasn’t actually expecting much, so it really was okay.
Besides, it’s not like I’m the one starving. Isn’t she, who skipped a meal for this “appointment,” the one with the bigger problem?
“What do you mean it’s okay? You don’t have to act like you don’t care. It must have been your first time receiving something from a girl, so you must have been really excited.”
…This girl, seriously.
Every time I try to think well of her, she has to go and do something annoying.
I thought about it for a moment.
What should I do here?
If it were the “sweet guy” Lilac, he would probably brush off a scrap of the fallen food, eat it, praise the taste, and then comfort her by saying they should eat something even better next time.
If it were Cheon Yu-hak, he would probably ignore the petty prank and bark at her to crush those lowlifes.
But I wasn’t a “sweet guy” crazy enough to do something like that, and given my usual behavior, I didn’t think it would suit me anyway.
Well, there was no need to overthink it.
There was no reason to imitate someone else in a situation like this.
When someone was crying because they were sad, what I did—then and now—was always the same.
“You haven’t eaten, right?”
“Huh? Yeah…”
“Let’s go.”
If we went to the cafeteria, her makeup would be smudged from crying and she’d probably say she was embarrassed later, so I should take her out to eat something.
“Huh?”
“First, wipe your eyes with this. The lunchbox is a waste, but you can’t starve. Let’s go out and grab something.”
When I handed her a handkerchief from my pocket, she carefully wiped away her tears.
“…Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Usually, when things are like this, eating something delicious and stimulating is the best cure.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She seemed to think I was joking, but I was serious.
When things are shitty and you’re feeling down, putting something in your mouth is surprisingly effective.
Even at the orphanage, if I gave a piece of candy to kids who were huffing and puffing after a fight, they’d be crying and making up with each other before long.
I took her to a nearby tteokbokki place and ordered. Despite glancing at me nervously, she began to eat, clearly hungry.
That’s right. Whether you’re angry or crying, you need stamina for all of it.
You shouldn’t starve.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah, it’s spicy but good.”
“When you’re in a foul mood, you have to eat spicy food. This is a scientifically proven fact, and anyone who disagrees just lacks culture.”
I personally dislike spicy food, but spicy food eaten when you’re in a bad mood isn’t so bad.
“What are you talking about?”
She began to chuckle softly, as if she found that amusing.
See? She’s smiling now that she’s had something good to eat.
“The lunchbox is a shame, but what’s done is done. Let’s just eat together next time.”
“Okay. To make up for you comforting me today, I’ll make it even more delicious next time.”
She hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Hey, loser.”
“Seriously, with that ‘loser’ talk. What? You want more tteokbokki? Or maybe some sundae or tempura?”
“Do you think I’m a pig? It’s not that. I’m just curious… why are you being so nice to me?”
“So I should just walk away while you’re crying? Am I a sociopath?”
“No, not that. Honestly, you know. I bullied you. So why are you being so nice?”
…I wonder?
Why am I doing this for this annoying girl?
Now that I thought about it, there didn’t seem to be a single reason to be nice to her.
At first, I just wanted to keep her alive and fix her personality, but somehow we’d ended up in this friend-adjacent relationship.
“Could it be… you don’t actually like me, do you?”
What is she talking about…? Is she insane?
“Hehe, I can tell by your face. You don’t, right? That’s a relief.”
…Uh, what is this? This intense surge of impulse burning in my chest?
It feels a bit weird, like I’ve been rejected without even confessing.
“But it is a bit of a shame.”
She looked at me with a smile.
“If I had met you, So-hyun, before Yu-hak… the person I liked might have been different.”
Having said something that was difficult to respond to, she went back to eating her tteokbokki.
“It’s good, but it’s really spicy.”
She’s so small she probably can’t even eat much, yet she keeps stuffing it in.
“It’s so spicy it’s making me tear up.”
She said it with a crying face.
…I have a lot to do, but it looks like I’ll have to help her get revenge too.
Not a petty revenge like usual, but something truly satisfying.