Chapter 159
Chapter 159
......'Sara' wasn't coming back.
Maybe she was still talking even now.
Or was she, really?
In Yu Ha-neul's mind, a debate kept running—one side trying to see the situation positively, the other trying to see it negatively.
Both perspectives had some truth to them.
The positive side was the Yu Ha-neul who had watched 'Sara' change over time.
She was 'Sara,' who knew that even if she hadn't completely let go of her attachment to Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung, there were now far more people who cared about her than before.
Though 'Sara' and Sara showed their care in different ways, they were both precious friends to Yu Ha-neul.
That was why Yu Ha-neul believed in Sara. She believed in 'Sara' too.
She thought that even if she faced her own mother, she would be able to come back right away.
But the negative thoughts kept pulling her the other way.
The problem was that in 'Sara's heart, her attachment to Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung hadn't completely vanished.
Yu Ha-neul remembered the scene of Sara being held in Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung's arms.
The most intense memory of 'Sara's life. The one person she had been able to communicate with.
The problem was not knowing how this conversation would end.
"......."
She looked at the smartphone on her desk. It had only been about ten minutes since 'Sara' had left.
Right, factoring in travel time, talking, and returning, it was obvious it would take longer than that.
Thinking that, she felt a little relieved.
"Yu Ha-neul. Focus on the lesson."
The teacher, who normally wouldn't dare say anything no matter what other students did, spoke to Yu Ha-neul.
"......."
How much had Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung thrown her weight around this time?
A while back, 'Sara' had pressured the teachers, telling them to 'spit out as much as you failed to pay for', and she'd even gotten a written pledge out of them on the spot. So the teachers' resentment toward 'Sara' must have been fierce.
And naturally, that resentment was also directed at Sara's friends, Yu Ha-neul and So-hee.
No, maybe it would be directed at all the scholarship students in this school. Because those kids were the ones who had been most influenced and helped by 'Sara'.
The people around them didn't even bother holding back their snickering. They were openly mocking Yu Ha-neul.
So-hee looked around, annoyed, but she couldn't seize control of the atmosphere the way she had when she'd confronted the teachers before.
......That didn't mean it had no effect, though.
Pathetically, a few of them averted their eyes and shut their mouths.
In their eyes, So-hee must have looked like someone who could really go off.
So-hee didn't hit the kids.
......She might grab them by the collar, though.
"Focus on the lesson. If your grades don't hold up, you won't be able to keep attending this school."
"......."
Yu Ha-neul clenched her teeth.
It was disgusting.
There had been a time when she'd admired this school from the outside. She'd worked so hard to get in, after all.
All the facilities were top-tier, the teachers were top-tier, and the students were truly 'high society'.
Maybe it would have been stranger not to admire it.
But this school had also gathered every filthy thing you could imagine about high society.
But she endured it now.
Because 'Sara' was still here.
Su-a was here, and So-hee was too.
She didn't want to give up her memories with those girls.
So she picked up her pen again and jotted down the teacher's droning in her notebook.
Just until 'Sara' comes back, at least until then, she'd endure.
That was what she thought.
*
But the one who came back wasn't 'Sara'.
The door slid open with a rattle before class had even ended.
"Ha-neul! So-hee!"
And the one who shouted like that wasn't the returning 'Sara'.
It was Su-a, gasping for breath from running so hard to get here.
"What do you think you're doing in the middle of class—"
"What's going on?"
The teacher started to scold Su-a, but Yu Ha-neul rose from her seat first.
There was a reason Su-a had run here so hard.
It was always Yu Ha-neul, So-hee, and either Sara or 'Sara' who left class like this.
"Right now—"
Maybe the teacher was furious that they kept talking right in front of him, or maybe he was pleased, thinking he'd finally caught them. He put on an exaggerated angry face, perhaps hoping to punish these thorns in his side.
Thwack!
Something flew hard and smacked the teacher in the face.
"Aack!"
It wasn't strong enough to leave a mark, but the teacher clutched his face, perhaps startled by the sudden attack.
With a clatter, a ballpoint pen rolled across the floor.
It was a pretty expensive, weighty metal pen.
"Shin So-hee!"
This time it wasn't a pretense of anger; the teacher shouted with a genuinely furious expression.
So-hee stayed in the same pose, chin resting on her hand, and received the teacher's rage with a bored expression.
"What's it going to hurt if you just shut your mouth for a bit? My friends are talking right now."
"What do you think you're doing to a teacher—"
But once again, those words didn't get to finish.
Because this time, it wasn't a pen, the entire pencil case went flying.
He hurriedly ducked out of the way and ended up rolling on the floor.
"You should work out once in a while."
So-hee said it like a sigh.
A few students around them couldn't hold back a snort, but when So-hee turned around with a threatening glare, they quickly covered their mouths.
The teacher got to his feet, his face flushed with anger and humiliation, and yelled.
"You lot, I'm not letting this slide!"
"That's all only possible while we're students."
"What?"
"I've been looking the other way again and again, but I really can't let it slide anymore. I have no intention of staying in a trash school like this."
So-hee slowly got to her feet. She glanced at Yu Ha-neul, who had already stood up and was watching So-hee with her mouth slightly open. So-hee just shrugged at her.
"Anyway, this school never suited me."
Then So-hee strode over to the front of the classroom where the teacher was.
"Y-you, to a teacher—"
"Cut the 'teacher' crap. I have no desire to address you with respect."
So-hee stepped right up to the teacher, shoved her hands into her uniform pockets, and looked up at him with a crooked gaze.
So-hee was shorter than the teacher, but not by an overwhelming amount. Facing him like this, they were nearly eye to eye.
"......You keep going on about me being a student, but if you want to be treated like a teacher, maybe act like one. The reason the other kids don't treat you like a teacher is because you've been acting shitty like this all along."
"......."
His face was still flushed, but the teacher couldn't bring himself to say anything.
Maybe he knew instinctively that So-hee was about to explode.
And the biggest reason for it was the 'Sara' who hadn't come back.
Right now, money wasn't the issue.
If he said even one wrong word, he'd really get it.
Physically.
No, maybe the So-hee standing in front of the teacher right now actually wanted him to 'start something.'
"So-hee."
But that blood-curdling standoff was over quickly.
Because Yu Ha-neul had tapped So-hee on the shoulder.
"......Huh?"
When So-hee looked back, Yu Ha-neul shook her head.
"Don't. It's not worth it."
No matter how angry she was, physically beating someone up would cause big problems. If the police came, she wouldn't be able to help 'Sara' at all.
"......."
So-hee turned back to look down at the teacher for a moment, then suddenly lowered her head.
"Ptui."
So-hee spat at the teacher's feet,
"Just keep living your cushy life teaching at a school like this. I can't stomach it anymore."
"So-hee."
Yu Ha-neul called to So-hee.
So-hee answered, "I mean it. I'm going to tell Sara too. There are plenty of places to go besides a place like this, right?"
"......."
Yu Ha-neul stared blankly at So-hee.
So-hee's expression was utterly serious.
"......Okay. Let's do that."
And she nodded, agreeing.
"We don't need to be here."
Yu Ha-neul turned her back without any lingering attachment.
Right. Nothing else mattered.
Because the people precious to her were already all around her.
A school like this, it didn't matter at all.
"So, Su-a."
Yu Ha-neul looked at Su-a, whose face was still pale, and said,
"What's going on?"
Su-a took a deep breath, then burst out,
"Sara—she, she left with her mother!"
For a moment, time stopped for Yu Ha-neul and So-hee.
"......Let's go."
But it didn't take long for them to snap out of it.
How Su-a knew that, and why Sara had left with Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung.
They could hear about that on the way.
Before they knew it, the three of them were running together.
"Do you know where they went?"
"The direction, at least......!"
"Senior!"
So-hee was already calling Yang Hye-in.
"......."
As she ran hard, Yu Ha-neul could only hope that Sara was safe.