Chapter 9
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“…What are you two doing?”
At Kang Sunwoo’s question, the staring contest ended.
“Uh... It’s nothing.”
Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed for no reason, I shook my head and started shoveling spoonfuls of rice from my tray into my mouth.
Then this time, instead of Kim Chanseung, Kang Sunwoo began staring at me intently.
“You’re eating well without spilling.”
His fixed gaze felt hazardous enough to give me indigestion. I lightly tapped Kang Sunwoo’s tray, meaning for him to eat too.
“Hm? Want this?”
When he looked like he was about to give me something from his tray, I quickly shook my head. I tried to speak while chewing what was in my mouth, then picked up the cup of water.
“You're cute.”
At Cha Yihan’s following words, I almost spat out the water.
No, how dare you say that to an adult…
His shocking remark made the Confucian values still lingering inside me flare up.
When I was twenty-six, my nephew had been about their age.
Staring at Cha Yihan in disbelief, I saw the smile hanging on his lips slowly deepen into a broader grin.
I felt my irritation melting away, yet I forced myself to manage my expression as I muttered, “Anyone watching would think you are shooting a pictorial.”
“Hm?”
“Stop staring and eat.”
It was a little annoying, but as I thought about it again while eating, I realized I was not really in a position to scold him.
This was not a buffet restaurant we had come out to enjoy, but a school cafeteria, and unbelievably, I was now a first-year high school student, the same age as Cha Yihan.
“Yeon eats like a squirrel.”
Still, it was annoying. Even as I felt burdened by his gaze, I did not stop moving my chopsticks.
If Kang Sunwoo gave off the image of a model student who looked like he belonged in a moral studies textbook, Cha Yihan had the bright, clingy vibe of a Maltese that adored people.
“Yihan-ah, hi! We ended up at the same high school?”
Just looking at how people constantly came up to Cha Yihan and talked to him showed that clearly.
“Hi.”
With every bite he took, Cha Yihan responded to each student who spoke to him and returned their greetings. Even watching it made me feel tired.
One bite, one greeting.
While I had already eaten more than half of the rice I piled onto my tray, Cha Yihan seemed to have taken fewer than three spoonfuls.
Unlike his sharp-looking appearance at first glance, he had plenty of aegyo and smiled easily.
Maybe because of that, compared to Kang Sunwoo or Kim Chanseung, the number of students who stopped to talk to him seemed noticeably higher.
Anyway, the result was…
It’s delicious.
Observation or not, the food honestly tasted amazing.
I stopped analyzing the male leads’ behavior, something I had been doing all day with my nerves on edge at school, and became completely absorbed in eating.
There may be male leads here, but nothing has happened yet. Is there really any need to throw away this kind of blessing?
School meals like this were rare. Not just rare, there was probably nowhere in the world that served food of this quality.
Yeah, there’s no need to start the new semester terrified and trying to run away.
After silently making up my mind, I looked up and saw that Kim Chanseung had nearly finished the tower of food he had stacked on his plate.
Just looking at the way he ate, he was the most fascinating one, so why were Kang Sunwoo and Cha Yihan both staring only at me?
Are they hinting at something?
The first thought that came to mind was that I should eat quickly and leave. I did not need to make a good impression on the male leads anyway. I had never planned to in the first place.
“Is it delicious, Hayeon?”
“Yeah.”
Since I had just decided that there was no need to be so tense from the start of the new semester, I was able to talk to the male leads a little more comfortably than before.
Of course, I answered while thinking something completely different inside.
Kim Chanseung is eating like that, too, so why are you only asking me?
To be fair, I had been eating nonstop, almost on par with Kim Chanseung.
Soon, I had cleaned my plate so thoroughly that it looked brand new, and I set down my utensils with a satisfied smile.
“Thank you for the meal!”
Even though I had eaten my fill, I did not feel bloated at all. It was just the right amount to feel satisfied.
That was perfect. If I had avoided this just because of the male leads and never gotten to try it, I would have regretted it and pounded the ground in frustration.
Since I had eaten more than usual, I decided I should skip the bus and walk home for a bit of a stroll.
“Enjoy your meal, guys.”
It felt uncomfortable to sit there any longer, and I wanted to get home quickly. The moment I sprang to my feet—
“I’ll go with you, Yeon-ah.”
Cha Yihan stood up as well and started trailing after me.
“…Didn’t you not finish your food?”
“I finished.”
It did not look like he had taken even five spoonfuls.
I looked at him suspiciously. Just then, some students passing by spotted Cha Yihan and greeted him brightly.
“Huh? Yihan-ah! Hi!”
“Hi!”
“It’s too bad we’re not in the same class.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Maybe it was because friends he had known since middle school had all moved up to high school together, but even on the first day of school, there were so many people coming up to greet him.
“Oh, hi to you too!”
After greeting Cha Yihan, they also greeted me, standing next to him.
By the time I had received about thirty of those greetings, exhausted, I decided to just make a run for it.
At this rate, I’ll never make it home.
While inching forward, I quickly slipped past Cha Yihan, who was in the middle of returning another greeting.
“Yeon-ah?”
“I’ll head out first! Bye!”
Pretending not to see the hand reaching out toward me, I swiftly dodged it and bolted toward the stairs at full speed.
After running like crazy all the way up to the classroom, I grabbed my bag.
I exchanged brief greetings with a few classmates who tried to talk to me, then immediately left the classroom.
As I walked down the hallway, I spotted Cha Yihan still surrounded by people in one corner.
Taking advantage of the moment when his view was blocked by others, I quickly dashed outside.
I did not even know why I felt like I had to run, but for some reason, it felt like if I got caught once, I would have to stay by Cha Yihan’s side the whole time, so I had no choice.
“Phew.”
After passing through the school gate, I let out a sigh, feeling like I had just clocked out after a six-hour part-time job.
Since I could just head home now, maybe I should grab a cup of coffee on the way. I felt tired, as if I had just finished something exhausting.
Coffee? Or maybe something to put in my mouth…
Come to think of it, before the accident, while I was waiting for the bus, I had gotten completely soaked by the rain before I could even light it.
Remembering that day, I felt wronged.
That day really had the worst luck... The absolute worst.
There was a convenience store right in front of the school. After crossing the street, I searched my pocket for my wallet and pushed open the door.
“Here, a pack of xx-.”
Just then, a middle-aged man was buying a pack at the counter. Standing behind him, I took out my wallet and opened it, only to freeze in confusion.
“Huh?”
My ID was not there. I rummaged through my wallet, but it would not come out. The man left, and the part-timer stared at me blankly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Just a moment.”
Standing one step back, after searching through the wallet for a long time and even emptying out my pockets, I suddenly looked down and noticed the student ID and uniform visible below, then realized something.
I was a minor right now. Of course, I did not have a resident registration card.
Which meant I could not buy anything except snacks like chips.
“Uh…”
I’m an adult, though? I’m twenty-six?
“Are you insane?”
Muttering to myself, I absentmindedly lifted my head and saw that the part-timer had flinched in surprise at my words. We locked eyes, and an awkward silence followed.
“W-why do I only have this much money left…?”
Speaking in a clear voice as if talking to myself, I walked toward the snack shelf, putting on the performance of my life, desperately hoping not to be misunderstood.
Right. I’m a high school student, aren’t I?
I thought about the age of the body I had possessed in my novel. Seventeen. Right now, I was a freshman in high school.
Which meant if I wanted to buy anything that required an ID, I had to wait at least three years. Or pray that I would wake up back in reality.
Wow, what do I do…
Despair swallowed me in an instant. Ever since I had become an adult, all the cheap ways I used to relieve stress were now completely cut off.
“Wait three years? Really? Seriously?”
Drowning in despair, I clutched my head and made a tearful face in front of the snack aisle.
A little kid passing by pointed at me and called me a weird older sister, but I did not even care.
What am I supposed to live for now?!
The precious comforts that had helped me endure brutal college life and my job-hunting days were gone.
Now a healthy life awaited me, where instead of fried chicken and beer I would have chicken and cola, and instead of soju with grilled pork belly, I would drink water.
“This can’t be happening…”
That day, I returned home in a wreck-like state. When I lay down on my bed, I nearly teared up.
“Hayeon-ah, come eat!”
In the evening, Mom bought stir-fried webfoot octopus and fried shrimp, and the moment she cracked open a bottle of soju in front of me, I almost lost my mind.
Pretending to confuse it with my own glass, I casually reached out to take Mom’s glass, but failed.
“Look at this kid! That’s a soju glass! Get a grip.”
“I got mixed up…”
“Princess, that stuff’s bad for your body. Don’t drink it.”
Princess, my foot. Dad only said that because he had no idea how much of a drinker I had become after turning an adult.
“Really?”
“Of course, it’s really bad for your body!”
“Then, since it is bad for the body, Dad, you should quit drinking too. You know I’m saying this because I care about you, right?”
At my words, Dad’s face looked like his world had collapsed.
“N-no, it’s different for Dad… It’s the only leisure I get after work.”
The expression that crossed Dad’s face at that moment was exactly how I felt right now.
The fact that it had been my only leisure too was something I had to swallow down along with my cola. Today, the cola tasted bitter.
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