Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Sato Industries
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"Fuck... Fuck, fuck!!"
Even after sleeping through the night, my guts were still twisting with rage. How the hell did that lumbering brute know using L'Hôpital's rule would screw me over? And right after that, the counter-question he threw at me... That wasn't something a math idiot could come up with.
Crash!
Even hurling the glass of ice water I'd been sipping to calm down and shattering it didn't help. If I'd just thought calmly for five seconds, I wouldn't have fallen for it. I'd been too worked up. Since enrolling in Todai Academy, I'd never felt this humiliated—not once. Whenever I smiled, every girl in the class smiled back, their eyes filled with nothing but admiration and affection.
But yesterday?
...All eyes had turned to that brute.
The unrest among the girls I'd been tutoring, Fudahara's mocking gaze, and the subtle murmurs that erupted at my mistake.
Humiliation upon humiliation.
"Heh heh heh..."
...But it didn't matter.
Because I'd learned something important yesterday.
[Fudahara Calligraphy Workshop]
It was a studio that had recently started supplying calligraphy supplies to my dad's company. Out of nowhere, Dad mentioned the name "Fudahara," so I was shocked and asked about it—he said the contract had been in place for a few weeks.
I'd planned to win her over purely with my skills, but that wasn't gonna cut it anymore.
You humiliate me like this? That brute lies about sucking at math? And that bitch calls him in to pick a fight with me—it has to be her way of saying, "I've got a guy like this, so stay away." She plays innocent on the outside, but she's a real fox.
That goddamn bitch—I'll make her submit, no matter what it takes.
Ring ring ring—
—"Hey, what's up with my boy calling at this hour?"
"Dad. Just do me this one favor."
After school. At the bus stop in front of Yumekoi Academy's main gate.
A sleek foreign luxury car glided up amid the students waiting for the bus. The emblem of a famous maker was unmistakable.
Eyes locked onto the gleaming black body, and a few students flinched, whispering among themselves.
"Whoa... check that out."
"Damn... that thing's gotta be worth like 80 million yen, right?"
The driver's window rolled down, revealing a perfectly crafted smile. Just as I'd expected—Sato Yusuke. Doesn't that bastard have anything better to do...
"Oh? Isn't that Fudahara?"
His voice was as smooth as yesterday.
"Huh!? Isn't that Sato from the student council?"
"What a coincidence. Oh, and that big guy in the back... no, the large fellow from yesterday? Nice to meet you. Haha."
My face twisted like I'd seen a bug, but Sato didn't care.
A man dropping off his girl at the bus.
Himself, arriving in a multi-million-yen foreign car.
In Sato's pathetic, low-class mindset, this situation had to look totally in his favor. A guy like him probably didn't have room in his head for anything as pure as a street date rom-com.
"By the way, what brings you to a place like this...? Ah! You're waiting for the bus, aren't you?"
A sneer that even his good-guy mask couldn't hide.
"The bus? Isn't that uncomfortable? Hop in. I'll give you a ride home."
Shizune froze at the sudden carpool offer. I silently stepped forward, positioning myself slightly in front of her.
"Ah, Yuu is here too? Haha... The bus, huh. Yeah, it's the ride of the common folk. But making a lady stand around waiting like this—it bothers me a bit, you know? As a man."
Not even a scoff escaped me.
Did that idiot even know that billions of yen were sitting in my brokerage account right now, set to multiply several times over?
As I clicked my tongue in disbelief, he must've thought he'd seized total victory, smirking as he urged Shizune on.
"Come on. It's hot and tiring—better to ride comfortably, right?"
Annoying as hell—should I just rip the door off and drag him out? It'd cost that much to fix, but who cares.
Thankfully, Shizune, who'd been silent for a while, straightened up and spoke first.
"The gentleman cherishes virtue in his heart, while the petty man cherishes wealth."
"...What?"
There it was.
Shizune's signature move: quoting the Four Books and Three Classics.
"The gentleman remains steadfast in poverty, but the petty man becomes unruly when poor."
There was a strange power and dignity in her voice and tone that silenced not just Sato, but even the murmuring students around us.
"Ha? You've been spouting all this archaic crap since earlier..."
"It's the heart!"
It was the loudest I'd ever heard her.
Shizune was pissed at Sato for not getting it and mumbling on.
"...It's the heart that matters. Mocking poverty only exposes the poverty of your own heart. No matter how learned you are, if your heart is twisted, you'll never earn true respect."
The polite honorifics she'd used like she was addressing a teacher had vanished at some point. And anyone who knew the classics would've understood—but even without that, explaining it in plain terms like she did left no room for stupidity.
'I won't ride in the car of a graceless, trashy scumbag like you.'
Sato Yusuke's face stiffened at Shizune's pointed words. His smile stayed plastered on, but the muscles around his mouth tensed rigidly. A vein flickered on his forehead. Just like yesterday.
"...Hmph."
He averted his gaze for a moment, then forced the smile back. But his eyes had changed.
"We'll see how long you can keep up that stiff act."
Splash!
Whether on purpose or not, he gunned the engine, spraying puddle water from the curb as he sped off.
"A-Are you okay?"
Thankfully, I'd blocked the front, so no dirty water hit Shizune.
She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and hurriedly wiped the splashes from my face.
"I'm fine. Don't worry—this stuff washes right off."
She nodded, but her fingertips trembled slightly.
She must've been shocked seeing Sato, whom she'd believed was a good person, flip like that in an instant.
"S-Sorry, Sanghyeon. It feels like you got caught up in this because of me..."
She had her awkward sides, but she was two years older than me and sharp about everything that mattered. She knew exactly why a guy like Sato Yusuke was pulling this crap.
"No need to get hurt by someone who struts around showing off crap like that."
"Still..."
But Shizune still looked downcast.
Let me think... Any fitting quotes?
"Mencius said something like this, right? One who doesn't succumb to wealth and honor, doesn't waver in poverty, and doesn't bend to threats or force—that's a true man."
"...Wealth and honor cannot corrupt, poverty cannot sway, might cannot subdue. This is called the great man."
"Exactly. I believe that's spot on. So don't worry about it."
"As expected of you..."
Shizune covered her mouth with her hand, smiling shyly. My words must've reassured her.
Anyway, I need to figure out how to crush that trash Sato quickly.
Time to get rid of him.
That evening.
A frantic knock echoed into Shizune's room as she sat with an open book.
"Shizune! Are you in there?"
"Hm?"
Opening the door, she found her father's face pale as a ghost.
"Father, what's wrong?"
"Big trouble..."
His voice trembled.
"Sato Industries... called. About the contract... The workshop might be in danger."
Shizune's eyes widened.
"W-What...? The workshop in danger? What do you mean?"
Her father shook his head.
"No time to explain now. Sorry it's so sudden, but come with me."
Shizune slid into the passenger seat of her father's battered old car parked in front of the house.
The rickety vehicle exited the alley and merged onto the main road.
Streetlights streaked long across the window. From the passenger seat, Shizune cautiously asked,
"Father, why are you taking me along?"
Gripping the wheel tightly, he replied lowly,
"Sato Industries said they made us a long-term partner because we're a four-generation calligraphy lineage. But now... they're asking if we don't have a successor, and if a partner for the next few decades isn't unstable."
"What kind of leap is that? Worrying about decades from now and suddenly canceling the contract? If they were gonna say that, they shouldn't have signed it in the first place."
"Sigh... I know."
Mid-sentence, Shizune tilted her head, puzzled.
"But what does that have to do with bringing me...?"
"The president of Sato Industries demanded I bring someone suitable to be the workshop's successor in person."
"Successor...? No... you mean!?"
So her father was saying he saw her as the successor to the calligraphy workshop he'd run. Her eyes wavered.
The words she'd heard from her father day in and day out: "What woman does calligraphy? Find a way to make money."
"You've always told me to quit calligraphy. But..."
Her father fell silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"...Sorry. Truth is, I wanted to pass it on to you."
Shizune stared at him in shock. His profile was pale, but it held something weighty.
"Fathers are all like that. You'll understand when you have kids... Who does calligraphy in this day and age? The market for supplies is dropping every year. Amid all that, I hoped you wouldn't shoulder this outdated burden and could take an easier path. That's why I kept pushing you to study. But I never meant to crush your passion completely."
"..."
"If you stuck to calligraphy despite everything I said... I planned to hand it over after graduation. It was a test of sorts. To see if you could hold firm to your convictions with true grit, even in tough times."
Tears welled in Shizune's eyes as she clasped her hands in the passenger seat.
"Father..."
He kept his eyes forward, sighing awkwardly.
"Shizune, I know dragging you out like this is forceful. But this is really important. I don't know what got into Sato Industries' president to pull this nonsense, but won't you stand with your old man and protect the workshop?"
Shizune bit her lip. Then slowly nodded.
"...Yes. No matter what, I'll be by your side."
The old car rumbled on silently.
Through the window, the lights of Sato Industries' headquarters grew steadily closer.