Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Outsider Who Got Revenge on the Seniors
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Baekseung High School Festival Entry
>Library Club - Reading Impression
>Jeong Yi-an I read a book called Transparent Dragon. Transparent Dragon was super awesome. It beat gods and demons. I want to become a super awesome Transparent Dragon too. It was fun. The end! "...Jeong Yi-an. Are you seriously planning to submit this crap as our entry? Last time you turned in a reading impression, it was actually decent."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The school festival collects entries from both classes and clubs.
And true to form, the Library Club has been coasting by exhibiting reading impressions every year.
Plus, I'd submitted some pretty solid ones during my club activities so far... so the seniors must have been expecting something good this time.
Like, 'Oh, we can slack off on the junior this year and focus on our class festival prep.'
"C'mon, seniors. You've gotten plenty of good stuff while I was away, right? That's all because you worked so hard on club activities~ This junior of yours didn't get squat, so I'm outta here!"
But there's no paradise for traitors who sold my notes for profit and then ghosted me without a word.
You backstabbing bastards.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The class entry fell apart after the classmates split into factions and self-destructed. And I just nuked the club entry.
So, my festival prep is done.
While the other students scramble pointlessly for the festival, I just pocket the 100,000 won allocated to our class for operations and chill.
Of course, I'll have to put on a show worthy of the cash come festival day, so it'll be a bit busy then...
But pretending to work at this hollow excuse for a festival beats spacing out.
Lately, the three of us—me, Han Si-a, and Yoo So-mi—sticking around after school for chats has become routine.
But now most students are deep into festival prep, and Han Si-a's actually leading Class 1's efforts, so she's swamped.
I figured we probably wouldn't meet up after school until the festival was over.
But contrary to my expectations, all three of us managed to get together.
"Um... My classmates aren't letting me help with prep, so I escaped here. You guys won't ditch me, right...?"
Yoo So-mi says her classmates aren't giving her any work, leaving her with free time. I went through hell to avoid work, and this deceiver gets off scot-free.
"The reason I came here is to ask you two for a favor. I can't stay long, so I'll cut to the chase. Our class exhibit theme this time is..."
"Hold up. Why are you acting like it's obvious we're gonna help you out?"
What the hell. The vibe up until a second ago was 'explaining why she could join our after-school hangout despite being so busy.'
Han Si-a glares at me like she's pissed I interrupted.
What're you gonna do, stare me down?
I'm the guy who ditched festival prep and dissed the club seniors over it.
I'm expressing with my whole body: 'I'm not doing any work.'
...
But Yoo So-mi ignores my attitude and beams.
"I'm in~! Our class isn't including me anyway, so we should help Si-a's class!"
"...I'm not. Do you know how hard I worked to avoid festival prep?!"
Yeah, Yoo So-mi, you go ahead. Have fun slaving away together.
"Jeong Yi-an, aren't you still my Bread Shuttle? This is basically dereliction of duty..."
"No matter how I look at it, helping another class's festival prep is way outside my job scope, boss."
"..."
In the end, Han Si-a lost her argument to my flawless logic and shut up.
See? You know it's unreasonable too. Don't try to exploit the Bread Shuttle contract with your sneaky tricks!!
But then, a smirk crept onto Han Si-a's face—the kind that wasn't good news for me.
I had a bad feeling something unpleasant was coming.
"Ah~ Jeong Yi-an, now that I think about it, when we bet on test scores, there was another condition besides Bread Shuttle, right~?"
Oh, that 'simple favor' thing?
Didn't that get scrapped when the 'Girl Falling for Han Si-a' plan tanked last time?
As I shot her a sullen look, she continued.
"Do you remember what I asked for back then~?"
"Matching your vibe when you lie or whatever."
"Nope~ What I asked for was to hang out during breaks or weekends~ As expected, Yi-an, with your poor test scores, your memory's lacking too~?"
...Come to think of it, she mentioned Class 1's exhibit theme is 'Restaurant Recommendations and Reviews.'
Oh, that bitch wouldn't...!?
Han Si-a saw my expression change and declared with an innocently bright smile, clearly enjoying this.
"This weekend, we're going on a local restaurant crawl. Jeong Yi-an, you're mandatory. Bust your ass for me."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ —Han Si-a's POV—
Why is the caliber of Class 1 so damn low?
I clearly told them to research local restaurants, so why did they write about instant ramen from the PC Bang?
Yes, I get it. High schoolers' allowances limit their options.
But I said research restaurants, not list what you last ate.
Are these maggots mistaking me for a gym PT instructor?
I assigned research, so they should've asked their parents, friends, or at least Googled it.
Aaah... If half—no, a third, hell, even a sixth of Class 1's students were as reasonable as Jeong Yi-an,
I wouldn't be stressing over something this trivial.
...
Oh, wait—why not just make Jeong Yi-an do it?
One Jeong Yi-an would be more help than thirty Class 1 maggots.
But rating places with just the two of us lacks credibility, so bringing So-mi along makes three—perfect.
Jeong Yi-an will definitely spout nonsense to weasel out, so I'll leave an obvious escape route and then slam it shut. Trap set.
Imagining that guy's face twisting up fills me with motivation to work.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ For me, heading out on the weekend to meet friends is a pretty rare event.
I helped Yoo So-mi with her event prep recently, but counting my pre-regression life, that was about a 10-year first...
So with this meetup, weekend friend hangs become a once-every-5-years ultra-rare event.
Honestly, my weekends out were just family dinners or dentist/hair salon trips?
What I'm saying is...
"Whoa, Yi-an, you're dressed so mature."
"So-mi, that's not mature—that's just old-man taste."
...
I don't own clothes suitable for meeting friends.
I was always a friendless outsider from elementary through high school, and post-regression, I only bought comfy 'business casual' stuff I'm used to.
What do high schoolers even wear out? No clue.
Han Si-a's rocking a black-and-white two-tone oversized short-sleeve tee with baggy wide pants.
She tucked the shirt in, cinched it with a belt for a slim waist, emphasizing her insanely long legs.
If she'd added a baseball cap or gold chain, she'd look like a hipster...
But no hipster accessories, and her ultra-goth face plus waist-length hair seal the deal—she looks like an ad model.
Honestly, from an outsider's view, she's almost too pretty to stand next to; it's intimidating.
Staring too long, my eyes unconsciously lock on her tiny waist or endless legs, so I looked away.
But where I looked next: Yoo So-mi in casual clothes.
Off-shoulder blouse and a flare skirt hitting just above the knees.
I've only seen her in delinquent style, so this picture-perfect 'insider' outfit on So-mi causes some cognitive dissonance.
In my head, friend Yoo So-mi wears a miniskirt uniform with a cardigan tied at the waist like a bad girl, but now she looks like...
A refined girl from a good family: calm demeanor, polite speech, reads for fun, covers her mouth when smiling.
Thankfully, the blouse's looseness and lace details hide her Western-style 'volume,' giving my eyes some breathing room.
Damn, did I show up alone to work? You two dolled up like this make me look like a sleazy old man paying kids to heh-heh.
My 35 years as a man in Korea trigger ingrained danger-avoidance instincts.
So I let Han Si-a and Yoo So-mi walk ahead together, hanging back at a distance to follow.
While walking, I checked my reflection in a shop window.
Good— I just look like a regular kid.