The Transfer Student and Lunch Break Outcast
The atmosphere in Class 2 was still in complete chaos.
For one thing, the center of this whole mess was...
Song Changwon, who looked down on and dismissed everyone, boys and girls alike, and the majority of boys who had taken offense at him.
Of course, some of the girls had also been cursing him alongside the boys, but as time passed, that number had dwindled quite a bit.
Most of the girls had decided they no longer wanted to be dragged into the matter any further.
But then... a few of them started openly taking Song Changwon's side, and the situation gradually began to sink deeper and deeper into the muck.
The boys who felt betrayed by those girls shifted their target from Song Changwon to the girls who were backing him.
And when the other girls saw the boys turning hostile toward them, they slowly began drifting over to Song Changwon's side.
In the end, the conflict had become boys versus girls all over again.
As for Song Changwon himself... he didn't seem especially pleased with the girls defending him, and kept trying to keep a blatant distance from them.
The disbelief on his face was plain to see, which meant even Song Changwon hadn't intended for things to go like this.
He had probably expected the students to dislike him, but never imagined anyone would actually defend him.
Song Changwon even shot a look toward Lee Narin, as if asking for help, but after seeing her standing with Han Sia, he gave up immediately.
.
.
.
And me, I was sitting there with popcorn I’d bought from the school store, watching the whole thing unfold.
Watching my classmates tear into each other never got old. It was always fresh, always thrilling!
Still, pleasure was better when shared.
So I offered some popcorn to Han Sia, who was sitting next to me and watching the commotion in our class.
"Want some popcorn too? I got the sweet kind."
"Oh? Thank you. But are you really all right just standing by while your class falls apart like this? At this rate, it feels like your class will split in two and spend the whole semester fighting."
"I don't have anyone on my side anyway... If they’re all busy fighting each other, I’d actually consider that a win. You want some too, Lee Narin?"
"Ah, is that really okay?"
"It’s a bribe. You and I are both hopeless when it comes to making friends in class, so let’s just do our best as fellow loners."
Even if the girls in the class were siding with Song Changwon, most of that was probably just backlash against the boys.
Only a few of them were probably sincerely defending him.
And honestly... the ones who were truly defending him were the dangerous ones.
If their actions came from genuine feelings for Song Changwon, then no one could predict what they might do to Lee Narin now that she’d openly claimed to be dating him.
For the record, Han Sia found out almost immediately that Lee Narin and Song Changwon’s supposed relationship was a lie.
Someone like Song Changwon having a romantic relationship was one of the major topics of interest among the upper class, just like Han Sia herself, so there was no way she wouldn’t have known.
"Still, I won’t go around spreading it. I don’t want to make enemies with you people."
"...Thanks."
And so, until the end of that recess, we just sat there watching the situation inside the class.
While eating popcorn.
***
Before long, lunchtime arrived.
Even though it was still the sweltering heat of summer, the students who liked sports were heading out to the field to play soccer.
Others were leaving to meet friends in different classes or heading to the library, and with people trickling out one by one, the classroom had grown quiet.
I waited in the classroom for a while, hoping the afternoon temperature might climb past the threshold that would make the air conditioner kick on, but...
Outside, it was still just a little under 30 degrees Celsius.
It looked like they might run the air conditioner for a bit during afternoon class, but at least during lunch, it was hopeless.
Maybe I should just hole up in the library again today.
"Jung Ian. Good to see you. Since school started, things have been chaotic and I haven't had a chance to greet you. It's not anything particularly important, but since we're in the same class now, let's talk for a bit."
Just as I was about to get up and head for the library, Song Changwon called out to me from behind.
Lee Narin was standing beside him too.
So I stopped the steps I’d taken toward the library and turned around to face Song Changwon, where he smiled and said,
"Looks like you've already spoken with her. Still, I doubt she gave you the full story. I thought I should explain the situation properly, and I also have a favor to ask."
I had been planning to ask about why Song Changwon had transferred here when I got the chance, so this worked out perfectly.
But... a favor? Honestly, that sounded annoying.
Thanks for tearing our class in half, sure, but surely he wasn't planning to ask me to do something for him with nothing in return, was he?
"Hah! That's a face that says you're dying of annoyance. Still, give me just a little of your time. I anticipated you'd react like that, so I even prepared a gift."
What Song Changwon handed me was a black, tastefully wrapped box of chocolates.
About the size of a red brick, and very light.
"It’s about enough to share with friends. Han Sia and... was it Yu Somi? Looks like you’re close with girls from other classes, and I’ve never seen girls dislike this brand, so I figured it should go over well."
"...Yeah. Thanks. I’ll eat it well."
I thanked him for it, but my feelings were complicated.
If you’re going to give me something expensive, just give me money.
This is why bourgeois bastards are impossible.
...
But then Song Changwon saw my lukewarm reaction and grinned.
What. Was there more?
"For reference, what's under the wrapping at the bottom is for you to use alone. Don't give it to your friends for no reason."
"...?"
At his words, I flipped the chocolate box over.
There, my eye caught a small envelope.
...Inside it was one shining fifty-thousand-won bill, glittering gold.
...
...
Grrrraaah...! Using adult tactics like that when you're still a high school student?!
For that level of sincerity alone, I’d listen to him slowly throughout lunch.
Moved by Song Changwon's pure and earnest heart, I led them to the small meeting room inside the library.
As for the librarian, I explained that the transfer student wanted to learn more about the library club and that I was just showing him around for a bit, and she readily gave her permission.
.
.
.
"I transferred here on my father's recommendation. The reasons are complicated, so it's hard to explain neatly, but if you think of it as a kind of experience living among ordinary people, you'll get the gist quickly."
In the library, I got the rough story of how Song Changwon had ended up transferring here.
Normally, a transfer like this happened because a parent had been reassigned to a different workplace, or because the student had caused trouble at school... so I had actually suspected Song Changwon had gotten kicked out of his last school for some problem.
But after hearing the circumstances, it was more of an "upper-class reason" than I'd imagined. Good grief. Experience living among ordinary people?
"It must've been rough, having your school suddenly change on you. From what I hear, you've already fallen out with our class since the opening ceremony."
"Well, like you said, it's been nothing but trouble. But I've actually learned quite a lot since coming here, so I don't have any particular complaints."
After that, I kept talking with Song Changwon and learned more about their current situation.
That Changwon and Narin would each be renting an officetel and commuting to school, and that since it was close enough to the school, they could just walk there, and so on.
Since they’d moved out from home, they were naturally living on their own.
Narin had already been living alone, so it was familiar territory for her, but this was Changwon's first time doing it, so he said he was looking forward to the new life.
"Ah, I should probably introduce this girl properly too, shouldn't I? Her name is Lee Narin. Our relationship is a little hard to describe, but... if I had to put it simply, she's sort of like the daughter of my parents' friends."
Song Changwon gave Lee Narin a glance, as if saying the rest was for her to explain herself.
Then Lee Narin opened her mouth with the same flat expression she always wore.
"Hi. You probably already know, but I'll introduce myself again. I'm Lee Narin, and I transferred here this time. My parents died in an accident, and since then, the family this man belongs to has been taking care of me."
Only after hearing that did I understand why Han Sia had reacted so sharply toward Lee Narin.
If Lee Narin was in a position of dependence on a chaebol family, then depending on how things went, she might end up being completely at their mercy.
But since Lee Narin had already done her best to explain the matter herself, I didn't think there was any reason to worry further.
So while I listened quietly to her, Lee Narin went on.
"I don't really have anything worth bragging about, but if there's one unusual thing... I suppose it's that I learned figure skating when I was little? My acting was terrible, so I never got very good evaluations."
"That's amazing, though. Figure skating's gotten a lot more recognition these days, so I think that alone is definitely something worth bragging about."
At this point in time, Korea had only won its first Olympic gold in figure skating last year.
So public interest in the sport was still steadily rising.
But the legend of Kim Yuna, that super-star, had only just begun, so the current popularity was still just the tip of the iceberg.
In another three or four years, maybe being able to say, "I learned figure skating when I was little," would be enough to make a celebrity career out of it?
And honestly, Lee Narin's looks were good enough to stand alongside celebrities without losing anything in the comparison, so it wasn’t exactly an impossible story.
"No, in the end, that's just some kid's play that doesn't help with anything."
But Lee Narin herself didn't seem to agree much.
At her words, Song Changwon let out a bitter smile and spoke.
"Well, being strict with yourself is one thing, but after seeing the state of our class today, haven't you felt anything at all? Honestly, I don't think there's any reason for you to stay buried this deep. You're actually pretty talented."
"That's not for you to decide."
"..."
Changwon looked like he was about to answer back at Lee Narin's cold response, but swallowed the words again.
He seemed to think highly of Lee Narin in his own way, but Lee Narin herself clearly didn't have a very good impression of Song Changwon.
The relationship between the two of them was strangely hard to pin down.
So as I looked at Song Changwon and Lee Narin with interest, Song Changwon said to me,
"Haa... Anyway, this is the sort of girl Lee Narin is. Whatever the process was, she's ended up in the same class as us, so I hope you'll get along with her."
"That's always welcome. I was a loner in class myself, after all."
"And... since Narin's been helping me, it's probably become awkward for her to make friends in class. So if there's any decent girl in another class, I'd appreciate it if you could introduce her to me."
Ah. So that was what the cash and chocolates had been for.
They'd already given me money, so from my perspective there was nothing to lose. I supposed that was fine.
Of course, the only girl I could introduce him to was Yu Somi, but this was on Song Changwon's behalf, so I was introducing her because I had no choice...
Don't come back to haunt me later.
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