Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: 13. Yojora's an Idiot (2)
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Han Su-ah.
Quietly slipping out of her officetel, the words of advice her father had given her floated one by one through her mind.
The fact that most of the people she would meet at the academy from now on were ordinary civilians.
That she should watch her surroundings and act accordingly.
That if she flaunted her wealth unnecessarily, she would draw unwanted stares.
To act as casually as possible.
As kindly as possible.
As normally as possible, so she could make as many friends as possible.
The mysterious aura gimmick might have worked back in the day, but in this internet age, being friendly with everyone would help her manage her image after graduation.
One by one.
All of them.
"......"
...Ha. What a joke.
The terror of a competitive society.
Treating people like machine parts or slaves, using them without respite.
Brainwashing her like that so she couldn't even make one friend.
And now telling her to make as many as possible...?
Obvious.
She's just using my image as an excuse to polish the company brand.
「If necessary, step on family and siblings to rise.」
Words her father—who she barely saw a few times a year—would mutter whenever they crossed paths.
Honestly, it was still something she couldn't fully agree with...
But she could understand it.
Everything Han Su-ah enjoyed right now had been seized by her father after stepping on his own siblings.
So Han Su-ah had lived up until now, diligently following her parents' words.
If even family has to be trampled to climb, that's kinda scary, right?
What if she's off guard and gets trampled too?
"......"
...Well, the whole "obediently listen to parents" project ended up a total failure anyway.
Tutoring or whatever—forcing studies when her brain just wouldn't cooperate had obvious limits.
Sorry about that.
The daughter of parents who topped out famous overseas universities turned out surprisingly dense-headed.
She ended up shredding money into the air—enough to buy a house near Seoul, no problem...
...So.
This whole thing—forcing her into the Miren Academy uniform—was probably to avoid embarrassing the family and become a hero to contribute somehow.
She got that much.
So she'd obediently wear the academy uniform.
"Haa..."
But she didn't want to be a hero or anything like that.
Han Su-ah lowered the scarf draped around her neck just a bit and let out a lonely sigh.
She didn't crave popularity or big money.
Catching vicious villains? What if she got seriously hurt?
Someone stronger than her could handle that, right?
Lots of friends my ass... She just wanted to ditch it all, hole up in her room, and roll around reading comics...
That last one she was into—heard the next volume got really wild online...
On the crowded rush-hour street.
Mingled in the throng, Han Su-ah cracked her stiff neck with pops and cracks, her loosely tied brown hair swaying lightly.
Standing at the crosswalk like that, blankly watching the white puff of breath from her mouth.
"...Excuse me."
Right beside her.
A voice came from a bit lower down.
"Are you maybe a new... student? Our uniforms match. Hehe. Oh, or a senior?"
Turning her head sideways blankly, she saw a black-haired crown of the head.
She was pretty tall herself, but seeing the crown meant the other girl was short. Probably 155 to 160cm.
Han Su-ah lowered her gaze a little more.
There was a beaming, smiling face.
And peeking through the wide-open long padding coat,
Breasts straight out of a comic.
Feeling like it was sexual harassment for some reason, Han Su-ah's face flushed as she quickly snapped her gaze upward.
"I'm a total... ahem, directionally challenged person, so is this the right way?"
...Who is this girl.
Her pronunciation's oddly off.
Japanese?
"...Yeah. Cross the crosswalk here and keep going straight."
"Thank youuu. Hihi."
...Cute.
The accent.
"I like manga too."
"Manga? Really?"
"Yeah. Know Bukoff? Haven't seen it in Korea."
"Hmm... First I've heard of it."
"Used bookstore. Back when I lived in Japan, one was right by my house..."
"Ah~"
This was about as much as she could take.
Lee Ji-yoon's head throbbed from the endless chatter ahead, and she finally slung her bag over her shoulder and stood.
Because moving seats herself was better than blurting out, "Sorry, could you shut up?"
"......"
Unfortunately, Class 1-A was abuzz with boys' and girls' voices everywhere, so it was the same anywhere she went.
Lee Ji-yoon wandered around with a dissatisfied expression before slinking back to her original seat.
...Just endure a little longer.
Everyone was excited since it was the first day.
"So I can call you Yojora-chan?"
"Eek, already?"
"Yeah, can't I?"
"If you really wanna, it's fine... but it feels a little early..."
Driving me nuts.
From eavesdropping, the girl with the jet-black hair up front was named Yojora, apparently.
The one next to her with the long, wavy brown hair... Han Su-ah.
Chaebol heiress, even if she didn't remember others.
She remembered her because she'd been the only other perfect score in the pre-enrollment practical exam alongside Lee Ji-yoon.
From the looks of it, the Japanese girl had won her over.
"Hoo..."
But she didn't remember her being that bubbly back then.
A bit cooler, maybe.
Indifferent to the exam itself.
...Same difference?
Whatever.
Those two were making her head pound so bad she couldn't think straight...
Maybe hit the infirmary later...
......
...Yeah.
Just get some treatment.
Lots of other students anyway.
Finally jamming her earphones in tight, Lee Ji-yoon face-planted onto her desk.
She forced herself to nap until the teacher arrived.
Ah...
Craving booze...
"So you've been in Korea about three months?"
"Yeah. Parents came for work, so I followed."
Han Su-ah liked cute things.
According to the client's intel, her mobile payments included some otaku game,
And every time she blew a few million won on it, the game's promo art featured adorable characters plastered everywhere.
So she tweaked her pronunciation.
To match when she'd just started learning Korean.
Tested it on Kwon Nam-ho, who was puffing away on a cig—his verdict: "What'd you eat to sound like that?"
Though he belatedly added it was kinda cute, so it should land with Han Su-ah.
...Of course, the massive self-loathing—and the desperate booze craving—couldn't be helped.
"More than that, you're the first manga fan I've met here."
"Really? ...Ahaha. Kinda embarrassing."
"Su-ah... What does Su-ah-chan like?"
"What? Oh, genre? Hm... Romance or slice-of-life. That kinda stuff."
"Romance? I liked that recent one where their eye color changes with their feelings..."
"......?"
And Han Su-ah loved manga.
Especially romance genres.
She'd racked her brain for days on how to exploit that, but sadly, no brilliant ideas popped up...
So Yojora had picked dozens of popular romance mangas and memorized their plots and characters cold.
Saying she liked them too only to follow up with "actually don't know much" would tank favor hard.
But dropping what Han Su-ah liked would nudge it up bit by bit,
And once she maxed out favor somehow.
"...Hey, Yojora?"
"Yeah?"
"...That one you just mentioned—what manga is it?"
"Eh. It trended on Pixiv. You don't know?"
"Dunno. First time hearing."
"Maybe 'cause it's a little naughty?"
"......"
"Eh, you hate naughty stuff?"
"...N-no need to go looking for that kinda thing."
She could probably score one "lifelong favor" from Han Su-ah.
"......"
What kind of face Seo Woo-jin would make,
What reaction he'd have,
How the surprisingly innocent-looking Han Su-ah would turn out.
It was just too intriguing.
Yojora smiled without thinking.
A little seductively.
Word was, today only second- and third-years had classes, while first-years got sent home early with nothing much going on.
After schmoozing with a few nameless male teachers (heard their names but didn't bother memorizing), I crumpled my empty paper coffee cup and headed back to the infirmary.
No patients yet—classes hadn't even started.
If there were, the call bell would've buzzed anyway.
So just handle second- and third-year cases today, huh.
Lee Ha-yoon would probably show up since she bruised easy, but with crowds, lewd stuff would be tough...
Maybe just tease her, then link up outside the academy?
Or swing by her place with her.
Pretending not to notice Lee Ji-yoon already there,
Acting like I didn't hear,
Door shut tight, playing games oblivious,
Pulling the clueless act—kinda hot thinking about it.
I'll pick based on the vibe later.
"......"
...That aside.
Han Su-ah.
Why'd she seem so oddly perky?
"Hmm..."
Wouldn't suit Lee Ha-yoon, and Han Su-ah—busy playing casual—wouldn't have been grinning from the entrance ceremony.
She'd even been standing right next to Yojora, who talked about ruining lives and crap.
...Make friends, then ditch 'em?
As if that'd ruin a life, but pre-regression Han Su-ah had zero friends, so maybe decent strategy...
Sorry to hardworking Yojora, but scooping up the dumped Han Su-ah and treating her nice might make training her easier.
More useful than expected.
Gotta reward her with something she wants later.
Her 20-year-old face from that quick glimpse hit my tastes even harder, fueling all sorts of fantasies for a moment.
As I gnawed the rim of the paper cup,
The door slid open without a knock.
First period wasn't even close to starting, let alone ending.
Probably one of the teachers here to network.
I set a moderately friendly yet cool expression and set the cup down.
Men naturally got the cold shoulder,
And I had zero interest in dealing with women past thirty—fresh students were another story.
"Who is it?"
"...Ah, you're here."
But the voice from beyond the door was young—and familiar, recently too.
"Student council president here, teacher. Got a moment to talk?"
As I puzzled over who it was, pale blue-white hair peeked through the door crack.
The student council president. Baek Seo-yeon, was it.
Pretty enough, but an unknown hero from my memories, so I'd already filed her away.
Planned to just be politely cordial.
Until I spotted the weird thing between Baek Seo-yeon's fingers.
"...Sure."
"Thanks for making time."
A tiny slip of paper with those three letters scrawled on it.
The habitual smile on my lips vanished in an instant.