Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Extra's Change
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I passed by Jeong Suhyun and stepped out of the classroom.
In the middle of the noisy hallway stood a girl with blonde wavy hair draped down.
Our school had an unusually free vibe, so something like blonde dye job wasn't weird at all.
Especially when even scarlet-red hair got accepted without batting an eye.
"Um... hi? Called you even though you're busy?"
Judging by the casual speech, she had to be a senior or same grade.
Instead of replying, I flicked my gaze downward. Name tag pinned to her uniform chest. Same color as mine.
I looked up the instant I read the name.
"Nah, not busy. What's up?"
"Oh, kinda trivial... Was gonna DM you, but turns out you don't have Insta?"
She was right. Never even made an account to begin with.
"Yeah. Haven't."
"Why?"
"That's... tough to explain right now. So, what's the deal?"
"...Nah, just wanted your number."
She gave an awkward smile, but her eyes didn't waver. Zero attempt to hide or play coy—the brutally honest gaze only the truly straightforward possessed.
What was it... the kind of self-assured confidence that came from never second-guessing yourself.
I let out a shallow sigh.
"Sorry."
How many times had I said that lately...
"...Why?"
"Honestly? Even if I gave it, I probably wouldn't reply."
"Oh..."
Her pupils quivered. Her face laid bare exactly how disappointment looked.
"Busy or something? It's not a hassle. Just texting."
"I'm picky about people. Not close enough for back-and-forth."
"Gotcha... Okay. Yeah."
"Yeah."
I started to turn away, then halted. A thought hit me late.
"Oh, right. Next time you need me, come yourself. No sending someone. Just pop into the class and call."
"Huh?"
"If it comes up."
I left it at that and pushed the classroom door open again.
That's when my eyes locked with Jeong Suhyun's. She was in the front row.
"...How'd it go?"
"Same old. Oh... and I set her straight. No more sending you."
"Huh? What..."
I caught her flustered expression.
Was it the class president thing? Or just her being nice? Every time some stranger wanted me, she'd relay the message.
No twinge of guilt? That'd make me less than human.
I approached her seat while I was at it.
"Lunch together later? With my friend."
"...Huh?"
It must've come out of nowhere. She turned her head instead of answering right away.
Her gaze went to Seo Jaehyun and Ji Hyunsu, yapping away in the back.
"Not with them?"
I usually got dragged along.
But not today.
They were eating with Lee Seol's crew.
Far better vibe with Jeong Suhyun than that awkward mess.
Sure, school could brew weird tension across genders alone. But for me, neck-deep in even weirder shit? No sweat.
"Separate today. Why? ...Oh, gotta eat with your friends?"
"Uh..."
Her words trailed off—uncharacteristic. Face like she was weighing options in her head.
...That surprising, huh?
I tacked on casually.
"Today's slop sucks anyway. Heading to the canteen. Come and I'll grab yours."
"Hmm... Okay. I'm in."
"Cool."
Jeong Suhyun ended up grabbing lunch at the canteen with Lee Minwoo.
Curious who this "other friend" was. Turned out to be Choi Dongrak.
Honestly, unexpected pairing. First I'd heard they were tight.
Lee Minwoo was pretty well-known around school, sure. But digging into his social circle? Whole other thing. Especially another class.
Gabbing about someone else's buddies just dragged your own stock down.
Least that's how she and her friends rolled.
Lunch hour? She just soaked up band talk from the trio's circle.
This gig, that guitar tone, drums here, bass there... More skimming than grasping.
Didn't even chime in much.
Back at her seat, it finally hit Jeong Suhyun.
I'm wiped.
More like, I'd been tense the whole time.
That's when someone eased onto the seat beside her.
"Suhyun."
Glanced over—same-class girl.
Not super tight.
Could count their chats on one hand. Maybe even less than with Lee Minwoo.
"You in any clubs?"
Why the sudden...
Before the question slipped out, Jeong Suhyun clocked it.
Ah.
Lee Minwoo's the trigger.
Probing if some club or shared thing explained the lunch buddy vibe.
Couldn't flat-out ask. But curiosity burned. So, the roundabout route.
Could've shut it down. But she pivoted.
'Don't need the hassle.'
"Not exactly a club... Kinda similar? Heard Lee Minwoo does something, but I passed."
Fresh off nonstop band chatter—not a total fib.
"Oh~ Got it."
The girl nodded.
After that, Jeong Suhyun fielded more nothing-burgers till the bell.
Ah... exhausting.
“When I asked you to eat with us you disappeared like a ghost. Did you go to the convenience store?”
“It’s fish cutlet today.”
“Fair. If I wasn’t eating with Seol, I would’ve gone to the convenience store too.”
At the mention of Lee Seol, my mouth shut automatically.
It wasn’t a conscious decision.
It was closer to a reflex.
Of course, I didn’t really have anything to say either.
There was no connection between us.
Seeing that, Seo Jaehyun asked bluntly.
“Aren’t you even curious? Your friend’s love life.”
Whenever a difficult question came up, Ji Hyunsu was always the one who stepped in first.
Or maybe he just wanted to pick a fight with Seo Jaehyun.
“Love life… can you even call it that? You need something to be curious about first.”
“You followed along because you were curious.”
“That’s true.”
“Right, right. Do you want to get punched?”
As they started bickering again, I pretended not to notice and asked:
“So are you dating?”
“…No? Today was the first time we ate together.”
Seo Jaehyun’s embarrassed face.
I didn’t really want to stare at it long, but it meant his feelings were sincere.
“You should’ve seen him begging after getting rejected when he asked her to eat outside.”
“Stop picking fights about every little thing from the side.”
“I just corrected wrong information. And honestly, it might’ve been better for you that Lee Minwoo didn’t come.”
“What?”
At those words, Seo Jaehyun suddenly turned his head and stared at me.
His gaze moved from top to bottom, scanning me.
Then it went back up.
He frowned.
“I don’t think Seol is a face-lover.”
“Probably is.”
“No she isn’t. And just because Lee Minwoo is handsome, would you avoid meeting her every time? Don’t you know girls actually hate that kind of lack of confidence?”
“Then isn’t begging someone to eat with you worse?”
“….”
Maybe he had run out of things to say.
Seo Jaehyun turned his attention to me.
“By the way, you don’t date or anything?”
Then Seo Jaehyun spoke while looking at Ji Hyunsu.
“That girl who’s friends with Seol is honestly really pretty too, right?”
“Ah, Woo Hana?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t she match well with Minwoo? Just in terms of appearance.”
Woo Hana.
Lee Seol’s friend.
In the novel, she was categorized as a supporting character.
But her actual presence was comparable to many main characters.
That was inevitable.
She was Lee Seol’s closest friend.
If Seo Jaehyun had Ji Hyunsu, then Lee Seol had Woo Hana.
In the novel, Seo Jaehyun and Lee Seol eventually end up together.
Though it took a very long time.
Only after many layers of conflicts and incidents did they finally reach that ending.
You might think Ji Hyunsu and Woo Hana would naturally become a pair.
But they weren’t a sub-couple.
In the novel, they remained friends and supporters who faithfully helped Seo Jaehyun and Lee Seol.
Of course, their own friendship also took up a large portion of the story.
That novel was a romantic comedy—
but it also vividly portrayed school life.
Before Seo Jaehyun could get too excited, Ji Hyunsu shook his head.
“You’re the only one with flowers in your head right now. Minwoo clearly doesn’t look like he’s thinking about dating, so stop pairing him up.”
“Oh right. Sorry.”
Seo Jaehyun scratched his head.
The excitement he had just moments ago immediately cooled down.
For me, it was a perfect assist.
Hair dyed bright crimson, falling down to her shoulders.
Within it, delicate features gathered together in a proud, cat-like face.
It was Lee Seol.
Compared to her, Woo Hana had sharper features and thick black hair flowing richly over her forehead.
If there were a traditional standard of beauty, perhaps she would fit it more.
Her body too—
while Lee Seol was slender and thin,
Woo Hana had a figure with living curves.
Without exaggeration, it was the kind of body shape that naturally drew men’s gazes.
As soon as Lee Seol returned to class after lunch and sat down,
Woo Hana leaned over as if she had been waiting.
Resting her face on Lee Seol’s desk, she chatted away.
“The one I was actually looking forward to didn’t come.”
“Who? Lee Minwoo?”
“Yeah. I heard you were close. But you didn’t even eat together. The rumors were huge so I was expecting it.”
Lee Seol looked at her and chuckled.
“You’re not even interested in handsome guys.”
“What girl hates handsome guys?”
Woo Hana lifted her head and grinned nearby.
“You know if you say that carelessly, people behind your back will curse you for pretending you’re not boy-crazy, right?”
While speaking, she casually lifted her hand and played with the ends of Lee Seol’s hair.
“Seol is a baby who knows nothing about acting sly like a fox.”
“What baby. And I’m right. You’re not interested in handsome guys.”
“Eh, but it’s still nice to look at. Though I didn’t get to see him in the end.”
At the words “didn’t get to see,” Lee Seol reflexively recalled her memory.
“Hmm… but I don’t think he’s close with them? I think he’s close with someone else.”
“What? How do you know?”
Woo Hana’s eyes widened.
Playfulness quickly spread across her face.
“Don’t tell me… you were interested? Wow, poor Seo Jaehyun…”
Before she could continue exaggerating, Lee Seol waved her hand.
“No, it’s not that.”
“If it’s not that?”
“We just went to the same school since kindergarten.”
“Whoa really? Childhood friends?”
“No, no. We’ve barely even talked properly.”
Of course, in her faint memories, it felt like they might have spoken a few times.
In fact, in her memories there was something like Lee Minwoo clinging to her…
Lee Seol shook her head.
It felt a little strange to say out loud.
More importantly, she wasn’t even sure if that was a real memory—
or just the lingering fragment of an old dream.
…But if it was a dream, wasn’t that even stranger?
Anyway, aside from those vague kindergarten memories, they had no connection afterward.
Even though they attended the same elementary and middle school.
“There’s absolutely no connection.”
“Really?”
Woo Hana tilted her head.
“But how do you know he’s close with someone else?”
“I just saw it while passing by. They were talking in the hallway. A guy named Choi Dongrak—he went to the same middle school as me.”
“Hm….”
Woo Hana nodded slowly as if she understood.
Then she asked:
“Was Lee Minwoo handsome since he was young?”
“Hmm, maybe… I don’t think he was this famous in elementary school though.”
While connecting memories of the past, Lee Seol suddenly thought of something.
Could his parents be celebrities? Like mine?
While Lee Seol sank into thought, Woo Hana glanced sideways at her and spoke.
“Well, if we become friends later, I’ll ask him.”
“Become friends?”
“Seo Jaehyun. He looks like he’ll follow you around saying he likes you all the time. Then we’ll probably meet often, right? I heard the three of them always hang out together.”
“Hm….”
A guy who follows me around every day.
At that part, Lee Seol frowned as if it gave her a headache.
Apparently her reaction was amusing.
The corners of Woo Hana’s eyes curved slightly.
“So how is it?”
“How is what?”
Seeing Lee Seol reply bluntly as if even the question itself was annoying,
Woo Hana smiled even brighter on purpose.
Then, with a face that had already reached its conclusion, she shook her head.
“No.”
She’s cute, so I’ll let it slide.
But Lee Seol already didn’t like that smile.
“…Seriously. I told you not to make that ‘I know everything’ smile.”
“I was just smiling because you’re cute.”