Chapter 32
“Haha. Yeah. That’s funny. You’re hitting it a bit? Nice. That one was really hilarious.”
I laughed casually, pretending it didn’t affect me, then folded the paper in half and shoved it into the desk drawer. Yeon Jaehyun didn’t even glance at me and completely ignored me.
‘Damn it.’
But it was fine. Knowing the protagonist’s personality, even if he said that, his actual favorability toward me must be higher than zero. If it weren’t, he wouldn’t have responded at all.
‘…Right?’
Unsure, I stole glances at the seat beside me, killing time for a few minutes. Soon, one by one, the other students started arriving, filling the classroom.
“Se-yeon, Jaehyun!!”
Among them was Myeong Ah-jin.
Bounding into the classroom without even putting down her bag, as if not tired at all on a Monday morning, Myeong Ah-jin approached.
“Jaehyun went over the weekend too, right? We had so much fun. Really, a lot!!”
“Sorry… I had work.”
“Ugh. Next time, you have to come too, got it?!”
“Yeah….”
Looking at Yeon Jaehyun, he nodded weakly. Judging by his expression, there probably wouldn’t be a next time.
And that evening.
I faced a new kind of crisis—one worse than worrying about Jaehyun’s favorability. It happened right after I had a full dinner.
‘F*ck… oh God.’
I crouched down, trying to hold my breath and make myself small. Please, let my body hidden under the table go unnoticed by that sharp gaze.
Thump, thump.
As I saw legs approaching within my limited view, my heart started racing like crazy.
I held my breath and froze, but it was useless.
Suddenly, a shadow fell across my face—a chilling expression looming right in front of me.
“Is that supposed to be hiding?”
“Ahhh!!!”
Startled, I screamed, hitting my head on the table and letting out another yell.
“It hurts! I said it hurts!!”
“You bumped yourself and are acting all mad? You really take after your dad—so timid.”
“Don’t insult the dead!!”
Pouting, I crawled out from under the table and vented my frustration toward the uncle quietly drinking coffee in the living room.
“Ah, why do you keep staring!! You caught me.”
“Sorry….”
“And why are you drinking coffee so late at night?!”
“I won’t drink it anymore….”
The uncle lowered his head apologetically and put the cup down.
While hiding, my eyes met his no less than five times. Meanwhile, my mom, searching elsewhere, narrowed her investigation toward the kitchen.
“This is all because of the president with no sense. How does he even run a business?”
“He caused this! It’s his fault.”
“Ah!!”
Mom struck the spot on the table where I had hit my head again with a scolding flick. It was cruelty even Satan would admire.
Rubbing my throbbing head with my palm, I fled from the kitchen to the living room.
Seojin-hyung and the uncle were sitting on the sofa. As long as I stayed between the two of them, Mom would restrain herself a bit, and I wouldn’t be grabbed like prey.
I slid in and sat down between them.
“Are you okay? You seemed to hit it hard.”
“Mind your own business.”
I answered Seojin-hyung coldly without even looking at him. Mom glared at me and approached.
“Se-yeon? Don’t disturb uncle and your brother… You have something to discuss with me, right?”
As expected, Mom tried to coax me with a fake smile and tone.
“I don’t, so go away, ma’am.”
Feeling confident, I answered boldly, and Mom’s expression stiffened.
“Oh, if you insist, I’ll erase you from the family register. I don’t recall ever having a daughter who hides her report cards from me and doesn’t even reflect on her poor grades.”
“Ah, that’s not a report card! It’s just a quiz!!”
Mom held up the crumpled, forcibly smoothed-out test paper in front of me.
Right. Mom had found out about the quiz I took at the start of the semester.
Damn, where did she even find this?
‘With Seojin-hyung and uncle here too… how embarrassing!’
Mom snatched the test paper with the awful score, grinning ominously.
“Really? Then, the midterm is coming up soon… Let’s see. Two weeks left, right? So I can expect the ‘real’ grades you mentioned, correct?”
“……”
I kept my mouth shut as the uncle awkwardly patted my shoulder.
“Do you want me to find a cram school for you?”
“No.”
“Then… ah! Hyung. How about you tutoring Se-yeon at home? She can review too.”
‘Huh?!’
Why would someone ranked nationally in mock exams bother reviewing a first-year high schooler’s work? He must be busy with his own studies; it’s a total nuisance.
I turned to the uncle to protest, but Seojin-hyung cut me off first.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“If you don’t want to go to a cram school, I’ll help you at home.”
“No thanks. Focus on yourself. In your second year, any distraction will ruin you…”
“But 60 points were too low.”
He looked at my test paper as he spoke. My jaw dropped.
Insulting me out of nowhere? And it’s not 60 points—it’s 63!
I was speechless, blinking in shock, and Seojin-hyung chuckled softly.
“I’ll tutor you three hours after school starting tomorrow.”
“Oh my, Hyung! I feel so sorry. You must be in exam period too.”
“It’s fine. Three hours will help refresh your mind too.”
“…I hope Se-yeon can inherit even half, or a quarter, of your ability.”
Before I could protest, Mom quickly cut in, looking at Seojin-hyung with pride.
What is going on? Did the three of them plan this? The sudden development left me dumbfounded.
Thus, without a single say from me, Seojin-hyung’s forced tutoring started for two weeks.
“Heh, I see. Having the top student at home, I’m jealous.”
Hearing the full story, Myeong Ah-jin commented, head blank.
“Jealous my a**, didn’t you hear me? It’s insane!! He doesn’t stop at three hours! He studies twelve hours a day!!”
It had already been four days since tutoring started. Now, going home was terrifying.
Why? Because at home, I had to endure relentless studying.
Three hours, they said, but with the ridiculous amount of homework and Seojin-hyung supervising until it was done, all time outside meals was filled with studying.
Even a moment of distraction or trickery, and—
‘Se-yeon. Focus.’
‘Bathroom again? Is there something wrong?’
‘No doodling in the book.’
Seojin-hyung, noticing everything like a ghost, scolded me.
Now, just thinking about the study room made me want to vomit.
“Heh, your knowledge must be skyrocketing. Lucky you.”
Did she even understand my feelings? Myeong Ah-jin still stared blankly, sipping her chocolate milk while watching outside.
Finally, stopping my complaints, I asked with reluctance.
“What’s up?”
“Nope. I just remembered that it’s exam period when I heard you talk.”
“…You didn’t know?”
“I tried not to think about it!”
Not exactly a positive way to respond.
Sensing my pitying stare, Myeong Ah-jin cheerfully changed the topic.
“Anyway, let’s get some fresh air! We can watch Sumin play soccer outside.”
“Why would I want to watch that?”
“Come on.”
I stubbornly stood there, unwilling to go, and Myeong Ah-jin grabbed my wrist.
“Quick… ugh, ah!”
Thud!
Struggling, Myeong Ah-jin collided with someone dashing from the opposite side.
Splash.
The chocolate milk she held spilled everywhere.
“Ah! What do we do!”
“Ah, sh*t… it’s everywhere!!”
The girl we collided with brushed her sleeve clean and shouted angrily.
“S-sorry….”
“F*cking annoying, seriously! Ah!”
Myeong Ah-jin apologized, but the other girl got even angrier.
‘What the hell? Myeong Ah-jin just used chocolate milk as a wash.’
I couldn’t stand her unfairness and stepped in to speak on Myeong Ah-jin’s behalf.
“F*ck, where’s the anger coming from? She ran into us first.”
The culprit’s eyes glinted dangerously.
Her uniform was tight, and her pointed, decorated nails made her look delinquent.
“What did you just say?”
Oh? Looks like she’s ready to grab my hair.
I stared her down without backing off. Myeong Ah-jin quickly shielded herself in front of me.
“No, I’m okay…!”
“Stay still.”
“Ughhh.”
I took off my hoodie and wiped Myeong Ah-jin’s messy face, pushing her aside.
Seeing this, the culprit snickered and crossed her arms.
“Hah, pathetic friendship, it’s tear-jerking.”
“Do you want me to make you cry for real?”
“You’re crazy with your bluff… Should I rearrange your face?”
Her heavily made-up face scanned me slowly.
From top to bottom, then bottom to top again.
‘Is she checking if I can win in a fight?’
I was confident. She was tall but didn’t look physically strong.
Myeong Ah-jin couldn’t help much, but it didn’t matter. She was alone.
One-on-one is my specialty.
‘I’ll take out my tutoring stress on you.’
Then—
Clink!
“Uh? Yura?”
Before I could even think, the opponent got backup.
‘Damn.’
A girl came out from a nearby classroom, calling out warmly to the culprit.
“Ah, Seola!”
“……?”
Immediately, the culprit turned her back on us.
It was hard to believe she was the same person who just spat curses and looked vicious.
“What? Layu-ra! Why didn’t you call me… Is something wrong?”
“No, no. Just bumped into each other. Here, your gym clothes.”
The culprit instantly switched to angel mode, blocking our view using her tall frame.
‘Why is she doing this? Also, her name is Layu-ra? Ridiculous.’
I glared at the culprit—or rather, Lee Hyori, I mean Layu-ra—watching her back.
I couldn’t understand why she was using all her strength to hide us from the backup.
“Nothing serious. Go inside quickly; after eating, you’ll get sleepy, so be careful during gym class…”
“Who’s behind you? Did you bump hard?”
The backup, curious, tiptoed around to see past Layu-ra’s iron defense.
Finally, after a while, Layu-ra’s shoulder gave way and the backup’s face popped up.
“!”
I recognized her.
The other person’s eyes widened too, seeing me.
