1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Top Student Hides Her Regression
Episode 21
Second Period. How do you do?
Thankfully, Se-in hadn’t suggested we rob a bank. I didn’t know how to fire a gun, so it was just as well.
“Da-hye, want to work a part-time job?”
“A part-time job?”
Were there even part-time positions that hired high school students?
There probably were, but……
I’d rather be studying during that time.
Se-in must have read the reluctance in my expression, because she waved her hand dismissively.
“It’s not grueling or time-consuming or anything like that! You’d just help the teachers at the cram school with copying materials and grading, and during your free time you can sit at your desk and do whatever you need to do.”
“At a cram school?”
“Yeah. My aunt is the director of a cram school near GuguGo High School Intersection. The part-time worker there broke up with his girlfriend and suddenly went dark, so my aunt asked if I knew any dependable friends to recommend. It’s just temporary—about a month.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Yeah. The academy closes at ten, so it runs pretty late, but they’ll give you transportation money and free practice problem sets. The hourly wage is 5,500 won.”
“I’ll do it.”
I agreed immediately.
A month wouldn’t seriously derail my studies, the pay was decent for this era, and I’d have free time too.
Besides, if I got stuck on something while studying, couldn’t I just casually ask one of the teachers there?
“Great! Then I’ll call my aunt right now and ask!”
Se-in’s face brightened, and she immediately pulled out her phone.
“Aunt, it’s me…… You know that part-time job you mentioned yesterday? Yeah.”
Se-in chattered away for a while, then held the phone away from her ear and turned to look at me.
“Da-hye, my aunt is asking if you know how to use Hangul Word Processor and Excel…… Nothing complicated, just the basics.”
Even as she spoke, her expression clouded over—clearly doubting I’d know how to use either.
Right. What high school student would know Excel?
Plenty of college students didn’t know it either.
I smiled at Se-in’s predicament.
“Tell her I can use functions too.”
Pro tip for a regression returnee: get your Computer Literacy Level 1 certification.
“So you work there too?”
“Oh, no—I live too far away to go there regularly.”
* * *
That’s how I became a temporary part-time worker at Ibaji Cram School.
Located in a shopping complex near the Commercial District, Ibaji occupied an entire two floors and was a fairly large academy that drew many students from GoGoGo High School, GuguGo High School, JungjungMiddle School, and JongjongMiddle School.
Apparently it was quite well-known among kids who’d graduated from the same middle school as Se-in.
Unlike the academy that Ji-su and Seo Jae-gyeom attended, it didn’t screen its students carefully, but maybe that’s why it had even more students?
I’d never had reason to come near GuguGo High School Intersection before, so I hadn’t known about it.
“Oh my, you really do know how?”
“Of course.”
“Thank goodness. The kid who worked here before was a third-year college student, but he couldn’t even calculate an average. He’d tap away at a calculator one entry at a time.”
“Ha… Honestly, when I was in college I didn’t know the first thing about Excel either.”
“Goodness, you’re quite the comedian!”
I was grateful the director—who favored wearing white pants with cartoon characters printed on the back and whose KakaoTalk status message read “Yeosu Night Sea…^^”—had taken a liking to me.
The work itself was genuinely simple.
Sit at the desk, answer the phone, help the teachers with copying or grading when they asked, and when the academy closed at ten, do some basic closing tasks like checking for lost items and turning off the classroom lights.
It was far easier and more comfortable than the convenience store job I’d balanced with tutoring during college.
Plus, I received a whole stack of free practice problem sets!
Se-in had barely asked me to do anything, yet she’d introduced me to this gem of a job. She really was a good person.
Though there was one notable peculiarity.
“…Hey.”
“Yeah. Hey.”
10:10 p.m. Right after the students had poured out of the academy.
As I was turning off the lights floor by floor from the upper level, I ran into Kim Ga-eun just coming out of a classroom.
Who was Kim Ga-eun, you ask?
Se-in’s friend number two.
The same girl who’d flatly refused Se-in’s suggestion to “ask Do-yeon if you need help with anything.”
The girl who’d stayed silent during the locker incident with Bang Eun-ji, then left early while Se-in and Su-a helped me out.
Though Se-in and Su-a hadn’t shown it, this girl seemed to dislike Do-yeon the most of their friend group.
‘That rumor didn’t start for nothing. If there’s smoke, there’s fire—Woo Do-yeon must have given them reason to feel that way.’
I’ve heard her say things like that to Su-a before.
That Kim Ga-eun was only now shuffling out of the classroom, ten minutes after class ended. Her expression was terribly sour—as if she’d been scolded during the period.
“Did you lose something?”
“No, why?”
“Oh… you were just coming out late.”
“Right.”
……
……
“Were you heading to the bathroom? The janitor was cleaning it a minute ago.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
……
Why isn’t she leaving?
My social battery’s completely drained. I’ve got nothing else to say.
“Are your parents picking you up?”
“No.”
……
“Kim Ga-eun! Why are you still here? If you don’t go now, you’ll break curfew—hurry up and get going!”
A teacher who’d just stepped out of the administrative office spotted Kim Ga-eun and called out irritably. She shot him an annoyed look and left without even a greeting, moving quickly.
What’s her problem?
“You should get going too, Da-hye. You’ve got nothing else to do here, right?”
“Ah, yes. I just need to finish copying something for another teacher real quick, then I’ll head out.”
I said this while glancing down at my phone, which had suddenly started buzzing like crazy.
Turns out it was our class group chat.
2nd Year, Class 2
20:39
Math Class A homework (due tomorrow)
Do Ha-jun
Bragging about being in Math Class A now?
(Some weird animation meme that I didn’t want to understand)
22:11
2nd Year, Class 2 girls only >..<
Gyeong Se-in
What do we do
Did Seo Jae-gyeom leave because he felt sick
22:16
Right? He doesn't even come to school, yet here he is making his presence known like this.
Stung by Seo Jae-gyeom's exit, Do Ha-jun stopped sending memes and vanished, while the girls' group chat erupted into chaos.
I stared at my phone buzzing relentlessly, lost in thought.
Should I invite him again? Since I'm the (temporary) class representative?
Or should I send him a direct message?
I've never sent Seo Jae-gyeom a personal message since I regressed.
"I'll upload the copied handout here! I'm heading out now!"
"Take care, Da-hye~ You did great~"
I hunted through the message thread with Seo Jae-gyeom—already scrolled far out of view—as I rode the elevator down.
Fortunately, by then the homeroom teacher had returned and invited Seo Jae-gyeom back.
2nd Year Class 2
Homeroom Teacher
This is a prison—you can't leave
22:29
Hm…
Right. No walking out allowed.
If you find the memes so disgusting you want to leave… I'll sooner die than let you go…….
"You came out late today?"
Huh?
I looked up from typing my message.
A few meters ahead, some man was walking right beside Kim Ga-eun, pressed close against her.
"You came out late because you were asking that handsome teacher about something, right? Or does that handsome teacher not exist?"
Why hasn't he left yet?
Is that her father?
"……."
* * *
"A high school girl shouldn't be walking alone this late at night."
Why is he still here.
I deliberately came out more than twenty minutes late.
"You use studying as an excuse, but you're really going to cram school to date, aren't you? Huh?"
I should've left when the others did. I made a mistake in judgment.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
In a bit we'll be in an alley. Maybe I should pretend to go a different way and circle back.
"You don't?"
But this man already knows our house is in that direction.
If I run into him on the way back… I'd have to come this way anyway to get home.
"No answer, so you must have one. Same school? Or an older guy?"
The way he giggled while drawling out his words made my skin crawl.
Ga-eun's shoulders hunched.
Ga-eun was the type who could snap back at a teacher who told her to wear something under her summer uniform shirt so boys wouldn't stare, with "Oh, then I'll just gouge out the eyes of anyone who looks!"—but even she was terrified of a man like this, encountered late at night on a deserted street.
Cold sweat was beginning to bead on Ga-eun's palms.
"Ga-eun!"
Kang Da-hye appeared suddenly and linked her arm through Ga-eun's.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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