1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 44

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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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Top Student Hides Her Regression
Chapter 44
Thirty minutes earlier.
Han Ji-su, settled in at the Library with the rest of 2nd Year Class 1, found herself thinking.
‘I don’t have my eraser.’
She’d lent it to her desk partner a while ago and never got it back.
The problem was that eraser was her lucky eraser.
With it, she could concentrate better and perform well on exams. The moment she lost it, she felt anxious—as though the knowledge she’d studied was draining away with every passing second.
She knew it was superstition. But Ji-su took these superstitions very seriously. Serious enough that starting a month before exams, she wouldn’t eat eggs—whose round shape resembled the number zero.
…….
She’d just pop over to Beta Stationery in front of school and grab the same one.
The moment she’d made up her mind, the eraser seemed to demand her attention even more urgently, so Ji-su hurried downstairs.
She threw on a friend’s school uniform cardigan—which smelled clean, clearly doused in fabric softener to mask what had to be a semi-basement apartment—and descended the stairs.
“Oh, Jung Eun-seong!”
On her way down, she ran into Jung Eun-seong from Class 2.
“Hey!”
“Hey.”
Jung Eun-seong didn’t even meet her eyes as he passed.
Left alone on the stairwell, Ji-su felt awkward.
“…He’s not like that with Kang Da-hye.”
Guess they got closer since they’re in the same class now. Same with Seo Jae-gyeom.
It was nice to see Kang Da-hye—who used to be just “Han Ji-su’s friend”—getting more popular lately.
Picturing Da-hye and Seo Jae-gyeom in the classroom right now with their heads bent together, she walked out through the school gate.
The school front was already mostly empty.
As Ji-su waited at the traffic light, some boys loitering near the gate approached from behind.
?
By the time Ji-su looked up from her phone, she was already surrounded.
Long hair, visibly unkempt. The thick stench of cigarettes rolling off them. The boys circling her snickered among themselves.
“Yeah, this is her. Name’s on the nameplate.”
“We waited over thirty minutes for some decent-looking girls, but kept seeing nothing but ugly ones. Thought Song Yeo-reum was full of it.”
“Hold up, where do I know this girl from?”
“Probably saw her at the cafeteria last year.”
“Hey, Kang Da-hye?”
The meanest-looking one among them grinned and addressed her. Ji-su didn’t respond, only looked up. The mean one then raised his hand and tapped her cheek lightly, twice.
“Don’t worry—we’re not scary. Song Yeo-reum, you know her? That’s your friend. We just wanna help patch things up between her and Kang Da-hye. How about you come with us for a bit and we talk it over?”
…….
“Oh, and heads up—we hit girls too, by the way.”
…….
* * *
It’s done.
“What is this…….”
That took way too long…….
“Seo Jae-gyeom, you’re heading straight down, right? On your way, can you take this to the Faculty Office for me? I’m gonna go grab Ji-su.”
Kang Da-hye pushed the spacey-looking Seo Jae-gyeom along.
He’d been perfectly fine just a moment ago—even making moves, asking her to remove an eyelash from his cheek—but ever since Jung Eun-seong had stopped by, he’d been out of it.
His expression looked like he’d been hit with something, but…….
Not my problem.
“I’m heading down first then? Thanks for helping me out!”
She rushed out of the classroom and called Ji-su.
She didn’t pick up.
While the dial tone droned on—beep, beep—Da-hye had already made it all the way up to the Library. She opened the door and stepped inside.
“…?”
Ji-su wasn’t there.
What? Her bag’s still here though.
“Did she go to the bathroom?”
Tilting her head in confusion, Da-hye left the Library.
She tried calling again.
[010-@@@@-****]
An unknown number was calling her.

“Hello…?”
-Kang Da-hye?
“Who…?”
-It’s Bang Eun-ji.
“Bang Eun-ji?”
The Bang Eun-ji I knew?
She was calling me?
Setting aside how she got my number, the real question was why. Still, Bang Eun-ji’s voice sounded genuinely urgent, so I answered without hesitation.
“What’s wrong?”
-Where are you?
“I’m at school.”
-Where at school?
“The 7th Floor.”
-Stay right there.
“Wait, but I—”
The line went dead.
“I need to find Han Ji-su—”
Before I could finish, the call had already cut off. I stared down at my phone in bewilderment and tried calling Han Ji-su again, but she didn’t pick up.
Moments later, Bang Eun-ji came barreling out of the elevator.
“Hey!”
Spotting me standing in front of the Library, she came running toward me, breathing heavily.
“Hey, something bad happened.”
“Bad? Like what?”
Was there anything that counted as a “big problem” shared between Bang Eun-ji and me?
“Han Ji-su—”
“…?!”
Well, apparently there was.
“So those guys took Han Ji-su with them just now. You know what I mean.”
“Wait, what…?”
What were twenty-year-olds doing getting mixed up in high school squabbles? And was this the early 2000s or something? Did delinquents actually stand around in front of the school gates these days, just grabbing students as they left?
This was straight out of some dated teenage delinquent movie aesthetic.
They take Han Ji-su and then what? Make her kneel and deliver some ridiculous line like “I’m the tough guy from technical school, so did you mess with my little sister?—_—^”?
I should’ve told Han Ji-su ages ago to date Seo Jae-gyeom!
If Han Ji-su were Seo Jae-gyeom’s girlfriend, he’d be the one rushing to save her!
(Though I guess saying “girlfriend” might not be the right word…)
…This is ridiculous. ☆
Wait, that’s not even the main point.
I said, confused, “They couldn’t have just taken Han Ji-su like that, could they?”
Because Han Ji-su was—
My phone rang again.
[Han Ji-su’s Mother]
I showed the name on the screen to Bang Eun-ji and answered.
“She has someone who handles her pickups exclusively…”
This person came to the school gate every day to pick up Han Ji-su and waited with her there.
Han Ji-su’s mother was very protective about Han Ji-su’s safety.
“You know the black car that’s always parked at the main gate, right?”
Back in middle school, when one of the male administrative staff at the school touched Han Ji-su’s shoulder, the driver saw it and reported it to Han Ji-su’s mother—which led to that staff member being transferred.
Today, when Han Ji-su and I went to get tteokbokki, we couldn’t leave until we went through the School Gate together, confirmed with the driver that I was “going with Kang Da-hye,” and got clearance.
I’m sure the driver followed us the whole way after that, too.
As expected.
-I just got a call and I’m shocked. What on earth happened? They apparently mistook that girl for you, Da-hye.
“Yes, I just heard about it. Is Han Ji-su alright?”
-She’s fine. I’m heading over to where those thugs are gathered right now. Can you possibly come meet me there?
I said I understood and hung up.
Checking the address Han Ji-su’s mother sent me, I turned to Bang Eun-ji and spoke.

“Who exactly was there yesterday?”
“Baek Eun-ju, Yang Da-jeong, Kim Hae-in…….”
Seo Jae-gyeom’s exes.
Pretty and terrifying girls—the type who’d play sub-heroines in a novel like this.
The fact that they’d conspired with Song Yeo-reum to trample someone like me, a total outcast in their eyes, was absurd enough; the way it all unraveled in this completely unexpected direction was laughable.
‘I got everything without lifting a finger.’
Pure gain for me alone.
But.
“Bang Eun-ji, why are you telling me this? You’re Song Yeo-reum’s friend.”
“Well.”
“This isn’t some elaborate trap, is it?”
“No, it’s not, damn it.”
“Then why?”
“…I wanted to see Song Yeo-reum go down.”
“Huh…?”
“You’re smart. I figured if I told you first, you’d be the one to screw her over.”
“…….”
So Bang Eun-ji wanted to see Song Yeo-reum fail—I got that much.
“Fine. Song Yeo-reum will go down, just like you want.”
When it comes to Han Ji-su’s mother, she doesn’t hold back.
She’s mellowed out now, but back in middle school, everyone at our school knew Han Ji-su’s mother’s face.
How else could someone ordinary like me have become friends with Han Ji-su?
All the well-groomed, outgoing girls got filtered out by Han Ji-su’s mother; only ordinary types like me remained.
If Han Ji-su’s personality had been even slightly sharp or timid, she’d have been mocked to hell because of her mother.
Anyway. So…….
I nodded at Bang Eun-ji, who was fuming.
“Let’s go.”
To watch Song Yeo-reum’s downfall.
By the time Bang Eun-ji and I arrived, it was already over.
Song Yeo-reum, Seo Jae-gyeom’s exes, and even adult lowlifes who had no business associating with high school students—all of them had been taken into custody.
There were four police cars parked there.
There was a cop who’d dismissed Ga-eun and me during the little man’s incident, but he bowed to Han Ji-su’s mother at a ninety-degree angle. I thought he was someone else.
I couldn’t even understand why I’d been called here in the first place.
It made sense to come since Han Ji-su had gone through all this because of me, but—Han Ji-su herself wasn’t even here.
“Mother, where’s Han Ji-su?”
“Hospital. She must’ve been shocked.”
Han Ji-su’s mother, who said she’d call once the examination was finished, stroked my hair and left with the police officers.
Whoosh~
Bang Eun-ji and I stood alone in the empty lot when she asked.
“Is that woman Han Ji-su’s mother?”
“Yeah. Really scary…and she really cherishes her daughter.”
“Seems like it.”
“What?”
“She sent her own daughter straight to the hospital from the school gate because she’d been shocked, but she told you to come here instead. Even though you weren’t necessary.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Probably in Han Ji-su’s mother’s eyes, I’m just Han Ji-su’s supporting player.
I came because I was worried about Han Ji-su, not because of her mother.
“Want to see Song Yeo-reum some more? Should we go to the police station?”
I asked this while glancing at my phone.
“This bitch!”
Crack!
A man rushed in from behind and struck Bang Eun-ji’s head with a bottle.

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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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