1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 49

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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 School-wide Hides Her Regression
Episode 49
“What are you doing here?”
I regarded Seo Jae-gyeom, standing at the library entrance, with suspicion.
Ever since that incident after “Don’t embarrass me about liking you,” he’d gone quiet for days, as if struck by shock.
No messages, no conversation. For a while he’d kept such a low profile that I wondered if we were even in the same class.
But today there was no way I could slip past him unnoticed.
‘Did they run short on flowers for the cherry blossom festival?’
Had he been conscripted in place of flowers to stand here?
Seo Jae-gyeom had always dressed well, but today he was dazzling.
What was this.
Every boy I’d run into today looked absurdly handsome. Except Do Ha-jun.
I glanced down at my own shabby appearance—I could have been coming straight from a study room—then looked back at Seo Jae-gyeom.
Dressed like that… to the library?
Meeting my skeptical gaze, Seo Jae-gyeom insisted:
“It’s just a coincidence.”
“What is?”
“That we ran into each other. I wasn’t waiting for you here or anything.”
……
“Think about it logically—how would I know if you’d even show up, let alone what time you’d get here? I wouldn’t have waited around for you. It’s pure coincidence.”
“I see.”
“I come here regularly anyway.”
“Right.”
“I respected what you said and didn’t contact you. But I can’t control bumping into you by chance, can I? You didn’t lease out the entire library, Kang Da-hye. You’re not the only Korean citizen. I pay taxes too! Not much now, but I will eventually pay way more!”
“Seo Jae-gyeom.”
“What!”
“I didn’t say anything.”
……
“You came to study, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“You come here often?”
“Yeah.”
“Then get yourself a reading room seat.”
“Huh?”
“Over there.”
I pointed to the seat assignment machine near the entrance.
Quick note: to use the reading room at this library, you need to be registered on the library’s website in advance.
You can only use the seat assignment machine after scanning your membership card.
Under my steady gaze, Seo Jae-gyeom shuffled awkwardly toward the machine. I watched from behind as those unnecessarily beautiful fingers pressed the seat assignment button.
[Please scan your membership card or enter your ID]
……
Ha.
This wasn’t just hoping for a coincidental meeting—this was staking out the place, wasn’t it?
‘This is the kind of thing kids usually do when they have a crush.’
Hunting for coincidental encounters with their crush, hanging around their known haunts.
If I were the me from before the regression, I might have gotten my hopes up. That Seo Jae-gyeom liked me.
“That’s not it!”
Seo Jae-gyeom’s face had gone pale as he waved his hands frantically.
“I’m really not doing that! I’m not trying to like, manage your territory or whatever! I’m not upset about it! I didn’t think I’d run into you when I came here! Anyway it’s really not like that!”
“Okay, calm down.”
Take a breath and speak.
“I believe you.”
Unless he was a fisherman, who would manage their territory this enthusiastically?
“That’s settled then. Now let’s both go our own ways.”
I nudged Seo Jae-gyeom aside from the seat machine. I scanned my membership card and was selecting a seat when—
[Cancelled.]
“If we ran into each other by coincidence!”
Seo Jae-gyeom, who’d just cancelled the seat I’d carefully chosen, protested indignantly.
“We’re in the same class! We came to study and happened to meet! Couldn’t we study together?!”
“…?”
“Are we really on such bad terms? Do you have to study alone just because we ran into each other?!”
“…….”
Since when did studying alone become a crime? Everyone studies in groups now?
I want to reply coldly, the way the “I” in Camellia Flower does, but if I did that, Seo Jae-gyeom would actually tear up. And he’s not a toddler throwing a tantrum.
Sigh.
“Fine. Let’s do it together. I had some problems I didn’t understand anyway.”
I was planning to ask the teacher about them on Monday, but it’s better to figure them out now.
Seo Jae-gyeom doesn’t study much, but he’s smart enough that he can glance through material the night before an exam and still do well.
The type who plays around and then buckles down in senior year, getting into Eagle University through the regular entrance exam.
Everyone around him says, “He could’ve gotten into Korea University if he’d started earlier,” but he doesn’t seem to regret it much at all.
Even in university he coasts by, and yet he excels at everything. Genuinely infuriating type.
I nodded without much enthusiasm, and Seo Jae-gyeom’s face lit up. He quickly recovered that signature easygoing smile of his and tilted his chin toward the door.
“There’s a café next door. Want to go? I’ll buy you a coffee.”
“I already had coffee.”
“With who? A guy?”
“…….”
“Can’t I even ask?!”
* * *
“You didn’t know that? You?”
“Shh. Thanks. Now let’s study.”
We ended up going to the café anyway.
I didn’t have time to wait for Seo Jae-gyeom to sign up for their membership card.
We settled on the second floor of a large franchise café designed for study groups, and I opened my bag. Seo Jae-gyeom watched intently to see what I’d pull out, then produced the exact same Problem Book.
It was the one everyone in Math Class A had bought together.
“We’re doing the practice problems on page ninety, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s solve them together. I’ll set the Timer.”
“We have to finish the OMR Card marking within the time limit too.”
Forty-five minutes later.
“Done!”
“Phew!”
Just as I reached to flip over the OMR Card on the table, Seo Jae-gyeom grabbed my hand. He held it completely covered, then flinched and pulled away, glancing at my face. I pretended not to notice and took out a red pen from my pencil case.
“Kang Da-hye, I marked the last question wrong…… Can’t I just fix that one?”
“No. Once it’s marked, no take-backs.”
“What about a confession, then?”
“What?”
“Once I’ve been rejected, is that no take-backs too?”
“…….”
The red pen I’d just uncapped slipped and drew a straight line across the back of my other hand.
That came out of nowhere.
“Say that again?”
I looked at Seo Jae-gyeom. He hunched himself small and looked up at me.
He can’t actually look up at me because of our height difference, so he’s pretending to, with that pathetic expression on his face.
“I’m asking if you can take back rejecting me.”
“…….”
“Like, pretend you never confessed to me and I never rejected you, so when I’m nice to you, it doesn’t count as leading you on. Just…… let’s be close friends like normal, yeah?”
“…….”
“I want to talk to you and joke around with you, but if that counts as giving you false hope, if you’re saying I can’t do that…… I don’t know what to do.”
“Why do you want to do that so badly?”
“I don’t know.”
Seo Jae-gyeom’s expression clouded over.
Watching him look so confused, I thought about it.
Is it maybe something like this?
‘I wanted to stay close friends with you, so why’d you have to confess and ruin our friendship!’
I’m not sure why Seo Jae-gyeom, who barely acknowledged my existence before, suddenly wanted to build a friendship with me.
‘There’s nothing good about being awkward with Seo Jae-gyeom.’
Either way, we have to be in the same class for the next year.
If he wants me to take back the rejection, then sure, I don’t mind.
I closed the pen cap again and spoke to him.
“Okay.”
“Really?!”
“But there’s a condition.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t deliberately try to seduce me.”
“…How am I supposed to tell the difference between being nice to a friend and trying to seduce someone?”
“By your own conscience.”
“Got it.”
Seo Jae-gyeom nodded.
I watched the flush of color rising in his face for a moment, then lowered my gaze back to the OMR Card.
Before the regression, Seo Jae-gyeom had felt like someone untouchable, on an entirely different plane from me. But after the regression……
‘He’s kind of pathetic.’
“So let’s study now.”
“Okay!”
He’s pleased.
“Kang Da-hye. I mean, can I still talk to you as just a friend?”
“Yeah.”
“What about starting conversations?”
“That’s fine.”
“Looking at me during class?”
“Absolutely not.”
Why are you looking at me? Keep your eyes forward.
“What about sending Kakaotalk messages?”
“Only when there’s something to say.”
“Wiping something off my face?”
“Only if it’s an insect.”
“Accidentally brushing hands?”
“That’s unavoidable.”
“Wiping pen marks off my hand with a wet tissue?”
“Give it here. I’ll do it myself.”
Scrub, scrub.
“Telling me that you’re no longer in contact with Baek Eun-ju, Yang Da-jeong, and Kim Hae-in?”
(Ignore.)
“Giving me a fork to eat cake with?”
(Chew.)
“Asking me to taste your drink?”
(Turn away.)
“Borrowing my eraser?”
(Close pencil case.)
“Drawing pictures in my Problem Book?”
“Hey, stop that!”
* * *
“You’re definitely getting first place again this time, aren’t you?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Best grades, popular now. You’re the best, Da-hye.”
“Huh? I’m not that popular.”
But I will get first place.
Getting first—how hard is it really? Get everything right, and you automatically rank first.
It’s not even that difficult to get everything right, is it? You just have to not make mistakes.
If you study diligently, you’ll only see problems you already know, so you can avoid mistakes.
Getting a perfect score in just one subject through effort isn’t hard, right? Do that several times, and you get all perfect scores.
I’m a little anxious about mathematics, but… anyway, being Top Student School-wide isn’t really that difficult.
No need to compare myself with others. I just have to do well.
If I get everything right, the game is over.
But I’m not that popular……
Ji-su laughed beside me as I squinted.
“No way, you got popular. You’re even Class President.”
“That’s just because I actively campaigned for it.”
“That’s not it. Want to see?”
Ji-su, grinning brightly, pointed across the room.

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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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