1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 56

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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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Ranked 1st in School Hides Her Regression
Episode 56
Jung Eun-seong’s cellphone vibrated in his palm. The number flashing on the screen wasn’t saved.
When Jung Eun-seong didn’t answer, it rang off for a moment.
Then again,
Buzz—buzz—
Click.
It cut off.
And called back.
Missed Call (4)
The cellphone that had been ringing in succession finally went quiet.
The darkened screen flickered to life.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㄹㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅎㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅎㅋㅋㅎㅋㅋ
-This the right number?
“Don’t.”
Jung Eun-seong’s head snapped up, ready to look around, but I stopped him with a gesture. I shook my head quietly and glanced toward the cellphone.
Understanding the signal, Jung Eun-seong covered the screen with his hand and unlocked it.
On the home screen, the Cocoa Talk app’s yellow icon bore a red notification badge: six unread messages.
As we watched, that number climbed:
6
11
17
180
“…….”
Messages from people who’d posted their own selfies as profile pictures—people who looked perfectly fine, even attractive, from their photos—came flooding in.
-Hey Eun-seong!
-ㅋㅋㅋ no way
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-your shocked face is so cute ㅠㅠ
-Eun-seong why don’t you have a profile pic ㅠ noona was looking forward to it
-♡happy birthday♡
-but who’s the girl next to you?
-she’s pretty
“Wait—”
“Shh.”
I covered Jung Eun-seong’s mouth with my hand before he could speak. Our eyes met, and he immediately understood, leaning forward. I gripped his shoulder and whispered into his ear.
“They installed a camera in the classroom.”
Your shocked face is so cute.
Aren’t they watching us right now?
I scanned the room.
Lockers. Bulletin board. Pencil cases left on desks. A broom leaning haphazardly in the corner.
Nothing looked out of place.
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
I grabbed Jung Eun-seong’s sleeve.
“We need to get out of here.”
“Where to?”
“The Teachers’ Office.”
I wanted to bolt straight home,
but there’s no way of knowing where these obsessed fans are watching from. If we went directly to his house, they could expose his address too.
“Whatever equipment they’re using, it can’t be that high-end. They can’t have gone far. Maybe they’re still hiding somewhere in the school.”
Maybe in the classroom right next door…. That thought alone made my skin crawl.
“We’ll tell a teacher and review the school CCTV. We can figure out how they got in, when they left, or if they’re still here. We’ll find them and catch them and—”
After we catch them, then what?
Report them to the police? Will whatever’s in the locker count as evidence?
But is that even a crime? They didn’t steal anything or hurt anyone. They just broke into the school, stashed some things in a locker.
Since they broke into the school, can it be prosecuted under education law?
God, why do I know nothing about this?
Why am I so clueless about the law?
I grabbed hold of Jung Eun-seong’s shirt and pulled him along.
“First thing — let’s get your school bag. Is there anything weird in it?”
“No. The bag’s fine.”
“Guess there wasn’t time to search our desk either.”
The thought of being separated from him, even for a moment, terrified me. I kept close to Jung Eun-seong as I grabbed my own school bag. As I turned to leave, he suddenly untied my hair.
Jung Eun-seong looped my hair tie around his wrist and let my hair fall across my face.
“If the camera catches your face, what then?”
“Right.”
I had a sinking feeling it was already too late.
“Can you see?”
“Yeah.”
With my hair now a tangled mess covering my features, I slung my school bag across my chest. We crept toward the classroom door and eased it open. As I started to peek my head out into the hallway, Jung Eun-seong stopped me.
“I’ll look.”
“What if someone suddenly jumps out and sets off firecrackers right in your face?”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Well, that impossible thing happened to us in the past.
Jung Eun-seong positioned me behind him and carefully poked his head out the front door.
“All clear.”
“Let’s go.”
“Lights off?”
“Yeah.”
We slipped out of the classroom, scanning both sides of the hallway as we moved.
Our class was on the fourth floor. The Teachers’ Office was on the second. From our classroom, we had to pass Class 1 and the Restroom before we’d reach the Staircase.
At any moment, someone could appear and throw something at Jung Eun-seong’s face. We moved cautiously, staying hyperaware of our surroundings when—
Creak!
“Ugh!”
“?”
A student burst out of Class 1, gave us a strange look as we passed, and kept going.
“…….”
“…….”
“Should we just run?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“There’s underwear in the locker… #$(#$(#?!”
“?! ! !!!! ?!”
Chaos erupted.
Undergarments, sanitary pads—it was apparently too much stimulus for the older teachers who’d led normal lives.
Our homeroom teacher, one of the ’90s generation, stood beside them calmly explaining, “Those kinds of students are called Sasaeng.”
Actually, looking more carefully, she wasn’t calm at all.
Her hands were shaking.
“You there—call the security guard and ask if any outsiders visited the school today.”
“Was our classroom empty at any point today?”
“We had P.E. class today. If we pull the CCTV footage from outside the classroom during that time slot and trace the person’s movements from there, we should be able to figure it out.”
Whether the person had already left the school or was still hiding somewhere.
“Lord, I’m a teacher, not a detective… What in the world…”
Another teacher pressed her forehead with her palm, saying this was her first time experiencing something like this in her twenty years of teaching.
The severity was written all over everyone’s faces—an outsider had waltzed into their school and broken into a classroom.
‘And nobody even knew about the break-in until Jung Eun-seong opened that locker.’
If word got out to the parents, all hell would break loose.
“Eun-seong and Da-hye must have been terrified.”
After calling the police, our homeroom teacher patted the arms of Jung Eun-seong and me—he was standing there looking like his soul had left his body. Only then did I realize I was clinging to Jung Eun-seong’s arm, and I flinched, pulling away.
“The police will be here soon to review the CCTV footage… Would you like to go home for now?”
“If it’s all right with you, I’d like to stay and wait here.”
“What about you, Da-hye?”
“I’m staying too.”
I answered firmly, and Jung Eun-seong glanced at me but said nothing.
“Okay then, why don’t you sit over there for a bit. I have some Hot Chocolate—want some?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“How about you, Eun-seong?”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“Why not? Drink it.”
I’d been startled, and I thought warm tea might help settle my nerves, so I offered it to him. But Jung Eun-seong shook his head.
“If I drink it, I’ll need to use the restroom.”
“So?”
“…I wish they’d installed cameras in the restroom too.”
“…Ah.”
“The security guard says no one visited the school from outside today. He says he never left his post either.”
Lee Mongyong, who had just hung up the phone, spoke. The PE teacher over there was scratching his head frantically.
“What do you mean, how did they get in…?”
“You don’t think it was one of our students, do you?”
“Ugh. Let’s not say such terrible things.”
The teachers milled about in confusion. When would the police arrive, how would they check the CCTV, didn’t they review the CCTV footage during that room invasion incident before…?
“Good grief, Jung Eun-seong’s going to become some kind of huge celebrity, isn’t he? Remember that transfer student from before—what was her name, Song Yeor-eum? She couldn’t get her head on straight, and now the girls are throwing themselves at him like they’re shedding their clothes to do it.”
Even the geography teacher made a remark that would have absolutely gotten him reported if we were five years further into the future.
Amid all the chaos, Jung Eun-seong and I sat silently at the round conference table.
I combed my tangled hair back with my fingers to tidy it. Jung Eun-seong, watching from beside me, returned my hair tie that he’d been wearing around his wrist.
“Kang Da-hye.”
“What.”
“When are you leaving?”
“When they catch the culprit.”
“They might take a while to catch them.”
“I know.”
I pulled out the book I’d stuffed haphazardly into my school bag and placed it on the table, answering curtly.
“Your being here doesn’t exactly speed up catching the culprit.”
“Your not being here doesn’t speed it up either.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to go home before it gets any later? It’ll be dark soon, and that’s dangerous.”
“…Is this because you don’t want to talk to me?”
I slammed the book down on the table and glared at Jung Eun-seong.
“Do you want me to leave that badly?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what.”
“…You have to study, and I’m taking up your time, so that’s why.”
“Think of it as a birthday gift.”
“Me being here?”
“Why, is it too modest?”
“No. No, it’s not.”
Jung Eun-seong’s eyes widened, and he shook his head.
He lowered the hand covering his mouth and looked straight at me.
A voice that was pleasant to listen to—one that could easily carry a four-minute song alone without needing to share it with six other people, or really, could sing even a forty-minute song all by itself and still be beautiful to hear—spoke carefully, each word distinct.
“It’s not modest. It’s huge.”
…….
“I mean it.”

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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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