1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 7

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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 7
Seo Jae-gyeom had a particular taste—he only cared for what captivated him.
No matter how good something was, if it didn’t appeal to him, he wouldn’t spare it a glance, and he was sharply discriminating between what drew him and what didn’t.
In Seo Jae-gyeom’s exacting eye, Kang Da-hye was
‘Boring.’
He could see she was pretty, sure enough—and that was all there was to it. She moved through life so tediously that even her prettiness barely registered.
More than anything, the fact that she liked him was painfully obvious.
Always watching him, always tense.
He’d long since tired of pretending not to notice how hard she tried to catch his eye.
Quite apart from all that,
he simply didn’t care.
To Jae-gyeom, Kang Da-hye was just ‘Han Ji-su’s friend.’
Despite knowing Da-hye longer than he’d known Ji-su.
‘Hey, isn’t Kang Da-hye pretty?’
‘Sure.’
‘Uh, Seo Jae-gyeom. Why do you answer like that?’
‘Not interested.’
‘But she studies like crazy. Should I ask which academy she goes to?’
‘Kang Da-hye doesn’t attend any academy.’
‘Then she gets tutored?’
‘No.’
‘Then what?’
‘She studies alone at the Youth Reading Room in front of Heights Building.’
‘Wait, you said you weren’t interested, so how do you know all this?’
The girls close to Jae-gyeom transformed the moment they stepped past the School Gate—makeup and clothing befitting a K-pop idol—and became entirely different people. But Kang Da-hye, even when they happened to cross paths outside, was almost always in her school uniform.
‘Where are you going, Kang Da-hye?’
‘Oh. The library.’
The response to his polite question was almost invariably the same: the library, or the reading room.
Did she read books constantly because she had no money?
Books were free at the library, after all.
‘I guess it suits her. A timid, boring girl like Kang Da-hye and the library—perfect match.’
Despite being someone who frequently read himself, Jae-gyeom thought this way.
But there was something Jae-gyeom didn’t know.
Usually, the minds of kids who are always reading something are the loudest, most chaotic of all.
* * *
The cafeteria.
Today, as always, the seats surrounding Woo Do-yeon from the same class were completely empty—front, back, left, right—the entire eight-person table vacant.
A few girls glanced sidelong at Woo Do-yeon, who sat composedly in the middle of this deliberate island, muttering that she was ‘putting on airs.’
‘If she had to stand in front of Woo Do-yeon, they wouldn’t even open their mouths. But since the mood works in their favor, they all chip in with something to say.’
Seo Jae-gyeom understood that the girls’ cruelty toward Woo Do-yeon stemmed from inferiority.
He also knew that all the rumors surrounding Woo Do-yeon made no sense.
But that didn’t mean he had any intention of stepping forward to protect her.
‘Have they no sense? Believing such nonsense rumors.’
He remembered how, when he’d made a casual comment early on, Woo Do-yeon had suffered even more for it.
He was the one who’d said she had no sense—but somehow he’d slipped out of it cleanly while only Woo Do-yeon took the blame.
So he sighed and sat down at a table far away.
“Ugh, why is today’s food so bad!”
The miserable atmosphere only intensified when Song Yeo-reum’s group—who had skipped all morning classes and only showed up for lunch—waltzed into the cafeteria without waiting in line.
“Look at her, putting on airs even while she eats.”
Song Yeo-reum settled into a seat someone had vacated for her and began openly mocking Woo Do-yeon.
“God, they’re at it again.”
“Yeah. So annoying.”
“Jae-gyeom, wanna play basketball?”
“Sure.”
He should just finish eating and get out.
If he got hungry later, he’d hit up the School Store—no big deal.
It was while Jae-gyeom was wolfing down his meal with that thought in mind
that Kang Da-hye walked in quietly and sat down directly across from Woo Do-yeon.
The eight-person table where Woo Do-yeon had been sitting alone.
That alone was enough to shift the atmosphere.
Song Yeo-reum, who’d been sitting at the table next to Woo Do-yeon and tormenting her, turned her whole body around and let out a hollow laugh.
“Kang Da-hye, what are you doing?”
Her tone made clear she found nothing amusing about Kang Da-hye’s behavior.
Right?
Kang Da-hye, what are you doing?
As far as Seo Jae-gyeom knew, Kang Da-hye was afraid of Song Yeo-reum too.
Back in middle school, when Kang Da-hye had barely any money to begin with, he’d often watched her get shaken down by Song Yeo-reum for a thousand won here, two thousand won there.
Sometimes he’d helped when he felt like it, but there were plenty of times he’d just pretended not to notice because he couldn’t be bothered.
‘Did she lose her mind because I rejected her? Or is she deliberately acting up to get my attention?’
She’d been bickering with the transfer student all day during class just to show off in front of him, and now she was squaring up against Song Yeo-reum.
Wasn’t she going to get dragged away and beaten for nothing?
With that thought, Seo Jae-gyeom kept his eyes on Da-hye, Do-yeon, and Yeo-reum. He was ready to step in if things went south.
But Seo Jae-gyeom’s prediction was wrong.
The Walnut Pastry that Da-hye had thrown landed squarely in Song Yeo-reum’s soup bowl. The broth splattered across her hoodie and the back of her hand, and Song Yeo-reum let out a shriek.
“Hey!”
Song Yeo-reum jumped up from her seat and hurled her food tray at Kang Da-hye.
Clang!
The sharp sound rang out, and the side dishes scattered in all directions. The lunch ladies who’d been finishing up the serving line looked over in shock.
“What the—!”
The teachers who’d been eating in their separate staff area heard the commotion and rushed out.
“Song Yeo-reum! What are you doing!”
A heavyset male teacher in his fifties, his belly protruding, bellowed at her.
“Why are you just standing there! Did you throw that on the floor? Huh?!”
“Oh, I dropped it!”
Song Yeo-reum answered sullenly and muttered a curse under her breath—quiet enough that the teacher standing far away wouldn’t hear.
“Be more careful, huh?! Clean it up right now! Apologize to the staff who are helping!”
Since she’d said she dropped it, the teacher had nothing more to say and just cleared his throat before heading back inside.
The moment the teacher left, Song Yeo-reum approached Kang Da-hye with murderous intent.
Seeing Song Yeo-reum bearing down on her, Kang Da-hye stood up too.
Seo Jae-gyeom noticed, even in the moment, that Kang Da-hye’s posture was remarkably composed.
“Hey. Kang Da-hye, come outside.”
“I don’t want to. Why should I?”
“Why? Just come out for a second. I won’t hit you.”
“No.”
“Why, you crazy? Are you scared?”
“Yeah. I’m scared. I’m too scared to come out. So what are you going to do about it?”
Wait for me at the School Gate after school and drag me to the Playground? The way you did to my friend in middle school?
Kang Da-hye continued.
Kang Da-hye didn’t give Song Yeo-reum a single opening to speak.
Her words came rapid-fire, as if she’d rehearsed this entire script in advance.
“I remember. Second year of middle school—you shoving my friend into the locker and kicking it. None of the kids dared report you because they were scared. You knew that and laughed, saying I was a Juvenile Delinquent, that I could report it if I wanted. But you’re not a Juvenile Delinquent anymore, are you?”
“Wha—”
“Don’t get it? If you hit me, you don’t just walk away. Expulsion, Juvenile Detention Center, whatever—I don’t really know how it all works. I’ve never lived that kind of trainwreck life.”
But Song Yeo-reum, you don’t have the guts to handle that, do you? Kang Da-hye laughed.
“You can’t even curse loudly because you’re afraid the teachers might hear.”
“You—”
“The only reason you can act like this right now is because the kids avoid getting involved with you—not because they’re scared, but because you’re disgusting. Once it really goes down, you’ll back out because you’re terrified. You’re scared of ruining your own life, just like everyone else.”
“You crazy—”
“While I’m at it, want me to say more? You hate Do-yeon because your ex-boyfriend said she was pretty. That’s what we call jealousy, remember?”
The way Kang Da-hye spilled out her words made her look like someone who’d run through this scenario a hundred times before.
Like someone who’d chewed over what should have been said, what could have been done differently, dozens and hundreds of times throughout her life.
Song Yeo-reum, who’d always seemed like nothing but a petty bully, couldn’t counter the words Da-hye hurled at her from inches away. She could only mutter curses.
The Cafeteria was quieter than it had ever been since Seo Jae-gyeom had enrolled.
Even the kids who’d been deliberately ignoring Song Yeo-reum’s harassment of Woo Do-yeon were now completely focused. Even those leaving after returning their trays had stopped at the Cafeteria entrance to listen to Kang Da-hye.
And for good reason.
Hating Woo Do-yeon was an atmosphere a few people had created, but disliking Song Yeo-reum was a collective fact made up of every individual.
Kang Da-hye gave Song Yeo-reum, who was standing right in front of her, a light shove and stepped back.
“You said you wanted to be an entertainer, right? Be careful. Things are going to change from now on, and kids who bullied others during their school years won’t make it as entertainers.”
“What the hell are you talking about—”
“You’ve got time — go apologize to all the kids you’ve been tormenting. Pray they don’t expose you after you debut.”
“…….”
Is today the last day of Kang Da-hye’s life?
Did she drink or something?
Or is she transferring schools today?
How does she plan to keep coming to school after this?
Everyone thought the same thing.
Kang Da-hye, whose hand was hidden behind the chair as she clenched and released it, turned her gaze to the space behind Song Yeo-reum’s back.
To the loud girl in the hoodie who was always glued to Song Yeo-reum’s side, Kang Da-hye delivered one final blow.
“And you — you’re twenty-two, dating a high school student. That’s not normal. Break up before graduation. Don’t end up pregnant and on some reality show about teenage parents.”
“Ha!”
Seo Jae-gyeom couldn’t help but laugh.
Wow. That’s entertaining.

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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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