1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 74

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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
74
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
Usually the Health Room nurse doesn’t leave her post.
Even when she does, she locks the door behind her.
But today the School was overflowing with patients. As a result, the Health Room held only Jung Eun-seong and me.
I gently wiped away the blood staining Jung Eun-seong’s knuckles, then spread ointment across the scraped skin.
He’d only thrown two punches, yet his knuckles were raw and red. I’d known his strength was no joke since midterm exam day when he’d casually picked someone up and sprinted, but still—the power was terrifying. Even if he’d pursued athletics professionally, he would’ve excelled.
Though it would’ve been such a waste of that face…….
“You don’t have to apply it.”
“What do you mean I don’t have to? Not a single girl got hurt, but you did—you’re embarrassed about that, aren’t you?”
“…The girls used tools.”
I hadn’t thought of tools because I was too stupid. Jung Eun-seong’s shoulders sagged with dejection. Watching that expression, I recalled the image of him being pushed back clumsily by Seo Jae-gyeom, and I had to stifle a laugh.
“If you’d used a tool, Park Su-hwan would be a vegetable right now.”
“…So you don’t like it?”
“Like what?”
“Girls don’t like violent guys.”
“Please.”
Funny, considering he showed no hesitation when he threw those punches earlier.
I closed the ointment cap and spoke.
“The girls said you looked cool.”
I meant it as reassurance, but Jung Eun-seong didn’t look pleased at all. If anything, only one corner of his mouth twitched upward.
He tapped the bed he was sitting on once, then spoke with biting sarcasm.
“Perfect. While the girls were furious, I got to just sit back and know absolutely nothing—then throw one punch later and get praised for being amazing. Life’s a dream.”
…….
“Incredible.”
“…Are you angry?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
I had a rough idea.
Jung Eun-seong sighed, lifted his eyes to glance at the ceiling, then lowered them and met my gaze.
“Kang Da-hye. I… I hate that I can be so clueless. That I can live alone with my head in the clouds and no one minds. I hate it.”
…….
“I want to see what you see.”
“…It’ll be hard.”
“Isn’t it already hard for you right now?”
Fair point.
While I sat in silence, fidgeting with the ointment, Jung Eun-seong took my hand.
I hadn’t noticed my own knuckles were slightly scraped as well. Now he was the one applying ointment to me, scooping a generous amount and spreading it carefully, all while he spoke.
“Kang Da-hye. We made a promise back then. To become adults who change the world.”
“…I remember.”
I’d thought back then that only I felt the weight of it, and that he was just humoring me.
“I remember everything you said.”
…….
“I want to keep that promise now. What should I start with?”
Well…….
“Debut….”
“…That’s not something I can control….”
“Yeah, I know…….”
A solemn quiet settled between us.
“How exactly do you want to change things?”
“I can’t explain it well.”
Jung Eun-seong frowned and chose his words carefully.
“Things like today. How you can’t help but see something, but I’m allowed not to. I want to change that.”
“Anyone listening to you would think you want to change the world just for me.”
“Isn’t that right?”
…….
He dropped an emotional bomb and stood there as if nothing had happened.
Take it. He pressed the ointment from the Health Room into my palm as casually as if it were nothing, then stood up, smoothing over the ripples in his expression with practiced indifference.
“Class seems to be over. Why don’t you just sleep here? You’re not getting enough rest anyway.”
“What about you, Kang Da-hye?”
“I’m going back upstairs to study.”
People study even in the middle of war. People study even when their hearts are shattered. That’s me—a champion.
Jung Eun-seong changes the world, doesn’t he? I can’t lose either. If I want to keep up, I have to study first.
“Then I’ll go back up too.”
“What are you talking about? Go to sleep.”
Lie down. Now.
I pushed Jung Eun-seong’s shoulder sideways as he sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the bed. He toppled over smoothly, landing on his side, and gazed up at me.
“Is there no other way?”
“What do you mean…”
Stop doing that. Seriously.
Love Start Begin Like Hate Continue Intend……
I recited the English words like a prayer—words I’d never forget because of Jung Eun-seong—and brushed the wrinkles from my skirt.
Jung Eun-seong called out to me as I left the Health Room.
“Kang Da-hye.”
“What.”
“My parents died in a traffic accident. When I was in middle school.”
……
“That’s why I became a trainee. I’m not good at studying… and I have a younger sibling below me too. From my teens, this was the only way I could earn money.”
……
“The reason I want to be a singer instead of an actor is because I heard you can make money faster and earn more that way.”
“…Is that why you helped me that day? When my mom had the accident?”
“What are you saying.”
With his eyes closed, Jung Eun-seong laughed.
“I helped you because it was you.”
……
“When I go home, I don’t want to think about you. So why do you keep making me reflect on myself every time? Get out of my head.”
……
So he does think about me sometimes.
“That’s going to be difficult.”
I shook my head.
You can’t leave. I don’t want you to.
But I can leave the Health Room.
The moment I stepped out, I startled.
Seo Jae-gyeom was leaning against the wall of the dark, unlit hallway. Seeing my surprise, he raised the corner of his mouth in a slight smirk.
“Why so startled? Did you do something wrong?”
He looks relaxed and confident, but there’s something subtly tense about him.
“Kim Ga-eun told me you were here.”
“Ah.”
“Were you with the transfer student?”
“He’s not a transfer student. It’s Jung Eun-seong.”
Half the semester’s already passed. When are you going to stop calling him a transfer student? You’re the vice class representative.
“Why were you looking for me?”
Regardless of how unsuitable the classroom atmosphere is for studying, if both the class rep and vice rep are gone, who’s supposed to keep everyone quiet?
I gestured for Seo Jae-gyeom to come upstairs, but he didn’t follow.
Seo Jae-gyeom, hesitating, finally spoke.
“I didn’t see it.”
“See what?”
“That… video.”
“Ah.”
“I only found out the girl’s name because everyone around me was making such a fuss. It’s not because I watched it myself.”
……
“If I’d known those bastards were doing something like that, I would’ve killed them first. I had nothing to do with it. I never even entertained the thought of evaluating girls that way.”
“I know.”
In front of Seo Jae-gyeom, who was explaining himself desperately, I chose my words carefully too.
“I didn’t tell you about this because I thought you were involved in it. It’s just… it seems like I keep ending up getting dragged into things without telling you first.”
“It’s fine.”
If I’d told him beforehand, wouldn’t I have become a traitor among the girls? Seo Jae-gyeom laughed as he said it.
That’s true.
‘I can’t do what Jang Ji-won would do.’
“Anyway, I’m really innocent. Not knowing in a situation like this is an excuse and a mistake on my part, but… I really didn’t know.”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to talk to the other boys and ask them to discipline Park Su-hwan’s group severely. I’ll also do a follow-up investigation to see if anything like this happened in other classes.”
“The other boys agreed?”
“They will. If they don’t want to be dragged into this. At least to apologize for standing by all this time.”
“I suppose.”
At minimum, we need to do that much if the kids are going to trust us.
Any normal person would want to draw a line between themselves and those guys.
“That alone should help salvage what’s left of our class atmosphere.”
“As of today, our class has fourteen girls and eight boys.”
Seo Jae-gyeom cut off sharply in front of me as I nodded.
“They should be expelled!”
He stopped mid-sentence, clearly worked up, practically fuming.
“To be honest, I’m sorry for saying I didn’t know at the time. I…”
“I understand. Come on.”
I grabbed Seo Jae-gyeom’s arm and pulled him along. As he followed obediently, I spoke.
“You got chewed out pretty badly by Dok-seo back then, didn’t you? Because you wouldn’t say why you hit Park Su-hwan.”
“Not really. Dok-seo likes me. I’m good-looking.”
“I understand why you didn’t tell me and kept it hidden. Thank you.”
You didn’t want to get me caught up in it. Once you talked about it, we’d both be linked together.
“But Seo Jae-gyeom.”
I met his eyes, standing right beside him.
“I’d rather know the truth than be spared.”
“…”
“I don’t need protection. Rather than having things hidden and kept from me, I’d rather get all the information and fight alongside you. I’d rather root out this poison together so it can never happen again.”
“…”
“Do you understand?”
“Yeah. I’ll remember that.”
“Good then.”
Don’t look at me like you just got hit with something. It’s embarrassing.
I gave Seo Jae-gyeom’s arm a light punch.
I headed up the staircase first. Seo Jae-gyeom followed a beat behind, chattering away.
“The fact that you’re telling me this means you believe I’m innocent, right?”
“I believe you…”
“And that means we’re pretty close, doesn’t it?”
“No… Seo Jae-gyeom, honestly, we weren’t even that close to begin with. Why are you so desperate to be friends?”
Do you want to know what’s good about regression?
It’s that you can avoid the dark history of the past.
So no matter how well you do for me as a ‘friend,’ I will never imagine anything more than that.
I’ll dodge it by changing the subject like this.
Just like this↓
“Right, Seo Jae-gyeom. Did you hear that we’re getting a student teacher?”

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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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