1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 76

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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 76
How on earth is Seo Jae-gyeom seeing my Kakaotalk?
Here’s what happened.
Word spread through the whole school that friends from our class had discovered Jang Ji-won’s husband’s Kakaotalk in the Multimedia Room.
A few people, needlessly industrious, wondered if they might uncover something themselves, so they started rummaging through the Multimedia Room computers.
And that’s when they found Ji-su’s Kakaotalk—which she’d left open because she’d rushed out to run an errand for a teacher and forgotten to close it.
But I’ll emphasize again: Ji-su is incredibly popular. Pretty, well-off, brilliant.
Ji-su’s Kakaotalk, no less.
Wouldn’t you be curious?
‘…And so while they were going through it, they ended up seeing messages between me and Ji-su from a few months back.’
Which means now those kids are looking at it, Seo Jae-gyeom’s friends are looking at it, and even Seo Jae-gyeom himself is looking at it.
Me analyzing his every reaction, agonizing over it, scheming with Ji-su about how to win him over.
The fact that I liked Seo Jae-gyeom has become common knowledge. That’s just a bonus.
Oh…
Wow…
If I bash my head against the wall right now, can I regress once more?
My friends beside me were watching my face. They hadn’t known until just now that I liked Seo Jae-gyeom.
Every last one of them looked stunned.
But the most shocked person here is me.
I have no idea how I even got to the classroom.
It wasn’t until I mechanically opened the classroom door that I realized I didn’t want to open it—but by then, it was already open.
Seo Jae-gyeom was leaning against the window, looking at a friend’s phone. His classmates around him were stifling their laughter, but when I walked in, they forced themselves to stop.
“Hey, Da-hye~ Why didn’t you just tell us~?”
“Right~ We would’ve helped~”
“We had no idea you were suffering alone like this~”
“Such a sin, to love so very much~♪”
“What? What are you talking about?”
One of Seo Jae-gyeom’s friends whispered something in the ear of our confused classmate.
“Cut it out. Is this really funny to you guys?”
“Yeah, it’s hilarious.”
The girls in our class shot Seo Jae-gyeom’s group a disapproving look, but it didn’t work.
“But I messaged you twenty minutes ago and you didn’t reply ㅠㅠ Did you reply to Ji-su though?”
“So you don’t care about me…”
I quoted a message I don’t even remember sending, smiling weakly.
“Stop it, seriously!”
While Ga-eun snapped at them on my behalf,
I just stood there, stupid and silent.
It was Seo Jae-gyeom who broke the tension.
He pulled his gaze from his phone and frowned as he spoke.
“So what? What are you expecting me to do about this?”
“Huh?”
Seo Jae-gyeom’s friends, who had been giggling, froze at his unexpected response.
Seo Jae-gyeom, his face twisted, shoved the phone into his friend’s chest.
“Don’t you see the sign that says no students from other classes? Since when do random people just waltz in here?”
“No, that’s not—”
“Get out. Stop annoying me.”
He scraped his chair back and sat down. Seo Jae-gyeom’s friends, looking uncomfortable, quietly slipped out of our classroom. As they left, one of them tapped my shoulder with a playful wink.
I stood there, frozen.
“Kang Da, let’s go brush our teeth.”
Do Yeon grabbed my hand, her expression just as blank as before.
“Can I borrow your toothpaste?”
“Oh, um… yeah.”
I brushed my teeth in a daze, and by the time we got back, the bell had rung.
Once we left the classroom, I really didn’t want to go back, but I forced myself to. I sat down at my desk, trying to look casual.
…Right next to Seo Jae-gyeom.
Seo Jae-gyeom said nothing, just kept his eyes on his textbook. Completely ignoring me.
I did the same, pretending not to care, but my palms grew cold with sweat.
I don’t know what to say.
Should I apologize?
What am I supposed to apologize for?
Ji-su?
Why hasn’t Ji-su messaged me?
“Ugh, why does this classroom smell so bad? Someone open a window!”
Moon Hak soon entered with the Student Teacher, but I barely noticed them. I slipped my cellphone under my desk to check it.
“Alright, this is the Student Teacher who’ll be with you all for the next month. Normally your homeroom teacher would introduce you, but he’s swamped, so I’m stepping in….”
“He’s so handsome!”
“Sir, why do you always send all the good-looking people to our class? We’re so grateful!”
Still nothing from Ji-su.
I was lowering my other hand under the desk to send a Kakaotalk message when—
“Da-hye, what are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re checking your phone!”
!
“No! My presentation is this period, so I was just reviewing my script!”
Right. The presentation.
Ever since the day the teacher assigned me my presentation topic, I’d gone all the way to the National Assembly Library for research, and I’d memorized that script so thoroughly I could recite it in my sleep.
But now I couldn’t remember a single word.
My mind had gone blank.
All my attention was fixed on Seo Jae-gyeom sitting beside me and on the classmates who were watching me even in this very moment.
I couldn’t bear to look at my friends’ faces.
‘No. Stay calm.’
Take a deep breath.
Don’t cry. No tears. Crying won’t solve anything.
The last time I’d panicked this badly…
The day Mom had her accident.
What did Jung Eun-seong say back then? That fretting and blaming myself wouldn’t undo what had already happened.
The Kakaotalk’s already been sent. There’s no taking it back. I can’t rewind time.
In that case, confidence is better than despair.
“Alright, why don’t you go first, Da-hye? You look like you prepared well.”
Moon Hak, oblivious to what had just transpired, pointed at me with a smile toward the Student Teacher.
“Sir, this is Da-hye—the one I mentioned who got a perfect score on the midterm.”
I grabbed my script wedged between my textbooks.
As I walked to the front, every pair of eyes in the room locked onto me. I knew they were just staring, but it felt like they were mocking me.
Seo Jae-gyeom was resting his chin on his hand, gazing out the window.
Wow.
Wow…
I really couldn’t face my classmates.
What were they thinking right now?
“Da-hye, whenever you’re ready, go ahead!”
“Hah…”
It’s fine. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Or, well, actually it is embarrassing, but… whatever. I didn’t do anything wrong.
Forget it. I’m done overthinking this.
I flipped over my script—I couldn’t even remember my opening words.
If I’m this mortified, I might as well be honest and use it.
A small voice whispered that I might just be digging myself deeper, turning this embarrassment into double the dark history. But.
There’s no way this could get worse than it already is, so I’m just going to go for it.
I let out a forced cough and opened my mouth.
“Beginning my presentation now….”
After that mosquito-quiet greeting.
“So, last year I confessed to someone, and this year they turned me down.”
I just blurted it out.
“?!”
The sudden words—completely unrelated to my presentation—made everyone’s eyes go wide.
Yeah, this is what you all want to know about, isn’t it? I’ll spell it out for you myself.
Kang Da-hye confessed and got rejected—spilling the tea.
“I really liked them, so I even talked to my friends about it. Finally I worked up the courage and confessed, but… things didn’t go well.”
“…….”
“…….”
“You can figure it out from the timeline, right? Confessed last year, got rejected this year.”
The classroom had gone deathly quiet. No matter what else I’d presented, I never could’ve commanded this much attention.
Kang Da-hye’s confession-and-rejection story had the highest engagement rate.
“Actually, that person is in this class right now. Let me tell you who.”
I stopped speaking and turned to look at Seo Jae-gyeom.
As I stared at him steadily, every eye in the room snapped toward him. Seo Jae-gyeom, who’d been gazing out the window, noticed the sudden attention and glanced around in confusion.
I waited for their eyes to drift back to me before continuing.
“You all just looked over there, right? Of course you did. I’d look too if I were you.”
…….
“Now, there’s an author who advertised his novel in the newspaper using exactly the same method I just used. He was—”
I’d stumbled across this episode while researching and breezed past it thinking, ‘That’s ridiculous.’ Now I was spinning it into my presentation.
After that, my body carried me through the rest—decades of practice and memorization taking over as I delivered the final portion on autopilot.
“And finally, since I’ve completely let go of my feelings for that boy, I’ll end by saying: if anyone here has feelings for me, don’t lose hope.”
Pffft!
Since I’d half-turned away when I said it, I’d expected the mood to sour and everything to fall apart.
But fortunately, Moon Hak clapped and laughed.
The moment the teacher laughed, the kids who’d been wearing confused expressions started giggling, one after another.
The reaction didn’t seem terrible at all, actually…….
…Did I just pull it off?
“What! Da-hye! I actually believed you for a second!”
But I was serious.
“Did you two coordinate with Jae-gyeom beforehand or something?”
No, we didn’t.
“I really love this author, you know, but I never imagined you’d approach it this way.”
Moon Hak wiped away tears and gave me a thumbs up.
“Da-hye, you’re getting full marks!”
Five points was a decent score, but was it really worth sacrificing my dignity for……?
“Da-hye, you’re going to be great at acting. You don’t get nervous speaking in front of people like that.”
But I was terrified. Absolutely terrified.
“Everyone, present like she did! Don’t bring scripts and mumble while staring at the ground!”
I bowed respectfully to the teacher and the rest of the class, who were still laughing, and slipped back to my seat.
As I returned to my desk, my eyes met Seo Jae-gyeom’s.
I struck first.
“You said you wanted to be friends with me, right? Is that offer still good?”
“…Yeah… well… I suppose…?”
“Then can you forget about that Kakaotalk? Please, I’m begging you.”
I pleaded with him this way, bowing my head.
Seo Jae-gyeom shook his head slowly and spoke.
“I was actually going to ask if you were okay.”
“Oh.”
“Looks like you’ve already worked through it on your own.”

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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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