1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 81

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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 Conceals Her Regression
Episode 81
What does she even have?
I cursed under my breath, but kept my expression neutral and held out my pen.
“Write it and give it back.”
“Y-yes…”
Do Ha-jun’s neck flushed crimson as he accepted the pen. When I handed it over, our fingers brushed inevitably—a feeling I found deeply unpleasant.
‘What are those fingernails? Ugh.’
Trim them already.
“You done?”
“Oh…!”
“Then hand it over.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Do Ha-jun’s hands trembled slightly as he passed back the form. If he’d just thrust it at me casually, I could have taken it without our hands touching, but instead he deliberately extended it so our fingers would meet again.
What’s wrong with him? I turned to leave.
“K-Kang Da-hye…!”
“What?”
“I don’t have a pen… could I borrow yours?”
“…Just take it.”
It was just a free ballpoint pen they handed out at church anyway.
“Thank you!”
I tossed the pen to Do Ha-jun, whose eyes glowed with unsettling gratitude, and checked the form. Seo Jae-gyeom had just walked back into the classroom and plucked the form right out of my hands.
“Why are you even talking to him?”
“I wasn’t talking to him. I told him to turn in the form.”
“That counts as talking to him.”
“Come on. By that logic, when a prison guard tells death row inmate 19450806 ‘Here’s your last meal,’ that’s talking to him too?”
“Just forget it. Whether he turns in the form or not, the homeroom teacher won’t say anything to you.”
“That’s true, but—”
“You shouldn’t treat people like that with human decency.”
I grabbed Seo Jae-gyeom’s elbow as he stared at Do Ha-jun with visible displeasure.
“What did Ji-su say?”
“Ah. Nonsense.”
Seo Jae-gyeom dismissed my concern lightly and changed the subject.
“Is next period music?”
“Yeah.”
The music teacher—the one who’d collapsed from stress and been hospitalized—had returned.
Normally there’d be no music class today, but we had to make up the missed lessons, so we were having a makeup session instead.
We had to do performance assessments! Vocal performance tests!
And we’d rush through the remaining material before the final exam, then grade everyone fifty-fifty between performance and written test scores!
Oh, and you might remember—I’m the one who picked our class’s vocal performance song.
Seo Jae-gyeom sighed.
“You’re really going through with that?”
“Of course. Haven’t you memorized the lyrics?”
“Uh… I’m just planning to get a zero.”
“Why!”
“I don’t want to sing in front of the whole class.”
“You’re really going to act like Park Sang-hwan about this?”
Pulling back because you don’t want to show yourself falling apart is far less impressive than doing your best even if you fail!
I lectured him, but Seo Jae-gyeom ignored me completely.
I issued a warning.
“You’re going to cry bloody tears over those fifty points later.”
“How are you all doing?”
“Teacher! Are you feeling better?”
“Yes. Thanks to your concern for me.”
She didn’t look better at all.
Her cheeks were sunken—the strain of worrying herself sick in such a short time had clearly taken its toll.
“I tried to come back as soon as possible…”
“No, you should rest when you’re ill.”
Sitting in the front seat, I spoke on behalf of the concerned students in our class.
“The education board won’t erect a monument to honor your dedication just because you came to teach while sick.”
“Da-hye’s still hilarious.”
The Music Teacher smiled by the piano, and she seemed at ease.
This is a secret, but apparently Do Yeon’s mother helped out with that hundred-million-won lawsuit.
She’s so busy she doesn’t even attend parent meetings, and I don’t think she’s set foot in the school once—but the way she comes through in the crucial moment like that is honestly so cool.
“So now we should take the test, right?”
The Music Teacher tapped the piano keys lightly with a delicate ding-ling sound as she spoke.
Right. That’s it.
So the test song I chose was.
“Da-hye, you’re really going to do this?”
“Yes.”
“One Hundred Great Figures Who Illuminated Korea.”
Even though I’m tone-deaf, I’ve got a memory like a trap—a song where I can still score full marks on the vocal performance assessment!
A song where everyone else fumbles the lyrics and I alone can belt it out at full volume!
I’d originally planned to do “Dokdo Is Our Land,” but those lyrics seemed relatively easy, you know? Everyone knows the first verse. Two hundred miles along the sea route southeast of Ulleungdo.
I opened my eyes wide for emphasis as I looked at the teacher.
“Every time someone messes up the lyrics, dock them a point, okay?”
“Ooooh~”
“Kang Da-hye, isn’t that a bit much~?”
I heard jeers from all around.
“Nope, can’t hear you~”
They should’ve studied music during regular class time then~
And history too~
An hour passed without incident.
I got a perfect score.
Though a minor complication did arise.
“I had no idea you were that tone-deaf, Da-hye…….”
“It’s okay, Da-hye…….”
“No, actually it’s not okay… pfft!”
“Feel free to laugh.”
I left the Music Room with my friends shaking with laughter.
The thing is, my last name is Kang, so I went first on the test order.
I’d figured the other kids would lose points because they’d mess up the lyrics.
But they were so busy laughing at my singing that they couldn’t actually sing the song itself, so they lost points anyway……. Even Do Yeon was singing fine until she burst into tears laughing and lost points for it.
“I’m confident…. Getting full marks is what matters….”
Though it does feel like I traded human dignity for points…….
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re amazing. Kang Da-hye is the best.”
Seo Jae-gyeom cut in from behind me, stammering. He’d spent the whole music class slumped over the desk laughing, but he seems to have come to his senses now.
I held out my hand toward Seo Jae-gyeom, who was looking down at me with a smile spread across his face.
“Remember? You said if I got a perfect score in vocal performance, you’d give me everything you have?”
“All I have is my heart—you want that instead?”
“Ugh!”
“Kang Da-hye.”
Jung Eun-seong cut off Seo Jae-gyeom’s nonsense.
While the rest of the class giggled, he was the only one with a blank face—but I saw him cover his eyes with his hand and bow his head the moment I started singing.
(By the way, Jung Eun-seong proved why he’s the future main vocalist and also got a perfect score. The fact that he and I got the same full marks is embarrassing.)
“What?”
I looked up and he tilted his chin without a word.
“What what—is it something important?”
“Yeah. Really.”
“You guys, hold on a second.”
I broke away from my friends and went over to Jung Eun-seong.
“What? What’s going on?”
Could he be debuting or something?
But what Jung Eun-seong actually showed me when he pulled me off to a corner was.
“…What is this?”
“My ID photo.”
“Huh….”
Seriously…?
“It came out well.”
I said something nice since he seemed to be fishing for a compliment.
“I’ll give you one.”
The photograph slipped from her palm.
“Your photo? For me…?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Look at it when you’re struggling.”
“When I’m struggling… I look at your photo?”
“Isn’t that what people do when they’re worn out and tired? Look at something beautiful?”
……
So that’s what she thinks of herself?
“This is absurd.”
It was ridiculous, but I took it anyway—careful not to show I was flustered or excited about the gesture.
Jung Eun-seong’s expression was matter-of-fact, as if he’d known all along I would accept. I decided to ask him something.
“Are you signing up for the holiday intensive classes?”
“Does it look like I would?”
“No.”
I’d actually seen the sign-up sheet earlier and knew he wasn’t enrolled, but I asked anyway.
“You’re not doing it either.”
“How did you know?”
“I overheard you talking about it earlier.”
“Oh.”
“…Is that guy good at studying?”
“Who, Seo Jae-gyeom? He’s ranked 13th.”
Didn’t you see the notice posted on the bulletin board? He even took a photo of it. When I said this, Jung Eun-seong’s eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t take it that far.”
“Well… anyway. He’s decent. The real problem is you, Jung Eun-seong.”
“What about me?”
What do you mean? You got a 32 on the math test!
“You really need to do well on the Final Exam. Math especially.”
“That was a good score.”
“No, it wasn’t!”
“You only got 32 because I was teaching you.”
“Stop making excuses and study instead. You got scolded for dozing off earlier, didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t sleeping.”
“Then what were you doing?”
“The moment I sit at my desk, sleep hits me. What am I supposed to do about it……?”
“That’s because you’re just sitting there thinking you’re studying. Try this instead: imagine you’re at a buffet. Do some Korean for a bit, and when you get tired of it, switch to English. When English gets boring, move to math. Rotation Study. It’s actually fun.”
Don’t just sit at your desk playing mobile games, watching videos, scrolling through social media—all that stuff!
“When you feel the urge to do any of that, turn off your phone right away! Environment matters for studying, you hear? Remember, Mencius’s mother didn’t move house three times for nothing.”
“Mencius’s mother moved?”
……
Such ignorance.
I sighed, and then someone interrupted from beside me.
“What are you two doing?”
I turned to see the Student Teacher.
Our class’s Student Teacher.
Handsome, and six feet three inches tall.
With no chair to sit on, Jung Eun-seong had to stand and fully display his height, and now he widened his eyes like a betrayed cat, looking up at the 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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