1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 91

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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
Hiding her Regression
91
“Seo Jae-gyeom, long time no see?”
“Tell me about it. Why’s it so hard to catch your face these days?”
“Hey, Jae-gyeom’s been studying lately.”
“Studying?!”
“Yeah, you maniac. Studying. Like he’s one of us.”
Already boring.
Ignoring his friends’ chatter, Seo Jae-gyeom took his seat and gripped the mouse.
“Jae-gyeom, what’re you playing? League? Battlegrounds?”
“Neither.”
“Oh.”
His friends, who’d been waiting to play whatever Seo Jae-gyeom picked, saw the webtoon site pop up on his monitor and started a game between themselves instead.
Suit yourselves. Chin resting in his palm, Seo Jae-gyeom clicked on the thumbnail of his usual webtoon.
The unread episodes of the webtoon he used to kill for all week had somehow piled up to over five chapters.
His expression flat, he scrolled listlessly with the mouse wheel.
“Hey, the girls are at the Basement 1F Karaoke right now?”
The friend in the back row, who’d been dead and glued to his phone anyway, spoke up. Just then, another friend shrieked and threw his mouse, suddenly interested.
“Which girls?”
“Gyeong Se-in, Yang Yeon-hui, and Yu Jin-ha.”
…….
Slowly lowering the hand that had been propping up his chin, Seo Jae-gyeom pretended not to listen while straining his ears.
“Some others are coming too.”
“Who else?”
“Why do you keep digging, dude.”
“Aw, just tell me who.”
“Dunno, Kim Ga-eun and Ye Su-a for sure. If we’re lucky, maybe Woo Do-yeon too.”
“Is Kang Da-hye coming?”
The friend sitting beside Seo Jae-gyeom, munching on shrimp chips, piped up in an eager voice. The friend across from him chuckled and smacked the back of his chair.
“Like she would.”
“Why doesn’t she ever come?”
“Beats me. Go ask her yourself.”
“Come on, you ask her.”
“I said, ask her yourself.”
“Man, that’d be so weird!”
Seo Jae-gyeom cut in sharply, his expression turning sour.
“Why do you even care about that?”
“Huh? What?”
“Why do you care if she’s coming or not?”
The shrimp-chip friend, startled by Seo Jae-gyeom’s sudden reproach, stammered. The others nearby caught the vibe and laughed, teasing him.
“Yeah, why do you even care~”
“You two aren’t even dating~”
“What a pointless thing to worry about~”
“Right~ And Kang Da-hye can’t sing anyway~ she probably doesn’t come because she doesn’t want to wreck the karaoke~”
Among his friends trying to smooth things over, Seo Jae-gyeom turned his head away with a sniff and looked at his phone. He opened Cocoa Talk, which showed twenty unread messages.
-Seo Jae-gyeom what are you doing?
-What’re you up to haha
-Let’s hang
-You left me on read again ㅠ
-You’re acting weird these days ㅜㅜ You won’t come out even when I call ㅜ always say you’re busy
Messages from all sorts of people—middle school classmates, club juniors, academy friends, girls from nearby schools—piled up in his inbox, but the message he was really waiting for never came.
Scrolling down through his Cocoa Talk list, Seo Jae-gyeom eventually—
“Haaaaa……”
—let out a long sigh and turned off his screen.
Life wasn’t fun anymore.
The webtoon he’d once pulled all-nighters to watch hundreds of chapters of wasn’t fun anymore……
The games that had made him such a regular at the PC Bang that the owner came out barefoot to greet him and the staff asked for his number weren’t fun anymore either……
He had no appetite……
Basketball felt like a chore……
Sleep wouldn’t come at night…….
“Haaaaaah….”
Instead.
My eyes snapped open early in the morning, eager to get to school.
On the walk there, I’d peer around in case I might run into him.
And when I spotted that familiar silhouette ahead of me,
my heart would alarm and I’d hurry to catch up.
But then I’d feel too embarrassed to greet him first,
so I’d pretend not to notice and shuffle past awkwardly.
Only when Seo Jae-gyeom called out my name first would I turn around, feigning surprise.
During class, I’d keep glancing sideways at him. I’d ask about problems I already knew the answer to. During breaks, if he didn’t leave his seat, I wouldn’t either.
At lunch, I’d deliberately walk slowly and get in line late. I’d check where he was sitting first, then tell the other kids, “Hey, let’s sit over there,” securing a spot as close as possible.
Why do weekends even exist? It’s infuriating. Delete weekends.
I wished adults would take four days off instead—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday—while students went to school all seven days.
With that thought, Jae-gyeom got up from his seat without hesitation.
“I’m heading out.”
“Huh? Jae-gyeom, you’re leaving already?”
Too irritated to answer, he ignored them and pulled out his cellphone on the stairwell landing.
At first, he’d pretended reluctance and joined the group of girls, playing some awkward guessing game as he waited for Kang Da-hye to show up.
Picking up bits and pieces of talk about her that came up in those moments.
Even now, he’d wanted to stop by the basement to say hello to the girls, scanning and sneaking glances to see if she’d come—the urge burned in his chest.
‘She’s not coming anyway.’
He clenched his jaw and held back.
Instead, he opened Cocoa Talk.
Ignoring the dozens of unread messages stacked at the top, he scrolled down and found a quiet conversation—the one that had gone silent after he left her hanging days ago.
14:23
What are you doing?
Kang Da-hye
Studying
16:37
I’m bored haha
16:37
What about now?
Kang Da-hye
Same
20:01
20:03
Still?
He could read this same exchange a hundred times over and never get tired of it…….
“Haaaaaah….”
Final exams were coming soon.
After final exams came school vacation.
During vacation, he wouldn’t see her face.
After vacation came second semester.
Second semester would fly by just like now, and then it would be third year. Would they even be in the same class then?
Was there any guarantee?
‘Of all the bad luck, they even switched seating.’
Kang Da-hye’s new deskmate was Lee Seo-jun. Jae-gyeom had always found him quiet and gentle, almost likable. Now?
The most infuriating bastard in the whole world @#$”)@(#$)@($#!
And last time, didn’t someone from PE say they looked good sitting together like that? That was way too harsh a thing to say????
And even worse, right behind Lee Seo-jun sat
‘The Transfer Student.’
Every time their eyes met while Jae-gyeom was looking at Kang Da-hye during class, that bastard would wear that mocking smirk—and every time, Jae-gyeom wanted to challenge him to a real fight.
After almost every class, that guy would catch her and ask her something. According to what Jae-gyeom heard, the bastard wasn’t even going to university, so why did he have so many questions? There were more than a few times he wanted to raise his hand and teach her instead.
Every time he saw them bent over a problem together, working through it, Jae-gyeom’s irritation would spike.
“Ugh…….”
I guess I need to get into Korea University too.
But how?
(Take a bus)
Halfway down the stairs, arms crossed, Jae-gyeom was lost in thought.
Seo Jae-gyeom stood motionless mid-staircase as students from the neighboring school brushed past him, stealing curious glances.
When the overhead light on the landing flickered off, Jae-gyeom made a phone call.
“Mom. It’s me. You know that tutoring you mentioned earlier? I want to do it. …No? Not Han Ji-su. No! I hate doing it alone. I….”
Yo, okay. I’m giving you a heads-up just in case (listen carefully)
This isn’t me hitting on anyone.
It’s pure friendship.
But there are cases where people start dating after being friends and developing feelings for each other, right? You see that with celebrities all the time?
If feelings bloom between us, I can’t do anything about that.
‘By the time we start third year, we might break up anyway.’
Both of us will need to focus on studying by then.
When the time comes, I’ll end things as gently as possible…… and we’ll keep seeing each other even after college….
Because we’re both going to Korea University….
-Son, why did you stop mid-sentence?
Oh.
-You want to do it with a friend?
“That’s not it.”
-Just tell me. Mom’s dying here.
“I want to get tutoring from Kang Da-hye.”
Having calculated everything to perfection, a satisfied smile played at the corner of Jae-gyeom’s mouth.
* * *
“Tutoring? With you?”
“Yeah. Math. Twice a week, ninety minutes each session.”
“I’m sorry, but….”
“By the way, there’s no tutoring fee. Mom said if I do it alone I won’t study, so she told me to bring you along.”
“…Your mother said that?”
Why me, of all people?
I looked up at him with suspicion, but Seo Jae-gyeom stood unflinching.
“We can schedule it whenever you want. I’m not going anywhere this vacation anyway.”
“Ah….”
“You’ll do it, right?”
Hmm.
If Jae-gyeom’s mother assigned a tutor to him, they’d probably be skilled.
And the subject is math, which works out perfectly.
It’s free, and twice a week for ninety minutes is reasonable timing.
I rolled my eyes back, deliberating.
He couldn’t even wait that long and pressed again.
“Kang Da-hye, you’ll do it, right?”
“…No.”

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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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