1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 96

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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 96
In the heavy silence that followed……
“Aaaaaahhhhh!”
A shriek of horror tore through the hallway.
Girls from other classes—not me—hurled whatever they’d been holding and made sounds of absolute revulsion.
The girls in our class were having much the same reaction.
As if Do Ha-jun were standing right in front of them, they leaped and recoiled, and in the midst of their writhing, Yeon-hee whispered softly.
“What the hell.”
Yeon-hee, who was normally mild and hardly cursed or said anything unkind—had just sworn. For the second time today.
The boys, who’d been glittering and ready to enjoy themselves from the moment Do Ha-jun started making what sounded like a confession, seemed to think ‘Okay, this isn’t it’ and closed their mouths.
Even Park Su-hwan’s crowd, who’d almost certainly egged him on from the back, had their heads bowed.
Crackle… crackle…
-If I go back to the classroom now, you’ll be there to meet me……
-Do Ha-jun!
-What! Ow, why are you hitting me!
By then, someone had finally reached the Broadcasting Room, because the broadcast cut off.
Click.
With the sound of the microphone shutting down abruptly, silence fell over the classroom.
The atmosphere had curdled.
Like I’d been picked as a tribute in some hunger games… like my name had come out of a goblet I’d never even touched……
Everyone staring at me.
Jung Eun-seong’s eyes widened when they met mine.
“Kang Da-hye, are you crying?!”
“Hiccup-ugh……”
I grabbed Jung Eun-seong’s school uniform shirt right in front of my face and wiped my tears on it.
Flustered, Jung Eun-seong didn’t know what to do and just let me drag him along, offering me his shirt, his arms awkwardly raised.
“Don’t cry……”
A large palm awkwardly patted my back.
“Hiccup-ughhhh……”
There was no way not to cry at this……
I sobbed and wailed, then……
“Jung Eun-seong……”
“Mm……”
“Do I look like I have no eyes?”
“Huh?”
“Do I look like I have no eyes? Do I seem like someone who doesn’t have the sensibility to judge beauty? Like someone who thinks any guy is fine as long as he’s male? Like I’m going insane because I can’t date? Like someone who can’t survive a single day without a man around?”
If that’s what it looks like, don’t hesitate out of concern for my feelings—just tell me honestly!
With my face buried, I gripped Jung Eun-seong’s shirt hem tightly and pressed him on it.
Jung Eun-seong, who’d bent his knees because I was gripping his shirt, looked extremely uncomfortable, but I had no time to worry about that.
Do Ha-jun’s words—delivered in that distinctive thin voice—kept echoing in my head.
-Date me, shorty!
Shorty? Shortyyyyy?!
That word choice is so Do Ha-jun! It gives me chills!
Do Ha-jun and I are about the same height, so what shorty!
I snatched the Chocolate Milk Jung Eun-seong had set on his desk and downed it in one go. After this, I’m going to work hard and grow to 198 centimeters!
After I guzzled down Chocolate Milk and even Banana Milk, Jung Eun-seong finally freed himself from my grip and looked down at his dampened shirt.
“Um… hey, calm down……”
“Do I look calm right now?!”
I barked out the words, then stopped abruptly.
“Wait. Is this……”
“Is this what?”
“Some high-level strategy to shake my mental state and make me fail the final exam?”
Jung Eun-seong laughed at my serious muttering, then—
“This isn’t funny.”
—his expression turned grave.
Friends who’d clustered around my seat backed him up.
“That’s right. There’s nothing funny about this. Does Do Ha-jun even remember why he got disciplined? How does he think he can confess to you after something like that happened?”
“Why would we forget something like that? We haven’t forgotten.”
“Even if he’d developed feelings, if he had any conscience at all, he should have kept it hidden. How can he confess so openly?”
“This is just it—from the start, he never felt sorry at all.”
Everyone listening nodded in agreement.
“Hey, Ji-won. Did you really egg Do Ha-jun on?”
Ga-eun, arms crossed, fired the question at her. Ji-won’s face went pale under the sudden weight of everyone’s hostile stares.
“Why are you coming at me?”
“You just said it yourself. That you told Do Ha-jun to do it.”
“I didn’t tell him to do anything. I just helped.”
“Exactly—you knew what Do Ha-jun was doing and didn’t stop him. You helped him instead.”
“If someone’s going to pull something like that, you’re supposed to stop them, not encourage it. Did Da-hye do something wrong to you?”
“Even if she did, I wouldn’t help with something like this.”
“Are you serious?”
“What you’re doing right now is secondary victimization, you know that?”
Accusations erupted from every direction. The boys chimed in as well, one after another.
“Wow. Seriously. This is wild.”
“Ji-won must really hate Kang Da-hye.”
“Why does she hate her?”
“No idea. Jealousy?”
Ji-won froze as all the arrows turned toward her. The situation was unfolding nothing like she’d expected, and she stammered, losing her footing.
“You hear me, Ji-won? It’s secondary victimization.”
“That’s not secondary victimization! Don’t exaggerate!”
“Then what is it? Are you really just jealous like Jung Na-jun said?”
“Why would I be jealous of Kang Da-hye!”
“Then what’s your excuse?”
“I’ve said it a hundred times! Do Ha-jun came to me for advice because he likes Kang Da-hye, so I helped him out!”
“Right, right. He came to you for advice because he likes her, and you helped him. Next time a sexual harasser says he’s into someone, go right ahead and help him too.”
“Your logic is really….”
I didn’t even get a chance to speak.
My furious friends took care of Ji-won themselves, tearing her apart with words. Cornered, Ji-won thrashed back.
“How do you know Da-hye doesn’t like Do Ha-jun! Do Ha-jun said she came on to him first! She’s seducing him from behind while playing innocent in front, that’s what’s happening now!”
“That’s just Do Ha-jun’s point of view…….”
Ga-eun pressed her forehead.
I wanted to do the same.
Do Ha-jun… was he going around saying things like that behind my back?
Was he insane?
Sure, once you throw something out there, people will think, ‘Well, Do Ha-jun probably didn’t make it up out of nowhere’ or ‘Da-hye must have given him some opening for him to act this way,’ and there’s always someone who believes that, so maybe that’s what he was counting on?
“You’re really something else.”
Do-yeon, who’d been watching Ji-won with a cold expression, spoke up.
Do-yeon rarely said much, and the moment she opened her mouth, everyone else fell silent.
“Ji-won. Just because Da-hye got tangled up with Do Ha-jun doesn’t mean she’s fallen to his level.”
“What?”
“That’s why you did this, isn’t it? Because you thought if Da-hye ended up with Do Ha-jun—some lackey of Park Su-hwan’s—she’d drop to his level and become someone worse than you.”
“No….”
“You were counting on the kids laughing and mocking Da-hye, burying the whole thing in jokes and needling her, telling her to ‘go for it, you two look perfect together.'”
“…….”
“I’m sorry, but everyone here is smarter than you. Especially you… you’re actually below average intelligence.”
“Hey, Do-yeon. That’s a cruel thing to say. How would you even know if I’m stupid or not?”
“You’re dating Park Su-hwan.”
Do-yeon’s tone was absolute.
That single remark had concluded all evidence regarding Ji-won’s intellectual capacity.
The crisp, cutting remark sent the others into laughter. Ji-won’s face turned crimson, tears welling in her eyes. She was crying out in what looked like genuine indignation when the door opened.
“Why is it always me!”
Click.
Do Ha-jun walked in.
Behind Do Ha-jun, I could see kids from other classrooms peering into ours. The girls who caught my eye silently mouthed curses at the back of Do Ha-jun’s head.
I don’t have the skill to lip-read, but I understood perfectly well what they were saying.
‘Is he insane?’ or ‘Isn’t that guy a complete psycho?’
Paying no mind to the kids in back, Do Ha-jun walked in with a shrug, his face plastered with what he thought was an enchanting smile.
This is infuriating. Seriously.
Absolutely repulsive…….
No, it’s not like he genuinely likes me. He just wants a girlfriend, and I seem the easiest mark—he thinks all he has to do is sweet-talk me a little and I’ll fold right away.
And while he’s at it, dating me helps him climb the social ladder when he’s at the bottom of the class.
That’s what gets to me!
Why would I fall for someone like that?
I have eyes.
Two of them.
Do Ha-jun swaggered in, but unlike I’d expected, he picked up on the cold atmosphere in the classroom and shot me a chin-tilt.
“Kang Da-hye, come outside for a minute.”
…….
Su-a spoke up beside me, watching as I bit back the curses threatening to spill out.
“Is Do Ha-jun insane?”
“I wasn’t talking to you, Su-a. Kang Da-hye, come on out. I have something I prepared for you.”
What could he possibly have prepared now……
“Do Ha-jun….”
“Don’t.”
I grabbed the hem of Jung Eun-seong’s shirt as he lurched forward, barely knowing Do Ha-jun’s name properly.
Had I drooled on him? His sleeve was damp. I yanked him back, telling him to stop, and answered Do Ha-jun instead.
“I don’t want to.”
“It’ll only take a moment.”
“I said no.”
“Just one moment, I’m telling you.”
…….
This guy really…… does anything I say just bounce off him?

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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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