1st in Class Hides Regression - Chapter 98

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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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The Ranked 1st in School Hides Her Regression
Episode 98
“Why…?”
I asked out of genuine confusion, and he glared at me.
“Why do you let her meddle like that? You told me not to meddle.”
“Who, Seo Jae-gyeom?”
You meddled too anyway…….
Jung Eun-seong, eyes wide with indignation, pressed the point.
“You said only a boyfriend should meddle, so is he your boyfriend?”
“No, he’s not.”
“Why should only a boyfriend get to meddle? If you’re close, anyone can, right?”
“Are we close?”
Do you actually think of me as a close friend? I asked this time genuinely baffled, and Jung Eun-seong’s face crumpled with shock.
“Are we not close?”
“…We are?”
“We’re not?”
“We are?”
“We’re not?”
Ugh.
“Jung Eun-seong. I asked first.”
“I’m older.”
“We’re the same age.”
“You’re early-born. Strictly speaking, I’m a year older.”
“My mental age is twenty-nine.”
“Mine’s thirty-nine.”
“Don’t lie.”
“So your twenty-nine is the truth and my thirty-nine is a lie?”
“No….”
Because I regressed!
I can’t exactly tell him that. Frustrated, I pressed my fist against my chest.
“Fine. Let’s count one-two-three and answer at the same time.”
“Okay.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Kang Da-hye, you’re seriously immature.”
“I was going to say that.”
Thirty-nine? That’s basically 3+9=twelve, isn’t it?
We glared at each other for a moment, then turned our heads away simultaneously, refusing to look.
A few seconds of silence stretched between us, and then I spoke again, my voice noticeably softer than before.
“…How did you know I was born in February?”
“Just figured it out somehow.”
“…….”
“Is it wrong to know?”
“No….”
I’m just curious. I’m not someone important enough to have birthday advertisements plastered on subway stations and buses like you.
The awkwardness made me clear my throat for no reason.
It seemed Jung Eun-seong felt the same discomfort. He lowered his gaze and began fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
Now that I think about it, I wiped my tears on that very shirt earlier.
My eyes were wet, and there just happened to be a large patch of fabric right in front of me, perfect for drying tears…….
“Is it very damp…?”
“No… it’s fine.”
“…….”
“…….”
“I do think we’re close, Jung Eun-seong. I definitely think so, but I didn’t know what you thought.”
“I think we’re really close too.”
“Really?”
“Would I lie about something like this?”
“That’s true.”
“…….”
“So we’re… friends?”
“Yeah.”
“Close friends?”
“Yeah.”
“How close?”
“Very.”
“…….”
Hehe.
“I thought you’d be closer with the trainees.”
“I’m much closer to you.”
Jung Eun-seong’s curt voice was resolute and blunt. His expression was just as blank—as if he hadn’t reacted to a thing. So blank it made you wonder if he was upset. But his ears had flushed red, so he didn’t seem angry exactly.
“Ah. Why is the air so dry.”
Jung Eun-seong announced it loudly enough to make the classroom ring, then fished through his pencil case and pulled out Hand Cream.
Just getting that one thing out, he spilled all his pens across the desk with a clatter, then squeezed Hand Cream onto the back of his hand with exaggerated, fidgety movements.
“You’re putting on that much…?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh….”
“Mm. Whatever. Just apply it together.”
“Okay….”
Jung Eun-seong pressed the back of his hand against mine.
Swipe.
“Thanks…?”
“Yeah.”
Silence.
I rubbed the Hand Cream in quietly, concentrating hard. Jung Eun-seong grumbled as he worked it in roughly.
“Ah. The air really is so dry.”
But it’s summer right now……? Season of heat and humidity. I thought this to myself while diligently applying the Hand Cream, but something felt off. The space around us seemed oddly quiet.
When I looked up, Yeon-hee, Jung Eun-seong’s desk partner, had stretched her lips thin and was looking back and forth between us.
“…Do you want to apply Hand Cream too, Yeon-hee?”
“No, no.”
Yeon-hee waved her hands dismissively, beaming.
“Go ahead, Da-hye!”
“Hehehehe…….”
Su-a was letting out a sinister laugh from over there, and Ga-eun was quietly smacking her back to make her stop.
Every face looking this way wore nearly the same expression.
Why was the atmosphere like this.
* * *
“Heyyy~ someone who’s close to Jung Eun-seong~”
“Heyyy~”
“Someone who’s very close~”
“It’s not like that.”
“Even closer than the trainees~”
“Heyyy~”
“Further than love~ yet closer than friendship~”
Se-in kept singing while swinging both arms out to the sides, but she glanced at the room to gauge the mood.
“Should we stop?”
Do Yeon picked up the song as if there was no question of it, undeterred.
“This. A-awkward. Re-lationship. That I. Ha-ate. I’m. Le-eaving.”
For the record, Do Yeon wasn’t that great at singing either.
“Ba-aby~ come back to me now~”
The friends finally stopped their teasing when Jang Ji-won, absolutely furious, smacked my shoulder and stormed past.
“Is he crazy or something? Hey!”
“Leave him. He’s probably shaking right now.”
I watched Jang Ji-won disappear without even pretending to listen, and shook my head.
If Do Ha-jun confessed to me, I’d planned to let it get buried under the teasing so they’d all say ‘Why, you two suit each other~’ and ruin his plans. But that fell through, didn’t it?
“He probably thought he was some calculating high society lady who could outsmart me and get me back. And now that it didn’t work out as he hoped, he must be so frustrated…….”
“Still!”
“It’s fine. We have something far more important to deal with than Jang Ji-won right now.”
“What is it?”
“The Final Exam starts in four days.”
“Oh.”
Ga-eun’s mouth fell open as though she’d never considered it.
Right. Friend.
The exam was next week.
“The timing with Do Ha-jun really is something….”
“Like you said, wasn’t it some kind of sophisticated sabotage? Trying to shake your nerves and keep you from studying?”
Se-in raised the hypothesis seriously, and the others nodded as if it made perfect sense.
“Yeah. I’d rather believe that than think Do Ha-jun actually thought he had a real shot with me.”
“He bolted home right after, didn’t he?”
“Probably panicked that the homeroom teacher would punish him.”
“Ugh.”
Sigh.
I shook my head, trying to erase the irritating memory of Do Ha-jun from my mind.
“I’m fine. He’s not getting to me that easily.”
“Right. Let’s get home and study.”
“I’m taking the bus from here.”
“Me too.”
“What about you, Da-hye?”
“Oh, I’m going to walk.”
We parted ways at the School Crossroads.
After that, there wasn’t much to tell.
I’d done nothing but study all weekend.
Jung Eun-seong called me partway through to ask about something…. (The exam’s right around the corner and he still doesn’t get Gerrymandering. This is bad.)
And then the Final Exam started on Monday.
I got everything right again.
* * *
“Is Moon Hak out of his mind?”
“Wow… the teacher really speaks only the truth.”
How could Korean be harder than a foreign language?
Literature was absolutely brutal.
At least Moon Hak had hinted that this exam would be difficult.
While other students were in tears around me, I held my test paper high like a young lioness, trembling with excitement.
“How many points did you get, Kang Da-hye?”
“One hundred.”
“That’s insane….”
“What?”
“Everyone’s saying it was hard, and you got a perfect score? What does that make the rest of us?”
“Would it help if I told you I didn’t get everything else right?”
“No!”
“Well then.”
No need to wait for the ranks.
Since I got everything right, I was ranked 1st again.
When the Report Card came out days later, it was nothing but confirmation of what I already knew.
But what about Ji-su, who’d confidently declared she’d do her best against me?
‘…21st place.’
Not just behind Do Yeon, but even behind Ga-eun, whose score had improved significantly this time.
There was a reason for this.
‘On the last day, right before the final exam, a boy from Ji-su’s class was fooling around and knocked her Eraser away.’
It rolled under the teacher’s desk.
That Eraser was like a charm to Ji-su, and of all times….
“But how do you even know Ji-su got 21st? They didn’t release the scores this time.”
“Her deskmate snuck a look at the tag.”
“Wow, she really….”
“I know.”
Even pretending to be calm, Ji-su had to be devastated inside.
In moments like this, comfort doesn’t help—it’s better to just pretend you don’t know. Saying anything just makes it worse.
I checked to see if Ji-su had replied to the Kakaotalk I’d sent, but there was nothing, so I turned my attention elsewhere.
“Seo Jae-gyeom. Why do you look like that?”
“My rank just plummeted……. I did well on the test, though…….”
“That’s because you completely bombed Music with a fifty, idiot.”
“Oh. Right.”
“It’s fine. Even if you’re hopeless at Music, you can still get into Eagle University or Tiger University.”
“But I want to go to Korea University?!”
“That’s going to be pretty tough……. Jung Eun-seong, what’d you get in Math?”
“Fifty-six.”
“Did you actually solve the problems?”
“I always do…….”
So it’s basically certain I won’t see Jung Eun-seong’s face in the Math A class next semester.
Actually, maybe not. Who knows.
There are so many people giving up on Math anyway.
Time slipped away like that, and summer vacation began.
And on the day of the Vacation Ceremony.
News reached us that Song Yeor-eum had attempted suicide.

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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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