If I Don’t Earn 1 Trillion Won, My Regression Ends - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 47

 

Namihee is the top student in Yewon Middle School.

 

Despite skipping elementary and advancing a grade, she was always first in every monthly evaluation, and with the added reputation of being Sim Hae-ryeon’s daughter, who was part of the 70s Troika, she had no competitors among her peers.

 

Naturally, she had just as many enemies.

 

The middle school division was already the most sensitive place within Yewon.

 

It was a place bustling with kids in the midst of puberty and eighth-grader syndrome, and Namihee’s appearance was like lighting a fire on piled kindling.

 

When they were pushed aside by a kid much younger than them, the entire middle school division ground their teeth in frustration.

 

Of course, they didn’t bully her from the start.

 

Everyone’s ultimate goal was to debut, wasn’t it?

 

They kept it to a reasonable level of neglect, but the problem was that Namihee wasn’t an ordinary kid.

 

Namihee had a personality where if you pricked her with a needle, she’d return it with a knife, and if you hit her with a thorn, she’d return it with poison.

 

She mobilized even adults to return it two-fold, four-fold, ten-fold, so what started as a small argument eventually spread into a war throughout the middle school division.

 

In the end, Namihee turned her back on everyone in the middle school division.

 

When she found herself at a complete numerical disadvantage, Namihee seemed to finally come to her senses.

 

Only then did she regret it and try to fix things, but the middle school division’s hostility toward her was already at an irreversible level.

 

When humans hold grudges as a group, they become vicious.

 

Everyone who knew the situation thought the same thing. The only answer was for Namihee to leave Yewon on her own.

 

That really seemed to be the case until Seosing-a came.

 

“Actually, you know what I said earlier? About Seosing-a using Tae-ak to aim for Director Haemun’s next work, I heard that from Hyeon-ju?”

 

Of course! Now I know it was a misunderstanding. The friend hurriedly added and lowered her voice.

 

“Who did Hyeon-ju hear that story from?”

 

“Don’t tell me. Namihee?”

 

“Who else would it be?”

 

“Oh, I also heard from the girls that Senior Bae Seo-nyeok had no choice because of Director Ham Gyeong-seok’s influence… So that was also Namihee’s doing?”

 

“Hey, hey. Look over there.”

 

Bae Tae-ak turned his head at his friend’s gesture.

 

Toward the hallway.

 

Seosing-a was walking over, but Namihee, who had been looking for Seosing-a just moments before, joined the middle school girls and passed by Seosing-a as if ignoring her.

 

The giggling laughter grew louder.

 

They kept glancing toward Seosing-a, making it obvious who they were talking about.

 

And who was leading that conversation.

 

“I don’t understand these girls. They hated Namihee so much, so why are they accepting her back?”

 

“Are you asking because you don’t know? It’s because Namihee was pushed out by the rolling stone.”

 

Since the suddenly appeared Seosing-a was taking all the good things, Namihee could become a righteous victim.

 

And Namihee was volunteering for that role and very actively playing the victim.

 

‘Not a single one of them is decent.’

 

They don’t like the rolling stone?

 

If it’s a 1 billion won stone, it’s not a stone but a diamond.

 

If a gem came, the pebbles should get out of the way on their own!

 

Forgetting his complicated feelings, Bae Tae-ak, whose arm bent inward to the point of sticking, shouted loudly as if for them to hear.

 

“Seosing-a! What are you doing there? Roll over here quickly before you get dirty stuff on you!”

 

♧

 

“Don’t forget to keep practicing whenever you can. Breathing is a habit and a way of life. Got it? Take this. Starting tomorrow, you’ll practice reading scripts.”

 

Actors called scripts or screenplays ‘books.’

 

I put away the script the teacher handed me. I was so tired I didn’t even think to check what work it was.

 

On the other hand, the energetic eighth-grader middle schooler seemed to have energy to spare as he kept poking me with his foot.

 

“Kid. Are you eating with Namihee again today?”

 

“Yeah. Move your foot. Before I start crying.”

 

“Ah shit~ Okay! But are you really a pushover? This isn’t like your character. Don’t you know Namihee is using you as a shield? Where did all that smart-ass attitude you usually have go?”

 

Right. I didn’t know Namihee would be this bad either.

 

I had suspected it from when I met her at the audition hall. That she was a kid with many enemies.

 

But who knew she’d be playing the role of a major outcast even in a big academy like this?

 

‘Just how much did she run that terrifying mouth of hers…’

 

The scene I witnessed on my first day at Yewon is still vivid.

 

I was touring the academy facilities with Bae Tae-ak’s guidance when a cockroach jumped out of Namihee’s lunchbox as she sat in the middle of the cafeteria!

 

That wasn’t all.

 

After that, there was putting thumbtacks in shoes, getting dirty water dumped on her in the restroom, and so on…

 

In the rough 90s, maybe because it was a place where competition was routine, the intensity of the bullying was beyond imagination.

 

Moreover, Namihee was only three years older than me, and since she attended middle school classes, all the people bullying her were older sisters than her.

 

‘How could I pretend not to see this!’

 

A person who could turn a blind eye when a twelve-year-old child is being bullied by a group right in front of them?

 

I’m not a pushover, just an adult with a very reasonable level of moral conscience.

 

No matter how much she only does hateful things and speaks carelessly, she’s just a twelve-year-old child.

 

From what I heard in passing, the history of the middle school war wasn’t just a day or two old, and it seemed too deep for an outsider to interfere.

 

But I wasn’t trying to go out to the plaza like some saint and shout “Everyone, stop fighting!”

 

I just sat next to Namihee and ate with her from that day on.

 

Yewon, like academies of that era, had classes until late, so lunchboxes were essential. I started asking Dad to pack for two people.

 

There were also many rumors about me receiving special tutoring with Bae Tae-ak.

 

First of all, I was somewhat of a celebrity myself, and since Bae Tae-ak also had a glamorous background, most of the rumors were that my backing was probably not to be underestimated either.

 

Perhaps because of that, the students couldn’t openly bully me.

 

So Namihee openly used me as a shield.

 

“Do you know how much that Namihee girl badmouths you in the middle school division? She smiles when she’s next to you, right? But when you turn around, she says she doesn’t like it but you keep bothering her by clinging to her, and she’s getting close to them by badmouthing you. You idiot. Pushover.”

 

“I know~.”

 

“What do you mean you know, shit!”

 

‘How could I not know?’

 

Namihee even cried and apologized to me.

 

「You noticed too, didn’t you?」

 

「What?」

 

「That I’ve been badmouthing you.」

 

Namihee’s eyes reflected in the restroom mirror were red.

 

That day too, she had just pulled out a thumbtack from her shoe.

 

I heard this had been going on continuously since the day Namihee took first place in the middle school division.

 

「You think I’m shameless. That’s understandable. But you know what. I’m not that bad of a kid.」

 

「…」

 

「I know you’re being good to me. Thank you. But… but… I can’t help it either!」

 

Namihee burst into tears.

 

「You said you don’t even know if you’ll be an actor or not. I’m different. This is the only way for me! There’s no other answer. Everything’s been a mess since the day Mom abandoned me and left. My aunt is dying to kick me out, and to get even a penny, I have to watch her mood for days. If I don’t do acting, those family members won’t leave me alone…」

 

「…」

 

「Even if you quit, I have to stay here. I have to keep seeing those people… I don’t know any other way I can survive. That’s why I did it.」

 

「…」

 

「I’m really sorry… Sing-a.」

 

But… please spare me just this once, unnie.

 

“You’re always nagging and I really hate you, oppa. Sing-a is leaving~ Unnie Mi-hee is waiting.”

 

“Hey! Seosing-a! You really-!”

 

Bae Tae-ak irritably ruffled his hair and stomped his feet before shouting out loud.

 

“Fine! I’m coming with you too!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Instead of wandering around everywhere interfering with everything like a little brat, just stay by my side! No one can touch my people in this place!”

 

“…”

 

My people, he says… He, he must be crazy…

 

‘A middle school tsundere… his condition is quite severe…’

 

Not noticing that I was cringing so hard my limbs were disappearing, Bae Tae-ak rubbed his nose and sneered.

 

“Still, since my uncle and I brought you here, we have to take responsibility until the end. Let’s see who dares to bully you.”

 

To think that idol Teaki (real name: Bae Tae-ak), who was famous for his personality that was beyond cool and downright cold, had this kind of personality when he was young—is the world deceiving me?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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