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That day at lunch, Yu-ri Lee sat with Gong Young-bae. Gong Young-bae kept opening and closing his mouth as if he wanted to say something, and Yu-ri Lee, who noticed his hesitation, spoke first.
"Young-bae, what's with you? You've been acting strange since this morning. What's going on?"
"Oh, that's…"
Gong Young-bae finally decided to speak, voicing the words he'd been holding inside all morning.
"Yu-ri, what happened with Han Seong-jin yesterday?"
Yu-ri Lee flinched. She paused for a moment, then pretended nothing was wrong as she continued eating. "Uh, well… It was a small thing, right?"
"What happened?! What's going on?"
"It's all in the past. I just got a little help from him."
"What kind of help? Why would a bastard like him help you?"
"It was just a thing we talked about. It's all over now anyway, and we won't have anything more to do with each other in the future, so let's stop talking about it, okay?"
"What's going on? Are you hiding something from me? Did he find out some kind of weakness? Is he threatening you?"
Yu-ri Lee didn't want to talk about her unpleasant memory of nearly being bullied by street thugs on her way home yesterday. Her irritation grew as Gong Young-bae kept pressing her with questions.
"It's not like that, it's really just a personal matter. It's over, and it doesn't matter anymore."
"Then why did you bring him that lunch box earlier…?"
"Oh, that? Yesterday, I… I did that as an apology because I accidentally made him unable to eat the convenience store lunch box that Han Seong-jin bought."
"You could have just given him money."
Whoa…
Yu-ri wasn't with him at the time, and since he got home from school, she hadn't received a single text message asking if she arrived safely. Now, he had so many questions. Yu-ri quietly took a deep breath, suppressing her rising annoyance.
"I made a mistake and prevented someone from eating, so how can I just throw money at them without being polite? I had to apologize properly."
"Why do you have to do that?"
"Huh?"
"That bastard, Han Seong-jin, is a thug with no morals at all. Why would you apologize or show kindness to a bastard like that?"
"…"
"Yu-ri, I know you're kind… But even if you weren't threatened, don't be nice to trash like that and don't get involved with him. If someone sees you, you might look like a cheap person, just like him—"
Crack!
Bang!
Yu-ri Lee, fuming after hearing Gong Young-bae's words, slammed her spoon down on the empty plate with a loud bang. She glared at Gong Young-bae with a huff.
"What? What do I look like? Cheap? Are you looking at me that way?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying—"
"Oh, so no matter who you get help from, if the person who helped you is someone I disapprove of, you don't need to be thankful? Or do you think that anyone who shows gratitude for getting help from a guy like that seems pathetic?"
Gong Young-bae didn't back down and raised his voice with a stubborn look.
"Why are you angry? If you think about it, isn't the problem getting help from a guy like that in the first place? What were you doing to get help from a gangster like Han Seong-jin? Who gets involved with a guy like that other than someone of the same type as him?"
"Oh, really? I'm so sorry about that. She doesn't behave well, so she's not worthy of receiving help from Han Seong-jin! You're so successful, you don't need anyone's help! Have you said everything you wanted to say? I don't want to be in the same place as a cheap bitch like you, so I'm leaving."
Yu-ri Lee glared at Gong Young-bae with a murderous look, then jumped up from her seat and left the restaurant, stomping her feet nervously. Left alone, Gong Young-bae finished his meal while receiving stares from other students.
"He didn't say anything I didn't mean, but he doesn't even think about what he did wrong and just gets angry."
A Change in Attitude
After eating my lunch alone, I washed the lunch box Yu-ri Lee gave me and brought it to class. As if I were Moses performing a miracle, I parted the students who were ignoring my presence and sneaking to the side. As I reached my class, I saw a strange sight.
According to the original story, during the break after lunch, Yu-ri Lee would usually chat with her friends, go on a date with Gong Young-bae, or at least study at her seat.
But this…
'Seaweed?!'
Of course, the only person who would be lying face down on Yu-ri Lee's desk, with her long black hair hanging down, would be Yu-ri Lee. Even though her long, shiny, and lovely hair hung down the desk like seaweed, Yu-ri Lee just lay there.
I quietly placed the lunch box on her desk and said, "What are you doing?"
"Go away…" Yu-ri Lee answered weakly without even raising her head.
I wonder what happened. Did you fight with Gong Young-bae? That's the only reason she would be so dejected right now…
There was virtually no other possibility than a fight with Gong Young-bae. With a victorious smile in my mind, I spoke.
"Is something bad going on? You look like a corpse, not a person."
"Go away…"
"Here's the lunch box. I used hand sanitizer and lathered it up, but if it doesn't feel right, go home and wash it again with a sponge."
"…"
"And thank you. Your lunch box tastes much better than the school lunch."
"You always have to say things like that, don't you?"
Yu-ri Lee was still face down and turned her head slightly, revealing a blank expression.
"Judging by your expression, you're completely out of it, huh? What's going on?"
"…Hey, if I talk to you like this, do you think I'm a cheap girl?"
I cursed inside. Gong Young-bae, what on earth are you talking about?
I calmly thought about what to say and comforted Yu-ri.
"What kind of cheap woman makes lunch boxes for others to eat?"
"It's not that. If I were to have a normal conversation with you like this, would I be seen as the same type as you?"
"You're my type of person, so there's something to be said for that. Why, did someone say you're the same 'bitch' as me just because you talked to me?"
"I didn't say that, but…"
"Hey, Yu-ri. Let me ask you one question. Do you enjoy hanging out with me or talking to me?"
"No."
She answered immediately.
I sat on the desk in front of her, facing her, and laughed.
"I was hoping you would say yes, even if it was a lie."
"I told you. I hate idiots like you the most."
"Okay, I got it, I got it. Then you don't want to be involved with me, nor do you enjoy being involved with me. Then you can't be in the same category as me in the first place, so why do you care about such idiotic words?"
"…"
"Rather, I don't know who the bastard who said that is, but I know that he sees you as a complete asshole."
"What does that mean?"
Only then did Yu-ri raise her head from her desk and sit up. I had been thinking she was just a hypocrite, but seeing this reaction, I was a hundred percent sure it was Gong Young-bae.
"You're the student council president, an honor student who's good at studying. Are you saying that Yu-ri Lee, who talks to people like me, is cheap? Then that bastard only sees the 'student council president, honor student who's good at studying' side of you, and not the real Yu-ri Lee. Isn't he a bastard who isn't interested in the person you are, and is more interested in 'the amazing me who hangs out with that kind of Yu-ri Lee' and uses your image?"
"…"
"If it were me, I would have put my fist on the head of the bastard who said that."
Yu-ri Lee chuckled lightly. She looked straight at me with a slightly more relaxed expression than before.
"You're surprisingly good at speaking, aren't you? I thought the only things on your mind were alcohol, cigarettes, and women."
"Hey, I told you this yesterday too, but if you don't be careful about what you say, you could get scolded really hard."
"Thank you anyway. I feel much better. Ah, now that my stress is gone, I suddenly feel very sleepy. I'll close my eyes for a moment, so can you go away?"
"You just said what you had to say, then took what you needed from me, and now you're telling me to go away? That's really shameless."
"But I hate people like you. It's disgusting, so I'd like you to go to your seat."
"Ha, I really can't hit this thing. Okay, I'm going."
She still said that she hated me, but I couldn't feel the same sincerity in Yu-ri's voice and expression as before. That's why I allowed her to be alone for a while without bothering her anymore. After lunch, Yu-ri returned to her usual level of energy and continued to attend her classes just fine. However, unlike yesterday, she did not exchange a single word with Gong Young-bae during the break and did not even look at him.
And around 4 p.m., when all classes were over and it was time for my after-school punishment…
"Ugh, I don't want to do this already. I can't believe I have to do this eight more times."
I stretched and got up to clean the classroom. At that moment, the back door of the classroom opened, and a female student with long black hair stepped inside.
"Is there much to do? Looking at the cleaning situation yesterday, I can't leave everything to you, so I'll help."
"Okay, thank you, Student Council President."
Yu-ri Lee, who avoids my gaze, has never looked so cute.
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