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Since that day, Yu-ri Lee has not had lunch with Gong Young-bae. In the student cafeteria, the person who took the seat opposite her was me, Han Seong-jin. Sometimes during lunchtime, I could feel Gong Young-bae's stare on me, but what he was doing was none of my business. After all, who wants to toy with other people's hearts and act like trash?
It's been a week since Yu-ri Lee started eating her lunch with me.
"Hey, Han Seong-jin. By the way, surprisingly, I haven't seen you smoking?"
"Smoking? I quit."
"Hmm… No matter how I look at it, it's strange. There were all kinds of rumors about you until last year, so why do you suddenly seem so normal this year? There's no way it was all just rumors, and there's no way you came to your senses just because you're in your third year."
"Why couldn't that be? Am I supposed to live like an idiot for the rest of my life? Just think of it as me suddenly coming to my senses."
"But aren't you still falling asleep too often during class even though you're sober?"
"That's an act of God. It's like water flowing from top to bottom."
"Not at all. You're just lazy."
At first, Yu-ri Lee reluctantly agreed to eat lunch with me, but now we have reached a point where we have these kinds of everyday conversations. That's because I know most of the things about Yu-ri Lee—her personality, what she likes, how she acts, and so on.
Knowing information about the other person makes it easier to win their heart. In this respect, it was an unfair fight from the starting line compared to Gong Young-bae…
Well, if you think about it, Gong Young-bae is Yu-ri Lee's childhood friend and has known her for over ten years, so it would seem he has the advantage, but it's not really a disadvantage, is it?
"Did you see the show Extraordinary Attorney Woo yesterday?"
"I did. But when I saw the lady throwing a tantrum in the middle of it, I got so annoyed I wanted to hit her."
"Oh, that's right! I was so annoyed while watching that lady, too!"
Because I knew Yu-ri Lee's personality well, it was very easy for me to form a "community" with her. Naturally, we were talking more often than we had in the beginning.
Meanwhile, Yu-ri Lee, who was unaware of my situation, felt embarrassed that the conversation with Han Seong-jin was continuing so naturally.
'No… Why do we communicate so well? Does he watch dramas too? I didn't think he'd watch anything like that at all…'
When she was with Gong Young-bae, the conversation was usually one-sided. She would talk, and Gong Young-bae would listen. She shared very few interests with Gong Young-bae, but she got along very well with Han Seong-jin, the type of person she hated so much.
Han Seong-jin also watched most of the TV shows Yu-ri Lee watched, and he was also familiar with the webtoons and comics she read. As it was the first time in a long time that she had met someone she could communicate so well with, Yu-ri Lee had forgotten for a moment that Han Seong-jin was a bully, and she often had conversations with him.
She had forgotten so much that she couldn't even think about having a conversation with Gong Young-bae. The same hostility she had at first could no longer be found in Yu-ri Lee.
Yu-ri Lee's change in attitude was also clearly visible when I was disciplined for cleaning up after school.
"Did you water the vase?"
"Not yet."
"You always give me the checklist first. Then, I'll get the water for you, and you can clean the blackboard eraser."
"Really? You're just watching over me; you don't need to help. It's my punishment, after all."
"Well… If I just leave it up to you, I might find you unreliable or not dependable at all…"
"I've been doing a good job cleaning on my own without any problems. So, what's the real reason now? Tell me honestly, aren't you just making an excuse because you want to be with me? It seems like supervising my cleaning is a higher priority than your student council work, huh? The punishment ends today, so what am I going to do since it's a shame you can't be with me now?"
"Oh, that's not true?! You're making a really weird misunderstanding! I'm going to get some water, so hurry up and clean!"
Yu-ri's face flushed as she jumped up and hurried out of the classroom with her water cup. Unlike last week, when she was very business-like and just watched from afar with an obviously uneasy expression, Yu-ri Lee was now helping me clean up, even though it wasn't her job.
Her expression had relaxed a lot. To someone who didn't know her, she appeared to be just a normal, friendly classmate. Was Yu-ri Lee even aware that her attitude had already changed so much?
After I finished cleaning, I stretched out and packed my bag.
"Oh my gosh, this damn cleaning punishment is over. But now that I'm done, who's going to take my place?"
"Children who have a poor attitude in class or do poorly on written exams. Just so you know, there's a high probability you'll be doing this again soon because of your poor attitude in class."
"What? No! It's been so frustrating to do this for a week, and now you want to make me do it again for another reason?"
"Then, don't doze off in class and pay attention. There's a test next week, and I think you'll fail."
What Yu-ri Lee said was not wrong. As a reborn Han Seong-jin, I was diligently going to the academy, but there was one thing I couldn't do: study. My grades weren't that great to begin with, and I forgot more than 90% of what I learned in school. Even when I looked at the textbook, I couldn't remember the content itself, probably because this guy named Han Seong-jin had low intelligence. I would say it feels like there is a fog or a filter in my head.
For that reason, I still couldn't be said to be completely sane in terms of my duties as a 'student,' but who am I? Han Seong-jin, the person who turns crisis into opportunity! I decided to use this lack of study ability to further narrow the distance between me and Lee Yu-ri.
"Then you can teach me how to study."
"…Huh?"
"That's right, you've been at the top of the school for the past two years. Even if an idiot like me were to study alone for 100 days, it wouldn't be as good as getting intense tutoring from a genius like you. And it's easy for you to reinforce your knowledge when you teach others. We're good for each other. Aren't we?"
"Why should I study for you? And you say you will study? Wow, that's the worst lie I've ever heard."
"What, you're not going to teach me? I think it would be great if you taught me."
I secretly tried my luck with that last line. Depending on what you hear, choose words that openly express your liking. However, after going to school with Yu-ri Lee for the past week, eating lunch together every day, and talking about various topics, I decided that this approach would work.
"...Do you really want me to teach you how to study?"
"Yeah."
"If I teach you, will you study hard?"
"I will try. I must have studied at some point in my life."
"I can't believe you're bragging about that… Hmm, hmm. Well, I can't help it. Honestly, if you studied on your own, you'd probably be at the bottom of the class anyway. And I'm telling you this clearly! I'm not doing this because I like you; I'm doing it to make sure I know everything properly. That's it, okay?"
"Well, of course I know."
"Sir, something is annoying me… So what will you do for me if I help you study?"
Yu-ri Lee pouted her mouth, demanding payment. She was acting almost like a puppy waiting for a treat. I laughed and asked back.
"What do you want me to do for you?"
"Even if I ask you that now, I don't really need anything yet… Think about it slowly. I'll tell you when I think of something, so don't forget, okay?"
"Okay, okay. Would you like me to get it notarized?"
"What I'm saying is… I'm going to go finish up my student council work, so you can go home now. Thank you for your hard work cleaning up after me."
"Yes, thank you. Good luck with your student council work."
"Yes, goodbye."
So we left the classroom and headed in opposite directions.
But I didn't go home. As usual, after buying a lunch box and a cola at the convenience store, I sat on a bench near the academy and spent a lot of time looking at my cell phone. Since the wait wouldn't be long anyway, the boredom was bearable.
After some time had passed, a female student walked out from inside the academy gate. A girl with long black hair, a very pretty face, and very big breasts. After finishing her student council meeting and leaving the academy, Yu-ri saw a male student sitting on the bench across from her and lightly waved her hand.
Hair that was dyed blond in a bad way, a body so large that you could tell he was very tall even when sitting on a bench, muscular forearms, and a face that was rugged but quite masculine and handsome in its own way.
Just a week ago, when she saw that face, she would automatically get a bug-bitten expression, but now she was glad to see that grim and rough look. She felt sad when she came out after finishing her student council work and that grumpy guy wasn't near the school gate.
Gong Young-bae had never waited for her like that before, so why did that gangster wait for her like this every day? Yu-ri Lee didn't hate that.
"Did you wait again? No one even asked you to wait."
"I was bored going home alone, so I did what I wanted and just waited. If I didn't want to, I would have just left."
"...You've been waiting for a long time. It would be unfair for you to go home alone now. I can't let that happen. I'll walk with you."
Yu-ri Lee smiled and approached Han Seong-jin without realizing it. Soon, the two walked home together.
"Did you buy a lunch box and cola again?"
"I'm human, too. I have to eat to live."
"That's terrible for your health! How can people survive by eating only convenience store lunch boxes? Do you eat anything other than lunch?"
"Of course I eat other things. On the weekends, I eat ramen and tuna."
"That's worse!"
"Then what should I do? Delivery food is expensive, and I don't even know how to cook."
Yu-ri Lee, who was walking next to Han Seong-jin, closed her eyes tightly and answered with her face turning bright red.
"...I… I'll… I'll cook for you on the weekends!!"
As Yu-ri Lee said that, without realizing it, she was so close to Han Seong-jin that their shoulders were almost touching.
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