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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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For a moment, I thought I had misheard Ha-rin’s words.
“I think I misheard you. Can you say it one more time?”
“…Let’s lose just once.”
I couldn’t understand.
Honestly, I didn’t want us to win too overwhelmingly and become famous, but still, I never imagined those words would come out of her mouth first.
“…May I ask why?”
“That’s…”
Her expression seemed to say it was difficult to talk about.
I knew Ha-rin better than anyone during her academy days.
Although Ha-rin wasn’t as overwhelmingly powerful as Si-hwa in terms of combat ability, she was still a rare talent who reached S-rank.
To graduate as an S-rank, good grades were essential.
She had asked for my advice, but she never said anything about intentionally losing.
What on earth was the reason…?
“Can’t you just close your eyes and grant my request just once?”
Hmm…
It was suspicious, but in fact, granting her request itself wasn’t difficult.
Since I had made up my mind not to be greedy about grades.
“…When you say lose once, you mean aim for 2nd place, not 1st. Is that right?”
“Yeah! That’s right!”
“Why don’t you want to be 1st?”
“While it’s good to be 1st, of course… Um… We have to prepare for the next tournament too. And it’s also burdensome to represent our class…”
If I tried really hard to think about it, it could be possible, but still, Ha-rin’s words were too strange.
It seemed like there was definitely another reason…
“Ha-rin.”
I looked into her eyes.
“Remember the promise we made before?”
“Promise?”
“The promise you made on my pinky.”
Suddenly, Ha-rin’s eyes turned cold.
“…You mean the promise to have no secrets between pairs?”
“Yeah.”
She, who had been calmly talking to me, suddenly took a step closer to me.
“In-wook.”
“Wh-what?”
Ha-rin, who was on tiptoe, brought her face close to mine.
“Are you keeping that promise?”
“…What?”
I was the one who asked the question, but it felt like she was interrogating me.
“Are you keeping the promise to have no secrets from me?”
…Well, that’s true.
Come to think of it, I didn’t have the right to question her using this promise.
No. Even so, did Ha-rin know something?
Her gaze was a bit too fierce to just be probing.
“Hey. What do I have to hide from you?”
“Hmm~ Is that so?”
Ha-rin stepped back from me and made an unreadable expression.
“Going that far…”
It seemed like she was talking to herself, but I couldn’t guess what she meant by “going that far.”
Ha-rin stared blankly out the window for a moment, then shook her head.
“So will you grant my request or not?”
But come to think of it, even if I tried my best, wouldn’t it be difficult to get 1st place if Ha-rin didn’t perform well?
I had no intention of showing my full potential during the evaluation, and instead, I was planning to support Ha-rin.
“Hmm… If you want to hold back and do one round, I won’t say anything about that.”
I couldn’t bring myself to openly agree with her plan to lose.
“Thank you! In-wook!”
Ha-rin seemed genuinely happy, suddenly linking arms with me.
I wanted to tell her to let go in case others misunderstood, but I couldn’t say that to her who was smiling brightly.
The strange feeling of déjà vu in my arm.
Ha-rin had always preferred linking arms to holding hands.
[In-wook! The height difference between us is the most ideal for couples!]
[Who on earth decides such things?]
She must have read some weird article on the internet.
[Huh? It was written on a blog?]
[They’re just trying to get views from kids like you to make money.]
[Tsk… Still, if you hear the reason written here, you won’t be able to say that!]
Ha-rin stood right next to me and slipped her arm between mine.
[Ta-da! This is the perfect arm-linking balance between men and women! What do you think? Can you still refute it? Can you~?]
Is that so? I don’t really know, but.
[If you like it, then it’s good.]
I answered her with a smile.
Her behavior, which was too familiar to me, made me question it once again.
Yoon Ha-rin.
Do you really have no memories of me right now?
* * *
I cried a lot.
It was probably the most sorrowful day since the day Choi In-wook told me he couldn’t have children.
11 AM.
It was already too late to go to the academy.
The missed calls piled up.
It seemed to be people from the academy.
But I had neither the thought nor the energy to reply.
Had I ever felt so helpless in my life?
I leaned against the bed, blankly burying my head in my knees.
“I’m really pathetic… Me…”
There was no plan after being rejected.
I never even thought I would be rejected in the first place.
Because unlike my previous life, I was ready to give up everything.
Frankly, I could have given up things like S-rank if he didn’t want it, but…
However, after hearing the words that flowed from his mouth, I couldn’t say any of the things I had prepared.
[From the day you left me, my world was hell.]
[There were many days when I thought about just dying.]
Seeing Choi In-wook utter those words with a distressed expression, my heart felt like it was being torn apart.
And it wasn’t that I didn’t understand that feeling.
As they say, you only realize it’s spring after losing.
The most radiant days of my short previous life were the days I spent with him.
And the one who ruined those days was none other than me.
Although he was the one who provided the reason, in the end, I was the one who pulled the trigger.
As the memory of yesterday came back, tears began to well up in my eyes again.
“Are we really over…”
You said we should wish for each other’s happiness.
But how can I be happy without you?
My vision was blurred with tears.
* * *
“Sigh…”
What should I do about this…
It was already predetermined that Choi In-wook would come to the club room.
It could be tomorrow, it could be an hour from now, or it could be right now.
Even if I tried not to think about him, I couldn’t help but be conscious of him when he came to the club room.
Sitting on the sofa, twirling a pencil, I pondered what attitude I should face him with.
Choi In-wook probably thinks I’m a girl who confessed to him while drunk…
Moreover, it seems he feels even more awkward because he rejected me…
Ugh…
Thinking of packing my bag and running away again, I suddenly felt a surge of anger.
“No. But come to think of it, it’s ridiculous.”
In my previous life and in this life, this was my space.
It was a club I chose to join first, and a club I entered to draw comfortably.
Why do I have to run away, being conscious of him? Seriously.
And in my previous life, it was Choi In-wook who confessed first.
Thinking that he, who confessed as if he would give me the world, rejected me now made me furious.
Ha… Really…
Of course, in the eyes of the academy-age him, I might not be good enough.
Yoon Ha-rin and Yoo Si-hwa.
Both of them were women who would make your tongue stick out in terms of specs.
Of course, in terms of their pretty appearance as well.
But the current me…
I’m not sure about my appearance, but compared to the backgrounds they had, I was a person with nothing special.
At least they wouldn’t have to worry about how to make up for the overdue rent…
Although I rarely talked about it even to Choi In-wook in my previous life, my school days and early 20s weren’t a very happy life.
I had to live more fiercely than others. The moment I let my guard down, it felt like reality would devour me.
My dad’s business had gone completely bankrupt.
My mom, who had been watching it, fell ill and was bedridden.
At the age of 20, when other friends started drinking and going to clubs.
I had to do the final cleaning with a large mop.
I had to be grateful for a few ten thousand won and save every thousand won.
However, despite that, the family’s financial situation showed no signs of improvement.
It was a life that was in stark contrast to the lives of Choi In-wook and his ex-wives.
Even the car Yoo Si-hwa brought to the MT.
It was a sports car that looked like it was worth tens of millions of won at a glance.
Yeah. If I were next to that, even if I had confessed, it would be understandable to be rejected.
Even I would prefer someone like her over someone like me…
Feeling all my energy drained, I let my body sink into the sofa.
“I don’t know… That jerk…”
He really made me think like this.
He’s had a talent for making me angry since my previous life.
“Who’s the jerk?”
At the voice coming from behind, I was startled.
When I lifted my body and turned around, I saw Choi In-wook naturally arranging his belongings and taking out a pencil case from his bag.
“What the. When did you come?”
Although I had made up my mind not to get annoyed with him, seeing his face made me feel resentful.
“Just now. But did something bad happen?”
Yes. You. Because of you.
“Not really.”
“Then why did you mutter ‘that jerk’ to yourself?”
His expression seemed genuinely clueless.
Ah. I’m pissed.
Really.
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