—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
We left the cafe and walked along the main street.
Since the Han River was nearby, Yoo Si-hwa asked if it would be okay to talk there.
I wondered what kind of important conversation she wanted to have by going that far, but since the weather was quite nice, I agreed for now.
And honestly, I was curious about what she wanted to talk about that made her seek me out.
When she asked if it was okay to buy a can of beer, I told her to go ahead.
Without much thought, I picked the same kind as her.
A can of beer by the darkened Han River.
If we were friends, it wouldn’t have been strange at all, but our relationship…
This situation just felt awkward.
Sitting on a secluded bench with no people around, Yoo Si-hwa remained silent for a moment.
Click.
The sound of her opening the beer can echoed loudly.
From what I remembered, she wasn’t good at drinking, but she chugged down the beer as if she was upset.
“Haa…”
Letting out a deep sigh, she raised her head and looked at the Han River.
“Ye-na. I.”
“What is it?”
“I was rejected.”
…What? Rejected?
I could tell who the subject was without asking.
But I chose to ask once more for confirmation.
“…By Choi In-wook?”
“Yes.”
…How am I supposed to respond to this?
Why did she even come all the way here to tell me that in the first place?
“I see… It’s unfortunate… But why are you telling me this?”
Yoo Si-hwa slowly turned her head and met my eyes.
“Ye-na.”
She called my name in a slightly trembling voice.
“What was I lacking?”
How would I know that?
She barged in and told me she was rejected, and now she wants me to analyze why she was rejected.
It’s a bit awkward to say this to someone who was rejected, but at this rate, the conversation wouldn’t progress.
“I can’t answer you if you only explain it like that.”
I answered while opening my beer can.
“You need to be more specific for me to say something. I can’t say anything if you only give me the result without the cause and effect.”
“You have a point.”
After being silent for a moment, Yoo Si-hwa explained the gist of the story to me.
“Choi In-wook did something wrong to me.”
“I was angry at his actions and said harsh words to him.”
“He apologized, but at that time, I had no intention of accepting it.”
“Because it was truly Choi In-wook’s fault.”
…What’s this? This feeling of déjà vu.
Although I couldn’t confirm exactly what he did wrong since she didn’t specify, it strangely resembled the story Choi In-wook told me in my previous life.
“Then why did you confess? If Choi In-wook did something wrong and Si-hwa was upset and angry, isn’t that the end of the situation?”
“Well…”
Yoo Si-hwa had a troubled expression and tapped the ground with her foot.
“I still liked him even though he did such a stupid thing.”
“So you confessed again, but Choi In-wook rejected you?”
“That’s about right.”
Yeah. Okay.
Neither of them is normal.
I gave her a very clear conclusion.
I’m really a kind person.
“You deserved to be rejected.”
At my answer, Yoo Si-hwa’s pupils dilated in real-time.
“…What?”
“I said you deserved to be rejected, Yoo Si-hwa.”
She must not have expected me to give this kind of answer, as she bit her lip tightly.
“Then what would you have done if you were in my position, Ye-na?”
“Let me ask you a question.”
I spoke to her in a firm tone.
“How much do you like Choi In-wook?”
“…A lot. Very much.”
“Then go and beg him. Instead of coming all the way here and doing this to me, you should go to Choi In-wook and beg him.”
Yoo Si-hwa seemed to find it damaging to her pride to agree with my words one-sidedly, as she bit her lip tightly.
“But… Choi In-wook definitely did something wrong too…”
She couldn’t get her act together.
“If that’s so important, then just date another guy. Yoo Si-hwa, you don’t seem very desperate.”
I was willing to accept all of Choi In-wook’s flaws from my previous life, and I actually did.
Because I really liked him. No. Because I loved him.
Because I thought he was someone I could entrust my everything to.
Of course, both Yoo Si-hwa and Choi In-wook were still academy students.
It was probably just a normal confession between young people, not based on the premise of marriage, but still, Yoo Si-hwa’s attitude seemed ridiculous to me.
I didn’t think it was the attitude of someone who really liked the other person.
A hollow laugh escaped my mouth.
“I’m saying that’s what I would have done. Well… I don’t know how Si-hwa will take it.”
Yoo Si-hwa gulped down the remaining beer in one go and stood up from her seat.
“…Thank you.”
“I’ll consider it the price of the beer.”
She paid for it anyway.
Yoo Si-hwa seemed to have felt something from my words, as she gave off a slightly different vibe than before.
“Then I’ll get going.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Yoo Si-hwa slightly bowed her head to me and walked away, step by step.
Left alone, I quietly looked in the direction she disappeared.
I want to smoke…
But this was a public park.
There was no way I could smoke here.
I couldn’t understand why my heart felt so unsettled, as if I had gotten drunk on just one can of beer.
Should I be happy that she, who ruined my married life in my previous life, was rejected?
No. Since I had made up my mind not to get involved, should I just think of it as someone else’s story and remain calm?
I don’t know…
I left the park, entered an alley, and took out a cigarette.
Inhale. Exhale…
As if by a lie, we became strangers again.
…Choi In-wook.
I kind of wanted to see him.
* * *
The two weeks passed by really quickly.
The pair preparation with Ha-rin continued even after class every day.
So I hardly had time to set foot in the club.
It felt a bit empty not going there often, but I had to focus on what I needed to do now.
I was told that the student council was still suspended for first-years, but I didn’t know how long this situation would last.
But I thought it might be a blessing in disguise since I could avoid the situation where I had no choice but to face Si-hwa.
And finally, today.
The day of the midterm evaluation for our class 7 had arrived.
We had already secured a decent number of wins according to our prepared plan.
There were no major variables that occurred.
The students prepared in their own way at their level, but they fell far short of being our match.
Of course, I always took on the role of being bait or inducing carelessness upfront.
I thought I only needed to show my active side briefly in today’s final evaluation.
I would show a dazzling side for a moment and then fall over in defeat, completing the development Ha-rin and I had agreed upon.
“In-wook!”
Ha-rin called out to me as I was sitting in the waiting area of the arena.
“Oh. Ha-rin. Did you just arrive?”
“Yeah, yeah. Has it not started yet?”
“It’s about to start soon.”
We sat side by side and watched the match that determined our opponents.
Indeed, the students who had won several times and made it this far had pretty good movements.
“They’re not bad, huh?”
Especially the student who predicted the trajectory of the sword by rotating 180 degrees had an extraordinary movement.
“You’re right. They’re good.”
Ha-rin also looked at the arena with fascinated eyes.
The fierce exchange continued, and the winner was determined by a moment of carelessness.
“Park Jin-hyuk and Jung Soo-ah pair wins!”
As expected, the pair we had praised emerged victorious.
“Well then, we will proceed with the final class 7 representative match after lunch.”
“Let’s go eat lunch! In-wook!”
Ha-rin suggested as she got up from her seat.
Since I had gotten used to eating lunch and dinner with Ha-rin recently, I naturally nodded my head.
After having a meal at the cafeteria, we returned to the arena and reviewed our plan one last time in the waiting area.
“Okay. So. If they come out like earlier, we’ll go with Plan A. And in the end, In-wook, you’ll step out of the arena, right?”
“I think that would be the most natural.”
“Alright. Then let’s try that.”
After taking one last sip of water, we went up to the arena following the MC’s instructions, but…
For some reason, our opponents didn’t show up.
What’s going on? I thought we were supposed to appear in the arena at the same time…?
The MC seemed confused and told us to wait for a moment.
The MC returned with a reluctant expression and relayed the situation to everyone.
“Well. The representatives of Class 7 have been decided as Yoon Ha-rin and Choi In-wook. Congratulations!”
Ha-rin and I. Even the people sitting in the audience had a dumbfounded expression for a moment.
When no applause erupted, the MC seemed flustered and gave us an additional explanation.
“Park Jin-hyuk and Jung Soo-ah expressed their intention to the academy to forfeit the match, stating they had no confidence in defeating Yoon Ha-rin and Choi In-wook.”
Ha-rin protested to the homeroom teacher, who was watching from the audience, as if it was absurd.
“Teacher! Was forfeiture even an option in this evaluation?”
The homeroom teacher hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“Oh! It is! Congratulations on being the representatives. Yoon Ha-rin!”
He gave her a thumbs up.
“Ah. Really…”
Ha-rin slapped her forehead as if she had a headache.
“Anyway, so Yoon Ha-rin and Choi In-wook! Welcome to being the representatives of Class 7!”
Only after the MC’s explanation and the homeroom teacher’s approval did the rest of the students who were watching us applaud.
“Well then, can we hear a word of determination for your classmates?”
Since Ha-rin didn’t look too happy, I thought I would do it, but Ha-rin grabbed the microphone the MC handed out first.
“Class 7 everyone! As your representatives, we will do our best to let the entire academy know that our class, the pair of In-wook and me, is the best!”
…It was a very enthusiastic comment for someone who had intentionally wanted to lose.
What. Didn’t you plan to work hard anyway?
Our classmates cheered for her words.
Especially the boys’ voices were very loud.
After our class representatives were decided and the evaluation for the last Class 8 was over, the MC finally introduced the representative pairs of each class.
I thought it didn’t matter who came out, but…
A name that couldn’t be overlooked flowed from his mouth.
“Class 5 representatives. Yoo Si-hwa and Park Min-seok!”
Since I hadn’t considered being a class representative from the beginning, I hadn’t thought at all about who would come out from other classes.
If it turns out like this, I…
Have to face Si-hwa, who has memories of her previous life…?
…It’s really not easy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
