Chapter 44 – April’s Test (6)
Monday, the start of exam week.
Before the morning assembly started, Eunji Jeong came to me and made a hand gesture.
“Hey, come out.”
“Why again?”
“Should I leave evidence? So that they can’t accuse me of failing after taking the test and losing. I’m going to call all the kids and leave evidence. Is that why you provoked me like that because you were prepared to do that?”
Jeong Eun-ji was confident that she would win, so she was even more confident, and so she widened her game even further.
She didn’t even know it was going to strangle her.
“The method of committing suicide is very MZ? Are you really going to be okay?”
“Just come out and stop talking bullshit. Why are you so scared when you’ve already passed the mock test?”
“Okay, I’m going out, I’m going out. Let’s die together.”
Jeong Eun-ji and I stood at the teacher’s table, and instantly the attention of the class was focused.
“Guys, look here for a moment!”
At Eunji Jeong’s words, her classmates started to get upset.
“You’re Han Seongjin, right? What are you trying to do…”
“Jeong Eun-ji and Han Seong-jin don’t look good together. Why are they together?”
Ignoring the chatter of others, Jeong Eun-ji raised her voice in front of her teacher’s table.
“I and Han Seong-jin made a bet on the score of this paper test! But since the loser usually has to do something that isn’t that big of a deal, I hope everyone will be witnesses to prevent them from getting away with it!”
“What bet?”
“What changes if we become witnesses?”
Anyway, if I tell them that I can’t do it, there’s no way for the other kids to stop it, so the kids’ first reaction was cold.
But…
“Han Seong-jin, you have something to say? What is it?”
As the classroom door opened, a group of third-year students, including Hwang Seong-tae, who became the new boss, appeared.
I tilted my head when I saw them coming to my class in the morning, despite being from different classes.
“Why did you guys come here?”
“What are you talking about? I told you to come because you had something to say. But why didn’t you just text me and make me do it?”
After hearing that, I immediately looked at Jeong Eun-ji, and she looked at me with an expression like, ‘What are you going to do?’ And she snorted.
This guy sold my name and called me.
“The bet is! The one with the lowest overall score on this test will get a terrible penalty! If this guy loses, he’s going to get naked on the playground during lunchtime in front of everyone, bow down to me, and lick my shoes! Ah, that’s it! How about licking the feet of the kids you hang out with?”
Everyone was shocked by the unexpectedly large penalty and began to make a fuss.
“Seongjin, is that true? Are you really going to do that?”
The group of people standing at the back of the classroom also asked me if it was equally absurd.
Instead of answering their questions, I brought up a story about what if Eunji Jeong loses.
“And if he loses, he’ll put a leash around his neck and crawl on all fours and bark like a dog. Get ready to take some videos. It’ll be quite a sight to see.”
The boys immediately cheered, probably because they wanted to see the humiliation of a pretty, good-looking, bad-tempered sports girl crawling like a dog rather than the reluctant me.
“Hey, Han Seongjin. What are you doing, making a bet based on test scores or something? It doesn’t suit me.”
Hwang Seong-tae seemed to be secretly anticipating Jeong Eun-ji’s dog leash humiliation, but he also seemed secretly disappointed that they were betting on areas that had nothing to do with them, such as ‘studying’ or ‘exams’.
“Well, this happens sometimes. Hey, by the way, the teacher will be here in a little while, so you guys hurry up.”
“I heard you called me because you had something to tell me?”
Of course, I, who had never done that before, paused for a moment and then pointed to Eunji Jeong with my thumb.
“Huh? Oh, that’s it. I just wanted to stand up as a witness for this guy being put on a dog leash. You know why he is like that. I wanted to keep him from getting caught because he lost after doing this. That’s why I called him. Since he stood as a witness, now go.”
“…?”
Hwang Seong-tae looked at me with an expression that said, ‘Only because of that?’
Meanwhile, Jeong Eun-ji shouted at Hwang Seong-tae’s group with the intention of screwing me over.
“Oh, right. If you lose the bet, why don’t you go over to those guys and lick the soles of their feet? Like a little dog.”
For a moment, the corners of Hwang Seong-tae’s mouth could be seen turning up.
He was pushed out of power and lived as second-in-command for the rest of his life, but when he imagined me, who had reigned over him, falling down in front of him and licking his feet, that alone seemed to make him feel good.
I could have tackled him, but I would have retired from that group anyway, and I had no intention of escalating my work, so I gestured toward the classroom door with a look on my face that said, “Go now.”
Hwang Seong-tae, who had nothing to lose, left the classroom with the group with a wry smile.
“Anyway, I came here to talk about that. It may not be a big deal, but there will definitely be kids who have been harmed by this bastard at some point, so I’ll give them a chance to eat it, so look forward to it! Even if you try to tell them not to do it, those guys from earlier will catch you and force you to do it.”
The other kids couldn’t applaud or cheer because I could tell, but they seemed to be waiting for the result.
Jeong Eun-ji got down from her desk, waving her hand like a celebrity in the spotlight, and I followed suit and returned to my seat.
Jeong Eun-ji didn’t think she would lose at all, so she pushed her game as hard as she could.
Although it is exam week, this rumor will spread quickly.
Just like before, a rumor spread about me dating Lee Yu-ri.
Now, it is no longer possible to withdraw even if you want to, and the person who loses will have to pay the penalty of hell.
But there was just one thing Jeong Eun-ji didn’t know.
Winning 8 rounds of the mock test at Yu-ri Lee’s house became the source of her confidence.
Eunji Jeong Do you know?
The fact that I kept intentionally getting several questions wrong throughout the mock exam.
#####
Gong Young-bae briefly called out Jeong Eun-ji during the short waiting period after the morning assembly and just before the exam began.
“Eunji, you knew it wouldn’t be good for you to get involved with a guy like that, so why did you do that?”
“Oh, are you worried? I’m happy about this. But there’s no need to worry.”
Eunji Jeong smiled and proudly pounded her own breasts with a triumphant look on her face.
“No matter how little time I have to study due to preparing for track and field, I am confident that I can see better than that bastard. I just don’t like humans, but if I can get them to screw up by betting on test scores, isn’t it a pretty legal way? I guess after carrying out the penalty, “You’re going to want to drop out of school because you’re so embarrassed, right?”
“No, no matter what, if you keep getting involved with a guy like that…”
Maybe in the end, you too… The words did not come out of Gong Young-bae’s mouth.
Lee Yu-ri had already become very distant from him, and Choi Soo-yeon still welcomed her with a smile, but Gong Young-bae was feeling a great sense of discomfort from that smile.
In such a situation, as even Jeong Eun-ji began to show signs of becoming increasingly entangled with Han Seong-jin, she began to feel unreasonable anxiety.
However, Jung Eun-ji, who did not know what was going on, was rather worried about Gong Young-bae.
“Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself than that?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Yuri and you. It’s been like a Cold War for quite some time now, and I think that bastard Han Seong-jin is the cause.”
“…!!!”
When Jeong Eun-ji saw that Gong Young-bae’s expression had noticeably worsened, she was convinced that her thoughts were correct.
She and Lee Yu-ri were romantic enemies who looked at a man named Gong Yeong-bae, but she was also a friend before that.
She was glad that her rival had gone away on her own, but that didn’t mean she wanted Yu-ri Lee to get involved with a scum like Han Seong-jin.
Since Lee Yu-ri is involved with Han Seong-jin, it is better for her to maintain a romantic relationship without knowing who will be chosen than to end up with Gong Yeong-bae.
“Don’t worry too much though.”
Jeong Eun-ji reassured Gong Young-bae and placed her hand on his shoulder.
She didn’t know yet that Lee Yu-ri had declared her isolation from Gong Yeong-bae.
“I will bring Yuri back.”
#####
From the day Jeong Eun-ji first said the words “Get good grades for exams”, I studied in every spare moment I had after finishing my part-time job.
I was so tired that I still often dozed off during class, but when I was awake, I studied with all my might.
I studied English while working part-time with Choi Su-yeon.
When I returned home, I studied Korean and satam.
I received a lot of help from Lee Yu-ri in math, where I was weakest, and now I can do about half of what she did.
Although she wasn’t a top student to begin with, she was confident that she would at least do better than Jeong Eun-ji, who had to spend more time exercising.
And then the test began.
Today, the first day, I only had to take the Korean language section.
From the listening test to the written test, I used my limited brain as much as I could to solve the problems while showing the best concentration of my life.
‘Do you think it’s worth it?’
Although I studied for a short period of time, I was able to solve problems well except for the ones that were too difficult, perhaps because I was so determined.
‘Jeong Eun-ji, thank you for laying the groundwork. I’ll make you realize right away that you dug your own grave.’
I smiled to myself as I rolled the pen over the test paper.
‘And I will break that arrogant personality and tame you into mine.’
I look forward to seeing Jeong Eun-ji, a track and field team ace and team member with a pretty face, healthy body and bad personality, change under my hands.
