Chapter 41: Sports Day (3)

Choi Sang-Woon had somewhat expected Kang Ra-Eun to say that she wanted to stay as friends, but he had decided to hold onto the sliver of hope that she wouldn’t. Although Ra-Eun was a girl with high enough standards to reject even Park Se-Woon, one could argue that her type of guy wasn’t a rich and handsome guy like Se-Woon, but rather a guy who she could consider a friend.

Sang-Woon and Ra-Eun had spent the past few days as true friends. They played basketball and went to the PC Room together. With how much they hung out, he could not help but think that Ra-Eun had feelings for him.

However, Sang-Woon had been counting his chickens before they hatched. Believing in his delusions, he mustered up the courage to confess, and it went exactly as one expected.

“I-I see.”

Sang-Woon smiled awkwardly. Ra-Eun was also in a very awkward position.

“That doesn’t mean that I hate you or anything. It’s just that... I don’t see you as a love interest. I think we’re better off as friends.”

Because this was Ra-Eun’s first time being in such a situation, she sugarcoated it as much as she could. However, there was no way that her words of consolement would reach a man who had just been rejected.

Just in time, someone called for Sang-Woon from a distance.

“Sang-Woon! Where did that guy go?”

Sang-Woon replied right away as he heard Kim Yeong-Gyo’s voice.

“Over here! I’ll be going on ahead, Ra-Eun.”

“O-Okay.”

Zoom!

Sang-Woon sprinted out of the area as if he was running away. Meanwhile, Ra-Eun clicked her tongue after she was left all alone.

“What is this, a teen drama? What the hell am I doing...?”

Not just that, she got goosebumps from the fact that she was not the male lead, but the female one.

***

The high school festival began on the day after the sports day. Ra-Eun did not have to participate in the festival preparations because she was not in any clubs. She could simply have fun going around the school to enjoy the festival.

“Have a safe trip,” Kang Ra-Hyuk said.

Ra-Eun’s steps to school felt especially heavy today. Seo Yi-Seo rushed to Ra-Eun as she approached Starlight Road.

“Let’s walk together, Ra-Eun.”

They had not set any plans to go to school together, but they had met from time to time since they went the same way. On the way there, Ra-Eun lightly mentioned to Yi-Seo what had happened yesterday.

“Sang-Woon confessed to me yesterday.”

Ra-Eun had thought deeply about whether to tell Yi-Seo or not. She couldn’t consult Ra-Hyuk about it, but she thought that it was best to consult a close friend who understood her.

“Oh... I thought as much.”

Yi-Seo acted like she had expected it. And in actuality, she knew that something like this would happen, since anyone could tell from a third-person view that Sang-Woon held romantic feelings for Ra-Eun.

Sang-Woon treated Ra-Eun as a boy would treat a girl that he liked, but on the other hand, Ra-Eun did not treat Sang-Woon as a member of the opposite sex at all. That was why Yi-Seo was trying to tell Ra-Eun in place of Ra-Hyuk to act more carefully around boys if she could.

“So, what did you do?”

Yi-Seo already knew the answer, but she decided to ask for manner’s sake.

“I turned him down.”

It was obvious.

“Just to be sure, there wasn’t any violence involved, right?”

Yi-Seo’s remark would have sounded like a joke to people, but she was dead serious. Ra-Eun had thrown the stalker Se-Woon down onto the ground. Hence, it was well within the realm of possibility for Ra-Eun to retaliate in that way.

Ra-Eun giggled and said, “No, I just told him that I’d like us to stay friends.”

Unlike Se-Woon, Sang-Woon had not been a nuisance to Ra-Eun. Rather, she had enjoyed her time together with him while playing football, basketball, and going to the PC Room together.

Yi-Seo felt reassured.

“What a relief.”

She was proud of Ra-Eun for not reacting violently.

“That aside... What a blunder. I should have realized that the hormones of boys their age spike if girls treat them even a little nicely.”

Even Ra-Eun had experienced such a thing in the past. However, now that she had become a high school girl, she could not clearly remember her high school memories as a boy. It was understandable, since she had been a high school girl for almost half a year now. She had also come to experience many times that even girls had a hard time being on the rejecting end of the confession.

“I guess I should draw some clear boundaries from now on,” Ra-Eun remarked.

“Yeah, that’s best for both you and the boys,” Yi-Seo agreed.

She would be receiving confessions left and right if she continued to act the same way.

***

The high school festival was only held once a year. Street vendors spread out items that they had brought in front of the school gates and touted to the people going in and out of the school.

“Here! This is super cheap!”

“Here we have all sorts of items that will help leave some wonderful memories with your family! Come take a look!”

Fans, masks, balloons, and other party items were displayed everywhere. One of the street vendors, Park Seol-Hun, continuously attempted to gather people’s attention.

“You won’t get a chance like this again! I won’t ask you to pay for just taking a look, so come take a... huh?”

His eyes narrowed because of a certain high school girl who had approached him.

“Y-You...!”

“What are you doing here after closing down your shoe store, mister?”

It was Ra-Eun. She had also asked Seol-Hun with eyes as narrow as his.

“C-Can’t you see? This is my new business!” Seol-Hun exclaimed.

“Oh, really?”

Ra-Eun slightly bent her knees and scanned all of Seol-Hun’s items. She spread open a fan ordained with red feathers, and sighed as if she had expected it.

“If you’re gonna sell something, sell some authentic goods. Who would buy faulty goods like this?”

“They’re not all faulty! You just happened to pick up the one faulty product out of the bunch!”

“Then what about this cone hat? The string is in tatters.”

“...”

Every single item that Ra-Eun had picked up was faulty. She had the complete opposite of the Midas touch.

She stood back up and advised Seol-Hun, “This is your last chance, right? Hurry up and run this one to shit, and then you can contact me. I’ll invest plenty on you.”

“I swear I’m gonna succeed this time!”

“Sure you will.”

Anyone could tell that he would fail this time as well. After telling Seol-Hun to break a leg, she went back to where Yi-Seo had been waiting for her.

Yi-Seo said while pointing at the sighing Seol-Hun, “Do you know him?”

“Yeah, it just kind of happened.”

It looked like she would be starting her business with Seol-Hun much sooner than she had expected.

***

Ra-Eun, Yi-Seo, Na Gyu-Rin and Choi Ro-Mi walked around outside the school to view the festival attractions. There was a student making bungeo-ppang and ice cream with a machine that they got from who-knows-where, and selling them.

A few girls had also cosplayed as what seemed to be anime characters. It may have been because it was summer or maybe it was that character’s normal attire, but the girls’ waists and thighs were fully exposed.

“Won’t they get scolded by the teachers, wearing something like that?” Gyu-Rin asked.

Yi-Seo could only say

“Who knows”

to such a question, but it seemed to be within the tolerable range since they had not yet been reprimanded.

“Ra-Eun, how about some ice cream? My treat,” Ro-Mi said.

She was thinking of treating her friends to some ice cream as celebration for their victory in the girls’ dodgeball event yesterday.

“Oh, I left my wallet in the classroom.”

She had forgotten the most important item.

Ra-Eun said, “I was just about to head to the classroom anyway. Where’s your wallet? I’ll go get it for you.”

“It’s in my desk drawer. Thanks, Ra-Eun.”

Ra-Eun quickly made her way to the classroom after telling the group that she’d be back soon.

***

As there were students who wanted to enjoy the festival, there were also those who found it to be a hassle to walk around. Sang-Woon, Yeong-Gyo, and a few other boys were included in that group.

They did not feel like walking around the school because they had been fired up all day due to their sports day victory, and simply wanted to watch some TV in the classroom.

“Is there anything good on?”

There were no good programs to watch at this hour. However, Yeong-Gyo sprang up from his seat.

“Get this, I found one hell of a site yesterday.”

Yeong-Gyo headed to the computer that was installed under the teacher’s podium. He turned it on, and connected it to the TV. R-rated not-safe-for-work images were displayed on the screen as soon as he pulled up the site.

“Y-Yeong-Gyo, you crazy son of a bitch!”

“Holy hell... That’s some good shit!”

“Hey, draw the curtains! Quickly!”

The blazing teenage sex drive took over the boys’ minds.

Fwish—!

They closed the door and windows, and quickly drew the curtains. After turning off the lights, the seven students gathered in front of the TV. Sang-Woon gulped, having been entranced by the dance of the woman in a swimsuit.

However, at that moment...

Creak.

The door suddenly opened. The back door that they thought they had locked had still been unlocked. A beautiful girl with long hair elegantly tied to one side, Kang Ra-Eun, had entered the classroom. A corner of her mouth curled up as she gazed upon the sexy video on the TV screen.

“Damn punks. Boys will be boys. Watching that kind of stuff is good and all, but at least lock the door.”

“R-Ra-Eun, this isn’t what it looks like...!” Sang-Woon scrambled to clarify the situation.

However, Ra-Eun gave him no opportunity to explain.

“Don’t worry, I won’t interrupt. Have fun, guys.”

As Sang-Woon watched Ra-Eun quickly close the door and leave, he felt despair even greater than when he was rejected.

1. Bungeo-ppang is a fish-shaped pastry stuffed with sweet red bean paste.