Chapter 5: I F*cking Loved You

“Just be honest already.”
“…”

Why is she so mad?

What did I even do to make her this pissed?

‘Sure, assuming she smoked and calling her out might’ve been annoying…’

But was that really worth getting this worked up over?

Completely baffled, Joon just stared at her blankly, and Chaerin, waiting for an answer, crossed her arms and said.

“You can’t even talk, huh? Guess I hit the nail on the head. Why didn’t you just be honest from the start instead of pissing me off, you f*ck?”
“I’m speechless because I’m dumbfounded.”

I said I don’t like you, so why do you keep trying to make me out to be some lovesick idiot?

With a bright smile, Joon tried to clear up the misunderstanding gently.

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in dating anyone either, just like you.”

Of course, there was a hint of teasing in his reply.

“…”

Hearing her own words thrown back at her, Chaerin’s expression went blank, as if she’d been hit in the back of the head.

Then her face flushed again, and she got even angrier.

“Cut the bullshit and just tell the truth!”
“Ha…”

After arguing for a while, when Chaerin grabbed his collar and started shaking him, Joon realized she wasn’t going to let him go unless he gave her the answer she wanted, so he reluctantly played along.

“Fine, you’re right. I f*cking like you. Happy now?”

He tried to pull away and leave.

But her slender hand didn’t loosen its grip.

“Are you messing with me? That didn’t sound sincere at all.”

She’s really something else.

‘Alright, she’s just a high schooler.’

It was a bit annoying, but there was no need to get mad at a kid.

‘How do I calm her down?’

While being shaken by the collar and wondering what to say, a faint buzzing sound came from somewhere.

“…Hold on.”

Glaring at him, Chaerin quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and answered it.

As she smoothed out her wrinkled uniform, Joon could faintly hear the conversation.

“Hello?”
–Chaerin-jjang, class starts in five minutes, where are you?

Hearing that, she checked the time and frowned.

It seemed she was supposed to be at cram school but had spent too much time dealing with him.

“Sh*t… Hey, put my textbook on the desk next to you.”
–For free?
“…I’ll buy you something at the canteen tomorrow.”
–Hehe, hurry up!

The call ended.

Chaerin let out a deep sigh and glared at him.

“You’re not off the hook.”

As she spat out a cheesy villain line and started to rush off, Joon called out.

“Wait.”

“…”

When he called, she stopped and turned back toward him.

Her irritated expression now held a trace of amusement for some reason.

“Ha!”

Chaerin let out a sharp, almost cheerful laugh and flashed a captivating smile.

“What, finally ready to be honest?”
“No… I was just checking if you really don’t have a cigarette.”
“…”

Her face practically cursed at him.

Flushing again, she rummaged through her pocket, then threw a piece of candy at him with a string of swears.

“Chew on this, you bastard.”
“Huh…”

With that, Chaerin stormed off.

‘Guess she really doesn’t smoke.’

Watching her figure shrink into the distance, he reluctantly popped the candy she threw into his mouth, feeling a bit disappointed.

‘It’s probably fine to let her go alone for now.’

He’d checked her birthday at school earlier, and it was still two weeks away.

That meant no traffic accident would happen this week at least.

‘Starting next week, I just need to stick close to her, whatever it takes.’

The “whatever it takes” part was the problem, but surely something would work out when the time came, right?

“Man, isn’t she a bit too full of herself?”

He couldn’t deny her stunning looks.

Objectively, she had a pretty intimidating vibe, but her captivating eyes and flawless skin were undeniable.

She was the epitome of what weebs would call a “cool beauty.”

‘Her mom was definitely a famous actress.’

One of the top three actresses in Korea, Chae Nahee.

She’d starred in three or four films that each drew over ten million viewers.

Before time rewound, during a break from his part-time job, Joon had been surfing the web as usual and came across her final article.

[Chae Nahee announces sudden retirement, reason undisclosed.]

He clearly remembered it causing a huge stir because she retired right after her husband and then Park Chaerin died in a traffic accident, overwhelmed by grief.

Right before that article, there’d been a buzz among the construction workers he worked with because the lottery numbers had come up in a perfect sequence.

The attention on that faded as soon as her retirement was announced.

The impact of Park Chaerin’s mother was massive…

“Huh?”

A perfect lottery sequence?

Recalling Chae Nahee’s retirement article suddenly brought another article to mind.

[Lottery numbers come up in sequence, organizers firmly deny rigging despite controversy.]

In a lottery drawing seven numbers from 1 to 45, they’d all come up consecutively.

An unbelievable opportunity.

The hope of escaping poverty flashed before his eyes.

But there was a problem.

‘I remember the article, but not the numbers…’

He hadn’t expected to time travel, so while he vaguely recalled the article, the specific numbers weren’t in his head.

“…Wait.”

Did he even need to know the numbers?

The lottery numbers came up in sequence.

That drastically reduced the possibilities.

It meant he could aim for the jackpot with minimal money.

“…”

He racked his brain to squeeze out the memory.

‘The retirement announcement was the day after the funeral.’

He couldn’t recall exactly when, but if it was within a week…

“Phew…”

Taking a slow breath to calm his excitement, he formulated a plan.

One thought stood out.

“Get out.”

Out of this damn poverty.

And seize it.

The school life he’d given up on, thinking it was another world.

…A normal life for himself.

The next day.

The school was loud.

With an average of thirty students per class and eight classes per grade, it was bound to be noisy.

The issue wasn’t the noise itself but why it was so noisy.

“Oh, you crazy bastard… crazy bastard!”

Joon figured out the reason the moment he stepped into the classroom.

As soon as he opened the door, Yuma’s shout met him, and all eyes turned his way.

“What’s with the fuss?”

Casually tossing his bag onto his desk, he approached the loudmouth, only to have several guys crowd around Yuma’s desk, bombarding him with questions.

“What did you talk about with Park Chaerin yesterday?”
“Were you two ever close?”
“Are you dating?”

Ask one question at a time, damn it.

The sight of pubescent boys throwing questions with gleaming, curious eyes was something else.

‘I didn’t expect this kind of reaction.’

He knew he’d drawn attention yesterday.

But he hadn’t anticipated everyone rushing at him from the moment he arrived, so he was a bit flustered.

‘Guess I’ll just brush it off.’

He didn’t want to bring up what happened with Chaerin.

Talking about cigarettes or her wouldn’t do any good.

To deflect, he answered vaguely.

“We’re kinda close, but not dating.”

At that, his friends went quiet, staring at his face before bursting into rowdy laughter.

Then Yuma, sitting at his desk, chimed in.

“This guy got rejected.”
“How do you even interpret it like that? Need a Korean lesson?”

Annoyed by the leap, Joon snapped back, and Yuma replied.

“You know, when a girl rejects you but says let’s be friends.”
“That’s not—ugh, forget it.”

High school boys hearing about a girl were closer to apes than humans.

‘Will an ape understand human words?’

It wasn’t a question worth answering.

Seeing their IQs drop to single digits, Joon let them think what they wanted, and the guys started yapping excitedly.

“Even Joon, who we thought was a eunuch, has a spring day coming.”
“It came and went before it even started.”
“Part-time job? As long as we’re having fun, who cares.”
“Did you love her, Joon… oh.”

Half-annoyed, half-exasperated by their relentless teasing, Joon responded halfheartedly.

“Yeah, I f*cking loved her. Happy now?”
“Uh… yeah, sure.”

Yuma, who’d been chattering nonstop, suddenly went quiet.

‘This isn’t like him to stop here.’

These guys should’ve been laughing their heads off, but they suddenly started acting distracted.

“Uh… nice weather today.”
“It’s gloomy as hell with all those clouds.”

As Joon gave a skeptical look at a friend staring at the overcast sky where not a ray of sunlight peeked through, a voice called out from behind with a rustle.

“Oh, I see~ You f*cking loved me, huh?”
“…Hey?”

Oh, crap.

The chilling voice made him turn, and there was Park Chaerin, arms crossed, glaring at him with fire in her eyes.

“That’s a bit different from what you told me yesterday.”