Chapter 9: [8] – As We Get Closer - (1)
"Water in the vase?"
"I gave it to you first."
"Did you wash the window?"
"You saw me wiping."
"I'll clean the blackboard eraser and chalk box, so get ready to mop the floor."
"Ha… It's bothering. "How can we do this 8 more times?"
"So who said they would fight on the first day of semester and forget their lunch box in the morning?"
Yuri Lee erased the blackboard and scolded me.
Just yesterday, could I have imagined that Yuri Lee would talk to me so freely?
I opened the window and spoke to Yuri from behind as she opened the blackboard eraser.
"But is it okay for the student council president to stay here and help clean up after that scoundrel instead of doing student council work?"
"I know yeah. Still, since we set the rough agenda yesterday, we can now hold the meeting slowly one by one. "If you're really worried, why don't you finish cleaning quickly, so you don't have time to talk nonsense?"
We cleaned the classroom, bickering occasionally.
To be exact, Lee Yu-ri was complaining one-sidedly.
It may be hard to imagine with such a rugged appearance, but I was quite good at simple household chores like cleaning.
As Yuri watched me quickly cleaning up the classroom with her skillful hands, she occasionally made strange looks, but eventually she couldn't control her curiosity and spoke to me.
"You… "You're better at this than I thought?"
"Why did you think I couldn't do it?"
"Isn't that true of anyone?"
"Try living alone too. If you don't want to die buried in a pile of garbage, it will increase on its own."
"Oh, I see. Living alone… Huh?"
Yuri nodded as if she was convinced by my words, then she noticed something strange and raised her head again.
"What does that mean? "Do you live alone?"
"Uh."
"What about your parents?"
"Doesn't exist. "I live alone."
"My parents… "You're not there?"
Yuri Lee's face gradually became pale as she thought that she had asked something that she should not have asked.
"To be precise, there is. But I didn't know where my mom was, and I cut off ties with my dad."
The unknown background of Iljin Han Seong-jin.
When she was young, her mother had an affair and left home, and her father became an alcoholic due to the shock and became abusive in her family, frequently cursing at Han Seong-jin and hitting her with his hand.
There was no way that Han Seong-jin, who had grown up without much affection from his parents and had seen such filth in his life, could ever become a decent human being.
From a young age, he was completely crooked and solved all problems with violence, and by the time he entered Jinsu Higher Education Academy, he had already become a king of fists, recognized even in the surrounding area.
Since he was a minor, he started drinking and smoking, and he rode motorcycles and played biker games with other gang members just like him.
She broke off ties with her father a long time ago and lived alone in an old, shabby studio apartment, and paid the monthly rent with the money she had stolen from the gang.
In order to fill her empty heart, she touched any woman she liked, and she also had extremely promiscuous relationships with female students from Jinsu-gyo and other academies.
For Han Seong-jin, devouring and corrupting all the heroines in the original work was just an everyday action with nothing special about it.
… Of course, that was Han Seong-jin's life before, and since I am Han Seong-jin, I will no longer live such a trash life.
There was no benefit in telling her in detail what happened behind the scenes, so I didn't tell Yu-ri Lee the details and only told her a bit about it.
But perhaps that was a mistake, Yuri opened her eyes even wider and started to ask me various questions.
"Tell me in detail. Is there a problem with tuition or something? This is something you need to know as the student council president.
A student with such circumstances may submit an agenda item for discussion regarding tuition at a faculty meeting. Is life difficult for you? "It's not like that, is it?"
"Hey, just like the reason why you were down today, this is just my personal matter. Don't ask too much. Because there is no problem with my life."
"No, but… "
"Finished cleaning! You said you weren't busy today, right? Then let's go home together."
"Under? Why am I with you… Huh? Hey!"
I grabbed Yu-ri Lee, lifted her bag from her seat, and took her out of the classroom.
Yu-ri Lee was taken aback and was dragged out by my hand, just making noises.
She came to the front of the school gate and shook my hand away.
"A little… Let go! "I haven't even gone to the student council room yet-"
"He said he wasn't busy today. Do I really need to go back to the student council room again?"
"Of course you should! Without me, the student council would be-"
"Don't you know that your work efficiency decreases if you work when you're in a bad mood?"
"… Huh?"
"You are talking about you. Gong Youngbae and that bastard didn't make eye contact all day, but you guys fought, right? What do you do in that state? "Just go home early today and rest."
"Why are you deciding that?!"
"If I don't force you out, you seem like the type of person who will pretend like nothing is wrong and then end up suffering from an internal illness. "Am I surprisingly accurate in seeing people?"
Of course, I don't really have a great eye for people, but I made my judgment based on the information I gained about Lee Yu-ri's personality through the original work.
Yu-ri Lee tried to resist, but perhaps because I was not wrong, she soon gave up and obediently put her bag on her back.
"Ha… I don't know why I have to be so influenced by you. And why are you so needlessly quick-witted? "
"I took a picture, but am I really right?"
"!!!"
"Okay, then, to freshen up your mood, would you like to go home with me in a friendly manner, student council president?"
"What about getting along well?"
Even though she said that, Yuri eventually started walking with me.
Less than three minutes after we started walking together, we passed a convenience store in front of the school, and I stopped walking for a moment.
"Oh, let's stop by the convenience store over there for a moment."
"What should I buy?"
"Lunchbox."
I went into the convenience store with Lee Yu-ri and picked up two decent-looking lunch boxes and a can of cola.
They were the same items I bought yesterday.
After paying, I came out and put my lunch and coke in a bag, and Lee Yu-ri, who was quietly watching, asked.
"Now that I think about it, I think you said yesterday that the convenience store lunch box was for dinner and breakfast… Do you eat like this every day?"
"Uh."
"It's bad for your health!"
"I'm okay because I was born with a strong body."
"What kind of nonsense is that… "
Yuri was about to nag something, but she shook her head and stopped.
Instead, she brought up another topic in a calmer voice.
"Your image is very different from what I heard."
"For example?"
"He's grumpy, always sleeps during class, has no interest in anything other than hanging out with the same gang, doesn't know how to do anything other than drink, smoke, and hang out with women, so I thought he was just a mean-spirited scoundrel."
"Do you have poison on your tongue?"
"I'm saying I was wrong."
Yuri Lee started twisting the side of her hair with her fingers, probably because she was embarrassed.
"Okay? Then, would you like to hear what my image is like now?"
"He's so annoying and always sleeps during class."
"It's the same."
"But surprisingly, he was considerate, paid attention to details, and listened to others' stories well. You have a more human side than I thought… What was most unexpected was that you were perfect at things like cleaning."
"You're in love with me."
"Oh, no?! "I just said what I felt!"
I laughed and joked, and Yuri jumped up with her new red face.
Then, when she saw the convenience store bag in my hand again, she cleared her throat, cleared her voice, and continued speaking.
"I didn't even know you had such personal circumstances. If you need help with tuition, please let me know. As I said before, since I am the student council president, I can at least suggest agenda items to the teachers to be discussed during faculty and staff meetings."
"Done. When you're 20, it's time to take care of yourself."
"… Isn't it still a bit early?"
"And right now, we're graduating next year, so what's the point in surviving with your help this year? I can get through this year on my own. Don't look at me too much."
"Hey, I was worried, so why did you say that-"
"Instead."
I looked at Yuri Lee and made another suggestion.
To further narrow the distance between her and Lee Yu-ri and make her my woman.
"I would really appreciate it if we could at least eat together for lunch, how about that?"
"What, what? "Are you asking me to have lunch with you?"
"Yeah, you don't like it?"
"Of course-"
Yu-ri Lee, who was about to answer, could not finish her sentence and remained silent with her mouth wide open.
Lee Yu-ri usually ate lunch with Gong Young-bae.
It's not that he doesn't have same-sex friends, but if you look at the description in the original work, he was always with Gong Young-bae during lunchtime.
However, he and Gong Young-bae had a fight, and from the looks of it, it doesn't look like they have reconciled, so it will be difficult for them to eat together at lunch tomorrow as usual.
I decided to dig into that gap and keep Yuri by my side.
And Yuri Lee's answer was…
"I don't like it."
Yuri's face turned bright red again, and she turned her head to the side to avoid my gaze.
"If it's only for a few days… Okay."