Novexa Novels

Chapter 2

“Yeah, I do like you too. As a friend.”

“……”

“But us dating… Even you, Dahye, have to admit that wouldn’t really be right, don’t you think?”

“Ah.”

Hearing those words brought it all back to me.

How had I forgotten this?

And then, surely, this came next…

“Didn’t you see all the girls I dated while you were right there beside me? Didn’t watching them make you realize anything? Why on earth would you confess to me? Compared to them, you… Never mind. I won’t go that far.”

Right. He was supposed to say this line.

The line that crushed what little self-esteem I had left and sent me plunging into a swamp of depression.

I looked over the boy standing in front of me.

Tall, with soft-looking hair and smooth, well-defined features—the kind of face that seemed destined to earn some ridiculous nickname like the “Three Kings of XX University” once he went to college. And on top of it all, that expression that clearly said, I’m pissed, but I’m holding it in.

“…Seo Jaegyeom.”

“Yeah.”

At my calling his name, the boy gave a slight nod.

Right. It was Seo Jaegyeom.

The most popular guy in our school until idol trainee Jung Eunseong transferred in.

Even after Jung Eunseong arrived, he hardly lost any ground, continuing to divide the girls’ affection with him.

My first love.

‘My mom used to work as a housekeeper at Seo Jaegyeom’s house.’

Whenever I went there to run an errand, Seo Jaegyeom was always there, dazzling as ever.

A handsome boy my age who lived in a house so spacious and clean that it couldn’t even be compared to ours.

He lived with his mother in the nicest neighborhood around here, in the biggest house.

There were countless rumors that he was the illegitimate son of some major corporation.

And I was one of the few people who knew that rumor was true.

‘Oh, Kang Dahye. Hi.’

‘Kang Dahye. You’re here again.’

Even though knowing his secret should have made things uncomfortable for me, Seo Jaegyeom never showed any sign of it.

Whenever we met at school, he would at least give me a casual greeting, and if it got late, he would offer to walk me home. He had never actually walked me home, but still. At least he offered.

‘Seo Jaegyeom, are you dating Kang Dahye?’

‘Cut the bullshit.’

It was the perfect environment for me to get the wrong idea.

But reality wasn’t a drama, and I wasn’t the protagonist either.

It really had been nothing more than a misunderstanding.

“Seo Jaegyeom, for real……”

I stared in fascination at Seo Jaegyeom’s face, seeing it for the first time since my senior year of high school.

Just like with so many of my other friends, I lost contact with Seo Jaegyeom as soon as we graduated.

The contact that had always been maintained unilaterally by me was abruptly cut off when, ashamed to face my friends after bombing the CSAT, I hid myself away.

Seo Jaegyeom never looked for me.

Not even once.

“Seo Jaegyeom. When was it that I confessed to you?”

“Who knows? I don’t really remember that far back.”

Seo Jaegyeom answered my question as though it were nothing important.

I could tell just from that that Seo Jaegyeom had no feelings for me.

It was March now.

Early March.

The start of the semester… No, the start of the school year! It hadn’t even been a week since school started.

Q. Aren’t confessions usually made on special occasions like Valentine’s Day, the end-of-year festival, or a graduation trip?

If you got rejected, how were you planning to face him afterward when you went and confessed to a boy from the same school right at the beginning of the semester? And, as I understand it, you were even in the same class as Seo Jaegyeom at this point.

A. No.

I confessed at the end of the school year too.

I confessed last December. It’s just that I’m only getting my answer now.

‘Huh? You? To me?’

‘Ah. But I have to go right now. I’ll contact you later?’

And then he disappeared for the entire winter vacation.

Seo Jaegyeom didn’t even come to the closing ceremony, saying he was going on an overseas trip.

I was the only one agonizing over whether I should contact him or not, clutching my phone and fretting all the way until March. I checked Chasebook dozens of times a day, watching for photos of Seo Jaegyeom surfing at Manly Beach.

There’s that famous saying that no answer is also an answer.

But just in case.

Holding on to even the tiniest sliver of hope.

For the record, my birthday was in February, and Seo Jaegyeom didn’t contact me even once that day.

Then, after school started, when he saw me in the same class, he finally seemed to remember and went, ‘Ah.’

And it was only today that he finally gave me his answer.

The me before regression had been hurt by this and cried her eyes out.

But the me now?

“Dahye, you’re smart. You understand without me having to say anything more, right? I’ll just pretend I never heard what you said that day. You too……”

“Yeah, sure.”

I raised a hand and stopped Seo Jaegyeom from speaking.

“I understand exactly what you mean. You want us to pretend it never happened, right? I’m fine with that.”

It might have been a heartbreaking unrequited love that had made me cry every night eleven years ago, but now that I was twenty-nine, it was nothing but ridiculous.

‘Seriously, Kang Dahye. You always had a sixth sense for handsome men.’

Still, how could you possibly have thought about confessing to him?

Was he the only handsome guy around? If so, you should’ve just liked nobody.

If you’d taken even one step back, it would have been painfully obvious.

Who Seo Jaegyeom had feelings for.

‘Whatever. We won’t see each other after graduation anyway.’

I had something far more important to worry about than Seo Jaegyeom.

I dusted off the dirt that had gotten on my school uniform and looked up at Seo Jaegyeom.

At my direct gaze, Seo Jaegyeom slightly narrowed his eyes.

“Kang Dahye?”

“Sorry for crossing the line. I won’t do it again.”

“Uh…

“Then I’ll head inside first.”

“O…kay.”

“Yeah.”

“……”

“Oh, but Seo Jaegyeom.”

“Yeah?”

“If saying, ‘How could you confess to me after seeing all the girls I’ve dated until now?’ isn’t a harsh thing to say, then what exactly counts as harsh by your standards?”

I didn’t wait for an answer and returned to the classroom by myself.

I couldn’t remember which class I was in, so I wandered around for a moment before finally finding it by recognizing the faces of my classmates and going inside.

“My locker is… Oh, here it is.”

There was a lock on it, but I couldn’t remember the combination.

Let’s just break it.

Whack!

“Gasp.”

The classmates stared in shock as I used a broom to smash the lock off.

“Dahye, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m just so happy right now.”

I took all the textbooks out of the locker. Hugging the whole stack in my arms, I turned around.

A girl happened to meet my eyes, so I asked her,

“Hey, friend.”

“U-uh?”

“Could you tell me where my seat was?”

I added that I couldn’t remember because I hadn’t been able to sleep last night, and without any particular suspicion, she pointed somewhere.

Third row of the second section.

“Thanks.”

I sat down and piled the textbooks I had brought onto my desk.

After taking a deep breath, I began flipping through them one by one.

—Korean.

Korean should be fine. It’s not like I’ve forgotten the Korean language. I just need to practice solving questions again. Pass.

—English.

I’m a TOEIC perfect scorer, so I should be fine. Pass.

—Korean History.

I know the general flow, but I don’t remember the details. Put it on hold for now.

—Mathematics.

Huh? What symbol was this again? How do I solve this?

—The Second Foreign Language = French, which I absolutely have to take because I’m aiming for Hankuk University, even though the other students don’t have to.

The only French I remember is Joan of Arc, Napoleon, and jambon-beurre. What am I supposed to do??????

No, wait a second, but mathematics……

This subject, which at the time was still more commonly called the “Mathematics Section”……

I don’t remember a single thing……?

“I’m screwed……”

I’m X screwed.

That was the conclusion I could reach without even having to think it through.

I’m X screwed.

“Wow, this is insane. I don’t remember anything.”

I don’t even remember the quadratic formula.

How much time is left until the CSAT from now?

One year and seven months? Eight months?

But it’s not enough to just do well on the CSAT. My school grades matter too.

Do I have to relearn everything I’ve forgotten while keeping up with all the new material……?

Drip.

“Gasp, Dahye! Why are you crying!”

“Huh? Kang Dahye’s crying?”

“Kang Dahye is crying.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Dahye, are you okay?”

“…What’s going on?”

“Jaegyeom, Dahye’s crying!”

“…She is?”

Seo Jaegyeom, who had just been coming into the classroom, heard the words Kang Dahye’s crying and looked at me.

When he saw me streaming tears, Seo Jaegyeom slightly furrowed his brow… and sighed.

I must really be a pain for him.

‘I’m not crying because of you, you know?’

I wanted to tell him that, but even if I did, it would probably sound like nothing more than an excuse to him……

Ah, this is embarrassing.

“I’m going to the bathroom for a minute.”

I grabbed only my phone, taking the first thing my hand landed on, and left the classroom.

I leaned my back against the hallway wall and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay.”

There’s still plenty of time.

I went all the way back through time, and I was given a second chance that other people couldn’t even dream of. Was I really going to sit here whining?

“No whining. Let’s just say these tears I’m shedding right now are tears of joy.”

I casually wiped away my tears with the back of one hand and operated my smartphone with the other.

Maybe because it was a model from eleven years ago, but it was definitely heavier, thicker, and slower.

Let’s see.

What apps did I use eleven years ago?

“I used this music app even eleven years ago. …What is this, a playlist for my unrequited love?”

[Ms. Kang Dahye’s Unrequited Love Playlist]

—Should’ve Just Been Friends

—If It Were Me… The Person You Love… If It Were Me……

—Always… I Was There One Step Behind You…☆

—I Want to Tell You… That I Love You… I Hate Myself for Being Unable to Say Anything…

—I’d Be Happy Even If It Were by Chance… Just So I Could Run Into You… If Only I Could Look at You One More Time Like That……