Translator: Elisia
Editor/Proofreader: Wojo
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… ‘Sara’ didn’t come back.
Maybe they are still having a conversation right now.
No, is that really the case?
In Yoo Ha-neul’s mind, such thoughts kept coming and going.
One side tried to see the situation positively, while the other tried to view it negatively.
Both thoughts were valid.
The positive side was Yoo Ha-neul, who had been seeing the changes in ‘Sara.’
Although she hadn’t completely let go of her lingering feelings for Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung, ‘Sara’ knew that there were far more people who cared about her now than before.
Even though the way they regarded her as ‘precious’ was different between Sara and ‘Sara,’ both of them were equally important friends to Yoo Ha-neul.
Because of this, Yoo Ha-neul trusted Sara. She trusted ‘Sara.’
She believed that even if she met her mother, she would return right away.
But the negative thoughts kept pulling her in the opposite direction.
The problem was that ‘Sara’ hadn’t completely rid herself of her lingering feelings for Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung.
Yoo Ha-neul remembered the scene where Sara ran into Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung’s arms.
The most intense memory in ‘Sara’s’ life.
The only human she could communicate with.
That’s why there was uncertainty about what results this conversation would bring.
“……”
She looked at the smartphone on her desk.
It had only been about 10 minutes since ‘Sara’ had gone out.
Yes, factoring in the time to go, talk, and come back, it was natural for it to take longer.
Thinking that way, she felt slightly relieved.
“Yoo Ha-neul, focus on the class.”
The teacher, who usually didn’t say anything about what the other students were doing, said that to Yoo Ha-neul.
“……”
How much money did Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung give out this time?
Not long ago, ‘Sara’ had once said to the teachers, “Return what you didn’t earn,” in order to pressure them.
She even made them sign a written agreement right then and there, so the teachers’ resentment towards ‘Sara’ must have been severe.
And naturally, that resentment was also directed toward Yoo Ha-neul and So-hee, Sara’s friends.
No, maybe it was directed at every scholarship student attending this school.
After all, the students most influenced by and helped by ‘Sara’ were those kids.
The others didn’t bother to hide their snickering.
It seemed they were openly mocking Yoo Ha-neul.
So-hee looked around, annoyed, but unlike the last time when she had dominated the atmosphere in front of the teachers, she couldn’t control the situation.
…That didn’t mean it wasn’t effective, though.
Pathetically, some students avoided her gaze and closed their mouths.
To them, So-hee must have seemed like someone who could really go off the rails.
Of course, So-hee never hit anyone.
…But she could grab them by the collar.
“Focus on your studies. If you don’t keep your grades up, you won’t be able to stay at this school.”
“……”
Yoo Ha-neul clenched her teeth.
It was disgusting.
There was a time when she had looked at this school from the outside with longing.
She had worked so hard to get in, after all.
All the facilities were top-class, the teachers were top-class, and the students attending were the ‘upper class.’
It might even be stranger not to admire it.
But in this school, all the filth one could imagine about the upper class gathered together as well.
But for now, she endured.
Because Sara was still here.
Soo-ah was here, and so was So-hee.
She didn’t want to give up the memories she had with them.
So she picked up her pen again and started jotting down the teacher’s mutterings in her notebook.
Just until ‘Sara’ returns.
Just until then, I’ll endure.
That’s what she thought.
*
But it wasn’t ‘Sara’ who returned.
The class wasn’t even over yet when the door creaked open.
“Ha-neul! So-hee!”
And the one who shouted loudly was not the ‘Sara’ who was supposed to return.
It was Soo-ah, breathing heavily, as if she had run all the way here.
“What are you doing in the middle of class—”
“What’s going on?”
The teacher tried to scold Soo-ah, but Yoo Ha-neul stood up before that.
There was a reason Soo-ah had run all the way here like this.
In the middle of class, it was always Yoo Ha-neul, So-hee, and Sara, or ‘Sara,’ who went outside.
“Right now—”
The teacher, perhaps enraged by the blatant continuation of their conversation, or maybe delighted that they had found a reason to punish the thorn in their side, began to wear an angry expression.
Smack!
Something flew hard and hit the teacher’s face.
“Ah!”
It wasn’t hard enough to leave a serious wound, but the teacher was shocked by the sudden attack and grabbed their face.
A pen rolled across the floor.
It was a pretty expensive, hefty metal pen.
“Shin So-hee!”
This time, not faking anger, the teacher genuinely looked furious as they shouted.
So-hee, still in the posture of having thrown the pen, leaned on the desk and received the teacher’s anger with a bored expression.
“Can’t you just shut up? My friends are in the middle of something.”
“What do you mean, shut up to a teacher—”
But once again, the teacher couldn’t finish the sentence.
This time, it wasn’t a pen, but an entire pencil case that flew at them.
The teacher dodged it by lying down quickly, and then rolled on the floor.
“You should’ve exercised more regularly.”
So-hee sighed as she said that.
A few students couldn’t hold back their laughter and let out small giggles, but when So-hee glared at them with a sharp look, they quickly covered their mouths.
The teacher, who was getting back up, had a face turning red from anger and embarrassment.
With a face both flushed and humiliated, the teacher shouted.
“You lot, this won’t just slide!”
“That’s only something you can say while we’re still students.”
“What?”
“I’ve been patient, but I can’t tolerate it any longer. I don’t feel like attending this trashy school anymore.”
So-hee slowly got up.
She glanced at Yoo Ha-neul, who was already standing.
So-hee gave a casual shrug to her, who was staring at her with her mouth slightly open.
“This school wasn’t a good fit for me anyway.”
And So-hee walked toward the front of the classroom where the teacher stood.
“You, you, saying such things to a teacher—”
“Hey, cut the teacher title out. I have no intention of addressing you with respect.”
So-hee, having walked right up to the teacher, jammed her hands into her uniform pockets and looked up at the teacher defiantly.
So-hee wasn’t taller than the teacher, but the height difference wasn’t overwhelming.
When they stood face to face like this, they were almost on equal footing.
“You keep calling me a student and giving me crap, but if you want to be treated like a teacher, try acting like one. You’ve been acting so filthy all along that no one treats you like a teacher.”
“……”
The teacher’s face was flushed, but they couldn’t say anything.
They probably instinctively understood.
So-hee was on the verge of exploding.
And the biggest reason for that was ‘Sara’s’ failure to return.
At this point, money wasn’t the issue.
If the teacher said even one wrong word, they’d really be in trouble.
Physically.
Maybe the So-hee standing in front of the teacher right now was even hoping for the teacher to ‘provoke’ her.
“So-hee.”
But the tense confrontation ended quickly.
Yoo Ha-neul tapped So-hee on the shoulder.
“……Huh?”
When So-hee turned around, Yoo Ha-neul shook her head.
“Don’t. It’s not worth it.”
No matter how angry she was, if she hit someone, it would cause bigger problems.
If the police showed up here, they wouldn’t be able to help ‘Sara.’
“……”
So-hee stared silently at the teacher, then suddenly lowered her head.
“Ugh.”
So-hee spat on the teacher’s foot.
“Go ahead, keep teaching at this disgusting school. I’m done with it.”
“So-hee.”
Yoo Ha-neul called out to So-hee, but,
“I’m serious. I’m going to tell Sara, too. There are plenty of places we can go without needing to stay here.”
“……”
Yoo Ha-neul looked blankly at So-hee.
So-hee’s expression was deadly serious.
“…Yeah, let’s do that.”
And Yoo Ha-neul nodded in agreement.
“It doesn’t have to be here.”
Yoo Ha-neul turned around without hesitation.
Yeah, none of this matters anymore.
The people who are precious to her were already around her.
This stupid school no longer matters.
“So, Soo-ah.”
Yoo Ha-neul looked at Soo-ah, whose face was still pale, and asked.
“What happened?”
At the question, Soo-ah took a deep breath and said,
“Sara, she left with her mother!”
She let it all out in one breath.
For a moment, time stopped for Yoo Ha-neul and So-hee.
“…Let’s go.”
But it didn’t take long for them to snap out of it.
How Soo-ah knew that, and why Sara left with Chairwoman Choi Na-kyung, those were things they could figure out on the way.
Before they knew it, the three of them were running together.
“Do you know where they went?”
“For now, the direction is…!”
“So-hee!”
So-hee was already on the phone with Yang Hye-in.
“……”
Running as hard as she could, Yoo Ha-neul could only hope that Sara was safe.