Chapter 58 – 18. Jihye Jeon (6)
Second year middle school, 15 years old.
This period, also called ‘puberty’, is a very important time for teenagers. In the process of growing from children to adults, they become extremely sensitive emotionally and gradually establish their own identity.
At the same time, the secretion of sex hormones, which are vigorous, maximizes the physical difference between men and women. Men go through a sexual change and wet dreams, while women experience menstruation as their breasts and buttocks grow little by little.
Through these changes, men and women finally begin to recognize each other as ‘the opposite sex’. They are thrilled with an instinctive attraction to the increasingly evident external differences.
It was the same in the classroom of Jung Ji-hoo and Jeon Ji-hye.
“Guys, what do you think after stopping? Isn’t it better than I thought?”
Break time, women’s bathroom.
As a female student changed her clothes for her PE class, the next class, the name of Ji-Hoo came out, and the friend next to her nodded furiously.
“Yeah! He’s so handsome.”
“I asked you something briefly the other day, and your voice was so good that it made my heart flutter for a moment…”
“He’s really tall. Isn’t he almost 180?”
Jung Ji-hoo, one of the two male students who is always mentioned whenever their chatter is about ‘men’.
He is a model student who is quiet in class. Possessing both a taciturn personality and a warm appearance, he was popular with girls who were the type of mature man.
“Jihye, aren’t you the closest to him among us? Does he have a girlfriend?”
Also, Jeon Ji-hye herself was often called at the place where Jeong Ji-hoo was mentioned.
“Um… I guess there won’t be?”
“It’s interesting. Are you not interested in women?”
“Or, actually, Ji-hye and you are a secret couple?!”
“Ah, no, something like that…”
Jeon Ji-hye shook her head at her friends’ meaningful eyes and questioning, as well as a little jealousy. As for her, she was in a situation that was unfair to her. Because, she said, she and Jihoo are just childhood friends, not a romantic relationship at all.
The two of them are very close to each other, so they graduated from the same elementary school, and are currently attending the same middle school. She has been in the same class for five years, including this year, and thanks to the overlapping times and routes between her and her school, Ji-hye was able to get along with him naturally.
Jihoo? They are good friends. Nice and fun He’s handsome, um… Maybe it’s because he keeps listening to what his friends say.
But Ji-hye wasn’t interested in men yet, so she didn’t really want to have a deeper relationship with him. At least not yet.
“Ah. Still, Shin Hyeon-cheol is better than Jung Ji-hoo. Isn’t it?”
Hyuncheol Shin. A lively, athletic, dyed-haired boy. With the image of a ‘boy who plays a little’, he is popular with girls with the opposite charm to Jung Ji-hoo.
Ji-hye’s best friend, Park So-young, is also a member of the so-called ‘Shin Hyeon-chul fan club’.
Jeon Ji-hye bowed her head at the name of the new man, covering her slightly shadowed face. Then, in the ensuing conversation, she quietly killed her presence. Because she was a little rough with Shin Hyeon-cheol.
However, despite these efforts, an unexpected testimony came out of the mouth of a friend who had praised Jihoo earlier.
“Actually, I saw you last week…”
“Suddenly? What did you see?”
“Shin Hyeon-cheol confessing to Ji-hye…”
“What? Really?!”
When the shocking news swept through, everyone except for the witnesses was shocked. Most of her friends were intensely curious about the sudden love story, and Jeon Ji-hye was embarrassed that her recent troubles that were weighing on her mind had been revealed.
“Wisdom, is it real?”
And Park So-young stared at Ji-hye’s two eyes, unable to solve her frozen expression.
“Note···.”
“Tell me.”
“…No, no, it’s not like that! The two of us talked about it, but it wasn’t like that at all. Isn’t Hyeeun misunderstanding something?”
“Ummm… Did I get it wrong?”
“I’m sure it’s like that, how can someone like me do anything with Shin Hyeon-cheol… Hehe.”
“Oh what~”
Her quick denial slowly eased So-young’s stern face, and the interest of the rest of her friends subsided like fallen leaves. Jeon Ji-hye smiled on the outside but let out a sigh of relief on the inside.
I’m so glad to pass like this
Anyway, I would have thought that Hye-eun would have seen that scene.
—-I like you… How about you?
A sudden confession after school last week. Until that day, Ji-hye, who had no contact with Shin Hyeon-cheol, was just dumbfounded by her sudden question.
I really appreciate the confession, but I politely declined. Not only is she not interested in dating, but Shin Hyeon-cheol is the object of her best friend’s unrequited love.
Taking away her friend’s man is an absolute taboo in women’s friendship. She did not want to lose her dear friend to an event completely unrelated to her own will.
Even though I now know my best friend, I’m glad I covered it well.
‘I guess it worked out well…?’
After school, on the way home.
“…That’s what happened.”
Jeon Ji-hye passed through the apartment complex with Jung Ji-hoo and told her about the difficulties she had at school.
“Oh, you really worked hard. I feel it every time I hear this and that from you, but I think girl friendships are very complicated and difficult. It’s not some kind of factional politics.”
“So! I mean… You have to check your chat on time, and if there’s a meeting, you can’t miss it…”
She turned to her male chin, who only had one head on her head.
“How nice it would be if other friends were also comfortable like you, Jihoo…”
He looked at her, bursting out with her cool, gutsy grin, which didn’t match her quiet image.
“Next time if you have a problem like this, tell me anytime. I’ll listen to everything.”
“… Hung! Jihoo, you’re my counselor from now on. Be prepared!”
After stop. I’m still not sure about his charm as a man, but as a friend, he’s really precious.
After talking with him today, I felt relieved and my anxiety completely disappeared.
A person who is fun to be with, someone you can share your worries or secrets with, and someone whose heart warms up when you think about it.
“Shall we have dinner together before school?”
“Okay! Do you want to come to my house?”
The back of Ji-hye’s hair, following Ji-hoo up the stairs, fluttered from side to side like her dog’s tail, representing her feelings.
* * *
Wrong.
Something went wrong.
Jeon Ji-hye prides herself on being quick-witted compared to other people. Her grasp of her mood and her sense of distance were the number one contributors to her belonging to the insider group in her class.
Obviously everything was fine until yesterday. The atmosphere in her class that was kind to her, the boys that were nice to her, and the friends she went to with. All.
“Let’s go to lunch now.”
“Quick, quick! Kick kick.”
“·······.”
Today, towards myself who pretends to sleep on my stomach, no one comes to wake me up. I don’t even ask to have lunch together, and I don’t have any friends who ask worriedly if I’m sick.
Park So-young, who must have been her best friend, left her classroom before anyone else.
While the voices of the children’s voices spread as if they could be heard from afar, only the ticking of the second hand on the wall clock was exceptionally loud. She surveyed the classroom through the narrow gap between her folded arms.
Eventually, when everyone went to her dining room for her meal and she was the only one left,
Unlike the others, Jihye headed to the bathroom.
She goes into the compartment, locks the door, and crouches on the toilet lid.
It’s around lunchtime, no problem. In this state anyway, the rice will not pass properly.
She buried her face between her legs and pondered. Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong to make everyone start avoiding me?
“Haha······.”
A dejected laugh leaked out of his mouth at such an obvious answer. The only thing that happened yesterday was Shin Hyeon-chul’s confession, so that must be the cause.
So what should I do now?
What should I do next to get out of this situation?
The most urgent thing right now is to prevent the atmosphere that ostracizes oneself from becoming fixed. To do this, quick response is of the utmost importance.
Should I ask Soyoung directly? Why are you doing this to me all of a sudden?
Or should I ask Hyunchul Shin to mediate? No, I can’t listen I kicked his confession…
Tens of thousands of thoughts come to mind and disappear again for different reasons. With no clear path in sight, the stones of worry and anxiety fall on the surface of her mind and create numerous waves.
Wisdom is like wandering in an endless dark tunnel. The entrance and exit are so far away that I feel like I am moving forward recklessly without even knowing if this is the right direction, feeling the cold wind blowing and hearing the voices of ghosts in pitch black without a single light.
I hope that she will be in her agony for tens of minutes.
“Oh, the curry got stuck between my teeth…”
“What was the next class?”
“It’s Korean. I’m suffering from hunger, but I have to listen to the sleeping song. It’s ruined!”
Her former friends, the cause of all the change, entered the bathroom. Wisdom held her breath as hard as she could.
Apparently they came to brush their teeth.
“By the way, where did she go? I couldn’t see her in the cafeteria, and she just wasn’t in the classroom.”
“I’m sure. Wouldn’t it be around the playground? And while doing so, he would wag his tail at the boys exercising. Just like Shin Hyeon-chul did.”
“But Hyeon-cheol is also a bit disappointed. To think he fell for such an obvious trick.”
······Take your tail. Wisdom said, “She swears to the sky,” And when she was confessed to by Shin Hyeon-cheol, it was the moment she had a conversation with him for the first time.
“Hey. Doesn’t Jeon Ji-hye look like a slut? Honestly.”
“I didn’t like her from the start~. Did you know he wears her breast pads?”
“Wow… You want to seduce a guy? He’s really great too, really…”
“Well… It’s a volume that can’t be explained unless it’s a temp. I thought he had surgery.”
······Padrani. She’s never worn anything like that before. Her D-cup breasts are natural. It’s a much larger size than its peers, but…
Mop. Fox. Sexy girl prostitute. Betrayal. Obscene I hate it why do you live like that
Even after brushing their teeth, they chewed their wisdom for a long time before returning to the classroom.
A single tear flowed from her eyes.
After school, Jeon Ji-hye’s room.
“······That’s what happened.”
“·······.”
In the end, she left school without being able to mix her words with anyone except Jeong Ji-hoo. Most of her didn’t pay attention to her. Some women gave her occasional glances of contempt, and some men licked her body up and down a few times.
Wisdom has always acted as calmly as possible. Her performance was quite successful until the last bell rang and she left the school gate and arrived in front of her house. But there was no need to act until in her room, so she collapsed.
On the bed, with her body tightly wrapped in a blanket, she gazes at the scene in front of her with only her face sticking out. He stroked her soft hair with a confused expression.
“Wisdom, it’s not your fault.”
“Yes······.”
“You’re not wrong.”
Jihoo’s kind words heal her old wounds. It was as if she was being rewarded for the hardships and sorrows of the day. His hands gently tickling his scalp are so nice.
“…Is it my fault that I have bigger breasts than them?”
“Yes?”
“Did Shin Hyeon-cheol confess to me because he was tempted by this?”
He pondered for a while at Ji-hye’s self-deprecation and self-loathing, and then opened his mouth.
“Maybe it’s because Shin Hyeon-cheol is a pervert. But that’s not your fault. Rather, it’s an advantage. They’re just doing it out of jealousy. If you twist them, your heart will grow like our wisdom!”
“Do you like my breasts too?”
“······.”
His lips, which were parted eagerly, were closed quietly. She looked into Jihoo’s eyes. He was surprisingly very calm and calm.
Jung Ji-hoo brushed her bangs to the side and whispered the truth of this world into her ear.
“There’s no man who doesn’t like a woman’s breasts.”
“······.”
“Never.”
“I see······.”
“Right.”
“Then would you like to touch my breasts…?”
The buttons on the shirt are slowly undone one by one.
“······If it’s you Jihoo, it’s fine…”
Is the reason why her wisdom cheeks are now red is because she is ashamed, or is it because the red sunset outside her window is reflected.
The answer would only be known to her.
Evening when the sky darkens as the sun goes down.
Jeon Ji-hye realized two things.
One is that Jihoo’s touch is very kind, gentle, and warm.
The only thing left is that she seems to have felt love for the first time in her life.
She stood at her window and watched Jihoo’s back as she returned to her own house. Keep going until he’s gone.
Jeon Ji-hye did not know.
The true meaning of the smile she nods her head as Jeongji-hoo walks away.
You will never know forever.
* * *
The savage time flows unchangingly.
Her surroundings did not improve at all. No, it’s safe to say that she made it worse on her own.
Ji-hye completely gave up on repairing her relationships with her friends or communicating with other kids. The psychological wall around her diverted even the boys who approached her with her nefarious purposes.
She is so good now. She was much better than before. Because I can pour everything into Jung Ji-hoo without having to worry about useless things anymore.
‘Jihoo······♡’
That evening, the seed of love planted in her heart is growing rapidly. It shows no signs of stopping growth. Just like the tree of 〈 Jack and the Beanstalk 〉, it just keeps growing with the momentum that will pierce the sky.
Love changed everything. Not only her values, feelings, outlook, and attitude, but also her purpose and reason for living. Wisdom is happy every day. The way home after school, dinner, and the academy they go to together are now indispensable sources of vitality in life.
But it’s not always fun.
“J-Jihoo, this…! Accept it…!!”
“Oh what. Pepero? Could it be that today is Pepero Day?! Thank you so much!”
“Hassuk…!”
Kim Hye-eun runs away into the arms of her friends, blushing like Hongshi. She looked upon her, who had once been her friend, now her rival and her foe, and her wisdom gnashed her teeth.
“…Kick.”
While praising Kim Hye-eun for her courage to the fullest, Park So-young, who turned her gaze toward herself, snorted at her, and the thin sharpie in her wisdom hand broke her in half.
