Chapter 0 – The Beginning of It All
‘I lost again…’
On the day of the announcement of the results, everyone is noisy. Wisdom was looking at her report card.
If someone else sees Wisdom like that, they may be mistaken for thinking that she would be looking at her report card without feeling anything wrong, but in fact, Wisdom lowered her head to hide her expression and crumpled her report card and gnashed her teeth.
The grade itself was an excellent grade that would be recognized anywhere, but because of a certain fact, Ji-hye was feeling dissatisfied with her grade.
‘Minji Choi…’
Calling someone’s name with a deep resonance in her heart, Jihye lifted her head and looked ahead. Because she lowered her head, her front hair was messy and obscured Wisdom’s vision. In the meantime, Wisdom’s eyes were on a woman who was surrounded and praised by everyone in the center of the classroom. She was Choi Min-ji.
To be honest, assuming that there is a ranking in grades, Choi Min-ji was in first place and Kim Ji-hye was in second place, so it was normal to pay attention to Ji-hye as well as Min-ji. The reason why Choi Min-ji and Kim Ji-hye had such an extreme difference of interest was that, unlike Choi Min-ji, who looked nice and kind to anyone, Kim Ji-hye was an ugly woman no one wanted to approach.
Basically, despite being 158cm tall, she weighs 85kg and has a body that is considered fat, a wide nose like a pig, pimple-covered skin, thick glasses due to terribly poor eyesight, and eyes that look small because of it. The first impression was of course the worst and she was a woman who didn’t want to talk for very long.
On the other hand, Choi Min-ji was a beauty with glossy, elegant straight black hair, big eyes with thick eyelashes that looked like an angel’s smile when she smiled, a tall and small nose, and cute little lips that harmonized beautifully. Therefore, it was natural that people’s attention was directed to Min-ji rather than Ji-hye. Only Hye-hye herself did not want to admit that fact.
‘Kuh, what’s good about that face… I don’t want to be born like this either!’
Ji-hye had a severe inferiority complex about her own appearance because she was born ugly enough to be considered as the lowest class in a world where her looks were strictly for her looks. She has always been timid and intimidated, and because of the discrimination and ridicule she received as soon as she was born, she even contemplated suicide in the past.
Besides, if she lived well at home, she would have hoped for plastic surgery, but her house was always in a semi-basement room, with damp flooring sticking to her feet every time she entered the house, and in the summer it was scorching heat and in the winter it was freezing cold.
Because she had lived such a life, Ji-hye studied hard. She wanted to succeed even though she was told that she was a bitch.
It was an excellent grade obtained through her study, which she had done by drastically reducing her sleep at night based on her tenacity that one day I would rise to a higher position than you with better grades than others.
In fact, she had never missed first place so far, and that allowed her to receive some recognition and treatment even if it wasn’t the well-intentioned attention from her surroundings. Of course, the people who gave her that recognition and treatment must have been a lot of cunning people who somehow tried to get some secrets to study, but she was able to make up her mind more strongly when she saw those people with wisdom.
That’s why her grades were her only friend, and Ji-hye knew that it would never leave.
Until I met a woman named Minji Choi.
‘What?’
She couldn’t believe Ji-hye, who met Choi Min-ji and accepted her report card.
‘Am I second?’
At first she thought it was nonsense. It was wisdom to study until 3 am every day and sleep only for 2-3 hours. She thought she couldn’t be second place.
She thought something was wrong and her wits tried to figure out the cause by finding out who the hell was the woman on top of her. And on that day, the world that Wisdom had firmly believed in until now collapsed.
Ji-hye’s first impression of Choi Min-ji is that she is a beauty, and she is a woman who, if she were a man, could not help but feel sexual desire in her heart. She is, however, a woman who has everything smarter than herself. She was Choi Min-ji. Ji-hye, who already had an inferiority complex to handsome and beautiful women, made every effort to beat Choi Min-ji, but she never won and lost in the latest test.
I met a woman who seemed blessed with everything, and her wisdom heart was in tatters.
In the summer when the heat was on the rise, Ji-hye headed to the library today, leaving behind the house where the only air conditioner she had was an old fan. As always, when she got on her bus or walked, everyone who passed her either frowned at her or sped her way to avoid her.
Wisdom, who had always been treated like that, was now becoming indifferent to people’s reactions. Whenever you were treated like that in the past, wait and see! With her heart, she burned even more passion, but after she met Choi Min-ji, she just accepted it and acknowledged it.
She is ugly and it is right for her to be ignored. ‘ She thought wisdom.
Just before she arrived at the library, she went into her convenience store to buy a quick drink, bought a Coke Zero and went out. She was then
“Huh? Wisdom!”
A familiar voice called for wisdom. I cringe at the voice I don’t want to hear! Surprised, Ji-hye looked in the direction of the sound. Choi Min-ji was approaching with her baby friends and a pretentious smile on her face. Among her friends were a few men who seemed to be her acquaintances.
‘Why are you meeting me here? Please get off..!’
Choi Min-ji, whom she met outside, felt that she had put on more effort than usual. Her wisdom, which already had a sense of inferiority to her, was intimidated by the prettier appearance of Minji. Minji, who had gotten closer to her wisdom, glanced at her bag that her wisdom was holding, and she said.
“Are you going to study?
“Uh…Yeah, I’m interested in this so…Hehe”
She always insulted Choi Min-ji on the inside, but in fact, when she spoke like this, let alone hostility, she couldn’t even look at Ji-hye. Yes, in reality, Ji-hye and Min-ji were in different levels, and Min-ji was ahead of Ji-hye in motor nerves and many other things. It was clear that she would not even be able to take her bones if she was hostile.
‘Who is it?’ Asked one of Minji’s friends. She was a woman named Lee Hye-yoon who always hung out with Min-ji. Min-ji replied to Hye-yoon, ‘Yes, just a classmate,’ and she said, looking at her wisdom.
“I’m sorry Jihye, do you have any money right now?”
“Huh? Money?”
Ji-hye was taken aback when she suddenly asked for money. In her wallet, her daughter, who said she was going to study, was all about ten thousand won from her father, asking her to pay for her housekeeping.
“Mi, sorry, I don’t have any money.”
Avoiding her gaze, Jihye refused. Even this she did not want to be taken away.
“Ahaha…Don’t do that. It’s your wallet, isn’t that? I’ll check it for a second?”
Due to her obese lower body, a figure that could be seen as her wallet was protruding from the pocket of her pants of wisdom. It was after Jimin and Minji had already taken out her wallet on their own. Minji smiled as she opened her wallet whose corners were worn out to see how long her wisdom had lasted.
“It’s full. I’m sorry, but I’ll borrow this. I’ll give it to you later. I’m really in a hurry.”
In fact, 10,000 won wasn’t really a big deal. If you think of it as a precious money given by your father, it is valuable, but it was a matter of getting money from Minji later. However, the reason was that it was Choi Min-ji who took the money. She was the woman who had ruined all her hard work and the values her wisdom had brought, now taking her own purse and trying to take her money.
“Sir, no.. Give it back!”
Ji-hye swipes the 10,000 won in Min-ji’s hand! She shouted as she took it. At that moment, she only touched her wrist very lightly, but Minji crouched down on the floor, screaming, “Kyaa!” Things happened in an instant. One of the men watching from her side interrupted, slapping her wisdom cheek as hard as he could.
‘Fuck!’
“Oops!”
“Are you crazy because this fucker says nice things? Minji, are you okay?”
The man who violently shouted at her Jihye asked Minji in a kind voice. Minji was crying and grabbed her wrist, and she said.
“Ugh.. Just a little hit. It’s okay.”
“It’s fortunate. If you got hurt, you could have been in big trouble.”
Wisdom was seriously injured by anyone’s eyes. Her cheeks were very puffy, and she rolled on the ground, covered in dirt, unable to get herself up. However, all of Minji’s friends were worried about Minji, and people passing her looked at her once in a while and were on their way.
“Let’s just go, Minji. Seeing how she looks, I think money has a lot of germs or something.”
One of Minji’s friends soothed her Minji and glared at her wisdom. Minji, supported by her girls, left without an apology to her wisdom. She saw her wisdom in that moment. As if she saw something very slightly pitiful, she saw Choi Min-ji’s smile as she looked at her.
After sitting down for a while, Jihye looked at Choi Minji’s back. Then she got up slowly, brushed the dirt off her body, grabbed her bag, and headed off.
‘No one helped me because I was ugly.’
‘I was beaten because I was ugly.’
‘It’s because I’m ugly that no one is on my side.’
How much I cried Tears no longer flowed from Wisdom’s eyes. The bright sun was slowly sinking into the sunset, and her books, cell phone, wallet, and other belongings were scattered around her wisdom. These were the things that she threw away in order to vent her anger.
Wisdom was now on the roof of the library. She intended to die here today.
“I knew. Something like me… Should never have been born.
Cursing her magnetic appearance, her wisdom muttered. The end of her voice trembled.
“So, even now, go right. Even from now on… You just have to die.”
Jihye walked closer to the roof railing. The people down there looked small. Just jumping like this was the end. But..
“..But I hate it. I don’t want to die like this! Why do I have to die? Because of a woman who has everything since she was born?! It’s not fair! It’s not fair, it’s unfair, it’s unfair!”
If there is such a thing as God, it must be a truly thoughtless being.
Wisdom stopped her steps and shouted, to her chagrin and her rage. It was then.
“That’s unfair… So you’re saying you can do better than God?”
“..?!”
I don’t know when I’ve seen it, but a person suddenly appeared next to me. Wisdom, startled, sat down without even screaming.
Woman? Man? The man, whose gender was unknown, gently put his hand on Wisdom’s shoulder and said, His hands were cold as ice and heavy as steel.
“If he dies like this, will he really be unhappy?”
Wisdom was incomprehensible. What is this person talking about? That kid? Are you talking about Minji Choi? But how do you know? Who else is it?
To Ji-hye, who had hardened in fear of the unknown, the person smiled softly and handed her a note. She was one of the notes he threw in anger.
“Give me a chance. Try to entertain me.”
Wisdom carefully received the note handed over by an unknown being. As soon as he received the note, he unfolded it as if someone was leading him. In her notebook, her name, ‘Choi Min-ji’, was written in her own handwriting, which she had never written down, along with her information about her.
“What is this…”
When I raised my head again, the mysterious person had disappeared without a trace. Wisdom was even more confused.
“Hey! What are you doing there?”
With the timing as if salty, the roof door opened and the janitor came in. Wisdom finally felt that her spirit had returned to reality, and she hurriedly picked up things and shouted.
“Sorry! It’s nothing!”
Ji-hye stuffed her things into her bag and ran straight to her house. Her swollen cheeks, her swelling was subsiding in no time.
Returning to her house, she went into her room, answering the words of her parents who greeted her.
As soon as she sat down at her desk, she opened the notebook again.
Also Choi Minji.
Her menstrual cycle, her physical condition, and her personal life, which she did not even know about, were all detailed.
“Nonsense.”
She read the mysterious information step by step. She was able to find out about her Choi Min-ji that she did not know.
‘I live well.. I have a pretty face.. I have a good brain. Are you saying it’s flawless?’
Wisdom clicked her tongue at the information she didn’t want to see. However, she soon caught her eye on something written in her notebook.
‘The contents of this note can be modified by the owner at will’
“What is this? Is it editable?”
Wisdom began to be more interested in notes. Her wisdom eyes sparkled.
