Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Chapter 142
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‘What the…?’ I frowned, ‘Is she thinking that I’m not surprised after hearing her revelation with a nervous expression because she thought she got me?’ Listening to us with his arms crossed, Yoon Jung In just pushed her to talk further in a nonchalant face.
“So?”
“They said that someone disclosed things about Ban Yeo Ryung during her middle school senior year very thoroughly on that hate café. Besides, the person who made the club posted stories about her that could only be written by Ban Yeo Ryung’s close acquaintance’s perspective or someone who would see her every day.”
“So, the one who created the hater café is Ban Yeo Ryung’s close friends?”
Yoon Jung In’s voice sounded outstandingly uncomfortable as he flung that question. He looked like he couldn’t understand why he had to hear about a hater club for some girl in Class 1-1.
We tried to speak as quietly as possible; however, every eye in our class was bent onto us. The light summer air held the cold silence. Everyone in the class could hear us if they wanted.
When Lee Soo Yeon shook her head, her hair waved through the sunlight. She then put a twisted smile while looking at me. The words that came out of her mouth afterward widened my eyes.
She said, “No, from what I’ve heard, the person who made the hate café is Ham Donnie.”
“What?”
‘What did you say?’ I was at a loss of words. Earlier, if Lee Mina and Kim Hye Hill didn’t speak on my behalf, then I would have definitely become speechless upon hearing what she just said. I was the type of person who would get tongue-tied instead of quibbling over a preposterous situation, but fortunately, Yoon Jung In intervened for now.
“What did you say?”
“I don’t know, but, at least, I think I know that Ham Donnie was the one who spoke about the things she knew about her in middle school. I heard that Ham Donnie went through many things like this for a long time ago. Did you know that she pretended to be Ban Yeo Ryung’s friend, but she would actually spread rumors behind her? She even played both sides by being in the middle. Those who, at first, hung out with Ban Yeo Ryung but later turned away from her and ended up backstabbing her was actually friends with Ban Yeo Ryung and Ham Donnie. They said that this happened a lot. Wouldn’t you think that this wasn’t such a coincidence?”
With that said, Lee Soo Yeon suddenly scowled at me. While I blinked in perplexity, she continued her words.
“Hey, since Ban Yeo Ryung and the Four Heavenly Kings are close, is that the reason why you pretended to be friends in front of her? I bet you were actually jealous of her. I bet you hate her a lot! Is that why you spread fake rumors about her and played both sides against the middle, huh? How could those who backstabbed and gossiped about Ban Yeo Ryung always turn out to be your friends?”
Lee Soo Yeon’s last words pierced through the heavy silence that was hanging within our class like a sharp arrow.
The whole class remained silent for a while. The kids then began to look at each other and buzzed the gossip among one another. They didn’t seem hostile yet; however, it was true that I was drawing their suspicious gazes. Lee Mina and Kim Hye Hill were, on the other hand, still scowling at Lee Soo Yeon.
I looked in front of me. Yoon Jung In was staring at Lee Soo Yeon with a dumbfounded expression. It made me feel a little relieved. My vision became blurry. Through my blurred sight, I glowered at Lee Soo Yeon.
Her words, of course, connoted a certain extent of the truth, such as Baek Yeo Min, the girl who befriended me at first during my freshman year in middle school. She suggested that I should turn away from Ban Yeo Ryung, but later, when I refused to do so, she backstabbed both Ban Yeo Ryung and me.
I would encounter at least one of these girls each grade, so Lee Soo Yeon’s remark was quite right at some point; however, how could she assume that it was me who planned everything just because of that one incident? Biting my lips, I scowled at Lee Soo Yeon, but she still showed a proud smile on her face. In between us, there stood Yoon Jung, who was just staring at me in silence.
That was when Kim Hye Hill’s calm voice slipped through us.
“Isn’t it the opposite?”
“What?”
When Yoon Jung In asked back, everyone’s attention moved toward Kim Hye Hill. She just shrugged before sweeping her hair back calmly.
She continued, “I was talking about the girl who was Ban Yeo Ryung’s friend at first but would later turn away from her and would even backstab her… Donnie didn’t do this because she wanted to be the person in between their fight, but… wasn’t it her who hated Ban Yeo Ryung in the first place?”
“What are you talking about?”
As a response to Lee Soo Yeon’s question, Kim Hye Hill continued nonchalantly with her arms crossed.
“Ban Yeo Ryung and Donnie have been childhood best friends. If I truly hated Ban Yeo Ryung, then I would take Donnie away from her first. Don’t you think so?”
“…”
As I raised my eyes to glance at Lee Soo Yeon, I noticed that she was looking at Kim Hye Hill speechlessly with her jaws dropped. The noise that was coming from the others around us began to spread through the silence prevailing the space.
The tense atmosphere loosened thereafter. A few kids spoke to Kim Hye Hill in admiration.
“Oh, it sure is. If Ham Donnie really hated Ban Yeo Ryung, then why would she still remain as her friends for the last 3 years despite all the criticism she received?”
“Geez, Kim Hye Hill… so smart.”
Shin Suh Hyun, who looked at Kim Hye Hill with awe in the middle of the fuss, turned his head towards us. He then asked me in a particularly composed face.
“Ham Donnie, tell us what happened in your own words.”
Shin Suh Hyun’s voice had this unique echo that made the whole class bend their eyes onto me. Looking a bit more relaxed than before, Yoon Jung In, who was beside us, also stared at me. I rolled my eyeballs before opening my mouth.
“Um, there was this girl during my freshman year in middle school… she suddenly acted very close to me; I thought it was a little strange too. One day, she said to me, ‘Don’t hang out with Ban Yeo Ryung but just hang out with me instead,’ and I refused… Later she also backstabbed me, so… I stopped talking to her anymore after that.”
Like pieces of sliced wood, I stammered my words in perplexity and anger, but luckily, the others didn’t seem to have a hard time understanding that. A few murmured with a sympathetic voice.
“Gosh, Ham Donnie… I feel sorry for you.”
“Holy mother of pearl! How bitchy are they?!”
I heard someone who was probably Lee Mina mumbling in an enraged tone. It took the tension off my shoulders. With a bitter grin, I scratched my head before continuing.
“Despite all the things I’ve gone through, I still don’t understand why I am a poor judge of character. Maybe that’s why I’m a little careful whenever I make friends. There is, at least, one girl who would approach me to target Ban Yeo Ryung, and they did the same thing to Ban Yeo Ryung to target the Four Heavenly Kings.”
My remark, finally, loosened up the strained atmosphere around.
Honestly, it was true that what Kim Hye Hill said sounded more convincing than speaking about how I placed a barrier between Ban Yeo Ryung and other girls out of my jealousy for the last three years. Besides, Lee Soo Yeo did not see these things unfold personally. When Yoon Jung In patted my shoulder, Lee Soo Yeon turned a little pale.
“Hey, you shouldn’t talk like that just because you heard a bunch of gossips. Why are you trying to harass someone because of some random rumor, especially to your classmate?” Yoon Jung In said.
Lee Soo Yeon bit her lip. She then left the space before Yoon Jung In could have anything else to say. Waving her hair, she stormed out of the classroom.
‘The morning assembly will be here soon…’ Staring blankly behind her as she left, I saw a few other girls following her outside the class. They were Lee Soo Yeon’s friends. I directed my glance away from them and returned to my seat.
“She was so harsh while harassing you, but once her bullshit was called out, she’d just fly away without an apology,” Kim Hye Hill said in a grimace while looking at them.
“Hey, is Lee Soo Yeon crying?”
When one of the boys said that, Kim Hye Hill suddenly showed anger in her eyes before snapping fiercely at the boy.
“So? What about my boyfriend, who got berated behind his back by a girl he never met in his life? Did she ever care about his feelings? Why does she deserve your pity just because she’s crying like a little bitch?”
I never heard Kim Hye Hill sounding so frigid like that before. As if he read the rage within her voice, the boy rounded his shoulders before stepping back falteringly.
Ignoring the boys who were whispering about how frightening Kim Hye Hill turned out to be, Lee Mina gnashed her teeth in anger. She mumbled with an intimidating-looking face.
“Fuck, she must not have faced many problems if she can’t even handle something like that.”
I agreed with what she just said. I checked my phone while sitting with a sigh.
It would have been impossible for Class 1-1 to know about what happened earlier. Only Lee Soo Yeon and a few girls left the classroom. They wouldn’t spread what just happened today to the kids in Class 1-1 that fast.
The Four Heavenly Kings and Ban Yeo Ryung of Class 1-1 would have learned about this sometime around lunchtime. I then swept my hair back with a sigh.