2 – 2.
Time passed relentlessly, and we became sixth graders.
“Oh my. Yoochan, you seem taller again?”
“Really?”
“Let me measure you once. Stand over there.”
“…How is it?”
“You’ve really grown! Oh my… You’ll be taller than your mother soon, won’t you?”
As I spent the winter, my height and limbs grew, and I had to throw away all the clothes I used to wear.
So, we went shopping for the first time in a long time, taking advantage of the weekend.
Not at the expensive department store that I occasionally visited when I was in the countryside, but at an outlet where mid-priced brands gathered.
“Mom… Isn’t this too expensive? It’s going to be big again anyway.”
“Oh, if we’re buying, we should wear pretty clothes. Let’s see… How about this?”
“….”
My mother, who went shopping with me, had a rare, very happy face.
She was always exhausted from working as a cashier and doing household chores at the same time.
But today, she had a brighter expression than ever before.
I silently followed my mother’s lead.
“Oh, our Yoochan, you’ll be a middle school student soon….”
“I haven’t even started 6th grade yet.”
“It’ll be a year in no time. Graduation will come in the blink of an eye, right?”
“Maybe.”
As my mother said, time passed quickly, and a new semester arrived.
And next to me….
“……”
For some reason, Mayeonseo was sitting there.
“Did she purposely choose to sit here?”
I already knew that we were in the same class from the opening ceremony, but I didn’t expect her to choose the seat next to me on the first day of the semester.
Maybe it was just a habit for most of the fifth graders to sit together.
“She seems to have become even prettier.”
That was the moment when I absentmindedly stared at Mayeonseo.
“……”
Suddenly, she turned her head and our eyes met.
“Why.”
Her gaze had become much softer compared to last year.
But she still seemed arrogant.
“It’s been a while.”
“….Did you stare at me like that just to say that?”
“Not really. Anyway, did you have a good vacation?”
“No.”
“Why? What happened?”
“You wouldn’t know.”
*Sigh.*
Ma Yeonseo still had no manners even when she reached sixth grade.
Although she seemed a little more obedient than before, honestly, there wasn’t much of a difference.
“…Yeah. Anyway, let’s try to have a good year.”
“…Mm.”
That’s how my sixth-grade life began, and it wasn’t much different from fifth grade.
The class hours were a little longer, and the subjects we learned were slightly different.
It was almost like an extension of fifth grade.
But I was struggling to keep up with the classes.
“H-How do you solve this?”
Math was the problem.
I didn’t do any preparation and didn’t go to any academy, so it was difficult for me to keep up with the fast-paced math lessons.
“No, they’re already moving on when I haven’t even understood it yet?”
On the contrary, Ma Yeonseo had no hesitation in solving the problems.
Swiftly. Swiftly. She hardly wrote any calculations, but most of her answers were correct.
It seemed like she was attending a good academy or something.
“…Hey.”
“…”
“Ma Yeonseo.”
“?”
When I called her name, she turned around sneakily.
Always knowing that she responds when I call her, why doesn’t she react when I call her “Hey”?
I cautiously spoke, swallowing my curiosity.
“Um… Can you teach me this problem?”
She glanced briefly at the problem I pointed at. Then, with a narrowed brow as if she couldn’t understand, she asked back.
“That?”
It was as if she was implying, “Don’t you know something that easy?”
“If you don’t want to, never mind. I still don’t understand….”
Thinking that I had needlessly hurt my pride, I quickly changed the topic and stopped talking.
“I’d rather bang my head on the ground.”
And in that moment, as I gave up on solving the problem and was about to review the pages with theory again.
Swish. Ma Yeon-seo suddenly extended a fluorescent highlighter towards me.
“Mark the problems you don’t know. I’ll explain during break time.”
“!”
I thought that maybe she was actually a kind person.
*
“If you come from here like this…”
“Oh.”
Since then, I started receiving private tutoring from Ma Yeon-seo occasionally.
I don’t know if she’s really a skilled tutor, but she taught me with sincerity so that I could understand in one go.
As a result, naturally, the time I spent with her started to increase little by little…
“They seem to be dating.”
“They hang out together all the time. It’s perfect for kids without friends.”
Suddenly, a strange rumor started circulating in the classroom.
It was a rumor that Ma-yeon-seo and I were dating.
“Of course, it would be someone without a dad. Do you really like that worthless kid?”
“He’s always been a loser.”
I’m not sure if it’s the same in other places, but there was a peculiar atmosphere in our school where it seemed strange for boys and girls to date.
It could be because I was always bullied that I became the center of attention for rumors.
“Anyway, it’s really childish.”
Ma-yeon-seo showed no interest in the rumors, so I just listened and let it go as usual.
…Or so I tried.
“Hey, who do you think you are, talking behind my back all the time?”
“What’s this guy suddenly saying?”
I approached the toughest guy among those setting the mood and confronted him.
I would have ignored it if it wasn’t for Ma-yeon-seo, who had been helping me, getting involved and being cursed at.
“What does it matter to you whether I’m dating Ma-yeon-seo or not? Stop spreading weird rumors and if you have something to say, say it to me directly, you jerk.”
“W-what… what?”
The boy looked at me with a slightly bewildered expression.
And…
“This f*cking bastard…!”
“What’s wrong, staying still? Do I look like a dickhead to you?”
“You son of a b*tch!”
I was mercilessly beaten by the group.
“Ugh… it hurts like hell…”
“Why are you provoking them?”
Ma Yeonseo looked down at me lying on the ground with a pitiful expression.
I glanced at her and replied.
“But they can hear your curses.”
“It’s not a lie.”
“I can’t stand seeing my friends being cursed.”
“…Friends?”
“Yeah. Friends. Ugh… Are you really that stupid?”
Although I suffered some injuries, there were no more strange rumors spreading after I confidently stood up to them.
Instead.
Direct torment towards me began.
“…Huh?”
The textbook that I had left on the desk suddenly disappeared.
“I’m sure I left it here…”
As I frantically searched for it before the upcoming class, a girl from behind shouted.
“Hey! Who threw their textbook in the trash can!”
“!”
Startled, I quickly checked the trash can.
[ Kang Yoo-chan ]
Sure enough, my textbook was in the trash can.
And it was soaked and smeared with water.
“Tsk tsk.”
“You idiot.”
“He can’t even take care of his own textbook.”
The group of onlookers watching this scene laughed at me as if it was a spectacle.
They had messed with my belongings.
“These bastards?”
I was furious, but I had no choice.
I didn’t have enough strength to fight alone, and there was no friend to help me.
In the end, the class started without any other option.
Naturally, I got scolded in front of everyone.
“Kang Yoo-chan! What’s this with your textbook? Can’t you take care of it properly?”
“Well, um….”
The homeroom teacher in the 6th grade was a very irresponsible person.
An incompetent adult who pretended not to notice obvious situations.
But I couldn’t confess to my parents about the torment.
I didn’t want to cause any more worries to my already struggling mother.
“Just hold on a little longer. Just a little.”
So I endured my anger alone, waiting for those guys to lose interest in me.
“Just a little!”
And then, one day.
During lunchtime when the teacher was away.
Thud! Bang!
Suddenly, I heard a commotion from the back of the classroom.
“Scream!”
“You crazy b*tch! What the hell are you doing?!”
I turned around slightly at the sound of Judoja’s voice in my ear…
“Huh?”
And for some reason, I saw Mayeonseo swinging a baseball bat.
Thud!
The guy who tried to block the bat with his arm screamed and collapsed to the floor.
Next to him, another guy was already lying down.
“My, my…! My bones…!!”
“Hey! Mayeonseo! What are you doing right now…!”
The last guy tried to stand up and confront Mayeonseo, but her bat didn’t give him a chance to counterattack.
Thud! Thud!
“Stop it!”
A guy lying on the ground, twitching as if he had fainted.
Another guy, sobbing and holding onto his broken arm.
And even the last guy, sinking down in excruciating pain and overwhelmed by fear.
Ma-yeon-seo, who had been looking down at the three of them with her usual expression, raised her bat again and declared calmly.
“If you interfere, you’ll get hurt.”
And the one-sided beating continued.
Thud! Thud!
“I-I’m sorry…! My b-bone… it’s broken…!”
From Noble mtl dot com
Thud! Thud!
“Ugh!”
The guys, repeatedly beaten and hit in the head, lost consciousness and collapsed onto the ground.
But…
“…”
Ma-yeon-seo, seemingly having no intention of ending it, raised her bat above her head again.
It was clearly a dangerous situation.
“Hey! Stop it now! The kid’s going to die!”
I, who was powerless, rushed forward to stop her…
But she was still looking down at the boy sprawled on the ground.
Hm. It was a cold gaze, so intense that it made me take a step back unconsciously.
“M-Mayanseo!”
……
After a moment, she responded to my voice and met my gaze with a much softer expression on her face.
Then, nonchalantly, she slung the bat over her shoulder and proudly declared something.
“I took revenge for you.”
“…Huh?”
For a moment, I thought my ears deceived me.
“Revenge? Mayanseo took revenge for me? Why on earth?”
In a state of great confusion, my head went pale, and I barely managed to regain my composure as I snatched the bat away from her.
“Well, even so…! If you do something like this…?!”
In response, she quietly took the bat back and said in a low voice.
“Don’t worry.”
“What…?”
“Because everything is fine.”
I couldn’t understand the meaning behind her words.
*
The three guys who had beaten me up and left me bleeding on the ground were later taken to the emergency room by the teacher who arrived late.
Naturally, Mayanseo, who had beaten them to near death, was immediately summoned to the principal’s office.
Left behind in the chaotic classroom, I was consumed by deep worry.
What kind of punishment will I receive… Can I still go to school? Should I transfer again?
I couldn’t even bring myself to think about why she had taken revenge on my behalf.
Right now, I was only worried about the punishment that would be handed down to her.
“Ah! What should I do!”
And so, the next day arrived.
“…Huh?”
I arrived at the classroom early in the morning and immediately doubted my eyes.
“Mayeonseo?”
For some reason, she was sitting in her usual seat.
“Huh, what happened?”
And before long, I heard shocking news from our homeroom teacher.
Best waifu
Best girl material