“What do you mean?”

“Can I be honest?”

“Of course.”

“The kids are talking bad about you. Saying you’re arrogant.”

“Talking bad? Who?”

“The kids in our class.”

“…”

Those kids in Class 1 are trash.

Ji-soo bit her lip once and continued.

“I know. The ones talking bad are the weird ones. But it’s not like the other kids are actively taking your side, Kang Da-hye. Even if they think you’re right, they just keep it to themselves. It’s dirty and cheap, but… if you end up like that too.”

“Like that?”

“You know… like Woo Do-yeon.”

“Ah.”

Being ostracized.

From the moment you arrive at school in the morning until you leave in the afternoon, not being able to talk to anyone, while everyone else is laughing and chatting happily, you’re the only one sitting alone with your mouth shut tight.

Being alienated.

Just sitting there, and the kids give you dirty looks. When you walk by, they whisper and giggle amongst themselves behind your back.

Wondering like crazy what they might have said.

Taking turns presenting, but when it’s your turn, no one reacts, and it’s just cold.

Feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

Ji-soo probably knows better than I do. She was in the advanced class with Do-yeon last year.

Ji-soo’s hand found mine and squeezed it.

“What you did in the cafeteria yesterday, Kang Da-hye, I think it was amazing. I mean it. But you don’t have to be the one to take the lead like that.”

“…”

“It’s enough to just talk to her quietly from the side, meet up with her outside of school, text her, and be friends in secret. Woo Do-yeon will understand, and she’ll be grateful to you. You don’t have to make a big scene. If you get targeted too…”

Honestly, I’m scared of that happening, Ji-soo whispered.

I carefully recalled my memories of Song Yeo-reum.

‘Hey friend, can I borrow five thousand won?’

‘You don’t have it? Really? Then what’s that in your pocket?’

‘What’s this, you do have it!’

‘If you lie again, I’ll…’

‘Oh man, I’m just kidding~ Hey, I think she’s scared!’

‘Whoa, crazy. She’s crying.’

‘Hey, hey, Seo Jae-gyeom. I think she likes you.’

‘Did you buy those clothes to look good for Jae-gyeom? Is that why you’re broke?’

This was a memory from my second year of middle school.

How do I remember such specific lines after more than ten years?

Memories of being humiliated by your peers at a sensitive age don’t fade easily.

The shame of not being able to say a word in front of my friends. My friends who knew but pretended not to. The embarrassment and hurt pride.

I gently rubbed the back of Ji-soo’s soft hand and opened my mouth.

“…Actually, Song Yeo-reum came to my mom’s store yesterday.”

“Song Yeo-reum came to your mother’s store?!”

“…Yeah. She and her friends were looking down on my mom and saying all sorts of things… I think I finally understood what it means for your blood to boil.”

But if I hadn’t regressed, and if I had been too scared to say anything to Song Yeo-reum—

I think that memory would have really stayed with me for the rest of my life.

My disappointment in myself and my resentment toward my mom for not protecting me, all sorts of emotions would have mixed and shattered my mental state.

“Fortunately, the me of yesterday managed to say something to Song Yeo-reum and kick her out… But if I hadn’t, I probably would have been upset about yesterday even in my 50s and 60s.”

“…”

“But Do-yeon is going through that every single day.”

I met Ji-soo’s gaze. As she flinched, I said.

“Ji-soo, I’m not some great adult, but… we’re human because we can empathize with the suffering of others, right?”

“…”

“I want to be able to be proud of myself.”

I don’t want to live the rest of my life with the identity of someone who, at 29, turned a blind eye to an 18-year-old friend.

“If I just stand by and watch something I know is wrong, I think I’ll feel like a total loser.”

I’m going to live a cool life.

Getting a perfect score on the CSAT and going to Hankuk University is ultimately about living a cool life, but what’s the point of all that if I back down because I’m scared of being criticized?

I didn’t regress to live such a lame life.

I can’t just save my own life when I know full well what the outcome will be.

And.

“There are kids who disapprove and talk bad, but there are definitely also kids who know this situation is wrong and want to help.”

Like Gyeong Se-in in our class.

“The reason the kids are scared of Song Yeo-reum’s group is because of the atmosphere they create. If all the kids weren’t scared of them, what could they really do?”

“…”

“We just need to win over public opinion. A public opinion where the voices of the kids who feel this is wrong are louder.”

You’re scared I’ll get hurt, Ji-soo, but you know this is wrong, right? When I asked, Ji-soo nodded.

She had a strange expression, as if she was deep in thought.

“That’s right… I know.”

“That’s all that matters.”

“…Yeah.”

Alright, then.

“Ji-soo, and also. Is it uncomfortable for you to eat with Do-yeon, the three of us? I was so out of it earlier that I didn’t get to ask.”

“I’m fine with it… but Do-yeon will probably be uncomfortable. If I’m with Do-yeon, the other kids will talk bad about her even more…”

“Ah…”

“Or should I eat with my classmates for a while? I can do that.”

“Then I’d feel too sorry…”

“No, it’s fine. Kang Da-hye is trying to do a good thing.”

“…Thank you.”

“…I’m not avoiding Song Yeo-reum because I’m scared of her, okay?”

“Of course, I know.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me right away yesterday? That Song Yeo-reum came by.”

Ji-soo pouted, as if to ask why I was only telling her now.

I drank the chocolate milk Ji-soo had bought, sticking a straw in it, and finished grading the test papers, the answers to which I had already memorized.

Next to me, Ji-soo rummaged through her class’s test papers and was delighted to see her own perfect score.

“The kids who talked bad about you, Kang Da-hye, all got bad scores.”

“Really? I should go tell them. To study geography in the time they spend talking bad about me.”

I don’t care if the kids talk bad about me.

Because kids like that will talk bad about you no matter what you do.

There are probably far more righteous kids who know this situation is bad than those kids who are just dissatisfied with everything in the world.

And I would soon find out that my belief was not wrong.

“Song Yeo-reum was probably… even more pissed off because I, who she used to take five hundred, a thousand won from every day, suddenly started standing up to her.”

She talks about getting her money taken so casually.

Eun-seong, who was passing by, clicked his tongue.

He was on his way to the company after a meeting with his homeroom teacher.

He was in a hurry, but he heard voices coming from the counseling room next to the teachers’ office.

The door to the counseling room was closed, but the upper window facing the hallway was open.

It was no problem for Eun-seong, who was tall… well, not tall, but at least average height, to hear the voices leaking through that window.

“I even got my recorder taken by Song Yeo-reum back in the day. After school, I was carrying it in my hand at the crosswalk.”

“Really?”

“You don’t remember? You were next to me then too. Song Yeo-reum asked to borrow it, but it was obvious I wouldn’t get it back, right? So in a pathetic attempt to save face, I just told her to take it.”

“Ah, right…”

“So gross. What’s she going to do with a recorder that’s been in someone else’s mouth? I hope she gets Corona.”

“What’s Corona?”

“It’s a curse.”

Peeking through the crack in the door, he saw Kang Da-hye sitting with her friend.

Her mouth was chattering away, but her hands were diligently writing something on a piece of paper. Her hands were really fast.

“To be honest, I’m still scared. But I don’t know exactly why I’m scared of them. It’s not like they’re the daughters of chaebols who can ruin my life, and I’ve already learned that if I stand up to her, Song Yeo-reum has no way of dealing with it. But I’m still scared?”

He was in a hurry, but his feet stopped on their own.

Eun-seong, who seemed to be glued to the spot, carefully studied Da-hye’s face.

Then.

‘Isn’t that the punishment she got with that not-handsome guy?’

Recalling what had happened in the classroom earlier, Eun-seong frowned.

‘Where did Jae go, and why is she doing it alone?’

Money taken.

Recorder taken.

Punishment, also alone.

The epitome of a pushover.

‘I shouldn’t have eavesdropped. What a waste of time.’

Shaking his head, Eun-seong walked past the counseling room. He stopped, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a scoff.

“Ha!”

Pushover!

As expected, Seo Jae-gyeom didn’t come to school after that day.

For some reason, neither did Song Yeo-reum.

According to Se-in, who had been snooping on Chasebook, she had gone somewhere to hang out with some older guys she knew.

“Why did only Song Yeo-reum go? Her friends came to school.”

“Maybe she just wanted to hang out with the older guys by herself.”

“So disloyal.”

“Are you expecting loyalty from a bully?”

I chuckled and packed my phone and notebook.

Finally, the last period of this eventful week, club time!

Here’s a question.

What club do you think I’m in?

(1) English Newspaper Club
(2) Hanbyeoldan (a youth organization)
(3) Peer Counseling Club
(4) Drama Club
(5) Mystery Club