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Chapter: 8
“Who knows. Maybe one of us is Daniel’s type? I’m kind of curious what it would look like if you actually dated him. Don’t you find it a bit tempting? Seeing a side of Tryell no one knows?”
Joshua let out a giggle.
“Dating Daniel…”
As if thinking about it, Frederick’s low voice dragged out slowly.
At the same time, Lee Su shut her eyes tightly and snapped her head back.
‘Ah, seriously….’
Those bastards. Damn bastards.
‘Should I just flip everything upside down?’
At this point, she was probably going to be forced to leave school anyway. Should she just dump dirty water on those idiots’ faces and drop out?
‘Me? A love confession?’
Why would I ever fall for people like you—trash personalities, absolute garbage human beings?
Lee Su raised one hand and pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose, breathing out through her mouth. It was her way of suppressing her rough breathing.
‘Do you people think of humans as toys?’
No… not all of them are like that, right?
‘Is it because I’m just a scholarship student at the bottom of the school?’
Lee Su let out a silent, hollow laugh. Maybe she didn’t know about others, but Frederick’s group were the same people she had encountered the day before after school while she was crying.
Of course, she had no way of knowing that her crying face had stirred something in them, and that this whole situation had started from that.
‘You saw someone crying yesterday and now you’re saying things like that?’
“Haa….”
With her eyes closed, Lee Su turned toward the stairs. She could still hear voices behind her, but she no longer took them in.
It almost felt like she was running away. From the cruel answer Frederick Bastia might have given.
A powerless feeling drained strength from her entire body. She didn’t care if she stormed back, poured dirty water on them, or formally complained to the school.
She knew reality wouldn’t change at all.
‘How long is this going to go on… struggling like this?’
Gripping the handrail, Lee Su slowly descended the stairs, her legs feeling like they would give out any second.
‘I know this is my decision, my responsibility.’
She knew it all in her head.
Her grip tightened on the railing.
Lee Su had transferred to America during 5th grade at Lower School. Back then, she wasn’t a scholarship student yet.
But in 7th grade, her younger brother was diagnosed with a rare illness, and her parents could no longer afford private school tuition. Lee Su was forced to stand at a crossroads.
The only way for her to remain at Elmir Westlake was to voluntarily descend to the very bottom tier of the pyramid.
Logically, transferring to a public school would have been the right choice. No one had pushed her to stay and live as a scholarship student. And yet, Lee Su had even convinced her parents herself and chosen to go down to the lowest tier.
“You’re the hardest-working kid I’ve ever seen.”
“….”
“Not all Koreans are like that, right? It’s just you.”
Lost in thought, Lee Su’s hazel eyes turned dull and gray.
There was a time she believed she was “equal” to Frederick Bastia. They were in the same school, wearing the same uniform.
“There are plenty of seats. Why are you sitting there?”
“I like this seat.”
“I don’t have the talent to cater to people like you. And I’m not going to try to make you laugh.”
“Just being here makes me smile, so you don’t have to do anything.”
A much younger Frederick, smiling brightly, appeared so vividly in her mind it felt like he was sitting right in front of her.
Back then, they would sit in the same space, on the same sofa, reading the book he handed her and laughing together.
So…
‘…how stupid.’
Lee Su pressed her fingers to her brow. As she closed her eyes, her breathing gradually steadied.
When she opened them again, the illusion in front of her was gone.
‘No. No.’
Get a grip. She exhaled slowly through her nose.
‘I’m here for myself. For my goals, my future.’
A scholarship essay? She’d just write it. And if she lost the scholarship, then that was that.
‘I did my best with what I had. There’s no point feeling miserable.’
It would just mean stepping off the fast track and going the normal public school route like other Korean international students.
It wasn’t like her path to college was completely blocked, and everything she had built so far would disappear.
Taking a deep breath that filled her chest, she slowly exhaled and opened her eyes again, continuing down the stairs.
‘If I write a tear-jerking essay that no one can possibly refuse…’
Something so sincere that anyone reading it would have at least a gram of conscience and feel forced to grant the scholarship.
Her lips pressed together, then slowly curved into a faint smile as she organized her thoughts.
It’s fine.
“I’m fine.”
She muttered it like a vow.
No matter how annoying Frederick Bastia was, no matter what kind of bet or intentions he had, it didn’t matter. It had nothing to do with her.
Or so she thought—until Frederick Bastia did something she could not possibly believe.
The hallway after class was chaotic, flooded with students pouring out in every direction.
Lee Su was thinking about her essay—what to include, how to structure it, and when to finish it.
‘Maybe it’d be better to make the timeline more detailed by year…’
She also needed to go back and retrieve the group photo from the math club. Lost in thought, she walked down the hallway until a shadow in front of her made her stop.
“…What?”
There stood Frederick Bastia, blocking her path like a gatekeeper. His usual smile looked even more irritating than usual.
Just standing face to face, the students around them immediately sensed something strange and began to watch.
Stella, leaning against lockers with her friends, uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. Her tie was a boys’ uniform tie.
“Hey, Daniel.”
He smiled gently, like some innocent saint.
“…What’s with the greeting? Do you need something from me?”
Lee Su, on the other hand, couldn’t hide her expression at all. So this was it—his so-called plan to “make her fall for him” or “get her to accept a confession.”
‘Just ignore whatever nonsense he says and walk away…’
Don’t touch me, Frederick Bastia. Seriously.
The moment Lee Su shot him a sharp glare—
“Daniel, you’re the person I can’t stop thinking about. Will you be my girlfriend?”
“…What?”
“WHAT?!”
Her mouth stayed open, unable to close. The strange silence was instantly shattered by chaos as students erupted into noise.
“Did I hear that right? Did he just confess publicly?”
“Frederick Bastia? To Tryell?”
“Jesus, what is happening?”
The hallway buzzed loudly. Among the shocked students, the most shocked person was obviously Lee Su.
Did I hear that right? Am I not mistaken?
Frederick Bastia just asked me to be his girlfriend?
‘Wow…’
Frozen for a moment, she let out a silent, disbelieving laugh.
‘He’s really doing anything just to win a bet. Scary guy.’
Still, considering he was the kind of person who chased amusement and changed moods on a whim, maybe this kind of ridiculous stunt was just momentary entertainment for him.
That made his confession strangely understandable.
‘Did he really think I’d accept? Is he out of his mind?’
Lee Su’s mouth slowly opened. As she looked up to respond, her eyes met his.
She couldn’t read the meaning behind Frederick’s smile. Not back in Lower School, not in Middle School, and not even now in Upper School.
‘That confident smile…’
As if I’d ever accept. Especially a public confession—where does he get that confidence?
Ridiculous.
“Ah, did I make you angry again?”
“I was just stating a fact.”
Just recalling the end of their last conversation made her feel more irritated than amused.
What kind of reply would make Frederick Bastia swallow his pride?
But before she could answer, he spoke first.
“Maybe you don’t realize it, but you’re special to me.”
Lee Su’s heart dropped.
Something about the seriousness in Frederick’s gaze, now directly locked onto hers, made the air shift.
