“Ye-rin sunbae.”

It threw Ye-rin to be called Tae-san’s senior.

Before she knew it, the name Jang Tae-san had come out of her own mouth.

The exam results had come out today.

She was first in the whole school, as expected.

She had missed exactly one question, in Korean.

Her close friends told her to treat them, so they had stopped at Pizza Hat, the good place downtown.

The moment the door opened she saw a room full of grubby boys.

As usual, admiring noises broke out all around her.

Ye-rin was used to it by now, but it still made her nervous.

She was still a teenage girl.

And then she saw him.

The second-year boy who had taken her number on the bus in the one second she let her guard down.

Jang Tae-san.

Texts came now and then.

He would send a greeting along with some corny joke.

Something about a strawberry getting laid off and turning into strawberry syrup. It was so ridiculous a laugh had slipped out of her.

But the texts never ran long.

A goodnight at the most.

And today, meeting him with no warning, Jang Tae-san’s name had come out on its own.

“Someone you know?”

“Oho! I’m seeing a new side of Ye-rin.”

When Tae-san called her sunbae and waved, her friends turned their astonishment on her.

She was a former student council president, and on the discipline squad at school.

Ye-rin was polite and a model student, always.

And that Ye-rin knew a boy from a boys’ high school.

A sharp-looking Jangju High second-year at that. A younger one.

“He’s handsome.”

“Built solid, too. Kiki.”

Ye-rin’s friends covered their mouths and whispered.

Ye-rin’s cheeks turned pink.

She hadn’t seen this coming either.

“Jang Tae-san, that son of a bitch…”

“Rotten mutt. Bastard’s been drinking swallow soup over the break.” (TL Note: 제비탕, swallow soup — a folk stamina tonic, and 제비, “swallow,” is also slang for a smooth operator with women.)

“I know that noona. Third-year at Jangju Girls’ High, top of the school. My sister showed me in a class photo.”

“Whoa? Top? The fancy people really do swim in a different pool. Our Tae-san is top of the second year too, and with a perfect score!”

Top? Then he really is first?

Ye-rin was startled by what she was hearing.

She had taken Tae-san’s perfect score for a joke.

Jangju High School put ten students a year into Hanguk University; it was the best school in the area.

Top of the year meant Hanguk University, barring accidents.

“Noona, did you come for pizza?”

Tae-san came over with a wide smile.

His eyes were clear.

Ye-rin could tell he was honestly glad she was there.

And Ye-rin saw it.

The glow on Tae-san, brighter than on any of the other Jangju High students.

“Mm… my friends told me to treat them.”

“A treat?”

“Hi. I’m Eun-gyeong, Ye-rin’s friend.”

“And I’m Se-ra noona, the prettiest girl in this city.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

“Tae-san. Ye-rin is the overall top on this midterm. So we fined her a pizza for being insufferable about it.”

Ye-rin was surprised at how forward her friends were.

They were proud girls, the rivals she measured herself against.

And here Eun-gyeong and Se-ra were selling themselves hard.

“I didn’t know Ye-rin had such a good-looking junior.”

“He really is just a junior, right?”

The question came out loaded.

Tae-san’s friends, seething over their pizza, looked at Tae-san too.

The moment every eye in the place landed on Tae-san.

“Ye-rin sunbae is the girl oppa has a one-sided crush on?”

“…!”

Ahwooooooo!

Seo-ryeon’s question came out of nowhere and set a fire off inside Tae-san.

Yes, that’s right, my one-sided love, my first love! Damn it!

I was in the middle of working on it and an unexpected development had blown up in my face.

Why did Seo-ryeon have to be here of all days?

How good it would have been if she had come on some other day!

Why did Seo-ryeon have to pick me today of all days?

How good it would have been if she had picked me some other day!

Why did I have to bring up a one-sided love?

Would playing dumb have killed me?

Why did Ye-rin have to come here?

There are plenty of chicken places!

Haa, this is what people call fated destiny.

Every eye went to Ye-rin this time.

Eyes pushing her to hurry up and say she had nothing to do with Jang Tae-san.

“Seo-ryeon.”

“Yes, sunbae.”

Oh no. The two of them clearly knew each other well. When a name comes out that smoothly, there is history.

“Do you know Tae-san well?”

“No. I met him here for the first time today.”

“The first time?”

“Yes. He’s exactly my style. He looks smart, and he’s handsome.”

Whoaaa… Seo-ryeon was this kind of girl?

The Seo-ryeon I had seen on TV had come across as shy and hopeless with people.

She wasn’t especially expressive and she hardly ever showed up on variety shows.

And here she was, bold enough to see me once and call me her style.

I should probably sort this out here.

It was longing for a first love I had never managed to say one word to.

It doesn’t matter if Ye-rin doesn’t like me.

A one-sided love is exactly why the longing bites so hard.

“Seo—”

“Me too.”

“…!”

Just as I was about to call Seo-ryeon’s name, the words Ye-rin threw out with no warning.

Me too?

Whoa! W-what do you mean, too!

“Ohhhhhhhh!”

“Kyah! Jang Tae-san, you son of a bitch! Are you shooting a B movie!”

“Not one but two of them…”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

My friends went off like they had all caught a fit at once.

Half-eaten pizza and strands of spaghetti flew out of their mouths with the spit.

“Y-Ye-rin…”

“Really???”

Ye-rin’s friends were startled too.

Less than I was, but their faces filled up with shock.

This was not what I had wanted.

I had wanted to confess in a more romantic setting.

A ridiculous love-triangle setup like this, no thank you.

This isn’t even a soap opera…

And yet my heart had gone oddly springy.

There’s a reason soap operas work!

That line you keep getting addicted to.

Me too… Me too…

“Why can’t I be that way?”

Wrong! You can! You can!

“Hmm…”

Seo-ryeon seemed to have fallen into thought.

There’s no need to frown like that.

However much you are Seo-ryeon, the future superstar, I want that date with my first love.

Dying taught me that idols don’t matter.

The love standing right beside you is the best there is.

“Sunbae. You’re impressive.”

Seo-ryeon made a face like she was granting the point.

Right, let’s get to bye-bye fast.

Seo-ryeon, you get scouted at the end of your first year and go live as a ridiculously huge star in Korea.

Forget oppa.

It was all a one-night dream.

Even Seo-ryeon, the best in the country, left me with no regret at all.

Ye-rin sunbae was not outmatched by Seo-ryeon in the slightest.

In poise and grace she was beyond Seo-ryeon.

If Seo-ryeon was a stork, Ye-rin sunbae was a swan.

The first-love buff was that great.

“You’ll still play fair, though, won’t you?”

W-what? Play fair?

The plot was going strange on me again.

I didn’t know what was so great about someone like me.

We met today for the first time.

It couldn’t be that she knew I make billions a day, and yet Seo-ryeon had put her pride on the line.

“Hmm.”

Ye-rin sunbae swallowed a low sound.

Everyone was looking at Ye-rin sunbae.

What kind of live tearjerker was this!

“Tae-san sunbae. Ye-rin sunbae has your number, doesn’t she? Then give me your cell number too.”

Me? Why?

My number isn’t the local Chinese takeout’s — you don’t hand it out on request like that.

“Tae-san.”

Ye-rin sunbae called me gently.

“Yes?”

“Give it.”

“Give what?”

“Your number.”

Whoa… this is the birth of a new word. The whoa of whoas.

It didn’t look like I could refuse.

How to put it? Like standing in the middle of a fierce battlefield.

The war of women’s pride, which I had only ever heard about!

But does this make any sense?

I met Seo-ryeon for the first time today! Why pick me?

Does Seo-ryeon have some ghost on her that sniffs out money???

“Hand me your phone.”

I took the phone from Seo-ryeon.

A pink phone hung with dainty little charms.

Beep beep beep beep.

I punched in the number.

And then I called it.

Ddi-ri-ri-ri, ddi-ri-ri-ri.

A cheap little ringtone rang out inside Pizza Hat.

“Whoaaaaaa! That shameless bastard!”

“Jang Tae-saaaaaan!!!”

Flames came out of my friends’ mouths.

Lasers came out of their eyes.

Heh. Go ahead, envy me all you want.

This is not a bad development.

First love in one hand.

Future star Seo-ryeon in the other!

Ye-rin on the right, Seo-ryeon on the left.

For this moment at least, there was nobody in the world I envied.

A soap-opera plot is supposed to run exactly like this…

Sweet as hell.

(End of Chapter 23)