Ch.102102. Jealousy

In the end, the trip to America was canceled, and we were on our way back. Deokmin Yu was on the phone with the second-year students.

“Yes, seniors. I’ll take good care of the lower class from now on.”

[Good, Deokmin. It’s fortunate you’re helping us. That Dohyun Kim guy doesn’t respond at all. Now that the third-years are gone, we need to do things properly.]

They were explaining the upcoming plans to him.

[After the school trip, we’ll start cracking the whip in earnest. Just need to establish control at the beginning. That’s where you’ll help us.]

“Leave it to me!”

Deokmin Yu’s heart was racing.

Being entrusted with an important task meant he was being acknowledged.

It didn’t matter if it was for wrong practices or actions.

‘I’ll be recognized. By the seniors… by everyone…’

Deokmin Yu clenched his fist.

‘Now others will acknowledge my talent when I become successful in the lower class. Unlike Jonghyun Do who doesn’t even have a summoning spirit.’

It was just that everyone wasn’t acknowledging him yet due to the aftermath of the first semester.

At least, that’s what Deokmin Yu thought.

‘Damn, I wanted to get closer to her during the school trip.’

Ariel.

He resented Ariel because of what happened on the way.

He wanted to take Jonghyun’s position, but Ariel wouldn’t even look at him.

‘She doesn’t even know my name. Yet she calls that Jonghyun guy “Doo-Jonghyun” so easily.’

Apart from Jonghyun himself, Ariel only used nicknames with Jia Yu.

In other words, evidence that she was closer to them than others. He envied that so much.

Moreover, his image had probably worsened after the fight.

‘Anyway, don’t I just need to replace Jonghyun? Right now, people are only interested in him because he stands out. I just need to do the same.’

He just needed to pull Jonghyun down from his position.

But how should he do it?

He looked at Sucheon and Huimin who had recently joined the lower class.

‘They were originally friends with Jonghyun, right?’

“Hey, Park Sucheon. Come here.”

Deokmin immediately called Sucheon over.

“You’re close with Jonghyun, right?”

“Yeah. But you’re the one who called me over.”

“Report to me what that bastard usually does.”

“Why?”

Deokmin’s expression turned vicious at this response.

“Why? Are you crazy? Just do what I tell you. The second-year seniors ordered it.”

“Oh, alright.”

He was trying to use them by lying about something no one had asked him to do.

‘They’ll come to me eventually as time passes anyway.’

But during free time, Deokmin realized from Sucheon that Jonghyun was meeting with Ariel.

‘Shit, are they dating? So openly? Why is this happening?’

Jealousy was blinding him.

He informed his gang about this fact.

“Hey, Jonghyun is going out with Ariel again.”

“They must be dating. They go out often…”

One of his gang members started to laugh but sensed the mood and covered his mouth.

“That’s not it. He keeps abandoning his fellow lower class peers and hangs out with the upper class!”

He clearly had a different perception than the people around Jonghyun.

And he tried to spread this perception to other lower class students.

“He already feels different from the likes of the lower class. Don’t you think?”

No one answered Deokmin’s question.

“Hey, should we just accept being disrespected like this?”

“No. That’s not right…”

Huimin nodded hastily. Deokmin addressed everyone.

“Honestly, I feel weird whenever that guy acts superior. He looks down on us. I don’t like it. You’re all being disrespected too! Why do you think he only hangs out with the upper class? Because he thinks he’s on a different level from us.”

He was forcing his ideology on them.

Deokmin was planning to drive Jonghyun out of the lower class this way.

‘The second-years want to deal with Jonghyun anyway. I’m just doing it for them.’

He was implementing this strategy within his gang first.

While wandering around, Deokmin spotted a noticeable girl.

“Yuhwa Seol?”

He happened to see Yuhwa browsing alone on the street.

Yuhwa was examining various toys that her siblings might like.

Deokmin’s interest in Yuhwa was recent.

While Ariel and Jonghyun were a noticeable pair who had appeared in the school newspaper several times, Yuhwa had a quiet personality.

So he didn’t know how close Jonghyun and Yuhwa were.

She didn’t even join clubs and went to the White Dragon Guild for daily training, so he had barely met her.

‘I heard she’s from some wealthy family?’

With her dignified attitude and polite speech, she gave off a noble impression different from Ariel.

He wondered why he hadn’t noticed her until now.

‘White Dragon Guild… I’ll eventually go there too, so it wouldn’t hurt to get close to her.’

He wanted to be like Jonghyun.

For that, he naturally wanted to talk to girls.

Deokmin approached Yuhwa with confidence.

“Yuhwa Seol… fancy seeing you here. You seem interested in something.”

“…”

Yuhwa blinked and looked at Deokmin for a moment.

“You’re in the same class as Jonghyun, right?”

Her gentle and refined voice made Deokmin’s ears feel refreshed.

‘But Jonghyun again? Why his name…’

It must be because Jonghyun was still the representative of the lower class. Deokmin gritted his teeth.

“Uh… yeah. I’m Deokmin Yu. I’m ranked second… no, first in grades.”

He confidently boasted about his grades. But Yuhwa wouldn’t care about lower class rankings.

Still, unlike Ariel, she politely looked at Deokmin.

“That’s impressive. So you’re smarter than Jonghyun?”

“Y-yes. That’s right. Are you picking out gifts? Can I help you?”

“Thank you. But I’m fine. You must be busy, and I plan to walk around alone. See you next time.”

“Okay… have fun.”

This was clearly a chance. He could have been more assertive, but this was Deokmin’s limit.

‘Phew. Why is it so hard to have a conversation? But she greeted me and was definitely different. I could win her over.’

He hadn’t had much experience talking with girls for long, but Yuhwa’s kindness toward him was enough to make him like her.

He craved it even more.

Jonghyun’s position, that is.

However, after that, the monster attack and the extraordinary battle with the mechanical whale made him temporarily forget about it.

While Jonghyun and Ariel were “fighting happily,” he arrived at the hospital.

Ignoring the instructor’s order to wait for examination, he slipped away to Ariel’s hospital room.

He just wanted to make her aware of his presence by visiting her.

‘I’ll make up for our fight then. You can do it, Deokmin.’

But seeing Jonghyun in Ariel’s hospital room made his anger rise even more.

Jealousy and hatred. The desire to be seen for himself surged.

‘Just quietly taking it is too slow.’

He called Sucheon and Huimin.

“Didn’t you guys ask Jonghyun if he was being bullied by Cheongi? But why would he care about that?”

“Maybe he’s planning to report it? But that’s strange since he teaches us well.”

“…Really?”

At this moment, Deokmin had a flash of insight. For his friends, Jonghyun would likely report the second-years’ hazing.

Hadn’t his relationship with the second-years already deteriorated because of something similar?

‘If I use this well… I could completely pull him down.’

He could take Jonghyun’s place. Then Ariel, Yuhwa, and the upper class would all surely notice him.

‘Yes, I need to pull him down quickly! Quickly!’

Deokmin reflexively clutched his heart. His heart was pounding violently beyond emotion.

“Huff… huff!”

His body felt chilled and weak.

“What’s wrong?”

“Deokmin, are you sick?”

Seeing Huimin and Sucheon’s concern, irritation surged within him.

“Get lost!”

The two backed away, startled by his sudden anger.

‘I’m angry. So angry. I seem to get excited often these days.’

Deokmin was trying to calm his heart.

*

In the end, we couldn’t go to America.

To be fair, it was because of the casualties among the Jeju Coast Guard and the incident with the monster that was corroded by that machine.

Such major damage couldn’t end easily. We spent the rest of our time in Jeju for investigations.

Our 3-day, 4-night trip to America was literally shattered. Thanks to that, we had to stay only in Jeju.

What’s more disappointing is that we didn’t even have much free time because of investigations and such.

Thanks to that, the only rest we got during the 3 days and 4 nights was the day before departure.

“I wanted to visit America once.”

I was looking around with the training camp members.

Jinsu, Hyeongseok, Junseok, Cheongi, and Minhyeok. With these members. I was hanging out now since I couldn’t before due to my appointment with Ariel.

We started to have fun with this group.

We even gathered at the arcade. Cheongi and I were playing Snow Brothers 2.

“We really get back to having fun quickly after incidents.”

“Technically, it was the Coast Guard who suffered more than us. But our parents wanted us to return due to safety concerns.”

That’s right. If you think about it, we could have gone to America. But after the incident, we had to return home for safety reasons.

Cheongi quickly died and put down his hands.

“But time has passed quickly. November is already approaching.”

“Final exams are waiting.”

“Will the third-year seniors come back by then?”

“Yeah. We’ll see them once, but they’ll leave again anyway.”

Final exams that no one cares about. Plus, the third-years are already receiving training, so there’s no practical exam.

They just focus on the theoretical part.

“So they’re basically already gone.”

“Ah, right. Two years later… I can’t imagine it.”

“Well, we don’t even know about tomorrow.”

Just as I died too, we went to watch the experts.

Junseok and Minhyeok were showing an intense battle in the famous fighting game, Iron Fist.

“The series is already up to 8? When I played, I only knew that yellow-haired guy who goes ‘Oah~’.”

“Were you an Oah-bug? Come at me.”

Minhyeok, who became the victor, gestured to me.

“Should I show off my old skills?”

I grabbed the stick boastfully.

“It feels like we’re really having fun, not just at an internet cafe. I’ll let you win as a bonus.”

And 10 seconds later, I wailed.

“Why won’t he come down from the air? Combo? You have to take hits if you don’t know? What does that even mean! Why are there so many things I don’t know!”

I was thoroughly defeated and lost the subsequent matches too. After enjoying the arcade and coming out, our only concern was dinner.

That’s when Jinsu suggested something.

“Should we go to a pool hall?”

“A pool hall? Can we go? Even as minors?”

When Cheongi asked, Jinsu’s expression was worth seeing.

“Of course we can, idiots. Have you really never played pool before? You’re so young. So young.”

With Jinsu’s provocation, our dinner was decided as pool and jajangmyeon.

I’ve barely played pool before.

Is it the one with three balls or several balls?

We each took a table and played, and it was surprisingly fun.

Unlike the artistic pool I saw on TV, we played pocket pool where you put the balls in holes. With our skill level, three-cushion billiards would be too difficult.

It was more fun than expected, and we ordered the much-anticipated Chinese food delivery.

“Who ordered the gan jajang, jangpan jajang, and Sichuan sweet and sour pork?”

“Hey, who ordered this expensive seafood jjamppong, la jiao meat, and eight treasures? That’s quite fancy.”

I immediately grabbed the seafood jjamppong, la jiao meat, and eight treasures and started inhaling them.

The hot steam, spiciness, and seafood all rushed into my mouth with the noodles.

Yes, this is it. This. Just as the hot sensation and flavor were sliding down my throat.

Time to take a bite of the la jiao meat…!

That’s when my phone rang.

[Yuhwa Seol]

-Do you have time tomorrow morning? Just… I want to buy toys for my siblings, but it’s okay if you’re busy.

It was a message from Yuhwa. I was planning to sleep in leisurely tomorrow morning.

Just as I was sending a reply saying I understood, that’s when it happened.

“What do you guys think about Yuhwa Seol?”

At that moment, Cheongi brought up a meaningful question with a blushing face.