Ch.142Chapter 142. Exciting New Semester (3)

“This is driving me crazy……”

Jake couldn’t concentrate throughout the class, his leg bouncing nervously.

He kept wondering if he’d made the right choice.

He finally ended up in the same class as Cuss, only to pretend not to know her.

It truly was the worst decision.

As soon as class ended, he would fix his mistake.

He’d apologize for earlier and properly greet her.

Ding dong dang dong……

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Jake, who had been slumped over his desk, perked up and turned his head.

“Huh?”

He was immediately confused.

Cuss wasn’t in her seat.

Startled, he looked around and spotted her slipping out through the open door.

Perhaps she needed the bathroom urgently?

If so, he’d talk to her when she returned.

Jake crossed his arms and decided to wait at his desk.

“Hmm?”

Just then, he noticed someone hurriedly leaving the classroom, slamming the door behind them.

‘That’s definitely……’

Eugene Damon.

He was the guy who competed with Jake for the top spot in school every semester.

He never really mixed with friends and always had his nose buried in paper books, so Jake wasn’t close to him and never thought to strike up a conversation.

“Jake, where are you going?”

“Bathroom!”

But if that guy was following Cuss, that changed everything.

Jake brushed off the friends crowding around his desk and hurried into the hallway.

By then, Eugene and Cuss had already disappeared from the corridor.

Not knowing whether they went left or right, he was about to head left when he faintly heard Cuss’s voice.

Jake immediately changed direction and rushed toward the sound.

“My name is……”

“Cuss!”

“……?”

Eugene was reaching his hand out to Cuss.

Cuss looked slightly taken aback.

Jake didn’t need to see more to know what was happening.

That nerdy glasses-wearing loser who’d clearly never dated a girl was making a move on Cuss.

Probably thinking she might like him because he’d helped her a little earlier when the girls were bombarding her with questions……

Damn him.

Jake’s teeth clenched audibly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was just……”

“Let’s go back. No need to be here.”

“Jake……”

As Jake grabbed Cuss’s wrist to pull her back to the classroom, her hand suddenly slipped away.

Turning around, Jake realized his mistake.

Cuss was rubbing her wrist and glaring at him.

“So you two do know each other. I don’t understand why you pretended not to.”

“That’s not it!”

“My name is Eugene Damon. If you need any help with school life, feel free to talk to me anytime. I won’t ignore you.”

“Umm… Thanks.”

Jake could only watch blankly as the two shook hands once, briefly and dryly.

As soon as they finished the handshake, Eugene turned and whispered as he passed by Jake.

“Idiot.”

Jake’s head turned, his expression turning hostile.

He wanted nothing more than to chase after Eugene and grab him by the collar.

“Jake……”

But Cuss’s voice held him back.

Jake, who had been trembling with his fists clenched, turned his head again and sighed deeply.

There was something he needed to do first.

“Cuss. I’m sorry about earlier. Not acknowledging your greeting… I guess I was a bit embarrassed……”

“Was I embarrassing to you?”

“No! That’s not it! I don’t mean you were embarrassing! It’s more like I was slightly embarrassed to act like I knew the transfer student.”

Even as he made excuses, Jake couldn’t shake the feeling that he was spouting sophistry.

Even to himself, his behavior then seemed utterly pathetic.

“I’m really sorry. It was a mistake.”

“Hmm… So there was no ill intent.”

“Of course not!”

“Then that’s fine. I accept your apology.”

When Cuss’s expression softened immediately, Jake breathed a sigh of relief.

She could have stayed angry longer and it wouldn’t have been strange, but he was grateful she forgave him so quickly.

“If there’s anything you don’t know or find difficult, tell me. Not that guy from earlier. By the way, what did he say to you?”

“Hmm… It’s a secret.”

“Huh?”

With that, Cuss grinned and ran down the stairs.

‘A secret? Why?’

Jake was so shocked that he was left speechless.

Eugene’s strangely hostile attitude, the way he immediately followed Cuss—there were too many suspicious circumstances.

After imagining all sorts of scenarios in his head, Jake squeezed his eyes shut.

There was nothing good about indulging in such fantasies alone.

“Cuss! Wait a second!”

If this was a misunderstanding, he needed to clear it up right away.

Jake called out to Cuss as he hurried down the stairs, but then……

“Ugh?!”

He missed a step.

As his foot slipped, Jake felt a sickening sensation of falling.

***

On the rooftop, where a slightly cool breeze was blowing.

After a long time, a blue sky stretched above the station.

Looking up at it with a slight smile, Juliane held out her mug.

“Shall we toast?”

“What kind of toast is made with coffee? A toast is—”

“Shall we?”

“……”

Clink.

Juliane’s and her superior’s mugs collided with a dull sound.

Juliane held her mug with both hands and took a sip of the steaming coffee.

“Did you enjoy your three weeks of probation?”

“Yes. I spent it very productively. Got married… hehe. They say the adoption application results will be out soon too.”

“……”

This wasn’t the answer the superior had expected.

Somewhat displeased, she snorted.

Of course, this embodiment of positivity wouldn’t be discouraged by probation or disciplinary action.

“Ah! Today is my daughter’s first day of school. So……”

“Just a moment.”

At that moment, her superior reached out to stop Juliane from speaking, then turned her back and answered a phone call.

“Yes, son! Calling after class? Yes… I see.”

“……”

Juliane’s expression stiffened at the sudden change in tone.

Though she rarely witnessed it, it was a sight she couldn’t get used to.

It was simply amazing that this woman could speak so tenderly.

“Yes! I’ll hang up! You want a kiss before I hang up? Mmm… mwah!”

“Was that your son?”

“Yes.”

As soon as the call ended, her superior’s eyes changed completely.

It was chilling how someone could switch so drastically.

It gave her goosebumps.

“Come to think of it, your son is in middle school too, right? My daughter also started middle school today, and I’m just so worried. But why hasn’t she called me……”

“Maybe she prefers her father over her mother.”

“Well, that’s true in a way… but still, wouldn’t she at least make one call?”

“Haven’t you shown her only your unreliable side? That’s why even when she’s tense or struggling, she doesn’t think to call her mother.”

“Oh? That might be true! I’m terrible at cooking at home, can’t clean, and I get scolded when I do the dishes……”

“……”

She really is unreliable.

The superior sighed as she watched the flustered Juliane.

It was hard to imagine that Juliane, a rising star in the Justice Department, was such a mess at home.

Yet somehow, the image both didn’t seem to fit and was perfectly believable at the same time.

“By the way, we’re both mothers now, aren’t we? Mothers of one child each. I think I can finally understand your feelings as a senior.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. You’ve only raised her since she was already grown. How can you compare yourself to me, who gave birth, changed dirty diapers, and watched my child grow slowly from infancy? We’re on different levels as mothers.”

“But…! But still…!”

“I was joking.”

Watching the flustered Juliane made her laugh.

Over the past few months, Juliane had worried and fretted so much about her daughter.

Having listened to all of it, the superior knew exactly how much Juliane loved her daughter.

She could confidently say that Juliane loved her daughter as if she had given birth to her herself.

“By the way, how would you feel if there was a boy your daughter liked?”

“Ah, there’s already such a boy. Though Cuss doesn’t seem very interested.”

“Then what if your daughter started liking a boy?”

“Come on. That won’t happen. But if we’re talking hypothetically… I’d have to run over there. I might want to see his face and talk to him.”

“……”

Juliane’s expression turned hostile in real-time.

Finding it too amusing, the superior’s lips twitched, but she quickly returned to a neutral expression when Juliane’s gaze turned toward her.

This wasn’t something she needed to tell her right now.

It might be more fun for her to find out on her own later.

Ring ring ring……

“Hmm?”

Just then, a phone call came in and a hologram window appeared.

Juliane’s eyes widened when she saw the name on the screen.

“It’s Cuss!”

“Ow, my ears……”

It was none other than a call from Cuss.

Earlier, when her superior received a call from her son, Juliane had been dying of envy.

Now, she answered the call immediately, gasping with joy.

“Yes! Yes! Is class over, Cuss? What’s up? Why did you call? Did you want to hear Mom’s voice?”

“……”

No wonder the kid doesn’t call her mother if she makes such a fuss.

The superior felt she could understand Cuss’s feelings to some extent.

-Juliane……

Cuss’s voice was trembling.

Only then did Juliane sense something was wrong, calming her excitement and waiting for Cuss to continue.

-I think I broke Jake’s arm.

“Ah.”

Juliane’s face turned pale.