Ch.2121. I Don’t Have Any Friends

Originally, I would have called for Han Siwoo’s family limousine, but unfortunately the vehicle was sent for maintenance.

Therefore, Hwa Nabi and I have no choice but to use public transportation for our commute.

“Why aren’t there any taxis stopping around here?”

“Probably because it’s a rich neighborhood? Most people drive their own cars.”

Hwa Nabi explained as if stating the obvious, and I found myself nodding in agreement.

So that’s why taxis don’t stop here? I’ve never been rich or lived in a wealthy neighborhood, so I wouldn’t know.

Anyway, we walked a bit further and reached the bus stop. I first checked the bus schedule.

“We’ll have to wait a bit.”

“When is it coming?”

“In three minutes.”

I had deleted the app since I thought I wouldn’t need to take the bus much, but it seems I’ll have to download it again.

While I was thinking about this, Hwa Nabi moved closer to me and started a conversation.

“Siwoo, come to think of it, have you ever ridden a bus before?”

“Yeah. Many times.”

“…Really? That’s surprising.”

“What’s surprising about that?”

I find you more surprising, actually.

When you look closely, Hwa Nabi shows subtle signs of being from a privileged background.

I was so shocked when I heard she had never taken the subway or bus before.

When I asked how she’d been getting to school until now, her answer was ridiculous.

She said she just walked because she didn’t know how to take the bus.

Good grief. I could understand if it was just one or two stops, but who would mindlessly walk a distance of five stops without exercising?

No wonder she suggested walking home yesterday. It was raining and I was distracted, so I didn’t think much of it, but now I understand the real reason.

“Well, if someone like you says you’ve ridden a bus, I don’t think anyone would believe it.”

“What’s so special about me?”

“It’s not that you’re special, but you’re a third-generation chaebol. What kind of chaebol would have experience riding buses?”

Now that I think about it, it’s not wrong, but it feels strange. Hearing such words from someone else makes me feel somewhat embarrassed.

Since it was an awkward question to respond to, I just changed the subject.

“Just because someone’s rich doesn’t mean they eat gourmet food every day, right? Even yesterday, we had kimchi stew.”

It wasn’t entirely untrue. Why, even the Samsung chairman was prominently featured in newspapers for ordering chicken right after being released from detention.

Not that Han Siwoo’s family is that level of chaebol. But the context is similar.

Just as wealthy people don’t eat gourmet food for every meal, they might also take the bus when circumstances require it—that was my excuse.

Of course, if you’re really rich, you’d probably call a taxi instead of using public transportation.

“Well, that’s true. But riding a bus and eating kimchi stew seem like different issues to me.”

“What’s the difference? If taxis aren’t available, you have no choice but to take the bus. You can’t wait hours for a taxi.”

“You speak as if you have a lot of experience with this?”

“……”

Though she seemed to be making an offhand comment while looking elsewhere, Hwa Nabi’s words hit the mark.

Until I graduated middle school, I lived in a rural area where buses came only once an hour. So I never even considered taking taxis.

They had to be available first.

Of course, Hwa Nabi wouldn’t know about my childhood. But I felt a pang in my heart because her comment struck a nerve.

“…Anyway, you need to learn how to use public transportation. Are you going to walk every day? Walking five stops round trip is almost an hour, your legs will get tired.”

Despite my grand statement, there’s actually not much to learn. You just buy a transportation card, load it with money, and tap it. For buses, you just need to know the routes.

“I can just take taxis.”

How is that any different from saying “If there’s no bread, let them eat cake”?

“If you have a lot of money, sure. But didn’t you say you get a small allowance?”

“Even so, if I save up, I have enough for taxis.”

“How much do you get per month?”

Considering she lives alone, I’d guess around 500,000 won.

In response to my question, Hwa Nabi held up her right index finger.

“100,000 won?”

“Just add one more zero to that.”

“…So, 1,000,000 won?”

Hwa Nabi nodded, and I was inwardly shocked.

As expected of a rich family’s daughter, the scale is incredible.

What high school student gets a million won as monthly allowance? Even considering she lives alone, it’s an astonishing amount.

“Why do you look surprised? Don’t you get more?”

Hwa Nabi asked, but I couldn’t answer.

It’s not that I’m deliberately avoiding the question, but I don’t know how much my monthly allowance is either.

I’ll naturally find out when the time comes, but I haven’t received any allowance yet, so I don’t know.

“Less than you.”

“What? No way. How much do you get?”

“Maybe 500,000 won.”

I threw out a rough estimate, but Hwa Nabi frowned at me. Something seemed to displease her.

“Really? You’re not joking?”

“…300,000 won?”

I reduced the amount thinking it might be too much, but she tapped my shoulder and laughed as if telling me not to joke. I’m being serious though.

“Come on, isn’t the Han Group heir being too modest?”

“What heir.”

There’s no point in gilding my face with something that isn’t even mine; it would only cause me trouble.

“Let’s stop talking about me. But didn’t you tell me yesterday that you didn’t have money for snacks? If you get a million won a month, why are you broke? Do you pay maintenance fees from your allowance?”

If that’s the case, I could understand why she says she has no money. Expensive apartments have high maintenance fees. An apartment like this probably has monthly fees of around 500,000 won.

Hwa Nabi shook her head in response to my question. In other words, her parents cover the maintenance fees too.

That makes even less sense. She doesn’t have a car, so there’s no fuel costs, and the apartment is owned, not rented. Even if she spent 30,000 won a day, she’d still have 100,000 won left.

“Then where does all that money go? Do you spend it on clothes or something?”

“No. I save it.”

“Huh? You save it?”

“Yes. After food expenses, I save almost everything, so I don’t have much left.”

“Ah…”

I had assumed she was wasteful because of her rich girl image, but if that’s the case, I have nothing to say.

This is actually something to be praised for.

It’s easy to say that girls save money by cutting back on snacks, but it’s not an easy thing to do.

“Wow… that’s impressive.”

“Your compliment doesn’t sound very sincere.”

She caught me right away. She’s usually scatterbrained, but surprisingly sharp in odd moments.

“…The bus is coming.”

“Then we should get on.”

I silently nodded.

***

Time passed.

4th period. Math class.

With the bell signaling the end of morning classes, the pop quiz the teacher had warned us about was over.

Whether it could even be called a pop quiz was questionable—there were five problems in total.

One problem asking about a very basic formula, three requiring some application, and one difficult problem seemingly designed to make students fail.

Excluding the last one, the overall difficulty wasn’t too high. Anyone who paid attention in class without dozing off could solve them.

However.

“…Hmm, hmm.”

The person sitting next to me had a troubled expression, suggesting they had struggled considerably.

Well, until yesterday they had almost no foundation, so it must have been difficult.

But who could they blame? If all five problems had been impossibly difficult, they could have blamed the teacher, but most were simple problems, so there was no one to blame.

What can you do? This is the consequence of their own actions.

“How did it go? Did you manage to solve any?”

I asked as I moved my desk back next to Hwa Nabi’s after separating it for the test.

She shook her head in response to my question, then furrowed her brow into a frown.

Well, I could tell the result just by looking at her expression. She’s not good at hiding her emotions.

“I managed to solve all of them except the last one.”

“What? Really?”

I couldn’t believe it and asked again. How could she solve all of them after studying for just a few hours?

The last problem was practically meant to be unsolvable, so getting the other four right would be a significant achievement.

“Yes. But I’m not sure about the results. I tried to follow what you taught me, but I didn’t have time to double-check.”

“Then let’s check now.”

“How?”

“Just wait a moment.”

I still remembered all the problems since we just took the test.

I opened a notebook and wrote down the four problems, excluding the last one.

I’m skipping the last problem because it was difficult even for me, so there’s no point in asking Hwa Nabi about it.

“Wow, you remember all that?”

Hwa Nabi murmured in admiration as she stared at my hand, but it wasn’t really a big deal.

The problems weren’t that complex, so probably anyone else could have done the same if asked.

“Try solving them again like you did before. I’ll check for you.”

“Okay.”

I thought she might be reluctant after the difficult experience, but she readily started solving the problems. Perhaps Hwa Nabi is unexpectedly studious.

This might sound rude, but I had assumed Hwa Nabi would dislike using her brain.

Usually, pretty and handsome kids don’t bother with studying, relying on their looks. But seeing her now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“…”

Watching her solve problems with such focus is unexpectedly impressive.

With a slight exaggeration, if you put glasses on her right now, she could pass for a model student who studies even during breaks.

“I’m done.”

Hwa Nabi finished solving the problems while I was timing her.

It took about one minute per problem. That’s quite fast for someone who just learned the basics yesterday.

“Let me see.”

After checking her work, I found that all were correct except for the fourth problem.

Three out of four correct translates to 75 points. Not a bad score.

“All correct except the last one.”

“Really? Phew, that’s a relief.”

While Hwa Nabi was stroking her chest in relief, I leaned back in my chair and carefully examined the notebook.

We should skip what’s correct and figure out why the wrong one is wrong.

After a moment, I opened the notebook in front of Hwa Nabi again.

The solving method was incorrect.

“But the fourth problem, this part is wrong.”

“Huh? Where?”

“Look. This is…”

I straightened my posture and picked up a pen. Hwa Nabi also leaned in toward me as I was about to explain.

And at that moment.

“Hey, Nabi.”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came from behind me. We both turned around.

It was a face I hadn’t seen before.

Looking more closely, it wasn’t just one person I hadn’t seen before, but three female classmates from our class.

“It’s lunchtime, aren’t you coming to eat?”

The girl’s gaze was directed at Hwa Nabi, not me. Apparently, she was inviting her to lunch.

“Oh? Yes, I should. But…”

Hwa Nabi paused and glanced at me. She was probably concerned about me since she was just about to learn from me.

“Oh, um. That, Han Siwoo, right? …Do you want to come too?”

The unnamed girl extended the invitation to me as well, but I had no intention of awkwardly joining them.

When girls want to eat together, a troublemaker like me would only make the atmosphere heavy.

“No, you girls go ahead.”

“Oh, you sure?”

Her voice noticeably brightened, which shows she was really concerned, but this is actually normal.

Freshly minted high school students can’t skillfully hide their emotions.

“Then Siwoo, shall we continue the rest when I get back?”

“Is that necessary? Just take your time. It’s not urgent, and you should rest during lunch break. I’d feel bad taking your time.”

“She’s right. Come on, Nabi. Let’s go have lunch.”

“Oh, okay. Siwoo, I’ll see you after lunch then.”

With just those words, the three unnamed girls and Hwa Nabi left the classroom.

-By the way, Nabi. Why do you use honorifics with a classmate?

-Huh? Oh, that’s…

They were chatting as they left, but I couldn’t hear well because the corridor was so crowded.

“…”

So Hwa Nabi has friends. How did she make friends so quickly when she just transferred a few days ago?

I feel almost admiration seeing Hwa Nabi make her first friend faster than me, who’s been in the class since day one.

Friends? How do you make those?

Suddenly feeling a sense of loneliness isn’t just my imagination.

…Probably not.

In reality, my classmates were openly treating me as a dangerous person and not speaking to me at all. I’ve already ruined my interpersonal relationships.

“Tsk.”

Come on, stop being pathetic. Wasn’t I already prepared for this? I should go get lunch too. I was about to get up from my seat.

But then.

“Excuse me, Han Siwoo?”

Another voice came from behind me.

My seat is in the back corner, so why do voices keep coming from behind me? With a strange sense of déjà vu, I turned around and was startled.

“…”

For good reason—the identity of the person who called out to me was none other than the protagonist.

Well, it’s a bit strange to call him the protagonist. He has a proper name after all.

“…What is it, Lim Hansol?”

“Oh, you know my name?”

How could I not know? You’re the protagonist. Swallowing those thoughts, I looked him up and down.

He was wearing gym clothes, probably because the 3rd period was PE.

“What, aren’t you Lim Hansol?”

“No, I am. I just didn’t know you knew me.”

“Anyway, why did you call me?”

The reason my tone isn’t friendly despite us being classmates is probably because I’m inwardly wary of him.

If I had to name the most dangerous character from the original work, it would definitely be this guy.

I gulped and waited for his response.

And after a moment, what Lim Hansol said to me was…

“Nothing special, but if you’re free, would you like to have lunch together?”

…You bastard, so you were actually a good guy!!