21 Chapter 21 - Yun Woo is in Our School 4 (2/2)
'I can't. I can't tell the truth. I just want to die.'
As if he were able to see the state of her heart, Juho said, ”You know that it only gets worse the longer you stall, right?”
”I don't know! I don't care!”
Juho continued through her confusion, ”Would you like to know why you weren't able to handle living as Yun Woo?”
”What are you talking about?”
She was already aware of the truth. She didn't need to be told that she wasn't a genius. She didn't want to be.
”It's because it wasn't your name.”
”It wasn't my name?” she asked again, caught off guard by Juho's answer.
”Yes,” he affirmed.
”It's folly to live under another person's name. Folly. Do you really want to take your own life over something like that?”
”Folly,” she muttered after Juho. 'Folly. Living under another person's name.' His words were floating around in her thoughts. Something felt quite empty. At the same time, she felt her burden had lightened.
'What is this? Was I burdened by something?”
Her mouth hung idiotically, and Juho laughed again at the sight.
”Well, you might have to reimburse a handful of people who got their books signed. Oh! And you should expect some people wanting to beat you at night. You might even have nightmares about it. You did do something that was rather stupid.”
”Stupid.”
Nothing had been solved. If anything, her life was now full of things to make up for. There was not a single piece of good news.
”I've been stupid all along… Haha!” she laughed simply, like an idiot.
*
Mr.Moon went into the classroom to begin his lesson. Class 7, it was the class Yun Woo was in, supposedly.
As usual, he opened his book and began his lesson. On the other hand, he was looking around the classroom. Frankly, he was looking at one particular student, Ina Jang. She was the student who was supposedly known as Yun Woo. The mole on her cheek made her stand out among the others. As if she had been told a joke before class, she had been snickering throughout the lesson. The mole on her cheek moved up and down as she did.
Mr. Moon called out a student to wake him up from the after-lunch slumber. Then, he asked him to answer a question from the textbook. After some thought, he answered with a mischievous smile, ”Mr. M, I don't know what the answer is. You should ask Yun Woo.”
Though he wasn't intending on it at first, Mr. Moon turned his eyes to Ina. He was curious about how she would respond. After thinking for a brief moment, she stood up.
”I'm not Yun Woo.”
There was silence. Even the students who were laughing at first began to grasp the situation one by one. Ina continued, ”I'm not Yun Woo.”
She wasn't crying or smiling. She confessed as if she were sharing a fact.
”The real Yun Woo is probably...”
'The real Yun Woo is probably somebody like that guy. Somebody who can change a person's heart in the blink of an eye. Juho Woo was it?' Ina thought as she looked around.
The students were dumbfounded. Some were fiercely glaring at her as if they had suspected it. There was chaos in the classroom. Ina clenched her fists and stood still. She didn't want to run away from that.
”You're a psycho!” One student said. Ina remembered her. It was the student who had asked for a special note.
”Psycho. Idiot. Potato, potahto.”
”What?”
Ina decided to stop her foolishness. She lowered head and apologized to the class.
”I was stupid. I'm sorry. I wanted attention. If I signed your book, bring it to me, and I'll get you a new copy. Again, I apologize. I'm sorry.”
The class was filled with confusion. Mr. Moon grasped the situation and sighed. He had been somewhat looking forward to meeting Yun Woo in person.
Mr. Moon resumed his lesson.
*
”Finally, some peace and quiet,” Seo Kwang said as he looked out at the empty hallway.
Juho agreed. Things had settled down at school since the appearance and the exit of the impostor, at least on the surface.
Since it had been revealed that Ina Jang was not the real Yun Woo, everyone who claimed to be her fan had turned away from her. Among the group were her friends who first called her Yun Woo.
”Is that girl doing OK?”
”Who?”
”You know, the impostor. Ina Jang was it?”
”Why do you ask me?”
Seo Kwang asked back with a confused look on his face, ”Didn't you go to Class 7 during lunch?”
”What makes you think that?” Juho asked curiously, blinking his eyes in surprise.
”She confessed in front of her class right after you disappeared during lunch. I thought you had something to do with it.”
”I think you need to base your thoughts on something more solid.”
”I had a feeling, to be frank. It wasn't you though?”
Though he described his thought to be a mere feeling, Seo Kwang was getting a strong impression that Juho was somehow involved. It might have been that he had a strange image of Juho after his bet with Baron. Nevertheless, Juho gave an affirming nod to Seo Kwang's question.
”I did go to Class 7.”
”Are you serious? What did you do to make her confess?”
”You know, this and that.”
Juho didn't say much. Being the quick-witted person he was, Seo Kwang rephrased the question, this time, focusing on the present.
”So, how's she handling the aftermath?”
”It seems like she's reimbursing others for the books she signed for now.”
Thinking about the kids who were criticizing Ina, Seo Kwang asked again, ”I saw her eating alone earlier. Aren't you going to eat with her?”
Juho snickered at him, ”Apparently, she's always been eating alone, even as Yun Woo. She didn't want my company.”
”Of course. I guess she did have the guts to steal Yun Woo's name all along.”
With his chin, Juho pointed outside, through the window. Wearing her P.E. uniform, Ina was standing on the schoolyard, and Seo Kwang turned his eyes to her.
”Who's that?”
”I don't know. A girl who's into special things?”
Ina was having a conversation with another girl. It was clear that they weren't talking about pleasant things.
”It looks super serious.”
The two girls were now scowling at each other. On the other hand, not one person looked away.
”You never know how a relationship will turn out.”
”What are you saying? What the, they're fighting! They're grabbing each other by the hair!”
”They're going to be famous.”
Everyone focused their attention at the brawl in the schoolyard. Regardless of their year, a crowd of people gathered around the two in a circle.
A few days later, she was no longer eating alone.
<Yun Woo is in Our School (4)> The End