hotmtlnovel Chapter 790
Chapter 790
Although Cheon Seongheon probably didn’t recognize me, I had seen him making the pledge during the entrance ceremony.
Many others, like myself, would remember Cheon Seongheon standing on the podium as the top-ranking student, representing the new students.
Nowadays, the entrance examination process has become more diverse and complicated, making it difficult to determine who the top student is. But in my time, the regular entrance exam selected the largest number of students.
So, it was relatively simple to pick the top student and name them as the representative of the new students, giving them a scholarship.
‘When the rumors about entrance bribery and cheating started to surface later, I couldn’t believe it.’
Such scandals typically happen covertly.
They don’t place the top student so blatantly in the spotlight like that.
The one who started those rumors was Cheon Seongheon himself, but it was surprising that some people within the school believed them, distancing themselves from him and treating him like an illegal entrant.
If anyone had ever been in a class with Cheon Seongheon, there would be no way they’d suspect him.
Of course, some may have avoided him because they knew about his family problems, even if they knew he was innocent.
‘But still, did they really have to treat their fellow student like that?’
While Cheon Seongheon was trying to destroy his family, all I could do was continue on as I had before.
Even though my situation wasn’t great and I couldn’t take care of him as much as I wanted to, he always expressed gratitude, and I felt sorry about that.
I was surprised when Cheon Seongheon, after completing his duties, decided to live peacefully and became the head of a gosiwon (small student dormitory), but his face had become much gentler than before, so I was relieved.
‘But even while working, he was studying in his spare time.’
Cheon Seongheon was always studying, whether during the time when he was tearing down his family or when he worked as a gosiwon manager.
He never let on that he was studying, but after spending time with him, I realized it.
An overwhelming academic background can be a powerful weapon.
Cheon Seongheon understood that power well, and even now, as Eunho, it seemed the same.
‘The new students at Eungwang High will have a hard time becoming number one.’
Unless there’s a reason not to be the top student, it’s only natural to aim for that position.
No matter how young or weak someone is, if they have the title of "number one" among their peers, they can’t be easily dismissed.
Eunho’s position in TC may be helped by this.
I felt sorry for Eunseoho and Euniho, who were aiming for co-valedictorian, but it was hard to tell Eunho to purposely lose.
There are people like Hwang Jiho, who deliberately aim for a 40-point score in all subjects, but there are also those like Eunho who try their best.
"Uishin-hyung, we didn’t make it to first place..."
"This year, first place is a perfect score including the practical exams..."
The news that they missed the top spot reached Eunseoho and Euniho as well.
They looked deflated, expressing their disappointment.
‘Eunho really isn’t giving them a chance. A perfect score in both written and practical exams...’
I had thought that Eunho might be weak in practical exams, but it seemed I was wrong.
After all, he had defeated Hwang Jiho in the mythical era, so it seemed that he was also good at handling force when the conditions were right.
Eunseoho and Euniho, both looking downcast, asked Hwang Jiho.
"Hwangho, so what rank did we get?"
"Did we get co-valedictorian? Right?"
Hwang Jiho hesitated before answering.
Seeing him falter, it seemed that they were not even co-valedictorians.
After a moment of hesitation, Hwang Jiho spoke.@@@@
"The co-valedictorian is another student. You two are ranked 3rd and 4th."
Upon hearing this, Eunseoho and Euniho slumped into the sofa, defeated.
Just then, the angel who had been walking around came by to comfort them, but the shock was so great that they couldn’t seem to snap out of it.
Geum Chanwangchan’s group had allowed the graduating students to approach Jeongal Jaegyeol during the graduation ceremony, but they had decided to go on a trip before school started.
It was said that they had set a date and traveled across the country to attend various festivals.
The senior group went to festivals like the trout festival, clam festival, and snow flower festival, attending overlapping events over two days and one night.
Because several photos of them were posted on the staff’s SNS accounts, rumors spread that they had been hired as part-timers to liven up the festival atmosphere.
There were also group trips.
The group of Kim Shinrok and Andain was one of them.
‘As soon as Kim Shinrok’s favorite food was mentioned, they immediately planned that trip. As expected, the title heroine Andain is on top of everything.’
They went to Gyeongsangbuk-do, Sangju, famous for its dried persimmons.
It was clearly a trip organized for Kim Shinrok.
They went to a village where 90% of the residents were engaged in persimmon production and participated in experiential and volunteer activities.
During the trip, Andain sent me a few photos, and in them, Kim Shinrok looked embarrassed but was happily eating persimmon dishes.
Andain had sent the photos to Jeokho as well, causing Jeokho to brag about how close his son was with his disciple, which he had to listen to the entire time.
‘The dried persimmon travel photos are great, but I want the photos from the spar with Joo Su-hyeok...’
After Joo Su-hyeok’s sparring request, the two had met several times before the start of the semester to spar.
The results, of course, showed Andain’s overwhelming victory.
Joo Su-hyeok had been slowly closing the gap, but during one sparring session, he had become mentally distracted.
It happened when the Ho-jok couple came to watch the sparring to pack lunch for their daughter.
‘It’s understandable; he must have been nervous to meet the parents of the person he likes unexpectedly.’
Moreover, the Ho-jok couple and Andain’s appearance were quite similar.
Just by looking at the couple’s faces, Joo Su-hyeok must have lost his focus thinking about Andain.
The Ho-jok couple, who had observed the sparring, had this to say.
"Wow, our kid’s friend fights really well. There were a lot of mistakes, but for his age, he did well. He seems to have excellent talent."
"He’s neat, kind, and has the kind of talent that makes him stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our kid... It’s easy to understand why our kid has feelings for him."
Although they praised Joo Su-hyeok, the Ho-jok couple’s words had a tinge of disappointment.
What exactly was disappointing about Joo Su-hyeok?
Was it because he showed weakness compared to Andain?
But the reason for that disappointment wasn’t what I expected.
"Actually, when we didn’t know our kid’s heart, we hoped you would become part of our family."
When I understood what that meant, I was shocked.
Could they have wanted me to end up with Andain?
That didn’t make any sense.
Hadn’t Andain already had her heart set on the perfect title hero?
I was starting to wonder whether I needed to keep an appropriate distance from both of them, considering Joo Su-hyeok’s misunderstanding.
"Our class will all be advancing to 2nd year Class 0," I heard.
While there were some confusing moments, there was also some good news.
Our class would all be moving to 2nd year Class 0 without anyone transferring out.
The homeroom teacher, the assistant homeroom teacher, the school refusal students, and anyone else who should be in a different class had all stayed.
It was a bit unfortunate that not everyone would be attending, though.
Not long after hearing the news from Hwang Jiho, I received a message from Ong Gil-dong and Gu Seul-bi, who were on a journey to find the school refusal students.
[Ong Gil-dong] "Thanks for the info! As soon as I passed along what you said, they chose to return to Korea."
[Gu Seul-bi] "He’s here in Korea now."
It seemed that the school refusal student they had been looking for had finally arrived in the Korean Peninsula.