1st in class hides regression

The person read the words on the screen.

 “I want it, Jae.” 

My gaze slowly moved up to the large hand clutching my phone.

 

Lightly tanned skin. A neat school uniform that didn’t match his bully-like demeanor. Wide-open eyes and pretty lips that my older sisters would be chasing after.

 “…Jung Eun-sung?” 

It was Jung Eun-sung.

 

The last person I saw when I fell from the rooftop before my regression.

 

The man who, eleven years later, after all the members had left the group and various controversies and incidents, had become one of Korea’s leading actors.

 

But now.

 

An 18-year-old boy who is still a trainee at a major agency.

 

A new face who transferred to our class just in time for the new semester. The center of attention.

 

Seo Jae-gyeom and the other girls in the class made all kinds of excuses to stop by our class, such as

“borrowing gym clothes”

and

“borrowing textbooks”

.

 

Eventually, after two days, the teacher got annoyed and put a sign on the classroom door that said

<Other classes are prohibited!!!!>

.

 

The only classmate who knows my future self.

 “Uh, this is Jung Eun-sung.” “Eun-sung, hi!” “Eun-sung, do you remember me?” 

Girls giggled and waved at Jung Eun-sung as he walked by, even during the brief moment of confrontation in the hallway.

 “Jung Eun-sung…” 

I looked at Eun-sung, who had suddenly aged 11 years, with a bit of emotion.

 

He made eye contact with me, her eyes filled with tears that she hadn’t yet wiped away, and she shivered.

 “Eun-sung Jung…” “Kang Dahye…” “You were short in high school, weren’t you?” “Why are you crying?” “…….” “…….” 

Ugh.

 

I should have kept that to myself.

 

Jung Eun-sung rolled his face.

 “I’m small?” 

He looked at the ceiling in disbelief, hah, hah, and stretched his back. But that doesn’t make him any taller.

 

I stuttered as I looked at Jung Eun-sung’s throat in front of my nose.

 “No, but you’re really small…” 

Objectively speaking, he may not be that short, but anyone would feel the same way as I did if the boy I had to crane my neck to look up at a few hours ago suddenly became 10 centimeters shorter.

 

For reference, Jung Eun-sung, who is in his late 20s, is 187cm. That’s what his profile says, but there have been reports that he’s actually taller.

 

Now?

 

I think he’s around 179cm.

 

I think he was already over 180 when he made his debut, so he grew a lot in height in one year?

 

Come to think of it, I remember when I was in high school, I saw Jung Eun-sung walking up to me annoyed that he had to buy a new school uniform in a year…

 “It’s okay, you’ll grow out of it.” 

I comforted him, but he didn’t even pretend to hear me.

 

Ignoring my words, he lowered his gaze to my cell phone in his hand.

 

His thumb slid across the screen and scrolled down.

 

Anyone would think it was his phone.

 

It’s rude to look at your best friend’s cell phone like that…

 “Huh?” 

By the way,

 

At this point, he’s been at the school for less than a week, so he’s probably still awkward with me.

 

We’re talking quite naturally, aren’t we?

 

Why is he so shy?

 …No? “…Jung Eun-sung, do you remember….” “Love alone. Maybe I’ll get bored, trying to find your ugly habits.” “…huh?” 

Jung Eun-sung interrupted me as I was about to ask,

“Have you regressed too?”

 

He looked down arrogantly at my phone in his hand and began to recite the lyrics I had highlighted on my playlist.

 

He sounded bored to death.

 “Just. Even. for. a. day. by. your. side. she. grows. older. I pray.” “…….” “To my changed love,. anytime. I pray that you can come. In. my. arms. so. that. you. can. fall. asleep. whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” “Stop! Stop!” 

‘You crazy bastard!’

 “Give it to me!” 

I grabbed the phone.

 

Unlike the tight grip I had on my phone, he gave it to me obediently.

 

Looking at me with a pale face, he pouted.

 “There’s no end to the lyrics you’ve bookmarked.” “I know…” “You must have a very big crush, huh?” “…….” “Who’s Jae?” “Shut up!” 

That Jae is in our class! I slammed my hand over Jung Eun-sung’s mouth.

 

Eun-sung stared down at my hand pressed to his lips, but he shook his head as if it didn’t even tickle him and pulled it away.

 “Why are you reading that!” “Can’t I read it?” “No!” “Why?” “Because it’s my private life!” “That song is about your private life? A song that already topped the charts decades ago?” “Not decades ago, and great songs are timeless!” “That’s right. Great songs are timeless. It’s a famous song, so it’s not your personal life.” “It’s not the song, it’s my phone! My phone is my private life!” “Oh, Kang Dahye’s unrequited love playlist? Yeah, that’s definitely private…” “Hey!” “You’re blushing.” “…….” 

I’m embarrassed. I’m ashamed.

 

Why was the me of 11 years ago so full of sentimentality…

 

Seeing me sulking, Jung Eun-sung gently tilted his head toward my shoulder.

 “Why, are you ashamed of your love for Jae? You’ve collected… 98 songs.” 

At the mention of

“98 songs,”

Jung Eun-sung stuck his head out and looked at my phone.

 “Would you mind?” 

I replied bluntly and slammed the phone back into my hands.

 

Delete this shitty playlist now! Delete!

 “Why delete it? It’s a classical music party.” “The party’s over.” “Why? Did you get a car?” “…….” 

This asshole has no memory. One hundred percent.

 

He can’t talk like this if he remembers.

 

I clamped my mouth shut and glared at Jung Eun-sung.

 

His face, which still had some boyishness left, stared back at me.

 

Clear skin, without the scars on his cheeks that his fans felt sorry for.

 

If 11 years later, it was a finished face, now, as a boy, it was a face that looked forward to the future.

 

While admiring his face, I answered Jung Eun-sung’s call a beat late.

 “Kang Dahye.” “…Huh?” “If you can yell at someone from behind like that and they don’t even notice, you’re already in love.” “…….” “Give up and find another man.” “…….” “Oh, and don’t forget to share your playlist with me before you delete it.” “Holy shit…” “Cough cough…” “Hey, what are you doing in the hallway!” 

The teacher of the next class, who was walking toward us with a bamboo stick and hitting the wall in the distance, separated us.

 “Get back inside!” “I’ll see you later.” 

I glared at Jung Eun-sung.

 

He smirked at me and went into the classroom first.

 

I was about to follow.

 Bang! 

The door slammed shut in front of me.

 “…….” 

Jung Eun-sung smirked at me through the closed classroom door.

 

This asshole.

 

* * *

 

‘Was he always like that?’

 

What I know about Jung Eun-sung:

 

– When he transferred to our school, he had already appeared in several commercials and music videos.

 

– If you search his name on a portal site, you can see his photo, age, and high school (our school).

 

– Before her regression, fans would sometimes visit him at school.

 

– So was he always like that? I don’t know! I don’t remember!

 “Dahye, are you okay?” “Huh?” “You were crying earlier.” “Oh. It’s okay, I’m fine now.” 

I mumbled something back to my friend (who had given me the seats earlier).

 

In the music room, we sat in an S-shape from the front in numerical order, and in the back, Seo Jae-gyeom, who didn’t even pay attention to me, was lovingly responding to the teacher’s jokes.

 

Jung Eun-sung’s side was quiet.

 

‘I don’t know his personality… What was he like?’

 

Only later did they talk because they were in the same club, but at the beginning of the semester, they barely spoke to each other.

 

It was nothing more or less than being in the same class.

 

After the regression, I was a little surprised when he suddenly said—

 “So, guys, you know you have a singing test for your performance evaluation, right?” 

The music teacher at the piano interrupted my thoughts.

 “You guys don’t study hard for music anyway. You won’t need it in college. So this year, I’m going to increase the weight of the performance assessment. In the first semester, you’ll take a singing test, and in the second semester, you’ll take a composition test.” “Composition?!” “Is it plagiarized?” “Yes, and loud. I’ll let you guys pick the song for the vocal exam. What do you want to sing?” “The national anthem?” “Can you memorize the words to verses one through four?” “No.” “Then dismissed.” “…….” “Any comments?” “…….” “If there are no comments, the school song will be sung.” 

No school song.

 

Our school song has rap in it.

 

Anyone have an opinion?

 

With that thought in mind, I turned around and made eye contact with Jung Eun-sung, who was staring straight ahead with his jaw clenched.

 

Jung Eun-sung quietly rolled his eyes,

 

I smiled.

 

Suddenly, he raised hia hand.

 “Teacher.” “Uh, yeah. Does Eun-sung have any suggestions?” “Kang Dahye knows a lot of songs.” “…….” 

…This asshole is????????????