My Girlfriend Is Very Good To Me [EN]: Chapter 21

Ep. 20

“It’s over now. Yeah, it’s fine. I told you, our school is pretty lax; they don’t say much.”

As soon as Monday’s class ended, I sent Heena a KakaoTalk [a popular South Korean messaging app] message saying it was over, and she called me right away.

I mostly just use KakaoTalk on my smartphone, so I’m not really used to talking on the phone with anyone, but Heena calls me once in a while before she goes to bed, so I’ve been doing it a bit more lately.

I put the phone between my shoulder and ear and organized my bag.

─ Should I leave now?

“No, take your time. I asked, and they said they don’t give refunds for skipping dinner. So I’m going to eat and go.”

─ Okay~ Then I’ll grab something to eat here too. Don’t rush too much; see you later~

“Okay~”

I said that and hung up.

Through an agreement with Heena, we decided to meet and study together four days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we’d skip evening self-study and meet to study right away. On Saturdays, half would be for studying, half for dates.

However, this is only when exams are close, like now, and it’s basically a date day otherwise.

Tuesday and Friday, I decided to study on my own or hang out with the guys.

Sundays are designated as holidays, but I’ll probably either meet up with the guys to play games or go see Heena.

It’s just a day where I haven’t set a definite schedule.

Huh, I’m already studying. I thought I’d start next year, watching everyone else first.

I praised myself for at least making up my mind to do it, even though I haven’t started yet.

As I was checking to see if I had forgotten anything, Jung Yoon-sung tapped my arm and sat on my desk.

“Going to see your girlfriend?”

“Yeah, to eat dinner.”

“Really? The menu today is awesome. It’s cutlet, cutlet.”

“Oh~ Pork cutlet; it’s been a while.”

“It’s fish cutlet, though?”

“Damn it…”

It’s not that I hate it, but honestly, if there’s pork cutlet and fish cutlet, I’d always choose pork cutlet.

The soaring expectations plummeted to the ground, and I sighed.

Then, suddenly, I looked around and realized that the usual guys weren’t there.

“Where did the other guys go?”

“You’re leaving anyway, so they all went out to play basketball.”

“Those guys have no loyalty… I’m joining tomorrow.”

“What about your girlfriend?”

“I don’t see her on Tuesdays and Fridays.”

“Why?”

“Because you guys get super sulky.”

The fact that hairy high school guys get sulky is a bit disgusting.

But after playing games with these simple guys all day yesterday, all the useless nonsense disappeared.

Like I betrayed them or something.

Actually, these guys don’t care if I have a pretty girlfriend or not; they’re just like that because I don’t hang out with them, and they’re worried I won’t hang out with them in the future, right?

Thinking about it that way makes it even more disgusting. I’d rather just listen to their crap.

I packed all the books I needed for studying and was about to leave to eat dinner when I noticed Jung Yoon-sung, who was slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“Aren’t you doing evening self-study?”

“I have to go help out at the store again today… A new part-timer came, but he’s a total newbie…”

“…Hang in there…”

I expressed my condolences to his pitiful back as he headed to hell.

Work hard, get a sweet allowance, and invest well.

—

I finished my reluctant fish cutlet dinner and went straight to meet Heena.

And today, for the first time, I could go near Heena’s school to meet her, instead of her coming to my school.

Yeah, honestly, I felt so bad that Heena always came to me.

So I felt relieved, and I felt a baseless confidence and motivation rising in me, as if I was starting to study.

If I really put my mind to it now, I might not be able to get into the top universities, but maybe I can aim for the ones below that?

With a light step, I got off the bus I had taken in front of my house and called Heena.

-♪♬~

A clear melody flowed for a moment before the call was connected.

─ Are you here?

“Yeah, I’m at the bus stop now.”

─ Then I should be able to see you… Ah! I found you!

Click.

With those words, the call was cut off, and Heena’s voice, not from beyond the phone, rang in my ears.

“Yeon-hoo~”

She hadn’t gone home, so she was wearing her school uniform as she ran towards me.

Come to think of it, I could always see Heena running towards me from afar whenever we met. She looked like a puppy, and if she had a tail, it would be wagging so much that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my eyes.

“Did you wait long?”

“No~ I was sitting and studying. What about you? Did you eat well?”

“So-so. Fish cutlet came out, but the taste was a bit…”

We were already talking about most things on KakaoTalk, so we just exchanged simple questions and answers as we walked.

We were going to a study cafe that Heena had booked in advance.

As someone who needs to be taught, I thought it would be difficult to use a place like a study cafe where you shouldn’t talk, but Heena said that it’s actually a place with a slightly noisy atmosphere.

Of course, you’d be kicked out immediately if you shouted, but it seemed that talking was implicitly allowed as long as it wasn’t too loud.

I looked around appropriately and followed Heena.

It was my first time walking around this area, but there were definitely a lot of girls in school uniforms because it was near a girls’ high school.

Well, they don’t have mandatory evening self-study at all, so it makes sense that it would be crowded here and there when school ends.

I glanced at the girls walking around and then felt a hand pulling my sleeve.

I turned my head and saw Heena looking at me with a smiling face.

She was definitely smiling, but it was kind of scary.

“Yeon-hoo.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“We’re here, so let’s go up?”

“Okay…”

Feeling a silent pressure from my girlfriend’s smile, I went up the stairs of the study cafe building that I had arrived at before I knew it.

-Click

When I opened the door to the study cafe on the second floor, I could hear a lot of people talking here and there, which was unusual for a study cafe.

Most of them seemed to be talking while studying, but there were also people who seemed to be chatting appropriately.

I quietly followed Heena, who was leading the way, and soon arrived at a four-person seat located in a slightly secluded area.

It was a reserved seat, so there was no need to worry about other people sitting there. There were traces of Heena studying while waiting for me on the desk.

I also put my bag on the opposite side and took out my books and put them on the desk.

Then, I immediately stood up and asked Heena before heading to the service table in the opposite corner.

“Do you want some coffee too?”

“No, I’m okay for now.”

“Then I’ll just get mine.”

I listened to her answer and moved slowly.

I had done some searching before coming, so I had a rough idea of what was there.

I didn’t really like coffee, but I thought it would be okay to have a cup since I was paying to use the place.

I approached the table, put ice in a paper cup, and pressed the coffee machine button to get coffee.

The thing to watch out for is that if you put ice in first, you have to hold the cup close and get the coffee, or it will splash a lot.

I saw it written in big letters at the top of the introduction on an internet blog post. I was very grateful.

If I hadn’t seen it, I would have just put the cup down, and all the coffee would have splashed on my clothes.

After a while, I returned to my seat with a cup of coffee in my hand.

Heena was still looking at the reference book, and there was a can of drink on the table that I hadn’t seen before.

Did Heena bring it?

“What’s that drink?”

“Oh~ This? Someone gave it to me.”

“What? Someone… There’s a number on it too.”

I was only gone for a moment, and someone gave her this? People actually do this.

No, but what kind of crazy person gives their number to someone who has a boyfriend? There’s a guy’s bag right across from her.

Just as I was about to frown because I was getting a little angry, Heena’s voice, colder than my hardening face, continued.

“I refused once, but they kept offering, so I took it because I didn’t want to make a fuss. You can drink it if you want, Yeon-hoo. Or I’m going to throw it away.”

The coldness mixed with emotion was so strong that even the North Wind was warmer than Heena right now.

There were a lot of people sitting around, so I don’t know who gave it to her, but she speaks loudly as if she wants them to hear.

At that reaction, my anger disappeared, and I was rather intimidated, so I lowered my voice slightly and said.

“Well, the drink didn’t do anything wrong, so I’ll take care of it later. Shall we study?”

“Let’s do that~ After checking the grades and test solutions you took and sent me last time, it seems that math is the one that can improve your grades right away.”

She doesn’t care about such trivial advances, as if she’s already forgotten about them, and opens her mouth, chattering in a bright voice.

“Math? I’m not giving up on math, but I’m barely hanging on…”

“Yeah, but it seems like you’ve memorized all the basic formulas.”

“I know the things I heard in class.”

“Then if you just repeatedly practice the application problems there─”

—

Studying with Heena for a couple of hours. It was like having a beautiful tutor.

Heena explains each problem in a gentle voice with a smile on her pretty face.

I almost got mesmerized and couldn’t do anything, but Heena taught me so well that I was able to concentrate on studying.

It’s like she knows the points I’m confused about? To be exact, it’s not that she’s good at teaching, but she knows me well.

Reviewing basic formulas, solving application problems she chose together, and then doing it alone.

The tutoring of my same-age teacher, Heena, made it easy to feel a sense of accomplishment because I could feel that I was studying and that my skills were improving.

It made me feel like I could do it.

However.

“You’re doing so well? You’re learning so fast~”

“Correct! I thought this problem would take a while, but you’re amazing~”

“Do you want to try the next problem?”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s right~ Good job!”

“Yeon-hoo, I think you can really improve your grades if you work a little harder?”

“The final exams aren’t far away, and if you do well this time, you won’t have to worry during summer vacation, right?”

“Of course, I have to watch you from the side, but I’m always okay with it…”

“But it would be too hard for you to do it too late or even on Sundays, right?”

“But I think it would be good if you did a little more…”

“For example, increasing the number of days you study on weekdays…”

I was speechless at my cute girlfriend, who was subtly watching me while bringing up such things in between solving problems.

Teacher Heena.

Your intentions are too obvious…