That Face Is the Problem - Chapter 84.1
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- Jae-gyeong’s First Love
“I went on a school trip when I was in middle school…. The region was probably Gyeongju, I think…”
“Ah, really. Cut out the useless talk and just start from how you met your first love.”
Da-sol said, glaring intensely. Jae-gyeong flinched and nodded. He narrowed his eyes.
First love.
It felt like it had been a very long time since he thought about that girl, yet looking back, it felt like he had never properly recalled her even once. Since it had been well over 10 years, her face in his memories was blurry. Only the fact that she had an incredibly flamboyant, beautiful appearance and a unique, fairy-like aura remained clear.
Although it was only for a single night, that incredibly impressive encounter had a massive impact on Jae-gyeong’s life. That he had only liked that girl for nearly eight years was, in a way, only natural. Because the other person… was not human.
“Not human? Then… you liked a ghost…?”
Da-sol looked at Jae-gyeong with eyes that seemed to be staring at the most pathetic person in the world, then shifted his hips backward slightly. It felt like his heart had distanced itself a little.
“A ghost, no…. She was a fairy…! My first love was a fairy….”
Jae-gyeong argued earnestly, clenching both fists tightly. Da-sol’s eyes quickly turned into looks of disgust.
“Ah… is that so….”
“I’m telling you, it’s true! Listen!”
Jae-gyeong, uncharacteristically excited, hurriedly began to explain the situation at the time.
Middle school. From 14 to 16 years old by Korean age. They were all in a phase of being mostly energetic, full of bravado, and at the same time, pretending to be indifferent while being curious about everything in the world.
So, for the courage test prepared by the school, everyone had similar reactions, either saying it would be fun or that it was childish.
But Jae-gyeong was screaming internally. ‘I’m so scared. I hate ghosts. Why do we do something like a courage test? I didn’t even want to come on this school trip. Why are we kids climbing a mountain in the middle of the night without any guardians? No matter how much it’s just a small hill, isn’t it too dangerous?’
They were even supposed to pair up, but because there was an odd number of students in Jae-gyeong’s class, it was decided that Jae-gyeong, being the tallest, would go alone. As expected, Jae-gyeong didn’t say anything, but he snuck out after saying he had to use the restroom and cried because he was so scared.
‘Why does such a trial happen to me…! Can’t I just pretend to be sick and not go? Or go with the teacher… no, going alone is better than going with the teacher. But I really hate it. I’m scared. Sob… wail.’
He hid inside a public restroom to cry, then stumbled back out. His homeroom teacher, who was a PE teacher, patted Jae-gyeong on the back—Jae-gyeong was already about the same height as him—and shouted cheerfully, “Wow, look at you, quite the man, huh? Yeah? Off you go!” He seemed to gain strength just thinking about driving his students into terror.
Jae-gyeong bit his lip to keep from crying in front of the teacher and started climbing the mountain path alone. However, before long, he screamed because of another student from a different class dressed as a ghost, and burst into loud sobs because of yet another student who popped out suddenly.
It seemed like they assigned the ghost roles to students who had expressed they really didn’t want to participate in the courage test or students who weren’t feeling well, but it appeared no one had asked Jae-gyeong about his intentions. Since he was already taller than the teacher and was a quiet kid, they probably assumed the courage test was nothing to him.
‘AAAHHH!!!’
Jae-gyeong, too startled to think, let out a voice typical of puberty that cracked as his throat tore, and ran like a deer. Since his only goal was to avoid the ghost, he immediately stepped off the path where the way wasn’t visible, and just like that, he unwittingly deviated from the route of the courage test.
The problem was that in the pitch-black night, even a small hill could become a dangerous place. It was a really small mountain, and it was a civilized (?) hill with streetlights here and there and even workout equipment provided for citizens, but the places with dense trees and slopes were quite dark.
‘Ouch…!’
In the midst of that, Jae-gyeong caught his foot in a bush and fell over. But in front of the fallen Jae-gyeong, he saw two pale legs.
‘AAAHHH!!!!’
‘What is it? You’re noisy.’
He heard a girl with an androgynous voice complaining. Jae-gyeong looked up in surprise. A girl with short hair, looking like a doll in a white T-shirt and shorts, was standing there.
‘A gh… ghost…? B-But you’re really pretty…. You look like a sparkly, pretty… fa… fairy.’
‘Stand up. Are you not hurt? You’re lost, aren’t you?’
‘Huh? Uh, uh….’
Jae-gyeong stood up awkwardly. Around the body of the petite girl who didn’t even reach Jae-gyeong’s chest, a white light was flickering.
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