Chapter 30: Laundry (3)

Ha Su-yeon scratched his head.

“That really happened? Are you joking?”

He looked at Da-in’s face to see if she was kidding, but she seemed completely serious. While her expression carried a faint hint of humor, it was overshadowed by a look of pity.

“Is it true?”

“You really don’t remember? I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the details, but I think Chae-rin was. I asked her about it once, but she didn’t give me a proper answer.”

“Should we call her?” Da-in suggested.

Ha Su-yeon nodded.

“Hey, Chae-rin! What are you doing right now? Can you come out? We have something to talk about. It’s not serious—well, maybe it is serious, but it’s not about you~.”

After some back-and-forth, Da-in ended the call.

“She lives nearby, so she’ll be here soon,” Da-in said.

Ha Su-yeon felt grateful. Chae-rin had also been a target of bullying, so he didn’t understand why she was so kind to them now.

“… Do you want anything to eat? It’s on me.”

“Ooh~ Did you win the lottery or something?”

“Not exactly… but I’ve been through a lot recently.”

“I’m here!”

Bursting into the café almost like she was rolling in, a cheerful Chae-rin ran over to Ha Su-yeon and Da-in, beaming.

She radiated energy like a golden retriever as she greeted them enthusiastically before heading to the counter to order coffee.

“I’ll get it for you. What do you want?” Ha Su-yeon intercepted.

“No way! You’re treating me? Salted Einspänner for me!”

“… Salt in coffee? And what’s an Einspänner?”

Muttering her confusion, Ha Su-yeon headed to the counter. Watching her walk away, Chae-rin leaned toward Da-in and whispered.

“So, why did you call me?”

“Ha Su-yeon will explain in a bit.”

“Oh… Is it something serious?”

They began chatting about various topics—what they were up to lately, where they bought their clothes—until Ha Su-yeon returned with three coffees, financiers, and a cheesecake.

“Here, Chae-rin, have this.”

“Oh!! How did you know I was hungry? Thank you, thank you, thank you~!”

As Chae-rin devoured the pastries and sipped her coffee, Da-in asked her a question out of nowhere.

“Chae-rin, do you remember what happened that day?”

“Mmm… what day?”

“The day Ha Su-yeon slapped senior Juhee.”

At those words, Chae-rin spat out her coffee and pastry mix, staring wide-eyed at Da-in and Ha Su-yeon.

“Are you serious? Can I even talk about that? Didn’t Ha Su-yeon make me swear not to tell anyone?”

“She’s okay with it now. About that incident…”

“You know,” Chae-rin began, “I’ve been thinking about it lately…”

After listening to Ha Su-yeon’s explanation, Chae-rin nodded as if piecing things together.

“Yeah, considering how wild Ha Su-yeon went that time, there’s no way she could’ve appeared on that broadcast unscathed.

If she had, wouldn’t our school have released some kind of statement? Like, ‘She’s totally crazy.’”

“…I can’t exactly deny that,” Ha Su-yeon muttered.

While Da-in and Ha Su-yeon seemed to find their own resolution in the situation, Ha Su-yeon
wasn’t sure how to react. He scratched his head awkwardly.

“Still, as for the other students, I think things will work out if you handle it as Da-in suggested. Bring them a nice gift or something. That shouldn’t be a big issue.”

Chae-rin crossed her arms as she spoke, causing her chest to shift noticeably. Feeling embarrassed, Ha Su-yeon
quickly averted his eyes.

“The real problem is what happened that day. I’ve never talked about it with anyone else because Ha Su-yeon
was so insistent on keeping it quiet.”

“Was I?”

“If you hadn’t, the story would’ve spread everywhere by now.

It’s just too juicy to stay hidden. But thanks to Ha Su-yeon and the seniors clamping down on it, the story was limited to vague rumors.”

Chae-rin’s account, though scattered, painted a vivid picture for Ha Su-yeon .

At the end of the school year, there was a gathering of seniors and juniors—a sort of farewell party for the graduating students. Among them was Juhee, a powerful and notorious high school senior who had a wide network and an intimidating presence.

“Juhee started lecturing the freshmen and middle schoolers, saying they should act properly and bring graduation gifts. Basically, extorting them.”

“That’s not extortion?”

“It totally was! I was there and got shaken down too.

It got messy because of that incident, but Juhee even demanded money from Park Dani and Kaisoo.”

“She wanted money from Ha Su-yeon too?”

“Yeah.”

Chae-rin described the scene in vivid detail—how Juhee berated Ha Su-yeon, shoving her shoulders, and how Ha Su-yeon retaliated with a slap that sent Juhee reeling.

“Then Juhee tried to hit back, but Ha Su-yeon just stood there, took the blow, and knocked Juhee out cold with one punch.”

Listening to Chae-rin’s animated recounting, Da-in gasped in disbelief.

“Can we even fix this mess?” she muttered.

But Ha Su-yeon felt like he was beginning to see a solution.

“If we can’t undo the past, we’ll have to… manipulate it a little.”

And so, Ha Su-yeon began devising a plan.

scratched his head.

“Did that really happen?”

Looking at Da-in’s face, wondering if it was a joke, he quickly realized it wasn’t. Her face, though tinged with a faint smile, reflected pity rather than humor.

“Is this for real?”

“You really don’t remember? I wasn’t there, so I don’t know all the details.

But I think Chaerin was. I tried asking her, but she never gave me a straight answer.”

At Da-in’s suggestion to call Chaerin, Ha Su-yeon nodded.

“Hey, Cha-gang! What are you up to right now? Can you come out? There’s something we need to talk about… Oh, it’s not that serious. Well, maybe it is, but it’s not about you!”

After chatting briefly, Da-in ended the call. “She’ll be here soon; she lives nearby.”

Ha Su-yeonfelt grateful.

Despite being bullied in the past, Da-in was still kind and willing to help.

“Want me to buy you something to eat while we wait?”

“Oh, did you hit the jackpot or something?”

“Not exactly… I just had some recent earnings.”

“Whoa, spill the tea!”

“She’s here!”

Almost tumbling into the café, Chaerin greeted them with the exuberance of a golden retriever.

After playfully clinging to Da-in and Ha Su-yeon she bounced off to the counter to order.

“I’ll pay,” Ha Su-yeon interjected. “What do you want?”

“Seriously? Okay, I’ll have a Salted Einspänner!”

“Salt in coffee? And what’s an Einspänner?”

Muttering his confusion, Ha Su-yeon walked to the counter.

Watching him, Chaerin leaned closer to Da-in and whispered, “So why did you call me?”

“Ha Su-yeon will tell you in a bit.”

“Is it something serious?”

While they waited, idle chatter filled the air—recent activities, fashion purchases, and other light topics—until Ha Su-yeon returned with three coffees, a financier, and a cheesecake.

“Here, Chaerin, eat this.”

“Wow! How did you know I was starving? Thanks a million!”

Chaerin eagerly devoured the treats, her enthusiasm filling the room.

Then Da-in casually asked, “Do you remember what happened that day?”

“Which day?” Chaerin asked mid-bite.

“The day Ha Su-yeon slapped Senior Juhui.”

At that, Chaerin choked, spraying coffee and crumbs everywhere. Eyes wide, she looked between Da-in and Ha Su-yeon.

“Can I even talk about that? Ha Su-yeon told me never to mention it to anyone.”

“She’s the one bringing it up now.”

“Well…”

Chaerin began recounting the story in her animated way. What Ha Su-yeon gathered was this

Near the end of the school year, there was a farewell gathering for seniors and an opportunity to network with promising underclassmen.

Among the attendees was a notorious senior, Sung Juhui, who ruled over the district’s female students with an iron fist.

“Juhui made it clear that we had to stay in line even after graduation.

She said we should bring gifts as a show of respect. Basically, she was extorting everyone.”

“Extortion?”

“Exactly! Even I had to chip in. But then Ha Su-yeon showed up, cigarette in hand, probably drunk. Juhui flipped out and started yelling at her. It escalated quickly.”

According to Chaerin, Ha Su-yeon initially stayed quiet, enduring Juhui’s verbal abuse.

But when Juhui pushed her shoulder, Ha Su-yeon snapped. She slapped Juhui so hard she fell to the ground.

“And then Ha Su-yeon just stood there, took a drag from her cigarette, and said nothing.

It was like watching a movie!”

The aftermath was chaos, but Ha Su-yeon ended the altercation by landing a punch that knocked Juhui out cold.

Listening to Chaerin’s vivid recount, Da-in could only gasp in disbelief.

“Can we even fix this?”

Unlike Da-in, Ha Su-yeon felt a spark of clarity.

“Juhui was extorting money from everyone?”

“Yep. She was infamous for it. I bet she took hundreds from us.”

“Interesting… This might actually work to our advantage.”

Chaerin, intrigued, asked, “What do you have in mind?”

“If we can’t undo the past, we’ll rewrite the narrative.”

With a plan forming in his mind, Ha Su-yeon realized it wasn’t something that could be resolved overnight.

For now, he focused on laying the groundwork for the story to unfold as he envisioned.

Meanwhile, the conversation shifted to band matters.

“Why not participate in a band audition program?” Myeongj-eon proposed.

“Audition program?”

“It’s a competition where bands perform and battle it out on TV,” Ha Su-yeon explained, presenting a sleek pamphlet detailing a government-supported project offering funding, album production, and festival opportunities.

“What do you think? Should we give it a shot?”