Chapter 116

That day, my meeting with my older sister ended there.

Even though both Yoo In-na and I refused, if my sister had pushed, she could have easily made time to meet with me. However, she readily accepted In-na’s words and let us go.

Given that she sends a lot of allowance and even uses her influence to mobilize the branches in Busan, it was clear how much attention she pays to her only family member. And yet…

Does she not care about me in the same way? Or perhaps she is naturally considerate—someone who would willingly accommodate a request if asked.

“Seems like you’re pretty upset. You don’t show any signs of forgiving her, but I feel like I’ve been forgiven a little. Right? If only you could stay by my side a bit longer, just like me~.”

Contrary to my attempt to rationalize her actions in my head, In-na started muttering incomprehensible things as soon as we left the association building.

I didn’t understand why she muttered something about me favoring her differently or forgiving me when I had treated both her and my sister equally earlier.

The perspective of Yoo In-na isn’t always right, nor is there any guarantee that her observations are accurate.

“Why? Are you curious about why I say such things? Would you like to hear the situation as I perceive it?”

She was spot on. Even if there’s no guarantee that her words contain entirely accurate information, listening to her subjective take could help me understand Yoo In-na better.

At that time, In-na accurately read my intentions as if she possessed the ability to understand anything about me without saying a word. Instead of interrogating her, I simply nodded. However, I didn’t receive the response I had hoped for.

“I don’t want to. Since she’s letting me live here, I’ll share something, but only in exchange for something else.”

“What else? Do we have anything to exchange?”

“Well, what you wanted to ask Kim Ha-neul today? There’s no condition for telling you something I already know, so if you have any favor to ask, why not talk to me? Wouldn’t that be okay?”

I never expected her to mention an exchange condition, nor did I know it pertained to the thing I hadn’t asked on our way to the association, involving Kim Ha-neul.

Since she saw my mock test results last time, if I mention I want to study with Kim Ha-neul to improve my grades, she might accept that, right?

But is this something I can say to someone as jealous as In-na?

After much deliberation, I simply told her I wanted to raise my grades, and In-na nodded, then added one more light condition before providing the information.

And that led to this.

“So, where do you want to start learning?”

What In-na requested was to join the study session I was supposed to arrange with Kim Ha-neul. Since the study sessions Kim Ha-neul provides are purely out of goodwill, if he agrees, it would be fine, so I said. Afterwards, during the break, In-na disappeared for a bit and returned saying Kim Ha-neul agreed to teach both of us.

Although I wasn’t entirely surprised since I didn’t think he’d reject In-na’s request outright, it would still serve as a good premise to spend more time with her in order to get closer to her.

Truthfully, I thought Kim Ha-neul would reject the idea, not In-na. As someone interested in pursuing In-na, he’d prefer studying one-on-one with her.

Considering In-na’s behavior—she doesn’t brag about her own deeds—it’s likely she said she wouldn’t study unless I was also included, leaving him with no choice but to agree, contrary to his preferences.

The study sessions began the next day at my house, but there was a significant issue.

It had been a long time since I had let go of studying.

Although I resumed studying upon gaining the body of a student, it wasn’t easy to recover my old grades right away.

Be they Erica’s old grades or my previous ones, achieving full marks in all subjects isn’t an easy feat, so aiming for anything less than perfection wouldn’t suffice.

“Of course, you’re supposed to cover everything. There’s not much time left till the final exams, right? Aren’t you aware the exams start next week?”

Technically, Kim Ha-neul was wrong.

Even though time was short, if we used the inherent genius we possessed, getting full marks wasn’t impossible.

What mattered was how much of the forgotten knowledge I could recall within the remaining time and how well I could align the vastly different studying styles between my previous self and this body.

Both had excelled academically, yet if my grades fell below either of our standards, it wouldn’t mean either was intellectually inferior—it would mean their respective knowledge bases were conflicting negatively rather than positively.

This body and I have different ways of extracting knowledge. During the time I studied alone and tried teaching others, I recognized that this body retrieves knowledge differently.

It memorizes everything from start to finish with a brute-force memorization skill.

As for me, I naturally reach conclusions like ‘If A, then B.’

The purpose of this study session is two-fold:

To recover the foundational knowledge I lost during the short gap, and to somewhat unify ‘our’ thinking process.

In a situation where full marks are crucial, this method is the textbook approach. There’s no other viable way.

The young man paused for a while, likely finding it difficult to meet all my extensive demands, then turned to In-na beside him.

“What about you, then?”

“I guess, whatever you decide to teach.”

Naturally, In-na wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the study sessions since her main goal was simply spending time with me.

The young man sighed deeply, likely dissatisfied with the direction things were taking, but since we were on the second floor of my room, neither the earth nor the floor caved in.

“Alright, let’s give it a try. It’ll work out eventually, whether it’s for good or bad.”

With those words, we began the study session.

Although labeled as a study session, it took the form of teaching since the young man, who held the top rank, was involved. We had all expected this setup from the start, so no complaints arose.

Even though one woman who hadn’t joined the study session at my house seemed a little concerning, I didn’t dwell on it much since she was never the type to worry about her academic performance or studies.

With the mindset of learning from someone much younger than myself after a long while, my initially scattered attention quickly refocused fully into the study session.

Once fully immersed, a person like Erica won’t break focus until either their energy is entirely depleted or their goal is achieved.

Aware of Erica’s persistent nature, the two stepped out of the room for a moment, leaving her absorbed in the study material.

“Phew, somehow you need to get higher grades, but do you know why? Could it be related to her?”

“Nope, we went together yesterday, and there was no such news. She did show signs of wanting a private conversation, but she rejected it herself.”

“But the only person who could push her this hard is always from that side, isn’t it.”

Kim Ha-neul already understood the relationship between Erica’s sister and her—the sister whose presence is so detestable that Erica must beat her at everything.

And if her sister had set a bet, it wouldn’t matter how trivial—Erica wouldn’t ignore it.

“Nope, there’s someone else. The person who always makes Erica glance around to see if they’re in the room when she arrives at school—your only lover. If this were from her sister’s side, she’d have flipped the table instantly.”

Flipping the table if she wanted to was beyond her sister’s capability. In the association, if one asked people who the top power of the association is, Erica’s older sister would inevitably come up.

Erica’s abilities may have abnormal aspects, but they are far from being enough to defeat her sister.

Her sister only lets Erica flip the table because she looks after her.

Thus, the reason Erica diligently studies without any hint of rebellion must originate from a different candidate.

For instance, if a woman Erica likes happened to mention, “I wish the girl I like could achieve similar grades as me.”

Given this, Erica’s dedication and effort make perfect sense.

“So, wouldn’t it be better now to set conditions and help her study?”

If Erica is putting such genuine effort into this, using her motivation would be the best option.

The young man opened his mouth, baffled that the woman who should have suggested this first now seemed to be deep in thought.

“No, not this time. If we set too strong a condition, it would go to the student council president instead of us. Moreover, there’s no certainty this is even a bet with the student council president. Even if it were, and Erica found studying unpleasant, they’d let it slide.”

“Can you be sure of this, even you?”

“The student council president isn’t the type to clearly cut ties and make agreements, so I don’t see her doing it.”

“If I were in their position, I would do the same. Whatever the bet’s reward, I’d never let someone use teaching Erica to exploit her under the guise of our bet. It’s obvious; instead of insisting, I’d give up something and ensure Erica spends time with me.”

“Isn’t that basically not giving up anything?”

“No matter what is bet, as long as I secure time with Erica, that’s gaining her affection.”

“I thought you meant yielding to the opponent.”

“Would I ever do such a yielding?”

In-na’s tone sounded like laughter at one moment, yet irritation crept into it the next.

Having met Erica first, In-na might have considered her loss to the student council president as an act of yielding, thus naturally reacting irritably to the word “yield.”

“Anyway, we should just continue studying together, right?”

Since helping with romance should never result in hindering, the young man asked for confirmation.

Even though he couldn’t grasp why Erica suddenly became so devoted to studying, he still had to consider the request from his client—someone who asked for help with their love life.

“Yeah, please.”

The tone of voice, which had been tinged with slight irritation after hearing the word “yield” moments ago, now transformed cheerfully and lightly as In-na spoke and descended downstairs.

Perhaps to offer Erica some drinks or snacks.

Watching her go, the young man suppressed his originally intended question.

—Since you’ve heard that Erica and I will live together in this house, why didn’t you mention it?

He already guessed the answer without asking.

Because In-na, who would also live here, might feel jealous or constrained.

“Both your rivalry is too over-the-top, honestly.”

With that remark, the young man returned to the room upstairs. There, the young girl was swiftly flipping through the Grade 1 high school Korean textbook and progressing to the Grade 2 Korean workbook.

Though typically such speed wouldn’t improve skills much, in her case, it was simply about retrieving temporarily lost abilities due to memory loss, which could happen quickly. Practically speaking, she didn’t really need much teaching at all.

Even if she had forgotten how skilled she was at studying, it doesn’t mean she truly didn’t know.

This also explained why they assumed Erica might have bet with someone.

If she had time, she could easily restore her grades without anyone’s help, yet here she was trying to raise them so urgently, unlike her usual carefree attitude.

“Anything unclear?”

“No.”

The situation was less of a group study session and more of the young boy sitting in front of a girl who was engrossed in studying on her own. He also began to study, as he had his own obligations too.