Gu Shin leaned closer, her chest pressed against Han Yufan’s arm.
“Kang Ji-won, I hate to break it to you, but Yufan never liked you. So now that you’re no longer his girlfriend, please stay far away from him. I mean, so you won’t keep embarrassing yourself.”
Kang Ji-won let out a soft laugh.
“Really? That’s what you think?”
Gu Shin’s face darkened.
What’s wrong with her?
Shouldn’t she already be in tears by now?
Unfortunately for her, the Kang Ji-won she knew was already gone.
This version of Ji-won wouldn’t be hurt by a few insulting words.
If anything, she found the whole situation amusing.
“If that’s not the case, then why are you here?” Gu Shin asked.
“Can you even afford a single thing in this cafeteria?”
Ji-won stared at her blankly.
“Why not? And besides, just so you know…” Her gaze shifted toward Han Yufan before she pointed at him.
“I don’t want to ever have anything to do with this disgusting thing.”
Han Yufan’s jaw tightened.
Ji-won didn’t even spare him a glance.
“He’s a scumbag, and only girls like you would be attracted to him.”
“What?!”
Gu Shin’s eyes widened.
She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
Kang Ji-won had actually called Han Yufan a scumbag?
“Keep trying to convince yourself, Kang Ji-won,” Gu Shin said coldly.
“But I know it’s only a matter of time.”
Shen Huiling, who had been watching the exchange in confusion, suddenly widened her eyes.
Wait…
Don’t tell me Kang Ji-won and Han Yufan were actually a thing?
This was huge news.
“Lin Li!”
Cheng Mixi suddenly called.
Ji-won turned toward the voice and noticed Lin Li standing nearby, watching the scene.
She sighed.
Oh, great.
Can today get any worse?
Lin Li slowly walked toward them.
She looked calm on the outside, but inside, she was delighted that her plan was working.
Earlier, Cheng Mixi had happened to pass by while Shen Huiling and Ji-won were talking about the money.
She had overheard part of their conversation and later told Lin Li about it.
Lin Li had immediately decided to use the opportunity to humiliate Ji-won, just as Ji-won had humiliated her.
The two of them had even planned it together.
“Kang Ji-won, you know you’re a poor girl. You have no right to be here.”
“What’s wrong with her being poor?” Shen Huiling immediately argued.
“It’s none of your business. You have absolutely no right to question her or either of us.”
“You…”
Cheng Mixi’s face twisted with annoyance.
A few students nearby burst into laughter.
Lin Li clenched her fists.
Why won’t that fake facade break already?
Then an idea came to her.
With a sigh, she turned toward Ji-won.
“Look at you. You say you can afford all this, but why does your mother look like a miserable old woman—”
Bam!
Before Lin Li could finish, Ji-won’s palm struck her across the face.
The cafeteria instantly fell silent.
This time, the slap was even harder than the last one.
Lin Li slowly turned her face back, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“Kang Ji-won! How dare you?”
Her eyes instantly became bloodshot.
Grabbing the can of water from the table, she hurled it straight at Ji-won.
A few students closed their eyes, expecting the can to hit her.
But instead, Ji-won caught it.
She looked down at the can in her hand before slowly raising her eyes toward Lin Li.
Don’t mess with me.
Then she threw it back. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Bang!
The can struck Lin Li on the forehead.
A small red bump quickly appeared.
Everyone gasped.
“What just happened?”
It took a moment before everyone finally reacted.
Gu Shin quickly stepped forward and shielded the dazed Lin Li.
“You have to pay for what you’ve just done.”
Ji-won folded her arms.
“And what’s that, if I may ask?”
Cheng Mixi snorted and stepped forward.
“You either let her slap you five times, or you lick her shoe.”
Ji-won’s mouth fell open.
“What nons—”
“What’s going on here?”
The loud voice immediately stopped her.
Everyone froze.
Tang Aining walked toward them, her eyes moving from Lin Li’s swollen forehead to Ji-won and then to the others.
A few students suddenly found the floor very interesting.
“Nothing, Tang Aining. Nothing is happening here.”
Gu Shin quickly grabbed Han Yufan’s arm and pulled him away.
Cheng Mixi lowered her head and followed after them, leaving Lin Li behind.
Tang Aining’s eyes settled on Lin Li.
“And you?”
Lin Li clenched her fist and bit her lower lip.
I’ll get you, Kang Ji-won.
She gave a final scoff before turning and walking away.
Tang Aining then turned toward Ji-won with a small smile.
“They’re gone now.”
Shen Huiling, who had been about to pull Ji-won away, stopped and stared at Tang Aining as though she had just heard something unbelievable.
Tang Aining sat beside them.
“So, tell me…”
She leaned closer.
“What was going on earlier?”
Kang Ji-won rolled her eyes and scoffed.
“Just taking out the trash before lunch.”
Aining chuckled and shook her head.
After lunch, Kang Ji-won and Shen Huiling quickly returned to class.
The argument had taken up most of their lunch break, but Ji-won didn’t mind too much.
At least it had saved her from answering Huiling’s endless questions about how she knew Tang Aining and whether she had really dated Han Yufan.
After class, Ji-won excused herself and decided to take a stroll around the school.
She wandered through the hallways, passed the library, crossed the courtyard, and eventually made her way toward the parking lot.
As she approached, the sound of shouting caught her attention.
Ji-won stopped.
At a corner of the parking lot, a group of boys were surrounding another student and beating him.
Her expression immediately changed.
“Hey! What’s going on here?”
The boys looked up, startled.
But after seeing that she was only a senior student, they quickly ignored her and continued.
Ji-won’s eyes narrowed.
“I said stop it!”
This time, they stopped.
Several of them turned toward her before looking at a boy sitting a short distance away.
Ji-won raised an eyebrow.
That must be their leader.
She walked toward him.
“Hey, you. What’s going on here? Why are you guys beating another student?”
The boy slowly raised his head.
A smirk appeared on his face.
“Just take her away.”
Before Ji-won could even process his words, two boys grabbed her arms and began pulling her away.
“Hey! Let go of me!”
Ji-won struggled against them.
With a sudden twist of her body, she pulled one arm free and shoved her elbow backward.
The boy holding her stumbled away. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
She immediately turned and pushed the other one off her.
The remaining boys stared at her in surprise.
The boy who seemed to be their leader stood up, his smirk disappearing.
“You’ve got some nerve,” he muttered as he walked toward her.
Ji-won raised an eyebrow.
“Is that a compliment?”
His expression hardened.
Without warning, he swung his fist toward her face.
Pfft.
Ji-won shifted slightly to the side, and his fist missed her by inches.
The boy’s eyes widened.
“You…”
He charged at her again.
This time, Ji-won waited until he was close before grabbing his arm and using his momentum to throw him over her shoulder.
He hit the ground with a thud and quickly pushed himself back up, his face burning with embarrassment.
A few of his friends exchanged uneasy glances.
Their leader had clearly underestimated her.
“Don’t just stand there!” he yelled.
The boys rushed toward Ji-won together.
She sighed.
“Seriously? All of you?”
The parking lot quickly turned into chaos.
One boy tried to grab her from behind, but Ji-won ducked and spun around, sending him stumbling into another.
Another swung at her, only for her to block his arm and shove him backward.
One by one, the boys fell.
A few minutes later, they were sprawled across the ground, groaning in pain.
Ji-won dusted her palms and looked down at them with a satisfied smile.
“That was easy.”
She pointed at her face.
“You see this face? Remember it.”
Without waiting for a response, she turned and hurried toward the injured student.
“Are you okay?”
The boy’s eyes widened the moment he heard her voice.
He slowly looked up, and his mouth fell open.
“Kang Ji-won?”
Ji-won stopped and stared at him closely.
Then her eyes narrowed.
“Zhang Ran?”
In another part of the parking lot, among the thousands of cars, a black, low-key car stood quietly away from the crowd.
Inside, Lee Jun-ho sat in the driver’s seat, his phone pressed against his ear as he watched the scene unfolding nearby.
“Yes, Lee Joon-hyuk.”
The voice on the other end belonged to his elder brother, the president.
“So what do we do now?” Joon-hyuk asked.
“You and your team are going to Country A?”
“Maybe. I guess.”
“Okay. That’s good. I’ll prepare the private jet when the time comes.”
“Sure.”
The call ended.
Jun-ho sighed and relaxed against his seat.
His eyes remained fixed on Ji-won.
He had watched the entire fight.
A faint look of surprise crossed his usually unreadable face.
She can actually fight?
Well…
that lunch definitely did NOT go as planned.
Ji-won came to the cafeteria to enjoy a meal with Huiling, and somehow ended up in another confrontation.
And then she ran into Zhang Ran.
But the real question is…
Lee Jun-ho.
What exactly is waiting for him in Country A?
I guess we’ll have to keep reading to find out.