IF YOU'RE HANDSOME LIFE IS EASIER

09

Strictly speaking, Shin Ye-rim was hard to classify as a delinquent.

‘Just pretty enough to blend in with the delinquent crowd?’

She wasn’t particularly assertive either.

The friends who approached her first were delinquents, so she just ended up mingling with them.

It’s what you might call a “nice delinquent.”

Plus, being a group of girls, as is commonly the case.

It was a jungle where social exclusion and bullying could happen at any moment.

So it was only natural for Shin Ye-rim to get lumped in with the delinquents.

In the 2010s, bullying was a hugely common issue.

Asking a 14-year-old to bear the risks of bullying was a harsh demand.

‘But that’s that.’

A glance.

Looking down, I saw Shin Ye-rim.

“Sniff, sniff.”

She seemed so scared she couldn’t say a word and was just hiccupping.

To top it off, she even wet herself, making the situation more serious.

‘I was hoping to wrap this up neatly and just get out.’

But leaving these guys behind felt wrong somehow.

“Is anyone here close to home?”

In response to my question, a frail wrist shot up.

Tremble, tremble.

Sniff, sniff.

Even while hiccupping, she was diligently answering.

‘Well, that’s settled.’

With my thoughts organized, I nodded.

“Alright then, let’s head to your house. I’ll carry you. Kang Sik, just make sure to keep up.”

“U-uh…uh, uh.”

“Uh, uh? Sniff, sniff.”

I naturally replied to a dazed Shin Ye-rim.

“We’re going to your house.”

Just like that.

+++++

Shin Ye-rim’s life was pretty ordinary.

If there was anything different, it was that she was prettier and had better proportions than others.

She figured this out back in elementary school.

Kids would confess their feelings to her without her even having to try; she couldn’t have missed it.

And that’s when the problems started.

– “Shin Ye-rim, did you know I liked him?”

– “Huh?”

– “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Just to mess with me.”

Because the boy she liked had confessed to her.

That day, Shin Ye-rim faced group bullying for the first time.

At such a young age, a thought naturally crossed her mind.

“Oh, I’m alone, isolated, which makes me a target.”

She decided she needed a group of her own.

In this jungle-like class of about 36 students, she realized that living solo was harmful.