Chapter 58

No matter what your status is, even if you are a trainee, you are still a student first. There's no need to elaborate on the strict seniority system in school, where scolding and physical punishment are common, and often without reason. Moreover, there is a reason now. In Wen Zhengyu's eyes, the reason for Kim Tae-yeon being scolded by her senior, as given by her relative Lee Ya-yuan, is already sufficient.

Wen Zhengyu glanced at Lee Ya-yuan and gave her a meaningful look: "Ya-yuan-xi, you must not have told your classmate that her senior was waiting for her, right? That's why she didn't pay attention to the time... right?"

Wen Zhengyu deliberately emphasized the words "must not have told." If Lee Ya-yuan wasn't completely clueless and he was giving her a hint with his back to the senior, she should have understood.

However, perhaps because Wen Zhengyu was too focused on equality, or because he thought others had the same intelligence and reaction as him, when Lee Ya-yuan subconsciously loudly guaranteed, "I told her, absolutely told her!" Wen Zhengyu's expression changed. He turned to look at Song Hye-in and the senior, helplessly rubbing his head.

Another senior, Liu Shangmin, looked shocked, her brows furrowed even tighter. In contrast, Song Hye-in was smiling, looking at Wen Zhengyu and then at Lee Ya-yuan, giggling.

She had already been impatient from waiting, and the fact that Lee Ya-yuan didn't explicitly say whether she had agreed or not further added to the suspicion that Kim Tae-yeon was being disrespectful and insincere.

Now, with this statement, it seemed to confirm that Kim Tae-yeon had deliberately ignored the senior and didn't take her seriously.

Song Hye-in slowly stopped laughing, pursed her lips, and waved to interrupt Liu Shangmin, who was about to scold Lee Ya-yuan. She stepped forward and asked Lee Ya-yuan, "Your point is that she knew we were waiting for her and deliberately didn't come, right?"

Lee Ya-yuan wasn't actually that stupid; she was just young and naive, and nervous in front of the senior, which made her speak poorly. Seeing the senior angry, she finally realized what was happening. She stood up to explain, but how could Song Hye-in possibly listen to her at this point?

Fortunately, the classmate hadn't arrived yet, and Wen Zhengyu could try to smooth things over by being cute and charming. Appealing to the senior in this way, even if it meant being a bit childish, wasn't really embarrassing.

However, when the door opened and a small figure ran in and introduced herself, Wen Zhengyu's lips twitched, thinking this must be fate. It felt like a scene from a drama.

Song Hye-in sized up the sweating Kim Tae-yeon, crossing her arms and looking her up and down. After a moment, she shook her head and smiled, "We finally waited for you. Were you just sent by your agent after finishing a job?"

Kim Tae-yeon shook her head in confusion, looking at Lee Ya-yuan, not understanding why she was winking at her. She bowed and said, "Senior, I didn't have any job or agent. You... you misunderstood."

Song Hye-in nodded as if she had just realized something, sitting to one side and laughing lightly, "So, you're not an idol yet? You were supposed to arrive before the third class. How long have we been waiting? If it was a car accident, we could understand. But you went home first... do you think school activities are trivial, and singing practice is more important, so you don't need to care about us?"

Kim Tae-yeon had been learning to sing from her teacher TheOne and wasn't often at school. She was usually introverted, but that didn't mean she wasn't smart. From the tone of the conversation, she could tell that Song Hye-in was upset about her being late and had been waiting for a long time.

Despite not understanding why the misunderstanding was so big, Kim Tae-yeon didn't say anything more and didn't try to explain. She bowed and apologized, "I'm sorry, Senior. I was wrong. I won't be late next time."

Liu Shangmin sneered at Kim Tae-yeon, turning to Song Hye-in and saying, "President, there shouldn't be a next time. She's a serious student who has studied in Seoul and might become a star. Don't trouble her. We can handle our small activities ourselves."

Wen Zhengyu had been silent, frowning and thinking of a solution. Now, looking at Kim Tae-yeon, who was biting her lip and looking down, and at Lee Ya-yuan, who looked guilty, he stepped forward toward Kim Tae-yeon.

He wasn't the type to meddle in others' affairs, and to be honest, Song Hye-in and the senior's treatment of Kim Tae-yeon was already quite lenient.

Cold sarcasm was better than physical violence, and seniors scolding juniors could be much more cruel than seniors scolding juniors. They might not hit you, but they had many ways to make you feel worse than being hit.

However, he felt some responsibility for the situation. If he hadn't said that extra sentence and overestimated Lee Ya-yuan's intelligence, Kim Tae-yeon wouldn't be in such a passive position.

"Hello, I'm Wen Zhengyu. I'm a transfer student in Class 2-3."

Kim Tae-yeon kept her head down, her body trembling. If it were just her classmates being hostile, she might have felt better. After all, being the same age, they wouldn't go too far.

But seniors wouldn't be so lenient. They had the right to discipline juniors. She had a cute and fair complexion, and she had been proud of it before. Even though she tried to hide her singing lessons in Seoul, Lee Ya-yuan had blabbed about it. She received many love letters and attention from seniors. She didn't want to be disciplined for these reasons, which seemed so arbitrary.

Just who was this boy with the strange voice but warm smile and good looks? Kim Tae-yeon squinted, and her nearsighted eyes finally recognized the person. It was him, the transfer student.

Kim Tae-yeon hurriedly returned the greeting, "Hello, I'm Kim Tae-yeon, from Class 2-1."

Wen Zhengyu smiled, "We're in the same grade, so let's speak informally. I was born in February 1990."

Kim Tae-yeon nodded instinctively, and Wen Zhengyu turned to Song Hye-in, "Senior, are you closer to her or to me?"

Song Hye-in was taken aback, laughing and shaking her head, "What are you trying to say?"

Wen Zhengyu waved his hand, "We've already waited so long, don't waste time. The principal said if I can't handle this, I might lose the privilege of not having to come to school. Just use your position as president and senior to force her to participate in the activity. We need to start practicing. All this fuss just makes me uncomfortable. If you want to scold her, it's just a way to punish me."

Liu Shangmin was confused by his words, but Song Hye-in wasn't. She looked at Kim Tae-yeon with a strange expression, noticing for the first time that this sophomore seemed a bit cute. Her fair skin looked almost translucent, and her small, innocent face made her heart soften.

After a moment of silence, Song Hye-in smiled playfully at Wen Zhengyu, "Oh, you said so much... but the last sentence is the key, right?"

Wen Zhengyu squinted his eyes and smiled brightly, making Kim Tae-yeon involuntarily turn her head. She saw Lee Ya-yuan staring at Wen Zhengyu, a smile on her lips.

The tension was defused. Song Hye-in's mood improved, and Liu Shangmin muttered a few words but didn't say anything more about Kim Tae-yeon. However, Kim Tae-yeon's name was now on their radar.

Unless she transferred, even if she became a trainee, she couldn't escape the discipline of her senior.

After all, the only student who could skip school to focus on training was the transfer student who had just helped her.

At this moment, she took a closer look at Wen Zhengyu. Was this the transfer student that Lee Ya-yuan would swoon over just by mentioning his name?

She had heard he was a trainee but didn't know why he had transferred from Seoul. Living in Seoul seemed nice, at least she wouldn't have to be picked up by her father every day.

He seemed to be a good student and had a friendly demeanor, not arrogant. However, although she knew he was trying to help her by making the senior force her to participate in the performance, the feeling of being manipulated made her uncomfortable.

Moreover, she had to stand there, not allowed to sit or move, while watching the transfer student chat casually with the two seniors, his eyes squinting in a smile.

Indeed, he was good-looking. As for other things, she had heard his piano playing. Last semester, he had never attended class but still ranked first in the entire grade. His English and Chinese were also fluent, even better than the teachers' spoken English.

But when it came to singing, from his voice just now, it sounded like he was in his voice change period, and it was a bit harsh.

Thinking about singing, Kim Tae-yeon clenched her fists. Was he really better at singing than her? Seeing him squinting and being cute, Kim Tae-yeon slowly lowered her head, falling silent.

Suddenly, she longed for that place. She didn't want to stand here. Really... she didn't.

(Thank you to yuri&tiffany.xi, I am kinggao.xi, and Zhong Ming Zhi Tan xi for your support. I will continue to work hard, O(∩_∩)O)

{Piaotian Literature}