#vasco

Or so you thought.

It has been a week since the main character started attending J High but the two of you didn’t cross paths again. The number of students visiting you during breaks have doubled though.

“Excuse me.” Soft knocks on the clinic door interrupted your lunch. 

With a sigh, you told them to come in.

A girl stepped inside. “Hello…”

“Stomachache? Or do you need sanitary—”

“No! No… My name is Zoe Park and I’m here because…um…”

You knew what she was here for. “Well, don’t just stand there. Come in and take a seat.”

Every newcomer was like this. They would twiddle their thumbs, hesitate and get all shy. Sometimes they would run away before you got the chance to ask them what was wrong, but you could tell that this girl has been gathering her courage for weeks now. 

You just wanted to eat your sandwich. 

“You look like something’s on your mind.”

“I have…a friend and she has a problem.”

Yeah, right. “Go on.”

“My friend has a crush on this guy, but she’s worried because there’s another girl in the picture. She’s…aggressive and doesn’t think twice about making the first move. She also has a job so she buys gifts for my—my friend’s crush.”

“So your friend is jealous.”

“Yes, she is. She’s worried because she really likes this boy but what if he ends up falling for someone else.”

Ah, young love. You wanted to throw up, but luckily, you’ve built up an immunity after working with teenagers for so long. “This boy must be a real player to have two girls pining for him.”

“He’s not a player!” She flinched and apologized before muttering, “He’s not like those guys who string girls along for fun. Sure, he’s handsome but he’s also sweet and thoughtful.”

“Mm~ sounds to me like your friend has another rival.”

She blushed and looked away. “A-anyway, what should she do?”

“Dear, does that boy like the other girl back?”

“I don’t know.”

“Does he know that you like him back?”

She said nothing.

“I’m not going to say ‘go and confess,’ I know it’s not that simple.”

“Then what should I do?” It seemed that she was asking herself more than you.

“...don’t overthink it.”

“Huh?”

“This guy isn’t in a relationship yet, right? Well, there’s a saying in the West: ‘all is fair in love and war.’ If you want to defeat your rivals, you need to be more proactive.”

“Y-you’re right! I’ll get a job and buy him gifts, too!”

“Wait, no–”

“I’ve been meaning to get a job anyway!”

“You mean your friend’s been meaning to get a job?”

“Ah. Ahahaha…” She rose from her chair and bowed. “Thank you for listening to me.”

“Hey, wait, before you go—”

“Yes?”

As a reader of the story, you used to hate Zoe because she was mean and superficial, but she became your favorite after she changed and became a better person. However, that change came at a price—she was stalked and almost murdered because of her future job. “...there’s been a rise of weirdos in the area so be careful when you’re out at night.”

“I will, thank you so much, unnie!”[1]

And just like that, she was gone. 

As usual, people will hear what they want to hear. 

You rubbed your temples. You wanted to tell her not to waste her money on something as foolish as boys, but you guess this was part of youth too. 

“I hope it works out for her,” you mumbled, hoping your words won’t mess up Zoe’s development.

***

“And you are—”

“Zack! Zack Lee, ma’am!”

“There’s no need to shout, plus I already know who you are.” You fixed him up after his first fight with Daniel.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“And don’t call me that. Makes me feel old.”

“R-right.”

“Well, what brings you back here, Zack? You don’t look injured to me so I’m guessing you’re here to talk.”

There was a beat before he took a few steps back away from you and then knelt down on the floor. “Please teach me how to court a girl.”

“Uh—”

“Hear me out, please! There’s this girl I’ve liked for a really long time, and I think she likes me too, and we go out together just the two of us—but it’s always as friends. I want to confess, but I don’t know how. Please help me, please!”

“Okay, fine! Just calm down!”

***

Two boys, one of them looked old enough to be a father and the other had Dumbo ears, stepped inside. You knew exactly who they were.

They bowed in unison. “Good afternoon, miss.”

“Yes, hello. Are you feeling sick?”

“Please let us introduce ourselves first. I’m Jace Park and this is my friend, Euntae Lee, but we call him Vasco.” 

“Okay, why don’t you two take a seat first—”

Vasco fell to his knees and kissed the floor with his forehead. “Please, madam, teach me how to attract girls!”

Jace grabbed him by the shoulders. “Vasco, no! We talked about this, you can’t surprise her like that!”

“Please, I want to experience a sweet romance, too!”

You and me both, buddy.

Sighing, you gestured towards the monoblocks. “Come on, sit down.”

***

Jay Hong sat in front of you like he was sent to the principal’s office after doing something bad. He hasn’t said a word since he knocked at your door, or maybe he did and you didn’t have Daniel’s telepathy. 

He looked troubled though.

How should you deal with this…

“Let’s see, is this about a classmate?”

His head shot up. 

You were right!

“Is this about a male classmate?”

He nodded.

“Something tells me it’s not about bullying.”

He shook his head.

“Okay, hold on, lemme think… Are you struggling with certain feelings about this classmate?”

He looked down and twiddled his thumbs shyly.

Right. 

You swallowed the desire to laugh, not wanting to embarrass him. “He must be a very special person.”

He raised his head again, smiling.

***

Another week passed and Zoe was back in the clinic, looking redder than before. 

“Hi Zoe—”

“Good morning!”

“...anything interesting happened to you lately?”

“What? No, why would you think that!”

“It’s written all over your face, you know,” you teased her. “You got the face of a young woman in love.”

She squeaked and covered her face. “Please don’t say that!”

“Did you finally get together with your crush?”

“No, actually…there’s someone new…”

“Judging by that lovestruck expression, he must be really charming.”

“N—well, yes. He’s a little chubby, but he’s cute and brave and kind.”

“Heh~”

“Please don’t look at me like that!”

Every now and then you got a kick out of the kids’ reactions. 

[1] Korean. What girls call their big sisters or older women.

Disclaimer: The image used is a screencapture from Ep. 4 of the Lookism manhwa.

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