The Genius Who Reads the World - Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Secret Temptation (3)
TL/ED – Miso
Woojin started typing another message.
– You said you’ve been ranked first in the entire school, right?
– Yeah, it’s no big deal.
Woojin began to touch upon her sense of deficiency.
– Being first in the entire school isn’t easy. It must have been tough.
– I told you, it’s nothing.
– How much effort did you put in? You must have been really stressed.
– Hey, you sound like an old man, lol.
– I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight.
– It’s only 10 o’clock, and you’re already sleeping? Hoxy, are you sulking because I called you an old man?
At that moment.
Lying in bed, staring at her phone, Lee Hye-rim felt the same way she did at the restaurant.
It was a sense of longing.
She scrolled through her past messages with Woojin, reading them again.
[It must have been tough.]
[How much effort did you put in? You must have been really stressed.]
She had never heard such words before.
Not from her teachers, not even from her father.
They only ever said things like “Good job” “Work even harder” or “Keep striving forward.”
Her friends were similar.
“You’re amazing, I’m jealous, as expected of Hye-rim. You’re rich and smart too…”
She thought being first in the entire school would feel good. But it didn’t.
Her father never acknowledged her.
He didn’t know how much effort she had put in to be first, to the point of being hospitalized from excessive caffeine intake.
When she showed him her report card, he only said one thing.
“Good job.”
That was it.
Hye-rim stared at Woojin’s messages and muttered.
“What does he know?”
Her tone was rough, but she was genuinely smiling.
She felt like something was being filled inside her.
But she didn’t realize what it was.
The next day, during lunchtime.
Lee Hye-rim, who hadn’t eaten, was sitting in the classroom, surrounded by several friends.
“Hye-rim, where did you get your hair done? It looks so pretty.”
“Did you buy that bag? Where from? How much?”
“Did you change your chapstick?”
Compliments poured in from her friends, but she was only staring at her phone.
She was checking Woojin’s messages again, but he hadn’t responded to last night’s text.
“Is he really sulking?”
Just then, a message from Woojin came in.
– I’m not sulking.
Her fingers quickly tapped on the phone.
– Have you been sleeping all this time?
– No, I woke up in the morning and studied.
– What on earth are you studying?
– How to live an ordinary life.
“He’s really weird.”
As Hye-rim was thinking that, her friends asked,
“Something good happen?”
“Who is it?”
It was because she had a smile on her face.
But she didn’t hear her friends’ voices.
– Hey, are you some kind of monk? Lol. Is this like that Do you know the way? thing? Lol.
Her small smile grew even bigger.
She was truly laughing now.
– Just studying what normal people do. I should go eat. You enjoy your meal too.
– Hey, how about dinner today? Want to check out that pasta place I mentioned yesterday? It’s on me.
When there was no immediate reply, Hye-rim blinked and brought a finger to her lips.
A sign of nervousness.
But Woojin didn’t just delay his reply, he didn’t even read the message.
No, wait.
– Sure.
“Hye-rim, you know about the party at Jin-hee’s house today, right?”
“Min-woo oppa said he’s coming too.”
Min-woo was a male idol.
“I can’t go.”
“Huh? What do you mean? We planned this two weeks ago.”
“Yeah, Min-woo oppa was looking forward to seeing you.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. It’s going to be really fun.”
The smile on Hye-rim’s face disappeared.
She looked at her friends and said,
“I’m not going. I’m. Not. Going. You guys go without me.”
Her friends awkwardly laughed and tried to match her mood.
Even their homeroom teacher was careful around Hye-rim, which said enough about her personality.
“Must be something important. Oh well, can’t be helped.”
“The party won’t be the same without you, but let’s go together next time.”
Hye-rim’s expression, as she tapped away on her phone, quickly brightened again.
She was an unusual person.
And that made things fun and interesting.
***
Woojin arrived at the meeting place, and Lee Hye-rim walked toward him.
He quietly observed her.
He had made her anxious and drawn a promise from her.
As she approached, she linked arms with him and spoke.
“You know you’re late, right?”
“No, it’s exactly five o’clock. You just got here early.”
“If you say it like that, it makes me sound like I have nothing better to do. I’m a busy person, you know.”
Woojin slowly nodded.
“Alright, then let’s eat quickly and go our separate ways.”
Hye-rim gave a bitter smile internally.
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to go…”
On the other hand, Woojin could see right through her thoughts and actions.
“Where is it? That pasta place?”
“This way.”
Hye-rim took the lead, weaving through the alleys of Itaewon.
They arrived in no time.
As Woojin stepped inside the restaurant, he glanced around.
The walls were adorned with various carved patterns, and the soft yellow lighting created a warm ambiance.
“Are you ready to order?”
At the waitress’s question, Hye-rim’s brows slightly furrowed.
It was because the waitress was staring at Woojin.
Hye-rim spoke.
“Two Alfredo pastas, please. For drinks, two Flower Celts.”
The waitress gave a small smile as she looked at Hye-rim, then turned her attention back to Woojin.
“Is there anything else you need?”
Hye-rim answered instead.
“No, no. Just bring it quickly.”
Woojin studied Hye-rim’s face.
Right now, my value in her mind is growing.
At that moment, Woojin spoke.
“The atmosphere is nice.”
Hye-rim, who had been sitting with her legs crossed and an unimpressed expression, leaned slightly toward him.
“Right? The food’s good too. Don’t you like the music?”
Woojin slowly nodded.
She wants to show off what she knows about music.
Like a talent show, flaunting what she’s familiar with.
Just like a child who gets praised by a teacher and then runs to boast to their parents.
Once you fill a sense of deficiency for someone, they’ll crave that feeling again.
“It’s my first time hearing it. It’s nice.”
“Right? This artist…”
As if she had been waiting for this moment, Hye-rim began enthusiastically explaining.
Just like the day before, Woojin nodded along in agreement.
Hye-rim had an unconscious desire—not to be acknowledged for her background, but for her existence itself.
But that desire had long been left unfulfilled.
‘I am filling that void now. And in her search to fill it, she will keep coming to me.’
Soon, their food arrived, and Woojin twirled some pasta onto his fork and brought it to his mouth.
Hye-rim, sipping her drink through a straw, watched him with eyes full of expectation.
“It’s good.”
“Right?”
It was milder than ramyeon but had a smooth texture.
The crisp vegetables were also incredibly fresh.
“Hey. That studying you were talking about…”
“Woojin.”
She smirked.
“Alright, Woojin, that ordinary studying you mentioned—what exactly are you studying? You’re not actually practicing asceticism or something, are you?”
She let out a laugh, amused.
Woojin decided it was time to reveal a little about himself.
To build a deeper connection.
“GED.”
“Ah… It really was ordinary studying. But why aren’t you going to school?”
Woojin set down his fork and looked at her in silence for a moment.
‘Marionette.’
As he stared at her, she averted her gaze and gave an instinctive nod.
“Well, everyone has their reasons, I guess. Oh, right! Do you want to take tutoring lessons?”
Woojin quickly interpreted what she meant.
“You’re taking private tutoring lessons alone.”
“Hey, what the hell—how did you know?”
For Woojin, it was an obvious conclusion.
Considering her background, the tutoring was bound to be high-quality.
As Woojin processed the situation, she quickly added,
“I’m just saying because it’s boring studying alone. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to pay.”
Two birds with one stone. Or wait, what was the other way to say this…?
Oh, right.
‘Jackpot.’
His marionette, his puppet, was even bringing him gifts now.
“Alright.”
However, there were certain rules that had to be followed.
At some point, Woojin had finished his pasta and set his fork down on the empty plate.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“We’re done eating, so we should go. Didn’t you say you were busy?”
“Uh… yeah, let’s go.”
With that, the two stepped outside and walked down the alley.
Just then, Hye-rim, who was following behind, spoke up.
“Hey, my appointment got canceled. How about some cof—… What’s wrong?”
Woojin suddenly came to a halt.
He stood motionless, his face expressionless, staring straight ahead.
A man, his face obscured by a cap and a mask, stood before them—holding a knife dripping with blood.
And the middle-aged man who had been stabbed collapsed onto the ground as if his legs had given out, clutching his stomach and trembling violently.
Anyone else might have gasped in horror at the gruesome scene, but from Woojin’s lips came a dry, detached voice.
“Living an ordinary life… really is difficult.”
*****
TL Note: Hi, I have picked up this new novel. It already have a Manhwa which you can read at here -> https://en-thunderscans.com/comics/the-genius-who-reads-the-world/
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