“Please—hic hic—assign me—hic hic—a new desk-mate. I don’t—hic hic—ever, ever want to be—hic hic—desk-mates with him—HIC HIC—ever again.” The teacher patted Jiyoung on the back. “You know what, Jiyoung? Let me tell you something I’ve known for a while that you haven’t noticed: he likes you.” Jiyoung was so aghast that she stopped crying. “He hates me,” she said. “I thought you said you’ve seen how he’s been treating me.” “Boys are like that,” the teacher laughed. “They’re meaner to the girls they like. I’ll give him a talking-to. Why don’t you take this incident as an opportunity to become
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