The Well-Connected Transfer Student
Ughhh...
The moment the last class of the first day of school ended, Yeoncheong collapsed face-first onto her desk. Now that they were second-years, most teachers had launched straight into lessons from day one.
Watching the students around her prepare to head home, Yeoncheong looked back over her day.
Good work out there. Me.
She'd skipped one break entirely to go pick up her textbooks, and that had been before lunch even rolled around.
In the ten-minute slivers of time between classes, her classmates had been drifting over to her desk — one after another, they'd come to greet the transfer student they'd be spending a year alongside.
Most of it was simple, polite small talk. Though there had been a few who approached out of genuine curiosity about who Ha Yeoncheong actually was.
Yeoncheong, her head still buried in her desk, lifted it slightly. Toward the two girls who were surrounded by friends even now, in the middle of packing up.
Kang Hasol and Baek Suyeon.
The two of them possessed truly extraordinary social magnetism.
The first day of school was exactly the kind of day an awkward, stilted atmosphere could settle over a classroom depending on how the class roster shook out. But Yeoncheong's class — Class 2-1, to be precise — didn't seem to have a worry in the world on that front.
After all, the class had not one but two atmosphere-makers, each of whom alone would have been more than enough. It was like two suns hanging in a single sky.
And there was no danger of those two suns fighting for the heavens, either. They'd apparently known each other since first year, and seemed close as could be.
As Yeoncheong stared blankly at the pair of human whirlwinds, her eyes met Baek Suyeon's. She whipped her gaze away, but the girl's mismatched eyes — one red, one blue — had already locked on.
"Yeoncheong! Wanna come hang out with us today too?"
A bright, guileless voice, made of nothing but pure goodwill. Having already closed the distance with half her new classmates, Suyeon had now set her sights on Yeoncheong.
Considering how fast she wanted to adapt, it was a grateful offer. But Yeoncheong, already worn down to her last nerve, hadn't asked for it. She simply didn't have the mental strength left to be surrounded by another crowd of girls.
Just as Suyeon's invitation seemed doomed to echo into the void, Teacher Jisu mercifully appeared, buying Yeoncheong time to think.
While she was still racking her brain for a tactful way to say no, Jisu walked in, and the closing homeroom flew by in an instant. Perfectly natural — no one was going to have anything special to announce on the very first day.
"Good work on your first day back. Off you go."
"Thank you, goodbye!"
The farewells came bursting out as if they'd been waiting at the gate. Students grabbed their bags and drained out of the classroom like the tide going out. Suyeon circled back with her friends to get an answer from Yeoncheong.
"You're coming with us, right, Yeoncheong?"
"I, um..."
Yeoncheong dragged the words out, deliberating until the very last second. But Teacher Jisu, who was busy fielding goodbye greetings from the students, spotted her and called her over.
"Yeoncheong needs to stay behind for a minute. The Chairwoman has something she wants to discuss with her."
Suyeon looked genuinely disappointed.
"Ah, so not today, huh. See you tomorrow!"
Yeoncheong waved back at Suyeon and the others as they waved goodbye. In the suddenly quiet classroom, she let out a small breath of relief — and then noticed Seoha, who was just now rising from her seat.
"S-Seoha."
At the sound of her name, Seoha's head turned gently toward her.
"Thank you... for today. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
With a soft smile in place of any further farewell, Seoha left the classroom as well.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Following Teacher Jisu's guidance, Yeoncheong arrived at the Chairwoman's office.
"Once you're done talking, you can head straight home."
"Yes, ma'am."
"If anything's ever giving you trouble, come tell me. See you tomorrow."
Yeoncheong bowed to her homeroom teacher as she walked away, then took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
"Come in."
At the woman's voice inviting her in, Yeoncheong opened the door.
"Hello. It's been a while — actually, no, it hasn't."
"Hasn't it? Feels like over a week to me."
The woman behind the desk — remarkably young for a board chairwoman — flashed Yeoncheong a mischievous grin.
Cho Yurim.
Chairwoman of the foundation that ran Hwaryeong High School, a school senior-junior pair and old friend of Yeoncheong's parents — and the person who had made her transfer here possible.
"How's school treating you? Think you can manage it?"
"I've only been for one day, though."
"Still, you get a feel for these things, don't you?"
Yeoncheong shot the Chairwoman a brief glare, then considered her answer.
"It's a little strange having only girls in the classroom... but it's fine."
"Well, it is an all-girls school. Ah — maybe it's a bit too stimulating for someone who came out of all-boys middle and all-boys high?"
"Stimulating nothing. It's just the environment changing all of a sudden."
Chairwoman Yurim addressed the flustered girl.
"Do well there. You kept saying co-ed would be too hard, so I went through all the trouble of getting you into this place."
"And... I'm grateful for that. Really."
The mischief in Yurim's eyes had, at some point, given way to open concern.
"Still struggling?"
"I think I'm okay now, as long as nobody touches me."
"I suppose that much will do for now," Yurim murmured. Yeoncheong, reading the mood, asked what had been nagging at her.
"How many people know? About me?"
"The principal, the vice principal, and your homeroom teacher Jisu, roughly?"
Yurim counted on her fingers as she recalled, then added:
"Oh, and the male teachers know too. In very broad strokes."
"Thank you."
Yeoncheong bent into a deep, formal bow of gratitude this time. At the sight, Yurim waved her hands as if she'd broken out in goosebumps.
"Oh, stop that. What's the point of being friends with someone's parents if you can't cash in now and then? This is exactly the occasion."
When Yeoncheong didn't respond, Yurim changed the subject.
"Anyway — how's Seonghun been lately?"
"My father? He only just got his overseas posting, so I think he's been busy adjusting."
Yurim tilted her head at the evasive answer. Her neatly trimmed bob brushed against her shoulder.
Has he? she thought. When was the last time you actually talked to Seonghun?"
"Four... four days ago...?"
Yeoncheong stared into empty air as she rifled through her memory. At the answer, Yurim clicked her tongue and raised her voice.
"Fine, his son survived a death sentence and came back a girl — but still. The poor kid woke up one morning as a woman. Do you have any idea how shaken she must be? He should be calling at least once every two days, minimum!"
Yeoncheong pressed a finger to her lips in a hush-hush gesture and hurried to calm Yurim down — the whole hallway could probably hear.
Smothering her anger, Yurim gazed quietly at Yeoncheong. And in the girl's face, she saw another woman.
Good grief, she really is the spitting image of her...
Even in her fury, Yurim could understand where Seonghun was coming from.
His son had suddenly become his daughter, and a distance had grown between them — but more than that, the sight of a child who was the exact copy of his dead wife must have been nearly unbearable to look at.
Yeoncheong's father, Seonghun, had finally decided to take the overseas posting he'd been agonizing over, and without so much as a warning had dumped Yeoncheong into Yurim's care. With Yeoncheong unwilling to attend a co-ed school, Yurim had been the only person he could turn to.
When that stiff-necked man got down on his knees and begged, what was I supposed to do — say no?
Yurim, who had known both Seonghun and his late wife, hadn't refused.
What could she possibly be thinking about this long?
Yurim was staring straight at her, lost in thought. Yeoncheong, wondering if something was wrong with her uniform, twisted this way and that. Finding nothing amiss, she finally spoke up.
"Madam Chairwoman? Madam Chairwoman."
"H-huh? What is it?"
Yurim's eyes snapped back to the present and found Yeoncheong.
"Is something wrong with my uniform? You were staring at me."
"Your uniform?"
At Yeoncheong's words, Yurim's gaze drifted downward.
Blazer, shirt, tie, skirt — she'd been about to declare it an impeccably neat ensemble with not a single flaw, when she faltered.
"Doesn't the shirt... feel tight?"
"No, it's fine."
"It looks tight around the chest to me."
Eying the slightly snug shirt, Yurim rose from her chair.
"You're wearing a properly fitted bra, aren't you?"
"O-of course I am! Why would you even ask that?!"
Yeoncheong's face flushed scarlet. She took a step back; Yurim took a step forward and reestablished the distance.
"I only asked because a bad fit is bad for you. Want me to check?"
"Wh-what?! D-don't say such ridiculous things!"
"We're both girls, what's the big deal? It's not like anyone else is going to teach you properly, is it?"
Yeoncheong retreated again, arms crossed over her chest. Her reddened face had gone from pink to a shade that looked ready to burst.
"Still. No means no."
Faced with such violent resistance, Yurim reluctantly backed off. Deciding they'd covered everything that needed covering, Yeoncheong spoke up.
"Was that everything, Madam Chairwoman? Then I'll be going."
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Yurim caught her just as she rushed through a hasty bow and turned for the door.
"If there's ever something you can't bring yourself to tell Seonghun, you tell me instead. Got it?"
"...Yes. Thank you."
With one final dip of her head, Yeoncheong left the office.
Yurim watched her go and let out a long sigh.
"How on earth is she planning to survive PE class..."
The door, slowly swinging shut, paused for a beat. Yurim eyed the delayed closing and muttered:
"...Did she hear that?"
Yeoncheong, without so much as a backward glance, sprinted home at full speed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The moment she got home, Yeoncheong flung herself onto her bed still in her uniform. Alone in the empty house, she groaned out loud to no one.
"Agh... I'm so exhausted I could die..."
Nothing about the day had been familiar. It had been more than enough to grind her down to dust.
After a brief recharge, Yeoncheong dragged herself up from the bed and checked her smartphone — to look at the photo she'd taken of her class schedule.
"PE... where's PE..."
In the dark house with the lights still off, the glow of the screen was the only light there was. Her eyes traced down the schedule — and she let out a breath of relief.
"No PE tomorrow. For now."
Reassured, Yeoncheong flopped back onto the bed. She lay like that for a good long while, only stirring once the sun had completely set.
After dinner and a round of light chores, she glanced at the boxes still stacked in a corner.
"Unpacking... can wait for the weekend."
Right now, all Yeoncheong wanted was a shower and to do absolutely nothing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next day, Yeoncheong overslept purely out of exhaustion this time — but scraped past being late by the width of a hair.
After an uneventful morning homeroom, the same crowd of girls from yesterday — the ones who'd bolted out of the classroom so quickly — swarmed around her desk.
"Yeoncheong! You know the Chairwoman? Like, personally?"
"The Chairwoman...?"
The classmate closest to her nodded. Some of them had overheard the personal conversation between Yeoncheong and Yurim when the Chairwoman had raised her voice.
Yeoncheong leaned back against her chair and explained slowly.
"My parents and the Chairwoman were schoolmates — senior and junior — and they're friends."
"Really? What was she like?"
Is this what idol fans look like when they spot their bias? Yeoncheong was utterly baffled by her classmates' rapturous reaction.
"Isn't she just so amazing?"
Yeoncheong briefly wondered if she was being punked. But the students' excitement was entirely genuine.
"A chairwoman at her age! The innovator who built this school into what it is today! And she's gorgeous, and she smiles and greets us first whenever she sees us — I can't even tell you how kind she is."
"R-right..."
The Chairwoman's bold but student-friendly approach had made her wildly popular among the student body.
Of course, Cho Yurim's public image and the woman Yeoncheong knew were two very different things. Yeoncheong decided it was best not to shatter that illusion.
And so, the rare transfer student became the transfer student with connections to the Chairwoman herself.