The Best School with the MZ Principal
MZ Principal is the best school. The word "school," written with the characters for "learn" and "teach," lives up to its meaning as a place to learn things.
Not just basic concepts like Korean or math, but etiquette, social skills, and more—all for free. And in our country, they even provide free lunches—
"Yaaawn... I don't wanna go to school...."
Honestly, most of the benefits I'd just rattled off had nothing to do with me.
What was a thirty-something guy who'd been drained dry by society going to learn by going back to school?
"Then just don't go."
"...Sofia, I'm not done talking."
The real reason I had to go to school was my identity.
Fake as it was, my civilian identity had only existed on paper before. But with school attendance records and testimonies from people around me, I could turn that fabricated identity into something real.
Sure, just filling the attendance quota and graduating might be tough, but I planned to milk the school facilities for all they were worth anyway, so it didn't matter.
...And I'd been explaining this to Sofia for two weeks straight now.
"Yaaawn...."
I couldn't stifle the yawns pouring out—probably because I'd stayed up until 4 a.m. watching special magical girl footage before crashing.
Normally, this would've been nothing, but this body was more of a hassle than expected.
Anyway, as I bantered pointlessly with Sofia on the walk, I arrived at the school gates before I knew it.
Congratulations on your enrollment at Somang High School.
Pink cherry blossoms fluttered past the banner waving in the breeze.
It was definitely nice weather to start the new semester.
Passing through the gates where petals swirled, I began to spot kids walking the campus with their parents here and there.
"Eunseo, think you'll make lots of friends now that you're in high school?"
"Mom! I'm not in elementary school anymore—don't say stuff like that!!!"
A kid whining to her parents.
"How's it feel to be heading to high school, kiddo?"
"Annoying."
A curt dad and his equally unenthusiastic kid.
Most of the children were strolling the grounds with their parents.
As I quietly wove through them toward the auditorium where the entrance ceremony was starting, that's when it happened.
"Hi?"
A girl had appeared at my side out of nowhere, greeting me warmly.
I turned to meet her eyes, but all I saw was a pretty sailor-style uniform.
"...?"
A bit puzzled, I looked up—and finally made out the girl who'd spoken to me.
Her hair was a deep black like the night sky, and her mysterious emerald eyes perfectly reflected my own startled expression.
"Um... could you maybe say something back...?"
Ah.
Her unusual hair color had me staring at her face. She waved awkwardly, looking a bit burdened, so I greeted her back.
"Hi."
"Hehe... thanks for responding."
She smiled at my reply and started walking beside me across the campus, striking up conversation.
"Walking alone felt kinda awkward, y'know."
Looks like she was here by herself too, just like me. Whatever her situation, at least it was nice to have someone to talk to.
"What's your name?"
"Lee Sea."
"Cute name~ I'm Yun Seoyeon."
The girl who called herself Yun Seoyeon looked at me again.
Her eyes, curved slim like a snake's, had been fixed on me since earlier.
"...?"
Something intensely greedy seemed to flash across her face.
Am I imagining it?
A chill ran through me for a split second, but when I blinked, it was gone—and her face bloomed into a gentle smile.
Must've been my imagination. As I scrambled for a topic to keep the chat going, she beat me to it.
"What class are you in?"
"Class 4."
I'd gotten the class assignment via text before enrollment.
Probably head straight to class after the ceremony.
"Oh! Same class?"
She lit up like it was the best news ever.
"...?"
There it was again.
That same greedy glint seemed to flicker across her face.
Something's off...
"Huh? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, nothing."
Imagination... right...?
Meanwhile, inside the head of Seoyeon, who was eyeing Sea very suspiciously right now.
I wanna pat her head.
That was all—Yun Seoyeon, age 17, just really liked cute things. She was your average high school girl.
Her dorm room was stuffed full of adorable plushies, so yeah, she was that into cute stuff.
Of course, she'd greeted Sea out of genuine friendliness, but a bit of that desire had leaked onto her face—
She looks kinda suspicious...
Resulting in Sea thinking Seoyeon was shady in real time.
Thankfully, she knew how to separate personal wants from public behavior, so she wasn't about to ask to pet the head of a girl she just met.
I tried to ignore her suspicious vibe and made it to the auditorium.
The bustling hall had rows of chairs divided by sections.
Probably parent seats, teacher seats, student seats, that sort of thing.
"Students, over here—take your seats!!"
A teacher was herding kids trying to sit elsewhere to their assigned spots, proving my guess.
I sat where other students were, and Seoyeon plopped right next to me.
The chair was high enough that my feet barely touched the floor, so I started swinging them out of habit.
Somehow, it was relaxing—might turn into a real habit at this rate.
I glanced sideways and saw Seoyeon staring intently at my legs with a serious expression.
Ah.
"Sorry, was that distracting?"
"Uh, huh? Oh! No, no! It's fine—keep going!"
I felt bad for suspecting her earlier.
I consciously stopped, and it sounded like she sighed, but probably imagination.
As we chatted casually to pass the time, the auditorium lights suddenly went out.
The ceremony was about to start.
Lights flicked on at the front stage, and the principal stepped up.
I'd seen photos, but she's seriously young.
She looked incredibly youthful—late twenties tops.
Cherry blossom pink hair like I'd seen on campus, blue eyes like the sea.
Her neat ponytail and suit were the total opposite of the stereotypical principal image.
"Hello. I'm Park Mina, principal of Somang High School."
Clap clap clap.
Applause erupted as she finished, and she waited for it to die down before continuing.
"Like the warm spring sunshine, this hopeful high school welcomes you all..."
Ah.
No escaping the principal's address, no matter how young she looked.
As I debated taking a nap, she suddenly grinned on stage—
"But yeah, you wouldn't listen anyway, right? No point dragging it out—head to your assigned classes. Ceremony's over."
"“Woooaaahhh!!!!!!!!!!!”"
The silent hall exploded into cheers in an instant.
Whoa.
The principal was way more MZ than I'd thought.
MZ Principal best.
"What's your favorite food?"
"Cake."
"Oh! I love desserts too. I know a good café—wanna go sometime?"
"If I've got time."
We pushed through the crowded hallway and reached our class.
1-4
Slide.
Opening the door, most students were already seated.
No teacher yet, so we weren't late—good.
They stopped their chatter and turned to stare at me, murmuring.
"She's so cute...."
"Is she the girl next to her's little sister?"
My appearance really did make me look like a little kid to everyone else.
Just recently at White Lily's fan sign event, I'd gotten warm looks instead of the old contemptuous stares—so personally, I liked it.
If I looked even younger—
"Whatcha thinking?"
Ah.
"Nothing."
Seoyeon's question made me realize I hadn't sat down yet.
I grabbed a front-row center seat, and she sat beside me, trying to meet my eyes.
Looking straight ahead put me at chest level, so I had to crane my neck to look up at her.
Now that I noticed, she was pretty tall for a girl.
I'd assumed it was just me being short, but compared to the boys around us, she held her own.
...?
Her face was flushed red.
Caught a cold or something?
Right as I was about to ask if she was okay—
Thud thud thud thud—
Someone came sprinting down the hall outside, and soon—
BAM!!!
"Hi everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
...A greeting loud enough to shatter eardrums.
Dramatic entrance, but her outfit marked her as a student.
Sky-blue hair like a clear sky, amber eyes sparkling brilliantly.
She burst into the classroom and instantly grabbed everyone's attention with her booming voice.
"Nice to meet you all!!!!!! Oh! Want a cookie???"
She pulled a cookie from her bag and handed it to the boy at the front door.
"Uh... thanks...."
He took it, flustered, and she fished out another.
Seemed like she planned to give them to everyone.
Seoyeon and I were right after the front-row seats, so as she headed our way—
"Please... be quiet... in the classroom...."
The presumed homeroom teacher entered.
He looked kinda gloomy—really the homeroom teacher? But I'd seen him with the other teachers at the ceremony, so yeah.
"Sure~"
She obediently sat in an empty seat, and once everyone was settled, the teacher stood at the podium and took a deep breath.
"Suuuuck... haaa...."
After about ten seconds of deep breathing in the middle of the room, I started feeling uneasy.
"Alright... Hello, Class 1-4. I'm Shim Woojin. I'll be your homeroom teacher for the next year. Nice to meet you."
He actually introduced himself pretty well. That bumped up my private assessment of him by a couple notches—
"Phew... didn't stutter...."
Ah.