Chapter 68
Chapter 68
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: The Captured Outsider
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ *** Han Si-a's Point of View
Our family dinners aren't exactly enjoyable.
Maybe that's just how it is for families with a high school daughter.
But even so, pinpointing the reason why mealtime feels so unpleasant is child's play.
"Han Si-a, aren't you just playing around too much these days? I hear other kids are doing international activities, traveling abroad. I get that you want to hang out with friends, but if you stick only to stuff at home, you'll end up as a frog in a well before you know it. And you're good at English, right?"
Since the only time the whole family gathers is at meals,
this naturally turns into time for listening to my stepmother's nagging.
Of course, nagging alone wouldn't be an issue even if it were just the two of us...
But her deliberately bringing it up now, with Dad here too, is clearly to show him she's playing the mother role.
"Me, just playing around? I'm going to cram school just fine, and I'm preparing for that contest too."
I brushed off her nagging with a safe, neutral response.
But what on earth is this woman getting at today, laying all this groundwork?
If it was just 'do some overseas activities,' she wouldn't need to bring it up at dinner.
Not yet grasping her intentions, I heightened my inner guard and tuned in to her next words.
"Contests are nice, but the real value of external activities is networking. You need to go abroad, make impressions on experts in each field, and build connections with kids from good families. Hanging out with ordinary kids from average homes for a hundred days won't help you at all. Knowing how to find people who can benefit you and keep them close—that's a skill too."
Aha. Now I get what this woman's driving at.
In short: 'Don't hang out with paupers.'
I could roughly guess why my stepmother was saying this to me.
Mothers can expand their networks and influence through their kids' friendships,
but the girls I'm close to don't have any standout backgrounds... so she's pressuring me to be a stepping stone for her own connections.
...
But the timing isn't great right now.
She only just upset Dad with that voyeur incident a few days ago.
So she should at least keep her head down at home for a few months...
"Hee hee... Mom found someone so 'helpful' that she hired a voyeur as a bodyguard?"
"..."
I could see my stepmother's face twist.
Did she really think I'd just take it lying down?
I didn't stop there and followed up with another hit.
"Mom knows Yi-an well too, right? He studies well, he's athletic, he doesn't cause trouble at school, and just recently he even caught that voyeur himself. Where in the world could you find another kid like Yi-an for networking~?"
But at my continued words, my stepmother struggled to manage her expression and countered.
"But he has no background~ How about getting close to Song Chang-won instead of Jeong Yi-an?"
My stepmother seemed a bit flustered.
Her face was smiling, but her true feelings were leaking out.
Whether she realized it or not, she kept going.
"Chang-won is handsome, tall, smart, from a good family, and at his age, he has clear dreams and vision. He's like an upgrade over someone like Jeong Yi-an."
"Didn't that Song Chang-won kid get crushed by Yi-an in the gifted program last time... no, wasn't he way behind?"
Running out of counters to my words, she seemed about to say something but swallowed it back.
How does she even say such obvious lies with a straight face? Even expanding to the whole world, there's no guy in our generation who can match Jeong Yi-an.
Especially after witnessing it in that recent voyeur incident.
The way Jeong Yi-an tracked and tore into that pervert like a hunting dog, for me and So-mi...
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's the fantasy of every rich girl in the world.
The only issue is that he struggles to handle the fallout due to his lack of backing, but that's something I can easily fix. We're a pair bound by fate.
"Ha... You're still too young to understand, but people's personalities and abilities ultimately follow their parents. When judging people, nothing beats looking at their family background."
"Aha~ Mom's so good at judging people that she brought in a voyeur as a bodyguard?"
"..."
My stepmother's face twisted again.
Shouldn't this woman admit it by now?
After messing up that badly, she needs to stay quiet and shriveled up at home for a while.
At that moment, Dad, who had been silently watching from the side, said a few words and got up first.
"Si-a, you seem to be working hard on that contest, so let's think about overseas stuff later."
My clear victory.
Now this woman has no excuse to bother me. At least not during this summer break.
Still, my stepmother's obsessed with getting rid of Jeong Yi-an.
Maybe I should give her a warning this once.
"Mom. Don't even think about going to harass Yi-an alone again. If it weren't for him last time, it would've been a big problem. You should be properly thanking him."
My stepmother's face remained twisted.
Hmm... But somehow, this doesn't quite relieve the frustration... I need something more to fill that gap...
...
Ah, I thought of something.
"Is it fun for you to keep harassing Yi-an, Mom? Hmm... Doing this when you have a husband—doesn't that count as some kind of affair...?"
Hearing my words, my stepmother looked at me for a moment with a complicated expression.
But soon, as if resigning herself to something, she silently continued her meal.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Saturday morning, 10 a.m.
I arrived in front of the school as promised with my friends.
...
No. Saying it that way doesn't quite capture my current situation—it's missing some key details.
Let me explain again.
I had successfully reached the school gates at 10 a.m., suffering under a cloudless blue sky, humid air in stark contrast, and murderous heat exceeding 32 degrees from morning.
Unfortunately, there was no shade near the school entrance to escape the sun blazing overhead.
Realizing that standing here even a few more minutes would land me in the ER with heatstroke,
I pulled out my smartphone, thinking I needed to contact my friends right now to either change the meeting spot or cancel.
"Yi-an!! Hi! Hot weather today, huh? Si-a's house car is super cool inside, so hurry up and get in!!"
But then Yoo So-mi popped out, opening the door of a familiar large sedan parked in the school lot.
Han Si-a and Yoo So-mi must have arrived a bit earlier.
That said, if we were using that large sedan anyway, they could've just picked me up at my house.
Then I wouldn't have had to walk here sweating buckets in this killer heat.
...
But it's not my car, so is it shameless to complain like this?
I approached the large sedan from Han Si-a's house, dripping sweat.
Yet Yoo So-mi, who had come out to open the door for me, was gesturing for me to get in the back.
Han Si-a and Yoo So-mi were surely sitting side by side in the back... so shouldn't I take the front passenger seat?
I felt a slight sense of wrongness about the seating, but the sweltering outdoor heat robbed me of clear thinking.
So without much suspicion, I headed to the back door So-mi had opened,
and the cool AC air flowing gently along the sedan's floor caressed my calves, which had been baking in the summer heat.
...
I could see Han Si-a already in the back seat, but I wasn't in a state to pay attention.
It was like a man on fire desperately jumping into water to extinguish himself.
So I shoved aside any concerns about seating arrangements, slipped inside almost trance-like, and sat down.
Phew... phew...
The cool AC air inside the car instantly expelled the hot air built up in my lungs.
And following that, the sweat droplets clinging to my skin—unable to evaporate in the humid outside air—began a mass exodus along with my body heat.
"Ugh... cool... Now I can live."
I cooled off for a bit, letting the car's refreshing breeze wash over me, and my sun-baked brain resumed normal function.
Once I'd recovered, I looked around the interior...
First, the driver's seat had Si-a's family chauffeur. Someone I'd never met before.
The front passenger seat was empty, and on either side of me in the back were Han Si-a and Yoo So-mi.
"What? If the front passenger seat's empty, shouldn't I sit there?"
"Driver, let's go."
"Whoa!"
But as I started to stand to head to the front passenger seat, the chauffeur started driving...
And the momentum slammed my butt back into the seat.
Maybe that's why Han Si-a looked at me with an extremely apologetic expression and spoke.
"Sorry? The front seat's full of our stuff right now... Could you bear with it and sit here? Here, put on your seatbelt..."
Han Si-a and Yoo So-mi deftly buckled me into the middle back seat with practiced hands.
Wait. Lots of stuff in the front passenger seat? It looked pretty empty when I glanced earlier.
Sensing something off, with my body now strapped in by the seatbelt, I turned my gaze to the front passenger seat.
...
But it was empty.
What? You just said it was full of stuff.
I looked at Han Si-a, demanding an explanation for this situation.
And as if putting on a show for me, she casually tossed the small pouch she was holding onto the front passenger seat and smiled at me.
"Hee hee... Can't use the front seat because of the pouch... right? But it's too late to switch now, so just behave and stay put~♫ Staring at the back of heads the whole ride would be boring anyway—this is more fun."
There was a strange heat in the way Han Si-a looked at me.
And her attitude toward me felt subtly different somehow...
Her gaze felt a bit burdensome, so I turned to Yoo So-mi on the opposite side.
"S-sip... ha... Ah? No! It's just, Yi-an's shampoo smells kinda unique... hee hee..."
... Aren't these two acting weird today?