Elementary School Is a Wild Place
By the time I’d gotten used to almost everything about elementary school—
That is, when I was in fifth grade.
“I nominate Lee Chaewon for class president!!”
For: 32
Against: 0
Before I could object, the vote somehow went through in a neat, tidy rush.
“All right, then it’s Chaewon for class president. Everyone, applause!”
Clap, clap, clap, clap—
I didn’t want this at all, but since no one else had been nominated, I was forcibly elected.
Wow... Mom’s going to be happy...
The reason I was pushed into the role was absurdly simple.
“Her. That girl.”
“She’s never once missed first place in the whole school.”
“She used to be a model. I heard she was on TV.”
“Whoa, makes sense... she’s pretty.”
Most of my previous life’s experiences and memories had eroded away, but once I encountered the knowledge again, it all came flooding back.
And elementary school problems were laughably easy for me.
All I had to do was read the test scope over once, and it was impossible to get anything wrong.
Of course I’d gotten perfect scores every time, and at first my conscience had pricked me a little—but then I saw how happy Mom and Dad were, and that feeling vanished in a heartbeat.
I’m not cheating! I studied too!
Still, it wasn’t as if I was trying all that hard.
So I had time to burn.
“Looking for someone to duuuuel!!”
Thanks to my excuse of being first in the class, I’d gotten the ban on buying Duel King cards lifted, and I was living a happy Duel life at school.
I didn’t think much of it back then. Yep.
That innocence was...
How would it look to everyone else....
The legendary all-round model student—good at studying, always playing.
I got saddled with class president in first, second, third, and fourth grade.
And my student records were full of things like “gets along well with classmates” and “excellent academic performance—” on and on.
The rumor spread fast, and kids who’d been interested in running for class president never even tried.
Even if I’d kept my mouth shut at the start of the semester, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Because—
“Chaewon, we’re in the same class again. Isn’t this fate?”
Kim Siyeon, beaming when we were placed in the same class for fifth grade.
“Class president, they say this kid likes Duel King too.”
And a few others from Rainbow Kindergarten who’d been in my class in first, second, third, and fourth grade as well.
“......”
Even before the class election, there were already plenty of kids casually calling me class president.
Tch... I finally got them to stop calling me Boss, and this is what I get...!
I’d definitely forbidden it by pestering the kindergarten kids I’d gone to school with since first grade, too.
“President! I heard there’s a kid in Class 2 who collects Duel King cards?! They’ve got a lot of rare cards too!”
Only the first syllable had changed from “Boss,” and nothing else was different.
“......”
Why is absolutely nothing ever under my control!
Even while I muttered in annoyance,
“There’s someone who collects Duel King cards?”
what had to be done had to be done.
I couldn’t resist rare cards.
“Who is it? Let’s go.”
“This way!”
I stood up.
***
Kim Siyeon followed Lee Chaewon as she suddenly headed to the neighboring class to trade for Duel King cards.
I want to poke Chaewon’s cheek.
She watched Chaewon spread the cards in both hands and study them carefully.
There was probably no one else who had been observing Chaewon for more than six years, ever since kindergarten.
“Uuuuum....”
She looked as though she were just flipping through the cards normally, examining them one by one.
That pink dolphin must be the one she likes.
Siyeon saw through Chaewon’s tastes with perfect accuracy.
She lingered over that card longer than the others, kept coming back to it again and again, and every time the pink dolphin appeared, the corners of her tightly pressed lips twitched faintly.
That’s the face of someone who wants it but is trying to resist!
To Siyeon, Chaewon was cute and pretty and loved sparkly, frilly things more than anyone else in the world—
but she always grumbled out loud and pretended otherwise.
Just look at her hairstyle now.
Magic Girl Lucy.
Chaewon denied it to the grave, but at some point she had kept her hair in twin tails, just like Lucy, her favorite character.
She was probably thinking right now about how to smoothly snatch out only the dolphin.
I should help her.
But helping her right away would be no fun—
“Ah! Chaewon, this one’s cutee.”
“Huh...? Wh-what?”
“This one, this one—the dolphin! The pink dolphin is cute.”
“I-is it? Hm... it’s not that cute.”
“Reallyyy?”
Siyeon smiled slyly as she watched Chaewon’s eyes go round and spin a little.
“Then can you give me that one?”
“Huh? This? This one’s a trash card! I’ll give you something else.”
“Eeeh? No, no, I like this one.”
“Uh.... Uh, th-then....?”
Her lips puckered by reflex.
“You want it...?”
She fished the card out with a dejected look and handed it over with her arms hanging limply.
Ahhh, so cute!!
She shouldn’t tease her too long. If Chaewon got sulky, it became surprisingly troublesome.
“Nope! That other one looks better. Can I have that one instead of the dolphin?”
“Eh!! R-really? Hehe. You’ve got a good eye. It has a special effect, you know. If it gets attacked—”
Siyeon watched, pleased, as Chaewon brightened at once and launched into a stream of chatter.
From the first time they met in kindergarten, Chaewon had shone so brightly that Siyeon had been drawn to her.
Then, after following her around because she looked so cool and decisive, she’d learned that Chaewon was actually incredibly kind and thoughtful.
Most of all, she was pretty like a princess, which made Siyeon like her even more.
Every so often Chaewon seemed strangely exceptional in the oddest ways, but even that felt like part of her charm.
“But the dolphin’s cute too, so maybe Chaewon should keep that one?”
“...Should I? Hm. Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be bad. Heh.”
If anything, the kids who’d come to see the top student rumored to have appeared on TV would likely have witnessed not a card trade at all, but the honest curve of her mouth that she could never hide.
Siyeon hurried over and linked arms with Chaewon, who was flashing a smile that could charm people senseless while rummaging through cards without a clue.
She’s my friend! What are you looking at!
Grrrrr!
Too bad I can’t put a bag over her face.
For the sake of Chaewon, who hated anything bothersome and complicated, Siyeon stood guard over the people around them instead.
Why?
Because now that they’d moved up a grade, boys were already visible from a mile away, gearing up to confess to her.
In truth, there had been plenty showing signs even before now.
They just hadn’t acted yet.
Unlike oblivious Chaewon, Siyeon was different.
She caught the scent of it like a ghost and always pulled Chaewon away in advance.
She thinks she’s popular because she’s a top student. How funny. What girl is that dense...?
Without question, the real reason for Chaewon’s popularity was simply her face.
And it kept growing prettier by the day, which was astonishing in itself.
Her way of speaking might sound prickly at first, but she was easygoing and cool.
She always played boys’ games, too.
And she was good at them. Her athletic reflexes were outstanding.
Chaewon had every trait of a textbook prime target for confessions.
“Chaewon, if you’re done looking, let’s go back to class.”
“Just a sec. Hey. What’s your name? Kim Cheolsu? Fine, if you get any good cards next time, let me know. If either of us has extras, we trade, okay? I’ve got tons of good cards. If you need anything, tell me.”
“Okay. Sure...!”
But most of them just got shy and couldn’t bring themselves to approach.
Well, of course.
To push through that adorable charm—one that made her seem like she belonged to a different species entirely—took a mental fortitude most people simply didn’t have.
In summary, she was the teachers’ darling, the class idol, and the smartest kid in the grade.
Something like that?
Maybe that was why, unlike Kim Siyeon, who’d been confessed to several times by the time fifth grade came around, Lee Chaewon had never once had anything like that happen to her.
Sometimes Siyeon really wanted to flick her on the forehead when Chaewon, not knowing the situation at all, teased, “Oooh~ Siyeon got rejected again~? What a sinful woman~”
Even when Chaewon was annoyingly smug and suspiciously obsessed with cards, she was still a good friend.
We’re going to be best friends forever!
Hadn’t they even locked pinkies over that?
Someday I’m going to make her wear something I designed!
Studying hard so she could dress that face in clothes that suited her was Siyeon’s little dream.
While Siyeon was busily indulging in her usual fantasies—
Rattle—
“Is there a girl named Lee Chaewon in here?”
A strange boy poked his head in through the back door and looked around the classroom.
“Chaewon.”
“Someone’s looking for Chaewon?”
Students who heard him naturally turned toward Chaewon.
“Ah, so it’s you. Oh, so the rumor wasn’t nonsense. You are pretty?”
A boy wearing a greasy smile looked toward the side where Chaewon and Siyeon were.
He had a bit of a rough edge, was slightly bigger than kids his age,
and he was a face no one in the grade had ever seen before.
Siyeon clamped a hand around Chaewon’s arm.
Shake, shake.
It was a signal not to go and to call the teacher instead.
And even while Chaewon was still bewildered by the sudden situation—
“Haha, I’m Jang Jinsol, the number one boss of Eunha Elementary’s sixth grade. I’m good at fighting, and I’m handsome too. I heard the prettiest girl in fifth grade was here at this school, so I came to check.”
As soon as the visitor opened his mouth, the bridge of Chaewon’s nose and the space between her brows wrinkled ever so slightly, and contempt seeped into her face.
Gasp, she looks good like that too.
Siyeon had briefly lost focus.
***
What the hell is this guy saying now?
I got goosebumps all over my arm.
Pretty boy? Pretttty boy?
I know I’m adorable and lovely-looking.
How could I not know? I’ve got eyes too.
But so what?
I’m just built like this.
That’s how I’ve lived my life, so I don’t really make a big deal of it.
Pretty boy, my ass.
What kind of idiot goes around saying that?
“Ah, yes.”
My words came out anything but polite.
If you’ve seen enough, get lost.
Damn it, I wasn’t some zoo monkey.
While I forcibly smoothed the wrinkles from my face, the sixth grader’s eyebrow twitched.
“I like you. Go out with me.”
Damn youuuu.
This was the first crisis of my life.
I felt disgusted all the way through.
His wannabe-cool act was offensive.
His cocky tone was offensive.
And if I were being honest, I wanted to drive my fist straight into his face.
That would be bad, right? No! Why would it be bad? This is practically picking a fight, isn’t it?
Keeping the boil in my stomach under control, I took a few small breaths.
Right, Korea was the land of courtesy.
As an upperclassman by a grade, I should reject him calmly.
And as class president, I shouldn’t make a scene.
Hm... what should I even say to turn him down...?
Just then, I remembered seeing one of Siyeon’s confession-rejection scenes firsthand.
What had she said again? Something like...
“Sorry, but you’re not really my type.”
“...No way.”
What a psycho, I almost said.
Phew—good thing I held back.
While I endured it once more with superhuman patience, he asked me another question.
“What is your type, then?”
I don’t have one.
But if I thought too long, I might seem weird, so I tossed out something vague and abstract.
“Someone who’s really, really good at games.”
I used to be a gamer, after all, so I had a certain admiration for people who were good at games.
Of course, that didn’t mean I loved them or anything, but still—anyway.
As soon as I said it, the classroom seemed to go quiet for a moment.
Huh?
Was it just my imagination?
Maybe my voice had been too soft.
“Heh, all right. I get it. I’m Jang Jinsol, boss of Eunha Elementary’s sixth grade. For you, I’ll come back with my gaming skills improved.”
“...Boss, my ass, yuck.”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
“No, nothing. Just—ugh. I feel like throwing up.”
“You must not be feeling well. Go lie down somewhere before you get sick.”
I wanted him to disappear fast before I actually brought back the lunch I’d eaten earlier from listening to those gross lines, but then, unfortunately, he turned away.
And because of that gesture, I let my guard down for just a second.
The bastard stopped, then turned his head back toward me only.
Wink—
“Also, next time, feel free to call me oppa. If you’ve got any troubles, tell me everything. Cute little sister.”
I had the misfortune of seeing him wink at me with one eye.
“Hey.”
“...Huh? Me?”
“Yeah, you. What is this, is your blood made of butter and margarine? Why do you talk like such a creep every time you open your mouth?”
I couldn’t bear it anymore, so it just burst out.
Ahh, that feels good. My stomach’s wide open now.
I’d lashed out to save myself, but the guy was surprisingly calm.
Oh, wow, maybe he’s actually pretty magnanimous...?
Then I was about to feel a little guilty—
“Ha, you’re cute, little kitty.”
The moment I met that dog-ass face, his eyes narrowed in a painfully smug attempt at being seductive, and something in my brain snapped clean in two.
Whoosh—
I shot out my left hand and grabbed his collar.
“Eep?”
“Bite down hard.”
Pow—! Thwack—! Thwack-thwack-thwack—!
“Agh—! W-wait. Oof—!”
“Kitty? Kittyyy?? Who the hell do you think you are, insulting a cat like thataaah!”
I swung my fists as wildly as I could, hitting wherever I saw open space.
I was in the mood to die together, but this guy turned out to be far weaker than I’d expected.
Whoosh— whoosh— “You little punk. Damn it. I thought my eyes and ears were going to rot off.”
“Keugh—! Nghh—”
After five or six blows, the self-proclaimed boss was crawling on the floor.
What? He’s total trash.
Boss, my ass. I almost got fooled by the bluster.
His friends took him off to the infirmary, and I stood right there in the hallway with my arms folded.
Hmm.
Actually, I’d been planning to go back, but I couldn’t move because I’d made eye contact with a familiar teacher at the far end of the corridor.
It felt like I was the one making the scene now.
“You caused trouble, Lee Chaewon.”
“....”
Yeah.
What am I going to say to Mom....
If I tell her I discovered a talent for martial arts, maybe she’ll let it slide?
---